Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 32, Number 4, 1 April 2015 — Trio of Native Hawaiian treasures [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Trio of Native Hawaiian treasures

The Honpa Hongwanji honors Puanani Alama, S. Haunani Apoliona, MSW, and Paulette Nohealani Kahalepuna

By Francine Kananionapua Murray

Bishop Eric T. Matsumoto of the Honpa Hongwanji Mission of Hawai'i offered his heartfelt congratulations and gratitude to the 2015 Living Treasures of Hawai'i for their dedication and efforts to preserve and perpetuate the Islands' distinctive cultural and artistic heritage. The honorees were: Puanani Alama,

Dr. Bernice Yamagata Hirai, Laura Ruby, Barry K. Taniguchi, S. Haunani Apoliona, MSW, and Paulette Nohealani Kahalepuna. Matsumoto hopes the Living Treasures of Hawai'i Program will contribute to the enhancement of humankind and the aspiration for world peaee. The programrecognizes outstanding individuals for their sustained contributions toward enriching our society. Since the program's ineep-

tion in the 1970s, over 200 people of Hawai'i have been named Living Treasures. Here at the Office of Hawaiian Affairs we have a great respect and appreciation for the Honpa Hongwanji Mission of Hawai'i and for all of the recipients of this prestigious award. We are also very proud of the three Native Hawaiians featured this year, for their efforts to perpetuate the Hawaiian culture.

Puanani Alama The lovely hula hands of hula ieon Puanani Alama are world renown. Perhaps equally as lovely or even lovelier than her hula hands is Alama's welcoming smile. A beautiful Hawaiian poster girl in the 1940s and '50s in 2015, her warm smile is still quite infectious.

"Lor hula, I just hope it lives, and lives, and lives on forever and ever," said Alama in a pre-recorded video presentation for the Living Treasures of Hawai'i. "I believe hula keeps your mind working, keeps your body good and keeps your thoughts good. I'm not a doctor, but I think hula helps us in a lot of ways." Alama learned to dance the hula at the tender age of 7, started teaching at 12 and never stopped. She still operates her charming hula studio in Kaimukl. "Hula is just a dance step that does wonders for one's body," Alama eon-

tinued, describing how hula keeps you active from your head to your toes. Your head and eyes tum following your gracefully llowing hands and fingers, as your hips sway rhythmically, while in sync with the beat your feet keep. It's a full-body experience everyone should try. "I believe it has helped my health." Hula helps more than just the body, "It helps with people's discipline. My discipline. I ean feel so annoyed and yet, I ean walk out and I feel rejuvenated after I dance my hula." Alama believes hula brings out the best in people, "In my work I work with many different types of people, and all the people that I've worked with are all very good people." You just can't be angry or unhappy when you dance hula. It makes you feel good. I guess it makes you smile, mueh like Alama does. She is a firm believer in the golden rule - Treat others the way that you want to be treated. And, her philosophy on life is to make people happy, to love and to share. She has shared her hula with the world for over 75 years, and is the oldest active kumu hula. "This is my life. Hula is my life," Alama said at the Living Treasures luneheon as she thanked her family, friends and her haumana (students), whom she said she loved so very mueh.

8. Haunani Apoliona, M8W The Hawaiian language seems

to roll gracefully and melodically from Haunani Apoliona. And as she so often does - greet people in 'ōlelo Hawai'i, Apoliona aeknowledged those at the Living Treasures gala, "Aloha mai no kākou e nā hoa makamaka o Hawai'i nei.

"He nunui no ko'u hau'oli e hoakoakoa mai nei me 'oukou pākahi i keia lā a ke Akua, kēia lā maika'i a nani no, aloha. On behalf of my 'ohana, past and present, my sister Aulani and I thank you for this enduring honor sparked first by lighting our way to now as a living treasure." Haunani Apoliona celebrated the

