 Oh my goodness, we're really looking forward to this show. So what's the magic word? The magic word is Moanalua Gardens Foundation. We talk about that today. With Pauline Warsham, she's the executive manager. Managing director. OK, and Charlie Cook, one of the directors. And he is a secretary-treasurer of Moanalua Gardens Foundation. Very important. So Pauline, tell me what it is and what it does. Well, Moanalua Gardens Foundation was founded 49 years ago in 1970, actually by two beneficiaries of the estate of Samuel Mills Damon. And they were two sisters. Francis patches Damon Holt and her sister Harriet Haku Damon Baldwin. And they founded Moanalua Gardens Foundation to fight the H3 from going through. Oh, interesting. Sure. The H3 dispute back when Voice Brown, remember that name? No, I don't. He represented the people who wanted to oppose it, yeah? Right. And so because it was a privately owned valley by the family and closed to the public for over 100 years, they wanted to protect and preserve the valley. It had cultural artifacts in there and history that goes back to the ancient Hawaiian chiefs. And they felt it was their responsibility to make sure that it remained intact. So that's basically how Moanalua Gardens Foundation was founded. But then after the controversy over H3 ended, they realized that it was important to educate the community about stewardship and about protecting and preserving these natural resources that we have that are fragile and need to be taken care of. So then we transitioned into an educational organization. And we were actually the pioneers of environmental education. We were the ones who developed the first environmental education program in Hawaii called the Ohia Project Curriculum, which was funded through a grant from the MacArthur Foundation. And we partnered with Bishops Museum to develop this K through 12 curriculum. So for over 20 years, we taught the curriculum in public schools in Hawaii and on Molokai. And it became the forerunner of many of the environmental programs, culture-based programs that you see today. So yeah, you told me that you are involved in this 24 by 7. How do you spend your time pulling? Well, other than working out, I spend my time. Have to do that. I spend my time working on projects at the Waterloo Gardens Foundation. It really is a labor of love. And we believe very strongly that what we do is important for the community, the entire community. Well, Charlie does, too. Charlie, why are you involved? Why am I involved? Well, I was asked about 30 years ago to join the board. I guess because our family has come from the missionary stock that arrived here. You're a Cook family. 1837, yes. The Cooks, the Rises, the Wilcox and the Limans all came, and it took 116 days from the east coast and down from the south. Those are the good old days. So the family has always been interested in it. And the Cooks were brought here basically to help start the educational programs for the Ali'i. And after the royal school was built and joined, they started the Punahou School to help not only the Ali'i, but the missionary children. And then when that was finished and going well, they worked with Ernest Pawhi, a bishop, to start Kamehameha schools. So they were involved very heavily in that area. And you're continuing the family tradition then, eh? Trying to. I'm trying to. I'm sorry, my brother's no longer with us. He passed away in 2015. And he was very strong. He was the leader of the branch of the Nature Conservatives here in Hawaii for several years. Then Calvin Takeda took his place. And then Suzanne Case was there until she moved over to DLNR. But we're a small organization. We're well organized because of Pauline. And we have a board that is very interested in what we're doing. And we are now considered a Hawaiian board because a number of the people are part Hawaiian descent. Nick and Jamile, the president, Pauline, and several people from Kamehameha. One of them is also an OHA board director. So it gives us a little more oaf in the community. And we see somewhere between 12 and 14,000 people a year for the two-day event. It's the biggest event that Eleni Palace has ever had. Oh yeah, let's talk about this event. This is very important. The event that Charlie is talking about is your major annual event, right? Yes, it is. Tell us about it, Pauline. Well, it's called the Prince Lot Hula Festival. It started in 1978. And it was organized to really unify the community after the controversy over age three. And also to continue the legacy of hula enchanting in Kamananui or Moanalua Valley. You were early in the Renaissance, I would say, huh? Yes, yes, exactly. And today it's now the largest non-competitive hula festival in the state, we believe, in the entire world. But it's become a two-day festival and we have over 20 halau participating. We have cultural practitioners, demonstrators. They demonstrate poi pounding, feather laymaking. You say demonstrators, you mean they demonstrate the culture, but they don't demonstrate political issues. Right, yeah, their culture, yeah, their art form. All culture. Right, right, right. This is in front of all the dancing and the exhibition and demonstrations are right in front of Ilanipalas, yeah? Yes, everything takes place on the grounds of Ilanipalas. And there's a connection with Prince Lot there, too, because the grounds of Ilanipalas were really first occupied by the Kamehamehas. Kamehameha, the third, when he moved the capital to Honolulu, bought the largest and most opulent house that he could find in Honolulu, and actually it belonged to his sister, I believe, Kamamalu, Princess Kamamalu. But it became the first building that