Aloha World Sevens Aloha World Sevens The annual Aloha World Sevens rugby tournament brings 24 junior (under 20 years old) teams from 24 nations to Hawaii to compete in a three-day event that includes cultural showcases from participating countries. The tournament is sanctioned by USA Rugby. Sevens, which is also referred to as seven-a-side rugby, rugby Sevens, rugby 7’s, and rugby VIIs, is rapidly gaining worldwide participation, making it one of the fastest growing sports in the world. From its beginnings at the Melrose Club in the Scottish Borders in 1883, Sevens has grown to where the International Rugby Board now has 117
Aloha of examples dating back as far as 1798 and up to 1978 where it was defined as a substitute for "welcome". The modern, common use epitomizes the appropriation of the Hawaiian Language and the cultural dispossession of Native Hawaiians. Lorrin Andrews wrote the first Hawaiian dictionary, called "A dictionary of the Hawaiian language". In it he describes "aloha" as "A word expressing different feelings; love, affection, gratitude, kindness, pity, compassion, grief, the modern common salutation at meeting; parting". Mary Kawena Pukui and Samuel Hoyt Elbert's "Hawaiian Dictionary: Hawaiian-English, English-Hawaiian" also contains a similar definition. The modern use as a greeting