▁his ▁father ▁continued ▁to ▁live ▁in ▁after ▁the ▁break - up ▁of ▁his ▁family ▁and ▁was ▁murder ed . ▁Although ▁techn ically ▁a ▁ha ole ▁like ▁D anny , ▁Steve ▁is ▁accepted ▁as ▁k ama ' ain a ▁as ▁he ▁was ▁not ▁only ▁born ▁in ▁Hawai i , ▁but ▁was ▁raised ▁to ▁respect ▁and ▁em brace ▁the ▁local ▁culture . ▁In ▁several ▁episodes , ▁he ▁is ▁shown ▁to ▁be ▁convers ant ▁in ▁" bird " ▁( H aw ai ian ▁P id gin ). ▁As ▁such , ▁he ▁was ▁not ▁ant agon ized ▁as ▁much ▁as ▁D anny ▁was ▁by ▁the ▁loc als ▁during ▁the ▁first ▁several ▁seasons , ▁ev iden ced ▁by ▁his ▁friendship ▁with ▁M amo ▁and ▁the ▁de ference ▁shown ▁to ▁him ▁even ▁by ▁Kap u ▁leader ▁K aw ika ▁and ▁K ame k ona , ▁who ▁affection ately ▁calls ▁McG ar rett ▁" the ▁big ▁k ah una ". ▁ ▁Based ▁on ▁McG ar rett ' s ▁flash back s ▁and ▁statements ▁from ▁other ▁characters , ▁he ▁had ▁a ▁happy ▁child hood ▁and ▁enjoyed ▁sp ending ▁time ▁in ▁the ▁gar age ▁watching ▁his ▁father ▁fix ▁the ▁ant ique ▁ 1 9 7 4 ▁Mercur y ▁Mar quis . ▁He ▁inherited ▁his ▁father ' s ▁passion ▁for ▁ant ique ▁cars ▁and ▁occasionally ▁drove ▁the ▁Mar quis ▁after ▁fixing ▁it ▁up ▁himself . ▁He ▁was ▁a ▁high ▁school ▁s oph om ore ▁when ▁his ▁mother ▁Dor is ▁was ▁pres umed ▁to ▁be ▁killed ▁in ▁a ▁car ▁accident ▁in ▁April ▁ 1