Aloha mai kākou,
ʻO wau ʻo Sandy Haunani Miyasato. No Puna mai au. ʻEhā aʻu keiki. Hele lākou i ke kula ʻo Nāwahīokalaniʻōpuʻu ma Keaʻau. ʻO lākou ke kumu o kaʻu hoʻi ʻana i ke kulanui no ka aʻo ʻana i ka ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi. Ma ia huakaʻi ua hele au i ka papa Nohona Kaulana Mahina ma Ka Hakaʻula ʻo Keʻelīkolani me Kumu Henani Enos. Ua ʻike wau i kekahi mau manaʻo pili i ka mahina. Ua ʻike wau, inā ʻaʻole wau e hoʻohana i ia manaʻo, e nalowale ʻia. No laila, ua hoʻohui a hoʻonohonoho i ia mau manaʻo ma ka pēlaha. A ua hānau ʻia ke Kaulana Mahina.
Iʻm Haunani! I was born and raised in Puna on the island of Hawaiʻi. I have four keiki that attend a Hawaiian immersion school, Ke Kula ʻo Nāwahīokalaniʻōpuʻu, in our ahupuaʻa of Keaʻau. Since I wanted support my keiki in their schooling, I needed to learn Hawaiian language. While on this Hawaiian language journey I enrolled in a class called Nohona Kaulana Mahina taught by Kumu Henani Enos at Ka Haka ʻUla ʻo Keʻelikōlani, the College of Hawaiian Language in Hilo. In this class we learned about the mahina and everything it relates to…WHICH IS EVERYTHING IN THE UNIVERSE! Through taking this class I learned so much about the mahina and knew that if I didn't use this information I would lose it. So, I took the ʻike that I had learned and I put it on a poster, and that is how Kaulana Mahina was born.
Okay, okay, guys, that was my nice little introduction, but let’s be honest it was way more than placing everything on a poster. In my hoʻolauna I left out that my Nohona Kaulana Mahina classes were taught all in Hawaiian. So when I say I learned Hawaiian language through the mahina, this is why. Taking a class taught in Hawaiian when you're not fluent is super difficult nō hoʻi. I literally cried three times in class on the first day of papa because I was so lost. Everyday after, I would to go up to the kumu and review the lesson of each day because I did not know the vocabulary specific to the mahina and science concepts in Hawaiian. Thankfully I made a friend in class, Kulamanu Kawaiʻaeʻa. My pepeiao were lohi, my ears were not accustomed to listening to Hawaiian. I couldn’t even understand what the kumu was saying in class to be able to take notes. I would copy Kulamanu’s notes, then after class I would look up all the huaʻōlelo that I didn't know in order to figure out what we were suppose to have learned in class, THEN I would be able to start on the haʻawina. The haʻawina that I would meet with my kumu about before leaving papa so that I could make sure I understood what the assignment was.
I am so thankful to know such akamai kānaka that I enlisted the help of not one, but TWO tutors! Temaʻu Teikitekahioho-Wolff and ʻIkaʻaka Nāhuewai. Temaʻu understood the science and his first language is ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi. He would explain to me the concepts first in English and then in Hawaiian, basically teaching me what I was suppose to have grasped in class. ʻIkaʻaka helped with everything ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi including helping me translate readings, studying for tests, and quizzing me on huaʻōlelo.
The summer after the Nohona Kaulana Mahina class I hired my tutor ʻIkaʻaka to do an intense summer ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi workshop with me. Part of this workshop included a pāhana ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian language project) and and haʻiʻōlelo (speech). Since I didn't want to forget the information I learn in the class, I decided to push myself and make the Kaulana Mahina Hawaiian Moon Calendar in Hawaiian as my pāhana. Then did my haʻiʻōlelo on it. I didn't realize it at the time, but this pāhana was more of a masters level project and not a summer workshop level. But I committed to it. And one thing you will learn about me is that once I commit, I go all in.
So here's to my summer project that has became my new life's mission. Iʻll go more into this huakaʻi throughout this blog. There has been sooooooo many hō'ailona laid out of me that I know my kūpuna are guiding me on this path and I canʻt wait to share these moʻolelo with you.
Welina mai me ke aloha,
na Haunani
Nā Huaʻōlelo: (vocabulary words)
ke/nā keiki - child/children
ka mahina - moon
ke ʻike - knowledge
ka hoʻolauna - introduction
nō hoʻi - *emphasizer
ke kumu - teacher
ka pepeiao - ear
ka lohi - slow
ka ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi - Hawaiian language
ka pāhana - project
ka haʻiʻōlelo - speech
ka hōʻailona - sign
ke kūpuna - ancestors
ka moʻolelo - story