Kekuni Blaisdell

One of the basic concepts that's been promoted by Kawena Pukui, and it's in this figure, you see.  This is a petroglyph and there are three piko. Most Kanaka know about the piko waina, the one in the middle, the navel, and there used to be a common greeting, "Pehea ko piko?"  How is your piko? And usually it referred to this one. And this one of course represents each person's attachment in intrauterine life, that is when the embryo and the fetus is in the maternal womb, the attachment by way of the umbilical cord, to the placenta in the uterus.  So, nutrition flows by way of the blood from the mother's womb to the embryo and the fetus.  Very important, right?

And this also represents contemporary world, the world we live in right here.  And it covers the gut.  And the gut in tradtional kanaka maoli thinking is the seat of not only learning and knowing but also feeling, you know, gut feeling.  And that also leads to the basic concept that we really don't learn anything unless we can do it.  So, just reciting something for an examination and then forgetting all about it because you passed the exam, that's western, you know, but it's not kanaka.

So, you learn by observing, imitating, following, and then living that way, so, na'auao means enlightened, enlightened, very bright, gut, and na'aupo means very dark, black gut, means ignorant, foolish. You see, so those terms convey basic concepts that our ancestors had, and we've had to learn these things-- I mean nobody taught me, I had to learn it-- and it's just beginning to be taught in the charter schools, and Kamehameha schools. I have a mo'opuna in Kamehameha schools right now, but he didn't know this, what I've just told you.

But there are two other piko.  So, there's another piko up here, and in the newborn child there's an opening in the skull, there are three bones here that come together and they eventually close this opening which in western anatomy is known as the anterior fontanelle, a little soft spot, but to kanaka that's called manawa, but it's also sometimes called piko po'o. It's a piko for the po'o and the po'o is the head. But more commonly it's known as manawa, and in ancient times the child was fed through this piko.  So, the mother or tutu would put some poi up there or some sweet potato to take care of each person's wailua.

Have you ever heard wailua?  that's the person's personal spirit, wailua.  And that wailua sometimes leaves the body, can go off and do things in dreams, for example.  But that wailua also connects with each person's ancestors from the beginning of time.  But that connection is there only if the individual talks to the ancestors, and listens to his ancestors, and is guided by his ancestors.  If he doesn't do that there's no connection.

And then the third piko, it's between the legs, the genitalia, and that connects each person to all of his mamo, descendants, after him or her.  But those desendants, although unborn, have ancestors. And the same ancestors. So, that DNA just doesn't go off there, it really connects with the ancestors of each person-- so, that DNA goes round and round.

So, that's why kanaka also believe that we're timeless, that we've always been here, ever since the first kanaka appeared, you know from the mating of Wakea and his daughter, Ho'ohokulani... you know about that, huh? Well that's why the taro plant is so important.

So, Wakea mated with Papa, earth mother, and then Wakea got tired, and after they had their daughter Ho'ohokulani, he lusted after his daughter, and so he had a child with Ho'ohokulani, and the child came out was stillborn, but it was planted in the ground and up sprouted the first taro plant, which was called Alo anaka [?], e'lili because the leaves flutter in the wind, and then the next child that was born was a first kanaka that was called Haloa after the [?].

So, the taro plant is the hiapo, the number one sibling to all kanaka.  So, we recognize the seniority of the taro plant. And it's a responsibility of Hiapo the first born, to take care of all the following siblings.

So, the taro plant does that only as long as the taro plant has aina, land and water, right? No more land no more water, no more taro, no more kanaka. That's why we have to have our land back.

If unable to view quicktime video click here. You will be redirected to fifdififdi.com.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.