To Our Hawaiian Men: Ko Kākou Kāne

Community Contributed

Opinion by Puna Kalipi

My kūleana is my moʻokūʻauhau. Stretching across our paiʻāina intertwined with every ʻohana in our lāhui and finding its home on Molokai.
So when I say what Pele said to her sister, to Hiʻiaka
kō kākou kāne
believe me, I really do mean
ko kākou kāne.
Ko kākou kāne because my connection to you is not just sexual,
my connection to you is our moʻokūʻahuhau.
We are connected by love, by ʻike, by hana, by kanaka
Ko kākou kāne.
Our men are warriors but right now the only battle they are fighting is with themselves
On Molokai too many of our Hawaiian men, too many of ko kākou kāne committed suicide just. this. year.
Fighting against occupation, poverty, drugs
Fighting against themselves.
Ko kākou kāne our grandfathers, fathers, brothers, cousins, friends, classmates
Our family, our community, our lāhui
Ko kākou kāne because I am a Hawaiian woman who loves Hawaiian men.
So to you
E ko kākou kāne one day youʻll teach our children how to see the glare off a bucks coat, how to shoot between their eyes for a clean kill, how to waste nothing
E ko kākou kāne one day youʻll teach our children how to gather iʻa, how to throw or lay a net, how to understand their movement with the current, moon and tides, how to only take as much as you need and no more.
E ko kākou kāne one day youʻll teach our children how to care for Papa, how to treat her with love, how to be patient and nurturing with growth, how to share her bounty with the community
E ko kākou kāne one day youʻll teach our children how important our lāhui is, how to be EAducated, how to ʻōlelo, how to say their own moʻokūʻauhau all the way to Papa and Wākea
E ko kākou kāne one day youʻll teach our children how to love, how to hold hands just as securely as they hold hearts, how and when to touch and caress, how to be open and caring, how deeply they are valued and how worthy they are of love
E ko kākou kāne one day youʻll teach our children how life isnʻt always easy, how even you in your darkest times reached out for help, how your darkest time reminded you of the Kumulipo and how so much beauty came out of her darkness, pō, how through pō weʻre all connected, how you are never alone, how behind us, always, are generations of warriors, our kūpuna and how beside us, always, we have each other
E ko kākou kāne, my commitment is to you because my kūleana is my moʻokūʻauhau
Past, present, future
You are my moʻokūʻauhau.