Kohala Gathering
From October 25-27th, Huliauapaʻa and our NSF CBIKS Pacific Island Hub co-leads representing The Matangireia Waka Trust hosted a 3-day gathering in Kohala on the mokupuni of Hawaiʻi. Our time together was spent cultivating the pilina amongst our hui, community partners and ʻohana throughout the various islands in Hawaiʻi, as well as, our families and partners from Aotearoa.
The purpose of this gathering was to strengthen and grow our relationships with one another, visit significant sites in Mahukona, connect with voyaging practitioners, Nā Kālai Waʻa, participate in a food preservation workshop, and indulge in important conversations regarding planning for our larger February 2025 huakaʻi to Aotearoa.
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The first day of this gathering was spent in Mahukona visiting Nā Kālai Waʻa and investing our time to mālama one of the waʻa, Lauhoe. Our hui met with Captain and Pwo Navigator, Chadd Paishon, and visited the navigational koʻa heiau Holomoana. Offering pule, hoʻokupu , and our time, we were able to reengage with this space and share our connections to these wahi kūpuna and the practices regarding them. Our hui visited Pololū Valley, to conduct morning protocols, which thereafter, we spent the rest of the day participating in a food preservation workshop led by Keala Kahuanui.
Keala Kahuanui is a crew member of Hawaiʻi's voyaging canoe, Makaliʻi and has dedicated her time to not only caring for her fellow crew members through her ability to provide locally-sourced traditional foods that can be provisioned on a voyage sustainably, she has invested her time into mastering this work and educating others throughout her community to do the same. As a focus of our NSF CBIKS work, our hui spent our second day learning from Keala and prepared preserved cans of locally-sourced lūʻau and pīpī stew. The final day together was spent in discussion as it related to indigenous protocols and collective discussions concerning preparations for our hui’s gathering in Aotearoa 2025.
