#a Living Treasure of Hawai'i when he was alive. also he CAPTIANED the hokule'a. actual legend.)

[jvzebel-x]

"And so the Hawaiians look at all of nature as important, and they look at the signs of nature as messengers coming from their family who has passed on. Signs come in rainbows, double rainbows, odd forms of clouds, they read the roll of the waves and some of the waves are signs that they look at, you know. Those are things that the Hawaiian needs to be aware of in order to fulfill its connectedness to, you know, to its ancestors that have passed on.

So we cannot separate ourselves to the trees, we cannot separate ourselves from the waves and the ocean, from the clouds and its cloud forms, from the mountains and the hills, the animals from the limu, to the pipipi, to the kūpe‘e, you know, to the manō, to the pueo, to the ‘i‘iwi, to the ‘o‘o, all of these are all signs upon which we had better be aware of, because it is through them that we get messages from our ancestors."

"Oh yeah, sharks do. Sharks, the significance of a shark, especially with the niuhi, the tiger and the white shark, they were compared to as chiefs. Kamohoali‘i, who was the brother of Pele, was a shark. That was his form, his other kinolau or his other form was a shark. Because of the ferocity. The same kind of attitude of absorbing and taking all with no consciousness to end result, the main thing is to consume. The same attitude is compared, comparing the shark to love. It’s all consuming. To the point where one cannot think consciously to what is being done. And so the Hawaiians have a saying:

Kūpau wau i ka manō ka manō nui ka manō nui kūpau wau i ka manō.

And it means, “I am finished to the big shark, all consumed by the big shark, I am finished.” It doesn’t mean he’s dead because the shark bit him. It means he is so deeply in love that he doesn’t know how to think, you know? So shark has that other side of its attitude that is used by the Hawaiians to describe the all consuming idea, without consciousness. And that is funny that the Hawaiians would also compare that to love. But they did that because they knew nature. Hurricane ‘Iniki, all consuming, it has no bearing on who’s the chief or who’s the commoners, you know. It’s all consuming. Hawaiians understood that, and they used that kind of proverbial idea, and I just use that to illustrate the insight and connectedness with nature. But in relation to the shark, that is how it is really used."

x. Parley Kanaka'ole, "Hawaiian Waters: House of the Shark"

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#:))) #so i found this interview from Hawaiian icon Parley Kanaka'ole&it made me so happy for so many reasons lol #so here are some of my favourite parts. :'))) the full interview actually talks a lot about the beliefs we have surrounding our 'aumakua #&is an incredible read. if you are kanaka reconnecting w the culture however i do have the warning that #he speaks rather definitively&heavy-handedly about how one can reconnect w your kūpuna+'aumakua #&just take it w a grain of salt. as w a lot of our older figures he has standards for kānaka that are genuinely not feasible sometimes #&its okay. it doesnt make you any less kānaka or make it impossible for you to commune&connect w your 'aumakua. #your geneology hasnt forgotten nor abandoned you for lack of attention+relation bc that isnt possible. #however w that one caveat in mind i highly reccommend reading the interview (&also the second piece by #Herb Kane who is a literal Hawaiian legend. his art is regularly used in classrooms to teach history&hes been actually dubbed #a Living Treasure of Hawai'i when he was alive. also he CAPTIANED the hokule'a. actual legend.) #ive been missing home. so much. #salt water cures everything. i have tears&sweat i just need the pacific lol. #♡ #yas