HVNP Shares Hawaiian Lifestyle Practices With New Video Series

Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park invites the world to experience the skillful work of Native Hawaiian cultural practices as part of a new video series.

The captivating series, “ʻIke Hana Noʻeau (Experience the Skillful Work),” produced, created and hosted by park rangers, shares authentic Hawaiian cultural practices beyond the park to homes and classrooms anywhere.

“The target audience for the ‘ʻIke Hana Noʻeau’ videos is a mix of visitors, kānaka maoli wanting to learn or reconnect to their culture, local residents, educators and students,” said Park Superintendent Rhonda Loh in a press release. “The park is excited to reach this broad audience by collaborating with the tourism industry, local broadcasters and other partners.”

The short documentary films are talk-story and tutorial and enable a friendly connection to traditional Hawaiian lifestyle practices. Viewers are introduced to three skilled local practitioners who delve into the rituals of kuʻi kalo (making poi), weaving lei lāʻī (ti leaf lei) and creating an ipu heke ʻole (single gourd drums) in beautiful settings on the the Big Island.

According to the press release from the park, the video series evolved from the in-person cultural demonstrations hosted by Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park at Kīlauea Visitor Center. The in-person programs are on hold, but the park’s mission to share authentic Hawaiian culture is stronger than ever.

The video host, park ranger Sean Miday, is a Native Hawaiian who kicks off his boots and rolls up his sleeves to learn important traditions along with the viewer.

The premiere video, “Kui Kalo,” debuted March 2 and features Kamehameha Schools senior Hayden Konanui-Tucker, who demonstrates how to ku’i kalo (pound poi) in sacred Waipiʻo Valley. Kuʻi kalo is the process of pounding cooked kalo corms to make poi. For many Native Hawaiians, this process is a way to connect with their older brother Hāloanakalaukapalili, who in a cosmology story fed them and continues to feed them today.

In the second episode, slated to debut in early April, Miday visits Keokea Beach in Kohala and learns to weave lei lāʻī hula adornments with Cheryl Cabrera. And in May, gourd master Kalim Smith shows Miday how to grow and shape ʻipu heke ʻole, a single gourd drum instrument vital to hula.

All three videos will be shared for free on the park website (go.nps.gov/ike) and YouTube page. Big Island Television, which airs in more than 6,000 hotel rooms on the Hawaiʻi Island and on Spectrum channel 130, will also broadcast the videos to a wide audience.

“We hope everyone will watch, learn and treasure these videos as much as we do,” said Loh in the press release.

Each video is about 20 minutes long and all are accessible with audio description, closed captions and ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi translation.