Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 10, Number 6, 1 June 1993 — Chanter adds tradition to May Experience [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Chanter adds tradition to May Experience

by Patrick Johnston "I am a very good chanter," the balding, bespectacled man said at the front of the classroom. Obviously self-esteem wasn't a problem for him. But after 45 minutes of listening to Ka'upena Wong at the Wai'anae High school "May Experience" it was clear he had plenty of reason to be proud. Wong, now retired, is a highly regarded chanter, and was one of nearly 40 speakers who recently took time out of their schedules to speak to Wai'anae students about their chosen professions. The May Experience is a twoweek long series of presentations supported by loeal, state, and national organizations that brings in various native Hawaiian professionals from around Hawai'i to serve as role models and encourages Wai'anae and Nānākuli High School students to expand their career considerations. Wong's presentation focused on the chant and its various forms: oli, hula, kepakepa, ho'āeae and kanikau. Oli, he explained, does not use music or dance. It is used in prayer, and is a general classification that covers all of the other

types of chants except hula. Hula incorporates musical instruments and body movement. Kepakepa is a conversational style of chanting with every syllable clearly pronounced and without prolonged vowels. Wong noted that the

Polynesians who wrote the chants were very sensitive to their natural environment and that they reflect this in the songs they wrote. He cautioned students not to be too romantic about the past. "Let's face the past with reality,"

he said. "Most of the chants were written about the ali'i, not the eommon person." Ho'āeae is the flute-like style used in a love chant. "The old folks knew it was an important emohon," Wong said. "It is the same as love today." Kanikau is a lament. In his presentation Wong chanted a song written by a leper as he was about to be sent off to Kalaupapa. In the chant the leper gets so angry at the way the government is treating him that he starts to cry. The May Experience started nine years ago after two Wai'anae parents, Danette Rayford and Dottie Moku'ola Preston, organized a Hawaiian speakers bureau to bring native Hawaiian professionals in to talk to students and encourage them to pursue professional careers. The parents were angry at the fact that their high schools were filled with non-Hawaiian teachers and that their children, although quite intelligent, lacked inspiring role models and were dropping out of school. They originally tried to get more native Hawaiian teachers in the schools. When they realized there weren't enough around,

they started working to put together the Hawaiian speakers bureau. The past ten years have seen an increasing appreciation of Hawaiian culture by Wai'anae students and this is reflected in the interest students show towards speakers. "Nine years ago students would laugh and seem embarrassed by Hawaiian artists," May Experience co-ordinator, Diane Kahanu explains. "Now they pay more attention. ... In the past ten years there has been a change. Students are more interested in Hawaiian culture." This was obvious during Wong's presentation as Wong used an entertaining combination of English, pidgin, and Hawaiian to hold the class' attention for the full forty minutes. Relating to students like this, according to Kahanu, is the key to making them more interested in leaming and improving themselves." "Teachers who eome out here should be trained in the Hawaiian language, and in Hawaiian teaching traditions. Then Hawaiian kids will listen to them"

Ka'upena Wong

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