You Can't Be King If You Can't Feed The People

Richard Ha writes:

Pua Kanahele, the kumu hula and highly respected educator, impresses me. Recently I heard her speak at a "Geothermal in Hawai‘i" symposium, put on by the First Nation's Futures Program of Kamehameha Schools.

She puts a lot of emphasis on the Kumulipo, the Hawaiian creation chant, which is about new beginnings, and she talks about how important the environment is.

For example, she emphasizes the ‘ohi‘a tree and how it instigates the hydrologic cycle. The effect is: If we take care of our forests, we will not end up like Easter Island. I can definitely get behind her teachings. She inspired me to start planting ‘ohi‘a on my farm at Pepe‘ekeo.
 
I have a couple general observations about some others who want to be king, or philosophical leaders.

• One cannot be king if one cannot feed the people. I can think of a few would-be “kings” I would vote against because they have no clue about taking care of the people.
• “Leaders” who espouse a certain philosophy must not, as a result of that philosophy, cause people to go out and tread water while they stay safely on land, walking around and pointing in the air.

One very loud Hawaiian voice says: “If I cannot be Hawaiian in Hawai‘i, where can I be Hawaiian?”  It’s a good question and one that should concern all of us.

But if, for that person, the solution is to be against any form of geothermal energy, then the effect on the Hawaiian people is that their lights are turned off and they have less money to take care of their families. In other words, they end up out in the ocean and treading water.

I do not hear this loud voice providing a viable alternative. All I hear is “Me, me, me.”
 
Contrast that with Pua Kanahele’s point of view, which seems to be to take care of everyone by taking care of the environment. (It’s more complex than that; I’m simplifying.)

I have not heard a word from her about being against geothermal. She says there are many gods, and does not elevate Pele to being the main god. What she emphasizes are actions that take care of all of us.

She deserves the respect she gets.
 
The reason I am holding the Sierra Club’s feet to the fire is that I want them to realize that although, individually, they are not against Hawaiians, their non-action results in an anti-Hawaiian result.

They cannot play it both ways. And I am hoping they get it when we have the geothermal debate. They do not realize that as caring as they can be for “Hawaiians,” the results of some of their actions are actually anti-Hawaiian.
 
I feel, too, that some high-level Hawaiian educators have not thought the issues through deeply enough. The more they force people to tread water, the more irrelevant they become.

This is my simple point of view.

Comments

[Kanani Aton]

Aloha e Richard,
I listened to the same voices at the symposium, and while listening, began to reflect on my own learning, doing, being a cultural practitioner. I have walked with Aunty Pua, and many of the leaders that presented that day. The walks with each of them have been quite intense learning, and always coupled with genuine aloha that expanded into their homes, their communities, their lives. They revealed their inner sanctum of strengths and weakness, their powers and their vulnerabilities...their current state of knowledge as it was being contructed based on the timeless foundation of wisdom handed down generation to generation. As a beneficiary, I do what they taught me: go with a gift of high standard to the forest, whether it be a small voice of thanks, a chant from memory, a lei to place at the foot of a tree or upon a rock, an offering of body forms of the gods...all to continue the breath of culture as it has been exchanged here for centuries.

Sitting there at the symposium, I thought of the time I went into Waokele O Puna to protest geothermal back in 89 I believe. Leaning up against the gate at the end of the walk, emotion surging to point I had to cry to release it. I looked to my right, I see Aunty Pua, to my left, another Aunty, in front, crossing the barrier, another leader, and behind Hale Makua, another kupuna. I stayed there at the fence, and did not move. Instead, I watched and stepped aside to make room for Hale Makua. He said: "Love all that you see with humility , Live all that you feel with discipline, Know all that you possess with reverence."

I do not know about the esoteric implications of harnessing geothermal energy from the realm of the Gods. That is for the Gods to reveal. I thought long and hard, asked questions, and reveal my current state of thought: one could say that the realm of energy that geothermal taps is not naturally presented to man at the kanaka level, the surface of the earth, where we are free to walk. While this is true, whales breach out of their water realm into the air, malolo fish fly into the air, and, and as a human, I go from my realm into water and sky regions never accessed before without the aid of tools, engineering, and thinking.

From a kanaka perspective, practically speaking, I know that lowering energy consumption, managing fuel consumption, growing food, capturing water as a precious resource, and not expanding dependence on oil is my practice. I go to the forest, the crater, the ocean, the mountain for edification to achieve these changes.

Ma ka hana ka 'ike, in doing one learns, in other words, watch me and do, watch me and do. I do this so that the Hawaiians in my house, my family, my community, my island spark their necessary progression away from oil dependence.

Why a specific focus on Hawaiians when writing this? because elders have taught: "before you can effectively serve the other, you must serve yourself. Not in a selfish way, but in a way that ensures you can serve others the best you have in aloha."

[Sonia (foodiesleuth)]

Very well said, Richard!