All right. Aloha and welcome everybody. Thank you for joining us today for the Cultural Significance
of humpback whales in Hawai'i webinar". So we still have a bunch of attendees joining us but this
series is hosted by the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary and is a great way
to learn about some of the cultural significance of our sanctuary. So during the presentation all
attendees will be in listen only mode. You are welcome to type questions for the presenters in
the question box in the bottom of the control panel on the right hand side of your screen.
So this is the same area you can let us know about any technical issues you may be having we'll be
monitoring incoming questions and technical issues and we'll respond to them as soon as we can. Also
in your control panel you'll find three PDF handouts available for you to view and download.
We are recording this session and we'll house it on our website in
the future, after closed captioning and of course Headquarters review.
All right. So I am Cindy Among-Serrao, one of your hosts for this webinar.
I serve as the Sanctuary Advisory Council and Sanctuary Ocean
Coordinator with the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary
and I am based on the island of Oahu. So my fellow hosts for today are Allen Tom, the Superintendent
of Hawaiian Island Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary based on the island of Maui in Kihei.
And also we have Amy Eldredge, the volunteer coordinator
for the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary, who is also based on the island
of Maui. They will be popping in a bit later in the webinar. So just a brief overview the NOAA
Office of National Marine Sanctuary serves as the trustee for a network of underwater parks
encompassing more than 600 thousand square miles of marine and Great Lakes waters from
Washington state to the Florida Keys and from Lake Huron to American Samoa. The network includes
a system of 14 national marine sanctuaries and Papahanamokuakea and Rose Atoll Marine National
Monuments. So on the screen you'll see a map of the different sanctuaries and the two monuments.
So the National Marine Sanctuaries seek to preserve the beauty and biodiversity
of these special marine and Great Lakes places while also providing a place for
some of the Nation's most iconic maritime and cultural heritage resources
that are located within National Marine Sanctuaries such as
shipwrecks and other significant artifacts that are protected.
Our National Marine Sanctuaries serve as living classrooms and places for community stewardship
and our outreach programs provide engaging and fun learning opportunities as depicted
in these pre-COVID photos and now in new safe ways that have adapted
to these changing times we have a lot of virtual opportunities such as this webinar.
Also National Marine Sanctuaries are known for their research programs,
resource and habitat monitoring activities also.
We're also known for resource protection and management initiatives of our
underwater treasures and protect and restore them for future generations.
So these places are protected for your enjoyment and pleasure and sustainability
for generations to come. Your National Marine Sanctuaries are the perfect place to get
outside and take in the scenery, wildlife, catch a wave, take a dip or more.
Also Sanctuary volunteers are an important part of National Marine Sanctuaries with a
variety of different opportunities whether it's with education or outreach, research or
even during the current situations with more virtual opportunities.
If you're interested in volunteering, contact a Sanctuary near you to find out how you can help.
Oh sorry about that. And now Allen Tom will be providing more information
on our Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary.
Okay. Thank you Cindy and I definitely want to thank Cindy and Amy for all their work that
they did have done to put these webinars together for you and there's actually a
lot of work still to come after we finished today. But Aloha everybody. Aloha Monday
and I really appreciate you all calling in today. I see there's 228 attendees. Not to get Sol
nervous, but this is also being recorded so if you are unable to listen in for all of
this or you want to go back and watch it because this video is going to be so good, it is recorded
and it will go up on our websites as Cindy mentioned in about a month. It takes me that long
to closed caption them and get them edited down for viewing, but these will be in our library.
