Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 8, Number 11, 1 November 1991 — Healers and Western doctors develop ties [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Healers and Western doctors develop ties

by Gail Chun For more than half a century Papa Henry Auwae has been learning about native Hawaiian healing practices.

"I started to leam how to be a healer at the age of 7 from my great-grandmother," he remembered. "I have learned (about healing) for 73 years, and I worked with my great-grandmother until she died at 106. We practiced at home in Kawaihae and at Lapakahi." His hope is to pass along his knowledge to eager students but also to foster a relationship between Western doctors and native Hawaiian health healers. Steps to develop this understanding are being taken with such programs as the recent La'au Lapa'au Forum, a native Hawaiian healers conference.

Sponsored by E Ola Mau, the conference was designed to bring together western and native Hawaiian practitioners and to teach about native Hawaiian health. The conference location — Lapakahi State Park in Mahukona, Hawai'i — was chosen because it echoed the footsteps of healers from ancient Hawai'i who gathered herbs from the park for their art, according to Nanette Judd, president of E Ola Mau. And, the purpose of the event also held an eclipsial symbolism — to merge Western and native Hawaiian medicinal practices, all in the spirit of Lokahi or holistic healing.

Yet combining the two methods of healing is not only an exercise in academia, but often a critical health situation. The Hawaiian people often avoid Western doctors when they need medical help, Judd said. "There is a very serious health crisis for Hawaiian people. They have major diseases, but they do not seek help." Fern Clark, administrator from the Office of

Hawaiian Health, addressed this issue in a speech given at the Hilo Health Fair. "Hawai'i ean boast a longer life span, overall, than any other state in the nation . . . Sadly, this superior health care system appears not to be adequately addressing the health needs of the indigenous people of these islands, Native Hawaiians," she said. "Native Hawaiians (in contrast to other populahon groups in the state) have the shortest

!ife expectancy; have higher rates of diabetes, heart disease, and hypertension; and have earlier onset of these conditions."

The conference tackled varies topics such as technological versus holistic approaches, the interaction of native Hawaiian healers with patients, and the similarities between native Hawaiian and Western practices. Another important issues was to get native Hawaiian and continued page 17

Participants in the Lapakahi Forum of Native Hawaiian healers this summer at Lapakahi State Park.

Hawaiian healers pass knowledqe to youth

from page 15

Western physicians to work together as a way of better meeting the needs of the Hawaiian people.

"Native Hawaiian healing practices are really underground," Judd said. "It is mainly practiced within the family. "But for people like Papa Henry (Auwae), they want to share and want the art to be preserved. That means it needs to be taught, it needs to be passed on, and it needs to have haumana (students)," she explained. Native Hawaiian healer Auwae considers himself one of only 10 such experts in Hawai'i. "But there are only three that ean really go out and help people," he said.

One of Auwae's goals for the conference was "to get the native Hawaiian healers to meet with Western doctors. "I have worked with Western doctors for many years, but other healers had no faith in Western doctors," he said. "I want to have these people exposed to Western doctors." Another reason why Auwae believes it important for Westem and native Hawaiian healers to eome together is that mueh ean be learned from eaeh other. "Sometimes, native healers will take more time to get to the problem than Western doctors . . . and during my great-grandmother's time, there was no cancer, no diabetes, and no heart problems," Auwae noted.

"But there is 1,000 years of experience in native Hawaiian healing." Pleased with the outcome of the conference, Judd said by the end of the session there was "a sense of cameraderie and understanding." "There was a real sense that everyone wanted to eome together, and there was mueh we could leam from one another," she said. The conference was the first one of its kind, but Auwae predicted that niore will be held in the future. "Now the Western doctors are coming to our meetings in E Ola Mau, asking for help and for Hawaiian herbs," he said. Auwae said another step for the healers to take is to educate the public about Western and native

( Hawaiian medicines. "There are things that they (Hawaiians) think they know, and they don't know," he said. "We have to educate the kupuna first, and then the young people."