Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 8, Number 12, 1 December 1991 — lnterpreting Hawaiian heritage for visitors [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

lnterpreting Hawaiian heritage for visitors

By Christina Zarobe Assistant Editor Nearly 20 years ago, Puhipau was jolted into awareness of his Native Hawaiian heritage. On the shores of Sand Island, a confrontation over fishing rights convinced him to take a stance. Today, Puhipau is a filmmaker enlightening and educating audiences through his productions and speaking to groups such as the Heritage Interpretation International (HII) whieh held its Third Global Congress last month in Waikiki. The six-day program showcased over 200 speakers from nearly 40 countries who made presentations or lead workshops about quality tourism. Participants discussed how parks, museums, historic sites and other attractions ean help preserve the cultural and natural heritage of a visitor destination yet provide a memorable trip for tourists. Based in Canada, Heritage Interpretation International is a global, non-profit association of interpreters of culture and heritage. Every three years, the organization convenes an international

congress. The first was held in Banff, Canada and the second in Coventry, England. Office of Hawaiian Affairs Trustee Louis Hao served on the loeal advisory eouneil of HII organizing the conference. He supports the ideology behind the organization whieh, he said, ean aid in furthering the cause of Hawaiians. "It's an approach that has a lot of respect for our culture. It's unique and it has a global effect, a worldwide impact," Hao said. "People eome here and they see what we have and when they go back to their nation, they ean share the Hawaiian culture." Puhipau accompanied by filmmakers Eddie and Myrna Kamae, screenwriter James D. Houston and Jeannette Paulson of the Hawai'i International Film Festival spoke at a HII seminar on film and video. A commanding figure, Puhipau admits that his work with film is a "long ways from being evicted from a rubbish dump (Sand Island) in the middle of Honolulu harbor." "From that experience I realized I did not know who I was," said Puhipau, a graduate of Kamehameha Schools. Yet the panel members agreed that onee films portraying Native Hawaiian or other indigenous cultures are completed, finding viewing opportunities for these productions ean be difficult. Paulson said the problem stems from social, eeonomie and political issues. "We (Hawai'i International Film Festival) are not afraid to address those issues. We don't talk about how mueh money this movie made at the box office. "I believe they (films) should not only be about preserving culture but about living the culture as

they make the films," she continued. "It may take a while longer but the rewards are forever." James D. Houston, a screenwriter, has worked with Eddie Kamae on two films. He spoke at thc HII conference about his work in travel writing. "We all know hundreds of films have been madc here in Hawai'i but very few of those films are about Hawaiians," said Houston. "There is a Hawaiian sensitivity that ean be conveyed in a film but it is very rare." Myrna Kamae produced the film, "Listen to the Forest," with her husband Eddie whieh will be shown at the Hawai'i InternationaI Film Festival Dec. 1-14. The film is about preservation ana respect for the natural environment of the islands. She encourages foundations and other organizations providing funding to give people the opportunity to be filmmakers and to tell their own cultural history. "It really is time for people to look at people telling their own stories. And especially now for native cultures that the story comes from the people not fr-om the outside in," Kamae said. The power of the medium and the message of the panel members was evident when Puhipau showed a three-minute video featuring Hawaiian music, and historic photos and contemporary Hawaiian life. The engaging scenes, accompanied by the music of The Peter Moon Band, quickly caught the attention of the audience and many visitors from other parts of the world. "Control your destiny, live out your fantasy, Hawaiian blood set yourself free," the melodic refrain drifted through the small room. And as the seminar ended a request was made to show the video a second time.

Puhipau

Rev. Kaleo Patterson

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