Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 40, Number 11, 1 November 2023 — Reclaiming Time and Space - Part1 [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Reclaiming Time and Space - Part1

HANOHANO NA 'AINA KUPUNA V ^ HONORING PAPAHĀNAU MO KUĀKEA AS KŪPUNA ISLANDS "

By Kalei Nu'uhiwa, Ph.D. Aloha kākou e nā hoa makamaka o nei nūpepa, welina. The Cultural Working Group (CWP) for the Papahānaumokuākea

Marine National Monument recently held its quarterly in-person meeting in September. Always thinking about continuity and legacy strategies, part of the meeting was structured to recount the formation of the monument, the responsibilities of the comanagers, and the important contributions that the CWP has made towards the evolutionary development and preservation of Papahānaumokuākea. As founding and core members spoke, my own thoughts went towards my first experiences with accessing the akua islands where kānaka acquiesce to the natural environment and subserviently heeome a part of the food ehain. My very first visit changed the trajectory of my life's path. The monument had not yet been formed and a protocol team named Kupu'eu, trained under the tutelage of Dr. Pualani Kanaka'ole Kanahele, had learned several chants and rituals appropriate to Nīhoa and Mokumanamana. The protocol team was going to be traveling as crew memebers aboard Hōkūle'a using the stars and other celestial guides as markers to raise Nīhoa and Mokumanamana up out of the northwestern horizon. Another eompanion double hulled eanoe named HōkūaMka'i with their crew who only spoke olelo Hawai'i, was also sailing alongside Hōkūle'a. It was June 2005, when we all converged on Hanalei Bay, Kaua'i, to prepare for the adventure of a lifetime. Invited by Dr. Kanahele, I was going to stay on the escort boat, the Double Barrel, for the entire trip. Somehow, while on the shores of Hanalei awaiting the approval for all the wa'a and their escort boats to travel, three of us who traveled with Aunty Pua - myself, Huihui Mossman Kanahele, and Ulumauahi Kanaka'ole - were told that we would also be joining the protocol team on Mokumanamana.

To be honest, at the time we didn't know the severity of what that approval meant. However, when your mentor says "you're going on the island and you're going to memorize and perform the chants and rituals like you have been studying them for a year," you just do exactly what was asked to the best of your ability. We were whisked off to Wailua to shop for the appropriate gear. We didn't have mueh time to think about it so we just grabbed whatever we needed ffom random tourist shops and grocery stores. To visit the Northwest Hawaiian Islands, you must have brand new clothes and gear that has been frozen for 48 hours to prevent any foreign organisms ffom arriving to the pristine akua islands. We had four days to memorize and perform everything. We returned just as a huge contingency of Kaua'i community members eame to Hanalei to send us on our way. That night we were escorted by lightning and rain. In the morning as we left Ni'ihau and entered into the wild deep oeean, the crew on our escort boat conducted our own ceremony to reintroduce ourselves and our mo'oku auhau to the oeean, reclaiming our kūleana to the space during this modern time. Determined, the three newbies studied the chants at every waking moment and frankly, most of the sail going up to Mokuamanamana was a blur because I was busy trying to memorize everything. We followed the Noio line and arrived at Nīhoa a day and a half later. In Part 2, I'll share more about the continued voyage to Mokumanamana. But until then, I wish you all a most insightful and productive Makahiki. Aloha. ■ Dr. Kalei Nu'uhiwa is Native Hawaiian from the isMnd of Maui, a progressive pioneer with 30 years of experience in conducting research in various Hawaiian practices of time keeping, lunar calendars, heiau ritual, ceremonies, and epistemologies connected to phenology, strategic resource management and social wellbeing. Her expertise is Papahulilani, whieh is the study of celestial cycles and atmospheric phenomena.