Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 40, Number 3, 1 March 2023 — Papahana Kālai Papa Me Pōhaku Ku'i 'Ai [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Papahana Kālai Papa Me Pōhaku Ku'i 'Ai

Perpetuating culture, strengthening 'ohana with board, stone and kalo

By Cheryl Chee Tsutsumi Mailelauli'i Vickery, executive director of the nonprofit Hui Mālama O Ke Kai (HMKF), has seen how a simple board and stone ean strengthen family ties and perpetuate the Hawaiian culture. HMKF's mission is "to cultivate leadership and identity through...aloha, pono, 'onipa'a and mālama," and the popular Papahana Kālai Papa Me Pōhaku Ku'i 'Ai ("board and stone" workshop) is one way that goal is being achieved with great success. The Oflice of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) awarded HMKF a two-year grant of $99,840 to support the workshop, whieh teaches participants how to make their own papa ku'i 'ai (kalo board) and pōhaku ku'i 'ai (kalo pounder) and inspires them to perpetuate the practice of ku'i kalo (pounding taro/making poi). Since it launched a decade ago, it and HMKF's ku'i kalo program (see sidebar), have served nearly 1,000 people. Earl Kawa'a, a Hawaiian resource specialist at Kamehameha Schools who was honored as a Living Treasure of Hawai'i in 2019, has been involved with Papahana Kālai Papa Me Pōhaku Ku'i 'Ai from early on. Kawa'a grew up in Hālawa Valley on Moloka'i during the 1940s and 1950s, one of about two dozen known fluent speakers of olelo Hawai'i on the island at the time. In those days, just about every family there owned at least two poi boards and several stones. Everyone ate poi every day, and ku'i kalo was a responsibility they assumed at a young age. That has changed with the times — a reality that deeply concerns Kawa'a — but, partnered with HMKF, he is committed to keeping the tradition of ku'i kalo and crafting papa ku'i 'ai and pōhaku ku'i 'ai alive. HMKF provides Papahana Kālai Papa Me Pōhaku Ku'i 'Ai "apprentices," as participants are regarded, with a slab of roughly cut wood. After learning about gathering protocol and practices and characteristics to look for in stones, they select their pōhaku. Over the course of 13 weeks, under the watchful eye of Kawa'a and his alaka'i, they use files, chisels, sandpaper and ko'i (adze) they have made to shape their board and stone. All the work is done by hand as it was in ancient times. The program also builds pilina with Hāloa (and, in essence, kalo) and underscores the importance of reciprocal relationships. "The papa and pōkahu are used specifically in the making of mea'ai," Vickery said. "Understanding the food source, the cultural significance and the pilina e with Hāloa and kalo is understanding the intercon- //' nectedness of ourselves with our resources, our sur-

roundings, the aina, the elements and mea kanu and other living things. It is a give-and-receive relationship that needs to be acknowledged, maintained and respected." Bonds between husband and wife and parents and children are also bolstered as they work closely together on their papa ku'i 'ai (one per family) and pōhaku ku'i 'ai (as many as they would like to make). The boards and stones they fashion are theirs to keep, to be welcomed and cared for as cherished new members of their 'ohana. As such, it is appropriate to name them. "Some names are familial, some eome ffom dreams or signs or are meant to honor a significant event," Vickery said. "When a name is given, a connection is made, history is preserved, someone or something is honored or perhaps a story is told and remembered." She considers it a privilege to witness the growth that Papahana Kālai Papa Me Pōhaku Ku'i 'Ai apprentices undergo in just three months. For many of them, the workshop yields the first board and stone for their family in generations.

'A spiritual and emotional reconnect sometimes happens to childhood memories or stories they were SEE B0ARD AND ST0NE ON PAGE 7

The Board and Stone workshops are all about strengthening 'ohana. These 'ohana proudly show off their finished products. - Photos: Hui Mālamo 0 Ke Kai

Cultural proctitioner ond the creotor of the Boord ond Stone workshops, Earl Kowo'o of Moloko'i, demonstrotes ku'i kolo technique.

told but never experienced themselves," Vickery said. "It ean be healing; it is a connection to things that were altered or severed by the historical atrocities we have endured as kānaka."

BOARD AND STONE Continued from page 6

Participants are expected to share what they've learned. "Cultural knowledge is a foundational part of the program," Vick-

ery said. "By strengthening the relationship between kānaka and 'ike kūpuna, we strengthen the lāhui. By fostering this pilina of identity and an understanding of our kūpuna and ourselves, we perpetuate eultural practices and grow practitioners." ■ Cheryl Chee Tsutsumi has written 12 books and countless newspaper, magazine and website articles about Hawai'i's history, eulture,food and lifestyle.

Participants have their completed ku'i 'ai (board) blessed at the conclusion of the workshop. - Photo: Hui Malama 0 Ke Kai