| All Hawai'i's Children By R. Mapuana Cottell |
My name is Roxanne, but I can't remember ever being called anything but Mapuana. I am Hawai'ian, born and raised in Los Angeles, California, but raised by parents who were born in the islands. Mine is a very proud heritage. We were a monarchy until the late 1890's, when the last reigning monarch, Lydia Kamaka'eha Paki, known the world over as Liliu'okalani of Hawai'i, was imprisoned in her own hoem, exiled to one room of the palace, until after annexation papers had been signed. But I am not going to tell you about that. I am going to tell you about the good, cool things. Hawai'ians have always had a strong belief that aloha is the lifeblood of humanity. Aloha, simply, is love, sharing and commeraderie. Ever wondered why, when you get off the plane, a lovely young lady greets you with a lei, the symbol of aloha? It is never ending, running only in a circle. It is forever, unbroken. Mainstream media has robbed us of the truth about Hawai'ians. Firstly, we don't, for the most part, and unless you are in a Hollywood production or on a Vegas stage, wear plastic grass skirts OR cocnut bras. Infact, televisiona dn movie producers paint a portrait of Hawai'ian women as being beach bimbos with more up front than in between our ears! Yeesh! No, we are smart AND beautiful, talented and briliant. We write poetry and draw pictures of gods and goddesses that none of us have any real idea of how they look. We just guess... And our guys? They've been cheated, too. They are so much more than just good-timing beach bums. They dig imus(underground ovens) and sing beautiful songs glorifying Nature and the Heavens. They are not stupid savages with bones through their noses, but rather blessed with the history of men and women who navigated the seas by the stars and the currents of the ocean. They can fish with only a net to bring home a bounty of sea delicacies, and some can even take a wild boar with nothing more than a spear fashioned from a tree limb! |
Everyone has seen hula on television, right? Well, forget what you have seen and allow me to tell you about what Na Hula is really all about. In the past women were forbidden to dance. Only the men were allowed to dance hula. (There were lots of things that, way back when, we girls were not allowed to do...) Hula is not the super-sexy dance of the island bimbo that you may have seen in such movies such as "Blue Hawai'i," and "South Pacific." In fact, hula is pretty much the glue of being Hawai'ian. It is truly, as King David Kalaka'ua once said "The language of the heart. Therefore, the heartbeat of the Hawai'ian people." Hula tells the stories of the past, glorifies nature, tells story of love, jealousy and pain. In my piece, "Hula,"I tell you about hula in what I feel is it's most basic form. Hula is for everyone. Children dance. Old women dance. Men dance (and VERY well, I might add.) and of course, we gals mix it up a bit, too! These days, and the generation from which I came from (you know...GenX...oh, gag!), there has sprung forth a resurgence of the Hawai'ian culture. Young parents teach their children to dance hula, play ukulele, dig imus, spear fish and speak the native tongue. We tell them it is okay to love who they are and to love the fact that indeed they come from a little piece of Heaven here on Earth. We tell them to be proud of themselves, to adhere to the tenets of the spirit of aloha. We tell them that it is vital to the perpetuation of our culture that they teach others what they know, that they let others know that there is till much aloha to be shared. We tell them it is okay, simply, to be Hawai'ian, that they have been touched Heaven, that their 'aina names have meaning and are not just what they are called... It's cool, to be Hawai'ian. It's cool to be. |
| Here are excerpts from my book, "Na Wahi Ohina (The Gathering Place.) I hope you enjoy reading them! Until then, a hui hou, malama pono, aloha pumehana...Mapuana |
| TRUE NATURE Look beyond the color of my skin and past the shape of my eyes. See the person who lives within the skin you so despise. Speak to me with not your voice, but with your heart. You'll find indeed, we are different, but not that far apart. Hear me with not your ears, with your soul. Maybe then you'll understand we have a common goal. Peace, love, harmony. Not just for one, but all. Perhaps then you'll see that our differences are actually very small. |
| "WHO I AM" I am proud of who I am O Ka'aina I don't own a grass skirt, or a coconut bra. I don't do lots of stuff That you might think I do. I am living proof That pride runs deep. It is in my bones. It runs through my veins. it beats in my heart. it lives in my soul. It is spoken in my every word. It is breathed in my every breath. It is in each step that I take. It is in each thought that I think. My life revolves around the part Of me where passions live not for who But for what. I am in every grain of sand On every one of her shores, And in every breeze That lands upon them. I am in every smile, Every flower, Every kiss of aloha. I am who I am Because of her. I am in the embrace of your beloved Auntie and part of every lesson That your Kumu teaches. I know that a lei is composed of much More than only the precious perishable Blooms, and much more hangs Around the neck of a stranger Than just a string of flowers. I know that every time I look out Over the Pacific, on the other side Is all that I am, all that I have been, All who I will be. And it is much to live up to. I know there are many who doubt My sincerity, My passion, My aloha But it is not theirs which is the heart That beats like mine every time My ears hear the gentle Sound of slack-key guitar. I am me, for my heritage, and all That I have chosen and have been chosen to be. |
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| June 23, 2001 |
| Write Mapuana, and tell her what you thought of her article and her poems! click here for her e-mail |
| HULA (The Nature of the Hawai'ian Soul)..an excerpt Hula is the art of the soul, the song of the heart. it is what makes the mind so love the body. It is joy, family, love. It is the veru essence of aloha. Hula is the language of the past that is the bridge to the future. It is the laughter of a child eating shaved ice, and the story that your Tutu Lady tells you. Hula is the flower, the ocean, the stars, the moon. It is the love that one feels for another, and the lullaby that cradles your baby to sleep at night. Hula is a story passed down from one generation to another, the only change being the year that it is performed. It is the way that we have communicated to one another to joy, the frustration, the pain, the glory of lives lived, lost and remembered. It is triumph and defeat. It is all that is Hawai'ian. It is human and spiritual and here and past. It is all. It is the true and joyful nature of aloha. It is Na Hula... |
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