Category: Pua Case

Makali'i Mahalo

9/5/2019

Keala Kahuanui and Chadd Paishon, land crew program coordinators beam with gratitude. Photo by Kapulei Flores

Last Monday evening the Ohana Makalii gathered at the Kahilu Theater to mahalo and celebrate with all those who made her upcoming voyage possible. When she embarks on her latest voyage in June to Mokumanamana, the northern most Hawaiian island, Makalii will be carrying provisions provided by 10 island school gardens and five community groups.
The theater lobby was filled with participating school staff and students, community groups, community members and crew members and their families. With the call of the pu we gathered chanting “Malana Mai Kau” as we made our way into the auditorium, led by cultural practitioner Pua Case.
The voyage is a focal point of the Hanauna Ola (To Sustain the Generations) program, funded through a 2016 Administration for Native Americans grant. The idea for the program was inspired by a question asked by Chadd Paishon eight years ago: “Can our island provision one canoe as our ancestors did?” Looking to the past and into the future, the Hanauna Ola program, whose purpose is to restore and perpetuate cultural practices that support our island community’s physical, spiritual, and psychological health and well-being, was the catalyst that energized 10 school gardens and five community groups into action.

Lehua Ah Sam with a gathering of canoe families. Photo by Kapulei Flores

This visionary program has three components: canoe crew training, provisioning and cordage and hanai waa, which is the spiritual element that underpins everything.
The canoe crew met for regular trainings with Pwo Navigator, Shorty Bertelmann to learn the many skills involved in sailing the canoe, including non-instrument navigation, which all crew members learned. “There were 50 crew members trained, representing all the districts on this island, Kauai, Molokai and every generation from the very beginning of Makalii’s voyages,” said Lehua Ah Sam, Na Kalai Waa staff member.
Bertelmann’s choice of Mokumanamana as a destination grew from a desire to discover the origins of the ancestors. There is evidence that Mokumanamana could be where the first Polynesians began their migratory path to Hawaii Island.
“We want to try and take a look at Mokumanamana, to look back to our past to find out more about who we are. Aunty Pualani Kanaka’ole Kanahele will be on board. She has done research over the last 10 years to gain ancestral, cultural, scientific knowledge that we can pass on to our children,” said Bertelmann.
The “land crew” was an essential element to the success of the program. “We went island-wide and asked: Would you be willing to be on board with this? And they all said yes and threw everything they had into it,” said program coordinator, Keala Kahuanui.
Coordinated by Paishon and Kahuanui, the land crew worked together to grow and preserve food that will provision the 14-person rotating canoe crew for the 30-day voyage. Not only did the school gardens grow the food, but they also learned techniques for food processing and preservation such as dehydration, freeze-drying, pickling and canning.
“We put 16 pounds of ulu (breadfruit) in the dehydrator and we came out with four pounds. For a cook on the waa, that is just amazing,” said Kahuanui.
The results have been stunning with a variety of creative and delicious foods to sustain the crew on their voyage, a sampling of which is on display in the Kahilu Theater lobby as part of the Waimea Educational Hui’s art exhibit.
But Hanauna Ola goes beyond provisioning the canoe. “With Hanauna Ola, we can put food on the shelves and feed the kids. The schools are doing it in that sense beyond the voyage. That's the exciting thing. Young kids can create things and feed their own families with what they create,” said Paishon.
The other focus area for the land crew is cordage which literally and metaphorically connects everything together. Crews learned about growing and processing hau, hala, niu and laʽi. “The cordage connects our moku, our waa and our kupuna (elders) islands together, but these tools, these skill sets will be applied beyond the voyage,” said Kahuanui.
Hanai waa, the third component of the program means to foster, sustain and connect and it is that spirit that was very much present at the gathering. At the heart of hanai waa voices are raised in chant, a conduit to the deep spirit that connects everything and is the manner in which voices are sent out on the wind when a canoe leaves the shores. “Chanting is huge, an integral part of everything that we do. A chant might ask permission for a canoe to begin its journey, announce the arrival of a canoe to the welcoming land base, or recite the genealogy of its creation. Hanai waa is to chant with all your heart with a complete understanding of the intention and purpose,” said Case.
Kahuanui calls out the names of the people who have contributed their time and efforts over the last three years to be acknowledged. The celebration is infused with joyous chanting as the crew and their family gather on the stage, voices flow, meet and connect.
The Hanauna Ola program has glimpsed the past to move on into the future. The Polynesian voyagers accomplished the amazing feat of crossing the Pacific Ocean to discover and settle the most isolated land mass on earth through the combined efforts of the community and when they made landfall those principles enabled them to thrive.
Now we have Makalii to teach us what we need to do for a sustainable future for generations to come. Hanauna Ola may have been a three-year program, but it has become a way of life and will continue on in our island communities.

