Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 5, Number 12, 1 Kekemapa 1988 — Makaku [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Makaku

By Rocky Ka'iouliokahihikolo 'Ehu Jensen ©

A Little Bit Of This, A Little Bit Of That

I must make a comment on the intellectual perception of the Kamehameha students that were invited as apprentices to the Pacific Rim Festival in Australia. When interviewed before departure, one young lady said that it was a wonderful opportunity for them to attend the festival because being that they had lost their culture and "stuffs," perhaps they could regain them by observing the other natives of the Pacific. Pray tell, what are they teaching in our native school up on the hill? On their return, a young man was interviewed as to his impression. He said that when the plane landed, they were greeted by Aborigines in national c'ress, welcoming them with traditional dance. l'e continued in words to this effect, "When we finally were introduced to them. . .Ttiey weren't savage at all. . .they were just like us." You see, the young man was fooled by the Western interpretation of what is visually "savage looking". . .so the Aborigines in national dress, with painted faces, appeared savage to the Kamehameha student. . .mueh like the Hawaiians must have appeared to Captain Cook and others, I suppose. . ,and don't some of us hate that misinterpretation of our culture? Do some of us still perceive the third world nations as "savage looking," therefore "savage are?" Do some of us

still perceive ourselves as having lost our "stuffs?" 1 think that some of us are looking through the eyes of the "white man" when interpreting our culture and others like ours. In a Sunday article, written by Jan TenBruggencate, entitled "Mystery Island Leaves Silent Clues," he raises the questions as to "What were Nihoa and Necker? Who lived there? And why were they then abandoned?" Of course, being a Native Hawaiian, I have always been intrigued by the tiny islands to our north-west. . ,at first because of the stone statues found there, then because of the Western assumption of a mystery existing at all. What they don't understand becomes a mystery. Easter Island is a mystery, the pyramids are still a mystery, and added to these, Necker and Nihoa. Does the name Kuaihelani ring a bell to scholars of historical persuasion? This was an ancient homeland of our people. In the mid 1800's, ka po'e lawai'a and their families sailed to what they called Kuaihelani, to live and fish during the months of the year that were open for certain seafood. In this case Kuaihelani was the name given to the islands west of Kaua'i and Ni'ihau by the fishermen of Sand Island and Moanalua. The islands were certainly not a mystery to them. Anthropologist Patrick Kirch says that the

island's remains suggests castaways. . ."In the end, as food resources ran low, they perished, leaving only the lifeless eyes of their stone gods to gaze across the horizon." TenBruggencate goes on to explain that the tradition amongst the natives of Ni'ihau is the same annual journey to Nihoa, all through the 1800's. The islands weren't a mystery to them either. Of course, no one really asked the natives if they knew what the islands could have been. As for the "lifeless eyes of their stone gods," well, if I'm not mistaken there are only two statues intact, the others are broken. . .whieh clearly tells that no one perished on those islands. They left intentionally. . ,tradition being, to break the stone receptacle so that the "spirit could escape." The small islands to the northwest were none other than shelters. . ,albeit very sophisticated shelters, but shelters, nonetheless. We Hawaiians always believed in leaving something for the next. . ,in this way there would always be food, water and shelter for everyone. The land that existed was farmed in dryland taro and sweet potatoes. . ,the hale were left intact and the "stone gods" probably those of the guardian of fisherman, Kane'apua, broken when they knew that there would be no one to be kahu to th^ site. A mystery solved! But not really a mystery to us. Mai Ka Po Mai O'ia'i'o! Before earthly time. . ,truth existed in the Po!