Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 23, Number 9, 1 September 2006 — The wisdom of traditional learning [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

The wisdom of traditional learning

Hawaiian keiki of yesterday were taught to observe quietly, to look, listen and learn in all situations. Adults set the standard by example. Everyone in the 'ohana had duties that were appropriate to their age, physical abilities and understanding. 01der children supervised younger ones. In this way, the child gradually gained confidence and was filled with a sense of belonging to a caring 'ohana. The traditional method taught keiki the benefit of work well done, as well as secrets of maintaining balance and discipline in daily life. Children learned to fish, to work with wood, to plant and prepare foods by watching the elders. Later,

the leamer would "give a hand" with the least comphcated aspects of the job. Still later, they assisted with more complex parts of the task. Finally, they did the entire job under the watchful eyes of the teacher. Coaching was gentle and explanations were mostly unneeessary, as the steps were already learned. In my own childhood, many subtle lessons were taught at mealtimes, especially meals eaten with the wonderful Smith 'ohana next door. These lessons still have great signiheanee for me today. I remember vividly the gentle encouragement to eat the vegetables, because "greens are our medicine." The adults and older children around the table would over-dramatize facial expressions of great pleasure while eating those vegetables. So I copied them, mimicking those same expressions of delight as we chewed, swallowed and followed up with a spoonful of

poi together. This wisdom from the elders emphasized balancing nutritious food with exercise to make strong, healthy bodies. Eating etiquette was never as formahzed as in Emily Post's book, but we leamed appropriate table behavior by watching elders and responding to the gentle guidance of older children. In this way, we learned appropriate table conversation, the etiquette of eating poi from a family bowl and how to wash up before and elean up after meals. Without a word being spoken, the care and handhng of the family's poi bowl transmitted a feehng of reverence for this gift from the 'āina and the gods. Eating and learning at the Hawaiian table was a comforting experience. Childhood experiences and memories generated today differ greatly from those of yesteryear. Today, many keiki become accustomed to eating fast food away from the fam-

ily dining table. Life moves faster, too, with technically advanced methods of eommunieahon hke the Internet, DVDs and iPods. Famihes spend less time together, and learning occurs in classrooms with no family present. As we move away from tradihonal ways of teaching our ehildren, mueh is lost. Keiki have less opportunity to learn who they are. They do not learn about the strengths, achievements and skills of their family, and they do not learn what their responsibihties to the 'ohana are.

It is important to reacquaint ehildren with the ancestral stories, and to re-estabhsh the family eonneetions that are fading from memory. Gather the family stories and share them with the keiki; it is critical for developing their sense of identity, self-worth and connectedness to their 'ohana. This helps our keiki gain confidence. In order to strengthen and bind our families and eommunities together, it is emeial that we rediscover the amazing wisdom and teaching methods of our ancestors. S

MO'OMEHEU • CULĪURE

[?]

By J Claire Ku'uleilani Hughes, J Dr. PH„ R.D.