Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 27, Number 6, 1 Iune 2010 — Travels on the continent, travels back in time [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Travels on the continent, travels back in time

Aloha Kākou, During late April my wife, Maile, and I had occasion to visit family in Saskatchewan, Virginia (geography question for you), and Utah and whieh included a little OHA business and family genealogy. Visiting my son Kohono in Virginia I was able to take a trip into D.C. and visit with the staffs of Senators Akaka and Inouye and chat with them about the Akaka Bill and its

status. Suffice it to say that we are all awaiting some indication of the vote count for cloture (60 votes needed to hear the bill in the Senate). I missed seeing the Senators but appreciated their post-visit contact via telephone. In Utah I spoke at the Utah Valley University in Provo about the Akaka Bill, with Gwen Andersen of UVU making the arrangements there. Those in attendance were mostly Hawai'i people and were most eager to learn more of what was happening with the bill, its purpose and how it might fit into their families and lives. In Salt Lake City I also met with Soulee Stroud, first vice president of the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs, and brought him up to date with the bill. In Saskatchewan I visited the Muskowegan tribal eouneil at their reserve in what seemed like the middle of nowhere and spoke briefly about the bill. Their chief then told me he knew a Hawaiian who, when he last saw him, was playing a flute without his mouth. Turned out to be Dr. Peter Hanohano of OHA, who had gone to school in Alberta where he was friends with Chief Bellarose. Some small, the world. Also during these trips I was able to talk about and discuss the importance of our genealogies. In 2009 BYUTV began shooting for a new series on eahle TV called the Generations Project. My wife and I were asked to participate in two of the 13 episodes and agreed, not having

the faintest idea what it would include. They asked us to select an ancestor whom we wanted to know more about and they would then research and make an episode to be shown on their eahle TV station (on Maui ehannel 409). Well, we agreed and I chose King Kaumuali'i whose name I saw in my Titcomb genealogy but had never been told was an ancestor of mine. They researched my connections with the king as well as with Isaac Davis and eame to a startling conclusion,

whieh you ean see on eahle. (They repeat the shows.) As for my wife, she chose Emma Kaimilani Lyons, her great-grandmother, born and raised in Hāna and who died at Kalaupapa. Her story turned out to be a touching love story in whieh Kaimilani married and had six children at Kalaupapa all of whom she had to give up to relatives before they reached one year. Her husband, John Keanu Waiamau, was a member of the first graduating class of Kamehameha and though he was diagnosed with leprosy, he never really contracted the disease; nevertheless, he remained faithfully with his wife until she succumbed to the dread disease and then left Kalaupapa to join his children and later remarry. These episodes led to another vignette being prepared for the National Genealogical Conference in Salt Lake City at whieh the story of Emma Waiamau was shown in front of more than 10,000 people in attendance. This exposure to ancestors has brought to me a burning desire to leam more about them, to do what I ean to help them, to remember them and to teach my family about them. We all have ancestors, for better or for worse, and they ean be of help to us, but first we must know who they are. So don't be surprised if you see my name in the family reunion section of Ka Wai Ola for different family reunion gatherings. It's my way of remembering my ancestors. Will you remember? ■

Būyd P. Mūssman TrustEE, Maui