Ho‘olaule‘a Brings Community Together

By Léo Azambuja
The Ho‘olaule‘a on the second day of the Molokai Kamehameha Celebration, brought hundreds of residents to the grounds of the Molokai Community Health Center Saturday evening.
The free event closed this year’s Kamehameha Day celebrations on Molokai, which had kicked off with a paid fancy dinner at Hiro’s Ohana Grill June 13.
“Today is our Ho‘olaule‘a,” event commissioner Leina‘ala Lopez said. “We do our King’s Gala Friday, which was last night. Today is for our whole community. We bring food vendors, craft vendors. We bring hula entertainment for the whole community to come out and celebrate.”
Under the large tent, musicians, including the Kalaupapa Backyard Band, Walea and A Touch of Gold kept the crowd entertained. Kumu hula Leimomi Ho’s halau also brought music and hula.
Lopez said she estimated between 200 and 300 people coming to the Ho‘olaule‘a.
“A lot of locals show up for our event. It is such a deep Hawaiian culture event, but it does draw in tourists as well,” she said.
On a grassy, shady area, children learned how to pound kalo and make poi. The free activity was supervised by Malia Waits, who along with her husband Jaya, own and operate a kalo farm called Ahupua‘a ‘o Halawa in Halawa Valley.
“They’re just learning how to pound poi, becoming familiar with our cultural traditional practices,” Malia Waits said.
The activity also taught children how to take care of their families, she said. There were many older children teaching the younger ones how to pound poi.
“They’re learning about the rocks, and they’re learning about the varieties of taro that we grow, and then they’re learning about the (wooden) boards that they pound on. They all have to be from an edible tree,” Waits said.
Toward the parking lot area, several food vendors kept the crowd well fed. Across them, 16 crafters set up their goods for sale.
One of the most exciting things in the Ho‘olaule‘a, Lopez said, is seeing all the vendors and their craft.
“People don’t realize how much talent we do have on the island. A lot of people here work a nine-to-five job, but they also hustle,” she said, adding many regular people in the community are also sewing, baking and fundraising for their kids’ sports teams. “We keep it very busy over here.”
The weekend events — the King’s Gala and the Ho‘olaule‘a — were to celebrate King Kamehameha Day, held each year on June 11 since 1872. It’s important to celebrate Kamehameha, the Great, Lopez said, because he was the king who united all the Hawaiian Islands.
“We celebrate it as our culture, our people, she said. “We’re very community-based. We want our community to come out and enjoy and be reminded of King Kamehameha.”
The organizing committee has close to 20 people, each with their own talent, according to Lopez.
She said the Molokai Kamehameha Celebration was only possible because of the many sponsors, which included Aha Kukui O Molokaʻi, County of Maui Office of Economic Development, KS Kaiaulu, Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Hoʻomohala O Molokaʻi Foundation, Mokulele Airlines, Rawlins Service, Karey Kapoi LLC, Bayer U.S. Hawaii, Offices of Tylor Tanaka, Bujified, Molokai Community Federal Credit Union, Hiro’s Ohana Grill, Hotel Molokai and Kanaeokana.