‘Iokepa Hanalei ‘Imaikalani tells this story. The event was almost thirty years ago, but the resonance – the echoing message – doesn’t age or tarnish.
‘Iokepa had newly returned home to these Islands; vibrating with his prophetic destiny - the gift of his Native Hawaiian Grandmothers and his surrender to their ancestral guidance, his ever-deepening faith.
It was a couple days, hardly worth remembering – and yet he does. The setting: Palama’s Pond, on the west side of the island of Kauai, fed by lava tubes and swollen beyond capacity with Ono, a succulent fish.
But the access to the pond and thus, the pond itself, were entirely obscured, virtually unreachable with vines, weeds, and jungle over-growth. For too long the land had been left to its own tropical devices: sun, rain and invasive species.
This small story is where ‘Iokepa wishes to begin a larger one. The folks who owned the patch of land where the pond sat, specifically asked for the Native Hawaiians born and reared on the island of Ni’ihau – those for whom the language and culture had remained undisturbed for several centuries past colonization - to lend a hand in exchange for a weekend of bountiful grilled fish. ‘Iokepa was invited.
‘Iokepa describes. “They sent word to the Ni’ihauans, and four hours later two dozen men arrived with cane knives. They were so at ease with one another. They communicated without words. The entire weekend was like that.”
Like a symphony in perfect pitch, without a conductor; they chipped away at the 500 feet of jungle path. And then, together they feasted.
“It is that kind of care that I savor and require for these islands,” ‘Iokepa said, “a recognition of the Creator in the other – the muscle that holds us, ka ‘aina, and ke kai together. The living realization of all Creation – human and nature – is what it means to be the Kanaka Maoli (aboriginal people).”
Through the prism of that story ‘Iokepa looks to more recent ones.
After each of our worst hurricanes, fires, and tidal waves, there repeatedly emerged profound and meaningful community on these islands (and elsewhere). Food came out of personal freezers for community meals; tools and tool-bearing hands were offered without request. The inter-dependency of humans (and nature) was recognized as utterly necessary.
In times of disaster, there can be no “you” - no “me.” Just “us.” There can be no distancing of “the environment” – only “we” (the fallen tree, the flooded river), kindred with nature. And with that realization, miracles - exactly like the one at Palama’s Pond thirty years ago - unfold wordlessly, effortlessly.
But ‘Iokepa rues the aftermath. “It all evaporates. Again, we feel comfortable - too comfortable. We forget our absolute need for what lies outside our doors. The walls go back up. The locks are engaged. The food, once again, is ‘mine.’
“In every one of our early tribes and communities, we knew that our survival depended on each other - at all times. Now sadly, we are not daily aware of it. It’s still true, of course, but we fool ourselves about both our independence from one another, and our safety alone.”
Some years ago, ‘Iokepa was challenged. “Tell me in less than 1000 words. What does the fulfillment of the Prophecy you’ve spent half your lifetime working toward look like?”
Perhaps it has taken him almost thirty years to encapsulate a response.
“It is the preservation of our land, our language, and our culture against the onslaught – the siege – of fear, greed and blindness to the truth of our glaringly apparent need for one another and for every single part of the Creator’s story.
“In the Hawaiian creation story, our volcano goddess Pele, gave birth to this land. Even now, she pours future fertile acres onto the welcoming ocean floor - and yearns (as any mother would) for its reverent care in the hands of the passing generations - care for both her lands and its peoples. All of our ancestors – in every tribe, on every speck of this Earth – lived the truth of this undeniable inter-dependency. We have forgotten.
“But my Kanaka Maoli – the aboriginal people of these Islands – are equipped, re-awakened to their responsibility. And the Grandmothers have prophesied: ‘What will happen on these Hawaiian Islands’ - this most isolated land mass on the face of Earth – ‘will embolden peoples around this Earth to remember.’”