Again I'm the Superintendent, I am based here on Maui and I just want to speak a little bit
about what we do here. Next slide. Our next slide should be a boundary map of where our
Humpback Whale Sanctuary is actually located and once the next slide comes up you'll see
part of the northern boundary, you see the red area is or the red lines are the boundary of the
Humpback Whale Sanctuary. We have portions off the island of Kauai, two portions off Oahu. The
Maui Nui or the four island area of Maui County. Next slide. And these are the areas
where the Sanctuary actually works, where we do our research, where we do a lot of our education
and outreach and our headquarters is based in Kihei, Maui but you also see that we have boundary
off the Big Island and the island of Lanai and this is where our speaker is from today. He is
from the island that is completely surrounded by the National Marine Sanctuary. And I think
what's important for people to understand is this Humpback Whale Sanctuary has been in existence now
27 years and yet we still have people who drive to the coastline and they don't even know it's a
National Marine Sanctuary. So having webinars like this, having outreach events like this and having
speakers of the community like Sol talk about what the Sanctuary does is very important to us.
And so I appreciate you all calling in today. Next slide. We also have a number of handouts that are
available to you to download and these are really just to give you an idea of kind of what we do
and who we work with. And one of them is a very important workbook called "The Ocean
Users Workbook". On November 6, we did an Ocean User's workshop on on video, like this and you can also
view this video online. I believe it's at the Maui Nui Resources Council home page, we'll get that
home page to you in a minute. But this booklet has all the laws and regulations that protect not just
humpback whales but all the marine mammals and sea turtles in Hawai'i. But the most important thing
about this workbook is it has phone numbers that you can call. So if you see a harassment going on.
You can call this number and somebody will take your information down and follow up. And
that's very important, even in this time of COVID, where we may have only 50 percent of the
various folks out on the water, there still may possibly be harassment occurring. So we want to
make sure that everybody follows the law, when they are interacting with our marine species. Next slide
please. I believe our next slide is actually a free handout that you can get and you can download. It's
actually a Tide calendar that was created in conjunction with the Waikiki Aquarium and it is
actually every month of the year and the various tides in Hawai'i, so that is a gift from us to
you. We didn't actually print a lot of copies this year. We felt that going virtual would be the best
thing and so unfortunately if you're calling in from Maryland or the East Coast, this Tide calendar
probably isn't going to do you any good but for the folks in Hawai'i this is a free gift to you.
And next slide, I believe our next slide is the real time I get to talk about our speaker.
So it is really with great pleasure that I get to introduce you to you Mr. Solomon Pili Kahoohalahala.
He is a seventh generation Native Hawaiian descendant from the Island of Molokai.
But more than that you know, he is a community activist he was a County Council member, he
was a State Legislator, he was the Director of the Kaho'olawe Island Reserve Commission. He was
a crew member on the Hokule'a, he sits on three advisory councils for Marine Protected Areas, out
here in the Pacific. He is a community member for the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National
Monument. He is a Native Hawaiian elder on Papahanamokuakea's Reserve Advisory Council.
Of course most importantly for me, he is the Sanctuary Advisory Chair
for the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary. But you can learn more about
Sol if you go to our home page, we have a video of him talking about his growing up on Lanai
and why it's important for him to protect to protect places like National Marine Sanctuaries.
We also have an Earth is Blue magazine which I think maybe also be in the handouts. That also
has an interview by Sol but you know Sol was graciously gracious enough to do this talk. This
is a presentation he did to the Advisory Council. He did part of a presentation like this to our
Advisory Council, several years ago and everybody was just so enthralled with it, that I'm so glad he
is here with us today. So without further ado I'd like to introduce Mr. Sol Kaho'ohalahala.
Sol ? Hi. Aloha kakao apau. I'd like to start by offering an oli for all of you and if you can
bear with me I oh I get to join in
E hō mai, E hō mai, E hō mai, E hō mai ka ʻike mai luna mai ē
(Give forth knowledge from above)
O nā mea huna noʻeau o nā mele ē (Every bit of wisdom contained in song)
E hō mai, e hō mai, e hō mai ē (Give forth, give forth, oh give forth)
Aloha and thank you for joining us today and I'm very pleased that I can be with you
and if all things go well today with all the technical difficulties that it takes
it takes a lot of hands to help this presentation come forward so i'm looking forward to
no glitches and just have a smooth presentation today and hopefully that you'll be enlightened.
