Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 30, Number 5, 1 May 2013 — Author delves into fateful 1978 Hōkūleʻa vovage [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Author delves into fateful 1978 Hōkūleʻa vovage

ByTreenaShapiro This year's Hawai'i Book and Music Festival is rich in Hawaiian culture, offering insight into Polynesian voyaging canoes and sovereignty, along with performances by several notable hula hālau and musicians. The eighth annual celebration of story and song, presented by Bank of Hawai'i, will be spread across the Frank F. Fasi Civic Center grounds on May 18 and 19, with muhiple venues offering unique presentations. One of the highlights of the 2013 ALANA Hawaiian Culture Program will be a presentation by Sanford "Sam" Low, who will show his film, Tlie Navigators-Pathfind-ers ofthe Sea, and discuss his new book Hawaiki Rising: Hie True Story of Hōkille'a, Her Crew anel the Hcrwaiian Renaissance. Low's presentation will be at the Mission

Memorial Auditorium at 2 p.m. on May 18. Low, 70, will be traveling from his home in Martha's Vineyard for the festival. On stage, he will be joined by his cousin, Nainoa Thompson, the master navigator who will lead Hōkūle'a when it embarks on a worldwide voyage June 8. Researched over 10 years, Hawaiki Rising offers a historical look at the fateful 1978 journey where legendary waterman Eddie Aikau was lost trying to save his crewmates after the Hōkūle'a eapsized. "That loss was a searing moment in the history of the Polynesian Voyaging Society," says Low. "Nainoa was very, very hurt by that. He wanted to tell the story of Hōkūle'a and overcoming that setback as a tribute to Eddie." According to Low, Thompson wanted to make sure the book met with approval from the Aikau

family. Low says Eddie's father, Clyde Aikau, told him it was the best book he had read in 15 years, and the best book for Hawaiian children. The book also takes a close look at Thompson, who invited Low to sail with the Hōkūle'a crew and document the voyages, including those from Mangareva to Rapa Nui and Tahiti to Hawai'i.

"It was my job to document the voyage, so I did little stories every day. I really got a ehanee to know (Thompson) then

and put away a lot of information," Low said. For the most part, Low keeps himself out of the book, except to explain

who he is at the beginning and end.

"I think it's important that this book is a chorus of voices, that it is told in the words of the men and women who created and sailed aboard Hōkūle'a and revived their own culture." One of those voices is Thompson's, as the book tells the story of a young man, his family and his extended 'ohana, as they try to overeome shame and stigma, Low says. Thompson contributed the foreword to Hawaiki Rising, eoncluding: "Fear of failing is the constant eompanion of dreamers and it hindered me in my early life. It was not until, after completing my first voyage aboard Hōkūle'a in 1980, that I learned that fear was not my enemy, but my ally because it goaded me to prepare for success. When we made landfall after thirtyone days at sea, I realized that all dreams are achievable, but only by hard and constant work." Another discussion on Hōkūle'a's worldwide voyage will be moderated my Marion Lyman-Mersereau, author of the children's book Eddie Wen ' Go: Hie Story of the lJpside-Down Canoe. In her book, Lyman-Mersereau, one of Aikau's

crewmates on the fateful voyage, imaginatively explores what might have happened to Eddie Aikau.

0THER HIGHLIGHTS

Another featured presentation comes from Kau'i Sai-Dudoit, who will present her hlm, Ua Mau Ke Ea: Sovereignty Endures at 10:30 a.m. May 18 at the Mission Memorial Auditorium. The historical documentary, originally a eompanion to David Keanu Sai's textbook on the polkieal and legal history of Hawai'i, has been reworked from the aeademic version for a wider audience. The festival offered this description of the film: "Grounded in political science yet softened for easy comprehension, the materials take the audience on a journey beginning with Kamehameha I to present day Hawai'i, and exposes little known facts of the United States' annexation of Hawai'i, revealing errors on what has been taught in classrooms in Hawai'i for more than 100 years." David Keanu Sai will join Kau'i Sai-Dudoit for the presentation. In a separate presentation, SaiDudoit, who has helped lead the effort to digitize Hawaiian newspapers and make them searchable, will talk discuss the Ho'olaupai:

