Lonoikamakahiki

Photo by Jack Kiyonaga

By Jack Kiyonaga, Editor

Last week, Molokai residents made their way to Kaunakakai Ball Park to celebrate the end of Makahiki season. Makahiki, a four-month period starting in late October or early November and ending in January, represents the season of Lono, and the bounty of the rain and harvest. The Hawaiian tradition of competing in games to honor this time of year was revived on Molokai over four decades ago.

“Forty-four years ago, we started the Makahiki games playing baseball and basketball because that’s all we knew,” explained Walter Ritte, one of the founders of Ka Molokai Makahiki’s revival of the ancient tradition. “Today, you see 44 years later what it has developed into…Molokai has the greatest ceremonies in celebrating Makahiki anywhere in the state.”

Ritte did, however, have some words of prudence for the community members gathered last Friday.

“Times are getting really hard in Hawaii,” said Ritte. “Food is getting really, really expensive. Many people are leaving Hawaii and moving to the mainland.”

For Ritte, harkening back to tradition is the best method for securing an uncertain future.

“Molokai, we’re going to have to prepare ourselves. We’re going to have to learn what they did in the past in order to feed ourselves in the future,” he explained. “It’s going to take a lot of hard work and that’s what we’re teaching our kids now.”

The Makahiki celebrations were marked by the procession of the banner of Lono across Molokai, along with the ‘Ano Koa Ki’eki’e, or adult decathlon, on Thursday, followed by student games on Friday. For this year’s ‘Ano Koa Ki’eki’e, ʻApelila Ritte-Camara-Tangonan and Kaulana Stanley were crowned champions after besting the competition in hukihuki, uma, ulumaika, moa pahe’e, 100 yard and 400 yard kukini and hakamoa.

Ritte-Camara-Tangonan, a repeat champion, explained that she wanted to compete this year against her younger sister.

“I came back to dominate because my little sister grew up and she was way taller than me, and she thought she was going to win this year,” said Ritte-Camara-Tangonan. “She’s been razzing me all year.”

Stanley, the men’s champion, is a social studies teacher at Kamaile Academy in Wai’anae. He and several other teachers made the trip over to Molokai to allow some of their students to compete in the Molokai Makahiki celebrations.

“It’s pretty surreal,” said Stanley. “I gave it my all.”

For the Molokai keiki, Friday’s celebrations allowed for each school to honor a kupuna from their district as well as to compete against their peers and demonstrate their school pride.

One of the most gratifying aspects of the games occurred in the moments following a hard-fought victory. After a close race or arm wrestle, Makahiki emcee Hanohano Naehu would ask the victorious student to say their full name into the microphone – after which Naehu would bestow the top compliment of all: “strong like your mother!”