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“ʻO ʻUmi-a-Līloa, aliʻi kaulana o Hāmākua, ʻo ʻUmi-a-Liloa.” The voices of Hāmākua’s youth filled the evening air on Saturday, May 6, at the Paʻauilo Hongwanji in Hauola, Hāmākua, as the keiki of Hui Mālama i ke Ala ʻŪlili’s HoAMa After School Mentorship Program reenacted the life story of ʻUmi-a-Līloa, one of Hāmākua’s most famous chiefs. These keiki, ranging in age from 5-14, took the stage with pride in front of a crowd of over 175, who filled the Hongwanji hall. The performance, called “Ka Moʻolelo o ʻUmi” (The Story of ʻUmi), a hula drama, was written and directed by one of Hāmākua’s very own, Pōlanimakamae Kahakalau, daughter of Kū and Nālei Kahakalau of Kukuihaele. “With ʻUmi especially being associated with the Hāmākua area,” Pōlani shared about the performance, “I feel that it’s very important to educate [our community about him], because...if you have Hawaiian in you and you’re from Hāmākua you are a product of ʻUmi. That’s our kupuna, and we should honor him in doing oli about him, and mele, and just telling his moʻolelo for the future generations to know...because you learn a part of you within all these moʻolelo...and we don’t want to lose our stories because that’s what keeps us alive and makes us who we are today.”
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Watch the full performance of Ka Moʻolelo o ʻUmi here!
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The Cast of “Ka Moʻolelo o ʻUmi” 2017:
Ghenae Frazier (Narrator), Braeden Juan (ʻUmi-a-Līloa), Azahrae Frazier (Akahiakuleana), Reece Gleason (Līloa), Shakira Lawrence (Pinea), Zenon Batino (Hakau), Caleh Carvalho (Kaleiokū), Zack Gleason (Nunu), Keelan Kaneshiro (ʻŌmaʻokāmau), T.J. Batino (Piʻimaiwaʻa), Dakota Millar (Kōī); Colton Jose, Kayron Dakamas (Stage Hands); Lihau Carvalho, Keilly Dakamas, Aislyn Dela Rosa-Alpiche, Kristen Ragasa, Peityn Amaral, Jack Terada, Destiny London, Kauʻi Kunihiro, Daeleah Gaspar, Shyla Togi-Branco (Villagers, Hula Dancers); Kaimana Ah Heong (Kiaʻi, Hakau's Guard). |
The hula drama depicted various scenes from the moʻolelo of one of the most important chiefs in the history of Hawaiʻi, ʻUmi-a-Līloa. ʻUmi-a-Līloa was born and raised in Kealakaha, Hāmākua (located about half way between Paʻauilo and ʻOʻokala), and his reign established an abundant and unified society on this island, 18 generations ago. According to one famous 19th century historian of Hawaiʻi, Samuel Manaiakalani Kamakau, “When the government of Hawaiʻi was united by ʻUmi-a-Līloa, his name became famous from Hawaiʻi to Kauaʻi. There was no aliʻi who reigned as he did. He cared for the old men and women and the parentless children. He cared for the common people. There was no killing and no theft. ʻUmi-a-Līloa was a pious chief in his reign...and therefore he became an ancestor of chiefs and an ancestor of common people. There is no makaʻāinana (person of the land) of Hawaiʻi who could say that ʻUmi-a-Līloa is not an ancestor of theirs, and if there is a person who denies this, it is simply because they do not know who all of their ancestors are.”
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The journey that led up to the performance of “Ka Moʻolelo o ʻUmi,” began about two and a half years ago with the ʻUmi-a-Līloa mural project that Hui Mālama i ke Ala ʻŪlili (huiMAU) initiated at Paʻauilo School. Since 2015, that mural has become a teaching tool that both the school and huiMAU have utilized to share the moʻolelo of ʻUmi with the keiki and ʻohana of our Hāmākua and Hawaiʻi Island communities. One of the main sites at which this place-based education has taken place is in huiMAU’s HoAMa After School Mentorship Program in Paʻauilo. This past July of 2016, when the Boys and Girls Club unexpectedly was forced to close down its clubhouse here in Paʻauilo, huiMAU decided that we would take on the kuleana of running an after school and summer mentorship program here in our community to meet the needs of our ʻohana. With just about a month to plan, and with the support of our community and the great love and dedication of our HuiMAU leadership and staff—particularly our HoAMa Program Coordinator Aunty Loke Alpiche, Program Assistant Aunty Melissa Frazier, Education Director Haley Kailiehu, and our Board Treasurer Aunty Valerie (Miranda) Peralto—we were able to organize and fundraise to begin our HoAMa After School Program in the Paʻauilo Hongwanji in September of 2016.
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In a little over 8 months since September, our keiki have learned a number of mele (songs and chants), hula, and moʻolelo (stories) about this very place we call home: Hāmākua. They learn ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi, our Hawaiian language, and important lessons about family genealogy and kuleana. They regularly engage in mālama ʻāina, learning to care for and cultivate our ʻāina, and then share the abundance of their gardens with their ʻohana and community. And they learn important social and leadership skills through hōʻike (exibitions) like their performance of “Ka Moʻolelo o ʻUmi,” in which they apply what theyʻve learned at HoAMa by sharing that knowledge with others in our community. And our community was a huge part of this year’s hōʻike for our keiki, demonstrating that ours is indeed a community that embodies the name of our place—Hāmākua, “the parent stalk”—coming together to nurture and support the growth of our keiki through the sharing of stories and relationships.