So I wanted to begin our talk today by
talking about Kanaloa and the genealogical and the cultural significance.
So for those of you who are not familiar.
Kanaloa is also represented or manifested in other life forms or kinolau,
like the octopus or the he'e. Another representation of Kanaloa is the kinolau of the Kohola
or the great whale. And so I'd like to begin my presentation by taking a look at Kanaloa and it's mo'oku'auhau
or it's genealogy and to do this we need to talk about its foundation and its significance.
We need to talk about how all things are related and so I invite you to
take this moment to examine with me and take a closer look at the Kumulipo.
Hanau ka po, Hanau Kumulipo ika po, he kane Hanau Po’ele I ka po, he wahine Hanau ka ‘Uku-ko‘ako‘a, hanau kana, he ‘Ako‘ako‘a, puka
So these lines of the Kumulipo which is our traditional chant or the story of creation
it is our song describing first the realm of Po or the darkness. It is the realm of the gods,
it is where the gods dwell. It is the place our ancestors were created and it is the place of
origin where all things are created. It is also the realm where all things return after death. So like
the lines of the Kumulipo said "born was Kumulipo in the night a male. Born was Po'ele in the night
a female. And so in the union of Kumulipo and Po'ele, the first creature to be birthed is the coral polyp.
The coral polyp is our eldest sibling, it is our kupuna, it is our ancestor.
So the Kumulipo helps us to understand our origins and how it emerges. It comes out
of darkness, it is the beginning of the source of life and the Kumulipo is a place of creation.
So let's take a look at the parts of the Kumulipo.
There are 2102 lines in the story or the chant of the Kumulipo.
It is a cosmogonic genealogy in that it deals with some of the things that are intangible
as well as the things that would become tangible and be birthed to life.
And it relates to the stars, the moon and to the universe.
Now let's talk about the divisions of the Kumulipo. So the divisions are called Wa. Of the 2102 lines,
it is divided into 16 Wa, which are 16 eras or 16 ages. So in each Wa something is born
whether it is a human, a plant or creature. The first seven Wa fall in the time of Po
or in the time of darkness. It is the age of spirits, the earth may or may not exist
but the events described do not take place in a physical universe.
This is very evident in the few lines here it says:
O ke au i kahuli wela ka honua, at the time when the earth became hot
O ke au i kahuli lole ka lani, at the time when the heavens turned about
O ke au i kukaʻiaka ka lā, at the time when the sun was darkened
O ke au o Makali'i ka po, at the time of the rise of Pleiades.
O ka malamalama ho'okumu honua ka walewale o ka' walewale
The slime, this was the source of the Earth.
E hoe ʻo mālamalama i ka mālama, to cause the moon to shine
The second section of the Kumulipu contains the remaining nine Wa.
Ao. Is signaled by the arrival of light and the Gods, who will watch over the changing of animals
into the first human forms. So Ao is a time of light. So let's examine a little bit of each
of the Wa. So the first Wa is where the "uku ko'a ko'a, the coral polyp is the first creature created in the sea.
And also in the first Wa there are sea urchins and limu or seaweed that are born.
In the first Wa, the limu and plant pairs include limu kala as a seaweed and akala strawberry
which is a plant of the land. There's pairings also in limu manauea which we all know to be
a very delicious seaweed and it is paired with the kalo manauea, the upland taro. So in these land
plants were born really to help protect their sea cousins, so this is an example of that pairing and
this is all in the first Wa. The second Wa, there are over 73 types of fish, some are deep sea fish
including the nai'a and the mano and also reef fish including moi and weke and certain
plants have similar names that are related to these fish and are born as protectors of the fish.
Also in the second Wa, the palaoa was born and lived in the sea and it was guarded by the aoa
or the sandlewood tree that grew in the forest. So this is our connection to the Kanaloa
of the sea and the aoa, the sandwood of the land.
