Upcoming Classes and Events February 19, 2009

City of Torrance Spring Schedules (includes Polynesian Dance classes in 3 levels)

Kalani Islander Reunion Practice: Every 3rd Saturday of Each Month at Kaulana Ka Hale Kula ‘O Na Pua ‘O Ka ‘Aina Halau.  The Kalani Islanders were formed in the 1970s in Carson, CA, under the direction of Moana Chang.  They are currently planning a reunion set for sometime in July and are looking for past members.  Contact phone: 310-294-381

Herb Ohta Jr. – Private Ukulele Lessons For more information and appointments, call: 310.339.7205

• Torrance: March 18 – 20, 2009 @ Island Legends
  • Private Lessons
  • $65/45 minutes
• Carson: March 21, 2009 @ Hula Halau o Lilinoe
  • Ukulele for Beginners: 1pm-2:30pm
  • Learn How to Play a Song: 3pm-4:30pm
  • $25 Before 03/15/09 ($30 After)

Welina O’ahu: Kaulana Ka Hale Kula ‘O Na Pua ‘O Ka ‘Aina annual Ho’ike

• April 11, 2009
• Pre-Sale Tickets: $18, $20 at the door
• Marsee Auditorium, El Camino College
• For Tickets, contact the halau at 310.628.1547 or visit Styles of Hawai’i in Torrance

For anyone in Nor Cal:

O’ahu: Confessions of an Island by Na Lei Hulu I Ka Wekiu

• March 28, 2009 @ 2pm and 8pm
• Tickets are $20/$26/$32
• Zellerbach Hall
• For tickets and more information, call 510.642.9988

if anyone goes to this, I’d like to hear how it was since I was so interested in the halau from watching American Aloha.

Hawaiian Culture in So Cal Website December 22, 2008

So, not surprisingly, this website, called Hawaiian Culture in Southern California, highlights a few activities and groups in the greater Southern California area, but is fairly sparse.  The site is a page on a larger site which is dedicated to “Hawaii for Visitors” and hopes to help the Hawaiians at Heart once they get back to the mainland perpetuate the things they saw in Hawai’i.  They have a free e-mail newsletter, highlighting different events that may be of interest in the islands.  There is also a separate section for Northern California Hawaiian Culture.

I say that the information provided is somewhat sparse, since, for example, there are only two halau and E Hula Mau listed under the heading “Hula in Southern California”, when, in fact, there are over ten times that amount of hula halau in So. Cal, as evidenced by the listing on Hawaiian Music Island.

The site is also not restricted to Hawaiian Culture, but spans more of a Pacific Island spectrum, as it includes “Pacific Islander Organizations” such as Fire Knife of Samoa,  Friends of Tahiti and the PICC.

One cool feature of the site is that it lists the closest gourd farms (Welbourne Gourd Farm in Fallbrook and the Gourd Connection in San Diego) so that you can make your own ipu and what not, which may be hard for some people to locate.

With a little more information and resources, this could be a very useful website for mainland Hawaiians.

The website’s editor and moderator, Kathie Fry, describes herself as “a frequent Hawaii visitor who flies from Los Angeles to Hawaii about 8 to 10 times a year”, making the website an exogenous contribution to Hawaiian culture on the mainland.  The website is, however, open to contributions from anyone.

American Aloha October 9, 2008

So last night I watched the PBS special, American Aloha, which focuses on Hula in California following three halaus: Sissy Kaio’s Hula Halau ‘o Lilinoe in Carson, Mark Hoʻomalu’s Na Mele Hula ‘Ohana (which was disbanded in 2002.  In 2003, he opened the Halau, Acadamy of the Hawaiian Arts) in Oakland, and Patrick Makuakane’s Nå Lei Hulu I Ka Wekiu in San Francisco.

It was pretty short, only 55 minutes, but it was really interesting, espeically seeing the different styles between the three halaus.  It was also kind of fun seeing all the place I go in Carson on film.  I felt like Aunty Sissyʻs halau was the more traditional one, Mark Hoʻomaluʻs halau was in the middle – controversial and more modern, but not so different that youʻre unsure of what theyʻre doing, and Patrick Makuakaneʻs halau was to the far, far left.  Maybe itʻs because Iʻm a bit of a traditionalist (whatever that means in hula since we donʻt have too many records prior to the 1900s since hula was banned by missionaries in the 1800s and had to be kept alive underground), but I was floored by Na Lei Hulu I Ka Wekiu and wasn’t sure if I could open my mind that much to that kind of new interpretation of hula.