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The Journey of a Raindrop: Waimea Educational Hui's Annual Art Exhibit

5/10/2019

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"Hō`ala e nā Piko" by E. Kalani Flores.

As raindrops we begin the journey. Photo by Kapulei Flores, Kapzphotography.

Under heavy skies and pelting rains, we gathered at the Kahilu Theater lobby gallery for the opening of the 2019 annual Waimea Educational Hui (WEH) art exhibit. The hui was formed in 2007 with representatives of all Waimea schools and cultural practitioners with the goal of unifying Waimea schools through programs that perpetuate the history and culture of our community.
This year’s theme is: “Ka Wai E Ola, E Ola Nō A”; Water is sacred, Water is our responsibility, Water is Life. The artwork of Waimea students, family and community members graced the walls with the story of a raindrop, that most important first element of life, each piece, like one of many raindrops, blending together to tell the story of life, ola wai.
We gather on the threshold of the makai lobby gallery and as the rain drums out a tattoo, cultural practitioner Kalani Flores journeys ahead, chanting into the far reaches and offers a pikai, a clearing, cleansing and blessing. We gather close as Pua Case, our guide, asks us to imagine ourselves as a single drop of rain to begin our travels from the highest mountain to the deepest sea through the eyes of Waimea artists.
“The exhibit will take us as a drop from the sky to the mountain to the hillsides, from rainfall to waterfalls to waterways of Waimea, down to the seaside, fish ponds and finally to the far reaches of the ocean,” reflected Pua.
This great connection with water is built into the Hawaiian language in the most fundamental question: O wai kou inoa? What is your name? Or more accurately: Who is your water? Who nourishes you? But we are all nourished by Kāne and for this exhibit the question is: Aia i hea Ka Wai a Kāne? (Where is the water of Kane?)

Monuments of sacredness. Photo by Kapulei Flores, Kapzphotography.

The first answer is the start of the day with the sun’s rays striking the water from the east.
Out there with the floating Sun,
Where the cloud-forms rest on Ocean’s breast,
Uplifting their forms of Nihoa,
This side the base of Lehua.

We enter the spiritual realm of all those who have gone before seeking knowledge and understanding of their world. Together we ponder beginnings and the sacred monuments humans have built that connect us to the sacredness above.
On Hawai`i Island that connection is received through Mauna a Wākea and the exhibit begins with a photo by Kapulei Flores in celebration of the constant presence of Poliahu in her mountain realm. This is followed by “Power of Mana” by Amy Gordon and “Snow on Mauna Kea” by Shelly Stimac, both community artists.

Photo by Kapulei Flores. "Poliahu is found in the snow on the mauna, as well as her other forms such as ice and water. Without the snow, ice, and water that Poliahu provides, the mauna would not be the same."

Look to the heavens. Photo by Kapulei Flores, Kapzphotography.

Anghor Wat by Brayden Jadulang.

The theme of monuments to the sacred is woven throughout. Many of the artists in this section, who have delved into Archaeoastronomy with Waimea Middle School 6th grade social studies teacher Ms Yohon, have created renderings of the monuments built to connect with and understand the great beyond.
Moving east, we travel to Cambodia and the mysterious Anghor Wat, a massive temple to the Hindu god Vishnu and later a Buddhist place of worship. Built to represent Mt. Meru, the home of the gods, some of its towers line up with the sunrise at solstice.

Top: photo of Pua's journey to Stonehenge. Below: "Pua at Stonehendge" by Tina Yohon. Photo by Kapulei Flores, Kapzphotography.