In the third Wa there are 52 types of flying creatures which include birds
of the sea, such as the ewa, these sea birds have land relatives such as pueo
so in this Wa insects are also born such as the pe'elua and the pulelehua, the butterfly.
In the fourth Wa, they say the creepy and crawly creatures are born these include the honu, the ula
the mo'o, the o'peo'peo or the jellyfish and their cousin on the land
include the kuhonua or the maile vine and the ohe'ohe or the bamboo.
In the fifth Wa,
Kalo or taro is born. Very significant
and very important for us because it is where our ancestors come from, the Kalo.
And then in the sixth and the seventh Wa we have things like the iole the rat is born
and also the ilio, the dog or the ope'ape'a, the bat.
In the eighth and the ninth Wa, there are four divinities that are born. So la'ilai, the female, ki, the male, kane, the god, and kanaloa.
In the ninth Wa they says la'ilai takes her eldest brother ki'i as a mate and the first humans are born
from her mind she can only envision it.
And then as we move on, we're now entering into the time of Ao in the tenth Wa, La ila'i takes
her brother Kane and here is where the genealogy of the families begin so children are born
to La'ilai and Kane and then the genealogy begins to move forward in the tenth Wa.
In the 11th Wa, it pays homage to the moa or the rooster and it is said that it is a time at which
change occurs within the genealogies of those that are now coming to be. So the moa.
In the 12th and the 13th Wa, this is the most important for us because this is where
the Hawaiians honor the lineage of Wakea and Papa whose son is Haloa.
And Haloa as we know is the ancestor of all the people.
In the 14th Wa, the genealogy continues and then in the 15th Wa, the genealogy continues
with the lineage that moves to Maui and the adventures and the siblings of Maui.
And then finally in the 16th Wa, it recounts all of Maui's lineage for 44 generations
all the way down to the mo'i of Maui Pi'ilani and so in this last of the 16th Wa. The 44 generations
equal to over 1000 and 100 years of genealogies. So these are the sections
of the Kumilipo that kind of give us real detailed information on our origins and
although it sounds simplified in a presentation I will tell you it is a very complex story that
even for me is challenging but nonetheless very intriguing and very enlightening. So
the Kumulipo really talks about the 'aina as being sacred and it says that it sustains
our identity and health and it focuses our attitudes, our instincts and our perceptions
and values. And it exacts appropriate character because it requires us now to become a part of
the Kumulipo because we are the Kumulipo. So I wanted to share a part of the Kumulipo
especially because it is the version that has been written by our last reigning Queen Liliuokalani.
So we know the history on January 17 1893, Hawaii's only monarch and reigning Queen Liliuokalani
was illegally overthrown by the U.S Marines at Iolani Palace in Honolulu. And imprisoned
in her palace room during the darkest and most difficult days in Hawaii's history, the Queen
decided to take the ancient Hawaiian chant and song and translate the Kumulipo into English. Now
there are other versions of work that relate to the Kumulipo but for today's presentation I will
focus on the translated work of Queen Liliokalani entitled "The Kumulipo, a Hawaiian creation myth."
So the Queen says that the Kumulipo was composed by Ke'ulumoku in 1700. And then she says that she
wanted to transcribe this during the imprisonment in her own palace in 1895 in Honolulu.
And then her work in the translation concluded in Washington D.C. on May 20th of 1897.
She says that the translation work pleasantly employed her during her time of imprisonment.
And she says to my friends it might be a souvenir of that part of her life that they can have.
And then she also says that maybe the value it may be of value to genealogists and to scientific
societies and it is definitely a part of the record of genealogy of the late reigning king
her brother King David Kalakaua and his dynasty. And the Kumunipo was recited at his coronation.
It is also recorded that the Kumulipo was recited during a makahiki honoring the god Lono.
And then it was sung by Pu'o at the deification of Captain Cook at Hikau Heiau in Kealakekua, Hawaii.
I'd like to share some of the thoughts from this volume of the Kumulipo by Pualani Kanahele and
it was written in October of 1997 and I'd like to share her words with you.
