Photo Slideshow –Festivals of Aloha 2012
Another eventful year of culture, fun and festivities as Molokai celebrated the 2012 Festivals of Aloha this weekend. For the full story, visit here. Photos by Catherine Cluett and Laura Pilz.…
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Hawaiian Culture
Add your commentFestivals Flourish with Aloha
Whether it’s the coronation of the royal court, the procession of pa`u units riding atop lei-draped horses through town or the chaotic teamwork of the bed race, the annual Festivals of Aloha is all about pride, color and tradition. Every year, the three-day event draws large crowds to participate in fun activities that also perpetuate traditional Hawaiian culture. The theme of this year’s Festival was “E kupuohi I ke Aloha –- Flourish with Aloha,” as symbolized by the Kamehameha butterfly, one of two butterfly species native to Hawaii.
“The point of the festivals is to carry on the heritage of Hawaiians,” said Moana Dudoit, who has been organizing the festivals on Molokai with her sister Raquel Dudoit for the past three years.…
How to Say E Komo Mai
While it is pau hana time for most teachers, Kumu Manuwai Peters and a few of his students are at Ho`olehua Airport getting ready for a busy afternoon. Holding an ukulele in one hand, Peters straightens a student’s kukui lei, all the while reminding the four student-volunteers to be professional, smile and engage visitors coming off the plane. By the time the next plane touches down, Peters and his band of students are already at the arrival gate, instruments, lei and smiles ready. As soon as the door opens, the group breaks into a traditional Hawaiian mele, or song, welcoming visitors and residents to Molokai.…
Molokai Hoe 2012
Just before 100 canoes started launching from Hale O Lono Harbor Sunday morning, Wa`akapaemua team captain and steersman Bozo Dudoit hugged each of his teammates, one by one. While neighboring teams had loud chants and practiced slogans, the men’s open team from Wa`akapaemua Canoe Club gathered their hands in the middle and shouted just one word –Molokai. They picked up their six-man outrigger canoe and departed for the 41-mile legendary Molokai Hoe course to Oahu.
“We’ve trained mentally and physically,” said Dudoit a day before the race. “But I’ve never paddled 40 miles directly into the wind, so it’ll be an interesting experience.”…
Topside Kupuna “Rock” Kalaupapa
Community Contributed
By Cookie Robins-Kaopuiki
After six months of planning, reality set in as more than a dozen topside kupuna anxiously arrived at Kalaupapa as an August activity. For some it was a first visit, while for others it was a wet-eyed trip down memory lane or the joy of visiting of finding long-lost family.
Visitors’ quarters were set up for the two-night, three-day adventure and the welcoming committee and big-hearted sponsors Zianna Kaulia, Harry Arce, Kirk Dela Cruz and Luana Kaaihue truly outdid themselves in accommodating and honoring the kupuna with traditional Hawaiian values.
For kupuna, the peninsula tour and history with National Park Service staff Leanna Dixon brought educational enlightenment followed by a silent prayer for all the beloved people who endured to the end and have left their footsteps in the land.…
Art at Aka`ula
As the sun set slowly over the hills of Kalae on Friday, students, teachers, families and friends gathered to enjoy Aka`ula School’s “Celebrating the Arts” exhibit. The annual exhibit, which first started in 2006, features the works of Aka`ula students and some family members who donate their art to raise funds for the school.
“It really is about getting [the students’] artwork out into the community,” said Dara Lukonen, one of the school’s founding teachers. “New students have been very surprised and awed when they see their work displayed –sometimes it is as simple as putting a mat on it and lighting.”…
A Step Towards Sovereignty
For years, there have been talks about bringing back the sovereign nation of Hawaii, for Hawaii to become socially, economically and politically independent of the United States. Kana`iolowalu, a project of the Native Hawaiian Roll Commission within the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA), may be the first step towards Hawaiian self-governance, according to John Waihe`e, Roll Commission chairman and former state governor.
“There are so many different ideas when it comes to sovereignty, often times it seems disjoining,” said Waihe`e. “Unification is the foundation of our nation.”
The purpose of the Roll Commission is to register Native Hawaiians with the goal of organizing a sovereign entity.…
Learn about Native Hawaiian Roll Call on Molokai Tomorrow
Kana`iolowalu News Release
Tomorrow, Saturday, Sept. 29, two events will be held on Molokai to educate residents about Kana`iolowalu, a project of the Native Hawaiian Roll Commission. It is a year-long campaign to reunify Native Hawaiians in the self-recognition of our unrelinquished sovereignty. The campaign has two steps: first, a petition declaring and affirming the unrelinquished and inherent sovereignty of the indigenous people of Hawaii that can be signed by anyone, Hawaiians and non-Hawaiians alike. Second, those who are Native Hawaiians and who are 18 years of age or older as of Sept. 1, 2013 will be eligible to register for participation in the organization of a governing entity – also known as a “base roll”.…
Night of Aloha
Kaluapapa’s annual Night of Aloha is an evening of festivities fit for royalty. Patient residents Boogie and Ivy Kahilihiwa were king and queen of the ceremonies (pictured during their dance), joined by a full court in honor of Hawaiian tradition. The event, held last Wednesday, for the first time in the newly-renovated Paschoal Hall, also featured a full pa`ina feast and a host of entertainment.…
`Aha Wahine Conference
Community Contributed
By Lailani Kahn
`Aha Wahine Kuhinapapa, a two-day women’s conference held at Leeward Community College, is designed to “inspire, in quire, invest and invigorate each other with `ike, aloha and kuleana”. This year’s conference was held from Aug. 17 to 18, where 14 Molokai participants included kupuna, students, mothers, daughters, health professionals and community members. With the success of the ‘Aha Kane, the intent of this conference was to reconnect women to their Hawaiian heritage.
“Native Hawaiian women have been gathering in smaller groups around their particular practices, but [it is important] to have one on a grander scale that dealt with larger issues that all of us as native Hawaiian women deal with –social, economic, health, educational and so forth,” said Mehanaokala Hind, co-coordinator of this year’s conference.…
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