Ola! Makali`i, a 20-year celebration concert honoring the double-hulled voyaging canoe of the same name, born in Waimea, took place at Kahilu Theatre on March 28. The concert featured Kekuhi and Kaumakaiwa, two members of the Kanaka`ole clan, a spiritual guiding light of the Hawaiian renaissance.
“Every time Hilo calls, you come. We bless you and are there with you when you are on kanaloa (ocean),” said Kekuhi.
The Hawaiian-style family and community gathering which included two hours of music, chant and hula, was a celebration of roots, place, and family, or in other words, ‘Makali`i Magic’. And indeed it was magical; heart piercing numbers such as Hi`ilawe, interspersed with the hilarity and sharp wit of Kaumakaiwa. But mostly it was a celebration of Makali`i’s journey, begun more than 20 years ago, and all the personal odysseys of those who made it possible.
“Every time Hilo calls, you come. We bless you and are there with you when you are on kanaloa (ocean),” said Kekuhi.
The Hawaiian-style family and community gathering which included two hours of music, chant and hula, was a celebration of roots, place, and family, or in other words, ‘Makali`i Magic’. And indeed it was magical; heart piercing numbers such as Hi`ilawe, interspersed with the hilarity and sharp wit of Kaumakaiwa. But mostly it was a celebration of Makali`i’s journey, begun more than 20 years ago, and all the personal odysseys of those who made it possible.
On February 4, 1995 Makali`i caused a stir of amazement when she emerged from her Quonset hut birth place, the corporeal form of a dream and many hours of toil by many hands. “I watched the community come together to create something that hadn't been created here out of this `āina
in generations, a double hulled canoe,” said Pomai Bertelmann.
Like a queen being prepared for her coronation, she received the final touches before her great journey. “Tiger Esperi and Uncle Keoki Manu buffed out the canoe the night before, all the way up to 2 a.m. Uncle Keoki painted her name on because they didn't want her to go out of the warehouse without her name,” said Bertelmann.
in generations, a double hulled canoe,” said Pomai Bertelmann.
Like a queen being prepared for her coronation, she received the final touches before her great journey. “Tiger Esperi and Uncle Keoki Manu buffed out the canoe the night before, all the way up to 2 a.m. Uncle Keoki painted her name on because they didn't want her to go out of the warehouse without her name,” said Bertelmann.
Like her construction, the journey to the sea was a gathering of many. “We went through the procession of taking her to Kawaihae as a community. The day they took the back and side walls off the Quonset hut and put her on the low boy (trailer), there must have been 60 to 80 people to help,” said Bertelmann.
One can almost imagine the dragon spirit within her hulls, resting confidently as she traveled to her home on the ocean. “This long line like ants went from Waimea down to Waikoloa and Ka'ahumanu Highway and then to the harbor. Everything we had done up to that particular moment, those 12 hour days, you could really just feel the release of it,” said Bertelmann.
One can almost imagine the dragon spirit within her hulls, resting confidently as she traveled to her home on the ocean. “This long line like ants went from Waimea down to Waikoloa and Ka'ahumanu Highway and then to the harbor. Everything we had done up to that particular moment, those 12 hour days, you could really just feel the release of it,” said Bertelmann.
Many Hands, Many Gifts
The dream of Makali`i began in Waimea with Clay and Shorty Bertelmann, and her birth came about through the work of ranching families, Waimea School students and community members. “You had all these local families involved: the Puhis, the Case family, the Solomans, the Pahaluas. You had families who were coming in either before they started work or after work. There was just this great outpouring of community to build this canoe. And you had the kupuna like Aunty Marie Soloman, Uncle Sonny Soloman, Robert Keakealani, Clarence Mederios and Mau Piailug. The aumakua (ancestors), they were telling us the community surrounds the canoe,” said Pwo (master) Navigator, Chadd Paishon.
The dream of Makali`i began in Waimea with Clay and Shorty Bertelmann, and her birth came about through the work of ranching families, Waimea School students and community members. “You had all these local families involved: the Puhis, the Case family, the Solomans, the Pahaluas. You had families who were coming in either before they started work or after work. There was just this great outpouring of community to build this canoe. And you had the kupuna like Aunty Marie Soloman, Uncle Sonny Soloman, Robert Keakealani, Clarence Mederios and Mau Piailug. The aumakua (ancestors), they were telling us the community surrounds the canoe,” said Pwo (master) Navigator, Chadd Paishon.
When Makali`i arrived at Kawaihae, the two other renowned canoes, Hōkūle`a and Hawai`iloa, were in Hilo awaiting an open weather window to Tahiti. Makali`i still needed rigging and other fine tuning, which would follow in three weeks, again through the massive efforts of her 'ohana.
That first night, “nobody planned for anybody to come to work on the canoe but then cars just started coming,” said Bertelmann. “A lot of them were UH students and community members who knew that she was going into the water. That was all attributed to Uncle Keoki Manu. He worked so hard to make sure the community throughout the whole of Hawai`i and the South Pacific knew that she was being birthed.”
