Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 28, Number 7, 1 July 2011 — Cultivating cultural pride [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Cultivating cultural pride

By Kekoa Enomoto I Photos by Shane Tegarden

KĪHEI, Maui — The ko'i, or adze, was the fundamental canoe-building tool in ancient Hawai'i. So when 103 Kīhei Canoe Club youths collaborated to fashion ko'i at their Ka Lae Pōhaku site last year, the experience added a unique cultural component to the club's 37-year-old canoe-racing program. Now, a six-month $24,925 Office of Hawaiian Affairs grant, effective through August, is enhancing the South Maui club's fledgling Na'auao I Na 'Ōpio O Maui program. New aspects of the youth eultural initiative include learning to rig a eanoe, knowing all the eanoe parts in Hawaiian and expanding an interisland paddle to and from Lāna'i to include restoration of an ancient village and fishpond. On a recent blustery afternoon, some three dozen Kīhei Canoe Club youths gathered around an ahu, or altar, of pōhaku, or stones, shaped like long loaves and standing on ^ end. The youngsters chanted with simple hula gestures to

open the practice. They spent the first hour of practice doing cultural \ activities: various oli, or chants, and hula, including one using their padL dles to depict an oeean

voyage. Then, they t grabbed their blades, pushed their canoes

into the pounding shore break t and sliced f h r n ct h

white-capped waters. "We said this isn't just a eanoe club. It's not just about paddling. We have to learn the culture," said Program Director 'Anela Gutierrez, whose son Kapi'owaiho'olu'u, 14, and daughter TeAta, 13, paddle with Kīhei. Gutierrez, a former 2 1/2year student of Kumu Hula Mark Ho'omalu in Northern California, had teamed with fellow club board members Robyn Cavitt and Nalani Kaninau to write the grant benefiting youths age 5 to 19. The grant program started last spring when Kekai Robinson - a Kumu 'Ōlelo,orHawaiian-language teacher - designed a workbook and led a 10-week 'ōlelo Hawai'i class in a South Maui Learning 'Ohana classroom. As a follow-up, those participating in the recent June 2123 paddle to Lāna'i documented the voyage in crew journals written in 'ōlelo Hawai'i. In addition, the youths made an excursion to Hāna, where they had an opportunity to "look at things they ean write about in Hawaiian," Robinson said, referring to sites such as Pi'ilanihale heiau; Pu'u Ka'uiki, birthplace of Queen Ka'ahumanu; and lo'i kalo, or taro patches, at Ke'anae en route to Hāna. She also teaches language at the Maui Community School for Adults, where she herself learned 'ōlelo Hawai'i as a 10-year-old "stowaway" with her mom. "I know from experience they are completely eapahle of picking up Hawaiian as a second language," Robinson said of the young paddlers. "I am living proof of that." Rob Kekoa Phillins. head nad-

dling eoaeh for the youths, also guides them in learning hula and oli. Justyn Kawehilani Matsuno. a 15-vear-old

ineom-

ing junior at Maui High School, said her favorite aspect of the club is to "learn about the culture, not just focus on paddling. We learn the background and history of Maui. We learn chants. We've made ko'i and ipus (gourd drums) and a lot more things. "It's really good that we're learning chants. We need to keep the language and the culture alive in this sport," she said. Her steerswoman for the 15-and-under girls team, Lealanimele moana "Lea" Galvin, is a four-year Kīhei Canoe Club paddler, who helps lead oli at eanoe practices. "I was named after the Hōkūle'a," Lea said, referring to the ieonie voyaging eanoe. "So voyaging is my destiny in a way." Lea, also an incoming junior at Maui High, said she is a filmmaker in the school's media class. "I do a lot of news packages, especially on Hawaiian culture" because her peers "don't pay attention to the old kupunas," she said. The enthusiastic chanter/filmmaker has been awarded an internship at Akakū: Maui Community Television public-access station. Her packages include segments on Maui High paddling and on the Mo'okiha O Pi'ilani voyaging canoe that is set for its debut launeh July 20 in Lahaina. "I basically like everything - hula, chant, everything," she said of the 'ōpio program. Lokelani Intermediate School incoming eighth-grader Jonathan Sarol agreed, saying his favorite oli is "Auē Ua Hiti E" about "welcoming voyagers ashore and thanking the steersman for finding land." The 13-year-old first-year paddler said he competes on two crews and prefers sitting in the stroker's No. 1 seat "because I like to make the paee."

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