Abu Simbel, in Nubia, upper Egypt, a desert land where the preciousness of water was understood. A monument to the Ramses II, the axis is positioned so that on 10/22 and 2/22, thought to be birth and inauguration dates for Ramses, the rays of the sun penetrate and illuminate the sculptures on the back wall.
We travel further east and north, to Stonehenge, an ancient astronomical site in England, as well as a place of worship and healing, and the destination of a spiritual journey for Pua Case, who brought waters from Mauna a Wākea to Stonehenge as an offering and was gifted waters in return.
North of England in the Orkney Islands stand the Ring of Brodgar. There are many unanswered questions about this monument, but it stands as testament to early worshipers.

Ahu Akivi by Goddess Gonsalves.

Understanding the natural world and its many cycles was important to the survival of the ancients. Across the sea to Wyoming finds us standing on a mountain top in the middle of an astronomical calendar, called the Big Horn Medicine Wheel, a mountaintop astronomical calendar.
Sweeping south we are at Kukulcan in Chitchen Itza, Mexico, an early observatory containing sight lines for 20 different phenomena such as eclipses, equinox and solstice.
Also in Mexico in the area called Dzibilchaltun is the Temple of the Seven Dolls, where there is evidence of the recording of the vernal equinox, as well as Cenote Xlakah, a pool whose secrets have been a window into the past.
South to Peru where we find the Intihuatana Stone, an ancient Incan ceremonial site for winter solstice, whose name means, “Place to tie up the sun”. (painted in acrylic by Waimea Middle School 6th graders Jusani Dickens and Mikayla Pesta.)
And the last stop before returning home is Rapa Nui, where we find Ahu Akivi (by Goddess Gonsalves, Waimea Middle School 6th grade). These standing stones, or moai, are aligned to note the equinoxes and are believed to represent the ancestors, kings and important clan leaders of the original indigenous people.

At the next station as raindrops gather on the mountain top, we find Wai a Kāne:
Yonder on mountain peak,
On the ridges steep,
In the valleys deep,
Where the rivers sweep.

"Womb of Mystery" by Kira DeGaetano Souza.

These pieces point to the varied and sometimes hidden realms of water. The “Womb of Mystery” an acrylic painting by Kira DeGaetano Souza, is perhaps a metaphor for us climbing from the watery world and returning to it as well.
“The Gift of Life” by son, Joaquim Souza, shows us the heart of the mauna and how it holds the waters of life for us.
The Flores / Case `ohana created a photo essay that tells the story of their connection to Manaua, the sacred rain rock of our Waimea where the community from child to elder bestow gifts of leis to ask for rain and leis to offer in gratitude when the elements provide. Another image is of the `ohana gathered at a sacred place where sacred waters have emerged to form a pond among the rolling green landscape.

Yonder, at sea, on the ocean,
In the driving rain, in the heavenly bow,
In the piled-up mist wraith,
in the blood-red rainfall
In the ghost-pale cloud form;

The many guises of water. Photo by Kapulei Flores, Kapzphotography.

The group of pieces that follow are ethereal images and wild rainbow colors, exploring the many faces of place. Collages celebrate water in all its many guises and sources.

Up on high is the water of Kāne,
In the heavenly blue, in the black piled cloud,
In the black cloud,
In the black mottled sacred cloud of the gods;
There is the water of Kāne.

This section contains the waterways of Waimea, an array of watercolors, acrylic, colored pencil and explores the patterns of water that surround and support us, showing an awareness of the seen and unseen water pathways, each piece a raindrop that forms a cloud of understanding.

Photo by Kapulei Flores, Kapzphotography.

Deep in the ground, in the gushing spring,
In the ducts of Kāne and Loa,
A well of spring water, to quaff,
A water of magic power – The water of life!
Life! O give us this life!

Images of the sustaining power of water, flowing from the mauna, the pu`u to feed and replenish the land. Fishponds thrive and life is given to the land. It is there before us, under us and around us.

Photo by Kapulei Flores, Kapzphotography.

Traveling to the eastside gallery picks up from where we left off from the fishponds and seaside to the breaking waves. The chant Hohola Ke Kapa announces that a voyage will be taking place for Makaliʻi led out to sea with food and rope prepared by area schools for the voyage of Makaliʻi to Mokumanana in early June.

