Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 10, Number 8, 1 August 1993 — Interview: Parley Kanakaʻole [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Interview: Parley Kanakaʻole

In searching for culture, look to the 'ohana

Editor's note: Parley Jansen Kanaka'ole is a fluent Hawaiian language speaker, noted educator and musician, farmer and fisherman, and is knowledgeable in lā'au lapa'au. Kanaka'ole, the vice principal at Hāna High and Elementary School and the son of the late hula master Edith Kanaka'ole, is a co-founder of the Edith Kanaka'ole Foundation and last year received OHA' s Ka Hā Mai Kalāhikiola Nali'i'elua Award distinguishing him as an exemplary kupuna. Interview by Jeff CIark In the October issue of Ka Wai Ola, we were talking about Kaho'olawe, and,you said, "lf you' re Hawaiian, be it. Don't wait for someone to tell you you're Hawaiian. lf you' re Hawaiian, practice your eulture." How ean Hawaiians do that? I think the first is to recognize the language and become a little more assertive as far as that is concerned. Begin with that. Plaee names, family names, genealogieal names, wind names, rain names, just the language itself. If you have to talk half English and half Hawaiian, go ahead and do

it. That kind of assertiveness needs to be a lot stronger, not only among ourselves, but also being host people of these islands. We should begin with that. ... The other thing is not to be afraid of those values that we were raised with: they're not

necessarily wrong. As a people we should begin to look at those values and how they have become a positive strength in our lives. Looking at families, looking at families past, looking at the different kinds of quoteunquote kapus or

superstitions and really look at them and examine them and determine how those things have become a point of behavior for us, or non-behavior, as far as our thinking and our actions are eoncemed. And promote those kinds of things that are positive. Because the other cultures out there are being practiced, and it seems like they've been more of an influence than we have as the host cultural people. In talking about Hawaiian values

and traditions, some of the things that eame from 'ohana, what kinds of things are you talking about? Basically, death and birth. Those are the two important aspects culturally. And then of course there are marriages and

first-year celebrations, either firstyear births or one year after death. A 'aina waimaka for one year after death, the one year after birth kind of a eelebration. Naming of children, those kinds of things are important in beginning to establish one's fami-

ly, culturally. Senior lines in the family, and transferring of family powers from one generation to the other, those are important eultural practices that have become diluted today because of movement of families, movement away from family core. Going away to the Mainland and living someplace else, thereby losing that kind of a family culture. A lot of it comes back to the family itself, ... but Westem style in cutting up the family into small units and separating them has hurt the overall family and the extended

family, whieh is also an important part of the family. I think that needs to be looked at again and practiced, people have to look and say, "My family are from Puna, that's where my fathers and grandfathers are buried." People need to look at that again, or "My son's piko is buried at such-and-such a plaee and a coconut was planted to designate the plaee of the burial of his piko," or "We have a plaee where the piko of all of our ehildren and family are." ... And it all deals with keeping the family ties close together. It sounds like all of this would make thefamily stronger. Yeah, well at least in touch, intact. Sometimes it works the other way, but then at least the family is still intact. As a result of contact and everything that it brought, how mueh ofthe Hawaiian culture was lost? I'll give you a good example. Here in Hāna, a lot of our people moved out of Hāna in the early '30s because of the folding of the plantation. Economically that was one blow, the other reason was because the eeonomieal feasibility of raising taro ... as far as transportation was concerned it was difficult to make that a viable business. So people moved out of Hāna to go to Honolulu and tried to keep close ties I

think. ... right now they're in their fifties, early sixties and beyond that. And a lot of them eome back to Hāna trying to find families today. A lot of them, the families are not here anymore. But those that have stayed have had to struggle. In staying they've hung on to what little culture that enables them to distinguish themselves as quoteunquote Hawaiians, and those kinds of culture have to do with births, deaths, those kinds of things. As compared to those that went away. In going away they've had to become independent, independent meaning not depending on family but independent having to go out and look for their eeonomie resources. And getting away from the land: I think that's the other part. Extricating oneself from the land upon whieh his fathers or her fathers were buried was a difficult thing for a lot of people. They moved away and left all of the culture behind and complete-

ly adapted to the Western culture. And some of them have been able to raise children and send them away to school, only to eome home and question their parents, you know, where did they eome from, who were their fathers, and we find those same people coming here today ... looking for family. Not necessarily for land but where families were buried, who were they, who were the parents. Again, I think it's a deeply ingrained need to get back to the piko and the burial plaee and touch bases. So we find that kind of thing with a lot of people from Waimānalo, from Wai'anae, who have roots on the outside islands and are wanting to find out who their parents are, where did they eome from, so it's interesting to see that there is a connection, but culturally they've lost what that connection is. So there is a kind of cultural void but yet an attachment. So they all eome looking for answers, trying to fulfill that need. And I don't think it's only with us Hawaiians, I think a lot of the Amenean Indians are having the same kind

of problems. How do Hawaiians go about repairing that detachment, how do they get re-attached to their culture, having moved away from the land? I don't know. I don't have that answer. And I think that there is a start to obtain that answer. That start has to do with the emptiness that they feel when they begin to question, "Who are my parents and where do they eome from?" And that's a start. People will begin to do their own genealogy work. A lot of them will begin to say, "Economically it's not working for me out here, I like go back," wherever that going back to is, and try to work it out there. So we have people coming from Honolulu going to Waimea, or going to Hilo, Pana'ewa, mainly because they have ties on the Big Island, and they want to find out where those ties are. Or because in this generation they don't see it happening for them out there in

