Page 2 - Hawaii Island MidWeek - May 11, 2022

2 HAWAI‘I ISLAND MIDWEEK MAY 11, 2022
CHASING THE LIGHT
with Puakea Nogelmeier
A n important men- tor in my life was Kamuela Kumuka- hi. Raised by his great grand- parents in the hinterlands of South Kona, Kamuela did not learn English until he was 8. His Hawaiian was the language of generations past, his cultural knowledge was expansive and his worldview rarified. Kamuela and his be- loved Ululani took me on as a hoʻokama, an adult son, an elder brother for their darling
Kamuela delighted in my interest in Hawaiian lan- guage and culture, so we enjoyed long discussions about the wide range of things he knew, including words or phrases that had greater meaning than any dictionaries could provide. One of his familiar adages was “Leʻaleʻa kalakalai, manumanu ka loaʻa,”which translates to “work ap- proached frivolously will be flawed” — a Hawaiian twist on “anything worth doing is worth doing well.” I took it to heart, which pleased the
speakers conference, ʻAha Mānaleo, was held in Ho- nolulu with a few score of elders who were raised with Hawaiian as their first language. Teachers and stu- dents feasted on the bounty of insight and knowledge that these hulu kūpuna, or precious elders, shared over the weekend.
“delight.”
“Leʻaleʻa kalaka-
Listen Like It Matters — It Does
“Nu ‘anu‘a ka ‘oia ‘i‘o. Truth is layered.”
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girl Kuʻuipo. Kamuela was a great mentor and that circle of relationships has been one of the great blessings in my life.
stern old gentleman.
In 1996, the first native
slightly different way. Manomano (abundant) re- placed manumanu (flawed), which changed the meaning of leʻaleʻa from “frivolity” to
At one early panel, six sages discussed the adages and homilies that are famil- iar parts of Hawaiian culture. Kamuela’s saying about “worth doing well” was brought up, and Mama ʻAli- na Kanahele explained that folks in her Niʻihau commu- nity knew that old saying in a
lai manomano ka loaʻa” means “delighting in one’s work yields abundance.” Lively discussion followed, with consensus that both were “right” and both were “traditional.” Kamuela often referred back to that event when reflecting on how things can, and should, be seen in different ways. Truth, it seems, has many layers.
SEE PAGE 3
Almost all of those pre- cious elders are now gone, but that reflection keeps both