A Lesson from IZ: An Essay from a Wai`anae Youth

September/October 2009
A Lesson from IZ: An Essay from a Wai'anae Youth
I
Student Noland Arasato reflects on Isarael Kamakawiwo'ole's famous song
sarael kamakawiwo‘ole’s song “E Ala E” explains
how the Hawaiian people should now stand as
one nation and fight for justice for the Hawaiian
people. In the chorus it says, “Gone are the days of the
alamihi ways.” In the old Hawaiian days, the alamihi
crab was free to live in their own environment or free
to live on the ‘āina. They didn’t need to tear each other
down because there was room for all them to be on a
stable foundation on the ‘āina. In the traditional time,
when it was time to gather some Alamihi crab, it was
never put in the buckets like how we do now because
buckets didn’t come until Captain James Cook arrived
to the islands. We are now being the crabs being put
in buckets. The US bucket. We are trapped in
this government and being told what to do
and how to do it. They are taking our land
from us. The old days are gone. Where we
are free to live on our land and be able to
share our land with others without needing
to worry. In the second verse it says, “We
the warriors born to live, on what the land
and sea can give.” Back then we were able to
grown our own healthy food without
the mainland. The Hawaiians were
able to live on the ‘āina, but we
can’t do that anymore. Our
‘āina was taken away. We depend on the mainland for
all these food and one day we won’t be able to get food
anymore. We won’t survive because we adapted and got
really comfortable getting food from ships and boats.
As of right now, as I am writing this essay, I’m a little
ashamed of being an American, but no matter what
happens, I am proud to be Hawaiian.
srael kamakawiwo‘ole was remembered as a man
of heart and soul. His lyrics swept the nation and
gave hope and comfort to Hawaiians everywhere. The
way I want to be remembered as a man of heart and
leadership. I want people to know that I made difference
on this earth. I want them to remember me as a man
who would have your back, that man to come
to when you needed to talk, the man that has
all the jokes, but still have the serious side.
I want to be remembered as a man of talent
and leadership. Before I come off this earth,
I want to do something so simple like writing
a song a let it sweep the nation like Israel
Kamakawiwo‘ole did. I would especially like to
be remembered for my handsome looks as well.
I
Essay is a part of Ka 'Ōpio Kiakahi's Leadership
Curriculum and appears with permission
in original form. Arasato is a Junior at
Wai‘ane High School.
From the Director’s Chair
Aloha kāua,
At the 2009 Tribal Archives, Libraries and Museums Conference, one of the main concerns expressed by the keynote
speakers and workshop presenters was “Who will carry on our traditions, preserve our culture and tell our stories?”
The kūpuna are worried about the next generation perpetuating their legacy. After reading Nolan’s essay, I am
confident that our youth will fulfill their kuleana if they are exposed to role models like Bruddah Iz and participate in positive
youth development programs like our Ka ‘Ōpio Kiakahi Program. It is up to us to prepare our youth for the time they will
transition into their roles as parent, teacher, steward, and leader. To prepare for the transition we are looking forward to our youth
participating in the Leadership Development for Tribal Archives, Libraries and Museums Institute we will be hosting in October
me ka ha‘aha‘a,
2011. Mahalo for the opportunity to serve our communities.
Keikilani Meyer
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Ka Waihona Puke ‘Ōiwi
September/October 2009
NATIVE HAWAIIAN LIBRARY
U
Expands
Curriculum
Feature
lukau: The Hawaiian Electronic Library now offers educators and
students online access to Hawaiian-focused curriculum, developed
by leading education organizations. These 27 new curricula touch on
subjects like biology, earth science, health education, Hawaiian culture,
nutrition, natural resource conservation and substance abuse.
All of the lessons and teacher guides have been digitized and added
to the collection, thanks to a grant from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.
There are even video and audio files available to supplement the lessons.
All of the pages can be downloaded for printing and are available any
hour online. There is even a feature that allows a user to search all the
lessons for a particular word or subject.
“This is a great tool for any teacher,” said Ulukau Specialist Kalehua
Mueller. “What is even better is that these lessons were purposely
aligned with the current education standards and benchmarks.”
Curriculum contributors include: Edith Kanaka‘ole Foundation, Pacific
American Foundation, Pacific Resources for Education and Learning
and University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa– Center on Disability Studies.
Ulukau is a partnership between ALU LIKE, Inc. and Ka Haka ‘Ula O
Ke‘elikōlani at the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo.
2009
Tribal
Archives,
Libraries &
Museums
N
National
Conference
ative
Americans,
Alaskan
Natives and Native Hawaiians
met in Portland, Oregon for the
October conference. Ka Waihona Puke
‘Ōiwi staff also had the opportunity to
share about their library and literacy
services, while learning about the
work of other native groups.
For more information or to download lessons, log on to www.ulukau.org.
Photo credit: Blaine Fergerstrom, OHA.
Hau'oli Akaka of OHA highlights a video component of an online lesson on Ulukau.
Librarian Myles Furubayashi
shares his experiences: “As I meet
and talked to other attendees, listened
to keynote speakers and workshop
presenters, the sense of commitment
to one’s calling is very strong and
evident. This sense of commitment
was expressed in different ways,
from individual dedication to
particular areas of vocation or
particular entities, service to
different aspects of community
life, efforts by individuals and/
or organizations, to activism in
movements – all were present and
offered for each to partake.”