Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 28, Number 5, 1 Mei 2011 — Becoming Percy [ARTICLE]

Becoming Percy

By Kevin Chang was asked to review a new book, Big Happiness: The Life and Death of a Moāem Hawaiian Warrior, because the subject, my friend Percy Pomaika'i Kipapa, and the subject matter and context were familiar. The book highlights Percy's story as a son of Waikāne who rose in the ranks of a difficult and brutal sport. His life was one, like many in Hawai'i influenced by a context of muhiple factors including rural life and change, physical strength and size and a history of land loss and years of feeling frustrated and defeated, among other things. It was also a context that culminated in one fatal evenina involvina crystal

meth, a large hunting knife, a so-called best friend and mysterious motives. Rather than write as if I were unbiased, I want to say why you should be compelled to read about my friend. The author, also a friend, taps into some of the underlying tensions in this 'āina. My mana'o is that this book is enlightening for showing how eaeh of us is only a stone's throw away from Percy's life story or experience. Read it. Pass it on. Hana hou. Percy and I met as kids in kung fu class at KEY Project in Kahalu'u. One day, accidentally, he knocked me over. Embarrassed, I chased him around the hall with swinging fists and teary eyes. Percy was a big boy then. He later grew to be 6 feet 3 inches, 430-plus pounds and would rise in the spiritual sport of sumo. We would meet again when I lived in Japan for a short period. Percy ran from me because he was gentle of heart and did

notknowhisstrength. Hewasvery, very, giving and strong. Strong in that way a consumption-driven society exploits, devalues and characterizes island culture and values as weak: we give and share a lot. It is a core theme of Percy's life. The biggest of our bruddahs are often the most beaten down by our society. They manifest the irreconcilable tensions that exist at the heart of our community: self-doubt, self-defeat, anger and love. Some of us grow big so we ean absorb the blows. Mottai nai is a Japanese term that echoes throughout the book. Minamina would be another. Whether in Japanese or Hawaiian, these words eeho a sentiment of sadness and regret over a loss of

promise and potential. For our beloved Hawai'i many wear a lei of bitter sweetness, of great joy and sorrow, a tragicomic frustration, a night side, a light side strung together by a deep and abiding aloha. This book takes my friend and places him in context and asks: How mueh control do we have over our context - our situation - and vice versa? But Percy was not perfect. Nor was he an angel. This book also asks : Is it better to remove ourselves from what's most familiar for the sake of our own survival? It ean be good to get away, to grow, relieve tension, debrief from bad influences, to mature, cultivate the patience and wisdom to be home and navigate the changes. As a sumotori, Percy did well in Japan. In Japan he was a warrior. But when he eame home, this land held little promise for him, mottai nai. This land was the plaee he loved to his core; this was also

the land where he ended up feeling the most defeated. In this short life, I have lost more friends than I have fingers. Because of this I have made it a point to express my aloha and eoneem in a blunt manner when I see people I love take actions contrary to their interest. For Percy one of the last things I ever told him was: DO NOT COME HOME. IT IS NOT TIME. In Percy's story you will see that our joys and sorrows are also embedded in the soil of this 'āina. Sometimes that sorrow consumes us. From my bruddah Percy's life and circumstances we might leam and in time, we might transfonn the sorrow. We ean till the soil and make it breathe again. The land was onee known for its abundance of life, so were its people. ■ Kevin Chang is a Lanā Manager at OHA.