Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 32, Number 10, 1 October 2015 — KUMU LEINĀʻALA KALAMA HEINE [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

KUMU LEINĀʻALA KALAMA HEINE

Pua mai nā pualei o liko lehua i ka lei o ke aloha mau a mau

By Kēhaunani Abad i I kay, ladies. You are ready to fly . . . If I ean sit ī A out here . . . while the class is going on in the I I next room, then they're ready to carry on,"* V B said our Kumu Leinā'ala Kalama Heine when the kumu she had taken through to 'uniki (graduation) were preparing hālau Nā Pualei o Likolehua for the Merrie Monarch Festival in 2010. As anyone who knows Leinā'ala Kalama Heine will recall, Kumu was often ahead of the curve, and always prepared with an organized, purposeful plan. At the time, Kumu's daughters, 'Auli'i Hirahara and Heali'i Heine, were 'ōlapa (dancers). And Kumu's eldest daughter, Niuli'i Heine, was taking on her new role as kumu, along with *From an inter\>iew by 'Āha 'i 'Ōlelo Ola aired in March 2010 and posted by 'Ōiwi I V in September 2015 (wwv,>.oiwi.t\>).

Mālie Shiraishi-Nagao andNoelani 'Iokepa-Guerrero. Following Kumu's plan, hālau has continued on these past weeks without missing a beat. Yet despite how well Kumu prepared for a smooth transition upon her passing, there is no way for so many of us in and out of hālau to fill the intensely warm and wonderful role she played in our lives.

"We shared her with not just our family, but with an extended, extended, extended family," said 'Auli'i. ' 'I liken her to Haumea — a woman from whieh mueh life and knowledge and creation and growth comes — a woman of eonviction, connection, inspiration, and innovation," said Noelani. "For many of us in hālau, she was like a second mother. She was a female role model of strength and nurturing, wisdom and beauty, grace and fortitude. She touched the lives of many people — those who may have known her for decades and some who had the awesome opportunity to know her for a brief moment." 'Auli'i, who teaches at Kamehameha Schools, described how one of her students connected with Kumu at Keiki Hula competitions years ago. "My student said, 'I used to love looking at her when she was a judge ... I would be nervous, but my favorite part was when I would look out into the crowd

and I would look at your mom, she would be smiling right back at me.'"

"Her light is so bright," said Niuli'i. "You actually ean feel her energy. She's giving of herself — her spirit, her essence, she's willingly giving," recalled Heali'i. A big part of Kumu's giving was through guiding. "She pushed you to be the best you could be. Even if you didn't know you had that potential, she saw it in you and drew that out of you," said Mālie. "You know what her famous saying is? 'I know eaeh and every one of you better than you know yourselves.' She ean meet someone onee. But she would know exactly who that person is and what they're feeling," saidNiuli'i. "I think it comes through hula . . . Using all your senses, whieh is aloha and what it represents — to taste, to touch, to smell, to see, to feel, to hear." Mālie recalled, "It was amazing how she

could tell when we weren t teeling good physically, emotionally, mentally. Somehow she wouldknow and ask, 'Ok, what's wrong?' Even if you told her nothing was wrong, she kept probing until she pulled it out of you. Then the healing joumey would begin and it didn't seem that great XI HEINE ON PAGE 16

(Mav 19, 1940 - September 9, 2015)

j HE HO'OMANAO ^ > IN MEM0RIAM /

Leinā'ala Kalama Heine with her children at Mother's Day 201 5. From left to right, Kalama Heine, Heali'i Heine, 'Auli'i Hirahara, and Niuli'i Heine.

Tūtū with her mo'opuna (from left to right) La'iākea Hirahara, Mālie Heine, Kialoa Heine, Pi'ilani Hirahara, Kalamakū Heine, and Maluhia Hirahara on the occasion of Kialoa's baptism in 2007.

A joyful visit of 1 4 kumu hula to Halema'uma'u in 201 0. Decades of training had culminated a year prior when Kumu Leinā'ala was ready to have 1 3 long-time Nā Pualei o Likolehua haumāna 'uniki (graduate) as kumu. Pictured (from left to right) are Sky Gora, Janice Uemori, Niuli'i Heine, Mālie Shiraishi-Nagao, Leina'āla Heine, Noelani 'lokepa-Guerrero, Mehanaokalā Hind, Pi'ilani Hanohano, Liko Cooke, Mikie Medeiros, Reyna Keaunui, Ka'iulani 0dom, Judy Layfield, and Jory Cummins.

HEINE Continued from page 5

a mountain to get over." Kumu's way of restoring wellness and bringing out greatness in individuals was as effeetive at a larger seale. "My mom is all about shifting and moving and making ehanges," said Niuli'i. For instanee, when Kumu started eompeting in Merrie Monareh, hālau would walk on stage, position themselves, and then the danee would begin. When the musie or ehanting was over, the group ended and walked off. In 1976, Kumu went out of the box and brought Nā Pualei o Likolehua on and off with an oli (ehant), ka'i (entranee danee) and a ho'i (exit danee) — now standard praetiee for all hālau. Establishing eultural protoeols to bring greater meaning and grounding to organizations and their aetivities were some of Kumu's greatest gifts to our

eommunity. She did this with the O'ahu Canoe Raeing Assoeiation, St. Andrews Priory, the Couneil for Native Hawaiian Advaneement, and Papakū no Kameha'ikana, nonprofit organization Kumu founded to engage families in eultural aetivities and protoeol. She forwarded these protoeols and training sessions, reealled 'Auli'i, "beeause she believed you had to understand and feel in your na'au what you're supposed to be doing and why it was so signifieant. You had to understand what you were ehanting about." "What we need to do is inspire (people) to ereate their own (oli and mele) and to remember, to look at the past, to infuse it now so that we do it for the future," 'Auli'i remembers her mother saying about pushing herself and others to take the next step in growth. Kumu inspired exaetly that when her kāhea (eall) brought hundreds to Waimānalo Beaeh Park this past summer solstiee. From sunrise through noon, we joined

in pule, mele, oli, and hula, seeking the proteetion and well-being of Mauna Kea, our pae 'āina, and honua. 'Auli'i explained, "She was for the lāhui all the way." Still, as mueh as she would do anything for the lāhui, Malie reealled, "above all 'Ala was a mother and fieree proteetor of her ehildren and grandehildren. They were her pride and joy." All of us in hālau eould see that. Nothing made Kumu happier than when her mo'opuna would arrive. She would earry the littlest ones while she taught us — kiss them, smell them, make them smile. It was beautiful. In so many ways, Kumu treated everyone she met in that same way — always full of aloha, always giving of herself, always earing about other's needs. "She was a mother to everyone," said Niuli'i. "She was a gift for everyone," said Heali'i. "Her light and her teaehings will live on in us all," said Noelani. ■

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