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Hawaiian Culture

Hawaiian culture stories from Molokai

Halau Reunites for Aunty Moana

Wednesday, May 1st, 2013

Halau Reunites for Aunty Moana

Thousands of supporters from Molokai, Hawaii and around the world gathered on Molokai April 27 to celebrate the life and legacy of Aunty Moana Dudoit. Members of the late kumu hula’s halau over the past 40 years reunited, performing together in remembrance of Dudoit, who died March 16 at the age of 73.

The celebration, which followed a memorial service for friends and family, honored Dudoit with hula, food and togetherness. Dudoit’s grandniece Zhantell Dudoit emceed the event, adding humor and commentary as different generations of the halau took the stage. Dudoit’s sister Raquel Dudoit, who also led the halau, helped provide music for the dancers.…

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Revisiting Kalaupapa History

Sunday, April 28th, 2013

Revisiting Kalaupapa History

There’s a new history of Kalaupapa, revealed through stories told by those with Hansen’s disease exiled to the peninsula. Over the past 40 years, historian and author Anwei Skinsnes Law explored photos, letters and lost sources. She shared what she found in her book “Kalaupapa: A Collective Memory.”

“We have to let the people of Kalaupapa be the interpreters of their own history,” Law said during a book signing at Kalele Bookstore in Kaunakakai April 24.

The individual stories intertwine throughout the book, just as she discovered them intertwining during her research. From the first exiles sent to the peninsula in 1866 to the last generation of patients who came after the attacks on Pearl Harbor, the book – and Law’s career – aims to debunk the myths surrounding the settlement.…

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Ka Hula Piko 2013

Sunday, April 21st, 2013

Ka Hula Piko 2013

Halau Hula O Kukunaokala News Release

The 22nd Annual Molokai Ka Hula Piko Festival is a three-day community event celebrating the birth of hula on the island of Molokai with a goal of educating the community and visitors alike. This year’s festival will be held Thursday, May 2 through Saturday, May 4, with Ho`olaulea and hula show on Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Lanikeha Community Center in Ho`olehua.

The festival consists of two days of educational and cultural day excursions, including sharing mo`olelo (story) and hula (dance) onsite at Ka`ana, the place where according to Molokai tradition, the art of hula began.…

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Library Turns the Page on Hawaii History

Wednesday, April 17th, 2013

Library Turns the Page on Hawaii History

The Native Hawaiian Library quietly serves Molokai, offering programs and resources to children and adults while enduring as a place of learning and discovery.

Located in behind the Lanikeha Community Center and the Ho`olehua fire station, the library is the only one of its kind currently operating in Hawaii. It features an array of Hawaiian resources together in one place. Program Assistant Nani Kawa`a said this allows for new discoveries about the history of the islands and a place to share these discoveries with others.

“Our books are being rewritten because of people looking closer at history and looking for actual documents,” she said, noting a presentation in January offering discoveries on Hawaii becoming a state.…

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Kamakou: 30 Years of Preservation

Friday, April 12th, 2013

Kamakou: 30 Years of Preservation

High in the mountains of Molokai, nature and history grow together in a forest that echoes with the riches of ancient Hawaii. A narrow boardwalk trails through depths of vivid green. Drops of water rest upon leaves and moss, and stillness is interrupted only by the occasional bird or damsel fly.

Kamakou Preserve appears to be effortlessly pristine, an abundance of native life remained untouched since ancient times. But the prese
rve as it appears today is a result of 30 years of human determination. It represents an effort to reverse the effects of invasive species, restore native qualities and maintain a connection between culture and nature.…

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Tradition of Adaptive Management

Tuesday, April 9th, 2013

Community Contributed

By Aha Kiole O Molokai

When it comes to the land and ocean, we are aware that laws have been created and maintained by the State of Hawaii, with the intent to help regulate the usage and continuity of the resources. It has become evident that the management system long-used in Hawaii has not served to keep Hawaii’s resources healthy and abundant. One of the key differences between our current state practices and traditional Hawaiian resource practices — and why the system of the past worked — is that each island and moku division based their management decisions on the environmental conditions of their own areas.…

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Managing the North Shore

Sunday, April 7th, 2013

Traditional fishing practices along Molokai’s north shore could soon be supported by law if a new proposal is approved by the state.

The Mo`omomi area, which provides food for Ho`olehua homesteaders through its ocean resources, is closer to receiving official state designation as a community-based subsistence fishing area (CBSFA). Conservation group Hui Malama O Mo`omomi organized the official proposal for the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR)  and has presented it at a series of meetings with fishermen, homesteaders and the public. After the group has allowed time to receive public comments and questions, they will present it to the DLNR at a public hearing.…

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Health Practitioners Share ‘Talking Circle’

Wednesday, April 3rd, 2013

Health Practitioners Share ‘Talking Circle’

“Close your eyes,” began Molokai Kahupono Francis Wong.

Young and old, patient and practitioner followed suit and allowed Wong to guide them in an exercise to empty their minds and let go of their problems.

Wong explained that our emotions guide us throughout our day and it’s important to calm that emotion sometimes to prevent injury to yourself and others.

Hawaiians have long believed that thoughts and words can become a reality, manifesting in our daily lives and affecting those closest to us. Wong’s exercise was a lesson in meditation and ho`oponopono, a Hawaiian practice used to restore and maintain good relationships within a family or group.…

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Future Scientists Get a Sense of Our Past

Friday, March 29th, 2013

Future Scientists Get a Sense of Our Past

Community Contributed

By Bradford Duval

Every few years, science teacher Erron Yoshioka along with 15 eager science club members and two other teachers travel to Molokai from Moanalua High School on Oahu. During their spring break, they take in Molokai and gain a shared sense of history and perspective on some of the old ways and how it relates to their scientific lessons and explorations.

Sharing knowledge with those willing to learn is a specialty of 2013 Umu Kai Award winner Uncle Mac Poepoe’s, and on the students’ recent trip to Mo`omomi, learn they did.

Starting at the main pavilion, the students were able to learn about pono fishing techniques, and how traditional Hawaiian practices tie in to the science of fishery management.…

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Prince Kuhio Day

Thursday, March 28th, 2013

Prince Kuhio Day

Homesteaders and Molokai residents celebrated Prince Jonah Kuhio Kalanianaole’s birthday Saturday on the island where his Hawaiian Homes Commission Act was first put into practice.

“If it weren’t for the success of homesteads on Molokai, the [Hawaiian homestead] program wouldn’t still be around,” event organizer Kammy Purdy said. Prince Kuhio’s 132nd birthday was honored with food, music and a ho`okupu at the Lanikeha Community Center.

Prince Kuhio was next in line for the throne when the Hawaiian monarchy was overthrown in 1984. He later became a congressional delegate and championed for the rights of Native Hawaiians. His 1920 Hawaiian Homes Commission Act provided homelands for the people he represented.…

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