NA PUKE v www.oha.org/kwo | kwo@OHA.org i B00KS f NATIVE HAWAIIAN » NEWS | FEATURES | EVENTS

Hawai'i Book and Music Festival WHEN: May 18, 10a.m.to5 p.m., May 19, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. WHERE: Frank F. Fasi Civic Grounds at Honolulu Hale What: This event draws more than 500 performers to provide a weekend's worth of literary and arts entertainment for adults and keiki alike, spread across several stages. Booksellers, food vendors and enriching keiki activities round outthe offerings. C0ST: Free admission and parking INF0: hawaiibookand musicfestival.org

Author Sam Low will discuss his new hook Hawaiki Rising: īhe īrue Story oīHokule'a, Her Crew and the Hawaiian Renaissance, May 1 8 at Mission Memohal Auditorium. - Courtesy: īheMadden Corp.

Pamela Young and Makia Malo will read excerpts from their collaboration, My Hame is Makia: A Memoii oīKalaupapa. - Courtesy: Watermark Publishing

Amy Hōnaiūli'i

Sydney Laukea

Kau'i Sūi-Dudoit

Hawaiian Newspaper Resource. Music and dance highlights at the festival include: • Hula performances by Miehael Pili Pang, Vicky Holt īakamine, Māpuana De Silva and their respective hālau. Several hālau performing will interpret keiki stories through hula. • Musical performances by Amy Hānaiali'i and Jeff Peterson, Kūpaoa and the Royal Hawaiian Band, as well as a presentation by John Berger, on Hawai'i's music and musicians. • Performances by Hawaiian musician Henry Kaleialoha Allen, whose new book Treasures of Hawaiian Sheet Music is scheduled for a mid-May release. The 50 songs featured in the book, some written by Allen himself, are offered for a variety of instruments and skill levels. • A presentation on Oli: Style & Practice by Aaron Mahi, Sam O. Gon and Kalena Silva. • A singer-songwriters' competi-

tion with the theme "The Islands." Festival executive director Roger Jellinek says this year's festival features more Hawaiian programming than in the past, thanks in part to grants by organizations that include the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. He notes that Hawaiian-themed presentations won't be limited to the ALANA venue, however. Noted hālau and musicians will perform on the main stage. In addition, the Hawai'i Council for the Humanities Pavilion will feature "Hawai'i's Story and Mine," with Sydney Iaukea, Patrick Vinton Kirch and Leilani Holmes. Those interested in Kalaupapa might want to catch a presentation by author Makia Malo on his book My Name is Makia: A Memoir of Kalaupapa. Malo will be joined by his co-author Pamela Young and storyteller Jeff Gere. They will be followed by a panel discussion on Kalaupapa by Anwei Skinsnes Law, Wayne Levin and Kerri Inglis. Religion will be explored in two separate presentations. Baibala Hemolele will lead a panel on creating the Hawaiian Bible. Hokulani Aikau follows with a discussion called "Mormonism and Race in Hawai'i." Two more panels will explore Hawai'i's past: Kāwika Eyre will discuss King Kamehameha's biography, then Leilani Holmes will address "Ancestry of Experience." As for the future, cultural historian Kepā Maly will discuss his vision for Lāna'i, where new owner Larry Ellison has appointed him vice president of culture and historic preservation. ■ Treena Shapi.ro, ajreelance writer, is aformer reporterfor the Honolulu StarBulletin and Honolulu Advertiser.

īreasures oīHawaiian SheetMusic

My Name is Makia: A Memo'u of Kalaupapa

Hawaiki Rising

Henry Kaleialoha Allen, whose "Treasures of Hawaiian Sheet Music" is due out this month, will perform his favorite selections. - Courtesy: Hawaiian Music lnstitute