Manaʻo on Cultural Resource Management
Prior to the internship, we asked our haumāna what they thought Cultural Resource Management (CRM) was. At the end of the internship, haumāna shared their perspectives of CRM or how their perspective has changed.
CRM, is the pilina and symbiotic relationship between kānaka and ʻāina. It is the social, political, environmental, mental, and even spiritual forms of mutual respect between land and kānaka.
Cultural Resource Management is being a steward of the land and ensuring resources are available for future generations. It is conducting pono research in and out of the field and protecting that ʻāina and resource from desecration. Cultural Resource Management is also restoring mana back to wahi kūpuna and giving power and voice to the community.
I gained insight not only into what pono CRM was, but what it looks like in practice specifically in Kohala. Lectures on archaeology and anthropology gave me completely new perspectives on both those fields and how each can be used to mālama communities and their wahi. Guest speakers from community members taught me how different educational programming can stem from CRM work and how both can be utilized to build the community's ʻiʻini to engage in resource management (such as work being done in Puanui, ʻIole and Akoakoa).
Cultural resource management is knowing your place, respecting the ‘āina, and remembering to give it a break once in a while. Much like people, the ‘āina is healing from events we never kūkākūkā about. I think the ala that WKIP teaches cultural resource management should be shared more and somehow integrated into school curriculum because the younger generations need to know these things before joining their fields of interest. It is important to know a place before trying to do anything with it.
Skills Obtained
Haumāna shared about skills they learned and biggest take aways during the WKIP Program.
I learned a lot about what it means to tend to wahi kūpuna. It is a kuleana that I am considering to ʻauamo now...listening to a place in order to capture the right story. Gathering information from all community members (not just people but also the native plants, animals and natural elements) in order to make all of the connections and tell the true story of that place. Wherever this place maybe.
One of my biggest takeaways was learning how to read and what to look for in mahele documents. I was extremely intimidated by them at first but learning techniques and skills about how to read through them and collect information has been vital in making my project a possibility. This is something I will be able to utilize in so many different parts of both my academic and personal life.
As an intern of the Wahi Kūpuna Internship Program I learned so much. Very mind-expanding indeed (lol). I learned different oli, what a Story Map was and how to create one, how to search for historic photos and government reports, I learned advanced search on Ulukau, I learned about the wind and land features unique to Kohala, ʻāina field methods, conducting pono archaeology, the Mahele claimant of Waiʻāpuka, and so much more. If I was to reflect on everything each week, there would a huge list of gained ʻike.
Activities
The haumāna shared what some of their favorite activities and experiences were during the program.
The three most enjoyable activities for me was the Lei Piko activity, the guest speakers we had, and building a website. I enjoyed the Lei Piko activity because I felt like that was a maika‘i ice breaker for the hui to get to know each other a little bit before diving into the program. I really loved the different guest speakers we had because I got to meet solid kānaka from all over the pae ‘āina, who each play a different role in contributing to the lāhui. I also liked the website activity we did because I just enjoy making presentations, story maps, websites, etc.
I enjoyed going over maps, ʻAnakala Fred's Interview, and the Mahele exercise. I enjoyed going over the maps, because I find maps really cool and I love looking at historical maps...That is something useful I will remember just like the Mahele activity. I enjoyed that because you got to look at maps, written documents from kūpuna, and learn about how the ʻāina was at that time. I didn't know you could find out all that information from Mahele documents but now I do and I know how to look through them. I also really enjoyed the interview with ʻAnakala Fred because it was something we all prepared for and I love listening to his stories and seeing his excitement for our research projects.
Initially, I had said that I wanted gain more understanding of place, connection, and culture as well as improve on my communication, research, writing, and critical thinking skills. I feel that the Wahi Kūpuna Internship Program has definitely given me those things through class discussions, presentations, guest speakers, lessons, and activities. I think the activities and class discussions helped me practice communicating my thoughts effectively, especially introductions as well.
Closing Manaʻo
Final thoughts some of our haumāna shared about this years WKIP 2020 program and take-aways.
Over the past four weeks I've learned new ways to weave and blend ʻike Hawaiʻi with modern day tools as a way to honor our kūpuna and our ʻāina. I have gained new skills on how to best document and share their ʻike in pono ways, and to do so to bring a Hawaiian consciousness back into our communities. Hohonu ke kai mahalo ia oukou a pau.
I just want to mahalo all the staff, all the hui, and all the kānaka who helped put this program together, especially this year because of the circumstances at the manawa. I appreciate every single kumu and kānaka I worked with over the weeks and I am so ho‘omaika‘i to have met the amount of guest speakers that were brought on to kōkua us or give us haumana insight and ‘ike on different things. This program is so pōmaika‘i and I hope it continues to happen because some of the people I have met, inspired me in ways I cannot even explain. They touched my pu‘uwai without actually laying a hand on it. I still get chicken skin thinking about it. Mahalo nui loa for allowing me to be a part of this amazing opportunity and program.
Despite having to readjust into an online format this summer due to the Coronavirus pandemic, within the four weeks of the 2020 Wahi Kūpuna Internship Program, I have gained so much valuable ʻike, experience, and connections. There were many challenges that came with learning ʻāina based education online like not being able to connect physically with ʻāina or each other, juggling tasks of our daily lives while doing the internship, bad internet connection, and a shorter duration of the program. However, there were many good parts of this experience that made up for the challenges as we were paired with individual mentors who guided us through our projects, had more time to research, had an awesome website made just to for this program, and we were still able to get connected with resource specialists and community members from Kohala via Zoom.