Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 8, Number 10, 1 ʻOkakopa 1991 — Perpetuating the heritage of the historic [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Perpetuating the heritage of the historic

Bv Christina Zarobe Assistant Editor Listen to Delilah Ortiz talk about the Paniola Museum and Hale of Fame and it seems she's memorized every square ineh of the floor plan. In a wide-open rural setting, the two-story hacienda style building will house sections dedicated to paniola music and the history of the pa'u rider. A 20-minute video will feature eaeh island's contemporary cowboys. Nearby, there will be a barn and an arena where actual cowboys, working at the museum, will demonstrate the skills of the paniola. "It will tell the story of what went on in their everyday lives. This museum will be authentic, real," says Ortiz, who has lived above Oahu's North Shore in Pupukea for 46 years."I want to preserve the country flavor as well as keeping in the character." Filled with photographs, costumes, paintings, drawings and paniola artifacts, Ortiz says resolutely, "It wil be a living museum, not a museum museum." More than two years ago, Ortiz began organizing the project as a tribute to the yesteryear paniola. She founded and serves as president of the statewide Paniola Historical Foundation whieh was registered in February as a non-profit organization. Its primary goal is to establish a museum. The group is headed by a board of directors — one eaeh from Moloka'i, Kaua'i and Ni'ihau, Maui, the Big Island and O'ahu. Ortiz is searching for a director from Lana'i. While the main museum on O'ahu will represent all the islands, eaeh of the islands will also have smaller facilities, says Ortiz. She declines to

identify the loeahon on O'ahu explaining that she currently is in negotiations with the landowner. In her cozy home high above the beaches of the North Shore Ortiz sits comfortably cross-legged on her livingroom floor during a recent interview with Ka Wai Ola O OHA. The room is a museum of sorts scattered with trophies of horse-riding competitions, sculptures of cowboys, and miniature covered wagons positioned on bookshelves. It also is a memonal to the life she has spent with her husband, Claude, for the past 41 years of their marriage. They have five children, 10 grandchildren, three great-grandchi!dren and have raised 43 foster boys over the years. The easy-going but hardworking life of the paniola is recreated every weekend at the Ortiz home where five horses are stabled, says Delilah Ortiz. "If a friend wants to bring another, we say 'bring them over — we'll find them a horse.' "That's our aloha. Then we barbecue, sit down, talk story." Known throughout the islands for his skill as a paniola, the tanned, rugged features of Claude Ortiz are captured on the cover of "Aloha Cowboy," a comprehensive account of horsemanship in Hawai'i. Likewise, Delilah is an accomplished horsewoman who has been riding since she was 12. She served as queen of the Kamehameha Day parade in 1979 and the Aloha Festival parade a decade later. When she talks about the historic paniola, Ortiz is passionate, her deep brown eyes animated. Through her vivid descriptions she brings to life another, less complicated time. "Hawaiian cowboys are a dying breed . . . I go to

the ranches, I mingle with the families and I see so many changes taking plaee," says Ortiz, who is part Hawaiian, Cherokee and English and a Honolulu native. "I see in their eyes the questions. 'What is going to happen to us?' They were brought up to be cowboys. We have to hold on to that for them." A formidable undertaking, Ortiz has nevertheless set a timetable for the project — groundbreaking in three years. She has turned to the state for possible funding but the public also ean assist by becoming members of the foundation. One day, Ortiz says she envisions the museum being part of school field trips where youngsters could leam about another part of Hawai'i history. "They (children) are going to leam how to be a loving person, more compassionate. The cowboys will teach them that. That's what makes them romantic and different than the Mainland cowboy," she explains. Meanwhile, Ortiz has rented a climatecontrolled, Matson container to store artifacts that will eventually be housed in the museum. Historic paniola memorabilia from the public is also being accepted. Determined to perpetuate the story of the Hawaiian cowboy, Ortiz hopes to complete a documentary with the camera assistance of Geeny Stayle about the same time as the opening of the museum. "Us Hawaiians believe that when you take something, you give something back," says Ortiz quietly. "That's all I'm asking. Give something back to the paniola. Otherwise there is nothing left to share." The legacy of the paniola is colorful and sentimental yet the story is told with a Hawaiian

'Ao'ao Umikumalua (Page 12) U)EŪ OIēI 0 0fn/^

Big lsland paniola herd cattle in 1959 at the Parker Ranch.

paniola ride across the Hawaiian range

twist. While similar to their Mainland cousins, the paniolas are a different breed of cowboy, infiuenced by the tropical setting of the islands, skilled in different ways. It's a part of Hawai'i history that Ortiz believes is quickly slipping away as the wide-open spaces of the islands disappear as rapidly. It's a quest Ortiz has initiated but she maintains the museum is the dream of the paniola not herself. "I think it has a lot to do with the land. There is a strong spirit that holds this land together. It builds good character in you but strong character," according to Ortiz. "The paniola work so closely with the land. They have a ehanee to be totally solitary. It's not a stressful thing to be a cowboy. It's a lot of hard

work but at the end — what a relief. And they love { to sing." j Ortiz pauses for a moment a dreamy smile on ! her face and a distant look in her eyes as she { contemplates the cowboy life on the Hawaiian { range, the s!opes of Mauna Kea and Haleakala. "That's what makes them romantic. It is not a work in vain, it is a work of love. It is a colorful life. { It holds a lot of mana." { For details about becoming a member of the { Paniola Historical Foundation or donating paniola j artifacts, eall 638-8285 or write to P.O. Box 417, j Haleiwa, 96712. T-shirts also are available for $12 1 with proceeds helping to support the foundation. j

'Ao'ao Umikumakolu (Page 13)

u, Ōelilah Ortiz, founder and president of the Paniola Historical Foundation.

Paniola David Kulolōia during the T930s!^

One of the many paniola duties — calf roping— in the 1930s at Harold Castle Ranch. ī