She says that the Kumulipo is a mele koi'honua it is a remembrance from the lepo of our deep past
to the lepo of our unknown future. It herald's existence from dawn to dawn or the numerous
beginnings and endings. The Kumulipo acknowledged the wali wali as the earthly matter from which
all living forms have ascended. The fundamental images, thoughts, forms and shapes from wali wali,
evolved and increased into familial patterns. It is the organic inception of all family systems.
This our kupuna believe.
The Kumulipo articulates and reveals the connections
of the sky and the earth, the ocean and the land, the land and man and man and gods
and returns again to repeat the cycle with the sky and the interrelationship of all things
in everlasting everlasting continuum. It is puna'a keola, a chaotic whirlwind of life.
This our kupuna knew. The Kumulipo echoed the complexities and details of the Hawaiian thought
process. This skillful observation and examination brought understanding and respect to everything
in his world, he realized that the powers of growth and the bounty were the basic universal elements
the moon cycle was a principle motivator of the earth
it generated extreme movements of the ocean and caused the eyes of the land and sea to bloom
and dedicated the time dictated the time for the earth to commence
or to rest from production. The sun and rain were the penetrating nourishing forces into the earth,
the wind, ocean currents and rivers provided mobility for things and objects incapable of
movement and the Hawaiian and all other natural forms of his world were the beneficiaries of this
primal cadence and flowed with the rhythm of the universe. This our kupuna experienced.
The Kumulipo maintained the theme of survival urgency for the life and preservation of the
species with procreation and evolution as a sign you. The dualistic nature of this poem
supports this theme. The dichotomy of land, ocean, hearing strengthened the notion
of procreation and survival of the species. The drama of manipulation between Wakea's, sky father
and Papa, earth mother, is the ultimate example of procreation and regeneration. The assimilations
with the taro child and the many fold generation forms of Haumea and Hina are the multiple nature
forms continue the episode of preservation, evolution and survival. This our kupuna learned.
The Kumulipo is the reality of a dim past, the foundation of our present,
the pathway of our future. It is a cognizant reminder of our ancestors, their intelligence,
failure, conquests and defeat. This song is a gift which encourages the warrior within us
to awake to the contests and challenges which constantly confront us on using intelligence
and ancestral experiences. It is our genealogy, connecting mankind to earth and sky.
You are the Kumulipo. Know that esoteric soul inside of you and celebrate your punahakeola.
This is a gift given to us by our kupuna.
And so with that I share a few thoughts the Queen had written
of the Kumalipo, she says this will be a useful tool
for modern Hawaiians attempting to understand, preserve and revitalize the Hawaiian culture.
I refute the claim that Hawaiians were ignorant savages and had had
no culture prior to the arrival of Captain Cook.
She says our culture evoked in the rich haunting lyrics of the Kumulipo is viable today as when
it first was published and she says we speak not only of affection for pastimes and people
but of respect and understanding for them as we try to understand the things we have valued
and still value in Hawai'i. We create a moral vision of what we would like a future Hawai'i to be. E hoʻomau ia kākou.
And as the Queen herself
she stood fast. Onipa'a was her motto. So with that I would like now to turn just now to the cultural
part of kanaloa. So in this last portion of my presentation I wanted to kind of share
with you that given the understanding of the Kanaloa. Giving an understanding of the depth
and the knowledge and the responsibility that are written within the immense volume of the Kumulipo.
I am in I'm inspired to try and connect that Kumulipo, that Kanaloa with culture.
So as a member of the Sanctuary Advisory Council, I was inspired as Chair to help our
council members to know that our work goes far beyond just the physical responsibility
of caring and enforcing and replenishing. That there is a cultural connection here and so I
put together a video of images and thoughts that are culturally related and I'd like to share them
with you and i hope that they inspire you to look at the Kohola, to look at Kanaloa and its cultural
presentation.
so the palaoa has a way of expressing itself that's very culturally tied
and so when I think about the songs of the Kanaloa I'm reminded of oli oli in the Hawaiian culture
it is a way of expressing oneself through song,
through stories. It is a genealogy. It's a memory of things that have come and past.
