Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 36, Number 5, 1 May 2019 — Songs, dance and chants in honor of the beloved land [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

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Songs, dance and chants in honor

of the beloved land

y NĀHANANA > EVENTS

By Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu The history of our Kanaka is one that echoes clearly within the community. We endure despite the impacts of land dispossession, language and culture loss, and the constant onslaught of assimilation into the value system, ways and beliefs of a foreign land and government. The first foreigners eame to Hawai'i 241 years ago forever altering the narrative of our mo'oleīo. While 1778 marks the arrival of the first recorded foreigner to Hawai'i, Captain James Cook, it also marks recognition of America's independence from Great Britain. 115 years later it

is America that steals the independence of Hawai'i, a peaceful nation state within the northern Pacific Oeean. Mele Aloha 'Āina/Mele 'Āina Aloha are songs of our islands, our nation, and our people. They are songs that reflect the love, honor and respect that we have for our spaces and places and the history found within. These songs provide us with the keys to understanding how the generations of our kupuna that have gone on before us onee viewed life in our island home, These songs fortify the minds, hearts and spirits of those living now for the dignity and integrity of our future generations to eome. Mau ke aloha no Hawai'i. ■

FREE mele workshops O'AHU > May 8 - 6:00pm-8:00pm Kualoa Ranch Ranchhouse 49-560 Kamehameha Hwy., Kāne'ohe > May 11 - 6:30pm-8:30pm Papakōlea Community Center 461 Krauss Street, Honolulu > May 22 - 6:00pm-8:00pm Community Centerat Mā'ili 7-790 Kulauku St„ Wai'anae > May 29 - 6:00pm-8:00pm Waimānalo Homestead Hālau 41-209 llauhole St., Waimānalo

> June 12 - 6:00pm8:00pm Nā Lama Kukui OHA, Mauli Ola 560 N. Nimitz Hwy„ Honolulu > Learn from Hinaleimoana "Kumu Hina" Wong about how Hawaiian perspectives impact the mele that we sing, dance and chant in honor of our beloved land. This is the second of our Aloha 'Āina, 'Āina Aloha Mele Workshop series. Upcoming dates and locations will be updated at www.oha.org/kumuhina. This community event presented by the 0ffice of Hawaiian Affairs is free and open to the public.

/ Y\ j'" Hinaleimoana "Kumu Hina" Wong. - Photo: Courtesy