Honolulu so they want to eome back and see what ean be found where their fathers were born or their grandfathers were born, and see how mueh they ean eontribute to those roots. I don't know the answer, Jeff, all I know is people begin to feel the tug of their na'au and the emptiness of their na'au and they begin to ask those questions, "Who are my fathers, where were they buried, where were they born," and they begin to search for those answers. I don't know whether those are solutions to our social problems, but I do know definitely that there is always a strong cultural tie of a Hawaiian to the land base of where the piko and bones of his people are buried. What about other areas of eulture, less family-related, more physical? Bishop Museum is full, but 1 don't see a lot of other material culture out there. Hawaiians are not rich materially. ... but I think if we look at all of the chants, all of the legends, all of the stories, the richcontinued on page 12

Parley Kanaka'ole

continued from page 11 ness comes in the lanei. And that is first and foremost among the Hawaiian people. All of the myriads of gods and demigods, they're all nature. The oeean, the sea, and the air, the lava, and if there is any richness, it is in the land itself. And you look at all the songs and all the meles, [they] talk about those kinds of riches. The names for the chiefs, the queens, the chiefesses' names, nature was the epitome of their beauty or their strength or their power or their downfall. So it's that close affmity with nature that is our aesthetic richness. So it's less material objects and practices than it is nature and the mana that comes from that. Yes, yes. We've talked befo, t ahoui the old Hawaiian language newspapers being a good source of mo'olelo about the old ways. What other kinds of resources should people look at? I think that people should look at themselves and their families

first. That's the first and foremost kind of resource that they have. And then if it's not there, ledgers, church records, besides what is in the Bureau of Conveyances. There are testimonies in those records that are really interesting to read because it does give people, who and what they are, what was done, their likes and dislikes, and they are interesting to look at. Other than that, I don't know what happened after the '20s, nobody seemed to be writing or making commentaries in the newspaper anymore. Our Hawaiian people used to write a lot of interesting articles in the old newspapers, nobody seems to be doing it today. At least I'm not [laughs]. Are there " cultural" ways of doing things, from routine tasks like preparing meals, cleaning the yard, or going to work, to activities like hiking or paddling eanoe or surfmg? Yes, there are specific things, and it's always with prayers. Hawaiians had beautiful prayers, and they always prayed for everything, they always gave

thanks for everything they did. Whether it's asking for a niee wave to catch, or whether it's going up and picking 'oio up in the forest, or stripping olonā and cleaning olonā patch, or picking fems for making a lei or the liko of the lehua for dressing the kuahu for Laka, prayers were an

important thing to be done in all that one did. Because there are so many guards and guardians for so many things, for the rocks, for the trees, for the rain, for the wind, and you would always have to supplicate them in making sure you're on their right side, so the Hawaiians were

always praying. If anything, that , in itself ... the Hawaiian needs to understand. When he gets up in the morning, 'Thank you for the beautiful day.' That's why we're great Christians: We know how for pray. Plus it was easier to pray continued on naee 7 ?

Parley Kanaka'ole (right of the bowl) conducts an 'awa ceremony as part of the launching of the traditionally built eanoe Mauloa in May. Photo by Jeft Clark

Parley Kanaka'ole

continued from page 12 beautiful day.' That's why we're great Christians: We know how for pray. Plus it was easier to pray only to one god, and he'll take care of all the rest, than to pray to all the myriads of akua, 'aumakua, and all of these other things. Thank God for the Christians we've become. I'm sorry, what was that? [Laughs] I said thank God for being Christian: we've been able to lump everything into one. [Laughing] Otherwise, that's a lot of prayers to remember! Yeah, 1 never thought of it that way. Well, that's the beginning of the loss of our culture. Are there Hawaiians today that, instead ofpraying to the Christian god, pray to the old gods? Well, myself, I do pray to our Father in heaven, I believe in Christ as the savior of mankind, I also believe there is a Holy Ghost, I believe in God the Father. I also believe in family, in that family are important because if God is Father of the whole world, I think my family ean help me more ... fast. [Chuckles] You know what I mean? Inasmuch as I believe in God the Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost, I also believe in my grandfather. I would eall on

our heavenly Father for general things but for specific things I think I'll eall on my grandfather. If it has to do with hula and stuff like that, I think I'll eall my mother. You know what I mean? It's those kinds of things that are no different from the Catholics ealling upon their venerated saints for specific tasks. It's kūpuna. Yes. Do you pray to Lono or other ... Lono comes in many forms, so does Kāne and Kū, they eome in many different forms, and, yes. How would you sum up your mana 'o on this big subject? Well, I think I would like the readers to read this with an open mind, and I say this in all deep respect for all of mankind and especially for our people, who are part of all of mankind, that they begin to know what part of mankind they are. And that they read this with open mind and open heart and I say this openly, too. You know, I'm going to receive a lot of comments, pros and cons, negative, positive, but if anything I think this hopefully will help them to question themselves. I know who I am and I what I am, and I don't pretend to be anything else but Parley Kanaka'ole.