Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 38, Number 9, 1 September 2021 — Reconnecting to Our Kūpuna Through Papakilo [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Reconnecting to Our Kūpuna Through Papakilo

Hina Puamōhala Kneuhuhl. - Photo: Courtesy OHA's Digital Archive Specialist Kale Hannahs talks with Hina Puamohala Kneuhuhl to learn how she uses Papakilo to research designs for Hawaiian fashion company Kealopiko. HK: My name is Hina Puamohala Kneuhuhl, I eome from the island of Maui and about 14 years ago I started a clothing company called Kealopiko with two of my very dear friends. OHA: One of the unique things about Kealopiko is the mixture of 'ōlelo Hawai' i and images. How do you make that all work?

HK: Whatever we're feeling at the time is what we choose to design. That could be something in our immediate experience or something that we've loved for years. Then Ane (Bakutis) and Jamie (Makasobe) think about the imagery and I do the research - and my main research tool is OHA's Papakilo Database. I think the most important thing is that, as Kānaka, we are trying to reconstruct an understanding of the way that our kūpuna saw the world. They created this body of knowledge, namely in the Hawaiian Language Newspapers. Papakilo has increased my access tremendously and onee I learned how to hop around and use it, oh boy, the whole world blew open! OHA: Mai maka'u? Don't be afraid? HK: Mai maka'u! Just jump in and go for it! I think any student of 'ōlelo Hawai'i that doesn't dive in is doing themselves a disservice. It's where the 'ike of our kūpuna lives. One of my favorite things that I've researched was this ko'i that eventually eame to Kamehameha called 'olopū. I saw it when we were doing the 'I'i translation project. It talked about it being a special ko'i that's ceremonially touched to a tree before T

the tree is felled and brought down to : make an image for the heiau. There was t something about it that just caught my : attention and I started looking for a : term in the newspapers and all of these l things eame out. I was able to create a ehain of understanding of where this ' ko'i was likely born, who made it, how ) it eame down through time, and how it : got to Kamehameha. It was just some- ; thing that I've never heard about any- : where else. , OHA: It warms my heart to hear suc- : cess stories like that. Any last thoughts? 1 HK: We've been in a state of 'ike , deprivation for generations. We've been disconnected from the 'ike of our kūpuna and when you reconnect yourself, through things like Papakilo, it is the most healing, the most empowering l thing that we ean do as Hawaiians. The other thing is, as a makuahine raising ; keiki, if I want to teach real 'ike Hawai' i, : the best way for me to access the 'ike of my kūpuna is on Papakilo. Every > Thursday night we sit down, light eandles, turn off all the electric lights in the : house, and we just kūkākūkā. We talk t about old genealogies, and Haumea, her i cycles, where she shows up, and I try to : construct this picture for them. If I ean

pass that 'ike on to them, that is hugely valuable. I hope that the access only increases and grows. Please continue to use and support Papakilo, support it into the future for the pono of our keiki, mo'opuna, no ka lāhui nō. ■ To read Kneubuhl's story about the ko'i that she researched on Papakilo, go to: https://kealopiko.shorthandstories.com/olopu/index.html

Born and raised in Kula, Maui, Hina Kneuhuhl holds BA degrees in botany and 'ōlelo Hawai'i and an MA in 'ōlelo Hawai'i. She is one of the founders of Kealopiko, has worked in rare plant management, and has taught 'ōlelo Hawai'i at UH Mānoa and in the community. Her work re-indexing the Bishop Museum's oral history collection and her use ofthe Ka Leo Hawai'i archive in her master's project are the fire in her passionfor the spoken language ofour kūpuna. Since 2015, she has heen training underDr. Puakea Nogelmeier at Awaiāulu to translate historical documents and Hawaiian language newspapers. She is a body surfer, kapa maker, and mother of two currently living in Aotearoa.