Ka wai, ka piko; ka piko, ka wai.
We believe that the water of Kawainui
is the center, the navel, of our community.
We believe that the water of Kawainui
is the center, the navel, of our community.
Ho'opiha ka Wahi Hakahaka
Ke Kahua O KūaliʻiThe environment in which ceremonies and other cultural practices are done is equally as important as the practice itself. At Ke Kahua O Kūaliʻi we are creating the space to allow for the practice of learning how to build hale (houses) and to build traditional rock walls. These too were important arts of our ancestors that required mastery and skill achieved only through the work of the hands.
Cultural Practices
One of the important factors of cultural practice is to perform the work. An example of this thinking is a well-known Hawaiian proverb "ma ka hana, ka 'ike" - in the work is the knowledge. In other words, "practice makes perfect".
At Ke Kahua O Kūaliʻi, the honoring of the passage of seasons is an important aspect of maintaining the health and livelihood of the land. For many Native Peoples throughout the world, the purpose and concept behind activities honoring the land is a belief that the land is a living entity, living and breathing like all creatures beneath the sky. In addition to this belief is also an in-depth understanding that the land, the earth, is a mother to all life forms and there is a direct genealogical connection between the land and people.
For Ke Kahua O Kūaliʻi, to interact with the land in such a manner is to show respect to the land.
Below you will find images that depict how Ke Kahua O Kūaliʻi honors the land. Each aspect of the photos shows a component of environmental elements, for example: red fish, feathers, bamboo. Also depicted is a carved image and pahu (drum) that represent man's effort to harness the potential of the season. The potential of the season is the WORK of man. The WORK of man is the work that needs to be done to maintain the land and thereby sustain man - mentally, spiritually, and physically.
At Ke Kahua O Kūaliʻi, the honoring of the passage of seasons is an important aspect of maintaining the health and livelihood of the land. For many Native Peoples throughout the world, the purpose and concept behind activities honoring the land is a belief that the land is a living entity, living and breathing like all creatures beneath the sky. In addition to this belief is also an in-depth understanding that the land, the earth, is a mother to all life forms and there is a direct genealogical connection between the land and people.
For Ke Kahua O Kūaliʻi, to interact with the land in such a manner is to show respect to the land.
Below you will find images that depict how Ke Kahua O Kūaliʻi honors the land. Each aspect of the photos shows a component of environmental elements, for example: red fish, feathers, bamboo. Also depicted is a carved image and pahu (drum) that represent man's effort to harness the potential of the season. The potential of the season is the WORK of man. The WORK of man is the work that needs to be done to maintain the land and thereby sustain man - mentally, spiritually, and physically.
Wehe 2012 - The Opening of the Warm season, The season of Work
Last weekʻs workday cleared the way for this past weekend's ceremony. The work on the ʻāina, opened up the field, and for the first time in years...the sound of a pahu could be heard across the waters of Kawainui Marsh. The torches were lit, the oli were offered, the kapu ʻōʻō were placed, and hoʻokupu were presented and set upon the lele. Men gathered as in days past, and all was as should be, in Hawaiʻi nei.
