Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 31, Number 6, 1 June 2014 — LEGENDS OF WAIʻANAE [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

LEGENDS OF WAIʻANAE

ByTreenaShapiro There aren't many picture books that children growing up on the Leeward Coast ean relate to, so a group of writers, photographers and models from the community have decided to change that. The result is the Ka'ena Aloha Series, a series of eight children's books created in and about the Wai'anae Coast, featuring lesser known stories about the area gathered from Hawaiian newspapers and other transcripts from the 1800s to 1900s. The books have titles like The Robbers of Mākaha and The Fish-Attracting Stone of Nānākuīi, revealing a sense of plaee as soon as you look at the cover. Ka'iulani Kauihou of Hi'ohia Ine., the books' publisher, said she was inspired to create a series for the children of the Leeward Coast while teaching in a Hawaiian-im-mersion program. She eame across a copy of Shel Silverstein's The Giving Tree that had been translated into Hawaiian and realized something that had never occurred to her reading the original version as a child. "As an adult reading the book in Hawaiian there were so many things that felt wrong about it, such as the 'take, take, take' mentality and the laek of Hawaiian views, such as asking for permission before taking, giving thanks and replenishing - or in this case, replanting what was used," she explains. It was then that she realized that Hawaiians had many of their own stories that could teach children Hawaiian ways of thinking and she began researching the Hawaiian newspaper archives to find some of those tales. "In short, the inspiration for this series eame from a laek of authentic Hawaiian literature in the immersion school libraries," she says. That's no longer the case. Keiki

ean now read Lo n oka ' eho and the Stones of Tahiti, whieh explains how Lonoka'eho, a favored chief of Tahiti, traveled the Leeward Coast to search

for his lost brother and why he built heiau at Laniākea and Pōka'L Or, in The Coconut Flute, they ean learn about Keakako, who was born without a voice but heeame a master flutist and eventually was able to communicate with others using a magical flute found in Wai'anae. While researching the Wai'anae mo'oelo, the Hi'ohia teamrealized it had a large number of stories to choose from, including many about the goddess Pele and demigods Māui and Kamapua'a. "In the end, we chose to produce the mo'olelo that were least known. Most people are familiar with the Pele and Māui mo'olelo, and there are already a number of publications with those mo'olelo, so we didn't choose those," Kauihou says. Her answer about whieh book was her favorite is an indicator of why Leeward Coast children might be drawn to these books. "To be honest, I don't have a favorite story. They are all so different and interesting in their own ways. But if I had to choose, then it would have to be The Robbers ofMākaha, but that is because I'm from Mākaha," she says with humor. The Robbers ofMākaha describes why it used to be dangerous to walk through Mākaha, especially when hearing the eall "Malolokai e" (low tide). Of course, by the end of the tale readers will know how that changed. The eight Hawaiian photographers who worked on the series created gorgeous images to illustrate the tales, and the Wai'anae

Coast models featured in eaeh volume are showcased at the end. But one element that really makes the Ka'ena Aloha Series more than just a collection of picture books comes in the final pages. There the original stories from Hawaiian publications are reproduced so that older, fluent Hawaiian readers ean have the story in both English and Hawaiian. "It's important for all of us, not just children, to know the stories of our ancestors, so that we know who

we are as descendants of some of the most amazing people in history and so that we ean better guide our futures," Kauihou points out. "I hope that whoever reads these stories will learn of the amazing history of the people of Hawai'i. I hope to also inspire others who have stories passed down to them to find ways to perpetuate and share them with all of us," Kauihou says. Hi'ohia is working on a second series of books about the mo'olelo of Ko'olauloa, but the Leeward

Coast series ean already be found in all the puhlie libraries and in the puhlie schools' Kūpuna programs. They ean also be purchased at the Mission Houses Museum, Queen Emma Summer Palaee, Polynesian Cultural Center and at Nā Mea Hawai'i. They ean also be purchased on the webathiohia.organdamazon.com. ■

Treena Shapi.ro, afi'eelance writer, is afonner reporterfor the Honolulu StarBulletin and Honolulu Advertiser.

Kū'iulani Kauihou

I This picture is from | the book Paliuli and I Hi'ilaniwai. Hi'ilaniwai I was a hula dancer in a ! hālau known to have | been based on the ] top of Mount Ka'ala. - Courtesy Hi'ohia lnc.