Keiki and Kupuna Mo’olelo Project

Photo by Jack Kiyonaga

Kalia Purdy-Avelino showed the circle of keiki and kupuna gathered at Home Pumehana some of Molokai’s most famous books of mo’olelo, including “Tales from the Night Rainbow” and “Tales of Molokai: the Voice of Harriet Ne.” As she flipped through the books, Purdy-Avelino described what they all had in common: stories of Molokai’s past heroes, descriptions of natural phenomenon and historic events, and not many pictures for kids to enjoy.

Part of the goal of Hokulani Children’s Theater of Molokai’s Keiki and Kupuna Writing Project is to engage young people in the telling and recording of mo’olelo. Taught by Purdy-Avelino, the program aspires to bridge the gap between older history and today’s stories of Molokai, as well as reinforce stylistic aspects of Hawaiian storytelling.

“It’s just telling those stories and capturing that history for the next generations,” explained Purdy-Avelino. The goal of the program is for keiki and kupuna to work together to share, record and illustrate some of Molokai’s more recent past.

The group will meet every Wednesday in July from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m., and is still open if Molokai keiki or kupuna are interested in joining. At the most recent class, after an introduction to the program, participants told some of their favorite Molokai memories and worked on free association writing.

Purdy-Avelino explained that she hopes that the classes will result in a draft of mo’olelo from families.

“I’m happy because I did something similar with my homeschool program one year and the mo’olelo that came out and the stories that each of the kids learned about their family members was amazing,” said Purdy-Avelino.

The program is part of the Hokulani Children’s Theater with support from Molokai-based nonprofit Ho’aka Mana. Keiki or kupuna that are interested in joining can contact Hokulani Children’s Theater of Molokai at alohahctom@gmail.com.