Letters

Our family and friends back home . . . It is amazing how the distance between us does not seem to affect the bond we all share.   Our little princess Mikayla has touched your hearts somehow, someway and in turn your thoughts and prayers has lifted us through this difficult time.  Prayers can change things.  Recently our daughter visited the Transplant Institute of Loma Linda Medical Center in California.  We had such good news!  The transplant team concluded that Mikayla will not be needing a liver transplant urgently!  Her score for placement on the liver transplant list is still low.  However, it is certain that she will need a liver transplant.  When?  No one knows.  It could be a year from now, or even longer, only God will know when that time will be.  We are so relieved, we have time on our side to allow our little baby to grow a little more so that she will be more prepared for this big surgery in the future.  It is proven that the outcome of a liver transplant is much more successful after the age of one.   

Aunty Vanda Hanakahi believes the ahupua`a of Pala`au will be the first on Molokai to re-implement the ancient management system of `aha kiole.

Molokai’s ancient resource management system is reborn.

By Brandon Roberts

Molokai’s historic bounty is sleeping, awaiting its awakening. Once the fertile land, (Molokai he `aina momona no), groves were planted to hold the soil and summon the rains and vegetation was not forced to survive where it was not happy. Each ahupua`a (traditional land division) had its own resources that inhabitants took responsibility of. Thus the `Aha Kiole, a people’s council founded on resource management, was born in the Eighth Century by Paepaeko`a Kuhuna `Umoumou.

Molokai’s past is reborn in the present.

By Brandon Roberts

‘The heartbeat of our culture is dance. It is the essence of ourselves. Every movement in the universe is in our dance,’ wrote the late John Ka`imikaua, Ka Hula Piko founder. Hula dates back to the Eighth Century, where a Molokai wahine named La`ila`i is said to have given birth to the dance at Ka`ana on the hill Pu`u Nana..

In its 17th year, Ka Hula Piko is creating a new identity. To honor their Kumu Hula Ka`imikaua, the Halau Hula O Kukunaokala’s sunrise ceremony atop Maunaloa was private this year. Kumu Ka`imikaua’s haumana Sulu Tafaoimalo said “we are starting over, please respect that, and next year the ceremony may again be open to the public.”

`Opio travel to Mainland to share Molokai mo`olelo.

By Dispatch Staff

Seven 'O Hina I ka Malama students from Molokai High School traveled to Palm Springs, California to participate as ‘tellers' of their own Hawaiian stories at the 14th annual California Indian Storytellers Association (CISA) Festival. Halelu Sibayan, a junior at MHS, along with classmates, was able to share Molokai mo`olelo at the festival.

On May 5 students visited their Native American peers at the last "Indian Boarding School" of California, Sherman Indian High School, founded in 1901. Sherman students shared various Indian traditions of music/chant, dance, and drumming from throughout the United States.

In the Dispatch’s series with `O Hina i ka Malama, the Hawaiian language immersion program at Molokai High, I posed a new question and found that wisdom knows no age. This week’s question is: “If you could bring back a traditional Hawaiian practice to everyday life on Moloka'i what would it be?”

Kawaiola Kalipi, 16

Makemake au e a'o i ke kahea 'ana. Ua lohe au i na mo'olelo mai ko'u mau kupuna e pili ana I ko lakou lawai'a 'ana me ko lakou kupuna.

Ho'olei lakou ka 'upena I ke kai 'emi a ho'omaka e kahea i na i'a mai ke kai hohonu. Ma hope iho, piha ka 'upena I na i'a! He hana kapu a kuikawa keia a makemake au e ho'ola hou I keia hana.

Not all knowledge is learned in one house. What does that mean? Well, for me, that means that my house is different from someone else’s house, and that’s okay.

I always like to reflect on my hula life, since I am a hula person. As a haumana (student) I was given certain basic foundations and I have been fortunate to have learned hula from several kumu from different halau. Each halau, or house as I’d like to call them, have different styles.

Neither of these kumu hula have a style more correct than the other, just different, distinct, and personal to their respective hula genealogy. It’s fascinating to know that one halau can kaholo (a side step) differently from another. I’ve come to a point where I can look at a dancer’s feet and know what halau, what island, or which kumu their hula originates.

My husband and I have visited Molokai for 13 years and have found the people and the island beautiful.  We stay on the west side because of the golf course.  We have also enjoyed the movie theatre, grocery store and Lodge in Maunaloa Town.  Everyone we came into contact with on the island was so very nice to us.  Molokai is truly the ‘Friendly Isle’. 

We had already secured a condo for next year and had planned to stay much longer this time. We have been following the events in the last few weeks with great sadness. 

We just returned from your beautiful island, and I feel obligated to thank you and your fellow islanders for your hospitality. This was our second visit, and certainly won't be our last. We love visiting Hawai'i, but especially Molokai because it's so real.

We stayed on the west end in a privately owned condo at Kaluakoi Villas.

We hiked up on Kalaka Rock to watch whales in the morning, and spent many hours on Popohaku Beach. We made a point to visit Kalaupapa, and met Mrs. Marks, who is a perfectly lovely woman.

We were saddened to hear about the closing of the ranch; especially as it will leave so many individuals unemployed. I do hope that everyone fares well, and I certainly support the islanders' decision to buy the land so they can determine what is done with it, if anything.