MEDIA RELEASE

Mhealani Pai and Keone Kalawe of the Keauhou-Kahaluu Education Group will discuss the historical significance of Kaneaka slide and Heeia Bay in Keauhou in an upcoming Puana Ka Ike lecture in Kona and an Eia Hawaii presentation in Hilo.

The free presentations are scheduled noon-1:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 26 at the University of Hawaii at Hilo, Campus Center Room 301, and 5:30-7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 27 in Ballroom III at the Keauhou Beach Resort in Kona.

Kaneaka is the famous royal kahua holua (slide) in Keauhou, whose current footprint is being captured through a plane table mapping project with island students.

Cultural specialist Pai and lead mapping teacher Kalawe will share their ongoing research about the famous slide, its construction and sporting aspects, and Heeia, the bay into which Kaneaka’s pathway once touched.

For lecture attendees wishing to have an onsite experience, Pai and Kalawe will lead a field study to Kaneaka and Heeia Bay from 8:30 a.m.-noon Saturday, Jan. 28.

This field study will help participants understand the direct link between Kaneaka and Heeia Bay as well as the magnitude of the ancient sport of sledding.

Space is limited; for reservations, contact Joy Cunefare at (808) 534-8528 or e-mail info@kohalacenter.org.

Since 2005, Pai has served as the cultural specialist of the Kamehameha Schools’ Keauhou-Kahaluu Education Group, which is responsible for the cultural learning and restoration of sites within these two ahupuaa. He is the founder of the cultural education programs Kiai Aina Kualoloa (Guardians of the Long back of the Land).

Pai’s mookuauhau, or genealogy, connects him with the ocean, and as a cultural practitioner and teacher, his work has touched several generations of learners. He is currently completing his Associates in Applied Science degree in the Hawaiian Lifestyles Hula track and Associate in Arts degree at the Hawaii Community College in Hilo and Kona.

Kalawe resides in Kahuwai, Puna, where his family has lived for over 20 generations. Since 2007, Kalawe has traveled to Kahaluu, where he serves as the onsite archaeologist and lead kumu, or teacher, in Hui Kaha Pohaku, a project-based education program created by the Keauhou-Kahalu‘u Education Group.

Under Kalawe’s tutelage, students in Hui Kaha Pohaku produce professional quality plane table maps. These maps capture the current footprint of selected sites and are required by state agencies as part of the restoration process.

Along with Leinaala Wilcox, Kalawe co-founded Keala o ka Holua, a foundation dedicated to the revitalization of hee holua or sledding.

For more information on these presentations or to reserve a space in the Saturday field study, contact Cunefare. For lecture schedules and webcasts of previous lectures, visit http://kohalacenter.org/puanakaike/about.html and www.keauhouresort.com/learn-puanakaike.html.

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.