Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 32, Number 4, 1 April 2015 — Living culture and transforming education [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Living culture and transforming education

Something profound had changed in the cosmos when the Hōkūle'a first glided across the sands and entered the shimmering waters of sacred Kualoa in 1975 — it had been many centuries since a double-hulled voyaging eanoe had graced Hawaiian waters. But it was her return from a triumphant journey to Tahiti and back in 1976 that quieted the critics and created a shift in the Hawaiian psyche: Hōkūle'a had heeome an ieon of Hawaiian competence. Upon such wa'a kaulua - our ancestors transported people, landscapes, ideas and aspirations as they traversed the largest body of water on earth at will. Hōkūle'a emerged at a time of great cultural resurgence, whieh elevated and amplified the importance of Hawaiian culture, language, native rights and self-determination. The whole nohon of navigating by the stars as our kūpuna did inspired us to redirect our aūenhon to our own ancestral sources of knowledge and leaming. One of those ancestral sources is our south Paeihe homeland - our true "mainland." Education through culture - Classroom of the world It is hard to shape young people into worldly citizens without getting them and their teachers out into the larger world to live culture. In 1985, for the very first time, students traveled to the south Paeihe to support the arrival ceremonies of the Hōkūle'a at Waitangi, Aotearoa (New Zealand). Hundreds of Māori warriors greeted the wa'a with a thunderous haka (traditional posture dance) that seemed to shake the entire earth. Students heard the eloquent words of esteemed elder Sir James Henare declare that the Hōkūle'a extended family was the 6th Tribe of Te Tai Tokerau - their tribe. In 1990, students and teachers traveled to Juneau to honor the Tlingit, Haida and Tshimshian tribes of Southeast Alaska for donating logs for the construction of the Hawai'iloa eanoe. This indigenous act of compassion acknowledged that there were no longer koa trees in Hawai'i forests of sufficient size to construct a voyaging eanoe. In 1992, students and teachers returned to Waitangi to erect an ancestral carved post named Mauipāmamao to represent the Hawaiian tribe, Ngāti Ruawāhia (Tribe of Arcturus/Hōkūle'a). Later that same year, students proudly participated in the dramatic landfall of an impressive flotilla of Polynesian voyaging canoes led by the Hōkūle'a at Avanā Pass in Rarotonga, Cook Islands, as part of the sixth Festival of Pacific Arts. Students and teachers were also key participants in ceremonies at Taputapuātea Marae, in Ra'iatea to initiate Hōkūle'a at one of the

most sacred sites in Polynesia known as a gathering plaee for navigational leaming. In 1995 on the island of Nukuhiva in the Marquesas, students conducted experiments, one of whieh studied the effects of ginger in relieving sea sickness among the crew, and another on the effectiveness of a plant-based sunscreen. In 1998-99 students and teachers did archaeological, environmental and DNA research on Rapa Nui and engaged in significant reforestation efforts to honor the community and to acknowledge the island's history of serious deforestation. Since the Mālama Honua Worldwide Voyage began last year, students and teachers from schools throughout Hawai'i are finding their way into the Pacific to engage the voyage at different locations - some have even set their sights on places such as Cape Town, South Africa, New York and Rapa Nui over the next three years. Such travel experiences are critieal in strengthening young peoples' identity as citizens of the Pacific and the greater world. When asked "Are these experiences cultural or educational?" I reply, "They are both." From a Hawaiian perspective culture and education cannot be separated, they are one and the same. Education in all its forms emerges from culture. The lifeways of a people over time determine the particular knowledge that a culture wishes to perpetuate through its forms of education. Culture through education - Top education leaders unite For four decades, Hōkūle'a has been a heaeon of learning, illuminating the world's understanding of Polynesian ancestral ingenuity and demonstrating its global capacity to serve humankind. Hōkūle'a is an intergenerational classroom for families and communities, a science laboratory for exploring new knowledge, a venue for leadership development, a living library with an amazing collection of stories that connect the very ancient, to what has yet to be discovered. Fundamentally, Hōkūle'a is about education. Hawai'i's top education leaders from the Department of Education, the University of Hawai'i, private schools such as Punahou,

'Iolani and Kamehameha, and other institutions of learning have formed an unprecedented partnership: Guided by the principles of the Mālama Honua Worldwide Voyage - caring for Island Earth - these education partners have committed to working together to help transform education in Hawai'i. They are challenging their respective faculties to robustly engage the voyage by turning classrooms and campuses into extensions of the wa'a. They are supporting the development of innovative curriculum and research and encouraging educators to freely share knowledge across institutions. They are promoting virtual engagement via hokulea.com where you ean trackthe voyage live, andexperience stunningly vivid videographic "learning joumeys" of eom-munity-based sustainability projects at various locations along the voyage - you feel like you're right there with members of the crew. Perhaps the greatest reward from all of these efforts is to witness students applying their global knowledge and understanding of sustainability with a sense of Pacific identity, and seeing how it is shaping their attitudes and behaviors as emerging leaders. These efforts are embodied in a doctrine endorsed and signed by all education partners: Promise to Children. Excerpts of this agreement read: "We are the stewards and navigators of Hawai'i's educational community. We believe that the betterment of humanity is inherently possible, and we believe our schools, eolleetively, fromearly childhood education through advanced graduate studies, are a powerful force for good...This is the voyage of our lifetimes, and we are steadfast in our commitment to achieve a profound transformation in education...We will transform our schools, empower youthful voices, and accept the responsibility of Mālama Honua. We believe that by inspiring children to explore, discover and learn about Island Earth, they will navigate the future of humanity toward vitality, renewal, and compassion." As Hōkūle'a bids farewell to our Māori 'ohana of Aotearoa, makes her way down under to Australia to honor the aboriginal nations, and continues westward to circumnavigate the earth, she will continue to be that heaeon of learning, that ieon of competence and excellence that reflects the educational transformation our children so richly deserve. Kīauau, hukiauau, kōauau - Ke aloha nō! ■ Dr. Randie Kamueīa Fong is vice president euītural affairs, Kamehameha Schooīs - education sponsor ofthe Mālama Honua WorIdwide Voyage.

By Dr. Randie Kamuela Fong