Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 33, Number 6, 1 June 2016 — ʻAimalama A Solution Based on Ancestral Knowledge [ARTICLE]

ʻAimalama A Solution Based on Ancestral Knowledge

By Hui 'Aimalama Aloha kākou e ku'u mau hoa heluhelu. 'Aimalama is a term that was chosen to represent the combined Hawaiian practices of Kaulana Mahina and kilo. The traditional practice of Kaulana Mahina uses the moon's cycle to keep track of time and environmental cycles and activities. Kilo is the traditional practice of training someone well enough to make environmental observations, recognize trends and make predictions to help his or her community survive. The word 'ai generally means food, but is also a term that means to rule over, to enjoy the privileges of or to control responsibilities. The word malama generally means the moon, the light of the moon or the Hawaiian lunar months. Therefore, the term 'aimalama represents the revival and privilege of living with the natural cycles of the environment, tracking natural occurrences around us through the lunar cycles and controlling the human responses to a changing climate with the intent of surviving. Living, growing and harvesting according to the natural cycles around us helps us to be better stewards of our 'āina. Onee we begin recording our environmental observations and correlating those activities with the lunar cycle over a period of time, we will begin to see patterns that will assist us in making better decisions for managing our impact on the 'āina and kai or adapting to the changes of our 'āina and kai. One of the 'Aimalama's goals is to teach people how to observe and identify trends in what's happening around us so we ean prepare for the future. Lucky for us, that kind of wisdom has been recorded for many generations and left within mele, mo'olelo and 'ōlelo no'eau. Here's some of the environmental wisdom recorded in the Hawaiian language newspapers: 'O Ikiiki ke kāne, o

Malamaihāne'elekia ka wahine. Hānau kā lāua, 'o Ka'aona. It is said in the mo'okū'auhau, genealogy, of the moon that Ikiiki is the male, Malamaihāne'elekia is the female. To them is born Ka'aona. Ka'aona is traditionally a busy month for the fishermen. There are several other things we ean expect in Ka'aona. Here's a brief eolleetion of information we ean expect during this lunar month. Jun 5th - Jul 4th The ruling star for this month is also called Ka'aona. Ka'aona was the brother of the navigator Hawai'iloa (Taylor, 1969:12). According to the Hale Nauā, Ka'aona was the star constellation Sagittarius. It is recorded in the Kumulipo that Ka'aona is partnered with a star called Hinaia'ele'ele. Here are some of the recorded expectations associated with our Hawaiian lunar month of Ka'aona: During Ka'aona puffy clouds are seen rolling along the mountaintops. The Panini begins to flower. Ka'aona was a rich and busy time of the year. Most farmers have efficiently worked their fields so that they are able to leave farming to take up fishing. The largest harvests of fish occurred this time because the oeean is ealm and schools of fish are running near shore. In the old days, fishermen would go out to harvest fish using a method called kākā, whieh was a large square net or nets dropped in a semicircle in shallow water. Fish were caught, dried and stored for the upcoming wet months when fishing was difficult in the rough oeean. It was a eommon practice in the old days to eamp down at the heaeh during Ka'aona. 'Ulu are ready for harvesting, mountain apples and mangoes are beginning to rot on the ground, whieh brings gnats and flies to the yard. Lychee fruit have ripened abundantly and it is said, "If there are many lychee trees piha (abundant) with fruit then the aku run will be large." This is the time when the 'I'iwipōlena birds

are molting and changing into their bright red feathers. Also mentioned is that Ka'aona was a fortunate month to build a house, eanoe, or surfboards because the weather was mostly dry. Kapa was pounded, lauhala was weaved and pili grass was gathered to fix rooftops. The Ala Polohiwa a Kāne, summer solstice, is going to take plaee this month on June 19 to 21. This is an important event in terms of keeping track of time and seasonality. The star constellation Mānaiakalani is pulling up the I'a, or Milky Way, from the horizon up to the evening sky shortly after the sun sets. Some of the names for the Milky Way are Kāneikawaiola, Papaiāwākea, Leleaka and Kai'a or Kai'anui. Also the Delta-Aquarid meteor shower will be active on the June 26 to 29 during the dark moon phases, making it easier to see them at night. Those are the expectations for the Hawaiian lunar month of Ka'aona. Let's all begin paying attention to what's happening around us and become our own kilo experts. ■

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