CHICAGO (August 13, 2018) – Two hundred protestors rallied today against Aloha Poke Company’s aggressive efforts to assert ownership over the Native Hawaiian word “aloha.”
Protestors marched from the Millennium Monument to the Aloha Poke Company on Clark Street, where a rally was held during lunch. Today’s protest was part of the “Aloha Not For Sale” campaign, a week-long series of rallies that began on Friday, August 10, and that will finish on Wednesday, August 15.
The campaign is being coordinated by a coalition of Native Hawaiian organizations from Chicago, Hawaiʻi and Alaska. The coalition is led by Lanialoha Lee of the Aloha Center Chicago, a multi-media resource cultural center in Chicago dedicated to the preservation and perpetuation of Native Hawaiian and South Pacific Arts.
The protests are in response to the Aloha Poke Company sending cease-and-desist letters to poke restaurants in Hawaiʻi, Alaska and other places demanding that they stop using aloha in their names. Aloha Poke Company claims to hold the trademarks for “aloha” and “poke.”
The controversy has outraged Native Hawaiians. An online petition against Aloha Poke Company already has received more than 167,000 signatures.
The Aloha Not For Sale campaign demands that the Aloha Poke Company:
Joining the protests in Chicago were members of the Kahele family, the owners of the poke store in Anchorage, Alaska, who received a cease-and-desist letter from Aloha Poke Company. To avoid potential litigation, the Kahele family recently re-named their store Lei’s Poke Stop.
A delegation of Native Hawaiian organizations from Hawaiʻi also travelled to Chicago to participate in the protests. Hawaiʻi based organizations attending include:
A sign waving was held on Friday, and an educational workshop on Native Hawaiian intellectual property rights was held on Sunday. Wrapping up the Aloha Not For Sale campaign is the following event:
12:30 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.
818 W. Fullerton
Chicago, IL 60614