MEDIA RELEASE

Marie Alohalani Brown offers an overview of the basic beliefs that structure Kanaka Maoli understanding of the mo‘o or reptilian water deities as depicted in the moʻolelo (stories) of our kupuna (elders) in an upcoming Puana Ka Ike lecture in Kona and an Eia Hawaii presentation in Hilo.

Her free presentations are scheduled noon-1:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 23, at the University of Hawaii at Hilo, Campus Center Room 301, and from 5:30-7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 24, in Ballroom III at the Keauhou Beach Resort in Kona.

Brown hails from Makaha, but her ancestral roots are in Hookena. She received her master’s degree in Hawaiian language in 2010 at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

Her master’s thesis is the largest compilation to date of traditional and current information regarding moʻo. Hawaiian deities, especially moʻo, and cultural beliefs surrounding them serve as inspiration for her creative works. She is currently a doctoral student in the English department at UHM and is conducting archival research on John Papa Ii for her dissertation.

Predominately female, moʻo deities embody the hoʻola (life-giving) and hoʻomake (death-dealing properties) of the water element with which they are associated, Brown said. “And like water, they slip through your fingers when you try to grasp them. Replicating the elusive nature of moʻo, fragments of knowledge about these reptilian water deities lurk here and there, sometimes in unexpected places, but more often, they are hidden deep within our epic moʻolelo, many of which are not easily accessible today for one reason or another.”

The Puana Ka Ike and Eia Hawaii lecture series are presented in partnership with Keauhou-Kahaluu Education Group of Kamehameha Schools, The Kohala Center, the Kipuka Native Hawaiian Student Center at the University of Hawaii at Hilo, and Keauhou Beach Resort.

For more information on these presentations, contact Joy Cunefare at 534-8528 or e-mail info@kohalacenter.org.

For lecture schedules and webcasts of previous lectures, visit http://kohalacenter.org/puanakaike/about.html and www.keauhouresort.com/learn-puanakaike.html