Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 30, Number 12, 1 December 2013 — Education ʻaha to bring world's indigenous peoples to Hawaiʻi [ARTICLE]

Education ʻaha to bring world's indigenous peoples to Hawaiʻi

By Lisa Asato The Office of Hawaiian Affairs will be a proud sponsor of the World Indigenous Peoples Conference on Education in May, when the triennial gathering returns to Hawai'i for the first time in 15 years. Some 2,000 people attended the 1999 Hilo conference, and organizers this time are "optimistically expecting 3,000" attendees, up to a third of whieh will eome from Hawai'i, says Lui Hokoana, director of the Native Hawaiian Education Association, host of the 2014 gathering. About 1,000 people attended the last gathering, in 201 1, in Cuzco, Peru, he said. Hokoana, vice chancellor for students at the University of Hawai'i-West O'ahu, wants to build awareness in Hawai'i that WIPCE is coming. Organizers have already started receiving workshop proposals covering diverse subjects, including language preservation. "I've also seen some interesting ones on sustainability and looking to indigenous cultures on their ideas of sustainability, because that's the buzzword nowadays," Hokoana says. The five-day event will include keynote speeches by Hawai'i families led by recognizable names in the community - including Calvin and Charlene Hoe of Hakipu'u Learning Center Puhlie Charter School, educator and Kumu Hula Taupouri Tangaro of Hilo, and Kumu Hula Hōkūlani Holt of Maui. Also planned are a youth strand for 13- to 17-year-olds at Kamehameha Schools-Kapālama campus, an 'Aha Kāne and an 'Aha Wāhine where men and women ean gather separately to discuss issues pertinent to them, and numerous huaka'i, or field trips, to sites like a charter school, 'Aha Pūnana Leo preschool and Bishop Museum. "We're sending them all over

O'ahu," Hokoana says. Kalani Akana, OHA' s pou kukuna mo'omeheu, or cultural specialist, will be presenting a workshop on hei, or Hawaiian string figures. He is also organizing the welcoming protocol for visiting dignitaries to take plaee at Sans Souci Beach before everyone heads to Waiklkl Shell, for an 'awa ceremony and a hula Akana composed for La'amaikahiki, who brought the pahu, drum, to Hawai'i. La'amaikahiki, Akana says, is an example of how innovations ean be shared among peoples. "He's the one who introduced this new idea," Akana says. "He taught (Hawaiians) how to use it (pahu), how to chant with it. In a way, it's an innovation he brought to Hawai'i and it's been entrenched here since." "That's the whole idea of WIPCE," Akana adds, "so indigenous peoples ean eome together, share with eaeh other, learn from eaeh other and use what ean work in their society." The theme of the conference, whieh addresses education from newborns to kūpuna, is "E Mau Ana Ka Mo'olelo: Our Narratives Endure." ■

World lndigenous Peoples Conference on Education When: May 19-24, 2014 Where: Kapi'olani Community College in Honolulu, with huaka'i (field trips) and related strands at various locations Workshop proposal deadline: Dec. 31 Registration: $575 through Jan. 31. $725 after Jan. 31 Youth registration: $300 for those under 18 (no early bird discount applies) lnfo, registration and workshop proposal submissions: wipce2014.com

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