Photo by Kapulei Flores, Kapzphotography.

The waʻa carrying the tiny drops of rain, now the fresh water on board, is the ancient ocean connection as witnessed by art pieces such as a diorama depicting “umu”, a pile of rocks used to trap manini. Models of great voyaging canoes and kites, the first sails used by humans, fly aloft. Graphite pencil drawings of canoe plants by 'Auli'i Case, photography and digital art, experiments with watery visions cover the walls. And the cycle is complete and the voyage begins. He inoa nō Kana.

"Reflection in Time" by O. Sarsona.

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WMS seventh graders learn to take care of the land West Hawai'i Today August 27, 2018

8/28/2018

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WMS students explore Keanuiomano Stream during an outplanting of native dryland forest species. (COURTESY PHOTO/MAHINA PATTERSON)

“Malama Ahupuaa,” the title of the latest Waimea Middle School oral history book, funded by Ike Hawaii and Hawaii Community Foundation, recently became available on Amazon. The book is the result of an oral history project conducted by Leesa Robertsonʻs Waimea Middle School seventh graders during the 2017 / 2018 school year.
The oral history project was a component of an integrated curriculum approach to learning created by the seventh grade team for the 2017-18 school year, where all content areas were engaged in and intersected around the theme of “Malama Ahupuaa”.
   “We took the three sections of our Lalamilo ahupuaa, or land divisions – makai (coastal), kula (mid-section) and mauka (mountain) – and focused our lessons and activities around life in those areas,” explained seventh grade science teacher Jade Bowman.
   Students explored the different areas of the ahupuaa, collected data which was integrated into the math curriculum, studied the flora and fauna, and did service projects.
   “We started with makai and learned about Kawaihae and Pelekane Bay. Students learned the history and the moolelo of the area and the connection between voyaging and the ahupuaa, and how what we do on land ultimately affects the ocean,” said Bowman.
   There is much knowledge and wisdom in stories and, “Students learned the stories of the sections of the ahupuaa and wrote their own renditions of the myths. They learned the cultural significance of the plants and animals,” she added.

Interviewee Pua Case shares some life stories with Shane Beeder and Ariana Shimioka

   In Robertson’s class, a year-long oral history project explored malama ahupuaa through the eyes and voices of 11 community members. Working in teams, the students spent the first half of the year gaining the skills they would need by interviewing a peer and then a family member. Students collected biographical data, researched and created a timeline and a question outline, and practiced interview protocol.
   The interviewees ranged in age from 29 to 86 and came from a variety of backgrounds and experiences that gave students a glimpse into individual perspectives of how they malama – or cared for – the ahupuaa and how they connected to the land and to each other.
   A sentiment expressed in some way by all of the interviewees was that to malama something, you need to really know it, observe it and experience it. Manny Veincent and Mahina Patterson, the oldest and youngest interviewees, respectively, shared that sentiment.
   While working for Hawaii Fish and Game in the Pohakuloa area of Mauna Kea, Veincent spent time camping in the wilderness to monitor and capture geese for breeding.
   “That areas between the Mauna Loa and Hualalai mountains was where those geese were. In the dark you could hear them crying. After a while, your senses become like an animal. You knew where the birds were,” he said.
Before becoming an environmental education specialist for The Kohala Center, Patterson did conservation work in the same area. Growing up exploring the land around her neighborhood, her early experiences set her on a path to malama ahupuaa.
   “My fondest memories are going into the pasture that borders the wet side neighborhoods. So every chance that I got I would go and explore in the pastures and the streams back there,” “But I looked it up as I got older and found out that the name of that stream is Lalakea and that it's one of the streams that feeds Hiilawe (a many storied waterfall in Waipio),” she said.

INterviewee Ma'ulili Dickson shares some canoe stories with Rovi Afaga and Lindsay Tagudan.