eventually... And that's across the way, the Kamamalu building, yeah? Well, no, it's not across. The Kamamalu building was built by the state and named after her, but it actually was erected on the grounds of Ilanipalas. Oh, it preceded Ilanipalas. Right, it preceded that. And so, Kamehameha, the third, fourth, and fifth, who was Prince Lot, all resided in that house prior to Kalakaua tearing it down and building what is now Ilanipalas. Charlie, you wanna talk about the way that worked? Prince Lot, what was his full name again? Lot Kapuaiva. Lot Kapuaiva. Yeah. And he was the first elected monarch? No, no, he was the last. He was the last of the Kamehamehas. The last of the non-elected monarch, yeah. The last of the Kamehamehas. The last of the Kamehamehas. And that was in the 1850s or so? He died in 1862 or 1863, I believe. So they're a little later than that. And followed by Lunalilo, Leho, Leho, I'm sorry. Lunalilo. Lunalilo. Right. Who only lasted maybe a year or more in office and then he died, he was elected. Right. And then after him, David Kalakaua was elected, yeah. Yeah. Did I get that right? Yes, I did. I think you do have it. I got that right. I get that right. I believe so. Okay. And there's always been, as I said, the question. It's always a mindblower to realize that the monarchy in Hawaii, two dynasties, the first Kamehameha and the second one, Kalakaua. Right. But in the second one, they were elected. A monarchy, a king that's elected. This is really remarkable worldwide. That came from the influence of some of the missionaries that were here. Maybe your family. I would think that my family was more on the educational side. And you know, we're left on Kauai, Oahu, Molokai, Maui, and the big island, the Lyman House in Hilo. Oh, sure. So they were not that political. Some of the other missionary families became very, very political. And... Why am I thinking you're... 1893 when the Liliu Kalani was overthrown. That was a sticker for everybody. Yeah, that was a bad time. But some of the history goes back that they thought the British were going to try and take over Hawaii. And that's why the American businessmen kind of moved in on it. And all this is interwoven, right? Isn't it? It's interwoven certainly into those two dynasties in Eoloni Palace. It's interwoven into the history of Hula. It's interwoven into, you know, the foundation you guys are involved with. The people who were around one of our gardens, the Damon family and other families, they're part of this whole 19th century history. So we got some great materials. I want to show before we go any further, Pauline. Okay. So we have some slides. Let's identify them. And you can tell us what they are and how they got created. Okay, this is our logo art for and poster for this year's Prince La Hula Festival. Each year we come up with a different theme and this year's theme is Imua Inapokii. And what it means is move forward or owe youth or actually the festival tries to perpetuate our Hula traditions through the newer dancers, the homana that come up through the halau. So what we're, you know, perpetuating here is the continuation of the legacy of the Hula through our young, through our youth. And the art was done by a native Hawaiian artist called Shannon Weaver. She has been doing our art for at least seven or eight years now. And each year she comes up with a beautiful design that we then translate into our posters, our t-shirts, our advertising. Here's your book on the festival from last year. Right. One of the Prince La Hula Festival from last year. You can see it's the same art. Right. It's really beautiful. Yeah, this is last year's art and it shows, of course, the Hula dancers in front of Yolani Palace. And it was again done by Shannon Weaver. And this year she used the image of the Coronation Pavilion. And these are a photo recap of last year's Prince La Hula Festival with the art, as you can see. The festival, the little bug there on the right hand side is really the award that we received from the Hau'i Lodging and Tourism Association and AIO Media in 2018 for being the best tourism event for heritage and culture. AIO Media? That's Dwayne Carisa. Right. Wonderful. Great that you're involved with him. Yes. Yeah, he's one of our supporters. Oh, good. So, you know, I mean the whole thing seems to be an expression of the Renaissance. An expression of the Renaissance. You guys started maybe earlier than the Renaissance that I observed, right? In the 70s, that is something, because it didn't take full hold until what? The 90s or even the 2000s with the music and the Hula. Now it's in full tilt boogie, so to speak. That's really moving along. Are you native Hawaiian? Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. So, I mean, you observed this through your time with the foundation. And Charlie, I'm sure you've observed it. You're way back, Kamayana, but what's happening now is more groundswell, more grass roots, with Hawaiian people who didn't have the benefit of missionary blood yet. Well, you notice that a lot of the private and public schools are now offering Hawaiian language, and then we have the emerging schools throughout the island. And they've had football teams that play each other that speak only Hawaiian. And I think it's a wonderful, wonderful thing that's going on. And I hope, before I pass away, that I will see more of it. I know that Molokai is very interested in it. We had a teacher that lived on Molokai, and we have a gentleman on our board that comes from the lineage of Muwana Lua, Ralea Kau, and he's the keeper. That means the Daman family. Yeah. It's being the original inhabitants of Muwana Lua. He's a lineal