Hula Beyond The Ala #4

Hula Beyond the Ala

I can still remember this moment, dancing about the sacredness of the wāhine noho mauna, the goddesses of the mountain, in the parking lot of the Hāmākua Hawaiian Cultural Center for a community fundraiser. Lanakila adorned me in kapa, lei hulu, and pā‘ū and we honored Poli’ahu and the waters that flow from the mountain and feeds the very place that we were standing on.

I love this memory and the moment that was captured in this photo. Feet on the pavement, parked cars lining the street, the speaker and the stage in the back - and I am dancing to a chant that my brother wrote with motions that he dreamt up and taught me and so many. This got me thinking about how so much has changed since our kūpuna danced in this place.

I closed my eyes and thought of what they saw before the buildings, before the telescopes, before the diverging of our waterways. I thought of what the land felt like before all of these invasive species took root here. I thought of what it sounded like when birds still filled the forest. And my ancestors took me there in their memories that are still in my blood and DNA. And they told me to keep dancing no matter how much everything is changing around me. They told me that the mountains and the waterways haven’t forgotten who they are so that we won’t forget who we are. They told to keep dancing and keep chanting because we reclaim more than we know when we do.

They told me to keep holding my love for our home and the ways of our people close because the young ones are watching.

I carry these teachings with me as I continue my journey to one day earn the sacred rite, kulana, and kuleana of Kumu Hula to pass it down.

No Poli’ahu ka wahine kapu
Nona nō ke kapa hau kea