And the Kanaloa is also known as palaoa and in the Hawaiian culture palaoa is a symbol of authority.
The high chiefs use the palaoa to indicate their ability to be
the talking chiefs and so the authority that the palaoa has is immense.
And often when we're seeing pods of whales and we see a calf and then we see how carefully
the mother will care for her calf and so it reminds me of the concept of ohana. Ohana is
the family, it is what we care for and what we love and how we nurture the family or ohana.
And in that nurturing you know there is embrace and so here a mother embraces her calf
and in that embrace there are many things that are going on that help to impart in that child
or that calf things that they need to learn and that they know that they are supported by their
makua, their parent. So ohana is exemplified in many of the actions of the Kanaloa Ah Ha, the breath.
the force of the sound of that "ha" is a reminder how important "ha" is in the Hawaiian culture.
Because without "ha" there is no life.
And so when the kohola sends out her breath, you hear it from afar and you see the force of that
breath then you know "ah that is life" and so we're reminded of life through the breath of the palaoa.
Mana is the intangible, it's the things that we don't see, we can't touch it but the
Kanaloa exemplifies this miraculous strength and power. That is all about mana.
And when we see an animal leaping from the depths of the ocean and taking flight into the air, ah the mana,
the spirit of that palaoa. That is the strength of mana and the Kanaloa teaches us about mana
Okay Mahalo everyone. Thanks for amazing videos Sol.
And now we're going to kind of switch over to questions. So if folks have questions
please submit them and then Amy will help be the question liaison. We do have time for questions.
Well first of all I want to say thank you again for allowing me to be able to make a presentation.
The Kumulipo is a very complex story of creation but nonetheless what it does it is
a foundation that ties us culturally to all things that are created and it makes us not
the first but it is clear that the people come much farther along in the creation of the Kumulipo
so it puts all of those that precede us to be our kupuna or our ancestors and I think that in parts
to me the responsibility that we all bear, is to care for our kupuna
and care for them because they precede us and they are the ones that really spawn our life
and therefore we have responsibility to continue that and so emao
you know to continue is to to be responsible to be understanding and to be supportive of
a culture that it recognizes, so thank you again for this sense so I'm open to questions.
Aloha everyone. My name is Amy, I'm the volunteer coordinator here at the Sanctuary
and I have been reading over your questions coming in for Sol.
So Sol, the first one you have is about next generation and learning about the
Hawaiian culture and language. Is the next generation learning all this to keep it alive
The answer is is yes. Probably around 20 or 25 years ago that what might have been an answer
that was tentative but I can tell you right now that in the last 25 years the language has
grown, the appeal and na makua, the children who are the speakers of language are now adults and
parents themselves and and those who have also become very acquainted to the language
which is very important have also become very involved in other disciplines and
so they're accomplished scientists, they're accomplished engineers as well as language
speakers, they're navigators, they're voyagers and so I'm very confident that the next generation is
capable and ready to take on the challenges that our kupuna have left for us to to decipher and to
to find solutions for. Great thank you. This next question that comes in
uses some Hawaiian terms so if I mispronounce them I do apologize. Are the words palaoa and kohola,
used interchangeably for all species of whale or does palaoa refer specifically to sperm whales.