descendant, yes. Yeah, yeah. That's really going back, yeah. He is the keeper of all the Iwi bones, because there are a lot of burial sites in the gardens and in the mountains there, and he knows where everyone is. I've talked to him and I've gone with him on a couple occasions. He can point out everything in those valleys. Yeah. He can keep those memories, that history alive. So let's take a short break, you guys, and we come back. I want to talk more about what you're teaching, what you're trying to perpetuate, how successful you are, and what you see in the future for the foundation. We'll be right back. Aloha and welcome to At the Crossroads. I'm your host, Keisha King. I'm live at five every Wednesday, where we have entertaining and educational conversations that are real and relevant, both here in Hawaii and across the globe. I'll see you at the Crossroads. Aloha. Aloha. Aloha. I'm Wendy Lo, and I'm coming to you every other Tuesday at two o'clock, live from Think Tech Hawaii, and on our show, we talk about taking your health back, and what does that mean? It means mind, body, and soul. Anything you can do that makes your body healthier and happier is what we're going to be talking about, whether it's spiritual health, mental health, fascia health, beautiful smile health, whatever it means, let's take healthy back. Aloha. Well, the board came from the... Well, that was restful, wasn't it? You know, talking about old times. Okay, Pauline, we didn't finish the slides. Let's finish the slides. Okay. Because I really love the work, I love the art, and it's more than just good art. It's art with heart, you know what I mean? Exactly. And it's native Hawaiian style, it's lovable art. Okay, let's see what you got. Okay, let's take a look. This is our opening ceremony. It's the Royal Order of Kamehameha, and Prince Lot, that's his portrait there. He actually founded the Royal Order of Kamehameha after his grandfather, Kamehameha I. So we make sure that the Royal Order always participates in a major way in the Prince Lot Hula Festival. So they're the ones presenting the Ho'okupu or the Tribute to Prince Lot there at the palace before we start the program. And this is a sample of the different halau. We have major halau, the premier halau from all over the state participating in the festival. And they perform both awana, which is contemporary hula and kahiko, which is ancient. And so you will see them performing those different art forms there in those slides. And they are excellent. All the dancers that participate in the festival, I think since we've moved to Eleni Palace, they have upped their game. I think the presence there in such a revered place has made them more focused on doing the best that they can do. So really it's elevated the excellence of performance. Well, all of hula. We have more slides over here, let's go to this one. These are some of our demonstrators. There's a little kinky girl learning how to make lei from the nawahine o kamehameha, which is the women's group offshoot of the royal order of kamehameha, and then more kahiko dancing down below. And this is typical of the kinds of attendance or crowds that we get that Prince Latula festival. No, there's a lot of people. There's a lot of people, as Charlie said, maybe 12 through 14,000 over the two day period. So that gives you an idea of how well attended and interested people are. They come from all over the world, actually. We have people call us and email us ahead of time asking when the festival is. They'll come from Germany and Belgium. Of course, we have a big contingent from Japan. So it's really an international audience that you'll see and a lot of local people as well. And a lot of work for you. Yes, but a labor of love. I got it. And with a great team. With a great team. And then we have an example of more demonstrators that was in the prior slide. On this slide, we have beautiful hula. And we have some of our food vendors, the Shea Vice vendor, of course, is always very popular and they keep busy all day long. And it's part of the festivity. What makes the festival so special is sampling our local fair as well. Very special, yeah. Keep going. Okay, next. And of course, this is our thank you, our mahalo to all of the people who make the festival possible, our major sponsors, which is Hawaii Tourism Authority, the National Endowment for the Arts, State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, Office of Hawaiian Affairs, and businesses like Douglas Emmett and Maths and Navigation and Hawaiian Airlines, Royal Hawaiian Center, Midweek, and the Honolulu Star Advertiser, our in-kind sponsors, of course, Eleni Palace, and the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau, Oahu Visitors Bureau, and Olelo, who help to film and broadcast the festival. I wanna come, too. I wanna come with a camera. I hope you'll let me come film this. You're very welcome. What day in July? It's Saturday and Sunday, July 20th and 21st. On Saturday, we start at 9 a.m., and we end at 4 p.m. And on Sunday, we start at 9 a.m. and end at 3 p.m. Mm-hmm. Charlie, are you gonna be there? Are you gonna be dancing? What is your mahalo? I'm afraid I don't dance. I'm too bloody old. I know. But no, I'm there, and I usually sit in the booth with Kimo Kahuano, who does all our announcing, and keep him laughing, and he's very good. Very good, he's excellent. And we watch the program, and we try to keep it on time, and we've been very successful in that. We have a lot so much time for each halal to dance. Very important program. Oh, yeah, it has to be, you know, marshals right through. Otherwise, we'd run over time, and that doesn't work too well when that happens. So we've been very