Yesterday we went to Waiorea School and met a bunch of middle schoolers and a couple of high schoolers our age. When we entered during the Powhiri, I chanted Oli Kamehameha as the reply to the call that the Māori student chanted. I observed that the chanter needed to be a woman and needed to have a skirt in their culture. We had to walk slowly onto their grounds and it was honestly really intimidating walking into their meeting house to their welcoming scary dance sort of thing. But after that, their singing was very beautiful and harmonized without pitches. When we went to their kai and ate fish and chips, we met a lot of them and talked story. We even distinguished between “hot” chips and “packaged” chips and their grading system and how they name the grades differently. Next, it was our turn to present something for them. I already was nervous from their great dancing and voices and when I stepped up by myself in front of them I was freaking out. Trying to look calm, I started to dance and chant. After messing up a couple times and repeating lines that weren’t supposed to be repeated, I stopped the entire dance. I was so disappointed in myself that I apologized. I knew that stopping a hula was not how I was taught to do when I messed up. I kind of felt like crying because they were so evident in their knowing of who they were and what their culture was and displaying it with no problems. I looked up at Mr. Blake and one of their teachers and they smiled at me with reassurance so I kept going and finished the song. Eventually I got into the mindset to continue and made it up with another kahiko, and a beautiful auana with Kainoa singing amazingly. When we went into the Science classes it felt like only 10 minutes. They were basically doing the same thing like we were doing in 8th grade but we had a little more technology into the microscope. Also, everything they had was labeled in Te Reo Māori and it was amazing how centered their education was around their culture. They told us stories of how they prove their traditional myths and moʻolelo with science. I thought it was super interesting and inspiring. In closing, I saw some pretty amazing things that day and I am so glad I got to see how proud they were in their culture. I always used to watch the videos from the other Aotearoa trip in November and seeing them in Kaʻiwakiloumoku when they come to visit but it was amazing in person in their own environment. It inspires me to want to do better in hula and with everything I do, to entwine all I do into my culture. -Ashley Lee
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May 2015
CategoriesContributorsThe members on the Mālama Honua journey will maintain this area to document their experiences. |