In the Kumulipo the the the name palaoa is referenced in several different places. So
you know we know that the humpback whales
are by research deemed to be fairly new arrivals to the Hawaiian islands and when I was asked
that question years ago about whether or not the palaoa was referencing the humpback whale
It was clear to me that the Kumulipo is not confining itself to just the Hawaiian Islands. So
the Hawaiian people are Polynesians and the genealogies that the Kumulipo talked about
are not just confined to the Hawaiian Islands. So they stretch across the expanse of the
Pacific linking all the Polynesian archipelagos so in in that in that light,
is it conceivable that the kumulipo is familiar with places far beyond just our islands here in
Hawai'i and I think the answer is yes. So palaoa isn't confined just to a specific species
and a specific place but I think it is referenced in what we understand to be Polynesia
or the pakipika, the Pacific and so so that's my response is that the Kumulipo is not confining
it's not directed to one thing or one place or one time yeah. Great. This question I think ties
closely to that. So is the Kumulipo a song that has traveled with Hawaiians from Polynesia across
oceans and are there connections to creation stories shared through Polynesia. The answer is yes.
So if you take the genealogy and the generations, you will find that in other parts of Polynesia
that those names are going to be replicated and that these are names of actual families.
So we might look at it from a Hawaiian perspective thinking that we're confined to this particular
area of the Pacific in the Hawaiian Islands but the names in the Kumulipo which are reflecting
genealogies go far beyond just the Hawaiian Island archipelago and then you will find them
repeated in other places of the Pacific, like in Tahiti, like in Aotearoa and so
it is not just about Hawai'i, it's about the entirety of the Pacific as we know it
uh for a culture of people that are Polynesians.
Great, thank you. How long does it take you to recite the entire Kumulipo and when is it chanted
in public ? I had black hair when I started to memorize it and I have white hair now and
I still haven't memorized it but I I think you know it should be noted that a a story or a
chant that long that there were ways in how this chant was actually put together so that
when you're looking at the relationship between the animals and the plants whether they're in the
land, the sea or the sky, the Kumulipo pairs them in this duality that I talked about briefly
but in that duality there is replication in the name of a plant or an animal or a seaweed and a
and a bird so that memorization of the chant is tied closely to familiar names. As an example
like palaoa is used to describe the great whale and then it's pairing is the plant called aoa,
which is the sandalwood. So again you memorize these things because the pairing also is similar.
So when I say palaoa it's related to aoa and this this this kind of a memorization and matching
of plants and animals and similar and familiar sounds help you to memorize 2100 lines faster.
Great. Another question is the niho palaoa were very prized by Hawaiians how about the meat were
other parts of the kohola palaoa used by our kupuna? Well I think you know the Kumulipo
is a really a a story of puna hakioka is is the term that's written in the Kumulipo's story and puna
hakiola is talking about this cycle of life okay. So we are a part of this cycle and we are given
birth and at the same time we are passing on into the end of life. In that process all things are
important and all things are necessary. So the passing of a large kohola or palaoa like this
isn't just something that is isolated and alone is that it's related because there are many other
things that benefit from the passing of a whale. In fact just recently there was a scientific
dive of off the coast of of California. I believe near Monterey, where they found an entire
whales submerged through the very bottom of the ocean and the scientists were really enthralled by
the fact that they saw that all of the different creatures of the sea that were benefiting from the
passing of the kohola and so there are I think for me it's just a reaffirmation of the story in
the Kumulipo is that this continuation, emao, continues so so we cannot look at this as an isolated
event in time that happens and ends. It doesn't. It continues and there are many others that are
tied to that besides man, we have animals, we have fish, we have all creatures that are going to be
tied into that cycle and they're going to be part of the the the beneficiaries of life as well as
beneficiaries in depth. So great due to time I'm just going to ask you one more question
because we want to share some announcements before we wrap up but I want everyone to
know that you can still submit your questions until the webinar ends and that we will send
them on to Sol for him to review and then provide those answers to everyone so please keep
sending your questions in. But the last question I have to give to you over video right now are:
What are some of the ways in which the land and sea connections are strengthened in the Kumulipo ?
Well
what it the Kumulipo does it it ties us to this understanding of interrelationships you know
as an example I told you that the palaoa is paired with the aoa.
The idea for this duality is that perhaps by looking at the condition of the land or the aoa,
the sandalwood would it also be a reflection of what is the condition of the palaoa in the sea.
