Editing Huna (New Age) (section)

==Reaction==
Max Freedom Long wrote that he obtained many of his case studies and his ideas about what to look for in kahuna magic from the Director of the [[Bishop Museum]] in Honolulu, [[William Brigham]]. According to an article in the peer-reviewed ''Hawaiian Journal of History,'' there is no credible evidence that the two men met (citation requested). Even if they did, Brigham was not an expert on kahunas and did not document in his own writings any of the incidents Long ascribed to him, including walking on hot lava. In his letters and manuscripts, Brigham stated that Hawaiians were "an inferior race," and implied they were lazy. He referred to [[Liliʻuokalani|Queen Liliʻuokalani]] as a "she devil," "[[squaw]]," and "[[nigger]]."{{sfn|Chai|2011|pp=101–21}}

[[Native Hawaiians|Native Hawaiian]] scholar [[Charles W. Kenn|Charles Kenn]], recognized in the Hawaiian community as a ''kahuna'' and expert in Hawaiian history and traditions,<ref>{{cite book  | last = Stone| first = Scott S.C.| title = ''Living Treasures of Hawaii 25th Anniversary of the Selections of Outstanding Persons as Honored by The Honpa Honwanji Mission of Hawai'i'' | publisher = Island Heritage| year = 2000| location = Honolulu| pages = 24}}</ref> was friendly with Max Freedom Long but said, "While this Huna study is an interesting study, … it is not, and never was Hawaiian."<ref name="Lee 1999 56"/>

Pali Jae Lee, a research librarian at the Bishop Museum, and author of the classic book, ''Tales From the Night Rainbow'', conducted extensive research on Max Freedom Long and Huna. She concluded, based on her interviews with Hawaiian elders, "Huna is not Hawaiian." Lee cites Theodore Kelsey, a [[Living Treasure of Hawai'i]] renowned for his work as a Hawaiian translator who wrote a letter to Long in 1936 (now in the Hawai'i State Archives) criticizing his use of the terms "unihipili" and "aumakua."<ref name="Lee 1999 56"/><ref name=Lee2007/>

Author Nancy Kahalewai, a teacher of lomilomi massage, wrote that "traditional lomilomi practitioners do not teach this philosophy. In fact, most insist that it is not from the native Hawaiian culture at all."<ref>{{cite book  | last = Kahalewai| first = Nancy| title = ''Hawaiian Lomilomi: Big Island Massage'' |edition=2nd | publisher = IM Publishing| year = 2004| location = Mountain View, HI| page = 139| isbn =978-0-9677253-2-1}}</ref>

Wells College Professor Lisa Kahaleole Hall, Ph.D., a Native Hawaiian, wrote in a peer-reviewed journal published by the University of Hawai'i that Huna "bears absolutely no resemblance to any Hawaiian worldview or spiritual practice" and calls it part of the "New Age spiritual industry."<ref name=Kahaleole>Hall, Lisa Kahaleole. "[http://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/handle/10125/13881/v17n2-404-413-dialogue2.pdf?sequence=1 'Hawaiian at Heart' and Other Fictions]," ''The Contemporary Pacific'', Volume 17, Number 2, 404–13, 2005, University of Hawai'i Press
</ref>

Mikael Rothstein, an associate professor of religious history at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, is the author of several books on religious history and new religious movements. He wrote about Huna in a peer-reviewed anthology:
<blockquote>Rather than integrating Hawaiian religion, however, New Agers seem to carry out a radical reinterpretation of this tradition, or simply invent traditions that were never Hawaiian. ... New Age representations redefine Hawaiian concepts in order to align them to basic New Age trends.<ref name=Rothstein/></blockquote>