I also thought it was interesting that there was a large focus on kane hula, instead of wahine hula.  At first, I wasn’t sure why – the kane were the one’s shown dancing mostly throughout the documentary, in practice and in competition/performance, but after talking to my husband I understood – they were trying to unravel the stereotypes of hula as being female and flowy, like it is in 50s hollywood movies, which they would show periodically throughout the video as mock.  In that Kauanui article I posted the other day, she also addresses this feminization of hula and its context in the continental US:

On the one hand, within Hawaiian communities, hula practice/performance has been a site of great decolonizing possibilities and forms of agency regarding sensuality and spiritual practice.  While on the other hand, there is a demand, on the part of the non-Hawaiian dominant culture, for hula performance and/or an expectation that all Hawaiian woman are knowledgeable about hula.  As Trinh T. Minh-ha writes in another context: “we no longer wish to erase difference, we demand, on the contrary, that you remember and assert it” (Trinh 1989, p. 89).  The specific stereotyping of Hawaiian women may deter them from engaging in these cultural forms.  In turn, their participation, or the lack of it, will affect the way they are perceived in the diasporic communities – are they “Hawaiian enough”?  Such images follow Hawaiian women on their “return home,” whether these returns are for visits or in terms of actual relocation to Hawai’i (690-691).

I found this section of the article really spoke to me, as I only began hula a little over a year ago, and have gone through two na kumu since then, trying to find the most “authentic” one who will make me “hawaiian enough” in the eyes of the rest of the Hawaiian community not only here on the mainland but also back home.  When I was younger, I did hula for a little bit, but quit, because I didn’t want to practice.  The older I became and realized there was some kind of expectation of my being Hawaiian and knowing how to hula in high school dance class, I began to shy away from it even more, not understanding why there was this expectation of me.  That was also around the same time that I stopped eating Pineapple – another expectation of Hawaiians and began embracing western culture as much as I could.  I still donʻt eat pineapple to this day.  Occassionally Iʻll have pineapple juice of some kind, but I also refuse to buy Dole products – thatʻs another post.  My junior and senior undergraduate years at UCLA were when I really began exploring my Hawaiianness and what it means to be a mainland Hawaiian, after my first trip (where I was old enough to not be in a car seat) to Hawai’i.  It opened my eyes to the culture I had somewhat been trying to repress and made me want to break all those stereotypes.  Now, when people ask if I do hula (and do that weird hand gesture that they’ve seen in the movies), I say yes, I do hula and belong to a Halau.  i do not do hula through parks and rec, and our hula is different than what you saw in Elvis’ movies.  it speaks of our past and our future and where we are right now in our western surroundings.  Well, I don’t really say all that, but I hope I convey at least a part of it when discussing the halau.

But back to the movie.  I also saw a statistic that I had never seen before – that at the time of the movie, there were still 8,000 pure-blooded Hawaiians left, and by 2024, it is estimated that there will be none.  It’s understandable and not surprising, since Hawaiians have the highest rate of interracial marriage of most racial and ethnic groups, but it was still a little disturbing and saddening to hear, if only for the fact that it will be really difficult to hit that 50% blood quantum for Hawaiian homestead land for future generations.  I wonder also, if we are still considered to be in the Hawaiian Renaissance which began in the 1970s.  The movie focused a lot on the revival of Hawaiian culture, and it was cool that they showed Kane Kahiko Merrie Monarch clips from the 80s.  In terms of the Hawaiian Renaissance, it said that that was a primary explanation for the big boom of Hawaiian culture on the mainland, since there were already so many off-island Hawaiians on the continent sharing their culture in their homes.  What the Hawaiian Renaissance did was bring the culture outside of the home and into the community, in the forms of Hawaiian Civic Clubs, Na Halau, and events like Ho’olaule’a in Alondra Park (which they did show in the movie too and was kind of exciting).

Overall, I give the movie two thumbs up and recommend it.

Textbooks October 5, 2008

So today I began reading some of the textbooks used by Compton Unified School District (which services parts of Carson) and Los Angeles Unified School District (which services Gardena), K-12.  I was looking primarily at Social Studies and HIstory textbooks, looking for the treatment of Hawaiian history and how much they included, and whether or not Hawaiian cultural heritage was addressed at all.

