Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 28, Number 2, 1 February 2011 — The season of Lono [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

The season of Lono

OHA has helped fund the Moloka'i Makakihi for the past 5 years

By Francine Murray

Reconnecting kanaka maoli to their ancestral past, Moloka'i has been honoring Lono for the life-giving rains and abundance of the land for the past 29 years. This year the three-day event started on Thursday, Jan. 27 with Kekuewa Kikiloi talking story about the chants of Lono. Symbolic of the deep appreciation Hawaiians feel for the abundance of the land, sea and sky, ho'okupu, or gifts, were offered the next day at the ceremony in Nā'iwa, as in ancient times, with the presenting of the akua loa, the symbol of Lono, a tall staff with a carved

head and long white kapa banners and lei hulu flowing from the cross pieee. Let the games begin. Athletic competition and traditional games are a large part of the celebration with schools from around the state that participated. Among them were the students of the Kamehameha Middle School Kapālama campus and several Hawaiian charter schools. On Friday morning, the school teams marched into the eompetition area, eaeh group chanting before they started the preliminary games. The winners advanced to compete the next day. That evening they held the annual fish fry dinner at the Mitch-

ell Pau'ole Center, and the adult competitions took plaee across the street. As the schools demonstrated their spirited rivalry, the finals competitions were very exciting with blow-by-blow accounts by the games coordinator and emeee on Saturday. The games included 'ulu maika, moa pahe'e - dart tossing, 'ihe and a school-against-school hukihuki, or tug-of-war. Everyone in attendance enjoyed the lively competitions, Hawaiian music, hula, food, edueahonal booths and most of all the fellowship. Ka Moloka'i Makahiki, the coordinators of the event since 1981, had a special mahalo for their partners in the festivities: Hana Kūpono, the Moloka'i Roping Club, the Wa'akapaemua Canoe Club, the 4-H and Moloka'i High and Intermediate School Volleyball Girls, Walter Ritte, his group and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. "We appreciate the spiritual nature of makahiki and the religious elements of renewing the life

NATIVE HAWAIIAN » NEWS | FEATURES | EVENTS cycle," said Shirley Rawlins, the president of Ka Moloka'i Makahiki. About 3,500 Hawai'i residents and visitors attended the Moloka'i Makahiki. "They eome away with a more informed understanding of the reasons for observing Makahiki." The luminous blue cluster of stars called the Pleiades is known as Na huihui o Makali'i in Hawaiian, cluster of little eyes. Special in many cultures around the world, the Pleiades have been mentioned several times in the bible, and more often in Western astrology, and Greek and the Celtic mythology. In Hawai'i, the coming of Na huihui o Makali'i signaled the end of the season of Kū, the Hawaiian god of war, and the beginning of the season of Lono, the god of peaee, fertility and music. Rising from the east during the makahiki season, eaeh day Makali'i appears slightly earlier and remains visible a little longer than the night before, as it travels across the night sky to set in the west. This journey takes about four months. ■

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The Moloka'i Makahiki aftracts schools from across the state. OHA has been a proud sponsor of the cultural event since 2006. - File phoio