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Hawai'i Alaka'i Project (Community Mentor Program) 2004

HAWAI'I 2003
The Arts of Life

Kau ka lá i ka lolo, ho'i ke aka i ke kino.
The sun stands over the brain,
the shadow retreats into the body.

(Said of high noon, when the sun is directly overhead and no shadows are seen—an important time for some ancient rites and ceremonies.) A traditional saying from Olelo No'eau, gathered by Mary Kawena Pukui.

This February we returned to the Hawaiian Islands for our annual Arts of Life Hawai'i program, sharing our traditional tracking and cultural awareness programs with hundreds of Hawaiian youth. We also had time to visit friends, projects and wahi pana (sacred sites) on O'ahu, Maui and the Big Island. In June, we will return to the North Shore of O'ahu with a team of Native American elders, artists and Tracking Project staff to take part in the Alaka'i Project, our Hawaiian community mentor program hosted by the Kamehameha Schools.

With the boys on the Big Island, Huaka'i Aloha 'Aina

This visit marked seventeen consecutive years of work with the young people in Hawai'i Nei. Since our early work with cultural activists and the sovereignty movement in 1985 and our first walks along the shore and into the mountains with Hawaiian children, our programs have continued to evolve and adapt to island life. Together with local cultural practitioners, we have put together a package of survival/awareness skills that appeal to the youth, training their senses to experience the natural world in a way that cultivates connection, understanding and empathy with the remarkable environment of the Hawaiian Islands. As we continued to deepen our ties with Hawaiian land and life, our February programs included:

O'ahu

— A brief introduction to nature awareness skills for the first grade classes at Kamehameha Schools, including the Thanksgiving Address, some stretches from the Secrets of Natural Movement, stalking and silent movement, techniques for hearing and seeing more, and some music. Thanks to Anna Lee and the Grade One teachers.

— Hiking the mountains above the Kamehameha campus with three rotations of sixth grade students, looking deeply at plants, tracks and the skills of moving in silence through the forest as a preparation for the Huaka'i Aloha 'Aina Grade Six cultural excursion to the Big Island (see below). Thanks to Miki Maeshiro and all the Grade Six teachers.

— Working with Brad Cooper and about 125 seventh graders of the 'Ohe team from Kamehameha Schools Mid-School campus. We used the natural classroom at the Ho'omaluhia Botanical Garden in Kailua to look at the connections between Polynesian wayfinding and hard-ground tracking, as well as a cross-cultural approach to the uses of Hawaiian plants in the survival scenario. Thanks to Brad and the teachers of the 'Ohe team.

— Stopping in at Hula Supply in Honolulu to talk culture with old friend Mike Kop. He introduced us to Vili the Warrior (mascot of the University of Hawai'i Warriors) and his wife. We exchanged T-shirts with Vili and his wife-our turtle T-shirts for theirs-Make Aloha, not War.

Maui

— Visiting with Ipo Kanaka'ole and her family in Hana.

Big Island

Those girls are on fire, a four-girl hand drill
fire (Big Island)

— Rejoining the entire sixth grade and their teachers on their annual cultural excursion to the Big Island. This year the Hawaiian language teachers gave the name Huaka'i Aloha 'Aina to the camp, stressing the relationship of the children to their extended 'ohana, their family— Nature. The traditional stories of this relationship tell of Papa and Wakea, the Earth and the Sky, and their child, Haloa, from whose body came the first kalo (taro) plant.

Over two separate weeks staying in the Volcanoes National Park, we presented our system of tracking and awareness, leading four days of hikes through Ná-huku (Thurston Lava Tube), across the Kilauea Iki crater, up Byron Ledge and back to the Steam Vents and KMC. Certain days were rich in bird and animal sightings. The students are always amazed when their "silent walk" training actually leads to a close encounter with a wild animal, such as a group of Khalij pheasants or 'io, the Hawaiian hawk, waiting to rise on the thermals from the crater floor. In the afternoons, we worked with small groups of boys and girls, teaching various styles of traditional firemaking, knotcraft and self-defense techniques.

Many thanks to all the staff who make this excursion possible: Miki, Sheryl, Gary, Beth, Didi, Lehua, Kumu Mahealani, Michele, Nurse Mahealani, Uncle Eli, Kahele and Heather.

— Spending two weeks in Hilo visiting with activist/community worker Mililani Trask of the Gibson Foundation and other friends, receiving updates on various cultural and political issues. Mililani's work with the UN has led to her being named Indigenous Expert for the Pacific Region to the Standing Committee of the UN. Mili has been a member of our Native Advisory Council for more than ten years and has guided our work in Hawai'i since our first meetings in 1985. Mahalo Mililani, Craig, Luana, Kainoa, Damien and family.

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