2017 Hālāwai
2017 Hālāwai: Exploring An Interdisciplinary Community Of Practice In Hawaiian Cultural Resource Management
In June 2017 Huliauapaʻa, in partnership with Red Star International, organized the first hālāwai to determine if we (as a hui) wanted to develop a community of practice around wahi kūpuna stewardship. Our focus for this first gathering was to:
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Explore our shared values for culturally grounded cultural resource management (CRM) practices in Hawai’i
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Reconceptualize CRM and evaluate its current status from an ʻŌiwi worldview
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Integrate indigenous perspectives and practices into the CRM field
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Launch and grow a community of practice among resource managers, Hawaiian communities, researchers, and supporting partners.
After the first day it was clearly evident that all in attendance supported the idea of creating a community of practice. While the specifics of what this would look like still needed to be developed, we all committed to carrying on these discussions and to organize future opportunities to gather and share.
On behalf of Huliauapaʻa, Kekuewa Kikiloi, wrapped up this first hālāwai with a few reflections. He talked about this effort being part of a larger movement that has been building up for a long time. He acknowledged the kūpuna at the meeting and their struggles and successes over the years, including the monumental Ka Paʻakai case ruling. He acknowledged the late Uncle Eddie Kaʻanaana and how he used the term “ka liu o ka paʻakai”, which literally translates to the essence of the salt, but that there are so many secondary connotations to salt. It preserves, it clears and purifies, it gives flavor to food, it is a gift – an expression of aloha. Kekuewa shared that paʻakai is a powerful metaphor for our work in cultural and historic preservation, and that the meaning behind Kali‘uokapaʻakai can be the foundation upon which to build a strong network alliance. Thus, when we pool our resources together (i.e, partake in the paʻakai), we can achieve many goals collectively. E pū pa‘akai kākou.
