Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 15, Number 6, 1 Iune 1998 — SCIENCE AT THE CENTER OF THE EARTH [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

SCIENCE AT THE CENTER OF THE EARTH

ln Hailua. Hui Lama pracNces ecologi| and orchoeologi| shills io applq in distanr Rapa Nui. B v Paula Durbin AMULTI-FACETED science project takes 18 pioneering Kamehameha School students to Rapa Nui this summer. They will be the first high school participants in the efforts to unravel the mysteries of Rapa Nui's fabulous stone culture, its deforestation and the route originally navigated to the tiny island that calls itself "the center of the earth" - te pito o te henua. Their May 30-15 June project also launches a reconnection between Hawaiians and Rapa Nui that promises to be on-going. The students are members of Hui Lama, Kamehameha's hiking and environmental science club, the trip's sponsor. They have been working since last summer to offset the expense of their transportation and stay. "We've been doing ehieken sales, candy, car washes," sophomore Dallas Carter said of the mandatory fundraisers, "and we have concession stands around the school." Also required was a commitment to evening orientation sessions and Saturday training at Holomakani Heiau and Kawainui Marsh under the supervision of Dr. Chuck Burrows, biology teacher, Hui Lama advisor and lead planner for the project. "Our students are learning the skills of archaeology and ecology. We've cleared

vegetation to expose the masonry of the heiau. We've conducted mapping, surveying and excavations," he said. "We've constructed a loop trail, landscaped and

we've posted signs to inform others that respect and care must be given." Why have they all been willing to work so hard? "It's a onee in a lifetime ehanee,"

» said freshman Auli'i George. "I'm excited about this trip. It will be an experience I'm surc everyone will remember for the rest of our lives," added junior Lauiie Young, who will likely use her Spanish language skills since Rapa Nui, also known as Easter Island, is part of Chile. "Hui Lama's last trip was to New Zealand," Burrows explained. "Rapa Nui completes our Polynesian triangle voyage. Our overall mission is to establish a Polynesian kinship with students and eommunity groups in Rapa Nui through scientific and cultural exchanges. "One goal is to conduct an archaeologieal survey of a prehistoric coastal settlement in Rapa Nui and compare it with Kawainui Marsh on O'ahu and with Kaho'olawe," he continued. As we hike I across the island, we'll be observing plant I and animal life and collecting lava cave 1 insects, research that has not been thorI oughly done befbre. We'll be involved in I the reforestation program. With the help p of the state forestry department, we have 1 already collected, prepared and shipped I seeds of indigenous and endemic HawaiI ian trees and plants: milo, kou, sandalt wood and ma'o hauhele." Recently. Burrows announced that the 1 seeds sent to Rapa Nui had germinated. After a ceremony celebrating this success, I the students will transplant the seedlings ( in the Rapa Nui Nanonal Park following ; Hawaiian agricultural protocol. A group I from the University of Hawai'i's Center 1 for Hawaiian Studies will follow with I more seeds in July. The Kamehameha students will also f share their paddling skills with their Rapa l Nui counterparts. Onee back home, they [ will maintain contact via e-mail and satelj lite. When Nainoa Thompson sets sail for || RapaNui in 1999, both groups of smdents | will monitor the Hōkūle'a's navigation I daily. I Located 2300 miles from the Chilean I coast, Rapa Nui shares the Hawaiian arch- - l ipelago's distinction as the world's most I remote land mass. The voyage from here I to there is the most treacherous in the 1 Pacific because of unfavorable winds as I well as Rapa Nui's extreme isolation, low | profile and small area, only 45 square | miles, the same as Ni'ihau's. "Some peo- | ple say the island ean only be found when I it wants to," Mahina Rapu, originally I from Rapa Nui, told the students before I their departure. Navigating without instruments, Thompson will be guided by natural elements, traditional wisdom and his own reflexes. If he reaches Rapa Nui, his success will offer further evidence that the island was originally settled by Polynesians, not South Americans as has been speculated. "This will be international news, history in the making," said Burrows. National Geographic plans a television special spanning the science project and the sail. ■

Top: Kamehameha teachers Dick Mills (with rake) and Sigrid Southworth (blue hat) supervise the training of Rapa Nui-bound students and alumni at Kawainui Marsh. Bottom left: Junior Jessica Viernes displays a Hawaiian artifact discovered at dig. Bottom right: Dr. Chuck Burrows' flourishing onapanapa, traditionally used as shampoo, is among many native plants Hui Lama has returned to the marsh.

PHOTOS: SIMONE OBERMAN