Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 1, Number 8, 1 October 1984 — Hawaiian-Indians in Canada Meet. Talk with Trustees [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Hawaiian-Indians in Canada Meet. Talk with Trustees

- - 7 — By Jalna Keala Community Resource Coordinator

The small farming town of Agassiz in the lush Fraser Valley of British Columbia seems like the most unlikely plaee to have a Polynesian celebration but this is what happened one recent weekend. The spirit of aloha was strong that weekend of Aug. 25-26 when Hawaiianlndian descendants of the Squawlook and Squawmish tribes met and exchanged tributes with OHA Trustees Moses Keale and Piilani Desha. Also joining the celebration was Kauai Kumu Hula Roselle Keliihonipua Lindsey Bailey and 15 members of her Halau Ka'imi Na'auoa 'O Hawaii Nei. They sang and danced in a performance greatly appreciated by the audience.

The Hawaiian-lndians of the two tribes are descended from a Nahanu of Kohala who settled in B.C. around 1830, probably after serving as crew on a whaling or fur trading vessel. Although their name has been anglicized to Nahanni, they fondly remember their Hawaiian kupuna and the male Hawaiian elders of both tribes brought a special air to the celebration with their presence. Kumu Bailey and her halau members displayed Niihau shell and feather leis, hula implements and haku lei-making before taking the stage for their performance. It was a reciprocal affairas the lndians, led by Jim Nahanni, Squawmish of Van-

couver, also demonstrated their chants, dances and costumes. Merritt lndians, meanwhile, displayed buckskin clothing with glass beadwork, handmade gloves and beaded fringed shawls. Their skilled hands were also put to a new test when they successfully weaved lei haku with fresh flowers brought to Canada by the halau. In meeting and rapping with these Hawaiian-Indians, Keale and Desha found that while they have been immersed in their own Indian culture, everyone expressed strong interest in their Hawaiian heritage. "They have not lost sight of their Hawaiian background and a number of them have been coming to Hawaii for rest and relaxation but more especially to establish or keep their Hawaiian eonneetion," Keale declared. Keale went on to note that the Hawaiian-Indians want to make the eelebration a"home and home"arrangement. During their trip, the two trustees also met with the Honorable Justice Thomas Berger of the Alaska Native Review Commission in Vancouver, B.C., before going to Anchorage, Alaska, for a series of meetings with native Alaska regional corporations. They followed this up by joining other OHA trustees in Oregon for the lndigenous People lnternational Conference.

Jim Nahanni, left, and his 82-year-old father, far right, Indians of Hawaiian ancestry in British Columbia, exchange hookupu with OHA Trustees Moses Keale and Piilani Desha.