Na Kahua o Ko Kakou Mau Mo`omeheu

“The Foundations of Our Cultures”

Sustaining Native Cultures

Native thinking provides a unique perspective on the world and its interrelationships, as well as the sustainable development of our islands.

Begins with honoring and continuing traditional

customs: language, rituals, social class systems, interest in ancestry.

Language is the basis for maintaining links to the

past, oral tradition was(and remains today)

the primary form of record for many

indigenous cultures.

Hawaiian Cultural RenaissanceResurgence/revitalization began in the 1960s

Merrie Monarch Festival, Traditional Hawaiian Music, Polynesian Voyaging Society

Office of Hawaiian Affairs established to give Hawaiians political representation.

Social improvement; shift from tourism to an emphasis on restoring cultural

practices and identity.

Hawaiian Culture Today

• `Olelo Hawai`i is our official language since 1978.• Oratorical revitalization is underway, with rising interest in speaking the

mother tongue of the islands.• Kalo farmers (and other traditional agriculture practitioners) supply

Hawai`i and its people with sustenance cultivated through home-grown farming methods.

• There is a renewed pride in Hawai`i’s culture from both an internal and external perspective; culture is less overshadowed by the tourist industry, even integrated into it.

Hawaiian Culture Today

• Traditional Arts and Crafts: Lei, Kaula, Musical instruments, Woodwork, Lauhala – use of resources to produce culturally grounded art and utilitarian tools.

• Wayfinding/Navigation: Polynesian voyagers employ traditional teachings (such as reading the stars) to traverse the seas- travel without modern instruments.

• Traditional Agriculture/Aquaculture: Lo`i, Mala `Ai, Loko I`a.

• Holistic Hawaiian Education: Aha Punana Leo, Na Lei Na`auao (Native Hawaiian Charter School Alliance), Kamehameha Schools- educating Hawai`i’s children about their rich cultural history in conjunction with modern society.

• Preservation of Cultural Sites: Restoring heiau, educating the public about historical significance of wahi pana.

• Conservation of Native Species: Forest reserves, bird sanctuaries, propagation of native plants, eradication of non-native species.

Products of Cultural Sustainability

Positive Effects of Cultural Sustainability

Sustenance of culture yields universal results: • Return to a Hawaiian way of thought

fosters an interest in malama `aina.

• He ali`i ka `aina he kaua ke kanaka (The land is chief; man its servant.)

• A basis for shifting the focus of cultural responsibility; sustainability begins as a mindset – a drive to draw upon engrained knowledge as a means of amending modern transgression from native culture and enacting valued ancestral knowledge.

Positive Consequences of Cultural Sustainability

• Find new solutions to modern issues by looking to the past and internalizing the actions of our ancestors.

• Contemporary applications of ancient practice: lo`i/auwai (irrigation) system, replanting native understory to decrease erosion/runoff, responsible hunting/gathering, employing available elemental resources (wind, solar, geothermal, hydroelectric, etc.)

Values of Cultural Sustainability

By seizing the opportunity to learn about our collective heritage we are not only enlivening the roots of the ancient seeds from which we’ve sprouted, but we are also potentially uncovering insights that will facilitate greater cultural and environmental responsibility in our time.

Through their flourish, native cultures are a testament to the

keenness of indigenous people in utilizing the resources provided by

their respective environments.

In Action…

Understanding of cultural values

stirs new interest in contemporary green initiatives.

The sustenance of culture yields a

At Kanu o ka Aina NCPCS cultural and environmental sustainability are integrated and practiced in a number of ways:• Making traditional instruments from renewable

and native materials.• Participating in cultural rituals, festivals and

ceremonies - keeping direct contact with culture and commingling with other native practitioners.

• Learning and speaking Olelo Hawai`i.• Planting and maintaining various native and non-

native food and medicine crops at our outdoor learning centers.

• Applying modern approaches to sustainability • to fortify campus systems (aquaponics,

hydroponics, wind turbines, etc.)• Being active in the conservation and

reforestation of native flora.• Doing culturally relevant science projects that

seek to solve or better understand environmental issues facing our island and the world.

strong basis for expansion across the spectrum of living sustainably in today’s society.

“Natives of the land from generations back”