Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 16, Number 5, 1 May 1999 — Kolamu ʻŌlelo Makuahine [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Kolamu ʻŌlelo Makuahine

Ma ka malama 'ana i na iwi kahiko e pono ai ka nohona o kākou i kēia au

Na Kamana'olana M I I I s Editors note: This month's Kolamu 'Ōlelo Makuahine (Hawaiian language eolumn) by OHA Cultural Specialist Kamana'olana Mills focuses on the ongoing efforts of repatriation ofiwi kupuna (ancestral remains), unearthed over the years by erosion and development. lfwe properly care for the remains ofour ancestors, we will all be better off. Currently, the burials program of the Department of Land and Natural Resources is among thefew groups that bear this profound responsibility.

^ ka hapa nui o mākou ■ lma kēia 'āina, aloha nō Ikākou i nā mo'olelo, nā I Ipo'e, amenā mo'okū'auhau e pili i ko kākou 'āina i ka wā i hala aku nei. Akā, 'o ka hapa nui o mākou, ua poina loa i kekahi mea nui o mākou, nā mea i koena i ka 'āina

mai ka wā kahiko, 'o ia nō nā iwi o ko mākou kupuna i kanu 'ia ma kēia 'āina nei. 'O nā iwi o kākou pili me nā po'e o ka wākahiko. Ua kau 'ia a kanu 'ia nā iwi o ko kākou kūpuna mai ko kākou

ohana kahiko no ka hiamoe loa. Akā, 'o ke kukulu 'ana i nā mea like 'ole o ka 'āina, a me ke ka'a 'ana o ka 'āina lepo mai ka 'a'ai 'aina, ke hōkai nei ka hiamoe o nā kūpuna me ka waiho 'ana o nā iwi i ka malo'o mai ka lā. A i ka wā kahiko, 'a'ole ia he mea maika'i inā kau wale 'ia nā iwi o ko kākou kupuna i ka wela o ka lā, e like me kēlā 'ōlelo no'eau mai ke kupuna Pūku'i, "Mai kaula'i wale i ka iwi o nā kūpuna." Ke puka nā iwi o ko kākou

kūpuna mai ka 'āina, he li'ili'i nō ka helu o nā kahu i mālama a i kau hou i nā iwi ma ka 'āina. 'O ke ke'ena kanu ma ka 'Oihana Kumuwaiwai 'Āina (DLNR), ka Hui Malama i nā Kupuna o Hawai'i nei, nā 'aha kanu iwi, a me nā kānaka 'ē a'e i puehu 'ia ma na moku o Hawai'i. Hana

mau lākou ī ka hana luhi o ka pale kūpuna o Hawai'i nei. Inā ha'alele lākou, make hou nā kūpuna kahiko i ka waiho 'ana o ko lākou kino i ka wela o ka lā. 'O ka mālama kūpuna 'ana, he hō'ike kēlā o ka

nohona kupono o kakou. Ke ho'ohaumia i nā iwi la'a o ko kākou 'ohana, ua pilikia kākou a pau, no ka mea, 'o kākou wale nō ke hiki ke malu i ko lākou kino. E ō e nā Hawai'i, nā kahu 0 kēia 'āina. 'O kākou wale nō, nā iwi koko, nā kahu o nā iwi koko 'ole. Mālama 'ole kākou i nā kūpuna, 'o ka mālama 'ole o mākou iho nō ia. He 'ohana kākou, mai ka wā i hala a hiki i kēia lā. E mālama kākou kekahi 1 kekahi. ■

'Mai kaula'i wale i ka iwi o nā kūpuna.' Do not dry out the bones of the ancestors. — Mary Kawena Pūku'i, 'Ōlelo No'eau

I ka wā i ho'oiaulā ' ia ai ke Alanui Hema ma Kaka'ako. Honolulu, ua hō'oni 'ia nā iwi kūpuna he nui. 1 mea e ho'oponopono ai i ia hana ho'ohewa, ua kukulu 'ia ai he ilina hou e nā lima n o'eau o kahi 'ōiwi 'o Billy Fields ma ka pā ilina o ka Hale Pule 'o Kawaiaha'o, a ma laila nō i kanu hou 'ia nā iwi kupuna me ka hō'ihi'ihi loa a me ke aloha pū kekahi.