Culture & Art

Virtual Concert Brings Kalaupapa Music to Life

Wednesday, October 7th, 2020

Virtual Concert Brings Kalaupapa Music to Life

By Catherine Cluett Pactol

Music has a long history in Kalaupapa — a history of healing, bonding, and yes, quarantine. A virtual concert, “The Music of Kalaupapa,” sponsored by Ka ‘Ohana O Kalaupapa, will bring that music into listeners’ homes on Oct. 17, offering tribute to the settlement’s often-forgotten musicians and composers of the past.

“I have long been amazed at how music has been such a constant thread throughout the history of Kalaupapa, from earliest days to now, and I believe it helped people to heal,” said Valerie Monson of Ka ‘Ohana O Kalaupapa, a nonprofit of Kalaupapa residents, their family members and friends honoring the legacy of those who were exiled to the settlement.…

Youth Photography and Puni Ke Ola

Wednesday, September 30th, 2020

Youth Photography and Puni Ke Ola

By Susana Helm, Jackie Ng-Osorio, Becka Adolpho – UH Manoa; Kanoelani Davis, Honeygirl English, Shaye Lauifi – Ahupuaʻa O Molokai

Puni Ke Ola (PiKO) uses photography to engage youth in learning more about how traditional Hawaiian beliefs and practices promote health and can eliminate substance use in their own lives, as well as among their families and communities. Led by Molokai Kumu Kanoelani Davis and University of Hawaii at Manoa professor Susana Helm since 2015, the photo strategy has been aligned with Hawaiian culture. In PiKO, haumana take pictures while they participate in culturally immersive huakaʻi.

This year due to the pandemic, huakaʻi will be conducted virtually until it is safe to go live again, so youth may take photos around their own homes and communities.…

Molokai Inspired Art by MAC’s Artist in Residence

Wednesday, September 30th, 2020

Molokai Inspired Art by MAC’s Artist in Residence

MAC News Release

The Molokai Arts Center would like to invite you to review the release of Jamie Allen’s original artwork that she created during her three-week Artist in Residence program through the Molokai Arts Center. Allen carried out her residency in May of 2019 and is now sharing her diaristic works of paper. Her goals for her residency was to document native plants and experience the island of Molokai. She worked closely with the Molokai Land Trust, spent a night at Kalaupapa, hiked Kamakou, and drew at Mo’omomi and the gardens at the Hui Ho’olana. For Jamie, Molokai has been the example of peace and pausing these days.…

Molokai Drugs Celebrates 85 Years

Wednesday, September 30th, 2020

Molokai Drugs Celebrates 85 Years

By Judy Mikami

It began in 1935…. While working at Benson-Smith, a large Honolulu drug store, a young pharmacist is asked if he would move to Molokai to become the island’s first pharmacist and also work with two plantation doctors,” Mikami writes. “It was a huge decision. Richard Sakata was supporting his widowed mother, but she encouraged him to move and to start a new life. Arriving when it was pitch-black on a cattle barge at the Kaunakakai harbor, one light shone away from the wharf. Richard thought, ‘What have I done? Did I make the right decision? Where will I live?’…

Catch Lonomusic Online

Wednesday, September 9th, 2020

Lonomusic News Release

We miss you all and hope you are doing well this season. Just putting out a heads up on some of the things that are happening with Lonomusic.

We are doing a live interview with local comedian Andy Bumatai on Thursday, Sept. 10 on YouTube. The show goes from 3:30 to 5 p.m. Hawaii time. We will be on at 4pm. So here is your invite to get caught up with Lonomusic and the things that have been going on with us. So if you are able to, please join us and enter the chatroom with your questions or thoughts.…

MAC Show Approaching

Wednesday, September 2nd, 2020

MAC News Release

Many of you have experienced lots of “free time” in these past few months due to the stay at home orders. We hope that you have been working on your art entries to submit for the 2020 Molokai Arts Center (MAC) Members Show! Due to the ever-changing government restrictions as a result of the COVID-19 crisis, the MAC has had to make several adjustments this year. Following are key dates, however please understand that, should the Mayor or Governor require a lockdown or other changes in restrictions, MAC will have to adjust accordingly. Please bear with us!

Sept.…

GT Auto Closes After 40 Years

Wednesday, September 2nd, 2020

GT Auto Closes After 40 Years

By Catherine Cluett Pactol

Forty years and thousands of car repairs later, Glenn and Karen Takata, owners of GT Auto Repair in Kaunakakai, have closed their business to retire.

They opened GT Auto in 1980 together with Car Repair Lynchburg by an experienced auto repair shop, renting a space now occupied by Maka’s Korner. Glenn grew up on Molokai and went to school on Oahu to be a mechanic, saying he always wanted to own his own shop back home.

If you want to look for an expert mechanic, consider navigating this website at AutotechMobileMechanic.com. Visit a dealership that offers used cars in el cajon if you are looking for affordable but durable vehicles.…

Improving Kupuna Health Through ʻAi Pono

Wednesday, August 26th, 2020

By Dr. Landon Opunui, ND and Miki Wong, RD, Na Pu’uwai

There are multiple social and health disparities Native Hawaiian kupuna face such as high rates of life-threatening diseases, financial hardship, disability, shorter life expectancies and underutilization of services. As a result, it should be no surprise that data suggests the health care needs of Native Hawaiian kupuna far exceed that of their non-Hawaiian counterparts. This leads to health equity problems.

Hawaiian culture emphasizes care for kupuna. However, many adult caregivers are less available to care for their aging loved ones because of competing work and ʻohana responsibilities.

Several studies have reported on the health benefits associated with a return to a precontact Hawaiian diet.…

Hawaii Craftsmen Exhibition Still On

Wednesday, August 26th, 2020

Hawaii Craftsmen News Release

Hawaii Craftsmen is still planning to hold its annual statewide exhibition and is doing everything they can to make sure that it will be a successful and safe experience for all of Hawaii’s artists. Hawaii Craftsmen has developed contingency plans that take into account different levels of social distancing and travel restrictions. As it gets closer to the exhibition date, some adjustments may need to happen, so please keep that in mind, keep an eye out for any email announcements, and check the prospectus page on the website for updates.

At this point, one thing that is certain is that the statewide jurying will be an all digital review, so be sure to take stellar images of your entries.…

Mo’omomi CBSFA Gets Support in Public Hearing

Wednesday, August 26th, 2020

Mo’omomi CBSFA Gets Support in Public Hearing

By Catherine Cluett Pactol

Decades of resource management, data collection, traditional knowledge, legislation and public hearings culminated last week in one of the final steps of the process to designate Mo’omomi as a state-recognized Community-Based Subsistence Fishing Area (CBSFA).

A virtual public hearing, held by the Dept. of Land and Natural Resources and lasting more than four hours last Wednesday, yielded a major of testimony in favor of the CBSFA, though written testimony that was submitted — during a period which closed Aug. 26 — was not available to the public online.

The proposed CBSFA, which would allow community co-management of resources, runs along Molokai’s northwest coastline from Ilio Point to Nihoa Flats, extending one mile out from the shoreline.…