Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 1, Number 5, 1 June 1984 — Strong Hawaiian Community Exists on Lanaʻi [ARTICLE]

Strong Hawaiian Community Exists on Lanaʻi

By Jalna Keala Community Resource Coodinator

Until kumu hula Elaine Kaopuiki took her halau to the Merrie Monarch Hula Festival for the first time in 1983, most people were unaware that Na Hula La'ikealoha halau even existed. But in 1984, when the Festival was fully televised, the entire state learned that the art of hula is beautifully sustained on sparsely populated Lana'i. We also learned that a small, strong Hawaiian communitv exists there.

Kaopuki's 12 women dancers did not win any prizes in the competition, but won hearts and applause for their simple, straightforward style in dress and performanee. There is a maturity and peacefulness about her dancers that is perhaps reflective of their Lana'i roots, and is transmitted to an audience otherwise bombarded by modern intensity and showmanship. It is a timeless style, flowing with nature, and as with every halau, an eeho of the kumu hula. Kaopuiki is a native of Lana'i whose family has been there for several generations. Her family names are Nakihei and

Kauwenaole, and family roots trace back to Molokai, Lahaina, Puna and Kohala prior to settlement on the northeastern coast of Lana'i facing Moloka'i and Maui. Other than the small acreages still retained by original kuleana owners along this Keamuku coastline, the island is owned and controlled by Castle and Cooke ine. through subsidiary companies.

There is justifiable pride in Kaopuiki's voice when she speaks of the history of the original Hawaiian settlers of Lana'i, and of how hard they worked to sustain themselves and their large families in a land without adequate fresh water and difficult access to basic necessities. She speaks with admiration of the foundation and values they provided, indentifies landmarks insignificant to the Western eye, and tells stories that keep the aina alive — just as she learned it from her kupuna. To Kaopuiki, the kaunaoa is kauno'a, and pohuehue a vine to be fashioned into a lei. She talks proudly of the hapa haole Gay family who owned most of the island until they gave up to Castle & Cooke in

1921, and of the daughters who worked on the ranch when they were home from Punahou. Also, of how those girls would sit down to luneh and share a family style poi bowl with the cowboys. Kaopuiki is a hunter too, and joins her husband, Sammy, hunting birds and deer with Eleu, their prized Labrador retriever. She laughs when she tells about the time Eleu chased a deer out into the oeean, cornered it on a submerged rock and swam in circles teasing and worrying it, refusing to give up his game when she was called.

The Kaopuikis have a boat whieh serves as transportation to Maui as well as a means to deep-sea fishing, whieh they both enjoy doing. Sammy is an experienced waterman, and when the sea is too rough for the boat, he follows the family tradition of throw-net fishing. There are two adult children who also live on Lana'i. Mapuana, who with husband Clarence Soriano has produced two beloved mo'opuna, and Owen, who recently graduated from Lahainaluna High School. In addition, there is hanai son Sol Kahoohalahala, halau chanter and artist,

who shows up regularly for breakfast on his way to work at Lana'i Hospital. The Kaopuiki home is easy to be in, comfortable and without pretense. lt is a home for people and for living. It also serves as the halau headquarters, where children are weleome as long as they don't play with Aunty's beautiful and valuable antique bottles.

Elaine Kaopuiki was trained and influenced in hula by Iolani Luahine and Tom Hiona, and has herself been teaching for 30 years. She sees no reason to change her traditional style, and feels that every kumu has that privilege of ehoiee. She is remarkably untouched by the fever of competition, and genuinely surprised that her halau would draw attention because of its simplicity. In her opinion, OHA trustees are Hawaiian leaders who should set positive examples that make their people proud. Kaopuiki would tell the trustees that herself. Oahu audiences have an opportunity to see Na Hula O La'ikealoha perform at the Prince Lot Hula Festival, Saturday, July 21, at Moanalua Gardens.