WAIMEA — Three key stories of Waimea were revealed Saturday with the unveiling of a mural, spanning the makai exterior wall of the Waimea Community Center.
With ti leaf and water from nearby Kohakohau stream in hand, Danny Akaka, assisted by wife Anna, performed the blessing, buffeted by the Waimea rain.
“This gourd was grown right here at the Hawaii Preparatory Academy village campus and the water inside it is from Kohakohau, Manaua’s (water spirit) river,” said kumu Kuwalu Anakalea during the blessing. “And then you have the paakai (sea salt). Kane is the sun and Kanaloa the ocean water, and they combine to create evaporation and the paakai. With this we’re asking for all the stories to become firm and solid inside of us.”
The mural is the result of more than a year’s collaboration between HPA high school students and Mele Murals — the flagship program of The Estria Foundation, a nonprofit co-founded by mural artist Estria Miyashiro whose vision is to work with students to foster the creation of public art that explores and perpetuates the cultural stories of Hawaii’s communities.
The process begins with the formation of a mural club, whose members are responsible for some of the funding and integral to the process from start to finish.
Guided by foundation staff and community cultural practitioners, club members go through a process of researching the history and stories, exploring, envisioning and creating a template for the stories they will tell through art.
The process for Waimea’s new mural began with a hike to the top of Puu Hokuula, where kumu Kuulei Keakealani shared the stories of the three significant puu that keep vigil over Waimea town. The title for the mural, “Pali Kapu o na lii o Waimea,” refers to the collective name of the Waimea hills and is translated as the sacred hillsides of the alii of Waimea.
“On the first day, we hiked up Hokuula and got to do some meditation and hear some moolelo (stories), which inspired our mural,” said student Michi Wong. “I learned a lot about my place, and I made a lot of deep connections through this.”
Those connections are reflected in the three mural sections. Student Kawehi Cabuzel explained the plover depicted in the left-hand panel.
“In the olden days, people would go up into these mountains and ‘fish’ for them, which is called lawaia manu,” Cabuzel said. “It was tradition to gather feathers for the capes of the alii and also the head pieces. The bird represents patience and stillness because the people had to wait patiently for the birds to come and had to sit still in the tall grass.”
The joyful face of a goddess beams out from the middle section.
“The face represents a Hawaiian goddess, Wao, who lives among the hills,” shared student Naia Ayau. “During meditation, a lot of us kept seeing her face and her hair flowing into the water. She’s known for being super happy and connected to the nature around her.”
“Her eyes are peering upward,” Keakealani added. “There’s a god who becomes her husband, Makuakaumana. When I look at that I see her looking up as her husband is coming down to meet her and propose. Knowing the story and seeing the wall, here is another way the story lives on.”
Other important stories originate with Manaua, a guardian spirit and shape-shifter depicted in the far right-hand section.
“There’s a story of three lawaia manu who go to Anna’s pond after fishing for birds,” said student Natalie Klett. “They asked her permission by putting a ti leaf in the water and if it floats, you have permission to go in, but if it doesn’t float you’re forbidden from entering. It floated and they went in, but then one of them disappeared. During meditation, we kept seeing these big lizard eyes coming up out of the water.”
The mural’s stories are now part of Waimea’s visual landscape and alive in the hearts and minds of the students who worked so hard to complete it. They will continue to perpetuate the tales of Waimea.
“We’re getting older and you will have to malama this place after us and pass these stories on,” Miyashiro said.
