ʻIke Pilina...ʻIke Honua

‘Ike pilina
‘Ike honua
‘Ike piko‘u

This weekend I started “Kahua 1A: An Introduction to Culture-Based Education,” a professional development course offered through a partnership between Kamehameha Schools and Hawai‘i Department of Education.

Kahua

1. Foundation, base, site, location, ground, background, platform, as of a house; an open place, as for camping or for sports, as for ‘ulu maika or hōlua sliding; playground area, arena, stand, stage, courtyard course, camp; bed, as of a stream. fig., declaration of principles or policy, doctrine, platform
2. Base of a quilt on which the pattern (lau) is appliquéd; this base is above the layer of cotton or wool. The pili is below it.

It’s a course intended to equip teachers to better understand and serve students raised in or thrust into Hawai‘ian culture, and it focuses on three things, two of which were covered in Friday night and Saturday sessions.

The course is at least a little immersive—every session starts and ends with traditional Hawai‘ian chants and some instruction alternates between Hawai‘ian and English languages—it (rightly, in my opinion) emphasizes the value of indigenous culture and the importance of accommodating a teacher’s practices to the values and practices of that culture. For a haole like me it’s especially important; I want to belong here, and that means finding ways to fit myself into culture as it is and not force the culture to accommodate me as I am.

Yesterday’s session was a bus and walking tour focused on ‘ike honua—a sense of place—we visited both historic sites (Ukumehame, Olowalu, Dragon’s Teeth/Pi‘ilani Lookout, etc.) and places that students either live or hang out (Ukumehame again, Honolua, Ka‘anapali, etc.). We stopped several times to take in the spirit of the place, and even a frequent skeptic like me can sense whatever is meant by “the spirit” of a place.

Each place had a story of its own, as well. Ukumehame has centuries of agricultural history, Olowalu was the site of a bloody clash between Europeans and Hawai‘ians, and Pi‘ilani Lookout was where Ali‘i (“chief” or “leader”) Pi‘ilani went to oversee the outer islands of his kingdom, Lana‘i and Moloka‘i.

Dragon’s Teeth

Pi‘ilani also went to his lookout to release his worries and concerns, the things that might keep him from ruling effectively. The winds at Pi‘ilani Lookout are strong, and the thought was that any concern released there was taken up by the wind and blown away. We were invited to do as Pi‘ilani did and release anything that might be holding us back: to inhale then deliberately exhale, letting our breath carry our burdens into the outer air, three times.

I have made considerable progress in “letting go” over the last three months, but as of yesterday morning I was still carrying a burden of resentment and anger that in some small way was holding me back. I found a spot along the cliff facing the wind and the ocean with the sun at my back, and I centered myself, and three times I focused on releasing my resentment and anger and hurt into the air as I exhaled deliberately. As I did, I felt my heart lifting (it was already soaring pretty high; if it goes much higher, I’ll need to give it the same warning given to Icarus).

Most of you know full well that I’m a bit of a romantic, and that sense of letting go could very easily be a part of that romanticism. Yet this morning I awoke, and probing carefully, the way one’s tongue probes an aching tooth, I found only the echo of an ache where before I felt throbbing pain. Maybe, at Pi‘ilani Lookout, I was finally able to take the next step in forgiving and moving on. I’d like to think so.

We also stopped at the Ka‘anapali Beach Hotel, where we were fed like ali‘i and got to see some amazing artifacts made by the hotel staff during the economic crash; the owners and management didn’t want to lay anyone off, so they gave them work discovering traditional tools and techniques.

Traditional tools

 Poi Board

 Awa Bowls

 Weapons

 Paddle

 Toys for keiki (children)

Friday’s session focused on ‘ike pilina—a sense of relationship—and in that session I got a sense of what may have drawn me to Hawai‘i for so many years and why, despite significant challenges, I feel so very happy.

Among the values integral to Hawai‘ian culture are “‘ohana”—family, kinship group, relations—“kuleana”—right, privilege, concern, responsibility—“kāko‘o”—support—and “pilina”—relationship, union, connection. And pilina is not just interpersonal relationship; it includes relationship with the ʻāina—the land. Pilina is important in Hawai‘ian culture...and it is likewise important to me.

I make no claim to being a great teacher. I am a competent teacher. If I get great results (and I think sometimes I do) it is because I make great relationships with students. An almost proveribal phrase once frequently heard (and lived out) at my former school is, “They won’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” That aphorism fits nicely into Hawai‘ian culture, which additionally has many excellent proverbial sayings (“‘ōlelo no ‘eau”) relating to learning and relationship:

• Ma ka hana ka ‘ike (learning is in the doing)
• ‘A‘ohe pau ka ‘ike i ka hālau ho‘okahi (all knowledge is not learned in one place—“hālau” is a learning environment)
• ‘A‘ohe hana nui ke alu ‘ia (no task is too great when done together)

My students, here as on the mainland (I no longer think of Lancaster as “home”—I dearly love those of you still there and I look forward to seeing you over the Christmas holiday, but I am at home now), are part of my ‘ohana; I am doing what I am great at: fostering strong pilina. My ‘ike honua (sense of place; connection to the ‘āina/land) was not as strong on the mainland, but here I feel it deeply. “He ali‘i ka ‘āina, he kauā ke kanaka”—“The land is a chief and we, the people, are mere servants.”

At the end of Friday’s session we went around the circle, each speaking our “take away” in one word. My word was “home.”

I am home. Come visit!

“Aloha, komo mai!” Welcome!