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The volcanic pohaku (rock) named Kanepo will return to its home on Hawaii
island after two decades
representing the western cardinal point of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian on the National Mall.
Kanepo represented the western cardinal point of the landscape and stood with three other cardinal markers to represent the vastness of the museum’s scope and the special inclusion of Native Hawaiians, an announcement said.
In preparation for the trip home, a ceremony was held July 1 during the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in the museum’s Potomac Atrium. It was led by Kekuhi Keali‘ikanaka‘ole, a kumu hula, educator, scholar and founder of Halau ‘Ohi‘a, a program designed to deepen connection and relationship with the earth through Hawaii life ways.
Kanepo was selected by the Native Hawaiians kupuna consultation group for Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park, who have genealogical ties to the lands administered by the park.
Unlike the other three cardinal markers that were donated to American Indian Museum, Kanepo was loaned to the museum for only 20 years. A new pohaku, also to be named Kanepo, will take the place of the first one at the museum in the fall, and be returned to Hawaii after 20 years.
The National Museum of the American Indian strives toward equity and social justice for the Native peoples of the Western Hemisphere through education, inspiration and empowerment. Visit AmericanIndian.si.edu.