It's amazing what you can learn when you least expect it. I'm in the midst of a "Resources, Energy and Island Sustainability STEM/SENCER Symposium (STEM - Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics; SENCER - Science Education for New Civic Engagement and Responsibilities) for the Service-Learning Science grant we received the other week. The keynote speaker this morning was Ramsay Taum.
Let me just say right now that I am still in awe of this guy. His presentation was not only amazing, but educational, connecting, and interdisciplinary. His keynote address was titled "Water: Hawaiian and Pacific Island Perspectives." It was nothing like I expected it was going to be. He managed to incorporate language, culture, history, science, and philosophy all together in one coherent and interesting presentation. I took some notes during the presentation and thought I would share what I managed to scribble down...
First off, the island worldview is very different from the continental worldview. Those on any larger land-mass see the world as land separated by water, whereas the Pacific Islands view the Pacific Ocean as the "blue continent" and that the ocean is what connects, rather than disconnects us. He then proceeded to give us a vocabulary lesson, starting with the Hawaiian word "Ha." Ha means breath of life. He described how air/breath does not belong to anybody, rather it is a gift we use, share, and give. It is the first thing we received when entering the world, and the last thing we give before exiting the world. He also described how we are not the only creature on the planet using and giving this gift, and showed us pictures of not only humans yawning, but of a variety of animals yawning, as well.
The next term he taught us was "Wai" which means both water/mist (softer and feminine) and value. He explained how water is a very crucial part of life and how humans are made up of water. Going into a cultural history lesson, we were told about how Hawaiian ancestors used to view the "blue continent" as a sacred water and gave it a term that means "amniotic fluid," comparing the Pacific Ocean to a pregnant belly and the water the protective womb. The islands that formed and rose out of the sacred water were the births and the life of the Earth. Hawaii is the newest life and newest birth because of the still active volcano on the big island.
The third term we were taught was "I" which means creative forces/cosmic energy. When you put these three terms together you get Ha-Wai-I = Hawai'i. Hawai'i: Air (breath of life), Water (nurturing, sacred fluid), and Spirit (what binds and connects us).
A few other terms we were taught were:
- "Waiwai" which means wealth & valuable (wai = water)
- "A" which means energy of fire/heat
- "I" which can, in addition to cosmic energy, mean water energy
- "Ai" which is a combination of "A" and "I," and is a form of energy/life energy, also the term for food, feeding, and to eat
- "Mana" which means balance and is the combination of terms "Ma" (feminine) and "Na" (Masculine)
- "Pua" which literally translates to flower, but is often used as a metaphor for children (think land, water, birth references). "We are at the riverbed, our ancestors are upstream and our children are downstream."
Ramsay discussed indigenous perspective of Hawai'i, and talked about the "discoverers" of the Pacific Islands as lost travelers, stating "The islands were discovered by people who were lost when we knew where we were all along." He related this to the cultural philosophy of "I ka nānā no a ike" = by observing we learn. He then discussed the Hawaiian language and how so much of the culture is wrapped up in the language but how the culture is being lost. Many who learn Hawaiian these days do so by learning to express English thoughts, when the Hawaiian language is more contextual than literal. In fact, he explained that it doesn't matter what language you are speaking, if you understand the culture you are always speaking Hawaiian. To understand and learn the culture you must understand the pillars the culture is built upon - Air, Water, Land, Spirit - as well as shut your mouth and observe.
An example of speaking Hawaiian through another language:
Is this glass half full or half empty? Before I would've have said it was a matter of perspective, perhaps a measure of optimism or pessimism. However, Ramsay explained the Hawaiian cultural perspective is that the glass is (completely) full. It contains the water, the air, and the spirit... it contains the essence that is Ha-Wai-I = Hawai'i.
The last quote from Ramsay's presentation that I want to leave you with is "We belong to culture and place - we are never lost. Those who are lost try to find themselves in belongings."
Pretty cool, huh? And guess what... that's not the only cultural educational experience I had today. One of the other attendees at this symposium is a biology professor at the community college we were located at. When she heard Gary and I were from 4-H she became very excited because she is a 4-H alum (small world)! She proceeded to sit by us at lunch to talk to us about the state of 4-H and give us her perspective of 4-H history. When she asked me where I was from and I told her Nebraska, she shrieked with excitement telling that she was born in Omaha (her father was at Creighton), that she had lived there until she was 10, she had gone and graduated from Creighton, and that both of her children attended (or is attending) Creighton.
We discussed Nebraska, and Gary informed her of his 4-H work there, where it turns out they know some of the same people (even though she doesn't work in 4-H). When found out that my undergrad was Cornell College we found out that she knew people at Coe College (Cornell's rival), had friends who went to Grinnell College (same conference), and has family in Waterloo, Iowa (even smaller world). The people sitting near us thought it was highly entertaining that we had so many connections and so much to talk about, that the host of our symposium mentioned it in the "welcome back from break" intro, and explained that in Hawai'i it isn't 6 degrees of separation, but 3 degrees. He then tied his explanation back to Ramsey's connectedness theme and gave cultural examples to back up his statement. Crazy!
Okay, time for the last Hawaiian Life Lesson of the day... ready? The University of Hawai'i - Manoa parking enforcement is staffed by miserable people who love to make others miserable. Not me, necessarily, but there was a huge parking issue today with the parking for the building I work in. Everyone had been ticketed, the head of security had an argument with the head of the department, the dean of the college was called and brought into it, etc, etc, etc. Insane situation. Luckily, Gary's vehicle (which he had left near my building because his wife Karen had driven the mustang to work with his parking permit because we were at the symposium) was not ticketed - we had just missed it - and I got to leave work early to take his vehicle home since everyone in my building was forced to move their vehicles or have them towed. Lesson learned.
***Side note: One positive thing that came out of this is that a woman who works in my building, Lee, was so appreciative of me letting her vent to me and of me trying to help out, that she came and chatted with me for awhile. After finding out that I don't know very many people and don't buy my own food, she traded contact info with me and is planning on bringing me lunch whenever she has leftovers (because she lives by herself and always makes more food than one person can eat). Sometimes it's the little things in life. :)
Today rejuvenated me on the whole concept of being here in Hawai'i, and I can't wait to learn more!
