In 2023, Wise Ancestors participated in a two-day workshop organized for us by the Edith Kanaka’ole Foundation (EKF), a nonprofit established in 1990 to maintain and perpetuate Hawaiian cultural knowledge and skills related to land and resource practices, as well as cultural site restoration protocol and ritual. Check out our Hawaii Report for more info on the workshop and the other educational activities that we participated in during that trip.
As part of our ongoing commitment to learn how ancestral knowledge and practices of Indigenous communities are accessed, interpreted, and brought forth to the present, our Executive Director Ann Pace attended EKF’s annual Papakū Makawalu workshop on January 18, 2025 in Hilo, on the Big Island of Hawaii.
Papakū Makawalu represents the Hawaiian categorization of the natural world into three houses of knowledge that serve as the foundations for understanding existence and the cycles of life –
- Papahulilani -- is the study of the expanse of all space above the head, which includes the sun, moon, stars, planets, winds, clouds, and atmosphere.
- Papahulihonua -- is the study of the natural earth and ocean, including their formation and evolution by natural causes.
- Papahānaumoku – is the study of all things that give birth, regenerate and procreate; the birthing cycle of all flora and fauna.
The workshop this year had approximately 120 participants, mostly from Hawaiian communities, and focused on the ideology of “Akua” or Gods who represent the origins of various elements of nature – earth, sun, mountains, stars, plants, animals, etc .
The keynote address was delivered by Dr. Pualani Kanahele Kanakaʻole, a daughter of Edith Kanaka’ole, and other family members led sessions throughout the day, including great grandson Luka Kanaka’ole, a natural resource and environmental scientist (check out our podcast with Luka here).
We learned that Hawaiian kupunas, who held knowledge relating to Earth, the origins of life, and what sustains it, recorded and communicated this knowledge through chants and songs. The workshop taught us how to interpret the information provided in specific passages of chants by first determining the general topic of the passage, for example, it is about mountains, and then translating the actual wording. This approach is suggested because many Hawaiian words have more than one meaning, and therefore the interpretation will depend on that context. Once the general topic is understood, the person translating the passage can combine what they are learning with their own contemporary knowledge of that topic, such as what they've learned from Western science, and by blending the two together, new information can be revealed.
Ann’s reflection: “As part of a nonprofit aimed at co-designing projects that braid Western biotechnological approaches with Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Indigenous practices, while being of European ancestry myself, it’s of the utmost importance to deepen my awareness of Indigenous knowledge systems and cultures. Wise Ancestors seeks to work with IPs and LCs in our mission to protect threatened species while supporting the people who are culturally connected to the species. I’m always keen to connect the dots between cultural learnings and western science approaches because both are needed to effectively address the biodiversity crisis. And much of that crisis has arisen because people, generally speaking, are disconnected from Indigenous practices and ways of being, which includes humans respecting and living in balance with nature – because we are part of it, not above it. This is also a key way that the Wise Ancestors model addresses a root cause of the biodiversity crisis, by supporting more sustainable human behavior.
I remain humbled by the ecological wisdom originating from ancient times, and dedicated to helping bring it forth respectfully and ethically for the benefit of humanity and the planet. I also encourage you to become familiar with the Edith Kanaka’ole Foundation’s offerings, and how they might apply to you or your profession.”
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