   Malama ahupuaa also means to take care of the culture, the people and perpetuate practices and protocols that will travel into the future as wisdom to guide those that come after.
   Micah Komohoalii – kumu hula, cultural practitioner, another of the interviewees – shares his deep knowledge of the Waimea district through chants and hula in his halau and through community classes.
   “My halau specializes in dances of our own backyard, of our ahupuaa. The only thing we learn in the halau are the chants of Waimea, chants of Waimea's rain, its fog, its winds, its place here and the heiau, the alii that were here,” he explained.
   The re-emergence of the canoe culture has been a guiding light for malama ahupuaa. Two of the interviewees, Maulili Dickson and Chadd Paishon, are mainstays of Hawaii Island’s canoe program whose guiding motto, coined by canoe pioneer Clay Bertelmann, raises awareness of the connection between the health of the canoe and the health of the island: He waa he moku, he moku he waa, meaning the canoe is the island, the island is the canoe.
   As the canoe’s quartermaster, Dickson grew up in the ocean and providing food for his family, which eventually grew to include the ohana waa (canoe family). He is currently is working with the Haunana Ola program, whose goal is to provision Hawaii Island’s voyaging canoe, Makalii, with food grown on the island for a 30-day journey to Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument.
   Paishon, who is a captain and Pwo navigator with Ohana Waa Makalii, is also working with the land crew of Haunana Ola and works to bring canoe culture into classrooms.
   “For us, sustaining ourselves on the canoe, it really comes down to everyone that's on the deck of the canoe understanding what they need to do and taking care of each other. If we can do those things on the deck of the canoe, then we should be able to do those same things when we're home here,” he said.
   Like the canoe, the island has finite resources and so many of the interviewees expressed malama ahupuaa in terms of only taking what you need and sharing the abundance. Born and raised in Waimea, Lloyd Case grew up with that awareness.
   “Donʻt take more than you need. Leave something for others. We only take what we need from the ocean and the mountain because we practice the Hawaiian style,” he said.
Mahalo to Hawaii Community Foundation who funded costs to transcribe the interviews and to Ike Hawaii for providing publishing costs. To read more stories of malama ahupuaa, the book will be available at Thelma Parker Library and is currently available on amazon.com.

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Ka Lei Maile Alii: A Window into Hawaii’s Past North Hawaii News 12/27/16