happy with it, and Paulina's been the key. She's on our roller skates the whole time, so. Of course, one would expect no less. So put this in the landscape for me. We have, you know, a lot of people still very disturbed over the overthrow. It's deep into Hawaii's history and culture even now. The renaissance, the reemergence of dance and the Hawaiian language and music, in the last, in my time anyway, in the last, what, 20, 30 years, has been notable, remarkable, and still going on. You guys are part of that. You know, I mean, there are others, of course, Mary Monarch, but you have a special place in that landscape. And then we have, you know, we have the whole sovereignty issue where people argue about things. And I just want to know where this foundation, Moanalog Gardens Foundation fits in the Hawaiian community and the future of the Hawaiian community going forward in the state, in art, in culture, and as a community. Want to go first? Sure. Well, Moanalog Gardens Foundation, actually, we're all about celebration. You know, celebrating our culture, and being positive about what we have today and looking back at the past and learning from the past and perpetuating the hula traditions that were first found in Moanalua Valley. So, you know, we try to stay apolitical and neutral, but we are about celebrating. We are about educating our keiki and making sure that they understand how important it is, their culture, how important it is to continue and perpetuate their culture. But hula is more than tennis. Yes. Hula has moral principles. Hula represents those special Hawaiian principles that we carry forward that are so embedded in our state and so revered and nurtured by so many people in our state and so important to the future of our state. Can you talk about that, Charlie? Well, as we know, like the Mary Monarch, we have two types that I want to, just one. Oops. Oh, kahiko. Kahiko. Excuse me, I lost it there for a second. And the majority of the people that come understand the difference between the two. And there's a lot of the tourists that come and enjoy it too. And I've been fortunate enough to talk to a lot of these people that are visitors and they're just overwhelmed by it. They said that, and this is free. They don't have to point out the big bucks like they do in Waikiki. Consequently, they love it and they want to know more about it and they ask if they can film. We have a policy of no photographing because they're professionals that are doing it there. But you can't monetize that 100%. Right. If you bring a camera, I'll guarantee that you won't be thrown out on the King Street. Thank you, Charlie. One last thing I want to ask you is that, do you have advice for the Hawaiian community, the native Hawaiian community right here, 2019? What is your advice to them? My advice? Your advice. It's to keep doing what they're doing. But to stop the arguments and fighting. You know, there's a lot of misinformation out there and the media seems to like to play that up. So those people in the community that are educated, more innocent, I feel it should be more active as possible in there because we have the amount of care problems, well, Halekala problems. And I've visually seen that on the big island. I went up to see amount of care with one of my daughters and had all the big pohacos, the big rocks in the road, and we just go by. I didn't want to get into a confrontation. What's your advice to me, Emma Howley? I have no claim to this culture, but I certainly appreciate it. Well, I'm Howley too. Okay, what's your advice to me from where you are as a board member of the Moanalua Gardens Foundation? That's a tough one, Jay. That's a tough one. Well, what my advice is, keep doing what you're doing. You're giving us this opportunity to broadcast more information out to the community. Anytime, Charlie. And that's very important to us because we need all the help we are. We are a small organization. We are financially in good shape. Well, if I wanted to make a contribution to the foundation, where would I go? What would I do? Get your checkbook out, write Moanalua Gardens Foundation, and you have my card and Pauline's card that's addressed there. Mail it to us, and you will eventually get a thank you letter. Or you can go directly to our website, www.moanaluagardensfoundation.org slash donate, and you can donate online. And we would be grateful for any and all donations. Of course, it would be well, it would be worthy. The last question to you, Pauline. What's the future of the foundation? You've put many years into it. What's the plan going forward for succession, renewal, expansion, continuation? What's the plan? The plan is to keep on going. But right now we're working on a succession plan. We brought the organization through some difficult times, and as Charlie said, we're a stable organization now, but we would like to see it grow. We would like to bring aboard people who have the same vision, who want to move it forward. Because there is a limited amount of time that we have that we want to make sure that when we leave that it's in good hands. And so we see a bright future for Moanalua Gardens Foundation. The Prince Lajula Festival is well-established here. It's become a signature event for the community. As I said, the largest non-competitive hula festival in the entire state, and our education program is so important. And so we need to make sure that these programs continue into the future. And we're making those plans right now to put in place not only the infrastructure, but the people to make it happen. Pauline Worsham, Charlie Cook, Moanalua Gardens Foundation, I love you both. Aloha. Aloha. Moanalua. Moanalua. Yeah.