What I came up with is that I am home schooling our children.  There were three textbooks that specifically addressed the annexation of Hawaiʻi and here is the info I came up with for them in order of grade level.  I am hoping that when I read others they will do a more through job in addressing our 50th state.

Early United States. Orlando: Harcourt Brace & Company, 2000. ISBN: 0-15-309788-4

• Grade 5, CUSD

Unit 4: The American Revolution Chap. 8: “History” Blurb – 1775-1783: In Hawaii, whaling ships from all over the world were stopping for supplies. (316)

Commentary: I appreciate the fact that the book recognized the existence of Hawai’i before American Missionaries arrived since in most textbooks, that is where Hawai’i’s history begins – rather than the 100AD when they were said to have migrated to the islands.

Davidson, James W. and Stoff, Michael B. 2006.  America: History of Our Nation, Independence Through 1914. Boston: Pearson Education, Inc.  ISBN: 0-13-133381-X

• Grade 8, LAUSD

Unit 6: An Age of Industry (West Transformed 1860-1896, Industry & Urban Growth 1865-1915, Political Reform and the Progressive Era 1870-1920, U.S. Looks Overseas 1853-1915, Ch. 16 Sec. 1: Eyes on the Pacific p. 551 -

Commentary: Promotes stereotypes: “The islands have great natural beauty, sunshine, beaches, and rolling surf.  But beauty was secondary”.  “The first people to settle Hawaii were Polynesians, who arrived by canoe around the 600s”.  Briefest description ever regarding Hawai’i and it’s annexation, BUT language implies that it was NOT okay for American planters to overthrow and that Hawai’i had a right to its own monarchy.  Additionally, in teacher’s footnote, has background regarding the Clinton Apology in 1993

Creating America: a history of the US, Beginnings through World War I. Evanston: McDougal Little Inc, 2006.  ISBN: 978-0-618-55951-0

• Grade 8, LAUSD

Unit 7: Modern America Emerges Ch. 23 Sec. 1 “The Annexation of HI” – P. 661:

Commentary: Ignores King David Kalakaua’s forced signing of Bayonet Constitution (and by forced I mean guns actually held to his head) – uses very anti-monarchy language “Believing that planters has too much influence, she [Queen Liliuokalani] wanted to limit their power…American planters in HI were upset by these threats [as if the threats were unwarranted from an LA Gang]…they staged a revolt [in many textbooks, it is actually the Hawaiians who tried to stage a revolt after Liliuokalani was imprisoned, although many ethnocentric textbooks do call Dole's act a revolt].  With the help of the U.S. Marines, they overthrew the Queen and set up their own government.  They then asked to be annexed by the U.S.”…etc.  Book also has Quick bio on Queen Liliuokalani but doesn’t even mention her imprisonment and focuses more on her western attributes similar to taming of a savage types of literature.

Terminology October 2, 2008

I realized that Iʻm throwing around two terms which I donʻt explain my use of in these posts and in my tags which are actually essential to my research.

Endogenous: By endogenous, I am referring to those elements which are provided by the Native Hawaiian community itself.  These typically include examples such as halaus and Hawaiian Civic Clubs.

Exogenous: By exogenous, I am referring to those elements which are provided by the larger society, such as the City or State.  These typically include examples such as classes offered through Parks & Rec and Public Library collections.

Part of my research will be to determine how much of Native Hawaiian preservation and dissemination will be occurring from within the endogenous community versus the exogenous community.  Another part will be to determine how much from within the endogenous community conforms to exogenous forms (such as hawaiian civic clubs – which tend to follow a typical western style club with a pelekikena and alakaʻis and other officer positions).  I want to determine what it means and the implications if most of the support for Native Hawaiian cultural heritage has to come from within the endogenous community rather than being supported by larger society.

Some Exogenous Classes Offered October 2, 2008

Torrance Library:

(Past Event)

Ribbon Lei Making

Date: Sat, Jan. 26, 2008

Time: 10am

Place: Katy Geissert Civic Center Library

Description: Leis are suitable for many special occasions, especially Valentine’s Day! Learn the art of     Ribbon Lei making, and create your own ribbon lei to take home. This program is free,     and materials will be provided, but you must register.

Commentary: I thought this was a really cool class to be offered by a city institution.  The library also has a fairly extensive collection of Ribbon Lei Making books, ordered, I expect around the time of this program.  Ribbon Lei making is very popular in the Hawaiian community, as evidenced by my Tutu and her friends gathered around the table sewing them for hours on end.  I hope that in the future they offer more specialized classes such as this.