2/6/2017

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W.H. Rickard

       On January 17 at the Kahilu Town Hall, the Waimea community will get a glimpse into a critical period of Hawaiian history with the presentation of Ka Lei Maile Alii (The Queen’s Women), a play written by Helen Lincoln Lee Kwai and first performed on Oahu in 2001 in celebration of Queen Liliuokalani’s birthday.
    The play was inspired by an event that took place on September 16, 1897, when well over 300 Hawaiians gathered at the Salvation Army Hall in Hilo. Mrs. Abigail Kuaihelani Campbell and Mrs. Emma Aima Nawahi, who traveled throughout the islands collecting more than 38,000 native Hawaiian signatures (97% of the native population, had come to speak about the kue (to stand in opposition) against the annexation of the Hawaiian Kingdom.
     A San Francisco Call reporter, Miriam Michaelson, wrote an article about the event, which became the basis for Ka Lei Maile Alii, an audience participation, re-enactment of the meeting. Through the efforts of Pua Case and others, the play has been performed on Hawaii Island beginning in 2012. “I had been in the play as one of the audience speakers on Oahu. I felt that many in our community had not perhaps been given the opportunity to learn about that part of our history. Most of us at the time were not aware of the effort by our people to address annexation. So this was our way of bringing this essential part of our history to our community,” says Case.
    The petition, which was ignored, was housed in the Library of Congress National Archives until 1997 when Dr. Noenoe Silva journeyed to Washington D.C. and returned the Kue Petitions to Hawaii. The Hamakua to Kohala portion of the petition will be on display and provides a historical window for the descendants of the signatories and the community, a way to get “a truthful peek into history,” says Case.
The Rickard Family Legacy
    Several of the petition’s signatures bear the name Rickard, a family whose contributions to the Honokaa community will be the subject of an introductory presentation by Dr. Momi Naughton, director of the NHERC Heritage Center in Honokaa. Naughton has created a special exhibit on the Rickard family and will have a traveling version on display.
    After coming across several references to the family, Naughton became curious about them and made some phone calls, eventually contacting great grandson, Ryon Rickard. “Right away Ryon was very excited that somebody was interested. From a very young age, he started keeping all these things,” says Naughton.
    Through letters and photographs, Naughton was able to create an exhibit rich in the details of a life well lived. Originating in Cornwall, England, Rickard and his wife Nora arrived in the islands in 1866 and after a short stay in Honolulu traveled to Waimea to join his Uncle George, the first family member to come to Hawaii. “He had a blacksmith shop at Hale Kea in Waimea that was a gathering place for expats,” says Naughton.
    Uncle George was a great friend of King Kalakaua, “and so when he (W.H. Rickard) got here he was right away in with the alii. In fact Lot Kamehameha was the godfather to his daughter who was born on the ship coming over,” says Naughton.
    Rickard was a man of many talents and initially worked as a contractor and engineer for the old Kukuihaele Landing, completed in 1868. He then spent three years as a book keeper for the Kohala Sugar Co. In 1873 Rickard and his entire family moved to Honokaa where they became an integral part of the community. “His mother was a midwife and she literally delivered 100s of babies without the loss of a single mother or child,” says Naughton.
      Rickard started a sugar plantation, which with the addition of partners Joe Marsden and Mr Siemsen became the Honokaa Sugar Co. “Rickard was a beloved plantation manager for the Honokaa Sugar Company and spoke fluent Hawaiian,” says Naughton.
    Rickard was also known for his hospitality to Hawaiian alii visiting the Honokaa area. “Here’s a letter written by Curtis Iaukea (secretary) thanking the Rickards for hosting Queen Kapiolani here in Honokaa,” says Naughton.
W.H. Rickard showed his loyalty and strong support of the Hawaiian monarchy with his actions. “As soon as the overthrow happened he started working in the community to block annexation,” says Naughton.
    He ultimately gave his life for the Hawaiian Kingdom. “In 1895, Rickard took part in the counterrevolution to try to put Queen Liliuokalani back on the throne. He was captured along with Robert Wilcox, Joseph Nawahi and others and imprisoned. During this time he contracted tuberculosis and after his release moved back to Honokaa where he died in 1899,” says Naughton.
    Two buildings in Honokaa are memorial to the contributions of Rickard. “The Salvation Army Hall was their last home here. When Rickard died he left his wife Nora with 16 young children to raise and she turned it into a hotel,” says Naughton.
    The Honokaa School Auditorium, built in the 1920’s, years after Rickard’s death, is dedicated to the Honorable William H. Rickard, and stands as a testament to his community service. “Each year we begin the play with a presentation that will introduce the play and another part of history. That's why we are bringing Momi and that presentation to Waimea because many of the students that go to Honokaa School have no idea who the armory is named for. I want our students to say, 'I didn't know that was named for a non-Hawaiian patriot of the queen. That’s extraordinary',” says Case.
    While the subject of the play, the 1997 Kue is a protest, the play itself is not. “Most of us are not aware of the effort by our people to address annexation and that time period. So this is our way of bringing this essential part of our history to our community. We bring the community together to learn something together,” says Case. “We embrace the entire community and all are welcome,” she adds.

The NHERC Heritage Center, located in Honokaa, is a wonderful way to learn about and experience the richness of Hamakua history. The new exhibit gallery contains a series of collections highlighting various multi-cultural, historical aspects of Hamakua history. It’s open to the public Monday through Friday: 9am to 4pm and Saturdays: 9am to 1pm.

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November 27th, 2016

11/27/2016

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Makali'i

Rains and wind scour Hawaii Island and Makalii rises in the east at sunset. Lono is afoot. The Makahiki season, a time for connection and rejuvenation, has arrived. In its third year, the Ka Makahiki Pule Aina Holo, a circle island prayer run, will take place from Wednesday evening, Nov. 9 through Sun. Nov. 13. On Wed. Oct 20, an orientation for the run was held at Kanu o ka Aina gym.

Ku'ulei Keakealani

Ku‛ulei Keakealani began the session by sharing the story of Makaiole and Kamiki, heroic brothers who travel from Kohanaiki to Lanimaomao (Lakeland), Mahiki (Mud Lane), Waipio and Lake Waiau, performing astonishing physical feats, orienting the group to the historical significance of places that will be traversed during the run. “I want to try and find or make connections to what will occur in a few weeks. Make connections to some place names, perhaps some pu'u, some lakes, hopefully there will be familiarity.”