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Begining this January, when we were fortunate to have ʻElika Jardin and the writer and director of “Ka Moʻolelo o ʻUmi,” Pōlani Kahakalau, join our HoAMa staff, our keiki began to learn the moʻolelo of ʻUmi through the perfoming arts—mele, hula, and oratory. For most of our keiki, this was their first time performing on stage in this way, and as those who were present witnessed, they did an excellent job in preparing to share this important story with our community. When asked why they thought it was important to share the moʻolelo of ʻUmi with others, nearly all of our keiki replied, “because ʻUmi was a kind, generous, and humble chief who cared for our people and our ʻāina.” Azahrae Frazier, who played Akahiakuleana in the performance, added that the moʻolelo teaches us to “treat people with respect and aloha...and to take care of your ʻāina and your family.”
The moʻolelo of ʻUmi, who lived here in Hāmākua about 18 generations ago, is not only one of the most famous stories of our past, it is an extremely important story for the future of our community and for all of Hawaiʻi. There are many different lessons that we can derive from “Ka Moʻolelo o ʻUmi,” but one that clearly became a highlight of HoAMa’s re-telling of the moʻolelo is aloha ʻāina: love for our homelands and the people of our homelands. On a very basic level, this moʻolelo encourages our keiki to do “just as ʻUmi did,” Aunty Melissa Frazier reflected. “Be humble and give back to the land, so the land can give back to you.” Learning and re-telling this moʻolelo here in Hāmākua, especially, further deepens these lessons and our aloha for this place. As Aunty Loke Alpiche shared, “Like I tell the kids, it’s not a story you just read in the book. It actually happened. ʻUmi walked this place, and lived here. And Akahiakuleana just a few miles that way [in Kealakaha], and Līloa a few miles that way [in Waipiʻo], and this is where we grew up. So I feel good about being able to relate to our kūpuna...[and] you have this pride knowing that he was here. He was in our own area.”
Aloha ʻāina is about us telling our stories about our places and people again, in ways that honor the rich and vibrant legacies of these places and people that gave birth to us. And this performance of “Ka Moʻolelo o ʻUmi,” as a part of huiMAU’s work in our community, was just the beginning. In this performance, our keiki to took us back in time 18 generations ago, to a time when Hāmākua and all of this island, thrived under the care of our lāhui Hawaiʻi, and under the leadership of the great aliʻi nui, ʻUmi-a-Līloa. As we look to our past, with our keiki as our storytellers, let us look 18 generations in to our future, and envision what this moʻolelo and this place might become for our keiki and moʻopuna, the multitude of generations of ko Hāmākua poʻe aloha ʻāina—the ones who will love and care for this land for the many generations to come.
The moʻolelo of ʻUmi, who lived here in Hāmākua about 18 generations ago, is not only one of the most famous stories of our past, it is an extremely important story for the future of our community and for all of Hawaiʻi. There are many different lessons that we can derive from “Ka Moʻolelo o ʻUmi,” but one that clearly became a highlight of HoAMa’s re-telling of the moʻolelo is aloha ʻāina: love for our homelands and the people of our homelands. On a very basic level, this moʻolelo encourages our keiki to do “just as ʻUmi did,” Aunty Melissa Frazier reflected. “Be humble and give back to the land, so the land can give back to you.” Learning and re-telling this moʻolelo here in Hāmākua, especially, further deepens these lessons and our aloha for this place. As Aunty Loke Alpiche shared, “Like I tell the kids, it’s not a story you just read in the book. It actually happened. ʻUmi walked this place, and lived here. And Akahiakuleana just a few miles that way [in Kealakaha], and Līloa a few miles that way [in Waipiʻo], and this is where we grew up. So I feel good about being able to relate to our kūpuna...[and] you have this pride knowing that he was here. He was in our own area.”
Aloha ʻāina is about us telling our stories about our places and people again, in ways that honor the rich and vibrant legacies of these places and people that gave birth to us. And this performance of “Ka Moʻolelo o ʻUmi,” as a part of huiMAU’s work in our community, was just the beginning. In this performance, our keiki to took us back in time 18 generations ago, to a time when Hāmākua and all of this island, thrived under the care of our lāhui Hawaiʻi, and under the leadership of the great aliʻi nui, ʻUmi-a-Līloa. As we look to our past, with our keiki as our storytellers, let us look 18 generations in to our future, and envision what this moʻolelo and this place might become for our keiki and moʻopuna, the multitude of generations of ko Hāmākua poʻe aloha ʻāina—the ones who will love and care for this land for the many generations to come.
Learn more about the story of ʻUmi-a-Līloa on our Moʻolelo no ʻUmi Blog page,
and by clicking on links below the mural images.
and by clicking on links below the mural images.
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Mahalo nui to our HoAMa ʻohana and supporters who helped to make this community event a success!