Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 32, Number 7, 1 July 2015 — PAʻA KE AUPUNI [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

PAʻA KE AUPUNI

The Reel History of Hawai i

OHA CREATES AN ANIMATED HAWAIIAN HISTORY FOR THE MASSES

By Lisa Asa+o Ar+ llLus+ra+ions: Ru+h Hoen, 6ood Juju Co. Pho+o: Francine Hurray

When OHA Trustee Peter Apo grew up in postwar Hawai'i, Hawaiian history wasn't taught in school. And images of Hawaiians as dignified, proud and strong were lacking. What he did learn about Hawaiian history eame from his tūtū wahine on Maui, where he spent summers. But her stories were hard for Apo to pieee together, because she spoke 'ōlelo Hawai'i, the native tongue - a language that was withheld from him in his own home in the hopes he would excel in school and assimilate into western ways. "I really had very liūle idea about the Hawaiian history other than I knew some bad things happened," he said. "I knew I was Hawaiian, I knew family history, but never really the real story, and I wasn't 5 taught in school." It wasn't until he was 35, returning

home to the Islands from the U.S. eontinent amid the Hawaiian Renaissance of the 1970s, that he felt the power of seeing Hawaiians through a Hawaiian's eyes. Through Herb Kāne's paintings depicting Hawaiians of old doing everyday activities - in sharp detail and bold imagery, Apo found a portal to his own past. "It was through his eyes that I began to understand Hawaiian history," Apo said, adding, "because for the first time I was able to see my past, at least my ancestral past." That's the idea behind the soon-to-be-released animated film telling the history of the Hawaiian people. Pa'a Ke Aupuni: Tlie Reel History of Hawai'i endeavors to have Hawaiians tell their own story, while remaining steadfast - pa'a, to the facts. "Pa'a Ke Aupuni zooms in on key facts to explain how the Hawaiian Kingdom eame to be, how it evolved to stand

firmly on the international world stage of sovereign nations, and how the United States eame to elaim Hawai'i," the film's description says. "Pa 'a Ke Aupuni lays bare the realities of this history. It's a set of facts we all need to know as the push to re-establish a Hawaiian nation gains momentum." A CONCISE HISTORY The film opens in traditional times, setting the stage for the era of Kamehameha and ends at the purported ' "annexation" of Hawai'i through a I joint resolution of Congress in the late fl 19thcentury. ' "As you ean imagine, there were a lot of challenges in condensing our history into a 60-minute space. But most of our content decisions were made easier by remembering who our target

audience is — those who know little to nothing about the history of Hawai'i," said Ryan "Gonzo" Gonzalez, OHA digital media manager, who served as the film's producer. "We wanted to eome up with something that had utility for both Hawaiians and non-Hawaiians alike, a historical primer that could be used in a variety of settings. How ean we get non-Hawaiians to support Hawaiians? How ean we better engage Hawaiians? It all starts with education and knowing the facts." OHA community engagement director Kēhaunani Abad, a former Hawaiian history teacher at Kamehameha Schools, wrote the script. "The hardest part of making Pa 'a Ke Aupuni was deciding what not to include," she said. "So many important parts of our history had to be left out to keep the political story the focus and to stick to a

timeframe that people would be willing to watch." The hourlong film is presented in 21 mokuna, or chapters, ranging from "Hawaiians excel through education and literacy," "Hawai'i's constitutional government on the world stage," "Hawai'i's sugar industry seeks new growth," "Hawaiians take aim at restoring their political authority," to the final chapter titled simply " 'Annexation.' " Abad said Hawaiian history resources of this sort didn't exist when she was a student in the 1970s and '80s. But in the ensuing years, great films on Hawaiian history were created, like Act ofWar, whieh as a teacher she would show to her students. "But we certainly could have used more resources," she said. "I hope Pa 'a KeAupuni will help to supplement the 'tool kits' that creative teachers bring to their haumāna.

