All are welcome to the Wing Luke Museum's Family Fun Day!
Event: Family Fun Day Place: Wing Luke Museum 719 S King St, Seattle, WA 98104 Date: Saturday, November 18, 2017 Time: 10AM-5PM full of activities and film screenings (exact time of lei-making TBD) Admission to the museum galleries are by donation all day! The Wing Luke Museum will soon be opening its next Pacific Islander exhibit (opening on Thursday, December 7). Featured in the exhibit will be lei created by Kalei'okalani of Huraiti Mana and lei created by YOU! Join us as we learn how to craft orchid lei, ti-leaf lei, and more. Lei will then be displayed in the upcoming exhibit featuring Pacific Islander artists and exploring questions about the future of our Pacific Islander communities. Although graduation season is over, I'm still creating wili lei at every chance I get. Wili is the traditional Native-Hawaiian style of wrapping flowers and greens with raffia material to create stunning lei. Away from home, I'm unable to use most traditional flower like ohi'a lehua or plumeria, but I learn to carry on tradition with new elements I find here in my second home, Seattle. Making lei is a labor of love, a tradition known across the islands of the Pacific. Lei connects us all. It is a calming, soothing, and creative process, one that strengthens connections between those who create lei and those for whom they are made. Coming soon, Huraiti Mana will be hosting Wili Iti - workshops for creating your very own lei for someone special, as a keepsake, or as a celebratory gift. Stay posted. Aloha no!
Our first-ever Northwest Folklife Festival appearance! Huraiti Mana held a 45-minute hula cultural workshop, sharing stories, laughing, and working hard together as we discussed briefly about my experiences teaching dance and about the history of Native-Hawaiian traditions, while, of course, dancing hula. It was a hot, sunny day in Seattle, and we were feeling it as we moved through proper form and stance, exercised basic hula step, and touched on contemporary choreography. Following our dance workshop, we moved into the kid's Discovery Zone and hosted lei-making with fresh orchids. Keiki, or children, asked about the ancient traditions behind lei-making while their parents flipped through books about various master lei-making styles and techniques. We had such great conversations and met a lot of folks that day. Mahalo nui loa to everyone who joined us, and we hope you enjoyed yourselves!
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!
I was honored to be an invited guest and Hawaiian cultural ambassador as a part of the Global Studies program at The Meridian School, an independent K-5 elementary school in Wallingford. For the 2016-2017 school year, Meridian focused on Oceania for their Global Studies program, which featured participation from many teachers from the community to guide a culturally responsible educational program. In my time spent with the students and faculty at Meridian, we discussed the importance of telling stories and understanding oneself. Students engaged in a cultural exchange, and I learned so much from their fantastic, open ideas and curiosity.
As a guest speaker in their Friday Morning Meeting, through using a puzzle on identity and telling my own, personal stories, I introduced questions such as Who am I? (Self), Who do I represent? (Others), Where am I from (Place), and Who will I become? (Journey). When you ask yourself these questions, you better understand who you are and who you represent - why certain people and places are important to you. Knowing more about yourself enables a bridge to be built between yourself and others from all walks of life, a powerful bridge built on a meaningful foundation. Meeting individually with each grade, I shared presentations on topics including ahapua'a (habitat), kapa & quilts (tapestry), and identifying our own, deeper cultural traits, while understanding the affects that colonization has on our practices, our opportunities for growth, and our ability to preserve cultural traditions and personal identities. This was a very personal experience in my cultural journey. The moment I will always carry with me was when students would kindly and quietly raise their hands over their hearts as I presented about my family and my home; a gesture The Meridian School uses to express connection. I have new memories and connections with many people, and a deeper connection to who I am, where I'm from, and where I'm going, for which I will forever be grateful. Mahalo nui loa. |
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