Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 10, Number 8, 1 August 1993 — A plant of old regains prominence: Three views on the modern Hawaiian ʻawa ceremony [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

A plant of old regains prominence: Three views on the modern Hawaiian ʻawa ceremony

by Jeff Clark When you tackle an all-eneom-passing subject like "culture," you realize there are a lot of different opinions. Take 'awa, for example. Botanist Isabella Aiona Abbott says in Lā'au Hawai'i that 'awa was onee the most frequently used plant in religious ceremony. David Malo, writing in Hawaiian Antiquities, first published in 1903, said that by the tum of the century the use of 'awa had diminished: "Awa was the intoxicating drink of the Hawaiians in old times; but in modern times many new intoxicants have been introduced from foreign lands, as rum, brandy, gin." What follows is the mana'o of

the two main purveyors of the 'awa ceremony in modern Hawai'i, along with that of a prominent critic. There are at least two practitioners of the ceremony who are well known today: Parley Kanaka'ole, a Hawaiian educator and cultural expert, and artist/historian Sam Kaai. Kaai has eonducted ceremonies at the rededication of Pu'ukoholā Heiau, for the voyages of the Hōkūle'a, and this year during centennial activities at 'Iolani Pala'ee. Kanaka'ole has conducted ceremonies for healing events on Kaho'olawe and for the launching of the tradi-tional-style canoes Mauloa and Hawai'i Loa. Both say they learned the 'awa

ceremony from their kūpuna. However, OHA Trustee Kamaki Kanahele has been outspoken in his criticism of the modern-day 'awa ceremony as being untraditional. "It is almost like they're making it up as they go along." "In traditional Hawaiian eulture, there was no such thing as a formal 'awa ceremony. The formal 'awa ceremony with a specifie protocol simply did not exist in ancient Hawai'i," according to trustee Kamaki Kanahele, chair of OHA's education and culture committee. "So any 'awa ceremony that you see today is a modern and contemporary expression, and it is almost like they're making it up as they go along." In old Hawai'i, 'awa was taken for religious purposes by priests in an enclosure either at a kahuna's house, on a heiau or within temple grounds, Kanahele said. "It was done in the privacy of the temple, but not in a formal public setting. That is not part of Hawaiian culture." Kanahele also said ali'i may have enjoyed 'awa among themselves, but he called the current use of 'awa in a publie ceremony by members of different Hawaiian classes "a eontradiction of culture" because the classes did not associate in ancient Hawai'i. "The ceremonies that we see today seem to be an offshoot and a mixture of Samoan, Tonga, and

Fijian culture," in whieh the practitioners piek and choose elements of eaeh and incorporate them into something new. Kanahele said in those cultures, especially Tongan, the ceremony is a beautiful, "classical" affair. Kanahele said it makes him "absolutely uncomfortable" that the ceremony is becoming a permanent fixture when Hawaiians gather for formal culture oeeasions. What bothers him is that when

culture is practiced in what he calls a "freestyle" manner, the new style is taken for "traditional" and the genuine traditions are more easily lost, or, as the case may be, eompletely obliterated. "I do it because I've done it for my

grandmother and grandfather." Parley Kanaka'ole said there are specific prayers said when performing the ceremony for specific occasions, but that he was taught the basic structure of the 'awa ceremony from his grandfather and grandmother. "As far as 'awa is concerned, there are a lot of personal artistic kinds of things that one does. And there are two kinds of Hawaiian 'awa ceremonies that are done today: one that was introduced by Sam Kaai, and

God bless him, he's been very adamant in doing it and that has brought back the 'awa ceremony. ... and one done by myself. Kanaka'ole says there are a lot of differences between the two. "In mine there are a lot of Hawaiian values that go with it. ... a lot of symbolism. The eup is symbolic of the god Lono. The ceremony is symbolic in that you ean use it for the altar of Kanaloa." He conducts ceremonies

in whieh the 'awa is distributed according to rank of importance by genealogy, seniority in politics or seniority in family - line. "There's symbolism in the preparation of the 'awa whereas you always recognize the son of a father; if both of

them are there you have the son honor his father with the chewing of the 'awa. Those kinds of symbolisms are quote-unquote culturally Hawaiian and I'm sure it is also recognized that way in other South Pacific islands. Other than our own, I only know the Samoan way of doing 'awa. I do it because I've done it for my grandmother and grandfather, and so I kind of use the same format." continued on page 23

Sam Kaai, practitioner of the Hawaiian 'awa cermony, blows his pū during centennial events last January. Photo by Jeff Clark

Kamaki Kanahele

'Awa continued from page 12 "Let us say today there is enough courage to do it in puhlie." Kaai talks of different eehelons of the 'awa ceremony, whieh begin with private gatherings honoring the head of a household and gain in intensity to the highest levels, whieh are part of secret, sacred temple business. The higher the eehelon of the ceremony, the more formal the procedures are, and the larger the kānoa. The kānoa, ceremonial 'awa bowls made of Hawaiian kamani wood, are named and have rank. Kaai leamed the 'awa ceremony from his kūpuna in the Kaupō area of Maui, and he doesn't seem to let his critics rankle him. "There are rumors flying around in Honolulu, and maybe that's what prompted this artiele, that when Sam Kaai did 'awa for Hōkūle'a they called it a Tongan 'awa. The reason they did that was the regional servant to the family of the eanoe was ... Herb Kawainui Kane, and he brought a large tapa, and had everybody sit on its edge, and he served from an eightlegged, large bowl. And so as a servant coming in the second plaee, not in the first, I had to honor that shape and form. And so for a long time, people who were not aware of what was happening in the Polynesian Voyaging Society, would say, 'Oh, they're doing a Tongan ceremony. This is ignorance." The Hawaiian 'awa ceremony is not new, Kaai maintains. "Let us say today there is enough courage to do it in publie, but it always was with us. ... It's not a big deal, it's just the song that my father sang, and his father sang, and his father sang."