Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 11, Number 2, 1 ʻAukake 1994 — Caring for the culture [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Caring for the culture

by Deborah L. Ward Raised in Waimea, Kaua'i by grandparents who practiced a traditional Hawaiian lifestyle, Dana Kaua'i'iki 01ores sees himself as steeped in the love of Hawaiian culture. But he also sees himself as a bridge between the past and future generations of Hawaiians who want to preserve and perpetuate their heritage. Preserving the past for Hawai'i's future generations is the work that 01ores, 33, is pursuing as a eollections care intern in the conservation services department of Bishop Museum. During a oneyear internship funded by OHA, Bishop Museum and the Mellon Foundation, he will leam about museum practices and procedures and work with conservators to leam how to care for objects and how to maintain collections. In turn, he will share with museum staff his knowledge to ensure that the concems, values and practices of the Hawaiian community are made known regarding the care and interpretation of Hawaiian cultural items in the museum. His internship will include attendance at professional museum meetings and up to two months' study at museums outside Hawai'i. He was selected for his personal experience and knowledge of Hawaiian and Pacific cultural traditions. He says, "I hope to get out of this intemship a great understanding of museum operations behind the scenes. My desire is to work with as many departments as I ean, so I work not only here in conservation but also with differ-

ent departments such as anthropology, zoology, archives, library and the registrar. I'm hoping to reach every part of the museum to find out how all the workers are related." He says, "I'm not working here for myself, but for all Hawaiians — all of my ancestors that have passed on, the present generation and the future generation — that non-natives will eome to understand our culture better. I ean be a voice for our people when I see that something is not right. I'll say, 'You know, that's not right. That's not one of our cultural practices.' " "Museums to me are places that people go to 'muse' at people of cultures that are dead, and at curiosities, things that no longer exist anymore. And it's heavy for me. When I started working here, my family and my friends said, 'What are you doing, working for the museum? Why do you even want to work there? You know what they did to our stuff?' I said, 'I know what they did to our stuff, but I want to see and leam with my own eyes for sure, so I see and I hear and have first hand knowledge.' Someone has to take the first step to eome behind the door and be the eyes and the ears of the people." He adds, "Eventually I hope to see many Hawaiians involved in every aspect and every portion of this museum. To actually run this museum, or to have a museum of our own, a native Hawaiian museum mn by native Hawaiians. That is my dream to see that. And if not that, to maintain and take care

of this museum, because it is a state museum." "We are the ones to interpret our culture and to exhibit our things from our cultural standpoint. We will be there, visible and alive," he said. Living by Hawaiian values Though he was bom in Waimea, and his parents live in Kekaha, 01ores considers all Kaua'i his home. His family genealogies are intertwined with those of Ni'ihau and Kaua'i families. He speaks two dialects of Hawaiian and eonsiders those islands his 'āina hānau. 01ores: "I was raised by my grandparents, really old style. We grew taro and everything. The little shack that my grandfolks had, there was no electricity. The water that we drank eame from the ditch in front of the house. That was the same water we bathed in and that was the same water that fed our taro patches. We practiced aquaculture in the river, building houses for 'ōpae and 'o'opu. We were raised going down to the river, catching hinana, catching 'o'opu, building the mākāhā, the trap for 'o'opu, learning about the seasons — when a certain flower or fruit is in bloom, then this fish is ready to be eaten — or when the mo'o goddess would let her hair out in the river, all this limu would appear. Then you would know it was the time for the rains to eome down." "In the moming when we got up, we were to observe the first animal or the first ray of light that we would see. We would stand there with my grandmother and when the first ray of light would shine, she would raise up her hands and she would catch the first rays in her hands and she would harness the mana of the sun. ..." "When it would be raining torrential rain, my grandmother would go out in the rain and she would thank and praise Akua while other people would be cursing the rain." It was from his grandmother, Helen Lahapa Kailiokalani, that he learned about lā'au lapa'au, and began his study of the leimaking art. Today he is known as a master lei-maker on Kaua'i. She also taught him the ancient Hawaiian values that are still part of him today. "I still think of the earth as my mother and the sky as my father, Papa and Wakea. I never forget that these are relatives, the very wind and the rain, all the elements. Constantly when I go out, I see my aumakua. I read the signs in the heavens, what is to eome. In fact, a lot of the knowledge that I acquired through the

years, comes through a Hawaiian way, through dreams." The search for knowledge has inspired 01ores throughout his life. He began his study of hula at age 3 and continued to leam from different teachers who accepted him as a student even though, as

one of eight children in his family, there was no money to pay for lessons. His first paid job was dancing hula at Paradise Pacifica while in the tenth grade. Since then his talents as a dancer and singer have taken him all over the world to perform and teach. After four years as chanting and drumming out of aloha as ho'opa'a to kumu hula Vicky Holt Takamine at the University

of Hawai'i-Mānoa, he obtained a lecturer position, before his present museum intemship. He credits her with teaching and guiding him in hula protocol and allowing him to grow in hula. He plans to be part of her first class to 'uniki as part of his lifetime goal to be a

kumu hula. To 01ores, hula is not just entertainment, but is an expression of Hawaiian spirituality. Though he was raised as a Christian, he eonsiders himself a native practitioner, acknowledging native gods as well. He is able to embrace and love both, explaining, "ancestral spirit binds us as native Hawaiians today."

Moving a coliection of Hawaiian baskets in Bishop Museum's new Castle Hall storage area.

Keeper of the culture: Dana Kaua'i'iki Olores Photos by Deborah Ward

Olores works on repair of an ipu heke in the conservation department laboratory.