Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 8, Number 1, 1 January 1991 — Ola: Seeking cultural perspectives [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Ola: Seeking cultural perspectives

by Maleolm Naea Chun Office of Hawaiian Heahh Department of Health

The meaning of "ola" laorana, Kia orana, Kia ora, Kia a Mauliola. These are everyday words of Pacific Island qreetings and politeness, but something is lost in the translation of "hello" and what one says after someone

sneezes. What is lost is the experience of living, of olo. Life, health, well-being, living, livelihood, salvation, curable, healed, save, heal, and grant life all are the essence of ola. In grammatical terms, ola is used quite differently from the usual pattern of words of action. The typical sentence pattern in Hawaiian follows a simple pattern of verb/subject/object, but words like ola reflect the recngnition that there are other forces involved that need to be acknowledged. Without such knowledge one would translate "E ola au ia'oe,"

using the typical sentence pattern, as "I will save you." What was said and meant was very different: "Save me." Furthermore, when ola is used in proverbs and sayings it is usually associated with such things as aloha, work or activities, fresh water and rain, wind, the earth, speech, voices and sounds, food, teaching and learning, and of one's ancestors and decendants. These are things that indicate, bnng and sustain life. Ola ean be perceived as a physical, mental and spiritual well-being of a person who among his or her own people finds happiness and contentment, when they are all well. Ola is, therefore, a way of living for a people. The meaning of ma'i The counterpart to ola is ma'i, being ill. But being ill "was not just a physical discomfort, but also an imbalance of a spiritual or psychological well-being, whieh implied as a loss of mana (spiritual strength) as well as physical strength. The means to correct (ho'oponopono) or to heal (ho'ola) this type of illness was to counter it through chants, prayers, and medicines so as to restore (ho'ola) an ill person to physical, mental, and spiritual health [so] to regain the lost mana." Like ola, the word ma'i does not have just one par-

ticular meaning. It could be defined as "sickness, illness, disease, ailment, patient, sick person, sick, ill and even "menstruating." But sickness has several forms. One could have a "true" or "real" sickness or disease as caused by a virus like a cold or flu. One could be "sick" by having been injured

in an accident or in the past through warfare. One could also be "sick" because of "spirits" or

ghosts . One could be sick through retribution or revenge by someone else or by something supernatural. And one could be "sick" through a "sickness" known to affect only one's family, relatives and people, but not outsiders. Ma'i is the negation of ola, it is "wrong living." We know more about ma'i than we do about ola, because it is generally considered more important to study and practice the treatment of what makes you discomforted and what cures it, than it is to understand what the optimum state of well-being is. After all, why should someone worry about

what happiness is? We know it when we see it. We also know that when a person does get sick, no matter what form of sickness, "It ean tax, in a very rapid and direct manner, the livelihood and well-being of whole families." We ean presume this reaction if being ola for a person means that everything is well for he or she and their families and extended family, then being ma'i means that one's sickness also, directly or indirectly affects those groups, too. This certainly is true of "spirit/ghost sickness," "Hawaiian sickness" and "retribution sickness" whose cultural cause is the breaking of some

type of kapu (prohibition or sacred things), but also ean be understood as being "more involved with a breakdown in the social relationships" than of the body. These cultural or social "sicknesses" reveal, through their painful physical and mental forms, any conflict between individuals, families and

groups. These "sicknesses" also serve as a control or deterrent to "socially undesirable behavior," invoking the possibility of punishment through physical or mental discomfort. The process of ho'oia The ho'ola (treatment) of all types of sicknesses

is a dynamic and flexible process. It involves diagnosis and consultation of the patient and his or her family and even their extended family or eommunity. The process of diagnosis begins not at the positive identification of the ma'i, but at a simple cure or remedy and the knowledge of how to preparc it. This probably explains why in the recorded documents on traditional healing practices descriptions of the illnesses to be treated are rather vague, whieh makes it difficult to positively identify what the illness is in Western terms. It is from this "reversed" process of elimination, as compared to Western medical practices, that the actual cause of the ma'i ean be determined by the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of the cure, especially in light of the many forms of ma'i that exist. A key element to this process is the frequent and lenqthy consultations with the patient, his or

her family and extended family. The sick person is not treated as an isolate, but rather (he or she) is considered in the context of family relationships. During these sessions people are encouraged to air any grievances whieh might be causing tension within the family, problems concerning illnesses, and other difficulties encountered so that the appropriate treatment may be revealed. In this form, "the process of diagnosis and treatment is thus a means of mobilizing the consensus and putting it into effect to redress some moral wrong." Today, many people would eail this process, "ho'oponopono" but they would associate it with the treatment of psychosomatic illnesses, and not necessarily with physical illnesses.

Mueh of the process of treatment itself, reinforces social participation and support as an integral part of healing. It also serves to maintain the social order and morality of the people. Rituals and prayers, the gathering of offerings, and the constant feeding of people often involves more participants than just the healer and the patient. Treatment that utilizes massaginq of the

body becomes an important medium of human eommunieahon; it provides a personal, supportive mode of relating to the ailing individual." The many consultative sessions continue to involve the patient and his or her family so that they are fully aware of what is occuring and are also contributing to the patient's progress. Therefore at the conclusion of the treatment it is not only the patient who has recovered and been healed, the "wrong" way of living corrected, but also the family and extended family has been restored to its norm. It is now the occasion for public acknowledgement, display, celebration and feasting. A three-part re!ationship This type of healing process relies upon its ability to express a three-part relationship of God(s) and spirits; peopie, as a community, extended family, family and individual; and the intermediary, the healer. The Tongans have a beautiful way of explaining this relationship. They consider the principal causative agent of all sickness to be the auanga (spirits) whieh traditionally requires three agents or vehicles in order to complete the cycle of

"Ola is . . . a way of livingfor a people."

"Ma'i is the negation of ola, it is 'wrong living,.,,

"... when a person doesgetsick . . .'It ean tax . . . the livelihood and wellbeing of whole families.