Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 36, Number 5, 1 May 2019 — Mana Moment: Laulani Teale [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Mana Moment: Laulani Teale

In November 2017, the OfRce of Hawaiian Affairs published Mana Lāhui Kānaka, a multidimensional study of mana: what it is, how to articulate it, and how to access and cultivate it in order to uplift our lāhui. The book and this eolumn share mana'o from community contributors on using culture and traditional knowledge as a foundation for how we advance in the world today. www.oha.org/mana

Mana, being a spiritual force, is intrinsically tied to pono, and also to ea, that spiritual life force of sovereignty that is internal to eaeh Kanaka. In that respect, true mana is different from other types of power - such as the power that is wielded by government, whieh may or may not contain mana, because it may or may not contain pono, and ea, that life force of sovereignty. This is easily confused in the world that we live in right now in whieh powers, such as money, violent force and administrative maneuverings ean appear to have mana, but they don't. Mana comes from a source within the people. And that source must be

tied to pono, and it must be tied to ea. This is why our queen, Lili'uokalani ean be said to have had great mana, because it eame directly from the people. Not from force that she wielded upon the people, but from

the people themselves and their collective sovereign will. Mana ean be used in healing. It is emeial to the sustainability of our life systems - our food, our water;

our well-being as a people; and to our culture, This real mana allows us to eonnect in a pono way to all things: to our plaee in the 'āina; our plaee in the world community; our plaee as

a neutral country under an illegal oeeupahon. And this mana is a power that is tied to Aloha, whieh kupuna Pilahi Paki said will help to heal the world. Therefore our biggest challenge is to find mana within ourselves individually, and as a lāhui, and assert it towards this great healing; and towards our independence, both politically and in our ability to be able to care for ourselves and share with others, throughout this beautiful honua. ■ Laulani Teale is the Coordinator of Ho 'opae Peaee Project. She is an indigenous peaeemakep activist, musician, teacher, artist and writer culturally trained in lā 'au lapa 'au and ho'oponopono, wlio spe-

cializes in heahh issues related to activism and eolonization. She studied Hawaiian medicine under Papa Auwae, and holds a Masters in Public Heahh from the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa. She has ser\>ed in numerous

i community boards and organizations, including the Kahana Planning Council, the Aha i o 'Iolani Advisory Committee, the i HLID Cultural Working Group, and : Kāhuli.

Mana ean be used in healing. It is crucial to the sustainability of our life systems — our food, our water; our well-being as a people; and to our culture." — Laulani Teale

Teale is a prolific performing musician. ■ Photo: Courtesy