Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 29, Number 9, 1 September 2012 — a SENSE of TRADITION [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

a SENSE of TRADITION

Leiala Cook has served in every capacity in a pā'ū unit in parades here - frompooper scooper to queen. It's a natural progression in the pā'ū world to start at the bottom and work your way up to a princess. And onee you've ridden for all eight Hawaiian Islands, you ean

earn a spot as queen. "Onee you're a queen, you're put to pasture, you're ; retired," says Cook, who served as queen in the Kamehameha Day parade in 2010. "Now I cannot ride. I got put to pas- . ture," she says matter of factly. "Now I work on the ground, helping with the pā'ū draping, draping princesses and I help attendants as well." , Since the 1980s, the Cook : family of Waimānalo has been i synonymous with the pā'ū and other horse-mounted units in the Waiklkl Aloha Festivals parade. Leiala Cook's parents, John and Lita, were at the helm from the '80s through 2003, I

when Lita passed away. And Leiala Cook says it's an honor to continue the tradition of her parents, whieh she learned under their guidance. As this year's Aloha Festi-

vals Floral Parade gets set to roll through Waikīkī on Sept. 22, Cook is preparing for her 1 lth as chairperson overseeing the horse-mounted units, whieh will include some 100 riders in the pā'ū units representing 10 islands. (Molokini and Nihoa islands were brought back this year because of a high demand for princesses.)

Meanwhile, Cook has been visiting the various units to observe how well the units' pages, escorts, attendants and princesses handle their horses, because her mother taught her that on the day of the parade, the safety of the horses, riders and spectators is paramount. She also gives the riders feedback on their formations and how well

they ride together (the units, after all, will be critiqued by judges for i showmanship, horsemanship and more). And on Sundays, Cook teaches mandatory pā'ū-draping I workshops. i "The secret with pā ' ū draping is there's no buttons or no zippers," she said of the 12-yard-long material that's draped around eaeh of the regal-looking princesses. "It's held up by six kukui nuts. And it's an art to put that kukui nut and wrap it and create that look that I they ride with on horseback." Cook, a volunteer who leads a committee of about two dozen j helpers, many of them close friends of her parents, said she 1 wants to continue to work with

the Aloha Festivals parade as long as the organizers want to keep her on. In the near-term, though, onee this year's Aloha Festivals parade wraps up, she'll set her sights set

on Pasadena in 2013, when the Hawai'i Pā'ū Riders - whieh her parents founded in 1980 - will return to the Rose Bowl Parade for the first time since 2001. "There's a sense of pride that comes with riding with a pā'ū unit," she says. "You feel like you're representing your ali'i and your kūpuna, and you're representing your Hawaiian culture." — Lisa Asato

Leiala Cook, right, with daughter Heavenly, is carrying on the tradition of family matriach Lita Cook, pictured on banner, in overseeing pa'ū units in the Waikīkī Aloha Festivals parade. - Photo: LisaAsato