Blog Archives

Kanakaleader

8/9/2017

Trained by our most prized kumu and kūpuna, Kaleomanuʻiwa Wong on the lāhui horizon. As a part of the next generation of Hōkūle’a's core crew, Kaleo was the first Native Hawaiian navigator to chart a course and navigate outside of the Pacific, setting the tone for a number of Mālama Honua firsts. When on land, Kaleo is the full-time kahu (caretaker) for the lands of Kūkanono at the foot of Ulupō heiau along the banks of Kawainui fishpond. Through community-based, land reclamation efforts and cultural education initiatives on these lands, he works with Hikaʻalani, a non-profit organization, to fulfill its mission to restore ʻāina and identity to Kailua. Both on land and on the sea, Kaleo is literally and figuratively charting the course for our people to thrive. – Lisa Okinaga Takatsugi, Next Generation Kanaka Leaders

Photo: Polynesian Voyaging Society

Kind "Kaʻina" Comments from HuiMAU

8/7/2017

I am humbled every time I am fortunate enough to spend time with these kupa of Kailua, Oʻahu. The depth of their love and knowledge for their ʻāina, kūpuna, and our lāhui has inspired me immensely since the first time I met them. Yesterday Haley and I were fortunate to again be able to witness and be inspired by the ea and aloha ʻāina they embody in their hālau and ʻohana. Sharing the moʻolelo of their ʻāina through oratory, hula, mele, mea ʻai, and intentional and kuleana-driven hana, the ʻohana of Hikaʻalani and Hālau Mohala ʻIlima are cultivating a kīpuka for the rebirth of pono in their ahupuaʻa, and in setting this example they call us to "kaʻina mai," to proceed forth on this pathway together, no ka pono o ka ʻāina a me ka lāhui. Their words and actions exemplify truths of our existence today as Kānaka, that we are still here, and as Maya Saffery so beautifully put it, "our kūpuna are still here, they can hear their names being said again, and they're just waiting for us to recognize them." Mahalo nui iā ʻoukou e nā hoa, e Kaleomanuʻiwa & Maya, a me ka ʻohana HMI no ke alakaʻi ʻana mai me he huihui ʻiwa lā.
– Noʻeu Peralto of Hui Mālama I ka 'Āina 'Ūlili,

Photo: Nick Tomasello

Kaʻina Mai

8/6/2017

Highlights from our 8-6-17 fund-and-friend raiser at Ulupō Hui;. photos courtesy of Nicholas Tomasello at Nicasello Photography. In part, the words of the accompanying mele (attributed to Nīʻula in Samuel Kekoʻowai's moʻolelo of the Mākālei) ask that:

...the beloved ones of Mākālei return to their source
May the Mākālei generations move to each other
May they strive for the highest point
Until joined, until unified, until bursting forth.

Nīʻula explains it as both "he pule a he mele hoʻi" – as a prayer and a song. As pule, it addresses Haumea in her multiple forms and asks, through the metaphor of branch and fish, for the well-being of her people: enter, enter, enter; enter, nourish, and inspire; may your descendants prevail, wave after wave of us; may we again be united, persistent, and ever-committed to the nu‘u of thought and action.

As mele, it celebrates in lively, even humorous fashion the promise of rejuvenation at Hālauwai – all those fish packed to the la‘ola‘o bursting point in a spring-fed, upper valley pool. They have entered in droves, all in a leaping, jumping, pulsing, creeping procession, all enthralled by the irresistible ona powers of Ka Lā‘au Pi‘i Ona a ka I‘a. (Leo oli: Māpuana de Silva. Slide-video: KdS.)

HMI Sunday Afternoon

8/5/2017

15 ʻĀpiki (members of the Merrie Monarch class of Hālau Mōhala ʻIlima, many with their husbands, daughters, and sons) showed up last Sunday to help Kaleo and Maya with the final week of their multi-month push to prepare Ulupō Nui for Ka'ina Mai, the first of what we hope will be a yearly, on-site celebration of Hikaʻalani's effort to reclaim aina and identity at Kawainui. – KdS

Photo: KdS

Cause for Celebration

8/2/2017

Leigh Ann Landreth of the Windward YMCA just shared with us this video about the Y's Togetherhood Project – a year-long mālama-'āina effort at Ulupō in which Kaleo Wong and Hika'alani played a significant role. Her public release of this very happy clip coincides nicely with good news received yesterday by Piʻilani Alston (president of the Hikaʻalani BOD) and Māpuana de Silva at the August meeting of the Board of Land and Natural Resources: Hika'alani has been granted curatorship of Ulupō for the next five years. Hūlō! Hūlō! We look forward to positive, ongoing partnerships with the Y and our kaikua'ana at ʻAhahui Mālama I ka Lōkahi and the Kailua Hawaiian Civic Club. – KdS