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Sienna Mae, sixteen-year-old TikTok star best known for sharing lifestyle and dance videos, shared a video of herself on vacation in Hawaii. In the video, she wears her swimsuit near a river and imitates a dance before giving up and dancing normally.
Mae's post was then called out by TikTok user kuakamahao, originally stating, "The f--k is this?"
kuakamahao, who's real name is Kamaha'o, mentioned that Sienna Mae was imitating a Tahitian dance to a Hawaiian song and also performing it on a land that was sacred to Hawaiian culture.
"Second of all, is that Waipio Valley, the Valley of Kings? The most sacred valley in Hawaiian culture and you're doing that there? Then you got your comment section which is disgusting, the amount of people who are not Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawaiian) or Ta'ata Ma'ohi (Native Tahitian) who are defending you and saying it's not disrespecting your culture is gross. If you are not Pacifica, specifically not Hawaiian or Tahitian you have no say in it, period."
Kamaha'o then explained that Sienna Mae's use of a Hawaiian song while attempting a Tahitian dance was not okay. He stated that dancing the appropriate dance to the appropriate song would have been "semi-okay" but her stopping halfway through to do a "cute little dance" was not.
Response to Sienna Mae's actions
Kamaha'o further explained in his response to Sienna Mae's actions that Hula dancing is a religious dance practice. The dance is not easily recreated and many dancers put in hard work and effort to learn it by attending Halau, which is a Hula school.
User kuakamahao's video post was shared on Instagram by user defnoodles, along with a follow-up post further explaining the practice of Hula.
Many users on Instagram commented under the post, some stating that people belonging to the culture should be the ones deciding if the video is disrespectful. Other users were more concerned and reiterated Sienna Mae's allegations brought up by former boyfriend, Jack Wright.
One user stated:
"We don't know unless we're told. I'm not Hawaiian so it's not my place to say anything. However I've seen Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders sharing their culture with others and showing them how to dance. So I'm just confused."
Another user commented:
"[You] guys are ridiculous not everything is disrespectful."
A user also said:
"God so many non-Pacific Islanders in these comments got soooo much to say about this. Imagine having an opinion like 'Oh it doesn't matter' when it's not your culture. I hate people."
At the time of the article, the dance post was still available on Sienna Mae's TikTok account. User kuakamahao's explanations are available on his page as well. Sienna Mae has not come forward with any comment regarding the situation.
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