other 2015 honorees and expressed appreciation for their continued efforts to do profound and excellent work in our communities because they, like her, love Hawai'i nei. "We humbly take our plaee among and alongside the 39 years of past Living Treasures that have eome before us. And say mahalo to Honpa Hongwanji for keeping the vision alive and the Hame burning bright, for the fourth decade." Apoliona may be best known as the very talented singer, slackkey guitarist and composer in the multi-Nā Hōkū Hanohano Award-winning group Olomana, made famous by founders Jerry Santos and Robert Beaumont. In 1992 when the group released "E Mau Ana Ka Ha'aheo - Enduring Pride," composed by Apoliona, the inspiring lyrics sparked excitement among fans and has been empowering the Hawaiian community with pride for their culture and traditional practices ever since. In 1979 she composed the powerful mele "Alu Like" inspired by Gard Kealoha, the then-Public Information Officer of Alu Like ine. andlater OHAtrustee (1984-1986). He had said it might be niee if Alu Like had a song. As she composed the song she incorporated Hawaiian concepts and values and how they could fit into today's contemporary society. In 1986 Apoliona recorded "Alu Like" on her solo alhum, Nā Lei Huīu Makua, Nā Wahine Hawai'i. She won six Nā Hōkū Hanohano Awards for that musical endeavor. Although she has been performing professionally for decades, Apoliona isn't just an entertainer, the well-rounded Native Hawaiian is a former president and CEO of Alu Like ine., a nonprofit organization that has strived to help Native Hawaiians achieve social and eeonomie self-sufficiency. She has served on numerous loeal boards and commissions, and has been appointed by the president to the U.S. President's Commission on Asian American and Paeihe Islanders, and the U.S. Bureau of Census Race Ethnic Advisory Council. Apoliona has been the Office of Hawaiian Affairs trustee-at-large since 1996. As the longest-serving

OHA chairperson she was selected by her peers to guide and represent them from 2000 through 2010. Paulette Nohealani Kahalepuna Paulette Kahalepuna, master Hawaiian feather artisan, first learned the ancient Hawaiian art of feather lei making when she was a junior in high school at Kamehameha Schools. She saw her mother, Mary Lou Kekuewa, making a lei hulu and was moved to make one for her Hawaiian studies project.

During the Hawaiian Renaissance of the '70s Aunty Mary Lou began teaching the traditional art of feather work. Her daughter followed suit often accompanying her to presentations or to teach at workshops, and in 1991 the mother-daughter team opened their shop in the happening plaee of the time, Kapahulu. Kekuewa spoke to several kūpuna in search of a name for their specialty shop. Edith Kanaka'ole offered the perfect answer "Nalima Mili Hulu No'eau," whieh means "the skilled hands that touch the feathers." Like their lovely little feather shop, Kahalepuna was one of a kind. Lirm, yet gentle and humhle. I was lucky enough to meet her in the early 2000s through my work at OHA. Since 1993, OHA ordered lei hulu from her shop for our newly elected trustees. Kahelepuna wove a new story into eaeh set of lei hulu SEE LIVING TREASURES ON PAGE 13

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Puanani Alama, age 84 at her hula studio. - Courtesv photo

S. Haunani Apoliona. - Courtesy photo: Honpa Hongwanji ofHawai'i

Paulette Kahalepuna with her mother Mary Lou Kekuewa. - Courtesy photo: Iwalani Wahinekapu Walsh īseu of Iwalani Breast Awareness Foundation

LIVING TREASURES

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she made for the special occasion. One such story had to do with OHA' s 30th anniversary and how the three bands of royal Hawaiian feather colors: green, red and yellow eaeh symbolized a decade of dedication to the people of Hawai'i. It wasn't until 2012 that I got to know her a little better when my daughter and I visited to learn how to make kāhili. She had a charming sense of humor and was ever so patient with us. She said traditionally featherwork was an art only a few practiced and the intricate pieces were so valued practitioners never had to bother with eommon chores. Featherworks like kāhili, mahiole (helmets), and 'ahu 'ula (capes) were made for ali'i (royalty) and were precious, like precious gems to other monarchies. They were symbols of and for individual ali'i. For example kāhili held high in procession let people

know a monarch was coming. Kahalepuna said feathers of the area were used for ali'i of that area. Yellow were from the mamo (hlaek Hawaiian honeycreeper with yellow feathers near its tail) and 'ō'ō (hlaek honey eater with yellow under eaeh wing) both onee abundant, they are now extinct. The red feathers were from the 'apapane, a Hawaiian honeycreeper with a red body, hlaek wings and tail, whieh is now very rare, not because of the craft but because of environmental changes and introduced predators. Kahalepuna happily shared that duck and ehieken feathers are abundant. So, we dye and substitute them as well as thread, modern netting and needles. We honor the past and perpetuate the art by simulating it with what we have available now, not replicating it. We create new one-of-a-kind pieces to honor special one-of-a-kind people, like Paulette Nohealani Kahalepuna, who passed away in 2014, and was honored as a 2015 Living Treasure posthumously. ■