“The Hawaiian culture that tourists see is very tourist-oriented,” according to an unidentified Native Hawaiian who was quoted in the study. “Tourists don’t see the authentic culture. They put on leis and sing Tiny Bubbles” —Don Ho’s famous tune. — USA Today

Ouch. That quote cuts straight to the heart of the matter while also painting all of Hawaii’s visitors with the same ugly brush. It’s true, some tourists do put on leis and sing along with the trademarked song. Culture in Hawaii is a commodity, even while it’s a way of life. In the same USA Today article, Native Hawaiians said that the tourism “industry has a bad reputation for presenting Hawaiian arts authentically and accurately.” After all, real culture is kind of messy and doesn’t sell vacations.

Alternative Hawaiian Flag by Ki'i Girl via Flickr

Great cultural sites aren’t far from the glitzy shopping of Waikiki — the spectacular Hawaiian Hall at the Bishop Museum and ‘Iolani Palace are both excellent places to learn a little history and the trolley that serves most of Oahu’s tourist sites will take you there. The Place of Refuge is a must see on the Big Island — with its scowling ki’i carvings (we often call them “tiki” — that’s not their correct name)  and beautiful setting, it’s an amazing place to learn about Hawaii’s traditions. Limahuli Garden has living kalo (taro) patches, as does the ‘Iao Valley State Park. All these sites offer insight into Native Hawaiian culture and history, and they’re great places to visit.

But they don’t create human connections. Sure, you can visit a museum and learn about Hawaiian culture and you can educate yourself beyond that Don Ho listening lei wearing mainlander, but does this change your sense of who Hawaiians are today? And while there are lots of volunteer opportunities, most of them are nature focused, not human focused. Certainly there’s nothing wrong with making life better for turtles, but do these activities ease the tensions between the day trippers on the road to Hana and the people who have made Hana their home for three, four, more generations?

The Office of Hawaiian Affairs maintains a Native Hawaiian owned business directory — there’s a small section called travel and tours and while it’s enough to find a few activities for your trip, it won’t help you find a Native Hawaiian owned hotel* and there are only six restaurants listed. It’s no wonder the two populations — tourists and Native Hawaiians — don’t have a lot of understanding for each other — places where we can come together over common ground are rare indeed. Ecotourism, oh Hawaii has that, but cultural tourism? Unfortunately, most of what Hawaii offers visitors is history or commodity, leaving curious visitors hungry for more.  And the not so curious? They’re perfectly content with leis and Tiny Bubbles.

Related: Hawaii Tourism Authority awards $600K for programs perpetuating Native Hawaiian culture

*There are two, Uncle Billy’s in Kona or Hilo. If you know of more, please leave that information in the comments.