Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 32, Number 8, 1 August 2015 — Connecting to the mana of PAPAHĀNAUMOKUĀKEA [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]
Connecting to the mana of PAPAHĀNAUMOKUĀKEA
«6 By Keola Lindsey, Brad Ka'aleleo Wong and Aliee Malepeai Silbanuz
After a day of sailing across Moananuiākea (the Paeihe Oeean), on June 26 Dr. Kekuewa Kikiloi and a research team arrive at Nihoa, an island located approximately 155 miles northwest of Kaua'i. AU onboard humbly stand in silent awe gazing upon the rugged, sloping terrain of the 170-acre island. Appearing inhospitable and uninhabitable from a distance, a closer view reveals numerous cultural sites carefully engineered and constructed that provide proof of Hawaiians ancestral eonneehon to Nihoa.
For Kikiloi and fellow researcher Anan Raymond, it is a return to a land where they have spent a significant amount of time conducting research that has contributed to a growing body of knowledge on how our ancestors thrived on this remote outpost and why they voyaged there. For three days the team conducts archaeological mapping and limited excavations, and utilizes traditional fishing techniques. The time passes quickly, and all too soon, it is time to load up and set sail for their next destination - Mokumanamana located another 150 miles to the northwest. Mokumanamana is an island of paramount spiritual importance. Mokumanamana was a center of traditional ritual power and origin of a system of religious
worship that eventually spread throughout the Hawaiian Islands. It sits on the border between pō and ao - the point in traditional Hawaiian thought where life emerged from darkness into light. As their team prepares to land on Mokumanamana, a spectacular sunrise acts as a confirmation of this border as the sky above seemingly splits in two halves of light and darkness. The next three days on Mokumanamana are spent successfully conducting activities similar to those completed on Nihoa. To date, Kikiloi's research on Mokumanamana has helped to document a total of 52 cultural sites and bring to light the entire island's significance. Just 10 days prior on Mokumanamana, Dr. Pua Kanaka'ole Kanahele led a group
of cultural practitioners in conducting research on the summer solstice. Mokumanamana lies on Ke ala polohiwa a Kāne (the Tropic of Cancer), the sun's northern zenith on the summer solstice. The research team had been on Mokumanamana during two previous summer solstices, recording baseline information, measurements and observations of the numerous uprights and observation platforms on the island. Research conducted during this third summer solstice would allow earlier findings to be confirmed and complete a report on the celestial and terrestrial alignments on the island. These expeditions are part of a strengthXI PAPAHĀNAUMOKUĀKEA ON PAGE 17
FROM A VOYAGING STANDPOINT, Nihoa offers us the opportunity to gain valuable celestial navigation experience where we ean put our teachings into practice and travel hundreds of miles across open oeean while remaining relatively safe in our home waters traveling to an aina kupuna." - Kaleomanuiwa Wong, Captain and Navigator Polynesian Voyaging Society
PAPAHĀNAUMOKUĀKEA SERVES AS A REMINDER of the diversity and abundance of life that used to exist in the main Hawaiian Islands. In a plaee that is seldom impacted by human hand, we ean better understand how ® natural systems respond to severe weather or climatic events and how they recover from these events. This gives us a better understanding of how to mitigate against human induced threats in the main Hawaiian Islands. —Athline Clark, NOAA Superintendent Papahānaumokuākea Marine Na tional Mon umen t
THERE HAVE BEEN many highlights within our io-year study of Mokumanamana. We've studied the oeean pathways to Mokumanamana and back, whieh includes the coastlines and significant pu'u on O'ahu, Kaua'i, Ni'ihau, Lehua, Ka'ula and Nihoa. We have utilized empirical data to find meaning within our traditional mele and mo'olelo to inform our studies and research. We are attempting to see the environment and sites as our kūpuna did to inform us as we discover new knowledge about these ancient lands. We are proud that we are part of a continuum in the quest for knowledge to understand our universe
in the same way as our kupuna did." — Dr. Pua Kanaka 'ole Kanahele, Co-Founder, Edith Kanaka 'ole Foundation
Hikianalia. - Courtesy : Kaipo Kiaha, 'Oiwi IV
PAPAHĀNAUMOKUĀKEA IS A PLACE we all hope that the main Hawaiian Islands ean strive to be like. It is also a sacred plaee where our lāhui ean go to for enlightenment and reconnecting to our sacred places." - Kehau Springer, Na Maka o Papahānaumokuākea
PAPAHĀNAUMOKUĀKEA IS PART OF US. To separate this enormous . I part of our Hawaiian universe from us for so long made our universe shrink temporarily. Papahānaumokuākea helps remind us what abundance looked like before our baseline of wellness shifted, offering us vision for what we should want for our entire archipelago. rBeing reconnected with her again helps make us whole."
— 'Aulani Wilhelm, NOAA Ofhce ofNadonal Marine Sanctuaries ™
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