Lanakila Mangauil and Lono staff

    Ka Makahiki Pule Aina Holo emerged from the experiences of Hamakua cultural practitioner, Lanakila Mangauil as a way to create a contemporary connection with life-sustaining ancestral practices. While astonishing physical feats are very much a part of Hawaiian cultural history, often what is needed is the combined efforts of everyone. This was highlighted by Mangauil through a story of draught and famine in Hamakua, where it was only when all the people stopped complaining and joined in ceremony that the rains finally came.
    “Don't wait for superman, when we see something that needs to be done, we just get up and do it,” says Mangauil, which was something he experienced during a 2004 cultural exchange program with the Pit River and Hopi tribes.
    “The ancestral run was created by the elders of the Pit River Tribe in the 90's as a ceremony to address the situation of their people. A lot of drug, alcohol abuse was happening in their community. They needed something to bring the people together, traditions, stories, blessings,” says Mangauil.
    Mangauil continued to run with the tribes for another five years until one year he gave voice to the idea of holding a prayer run in Hawaii. “I literally went to the fire and said, 'I want to do one like this in Hawaii'.”
    The seed was planted and in a few months the shoots began to appear. “That first year, back in 2014 was our first Makahiki run, it was literally two weeks before. Just putting out the prayer, putting out the thought and let's just see what we come up with. It was raw,” said Mangauil.
    Mangauil could find no traditions of prayer runs in Hawaii but when he asked himself, “What other tradition do we have about circling the island?” The answer was, “Makahiki. The traditional practice of the circuit of the high chiefs and the kahuna.”
    The Makahiki procession was always done clockwise beginning in Kealakekua. “They always walked clockwise to cleanse the land. Right hand you receive, left hand you give so it passes in and goes out this side. They were hooking any hana ino (negativity) from the land and casting it out that (ocean) side,” says Mangauil.

Makahiki runners through Kona

    As often when a clear intention is sent out, the universe conspires to manifest it. “It came so quickly, I couldn't ignore. For the staff I thought of a kii and low and behold, Uncle Kanani Kaulu Kukui from Kona carved the kii,” says Mangauil. And the kapa for the Lono staff appeared from a serendipitous encounter. “I met Dalani Tanahy, a kapa maker from Maui, at the Merry Monarch and she made the kapa for the Lono staff,” says Mangauil.
    As the runners travel the Island it’s an opportunity for communities to share their best. “We encourage the communities in the evening, to come out and kanikapila and share food, stories, dance. It’s not necessarily mea (things) Hawaii, but people being able to come out and show what they worked on, be thankful for what they’ve been able to produce,” says Mangauil.
    The Makahiki run is in its third year and the first shoots have grown deeper roots and extended branches. That first year 20 Pit River tribal members came to join the run and this year there will be 50 guests from various tribes, coming to add their prayers to the growing number of Island runners.
    “We would like to have entire communities represented. We would like to have cross country teams from different schools involved,” says Pua Case, who will be providing orientation sessions leading up to the event, including a special chant and hula. “This is about prayer and purpose and culture and that has to be in everybody's mind when they’re running, footsteps on the ground, Lono on the ground running. Prayers high,” says Case.
    Waimea runners will include the Keakealani family, represented by Ku‛ulei and her daughters Kamehana, Nahenani and Ka‛io, who will receive the Lono staff from the Kohala runners at Lanikepu (upper H.P.A. campus); Kanu o ka ‛Āina middle and high school students, coordinated by Kanoa Castro, Pomai Bertelmann and Chelsey Dickson; and Punanaleo and Alo Kehau Hawaiian emersion schools, who will also provide lunch.
     Ka Makahiki Pule Aina Holo is a budding tradition with old roots. “Every tradition was created by a person at a time and it only became tradition because it was practiced over and over and over again and it worked. As we create traditions that work that are pono, it will become the traditions for our children's, children's children,” says Manguail. It is an opportunity, “To bring the whole Island into a consciousness of gratitude. When we run we are also giving something. We're offering ourselves, a sacrifice of our best,” he adds.

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