My neighbor Sue dropped by today with a book for me called "Huna: Ancient Hawaiian Secrets for Modern Living" by Serge Kahili King, PhD. She had seen this blog and wanted to contribute to my "root quest." How thoughtful!
The introduction is about "kahuna" which is often misinterpreted and misunderstood. There are many different meanings to it, which have changed over the years, but, briefly, it's like a PhD: you're a doctor in some subject, which may or may not be medical. A kahuna is generally a priest, but not necessarily a religious priest; it's an expert in some subject.
I have a great aunt who's a kahuna, so this discussion of what a kahuna is interested me. I'm not sure what Auntie Momi's subject of expertise is, but I've been to her heiau (ancient Hawaiian temple).
The other part of the book I perused was the Hawaiian Cultural Figures. I was proud to recognize four out of five of them! Not bad!
1. King Kamehameha the Great: of course, everyone knows him; he joined the islands into the kingdom of Hawaii.
2. King Kalakaua: I know him from hula! The first hula dance I learned, Kawika, is about him.
3. Duke Kahanamoku: introduced surfing to the world
4. Queen Lili'uokalani: There is a beautiful park in Hilo, where my grandparents lived and where my mom now lives, named after her. She was the last queen of Hawaii.
5. Ka'ahumanu: (This is the one I hadn't heard of before.) Favorite wife of Kamehameha.
So there's my little bit of Hawaiian for today. Thanks, Sue!
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Friday, August 7, 2009
SF Aloha Festival
Last Sunday I took my girls and niece to the Aloha Festival in San Francisco. It's the largest one outside of Hawaii. It was really crowded! It's 2 days of bands and dancers, yummy food & drinks, and booths selling everything Polynesian. I went a little crazy buying stuff, which I never do at festivals. Maya found a school backpack she liked and a "pretty pa'u" (skirt) for hula class. Zoe got some purple poi balls and a rainbow-colored bracelet/hair band. I love that she found something cheap that she really wanted. We bought lilikoi cookies, rice snacks, passion fruit jam, sour gummy apples, Hawaiian drinks and mixed plate lunches of teriyaki beef, sausage, macaroni salad, rice, and clear noodles w/chicken (forgot the name of that). Yum! Yum!
We ran into our hula Kumu (instructor) there with her daughter and a friend. Then we sat down and watched the bands and dancers. Some were better than others, but it was great entertainment. I love watching the little keiki (kids), perhaps because I have my own! Some groups had A LOT of dancers, 30-40 on the stage at once! And that was only one of the many groups at that halau (group)!
Unfortunately, I couldn't find what I was looking for: a pretty pa'u for myself and Hawaiian music CD's! We heard a lot of great music, but I couldn't buy any of it! I think I'll ask around the halau for Hawaiian music suggestions.
Aloha!
We ran into our hula Kumu (instructor) there with her daughter and a friend. Then we sat down and watched the bands and dancers. Some were better than others, but it was great entertainment. I love watching the little keiki (kids), perhaps because I have my own! Some groups had A LOT of dancers, 30-40 on the stage at once! And that was only one of the many groups at that halau (group)!
Unfortunately, I couldn't find what I was looking for: a pretty pa'u for myself and Hawaiian music CD's! We heard a lot of great music, but I couldn't buy any of it! I think I'll ask around the halau for Hawaiian music suggestions.
Aloha!
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Senior Hula
Last night my mother-in-law invited us over to her senior residence for a Hawaiian dinner and hula show. It was a special event at her place and everyone was excited.
The hula dancers were from the island of . . . Alameda. That's where we live; what hula group was this? It was from the Mastick Senior Center. There were 10 dancers, all 65+ yr. Some looked to be in their 80's while others looked to be in their 50's. They came from all over the Pacific: Hawaii, Philippines, Japan, China, Korea, and California. They were very into it and well coordinated. It was a lot of fun. They played slow hula songs and "age-appropriate" ones from the 40's and some Beach Boys-sounding ones. Since I was near the back, I couldn't tell how the seniors responded to the dancers, but the dancers were very energetic and a lot of fun. Maya and I recognized a few songs from our hula classes, and I recognized a few other famous ones. Nick was sitting too far away from me to tell him at the time, but hula songs that sound like they might be sexual, are. It was a little strange to see seniors making the most out of these innuendos, but they understood what the songs were about. At the end, they invited several audience members to join in a dance. Maya hopped up to join them. It was actually a dance that her hula group has learned, although I don't know if she has learned it herself. She had a ball.
The hula dancers were from the island of . . . Alameda. That's where we live; what hula group was this? It was from the Mastick Senior Center. There were 10 dancers, all 65+ yr. Some looked to be in their 80's while others looked to be in their 50's. They came from all over the Pacific: Hawaii, Philippines, Japan, China, Korea, and California. They were very into it and well coordinated. It was a lot of fun. They played slow hula songs and "age-appropriate" ones from the 40's and some Beach Boys-sounding ones. Since I was near the back, I couldn't tell how the seniors responded to the dancers, but the dancers were very energetic and a lot of fun. Maya and I recognized a few songs from our hula classes, and I recognized a few other famous ones. Nick was sitting too far away from me to tell him at the time, but hula songs that sound like they might be sexual, are. It was a little strange to see seniors making the most out of these innuendos, but they understood what the songs were about. At the end, they invited several audience members to join in a dance. Maya hopped up to join them. It was actually a dance that her hula group has learned, although I don't know if she has learned it herself. She had a ball.
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