That first night, “nobody planned for anybody to come to work on the canoe but then cars just started coming,” said Bertelmann. “A lot of them were UH students and community members who knew that she was going into the water. That was all attributed to Uncle Keoki Manu. He worked so hard to make sure the community throughout the whole of Hawai`i and the South Pacific knew that she was being birthed.”
First Crew: Mike Manu, Chadd Paishon, Clay Bertelmann, Billy Richards, John Shore, Tiger Espere, Shorty Bertelmann, Ernie Reyes, Darryl Lupulapu and Maulili Dickson Once under sail, land crew 'ohana flew to Tahiti. “That ‘95 voyage was called Na`Ohana Holo Moana (families of the canoe). Canoes from Tahiti, Cook Islands and Aotearoa (New Zealand) were all in Tahiti waiting for us along with Makali`i 'ohana,” said Paishon. “They (the Tahitians) were so accustomed to just seeing those of us who came off the canoe and they had never seen such an outpouring of aloha,” he added.
Mau Paialug, Shorty and Clay Bertelmann Creating an education program had been on Clay Bertelmann’s mind, so when the Makali`i returned from her maiden voyage he asked the question, “We built this canoe, so now what’re we going to do?” What followed was a process of interfacing with school entities.
“It was the kupuna program and Nā Pua Noe`au (UH gifted and talented) that helped Nā Kālai Wa`a (Hawaii Island canoe builders) blossom as a program entity. We provided the experiential and they wrote the curriculum from that,” said Bertelmann.
“It was the kupuna program and Nā Pua Noe`au (UH gifted and talented) that helped Nā Kālai Wa`a (Hawaii Island canoe builders) blossom as a program entity. We provided the experiential and they wrote the curriculum from that,” said Bertelmann.
Clay Bertelmann (center) and crew The program expanded into a three week program for high school students.
“Our first program had 150 kids from six schools,” said Bertelmann. “We had our one week training and we sailed Makali`i from Kawaihae all the way down to Kalae, Ka`u. Every day we would stop at a different place and every place that we stopped, the students’ families hosted all of our dinners, all of our meals and then the Kūpuna of the area would come down and talk story with the kids. And that was the beginning. We carried on all the way up until 2003 with four to eight programs a year.”
“Our first program had 150 kids from six schools,” said Bertelmann. “We had our one week training and we sailed Makali`i from Kawaihae all the way down to Kalae, Ka`u. Every day we would stop at a different place and every place that we stopped, the students’ families hosted all of our dinners, all of our meals and then the Kūpuna of the area would come down and talk story with the kids. And that was the beginning. We carried on all the way up until 2003 with four to eight programs a year.”
Next Generation Crew Something they didn’t expect was that the experience of the canoe training would form lasting bonds. “They came together as strangers but they left as friends and family,” Bertelmann said. They began to network on their own, which is exactly what we wanted but they did it on their own. Of our first 124 students, 87 of them ended up at the Honoka'a and Hilo high schools’ May Day to do the Makali`i aiha`a (hula).”
Chadd Onohi Paishon The education program has been modified since 2003 but is still vibrant. “Over the 20 years, Makali'i has allowed us to touch many, many schools and students and to this day we service at least 3,000 students a year,” Paishon said. “Many come from Hawai'i, but there are many who come from the mainland and even internationally to the canoe. It is not specific to Hawaiians, it was specific to understanding your responsibility within this community.”
What has emerged with Makali`i over the last 20 years has charted a course to a viable future. “Our canoe, our wa'a, is a bridge that continues to allow us to connect, if we choose to continue to walk across that bridge,” said Paishon. “We are able to do those things because we understand what it takes. We understand the part that we play. Each individual comes together to understand that we are responsible for one another. When we travel to these tiny islands, we share in this common understanding that it takes all of us. It takes this common thread of responsibility for one another, for our wa'a, for our moku (island) that will allow us to go far into the future.” Kekuhi summed it up from the concert stage: “Live your truth. It’s a universal journey of all of us, whether we’re on the wa'a or just right here.”
What has emerged with Makali`i over the last 20 years has charted a course to a viable future. “Our canoe, our wa'a, is a bridge that continues to allow us to connect, if we choose to continue to walk across that bridge,” said Paishon. “We are able to do those things because we understand what it takes. We understand the part that we play. Each individual comes together to understand that we are responsible for one another. When we travel to these tiny islands, we share in this common understanding that it takes all of us. It takes this common thread of responsibility for one another, for our wa'a, for our moku (island) that will allow us to go far into the future.” Kekuhi summed it up from the concert stage: “Live your truth. It’s a universal journey of all of us, whether we’re on the wa'a or just right here.”
 Pomai Bertelmann |  Tiger Espere |
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