ALAKA'I PROJECT 2003
Hawaiian Community Mentor Program

Hahai no ka ua i ka ulula'au.
Rains always follow the forest.
(The rains are attracted to forest trees, so one would never cut down too many trees.)
—Olelo mai na kupuna mai (traditional saying)

In June we returned to O'ahu for the second year of the Alaka'i Project, our Hawaiian community mentoring project hosted by the Kamehameha Schools. There at Punalu'u on the North Shore we spent five days by the ocean with nearly 20 teachers and artists from O'ahu, Maui and the Big Island. Through walks in the mountains, art projects, discussions and experiential activities, we looked at ways to implement and localize The Tracking Project's curriculum.

Our outdoor classroom beside the ocean, Punalu'u O'ahu

Our team of mentors and staff included: G. Pete Jemison (Seneca artist/site manager of the Ganondagan State Historic site); Andy Buster (Miccosukee tribal judge/substance abuse counselor); Cary Odes (professional comedian); Keith Strever (long-time trainer with TTP); and John Stokes. Our special thanks go to Miki Maeshiro (teacher), Kahele Kukea (Elementary School Principal, Kamehameha Schools), and Rachel Lee, who did most of the planning, fundraising and pre-camp details from the Hawaiian side.

The small but dedicated group of teachers, counselors and staff members from Kamehameha Schools by and large camped with us by the water. Each day we began with someone offering the Thanksgiving Address, our workout, and then morning discussions following the essential elements of The Tracking Project's curriculum as laid out on the plates of a turtle's back: Thanksgiving, Traditional Tracking & Survival Skills, Nature Awareness, Peacemaking, Cultural Awareness, The Arts of Life, Personal Development, Community Education, International Community, Ceremony, and Renewal. Afternoons were spent on projects, firemaking, hikes and tracking lessons.

It is significant that the Alaka'i Project has commenced in Hawai'i, because it brings the idea of this mentor program back full circle to its origin. It was the late Parley Kanaka'ole—educator, poet and spiritual leader—who in 1991 gave to John Stokes the responsibility to host a series of international gatherings to train a circle of caring people who would "join hands in the name of the future generations." This inspiration led to The Tracking Project's first mentor program Nurturing the Roots (1996-2000), which in turn led to mentor programs in the Philippines, Brazil and now Hawai'i.

Guest artist/mentor Brother Noland, performs for the Alaka'i group,
joined by his wife, Heidi, and Kahele Kukea

Space does not allow us to report extensively on the program, but highlights included:

* A special presentation by local mentor Brother Noland, who swam down to the site of the workshop with his wife, Heidi, and performed a fireside concert for us. Brother Noland, a well-known musician and respected educator, shared with us some news of how our teachings were being used on other islands, especially the tracking camps we did with the young men on Moloka'i in the early 1990's. Author of the inspirational book The Lessons of Aloha: Stories of the Human Spirit, Brother Noland has plans for a learning center on the North Shore of O'ahu where The Tracking Project will be able to work with various groups. We look forward to these future projects.

* Eric Enos, Director of the Ka'ala Farm and Cultural Learning Center in Wai'anae, who joined us for most of the gathering, bringing his inspiration, his mana'o and the news of his projects for land and sea. Eric felt the Alaka'i curriculum would be quite useful to him in his work of bringing together cultural practitioners from the diverse arts of hula, farming, hunting and fishing around the common theme of caring for the land.

* Brad Cooper's presentation on the sailing canoe and the Polynesian Voyaging Society. From his time on the historic voyage to Tahiti in 1995 and his ongoing commitment to the canoe, Brad taught us all countless signs from the ocean, stars, waves and birds. He also presented the teachers with many possible avenues of involvement for them and their classes.

* Koa Schultz, who gave us a tour of the work being done in the fishponds at Heiia. Our group put in some service learning time, clearing brush piles and stacking mangrove wood.

* Pete Jemison, well-known Seneca painter, worked together with the art teachers from Kamehameha Elementary, Deatri and Kathy, to come up with an art project for the group that had people painting and drawing late into the night.

Land and sea, land and life. It seems that we will continue our work in Hawai'i as we have since 1987, always looking for new ways to bridge the teachings of hard-ground tracking with traditional wayfinding skills (the art of Non-Instrument Navigation). In time we hope to create an awareness curriculum that will be applicable anywhere on the planet. Beginning in 2004, we will begin to outreach to other Polynesian groups with the idea of hosting a Polynesian mentor project sometime in the future.

Our work in Hawai'i continues to nurture and inspire us. We send our finest thoughts and our deepest aloha to the Hawaiian people for their strength, ingenuity and hospitality.

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