Hōlanikū Update #4

My back and my knees remind me daily that I am no longer 22 years old and my heart reminds me of how far I’ve come since the last time I was here. I find myself learning more and more about the recent human history on this powerful grandmother land and after a decade of standing for Mauna Kea, it is very hard to turn my head to the heartbreaking injustices that have happened in Papahanaumokuakea while our nation suffered the collective heartbreak of the illegal annexation of Hawai’i to the illegally occupying US. I no longer acknowledge this atoll by the foreign name a Russian navigator, Captain Kure, proclaimed it to be. That name could never ever encompass the mana of this land and it never will. I believe so deeply in calling these lands by the names passed down by Kai’aikawaha and placed by Kekuewa Kikiloi. These names are as old as time and you can feel it when you say them out loud. These lands have been waiting for us to say their names out loud. They have been waiting for us to find our way back here to help to heal with them. They have been waiting to hear our language chanted across these ancient currents. They have been waiting for us to remember them. Calling them by their rightful names acknowledges their mana and in turn show your respect for their mana.