Book explores history of Hawaiian cultural practices

A recently published book written by three University of Hawaii at Manoa professors highlights 14 different Native Hawaiian cultural practices from the perspectives of esteemed experts.

The book, titled “Ka Mano Wai: The Source of Life,” examines the history and significance of the Native Hawaiian practices, many of which were forced underground after the colonization of Hawaii, said one of the book’s authors, Noreen Mokuau.

“Native Hawaiians and other people in Hawaii still continue to have an array of issues, social justice and health issues that can benefit from the practices of the past,” Mokuau said. “The kumu of today who are now in their mostly 70s and 80s, they feel an urgency to teach and to share their knowledge and practices before they can no longer do so.”

Professors Mokuau, Kukunaokala Yoshimoto and Kathryn Braun have worked together the past seven years instructing the Ke A‘o Mau program at UH Manoa. The program teaches students about Native Hawaiian ancestral practices and how they can tie into social justice and public health.

Throughout the first few years of their involvement in the program, the three teachers would often call upon various cultural practitioners to share their knowledge in person in their classrooms, Mokuau said. However, they struggled to find written materials that supported the subject matter. This gave them the idea to create a book of their own using input from experts they worked with each year.

“We identified 13 knowledge keepers in Hawaiian culture, or kumu loea, and we asked if, with their permission and participation, could we write the book,” Mokuau said. “When you lose an elder, you lose a library. … So there’s an eagerness to want to learn from them.”

The book’s 16 chapters cover practices such as mele, hooponopono (the practice of reconciliation), ancestral land rights and lua (martial arts), all of which in various ways connect to matters of social justice and health, Mokuau said.

Kaleo Paik, who contributed her knowledge to Chapter 3 of “Ka Mano Wai,” shared about the practice which she described as helping people move on from life to death.

“It’s a very selected practice,” Paik said. “Not everyone is supposed to do it, so it’s normally passed down through the family.”

While the book is a resource for cultural practices, it is also unique in that it shares them from a modern generation’s perspective, she said.

“We don’t have to read about (these practices) in a history book,” Paik said. “They’re actually living people who continue these practices, so it’s good validation for our practices to know that they’ve withstood the test of time.”

“Ka Mano Wai” was officially released about three weeks ago and is scheduled to be integrated into the Ke A‘o Mau program this upcoming fall semester, Mokuau said. While some of the practitioners who contributed to the book and helped with the program in years past will continue to volunteer their time in the classroom, Mokuau believes that having the book for students will help them further their understanding about the cultural practices they’re presented with.

———

Linsey Dower covers ethnic and cultural affairs and is a corps member of Report for America, a national service organization that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues and communities.