{"id":7967,"date":"2012-07-03T13:22:44","date_gmt":"2012-07-03T23:22:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=7967"},"modified":"2021-03-29T15:07:08","modified_gmt":"2021-03-30T01:07:08","slug":"uh-shares-hawaiian-culture-in-d-c","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2012\/07\/03\/uh-shares-hawaiian-culture-in-d-c\/","title":{"rendered":"UH<\/abbr> shares Hawaiian culture in D.C."},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>

The University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span><\/a> contingent is having a far-reaching effect at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival<\/a>. Visitors from Europe, South Africa and around the globe are experiencing Hawaiian crafts—from feather lei making to lauhala weaving. They’re learning about woodcarving and makahiki games. <\/p>\n

The 1.5 million people coming through the 10-day festival are also pounding taro and making poi. They’re learning about Hawaiian health and healing through lomi lomi or Hawaiian massage. <\/p>\n

Members of hula hālau Unukupukupu are holding hula workshops to share their knowledge of the traditional dance. <\/p>\n

Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Community College<\/a> Professor Trina Nahm-Mijo<\/strong> said she is the oldest hālau member performing at the festival, and this experience was on her bucket list. <\/p>\n

“I’m having the time of my life performing for hundreds of people and teaching people from around the world about our traditional dances and the Hawaiian culture,” Nahm-Mijo said. <\/p>\n

Hālau members are also busy teaching visitors how to make a Hawaiian musical instrument called ʻūkēkē<\/span> out of balsam wood and fishing wire. <\/p>\n

Teenagers were especially interested in making an instrument of their own. <\/p>\n

“It makes a very soft sound. And in Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>, if somebody comes really close to you to hear that soft sound, it’s really kind of intimate. So that’s why they consider it a love call,” said ʻūkēkē<\/span> workshop instructor Alohilani Adachi-Jose<\/strong>, of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Community College in Hilo. <\/p>\n

Washington, D.C. resident Stephon Vandergrift, 15, said it was fairly simple to make the instrument and play it. <\/p>\n

“It’s not hard, It’s just movement of the hands. They say it helps you get women Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>,” said Vandergrift. <\/p>\n

Vandergrift was overwhelmed by the attention from his ʻūkēkē<\/span>; instructors and joined them in an impromptu song that attracted a crowd. But the shy 15-year-old took in all the attention\u2026 and the Hawaiian culture. <\/p>\n

Smithsonian Folklife Festival<\/h2>\n

The University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> will be among 20 public land-grant universities to be featured in the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington D.C. from June 27 to July 8, 2012. <\/p>\n

The festival celebrates the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Morrill Act, which paved the way for higher education for rural and working class Americans. <\/p>\n

The University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> exhibits will feature traditional Hawaiian health and healing practices, a mini taro patch, non-instrument navigation, medicinal herb and organic farming and much more. Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Community College’s halau Unukupukupu and the University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> at Mānoa’s Tuahine Troup will also perform. <\/p>\n

See more on the University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>’s Smithsonian experience.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Visitors from around the globe are experiencing Hawaiian crafts including feather lei making, lauhala weaving and woodcarving at UH<\/abbr>’s Smithsonian Folklife Festival exhibits.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26,309,12],"tags":[61,312,947],"class_list":["post-7967","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","category-uhsmithsonian2012","category-video","tag-hawaii-community-college","tag-smithsonian-folklife-festival","tag-uh-system","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t