Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 34, Number 6, 1 June 2017 — PATIENCE NĀMAKA BACON THE EYES of KAWENA [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

PATIENCE NĀMAKA BACON THE EYES of KAWENA

By Manu Boyd

>• By the time Pat Nāmaka Bacon was in her teens, the Kaua'i-bom girl of Japanese descent was thoroughly immersed in Hawaiian culture, nurtured in the old ways by her hānai 'ohana. Patience Elmay Nāmakauahoaokawena'ulaokalaniikiikikalaninui Wiggin Bacon grew up to be a mueh soughtafter resource on nā mea Hawai'i - a font of information influenced deeply by her hānai mother, Mary Kawena Pukui. But the 1920 Honolulu adoption of the plantation infant was made formal by Kawena's own parents, Pa'ahana and Henry Wiggin. In those days, the Humane Society is where one could adopt dogs, horses, or waifs. For decades prior to her retirement, her various offices at the Bemice Pauahi Bishop Museum were the settings for long visits with countless folks eager to tap in to her deep knowledge of hula, Hawaiian poetry, and the ways of the "oldsters" as she respectfully refers to kūpuna. That knowledge was committed to memory, nurtured and shared over the years due to the scores of friendships and relationships Kawena fostered over time with those of earlier generations from throughout Hawai'i nei. Kawena's rich knowledge and older Hawaiian worldview is evidenced in 'Ōlelo No 'eau - Hawaiian Proverbs and Poelieal Sayings published by Bishop Museum Press in 1986. During my handful of years at Bishop Museum in the 1980s, I spent many hours in delightful conversations at the desk of SEE BAC0N ON BACK PAGE

Photo: Nanea Armstrong-Wassel

> BAC0N

CONTINUED FROM INSIDE "Mrs. B" as I eall her, reviewing with her my novice attempts at haku mele - Hawaiian poeheal composition. Rather than correcting my Hawaiian, she would point out words and phrases and share with me subtle nuances and eonnotations that needed to be avoided or reconsidered. She would send meback to the "drawing board" on many oeeasions, and when I would return with my reworked mele, she almost always reacted with encouraging feedback and approval. For someone with such humility, deep knowledge and experience, Pat Nāmaka Bacon has an amazing sense of humor. Her late husband, George Bacon, upped the ante with humor as his specialty, making their home La'i Aloha one filled with laughter, joy and aloha. Along with her mother Kawena, Nāmaka Bacon studied hula with three masters: Keahi Luahine and her cousin, a man named Kapua; and Joseph 'īlālā'ole. Her soft, subtle kuhi lima (hand gestures), swaying lākala (hips) and maka 'ālohilohi (expressive eyes) are characteristic of the Kaua'i style of hula she is most familiar with as taught by Keahi and Kapua. Hula learned from 'īlālā'ole were of the more annimated Hawai'i island style. I'm sure that if she was viewing the the recent Menie Monarch Festival in Hilo, she must have recognized the impact of her teachers and traditions, especially by those kumu hula and hālau who stayed true to the choreography as taught by hula masters gone beforethem. ■

Nā Mamo Makamae o Ka Po'e Hawai'i: Living Treasures of the Hawaiian People