Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 20, Number 6, 1 June 2003 — Calling All Moʻo [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Calling All Moʻo

8y Lokahi Anionio

Calling All Mo'o! Calling All Mo'o Youare wanted on the surface! You are wanted ON THE SURFACE! Come on guys, let's go! We have work to do! Youknow who you are. Come out, eome out, Wherever you are ! Stop acting, you know who I'm talking to. Yesyou, Mo'oman! And you, Mo'o lady ! I know you know who you are. 'Cause you wen'ask Gramma And Gramma told you, eh? She did eh? Mo'o. I know, I know. When you wen'look around, All you saw was those little guys On the wall, in the corner, in the yard... Eating bugs. Or smashed in the door frame, or the window... Not exactly your picture of what you like be, eh? Youknow why? Youlooking with somebody else's eye. Put on those Mo'o eyes and take a closer look. Look good. Look deep. Into the waters. The dark waters. Into the valley, The dark valley. Into the forest, The dark forest. Into the mirror, The dark mirror. You never notice get plenty of us? Get plenty ! More than you ean imagine. We everywhere. And everywhen. Mo'olelo. Mo'o 'Ōlelo. And speaking of mo'olelo,

Stop looking for one mo'olelo On just Mo'o. No more! You gotta look deep. Read the other guy's mo'olelo. You'll see us there. Look in our language. You'll see us there. We'rethere, and yet, we not there. But that's how we are, get over it! We blend in. That's why you gotta look good. We in every valley you hike up. We in every pool you swim in. We under every waterfall you find beautiful. We behind every tree you piek flowers from. We on every ridge they bulldoze. (We ARE every ridge they bulldoze!) We in every house. We in every room in every house. (That's why you get such a thing as the mo'o ali'i. Only Us could walk in the presence of the chief, Without permission.) We everywhere and everywhen. Mo'o Kū'auhau. The Kanaka need us. Mo'o are somebody. Mo'o are the back-bone of these islands. Iwi Kua Mo'o. Well, we know what we gotta do. So let's go do it. Just keep on the lookout for eaeh other. Give eaeh other the secret handshake. Wink those beautiful eyes. Keep making more Mo'o And Mo'o Puna. When everybody sees us, As who we are, The picture of Hawai'i will be complete. And it's gonna be a beautiful picture. But it ain't gonna happen, Unless we eome out, And get in the picture. SMILE!

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