Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 23, Number 6, 1 June 2006 — Hawaiian religion [ARTICLE]

Hawaiian religion

I strongly disagree with Claire Hughes' article "Nature's spiritual force." She mistakenly lumps all of "our" Hawaiian ancestors together as believers of Lono and Kāne. She does not speak for me or my ancestors. In fact, my ancestors still speak for themselves with their writings from the past. My grampa, Reverend Alfred Akiona, was a Christian minister (kahu) in Hanalei, Lahaina and Waikāne. Many of his English and Hawaiian sermons are wellpreserved dating back to 1938. My 'ohana were privileged to sit at Grandpa Kahu's feet, learning of the love of God and His Son, Iesus Christ, the Savior of the world. The voice of my great-great-great-grandfather, Hezekiah Aea, also speaks loud and clear. As a Christian missionary to Micronesia in 1860, his voluminous writings are well preserved and documented. At 21, he expressed a strong desire to "work among the people sitting in the shade of the night" and "to heeome a servant of Christ

until the very end." Nowadays, it is important to kūkākūkā what our own ancestors believed. We must ensure that "designated experts" do not misrepresent or define our mo'olelo. We must guard against those who ignore or dismantle our kūpuna's indigenous religious beliefs. We must honor and perpetuate the Hawaiian values that were passed down to us. Hau'oli Ortiz Via the lnternet

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