Ama OluKai celebrates the Wayfinding Spirit at Κ»Imiloa festival

For many, wayfinding is at the center of Hawaiian culture. The wayfinding spirit was definitely at the center of the 8th Annual Κ»Imiloa Wayfinding & Navigational Festival, hosted Saturday October 24 at the Imiloa Astronomy Center of HawaiΚ»i. Thanks to sponsorship by the Ama OluKai Foundation, the festival was free to the public. Ama OluKai, a non-profit created by OluKai last year, sponsored the event to help preserve and increase knowledge of Hawaiian Culture. The Κ»Imiloa Astronomy Center of HawaiΚ»i is located on the University of HawaiΚ»i, Hilo Campus. The festival began with a pule (prayer) where Κ»Imiloa staff welcomed a group of students and teachers in Hawaiian into the center. The group of students and teachers then answered in Hawaiian and entered the building with other members of the public. This year's theme was β€œHe WaΚ»a He Moku, Honoring the spirit of the WaΚ»a and the Κ»Δ€ina". The phrase β€œHe WaΚ»a He Moku, He Moku He WaΚ»a” is a common saying among paddlers that they sing or speak when paddling. The phrase is modern translation from the foundational beliefs of Captain Clayton Bertlemann, a HōkΕ«leΚ»a crew member and community leader on the Big Island. Several keynote presentations about preserving Hawaiian culture were followed by a surprise skype call from Chad Baybayan from the HōkΕ«leΚ»a . Currently the crew of the HōkΕ«leΚ»a are in South Africa waiting for a weather window to make the next part of their journey, a 260 mile run from Durban to east London. The Center has a 3-D full dome planetarium which was used for an immersive presentation on how Polynesians and HawaiΚ»ians in waΚ»as (canoes) used the stars to originally settle in the HawaiΚ»ian Islands. Throughout the day there were also free presentations in the planetarium on β€œUnlocking the Stars to Tahiti,” β€œLegends of the Night Sky,” β€œMaunakea Between Earth and Sky,” and β€œUnlocking the Stars to Aotearoa.” There were also several activity booths for the keiki (children) and keiki at heart, incorporating all the necessary skills to be a WaΚ»a crew member. The activities included things like packing gear, calibrating your body to become a measuring tool, knot tying, and naming the various parts of the waΚ»a in Hawaiian. Participants that successfully completed all the activities won a prize and were entered to win a free pair of OluKai slippers. It was an incredibly moving day that brought many keystone members of the community together to share their knowledge and inspiration for the WaΚ»a and Κ»Δ€ina (land).

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