API Heritage month continued with the VA Puget Sound HealthCare System's own Asian American Pacific Island Heritage Month Workforce Succession & Cultural Celebration which took place on Thursday, May 26, 2017 in their facilities. Huraiti Mana was kindly invited to perform hula at the Seattle facility along with various community groups. We love to participate in celebrations featuring others who are just as passionate about their culture, heritage, and traditional disciplines. We met so many kind-hearted and open people during the performance. Mahalo nui loa to all the staff who invited us to partake in delicious food and greeted us with warmth, it was so much fun!
Families of Color Seattle (FOCS) is hosting FOCS Arts Fest 2017 on Sunday, June 4th from 205PM at Washington Hall, and they've invited Huraiti Mana to be a part of the festivities!
FOCS is a great non-profit organization that promotes meaningful connections and communities by providing a safe space and opportunities to connect with diverse families and discuss social topics directly affecting our children. FOCS continues to make a strong foundation for our children's futures through various arts programs including Art & Poetry is Power, West African Drum and Dance, Hula and Tahitian Dance led by Huraiti Mana's Kalei'okalani - and so much more. The FOCS mission: that "children are born into a loving community that is racially and economically just." FOCS Arts Fest is an all-access community art and artists. Tickets are admission by donation of $20 per family, $10 per family, or free for your entire family. No one is turned away for lack of funds. The day is lined up with great performances, food, and activities. Let's celebrate our community, art, and our children. We hope to see you, there! Please join Huraiti Mana for a fun cultural hula workshop at the Northwest Folklife Festival on Sunday, May 28 in the Seattle Armory Room from 1:00-1:45PM. Kalei'okalani will be hosting a 45-minute workshop focusing on hula basics and form as well as sharing about Hawaiian history.
Following the workshop, we'll also be hosting a lei-making station from 4:00-6:00PM in the Discovery Zone. We welcome all ages. Participants will learn about the significance of lei-making and how this Polynesian tradition is integral in the perpetuation of heritage and culture, with a focus on styles native to Hawaii. E lei no au I ko aloha. “I will cherish your love as a beautiful adornment.” Lei-making is a gift of love. Lei are not only decorative pieces; they share a spiritual connection with and are representative of the land they come from, the people who create them, and the people for whom they are made. 1:00PM-1:45PM Hula Cultural Workshop | Armory Room 4:00PM-6:00PM Lei-Making Activity | Discovery Zone A hui hou! Rainier Yacht Club is a small boating community right off of the marina in the Rainier Valley area. It was the first club in the northwest to change its by-laws and rightfully recognize women as full participating members of the club with the power to vote in 1975. Now there are hundreds of women in yacht clubs around the northwest, and every other year they join together in celebration over food and drinks. This year, Rainier Yacht Club hosted the event and invited Huraiti Mana. 90 women gathered together with Hawaiian food, music, and dance. One guest was celebrating her 95th birthday. It was a fun event, and we hope to see these women boating about in the sound, soon!
We had so much fun at the API Heritage Month Celebration at the Seattle Center on Sunday, May 7, 2017! Festivities began at 11:45AM with non-stop performances representing cultures and traditions of Asians and Pacific Islanders. There was a great turnout of guests, and we're so happy that Huraiti Mana was able to share both Hula of the Hawaiian islands and Ori Tahiti of the islands of Tahiti in the South Pacific. Many thanks to the entire team including Huraiti Mamas, sound team, and of course all our huraiti! As a Native-Hawaiian, Japanese, Black, and Chinese huraiti, I am proud of my heritage and love to celebrate - not only through dance, food, and music, but also talking-story, meeting others, and making connections. May we continue to share in the ongoing celebration of who we are as a people and the many cultures we represent.
We also had a super-busy lei-making station for keiki (children) and adults! Great job to those who took on the task of wili lei-making. Mauruuru roa to the many event planners and volunteers at this event; it was such a welcoming and fun event. A hui hou, see you next year! May day is lei day in Hawai'i nei! Spent lei day making lei po'o or hei for our upcoming performance with the API Heritage Month Celebration! My hale (house) looks like a forest, and the smells remind me of home. Happy lei day, everyone!
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