Final Intellectual Challenge by Kumu Keahi (student of Kumu Lake)
My Name is:
date: Fall 2010
And I proudly display the depth and breadth of my individual intellect below:…. (A) What are the names of the two shown in the picture? - How are their journeys very much parallel yet intertwined? - How do both their names signify leade rship qualities? Which? Paikea: Hard-shelled crab ~ protected / isolated lonely (ka„awale / separated) Tangaroa-Meha: Kanaloa-Meha ~ From the sea-lonely (ka„awale / separated) The prophetic story s peaks of Paikea (tradit ionally the first born male) will be the on “ one” who sees the troubli ng plight of the people and will be called to rescue them with the hel p provi ded by the ancestors, their protector, the whale. Paikea is faced wi th challenges (isolated in the ocean / isolated female gender) yet still will maintain the faith in fulfillment of the prophecy des pite opposition/challenge. Ai keu: How is the whale related with the figure below? Hawaiki = Hawai„i Whale “ Tangaroa-Meha” = Ka-Mehameha How is the person tied to the person below? Paikea = Pai„ea (person) who saves his people from “ Hawai„i” through prophecy as a leader invol ving the “koholā” (Pu„ukohol ā) and the sacrifices of the journey (B) Like Kumu Lake below, this leader (left) had a destiny to fulfill. What were the “ho„ailona” signs which defined his journey? Name any significant people and pl aces. Is it i mportant that some signs were passive while some were acti ve? (1) Born under the Koko„iki Star (Halley‟s) = Conquerer of the Islands (passive) (2) Kekuiapoi wa (mom) hungry for the maka manō = Eater of Chiefs (passive) (3) Hāpai Pohakū Naha =Chief from the Kaua„i Naha Clan =Ruler of the Islands - Actively asserted this prophecy at ~ 14yo (trained for this event) (4) Offered the Mohai Kanaka (over Chief Ki wal a„o) at Pākini Heiau - Actively assumed this “Chief Duty” while Ki wala„ō offered the mai„a/ pua„a (5) Built the Luakini Hei au @ Pu„ukoholā Heiau dedicated it to Kūka„ili moku - Actively sought counsel from Waikiki with prophet (kāula) Kapoukahi (Kaua„i) Ai keu: What was the intriguing significance of this vest which he When he was requested for chose to wear when requested to sit for this portrait? a portrait sitting and asked to don his best attire, Kamehameha appeared in this favori te of his attire, a red ill-fitting lowly sailor vest, not his chiefly ahu-ula (C) Pa„a ka waha, nānā ka cape. maka, ho„olohe ka pepeiao, hana ka lima.
How is this pedagogically a Polynesian learning paradigm? Shut the mouth, watch with the eyes, listen with the ears, and work with the hands, b/c “Ma ka hana ka „ike” (In work there is knowledge / Learn by doi ng / OJ T). Western pedag ogy is heavy on the reading, debate, copi ous rote assimilation of documentation & informati onal factoi ds. Pol ynesian-based learning was prag matically based i n buil ding useful skillsets and life lesson by watching a learned “kumu/kahuna” and emulati ng (ho„opili) tasks or memorizing/repeating the recitation of oral traditions. Questioning was not pri mary as faith / trust was engendered equally to the teacher and the student. Ai keu: What was the situati on where Kumu Lake made this proverb clear to me? When I asked him how he knows/learned so much, I looked me right in the eyes and said, “I listened”