Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 2, Number 8, 1 ʻAukake 1985 — Puʻukohola Festival Highlights Culture [ARTICLE]

Puʻukohola Festival Highlights Culture

The Culture of Ancient Hawai'i, or Ke Kulana No'eau o wa Kahiko, is the theme for Pu'ukohola Heiau National Historic Site's Cultural Festival, slated Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 10- 1 1, at the park in Kawaihae. This year commemorates the 13th anniversary of Pu'ukohola Heiau since its inception as a Nahonal Historic Site. Festivities are scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. and end at 3 p.m. on both days. On Saturday, the celebration will begin with a royal court procession into Pu'ukohola Heiau to plaee the ho'okupu (offerings). Then, the royal court will proceed to Pelekane, below the temples, where they will watch the hula kahiko (ancient hula) performed by some of the different halau (dance schools) on the Big Island. They will also review and approve the arts and crafts workshops, and onee approved, the learning the teaching of the Hawaiian arts and crafts will begin.

Park Superintendent Jerry Y. Shimoda stated that workshops including lauhala weaving, fish net making, gourd designing, tapa stamping and dyeing, feather making, haku (braid) and wili (twist) flower lei making, musical implements and songs, coconut weaving and husking, preparing and tasting of awa, uses and making of weapons, and many others,

will be offered to the public. Hawaiian artifact disp!ays, food tasting, and games will also be available. The festival is presented with the help of the Hawaii Natural History Association, members of the Waimea Hawaiian Civic Club, along with other civic club members throughout the island, friends of the park, and National Park Service employees. Kahua Na'au a'o ma Pu'uhonua o Honaunau National Historical Park ine. , a non-profit organization prom-

oting the preservation of Hawaiian arts and crafts, has also worked closely with the park in the past, and will again prepare the festival's royal court. Bring a luneh and spend the entire day learning the Hawaiian crafts history of the park. There is no charge. However, those who attend are expected to leam at least one craft or game before leaving to help p>erpetuate the culture of Hawai'i. Pu'ukohola Heiau was originally built by Kamehameha the Great in 1791, to gain mana (spiritual power), whieh he needed, to conquer the islands of Hawai'i. Onee the temple was completed, it took Kamehameha just four years to eonquer all the islands up to and including O'ahu. The island of Kaua'i later joined the kingdom in 1810. s