Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 12, Number 11, 1 Nowemapa 1995 — 'Kulu wai maka, ola ka lāhui' [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

'Kulu wai maka, ola ka lāhui'

Kupuna carry on traditions of our culture

Story and photos by Jeff Clark The mea oli started chanting his oli before entering the room. This chanter, Manu Boyd, OHA's eulture specialist and the youngest person present, demonstrated for the kūpuna what he would later liken to the tradition of announcing one's presence at a friend's house before being seen. It was a tradition carried out, not just explained and leamed about. Putting Hawaiian values and eultural traits into action - that was a theme stressed at OHA's 8th annual 'Aha Kūpuna, held Sept. 29 - Oct. 1 at the Westin Maui Hotel in Kā'anapali.

This annual conference brings together kūpuna from across the slate to leam, review and encourage sharing some of the cultural attributes that makes them Hawaiian. OHA chairman Clayton Hee called 'Aha Kūpuna "a plaee to share your knowIedge with one another, and to strengthen and let flourish the values whieh make us unique as a people." HSEC chairman and Maui County Councilmember from Lāna'i, Sol Kaho'ohalahala gave the keynote speech, in whieh he, as is custom, outlined a bit of his genealogy. Kaho'ohalahala ean trace his family's residence in Hawai'i back 700 years, and he alluded to the conference's official

theme (Kulu Waimaka, Ola Ka Lāhui - Tears of the people is the life of the naūon) when he said he is acting on "700 years of their tears and their wishes and their hopes for something better." He then explained that the generations of ancestors that led to one's birth should not be a burden - they're not to be carried on one's shoulders, rather, one should be buoyed up by his kūpuna. Kaho'ohalahala is "being carried and held" by his ancestors, he said. "You represent who you are through your kūpuna and

their kūpuna. ... The dreams, hopes and wishes of our kūpuna will never die," Kaho'ohalahala said, adding that the ta.sk before us is to take that mana'o and "to make it real, to put it into action and to implement it. ... The tears of our kūpuna are their hopes and their dreams and their wishes and we are all lifted by them to carry through." Kaho'ohalahala reminded the attendees that they are the link to the past for their children and mo'opuna, and he implored them to "share all of those things with them because you are their connection to the past and to the future." Various workshops were held over the course of the conference, including one on "protocol through oli" conducted by OHA's culture specialist Manu Boyd. He explained that he began his conference-open-ing chant outside the door that moming because that is a tradition - when you go to someone's house, you want to be heard before you are seen. That's why we say, "Hui," when approaching a &iend's house. I ka wā kahiko, the eommon people would chant for many different occasions, this being one of them. Boyd didn't merely discuss this concept, he fīrst demonstrated iL He said chants were performed for a purpose. In fact, when he is asked to chant at a function, he asks the requestor to state ihe purpose for the ehanl. If there is no reason other than to add drama or to make everyone "chicken-skin," he won't do it - chant is for a purpose so if there's no purpose there's no chant. Putting Hawaiian values and traditions into action Another oli workshop was held by kumu hula Auli'i Mitchell. Putting a Hawaiian tradition into action, he taught the kūpuna a chant, whieh they memorized until they were ma'a and practiced until it was pa'a. The kūpuna seemed grateful to actually learn and do and not just talk about it. After the workshops, the participants gathered for the "Nou ke Kapa" activity. Eaeh kūpuna was given a bit of quilting to wcrrk on, whieh many of them did for the remainder of the conference - again, hands-on implementation of a Hawaiian cultural tradition. In the workshop titled "Waiwai Kanaka," Hōkūlani Holt-Padilla talked about Hawaiian values and said mueh of what she learned about nā mea Hawai'i eame from her grandparents, Henry and Ida Long. The kumu for a hālau hula called Pā'ū o Hi'iaka and a Hawaiian language and culture educator, she is very grateful that she was raised hānai. "Values are those things that we carry with us from small-kid time up to wheie we are now," she said. "Values are things that guide our choices day by day." She said that if you grew up in a predominantly Chinese or Filipino or haole house-

hold, maybe you had Hawaiian values but you didn't know that they were Hawaiian. Upon hearing a trait described as "Hawaiian," the reaction might be, "Aia, I know that, we did that, but I never knew that was Hawaiian." Onee a Hawaiian gains kupuna status, he has time to reflect and realize, "It wasn't lost, it was just sleeping. ... it was waiting." Holt-Padilla talked of individual values like aloha, lōkahi, and laulima, but she emphasized the importance of aloha. "When I was growing up, aloha was major. To my aunties, if you don't have aloha you might as well lay down and die, because aloha was the guiding prineiple." She outlined three kinds of aloha: Aloha ke Akua (recognition of and love for a power greater than us — "It's that great spirituahty that makes us Hawaiians"), Aloha 'Āina (loving and caring for the natural environment) and Aloha Kekahi i Kekahi (translated as "love one another"). Maui herbahst Lyons Naone eonducted a session on "Lā'au Lapa'au." He delineated between intemally-caused sickness (ma'i ma

loko) and sickness from external sources (ma'i ma waho). For ma'i ma loko, he said that "healing begins with the self' and stressed that in many cases the patient must change his life in order to get healthy. Then, there are four important elements to remember: mea 'ai (what, how and when you eat), nanea (relaxation), ikaika (exercise) and hau'oli (happiness/pleasure). The first three must be taken in moderation, but the last you ean have without limit. Naone then described some of the various plantmedicines he brought with him, and talked about different ways of administering them. Other 'Aha Kūpuna workshops featured:

• "Kaona o ka Hula Kahiko," in whieh Nina Maxwell taught a hula to the kūpuna. • "Honokahua Tradiūons," in whieh Charles Maxwell discussed the struggle to protect Hawaiian burials and brought the kūpuna on a Honokahua field trip. • "Ipu Wai," in whieh Auli'i Mitchell guided the kūpuna through cleaning, drilling, sanding, and finishing a calabash. It became a reminder of 'Aha Kūpuna 1995 and of cultural traditions not lost but carried on. • "Mo'okū'auhau," a workshop in whieh genealogist Lucy Meyer taught kūpuna how best to explore their family tree. "'Olelo Makuahine," a Hawaiian language kūkākūkā session led by Kupuna Elizabeth Nalani Mersberg Ellis. In closing the conference, OHA's Kupuna Planning Committee solicited comments from the kūpuna about what they learned during 'Aha Kūpuna 1995. Bonding, acccptance, and a willingness to share were some of the

things the kūpuna said they experienced. "If it wasn't for a conference such as this, my children wouldn't have the ehanee to learn what I learned here," said one kupuna. Planning committee member Hīnano Paleka said, "Now you know it is our duty ... to preserve and pass on the mana'o of our kūpuna. "Let's live those values." Paleka added that some kūpuna said they feel like pēpē (babies) because they're leaming some basic things for the first time. She implored the kūpuna to prevent such a delay in learning on the part of their mo'opuna. Teach them so they don't have to wait unūl they're old to leam, she said.

Lei maker Olive Purdy Silva displays colorful haku.

Roy Almeida cleans his ipu.

Kainoa Wright works on her kapa kuiki.