Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 3, Number 2, 1 February 1986 — Book Review [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Book Review

By Maleolm Naea Chun Cultural Specialist Healing Practices in the South Pacific edited by Claire D.F. Parsons Published by The lnstitute for Polynesian Studies Brigham Young University ■ Hawaii Campus Pnee: $22.50 This is a long overdue book for Pacific Studies in the area of traditional healing practices. Previously most information could be found in medical, anthropological journals or tucked away in other subjects. Researchers, students and those interested in traditional healing practices of the Pacific had to examine materials spread far and wide. Healing Practices in the South Pacific is indeed the first attempt to provide a collection of works examining healing practices, beliefs and the pharamacopoeia of Pacific Islanders. The chapters cover the areas of Melanesia (Solomons and Vanuatu) and mueh of Central Polynesia (Tuvalu, Wallis & Futuna, Tonga, Western Samoa, Cook Islands and Tahiti) and New Zeaiand. Their discussion generally includes a description and analysis of sickness, the causes of sickness, some of the possible cures, the "reasoning" or diagnosis for those cures and an analysis of how sickness/healing relates to the island society. Punehhowl Song By Richard Kapololu Topgallant Publishing Co., Ltd. Price: $9.95

With all the growth, development and progress over the past 25 years of statehood, sometimes it becomes difficult to remember what life was like before World War II. Punchbowl Song is a poignant reminder that growing up in Hawaii was not all that great, especially for a poor Hawaiian familv.

Kapololu writes in a verse, Pidgin English style using short stories to recollect life in the Punchbowl area of Honolulu, his bitter sweet relationship with his father, mother and relatives; the Portuguese families and Chinese merchants; the toys and games and everyday things of life. Sometimes his language is extremely strong and disturbing, but its usage is very personal and fits the mood of his story. Punchbowl Song is also a book of happy experiences scattered throughout the despair of living with an aleoholie father and a family that ate their meals from canned goods. All of this may bring many memories back to a paternal generation that lived through the depression days and the pre- World War Hawaii. But for the new generation, many of whom have not known poverty and broken families, Punchbowl Song could be a great reward to read. Perhaps by revealing his youth to the public as well as to himself in writing, Kapololu has given a great gift to the island, and to Hawaiians. His book puts a new light to the way we look at "ohana" and "aloha" in Hawaiian families and reminds us that reality is not always the ideal we want everything to be. If this is the ty pe of books whieh T opgallant is to publish in its rebirth as a loeal publishing house, one should look forward to their future publications. Well, done Dick. MNC