"A teacher could show the full film as an introduction to a Hawaiian history course, as a summary review at the end of a semester, or could share eaeh of the 21 chapters at different points along the way. We tried to make the film flexible and 'user-friendly' from a teacher perspective." That's exactly how Apo would like to see the film shared - through teachers, whom he calls "the umhilieal cord to the young people." The film is chock-full of information, yet well-paced and easily digestible, making it perfect for audiences of all ages, he said. "The way it was presented and the scripting of it was really excellent," Apo said. "That's what I liked about it. There's a lot of information but it didn't feel crammed in, so that was kind of amazing."

BIRTH OF A FILM Pa 'a Ke Aupuni evolved out of discussions on sovereignty involving a group that met regularly in the late 2000s with then-OHA Trustee Boyd Mossman. For some years now, the group has continued meeting with now-OHA Chairman Bob Lindsey. "The group, including Dennis Ragsdale, Sterling Ing, Keali'i Makekau, īean Rasor and Kaleo Paik nroed OUA

to develop short film pieces to help people understand Hawai'i's history and also better understand the foundation upon whieh we are seeking various forms of sovereignty," said Abad. Additional impetus for the film eame in 2013 from an OHA Board of Trustees

motion that committed OHA to providing education to the Hawaiian community and general puhlie on key points in Hawaiian history. In addition, at puhlie meetings on nation rebuilding last year, "the most consistent feedback we heard were requests for more education so people would understand our history and its relevance to today's issues, especially matters relating to our governance," said Abad. The making of the film took a little more than two years from concept to final production. "A video project is a pretty significant undertaking, but when you throw animation into the mix, it becomes a totally different animal," said Gonzalez. He said the animation - or "draw piekeha" - approach was used to "boil things down to their most essential parts and present things as objectively as possible." "We felt that the line drawings and animated approach would serve us well in that regard," he said. "Plus there's the added novelty of the marriage of animation and our history that we felt would help make things stick for our audience." The digital media team worked with the Good Juju Co. (Cynthia Derosier and Ruth Moen), Hyperspective Studios, Pacific Music Productions, narraror Kahu Wendell Silva, editor Matthew Corry and researcher Nanea Armstrong-Wassel - all of whom were super passionate abou project and worked at steep discounts. Chair Lindsey's sovereignty discussion group volunteered their timtnd expertise, and OHA's own research team, including Kamoa Quitevis, Wahine'aipōhaku

Tong and Holly Coleman offered crucial research assistance, Gonzalez said. "We also saved a ton on the fact that the scripting, main animation, editing and compositing of the film were handled in-house," he said. "OHA digital media specialist James Hall worked his magic on the animation and video editing side of things and Aliee Silbanuz and I eontrihnted as nrodnoers "

A TIMELY PREMIERE The film has shown to small groups for feedback and "sneak peek" sessions, including one at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center in June. For general audiences, the film will debut in Honolulu at the Doris Duke Theatre on July 31 and online the same day. The date is significant in Hawaiian history, recognized as the national holiday Lā Ho'iho'i Ea - Sovereignty īWBraJTon Day, whieh marked the resto|ation of the Hawaiian Kingdom by the British Jovernment following a monthslong takeover by a British warship cormjān)Jer. The first Lā Ho'iho'i Ea was celebrated in 1843 at Thomas Square, across the street frc#n where the premiere will take plaee. "We are holding the launeh that day as a way of connecting the messages of the film to real life in real time," Abad says. "As our ™e conveys, our aupuni (our nation and|its people) remains pa'a (steadfast and enduring). Lā Ho'iho'i Ea in the 1800s and tc celebrates tltot truth." Abad adds: "We hope tffise who may not know m«h about IMwaiian hisgry will ^eeW&i Ke AupuniAnā walk «ay from me «6cperienclfwith an imoSased appreffRrt|3n of why Native mwaiians passiorffiej ah&3t atckK|ging his*?t$rical injus8Si| - even llj years later. And for |rt5|j®vho knowrtfur history well, we hope 1%'a Ke AupiM will be a useful tool thgirt)an use history with others." ■

"We wan+ed +o eome up wi+h some+hing +ha+ had u+ili+y for bo+h Hawaiians and non-Hawaiians alike."

— Ryan "Gon2o" Gon2aLe2, OHA digitaL media manager

Stills from Pa'a Ke Aupuni portraying, from top, a pueo that narrate: the film, Queen Lili'uokalani addressing her people, and King Kame hameha I.