Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 20, Number 05, 1 May 2003 — Practicing our culture in confinement [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Practicing our culture in confinement

Colette Machado Trustee, Moioka'i and Lāna'i

Last year my office received a eall from Mr. Euel Kamau 'u, who currently resides in a correctional facility in Florence, AZ. He initiated contact to find out how he and others in the mainland prison system could begin to reconnect with their Hawaiian heritage. I want to share with you his words and concems about their Hawaiian studies program. Thefollowing was written by Mr. Komau'u. The purpose of our program is to perpetuate and sustain the Hawaiian culture as best we ean, with our limited resources. We began in Minnesota in 1999 with other pa'ahao (inmates) transferred from Texas, and formed our first hālau hula. It began more as a Polynesian thing, and was more for entertainment, than finding closeness with our roots. Soon, several of us started a Hawaiian studies program, "Ko Kākou Pu'uhonua" (our plaee of refuge and healing) that involved lessons in 'ōlelo Hawai'i, mo'ome-

heu (culture), chants, prayers and song. We began to organize cultural functions and observe Hawaiian holidays, Kamehameha Day, Kūhiō Day, Lili'uokalani Day and Kalākaua Day. It is our 'i'ini (desire) to keep these things alive no matter where we are shipped. On Tuesdays and Thursdays we have 'ōlelo. On Wednesday and Sundays we have hula whieh includes some chants and 'aiha'a. On Saturdays we practice prayers, chants, kūkākūkā and ho'oponopono. We try to reconnect with our roots and promote Hawaiian values so that when we leave we ean take them back to our family and community. At our last graduation everyone, as a prerequisite for graduation, had to recite all the prayers, the chants and their ho'olauna (introduction) whieh they work on themselves. This includes who they are, who their family is, where their family is from, what alanui, and what ahupuaa. At our last graduation, one of the boys was able to get us einnamon rolls, milk and coffee.

There are many groups of Hawaiian inmates who struggle with the dilemma of maintaining connection with our 'ohana. The prison atmosphere is one of racism, misunderstanding, and little cultural sensitivity. We have had our ups and downs, at one time we had a 'shut down' because we refused to sign a document that stated that our prayers and chants and hula are non-religous.We refused to sign, and were punished. Inside it is hard staying pa'a in our culture, but our program provides us with a positive alternative, our program offers extra-cur-ricular activities that are also beneficial to others who are not Hawaiian. We will be sponsoring a ho'olaule'a this November to coincide with the beginning of the Makahiki. We plan to have an art exhibit and sale, and aloha shirt fashion show, and Hawaiian games in the yard. We hope that Hawaiians from outside will eome in and join us from the Arizona area. We have a fundraiser coming up in July for covering the cost of the

Ho'olaule'a. Being removed from family is not a good thing, but our cultural observances have helped to sustain us emotionally and spiritually. I speak on behalf of all beneficiaries behind bars, help give us a voice, and to OHA, help us establish an office or a department that will deal specifically with beneficiaries in prison, and the issues that impact them as a whole. Excerpt from the "Kumulipo" Kapu ka hāloa kūmaka pe'a Kanu 'ia Hāloa ulu hāhāloa 'O ka lau o Hāloa i ke ao 13, Puka! Taboo the taro stalk that stood by a woman's taboo house Hāloa was buried (there), a long taro stalk grew The offspring of Hāloa (born) into the day Came forth - Translation by Martha Beckwith U