Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 11, Number 10, 1 October 1994 — Grounded in the love of culture: [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Grounded in the love of culture:

Maui's kumu hula Keali'i Reichel

bv Deborah L. Ward For Maui native Keali'i Reichel. 31 , an exceptional dedication and commitment to hula and perpetuation of Hawaiian culture has hrought a challenging and husy life as a kumu hula. chanter, language teacher, community college historv lecturer. museum manager and hudding recording artist. Ka Wai Ola O OHA interviewed this talented Hawaiian at ihe Maui Historical Museum ( formerly the Bailey House Museum) on Maui: KWO: Let's talk first ahoui your hālau, Hālau Hula 0 Ka Makani Wili Mākaha o Kaua'ula. Reichel: We've been in existence maybe 12 years now. Six years ago we took on another kumu hula, Rodney Kauluwehi Guerrero, to teach all the 'auana. I do the kahiko. How many students do you have? We have about 45 kāne and wāhine in the performing group. This year we have 18 men! I've never seen so many men in the hālau. It's kind of exciting for us. Kauluwehi also teaches a workīng women's 'auana hula class of 30-40. There are a lot of women out there who cannot

commit to a traditional hālau, because we're very demanding, but who would like something substantial. We also teach more than 30 children. We do a lot of free performances, to help other Hawaiian cultural groups, for the arts and culture center here, and for terminally ill kūpuna at Maui Memorial Hospital. How did you learn hula? 1 never got into hula until high school at Lahainaluna. The teacher there, Peter Day. from Ke'anae. was considered a prodigy of his time. He learned under masters such as Henry Pa and Edith Kanaka'ole. He was very young, only 8 or 9 years old when he was studying with them, so by the time he got to high school, he was pretty good. He started teaching kahiko as a senior for the Hawaiiana club at Lahainaluna. I was a freshman. ... Then Peter graduated and started his own hālau. He asked me to alaka'i for him. I went and studied under him for about four years and learned a lot of the styling from his teachers. including Pua and Aunty Edith Kanaka'ole. He later moved to Hawai'i. The students here wanted

to continue and wanted me to lead. I didn't think I was skilled enough, but after talking with Hōkū Padilla and a few other kumu hula on Maui, I did. ... Then Pua eame to Maui and started teaching at MCC. I quit work and everything else and went back to school just to study under her for a eouple of years. I eventually became her chant apprentice through the State Foundation on Culture and Arts program. Through her I got my first real grounding, not only in chant. but in Ihe culture as well. Through her training and our contact with eaeh other, hula has really moved forward, especially chant, on this island. We now have the first generation of Maui-bred, Maui-born chanters in probably over 100 years. Where were you raised? I was born in Wailuku and I was raised in Lahaina and Pā'ia. My grandparents lived in Pā'ia and my parents lived in Lahaina. I think I had the best of both worlds. I had a very traditional Hawaiian upbringing with my grandparents and with my aunties and uncles, and I had ntore of a Western contemporary upbringing in Lahaina because my dad is from Germany. How were the two lifestyles different? My grandmother's aunt was alive at that time. She was the matriarch of our family. They'd go fishing together all the time. go ku'i 'opihi. those kinds of things. I remember families used to eome from all over and eamp out the whole summer in Tutu's yard, and everyday go fishing, go spearing, go lay net. The women would go piek 'opihi, and they'd eome home and everybody would sit around the table and pokepoke the 'opihi. It was a time for gathering together. lt was really neat. Because onee my Tutu died, there was no catalyst to keep the family together in that fashion. ... I cherish those times. Did your family dance hula then? No. Nobody in our family danced hula. It was not something that was encouraged. When I started dancing hula, and I wanted to learn the language, my family were the first ones to say 'No, you don't do those things.' ... Over the years their attitudes have changed and it's gotten to the point wheie I cannot function in the hālau without the family. They have become major pillars in the hālau. How do you feel about that? Good, really good. My sister is 16 years old, fluent in the language, in her second year of Hawaiian language at MCC. She teaches at Pūnana Leo. My mom is semi-flu-ent in the language, from nothing before. My grandmother hadn't spoken in 50 years. My uncle's kids are in Kula Kaiapuni. All of a sudden my family is on the path to becoming as culturally grounded as

they ean be. It's neat to see. What sacrifices and rewards has dedication lo the hālau meant to you? Hālau has always been a priority in my life. I've been through dozens of jobs, I've been fired because I had to choose between job and hālau. I've lived on the beach because I couldn't pay rent. L've gone days without eating because I had to choose between my job and hālau. I don't have a family to support, just myself, so no problem. But I've gone through some major hell for hālau. I think that the determining factor for me was when I was about 24-25 years old, I got into trouble with the law. To make a long story short, I was supposed to go jail. It was that bad. But because of what little I had accomplished then with hālau, I didn't go to jail. They felt that I would be more useful outside than inside. I had major community service and restitution. So because it was hula and culture that kept me out of jail, it renewed my fervor, my commitment to hula and hālau and culture. I don't expect everybody else in our hālau to have that commitment or discipline because it's tough. But I don't regret any of it, because I think that was all part of it. ... You're working on a record alhum now .... 'Ae. yikes! Well, apparently there are sonte people who think that I ean sing. ... There are going to be 12 cuts on the album, eight traditional, including original compositions by myself and one by Puakea Nogelmeier. The rest are more eontemporary. ... I'm doing duets with Lorna Lim and Jerry Santos. The Mākaha Sons are going to be backing up one of the cuts. ... We're not sure of the release date, but are pushing for November or December. What Hawaiian values do you hring to your work as museum manager at Maui Historical

Museum? For many years museums were very closed in their view that all of the Hawaiian cultural artifacts that they had "belonged" to them. That's changing nationwide, not only for native Hawaiians, but Native Americans as well. On one hand I say mahalo to all the museums who gathered these things over the years when there was little interest on the Hawaiian people's part. They gathered and took care of and saved these things from destruction. But it's a new era now. Hawaiians are starting to realize the importance of these things that museums have. Especially the religious significance of certain things and their usage. To me, the usage of an artifact, if you want to eall it that, is mueh more imporīant than preserving it. Putting it behind the glass case serves no purpose, really, for a Hawaiian. But to actually take it and use something for what it was made for, is more important. What's the sense of saving something if the tradition that goes with it dies? I had to flght to get this very old lauhala mat put on the ground in the museum because by conservation standards you don't do that. You roll it up and put it in storage. So we compromised. When people go in that room, they take off their shoes, whieh is fine. To me, the weaver is happy, although she's long gone. The mat is happy becau.se it's being used for what it was made for.

Maui Historica! Museum is looking for volunteer guides, shop attendants and office helpers. Learn about Maui's rich cultural history and share it with visitors. If you ean share at least 3 hours weekly, eall Keali'i Reichel at 2443326.

Kumu hula Keali'i Reichel: "For us it's not just hula. Hula is a mainstay, chant is a mainstay, but cultural identity is also important."

"My main eoneem is that whoever studies under our hālau or that comes into contact with us gets excited about their eulture. Then hopefully the future will be better for them, their families and whoever they touch." Photo by Deborah Ward