Hi everyone, since I have been involved in Hawaiian 'Awa for over 30 years I have had the chance to learn a lot of things about 'Awa from many different kupuna.
I was even able to teach about 'Awa at Aha Punana Leo In Keaau, this is a Hawaiian school where the students and the teachers have to speak Hawaiian, it is a Hawaiian immersion school. It was a privilege for me to teach about Hawaiian 'Awa there, I learned a lot there, I learned to speak more Hawaiian than I did before and I also learned other things about Hawaiian culture. One of the things that I learned there was the proper way that Hawaiians did ‘Awa ceremonies in Hawaii. I learned this from Anakala Lanakila from Niihau. There is a lot of rules you have to follow, kind of like a Japanese Tea ceremony.
I remember too at one of the International Kava Conferences that the Hawaii 'Awa Council helped to put on, there was a kava ceremony that was done there at the beginning of the conference, I guess that since I was the President of the 'Awa Council that I got the first shell, it was a lot of fun.
Anyway, I thought that this was common knowledge on the ‘Awa ceremonies in Hawai‘i. I was wrong. As I watched the canoe Hōkūle‘a here doing a "awa Ceremony, I noticed that they did it different. I did not know why but then I was talking to a Hawaiian friend of mine who still teaches at Aha Punana Leo, and we were talking about this so he referred me to an article that was expertly written, it explained the wrong way that they did it and then outlined the proper way. Here is a link to the article---- ‘Awa ceremonies in Hawai‘i
There is also some cool pictures of some Hawaiian 'Awa bowls. I hope you all enjoy the information on ‘Awa ceremonies in Hawai‘i. Aloha
Chris
I was even able to teach about 'Awa at Aha Punana Leo In Keaau, this is a Hawaiian school where the students and the teachers have to speak Hawaiian, it is a Hawaiian immersion school. It was a privilege for me to teach about Hawaiian 'Awa there, I learned a lot there, I learned to speak more Hawaiian than I did before and I also learned other things about Hawaiian culture. One of the things that I learned there was the proper way that Hawaiians did ‘Awa ceremonies in Hawaii. I learned this from Anakala Lanakila from Niihau. There is a lot of rules you have to follow, kind of like a Japanese Tea ceremony.
I remember too at one of the International Kava Conferences that the Hawaii 'Awa Council helped to put on, there was a kava ceremony that was done there at the beginning of the conference, I guess that since I was the President of the 'Awa Council that I got the first shell, it was a lot of fun.
Anyway, I thought that this was common knowledge on the ‘Awa ceremonies in Hawai‘i. I was wrong. As I watched the canoe Hōkūle‘a here doing a "awa Ceremony, I noticed that they did it different. I did not know why but then I was talking to a Hawaiian friend of mine who still teaches at Aha Punana Leo, and we were talking about this so he referred me to an article that was expertly written, it explained the wrong way that they did it and then outlined the proper way. Here is a link to the article---- ‘Awa ceremonies in Hawai‘i
There is also some cool pictures of some Hawaiian 'Awa bowls. I hope you all enjoy the information on ‘Awa ceremonies in Hawai‘i. Aloha
Chris
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