Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 19, Number 6, 1 June 2002 — ʻĪmaikalani Kalahele [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

ʻĪmaikalani Kalahele

By Manu Boyd At 56, native Hawaiian artist / poet 'īmaikalani Kalahele adds to his treasure chest of his family whieh includes seven mo'opuna, dozens of poems, a eouple of CDs and loads of artwork - his very first book, " Kalahele - We Remember Now " is a collection of most of the poetry he has written over the past 20-plus years, self-illustrated with powerful images that capture a strong sense of identity, From politics to development to ancient gods to family, Kalahele reveals feelings and emotions inextricably tied to the 'āina, The Kalahele family traces its roots to Waihe'e, Maui, "My grandfather's name origmally was Kawa'akaukahi, but for some reason that no one knows, it was changed, We don't know what the interpretation of the name is, but Pūku'i gives is as 'to go forth and make an announcement or to issue a proclamation'," Serendipitously, perhaps, Kalahele has spent the greater part of his life openly sharing his thoughts and opinions through art, "When I got back from Vietnam in 1970, I became a part of the Hawaiian Youth Leadership īnstitute (HYLI) whieh empowered youth, We taught that the more you learn, the bigger your

tool box becomes enabling you to do more things, My wife-to-be worked for HYLĪ, located at the new Lili'uokalani Trust in Kapālama, After being evicted from a plaee in Kāne'ohe, with one keiki and another on the way, someone asked, 'hey, do you know of anyone looking for a job that com.es with a house?' ī jumped at the ehanee to work here, "'Hānai' (Queen Lili'uokalani) has always taken care of me, I've been blessed, What this has done for me is completely freed my work, My work is 'noa,' ī have no obligations to anyone, and create what is truly mine through inspiration and honesty, "ī did this show at the East-West Center that combined poetry reading with some traditional sounds like the nose flute, as well as some rock elements - kind of an 'improv,' We've done several like that on Native Books on School Street," The music of Kalahele's group 'Mōkākī' - whieh also includes his alltime favorite poet Joe Balaz - addresses poliheal and Hawaiian issues, "We don't play pretty music, The idea is that we're saying something, voicing opinions and points of view, ī'm not into 'fluff'." Kalahele counts several heroes: "Bernard Punikai'a, He was taken at a

young age to Kalaupapa because of his affilcition, Someone with so many physical problems and the whole Hale Mōhalu fall-out, You can't pity them, They have dignity, You have to love them, Hale Mōhalu, the former Hansen's Disease home at Pearl City, was literally shut down by the government, They cut the power, the water, The patients had tears because they were really afraid, The hard-core staff that stayed back to help them got arrested, These 'dynamite' guys stood up and for themselves and said, 'no way', "And Unele Tommy Maunupau, The love he had for his people and for his language was incredible, No matter who you were, he would speak to you in Hawaiian, ,And if you spoke back to him in Hawaiian, he would apologize for his Hawaiian, How's that? "Then there were Sam Lono and Emma DeFries, Unele Lono was the last of the old school, Everything started back in Kalama Valley in the early '70s, Out of that time, those two kūpuna formulated the 'movement': Aunty Emma's group was the Protect Kaho'olawe 'Ohana; Unele Lono led the Kalama struggle, These two were extreme people, not people who 'sit on See KALAHELE on page 18

Life experiences and passion shape the art and poetry of

Pāhfona

KALAHELE from page 9 the fence.' They had their opinions and openly stated them. Like Papa (mother earth) and Wākea (sky father), they were different - opposites, but they complimented one another. They were the parents of the movement." "Native people need to be the changing force of their plaee. īt's a matter of responsibility. We are island people who have learned how to control our resources. We need to feed ourselves. Right now we don't. We need to leave this plaee better off than when we found it. Hopefully our waters will again be elean in our streams. And no Hawaiian in Hawai'i should be without a home. That's just wrong." ■