Hawaii Nei

I had mixed emotions when I learned about how  Hā‘ena  and other families lost access to their ancestral lands. Part of the Hawaiian in me was fuming at first because this is exactly what I see going on today. A lot of Hawaiians are moving out of state because the cost of living in Hawai'i is superfluous. The other part of me is sad and hurt because now their keiki today and future generations to come won't know where they're from, who their 'ohana is, or anything about the land they live on besides what the US or government in general wants them to believe. As a Hawaiian who has a lot of 'ohana spread throughout the island chain, it breaks my heart seeing some of my immediate family members living under a tent behind a house or out on the street drugged out. As a human being just trying to survive and live life, I feel disgusted. Many people may not understand Hawaiian culture and traditions, but that is how OUR kupuna survived before we were overthrown. The US gov...

  In Kaiaulu, Mehana Vaughan shared many different ways people in North Shore, Kaua’i interacted or related to their most meaningful places. For paper two, one way of being in a place I identify as most important, would be ‘ike kupuna or continue to pass down intergenerational knowledge. Without ‘ike kupuna, we wouldn’t know who we are as a person or part of a community. As I mentioned in one of my previous blogs, a Maori scholar told Mehana Vaughan, “When an elder dies, a library burns.” We must preserve our ‘ike kupuna so future generations understand who their ancestors are.

When I think of being in a place, there are a lot of ways that I consider to be most valuable. For Paper 2, I plan on focusing on deep knowledge or 'ike kupuna. Without 'ike kupuna, we wouldn't know about who we, who our kupuna were, wouldn't know about our kuleana, how to care for our aina, the spiritual connections between land and people, etc. Passing on knowledge from past generations to our future generations.

There were a lot of pros and cons while writing my Paper 1 essay. When the assignment was initially given to us, I immediately knew what I wanted to write about. I created a brainstorming process to help guide me through my paper. But, as soon as I began writing, all these thoughts and stories about my Hawaiian community rushed in and my head began to scramble. I took Lance's idea to just write everything I was thinking and work with what I wrote. Although, I noticed the one thing I struggle with while writing was figuring out how to transition from one important topic to the next. I tried to insert quotes or sayings from the book to compare my stories to what was written and hopefully it makes a smooth transition while still being able to understand the connection or comparison between the two.

Throughout my childhood, I've attended many programs that taught me more about my community and ways we could mālama our community. When I was 12 years old, I attended a Kamehameha Summer Program that allowed me to learn about wa'as (canoes). I had a great experience learning about a wa'a named Makali'i. In middle school, I attended another KS Summer program that taught me more about how to read the stars, wind, current, etc. During my high school years, my school would work with the Polynesian Voyage Academy (PVA). They taught me about how we maintain our wa'as in dry dock so our wa'as continue to ride smooth in the water. I also had opportunities to go on other wa'as such as Hokule'a, Hikianalia, and Kanehunamoku. In the summer of 2014, 15 students total from the islands, including myself, and some of the PVA crew members sailed on a boat named Makani Olu to the Northwestern Hawaiian islands, Nihoa and Mokumanamana. After a very meaningful and spiritua...

Mehana Vaughan shared a lot of intergenerational skills and knowledge, how they mālama their community by making sure they mālama their kuleana, and their ways of protecting, cultivating, and nurturing their community. A lot of the stories being told brought back a lot of flashbacks from my childhood to my high school days to today. These stories are the reason why I chose what to write for my Paper 1. One mo'olelo that stuck out to me the most was 'Lawa Pono: Take Only What You Need'. With many industries today, people don't think about what they're taking and how much they're taking or how it could affect other people. Everything around us is considered a living thing. If we keep abusing the land and the ocean, our future will be left with nothing. 

  Growing up away from my biological family, my grandma and hānai mom pushed for me to attend different programs and schools that would teach me more about my Hawaiian community. From participating in marches, dancing hula, mālama ʻāina, mālama loko i’a, learning about wa’as, etc. During one of my programs, Hālau Holomoana, I had an amazing opportunity to sail to the Northwestern Hawaiian islands where I had a very spiritual experience that completely changed my life. My community relates to Kaiāulu because each person has their own kuleana to mālama our community for our people today and for future generations.