{"id":198104,"date":"2024-05-21T19:00:19","date_gmt":"2024-05-22T05:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=198104"},"modified":"2024-05-22T09:25:05","modified_gmt":"2024-05-22T19:25:05","slug":"kahoolawe-olelo-students","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2024\/05\/21\/kahoolawe-olelo-students\/","title":{"rendered":"Kaho\u02bbolawe Retreat: \u02bb\u014clelo students dive deep"},"content":{"rendered":"
Reading time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]
\"land,
View of Maui from Kahoʻolawe<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

Haumāna (students) from the University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> at Mānoa and UH<\/abbr> Hilo are leaving the spring semester behind with a renewed outlook on ʻōlelo<\/span> Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> (Hawaiian language).<\/p>\n

\"Baker
Kumu Kaliko Baker<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In an effort to sharpen students\u2019 ʻōlelo<\/span> skills, UH<\/abbr> Mānoa Kawaihuelani Center for Hawaiian Language<\/a> and UH<\/abbr> Hilo Ka Haka ʻUla<\/span> O Keʻelikōlani<\/span> College of Hawaiian Language<\/a>, invite haumāna to an immersive three-day retreat on Kahoʻolawe<\/span> every March. The assignment: they must speak only in Hawaiian.<\/p>\n

“We want our students to be fluent in ʻōlelo<\/span> Â鶹´«Ã½,<\/span> not just fluent in reading. We want them to be functional linguistically,” said C.M. Kaliko Baker, a kumu ʻōlelo<\/span> Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> (Hawaiian language associate professor) at Kawaihuelani. “Programs like this allow students these social spaces to engage their ʻōlelo<\/span> Â鶹´«Ã½.<\/span>”<\/p>\n

\"Three
Kaʻimi<\/span> Galima-Elvena (far right) works with classmates to haku mele<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Mālama (care for) Kahoʻolawe<\/span><\/h2>\n

Since 2014, the I Ola Kanaloa program spearheaded by Kawaihuelani, take haumāna on a huakaʻi<\/span> (journey) to the uninhabited mokupuni (island) of Kahoʻolawe,<\/span> which is only accessible by boat and requires visitors to briefly swim to shore with their ukana (baggage) in tow. Known for its deep and complex history, the island, once used as a bombing range for the military, continues to undergo slow and careful restoration.<\/p>\n

\"Students
Students help maintain sites on the island<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“To see the place for the first time, to touch the water for the first time. it filled me with life that I really needed in the moment,” expressed Kaʻimi<\/span> Galima-Elvena, a UH<\/abbr> Hilo Hawaiian studies<\/a> and biology<\/a> student.<\/p>\n

Daily activities on Kahoʻolawe<\/span> focused on land or ʻāina-based<\/span> care, and included invasive plant clearing, maintenance of historical sites and traditional protocols\/ceremony.<\/p>\n

Language of the land<\/h2>\n

Life changing is how UH<\/abbr> Mānoa MFA<\/abbr> Hawaiian theatre<\/a> candidate Ikaika Mendez describes his experience. The Maui native grew up taking in views of Kahoʻolawe<\/span> from his front porch in Ulupalakua. While on the huakaʻi,<\/span> Mendez relished the challenge of communicating strictly in Â鶹´«Ã½\u2019s<\/span> mother tongue.<\/p>\n

“It didn\u2019t matter what level of ʻōlelo<\/span> you were, because we\u2019re all growing,” said Mendez. “Just to be able to disconnect yourself from everything else and just be fully immersed in the work that we were doing, it\u2019s just a great experience.”<\/p>\n

\"Musician
Ikaakamai<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In language there is life<\/h2>\n

One of the highlights of the retreat is haku mele (song composition). Students broke into groups and composed songs in three genres: mele aloha (love), mele wahi pana (written for a place or location), and mele maʻi<\/span> (procreative).<\/p>\n

Haumāna research the various places and moʻolelo<\/span> (stories) of Kahoʻolawe,<\/span> and then weave it into oli (chant), hula, mele and mele au hou (contemporary Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> tunes).<\/p>\n

Helping Baker guide haumāna on the spring huakaʻi<\/span> are additional dedicated kumu ʻōlelo<\/span> Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> who are also recognized recording artists such as Isaac Nāhuewai (known musically as Ikaakamai) from UH<\/abbr> Hilo, Kaʻikena<\/span> Scanlan and Lāiana Kanoa-Wong from Kamehameha Schools Kapālama.<\/p>\n

\"Group<\/p>\n

“We see that mele is an avenue to showcase the vitality of our language and culture,” said Nāhuewai about the haku mele activity. “We also see how mele is a means to educate our lāhui (nation). The language truly brings life to the ʻāina<\/span> and to the lāhui and to speak and hear ʻōlelo<\/span> Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> from all huakaʻi<\/span> participants is truly gratifying.”<\/p>\n

Funding for the trip is made possible by Kawaihuelani and Hale Kuamoʻo<\/span> Hawaiian Language Center<\/a> at UH<\/abbr> Hilo.<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_masonry_media_grid element_width=”3″ css=”” grid_id=”vc_gid:1716405792837-7ad6f7c7-0552-1″ include=”198166,198165,198164,198161,198171,198167,198168,198169,198170,198172″][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Every March, UH<\/abbr> Mānoa and UH<\/abbr> Hilo students are invited on a 3-day retreat on Kahoʻolawe<\/span> and tasked with only speaking Hawaiian. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[33,1057,551,316,411,1465,1314,133,73,130,14,9,947],"class_list":["post-198104","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academic-news","tag-hawaiian","tag-hawaiian-language","tag-hawaiinuiakea-school-of-hawaiian-knowledge","tag-ka-haka-ula-o-keelikolani","tag-kawaihuelani-center-for-hawaiian-language","tag-manoa-native-hawaiian-place-of-learning","tag-manoa-sustainability","tag-music","tag-sustainability","tag-theatre","tag-uh-hilo","tag-uh-manoa","tag-uh-system","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198104","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=198104"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198104\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":198191,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198104\/revisions\/198191"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=198104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=198104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=198104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}