And interesting enough in our history in Hawai'i in the whaling' era you will find that when
the whales are being taken out and used by whaling ships in the Hawaiian Islands.
At the same time that this was occurring and the population of the palaoa was on a decline, you
will find that the aoa, the sandalwood was also in decline and that these two happened to be
a pairing and what happened was that the land was being harvested and raped and denuded of
sandalwood trees for it to be sent to Asia and at the same time the whale was being harvested
for its resources in oil and both of them plummet. So if we understood the Kumulipo
and its connection and the responsibility to understand why, perhaps we would have looked at one
to understand that we need to look at the reflection of the other
is there something that is needing help for both and so I think spending more time in looking at
the Kumulipo and understanding these kinds of pairings and these kinds of relationships and
that continuum of puna hakiola it will help us to really make those connections and I and I think as
part of the Sanctuary Advisory Council these are the connections that we as a Council also need to
make for the Sanctuary and its relationship to all things for the kohola, the kanaloa and beyond so
so I hope that you've been inspired and I hope that it helps you to to seek out and to search
more because I think Hawai'i has a lot to offer and surely I support the olelo no eau that says ika wama na momua, ika wa
hopi. If we're going to move forward then we have to take a look backward.
Thank you, Sol. I believe Allen will be returning to just give us a few announcements and I just
want to remind everyone that check out the chat your there are links to our resources
and Cindy has also answered some of your other questions there as well.
So thank you Sol. So talking about next steps forward I know some of you or most of you had
a hard time hearing Sol's narration over the video, so what we're going to be doing is
we're going to be sort of going back and maybe re-editing it so that means that
this webinar which normally would go on the home page that you're seeing in front of you
in about a month, may take a little longer, so bear with us and we will get this edited and then
posted and I think I definitely am going to invite Sol back maybe in the summer, Sol, because I think
you have a lot to share with us, so you know we will continue this discussion and clearly this is
a topic that people are interested in so folks make sure you get on our email list or that
you continue to check our home pages every now and then because we will continue to have excellent
webinar topics. Next slide. So just bear us bear with me five more minutes because I have
some slides I want to show folks to give you heads up on what's coming up. So I believe everybody gets
one hour of professional development credit so you will get a certificate of attendance. I hope
Cindy or Amy will be doing this. They'll be sending it out to you we all have your names that
were registered and you'll be getting this very shortly probably another day or two. Next slide.
And I believe also we are interested in your comments so if you have comments about other
topics you'd like to hear from us, other things that maybe Sol can talk about on his
next talk. Please let us know. There's an email at the bottom there or you can email any one
of us here at the Sanctuary and we'll make sure that we move those forward. Next slide please.
And I believe the next slide is also talking about if you're a teacher we also have, oh
no that's wrong. My next slide is to give you a heads up so
Sol actually ends our series of talks with which were the Ho'i Kohola,
the Welcome Back of the Whales to Hawai'i, and the whales are indeed back here. They proved so popular
we had they're all online we have we had to talk about Hanauma Bay, we had to talk about the
Western type of research that's being done on humpback whales. So all of that is housed on
that webinar link. We have some talks now coming up one per month we have one next month, Ms. Hannah Bernard,
a former SAC member will talk about sea turtles and the research they've been doing here
on Maui. We have in January, Dr. Jane Au will talk about Hawaiian religious understandings of the
ocean, the importance of the ocean. And in February, we have Makaala Kaaumoana talking about Hanalei ahupuaa,
or watershed. So please feel free to join us for that and hopefully by then we'll also have more
speakers lined up for you. Next slide. I think that's the end and again I think I just want
to thank everybody for their attention for their joining us today and again I want to thank Sol
for that great presentation and like I said we will get that all subtitled and cleaned up and
hopefully it on the web/internet within the next month or so. So everybody thank you
so much. I see there's a lot more questions but we will take those questions and we will share
them with Sol, so that he can get back to you. So again everybody thank you for joining us today.