Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 28, Number 7, 1 Iulai 2010 — Guiding the Kū images home [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Guiding the Kū images home

By Lisa Asato KaWai Ola Helping to escort two Kū images from England and Massachusetts for a temporary exhibit at Bishop Museum was an honor, said Dr. Kamana'opono Crabbe, one of four cultural liaisons who accompanied the 800-pound ki'i to Honolulu.

"It's as if all the eultural training that my family and my kumu (Hokulani Holt-Padilla) had taught me helped to prepare me to be there at that moment," said Crabbe, who is OHA's Director of Research. "The other men that were with me, we all felt we were picked or there was a reason for us being there," he said, referring to Kukona

Lopes, Kyle Nakanelua and Keawe Kaholokula. The four men traveled to the PeabodyEssex Museum in Salem, Mas-

sachusetts, and the British Museum in England in May, along with Bishop Museum's Chief Operating Officer Blair Collis, Cultural Resource Specialist Marques Marzan and Registrar Malia Baron. The two ki'i are on loan to Bishop Museum for an historic

exhibit, "E Kū Ana Ka Paia: Unification, Responsibility and the Kū Images," whieh reunites the three largest Kū images in the world. The third Kū is permanently housed at Bishop Museum. The exhibit runs through Oct. 4. "All three represent a period in our history that marked a significant time of transition

for our people from the traditional Hawaiian world into the global world," said Crabbe, adding that in the early 1800s Hawaiians saw the abolishment of the 'ai kapu system, a new religion, economy and commerce. "There's so mueh of the physical manifestations that were lost that these images are a few of the remnants that survived that still

remind us that our Hawaiian people and ancestors were a great people. It was important for the return of these images to help us remember the great history, great heritage that our people had and still have." Crabbe, a part of a cultural advisory group See KŪ IMAGES on pagE 37

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Crabbe

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KŪ IMAGES

Continued from page 25 of kūpuna, cultural practitioners and organizations convened by the museum, was integral in suggesting protocol in the return of the two images, whieh had made their way from Hawai'i to the other museums in the 19th century. Despite the time away from Hawai'i, the images still retain their energies, whieh the group could sense, he said. "Even if they've been away for over 150 years, it just takes a eouple of chants to reconnect," he said. "They (the ki'i) hear similar voices, they hear similar tones, they ean smell and see very familiar gifts of offerings - and all of that adds to reawakening the consciousness of those images." As a member of the group Hale Mua o Kuali'i, whieh perpetuates traditional ceremonies and male cultural arts, Crabbe has performed many ceremonies related to Kū as well as Lono practices regarding makahiki. "Drawing from those experiences, we were able to eome up with a selection of chants that

we felt were appropriate in honoring the images, but at the same _ time to provide prayers and chants for a safe voyage home," he said. For Kū - the god of war, healing, farming, husbandry and upland forests - uneommon chants were selected, including chants of gods, ancient chiefs and chants that "honored the mana or the life force of Kū himself," said Crabbe, who is a licensed psychologist. The ceremonies included wearing of traditional malo and kīhei (eape). While the group was abroad, others in Hawai'i prayed and burned fires night or day "to make sure our well-being was safe and for a safe return," Crabbe said, explaining that Kū's inhuenee in society "brought a level of seriousness that we do things properly and that get to the essence of honoring him and his return to Hawai'i." So while the group was away, women here picked wauke to make kapa and kumu hula prepared haumāna to do ancient hula relating to Kū. "The importance of Kū not only ignited us as individuals but it had an effect on the broader Hawaiian community to heeome involved and contribute," he said. ■