Torrance Parks & Rec:

South Bay Strummers Ukulele Group – Every Saturday Year-Round

Time:       9:30 AM – 11:00 AM
Contact:       Linda Wilson (LWilson@Torrnet.com)
Location:       Bartlett Senior Citizens Center – 1318 Cravens Avenue
Admission Fee:       Free

Polynesian Dance – 10 Week Class

Instructor: Susan Mann

Description: Dance to the best of Tahitian drums and learn basic hula steps.  Required: Tahitian hand tassels-to be purchased from instructor.  Optional: Grass skirt or sarong – may be purchased from instructor.

Age/Level:

5-6/Beg

7-10/Beg

8-18/Beg

12-21/Int

5-18/Adv

Polynesian Dance – Advanced – 10 week class

Instructor: Susan Mann

Description: Prerequisite: Intermediate Polynesian dance.  Hawaiian and Tahitian, with a strong emphasis on Tahitian

Age: 17+

Polynesian Dance – Beginning – 10 Week Class

Instructor: Susan Mann

Description: Learn Dances from Hawaii and Tahiti. Required: Tahitian hand tassels-to be purchased from isntructor.  Optional: Grass skirt or sarong – may be purchased from instructor.

Age: 17+

Polynesian Dance – Intermediate/Advanced

Instructor: Susan Mann

Description: Prerequisite: Beginning Polynesian.  Hawaiian and Tahitian, with a strong emphasis on Hawaiian

Age: 17+

Commentary: What I find interesting about these classes are the required and optional Tahitian hand tassels and grass skirt or sarong.  As far as Tahitian dance is concerned, I’m not that educated, but I do know that as far as Hawaiian dance is concerned, no Halaus allow their members to practice in grass skirts or sarongs.  Typically, we are requried to practice in matching Pa’u skirts and matching shirts.  I think that the allowance of grass skirts and sarongs just promotes the stereotypes of hawaiians and hawaiian dance which also typically include coconut bras.  At E Hula Mau 2008, I saw one group wearing grass skirts – it was a Kane ‘Auana number and was meant to be more performative than representative of traditional hawaiian culture.  Additionally, the men wore white slacks under the grass skirts.  There also may have been a keiki number with grass skirts, but the grass skirt was on top of a pa’u.  Usually, grass skirts consist of shredded ti-leaves (a sacred plant), rather than the plastic, lawn looking skirts provided by places like oriental trading company.

Gardena Parks & Rec:

Tahitian Dance

Instructor: Keisha

Description: None provided

Age: 6+

Commentary: When discussing classes and events in the City of Gardena with the community library manager, she claimed that due to the larger Japanese population, Hawaiian classes/events were not included and/or necessary.  What I find interesting though, is that, yes, Hawaiians are a small numerical population of Gardena, but of the surrounding cities, Gardena Houses the largest number of Native Hawaiians (143, 0.2% of population) after Torrance (161, 0.1%).  Additionally, many events and classes offered from within the Hawaiian community are based in Gardena, such as Hawai’i’s Daughters Guild.

Carson Parks and Rec:

Hawaiian Dance – 4 Week Class

Instructor: Okima Kapaku

Description: Learn to sway the Hawaiian way! Hawaiian and other Polynesian dances will be taught.  Registration will be taken at the beginning of each month at the Carson Community Center Only.

Age Groups: 12 + & 5-11

Ukulele Class – Meets every Monday at 11 a.m.

Instructor: Stu Stanford

Description: Come out and learn the fundamentals of playing the ukulele and playing tunes.  You will enjoy the social time with other seniors, as well as, playing tunes on the ukulele.

Age: Seniors

Polynesian Dancers – Meets Thursdays

Instructor: Yuriko Rogers

Description: Explore and learn the rich culture of our 50th state by enrolling in our Hawaiian dance class.

Age: Seniors

Senior Dance Troupe of Carson – Mondays and Thursdays

Description: Pacific Islanders bring their rich culture and customs to Carson in the form of singing and dancing.

Age: Seniors

Commentary: What I appreciate most about Carson’s offerings is that the city remains cogniscent of the different Pacific Islander Communities within its city.  They seperate Hawaiian dance from Tahitian, which they actually pair with Samoan dance.  They also have a range of activities for a range of ages, such as Dancing, Singing, and Ukulele.  Unfortunantly, the only classes which focus on the musical aspects are geared towards Seniors, but I don’t think they’d have a problem sharing their class with younger people.