Hawaiian Word of the Week: Moa

If you have ever been to Kauai, you will know that chickens, or in Hawaiian “moa” (pronounced: moh-ah) are all over the island. They roam freely and are extremely populous. The story is that thanks to hurricanes in 1982 and 1992 on Kauai, there was destruction of domestic coops and the moa started to populate on the island. (I had one Kauai native warn me not to even think about trying to eat one of the feral chickens…”too gamey”, he said.) 

But a moa has special meaning to Hawaiians…for them, moa symbolizes “magic”. And for all of us, Hawaii (and for me in particular, Kauai) is a magical place. Seems rather appropriate, wouldn’t you say? 

Have you had any run-ins with moa on Hawaii? What makes Hawaii magical for you?

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