Archive for October, 2007
The Quick Trail East…
After an intense and exciting time in Portland (we will be back), we had a much needed two-day reprieve in a cabin, along the pristine Coeure D’Alene River in Northern Idaho. We took long walks in the mountains, jumped between rocks in the river, and tried to stay warm and dry. We simply needed to feel the land again. We embraced that utter silence, and we both felt refreshed by it.
We began our serious trek East in Missoula, Montana for coffee and a return to the world of technology (cell phone and WiFi)–a necessary part of Return Voyage, but not any part of our life for these ten years. We spent that night walking the streets of Butte, Montana–looking at a town that copper mining built, and contemplating man’s relationship to the earth.
From Montana, we dipped briefly into Wyoming, where we discovered the best roadside, public rest area, bar none–no small matter to a couple who’ve lived ten years without a house, and could easily critique each public restroom on Kaua’i, Maui, and more.
We spent the next night in Rapid City, South Dakota, surrounded by the Black Hills and the powerful energy of the original Americans. (Clue: They did not travel here on the Mayflower.).
Tonight, we are in Council Bluff, Iowa surrounded by a proliferation of hotel, fast food, franchise and chain stores endemic to America. I don’t want to pick on Council Bluff–we could be anywhere, suburban, USA. However, I’m feeling a deep yearning for that river in Northern Idaho, and the snow-capped Rockies we crossed a day or two ago.
Friends have predicted that our culture shock would increase with our trip East. But everywhere we’ve gone so far, Native Hawaiians have been viewed with enormous curiousity–as exotic–and valued for the differences. We wish that were as true on the Islands.
Radio Interview: Portland
The Portland Radio interview on Indian World lasted an hour and a half. Some highlights:
John Talley introducing ‘Iokepa:
“Hear this man, my brothers and sisters, because his people have been through the same oppression, we have. The fortunes of war have brought alot of people under our flag who never asked to be brought there. It’s something American Indians know well.”
‘Iokepa Hanalei ‘Imaikalani:
“In our culture we have answers to many questions that plague the world today. It’s about remembering how to ask–and how to listen for the answer.
“In my language, there are 160 words for the wind, 138 words for the rain. I understand that knowing the differences between each wind and each rain was about survival. Three thousand miles out in the Pacific, you had to know. And at the end of every day that you were given breath, you offered gratitude. That gratitude became ritual and ceremony.”
John:
“I’m so glad that you spoke that way. There is something very disturbing about some in the American Indian community selling ceremony–and it is very wrong! Performing ceremony is okay–but never selling it.”
‘Iokepa:
“My people, and many peoples, have birth knowledge (ike hanau). Return Voyage is about bringing us back to the things we already know, but may have abandoned.
John:
“My grandmother said the same thing: ‘We’re born with all the knowledge in the universe, and then the world tramples us down.”
‘Iokepa:
“We have an immense genealogy to draw upon. We have to be heard. It’s time to speak. My grandmothers say: ‘The time is now!’ We must come together to heal ourselves, and heal this earth.”
John:
“There are times I don’t see that mountain out there, for months. It’s hidden behind the clouds. But it’s there whether I see it or not. The solutions are sometimes not visible for the clouds. But the solutions are there. “
‘Iokepa:
“What the indigenous peoples knew was that they were not separate from all living things. But now, it’s no longer about living with the elements, it’s living against them. Our ancestors named our children after the elements. Everything Hawaiians represented was about feminine energy.
“We each have different gifts.”
John: “Yes!”
‘Iokepa:
“We need to utilize our gifts. We look up at the sky and we think we’re so small–too small to make a difference. But we’re all part of the universe and we must take our part. We need to honor each other for the gifts we have.
“Return Voyage is about change. Too many of us listen to other people’s words–spoken and written, but we haven’t listened to ourselves. The time is now.”
From Native Heart to Native Mind…
We met John Talley at an Eastside Portland coffee shop. He overheard ‘Iokepa speaking with a friend and he was intrigued by what he heard. ‘Iokepa, for his part, was drawn to the 76 year old Iroquois with the powerful face and the gentle voice immediately. They agreed to meet again.
‘Iokepa arrived at that meeting, today, with a packet of sea salt, harvested from Kaheka–the Salt Pans, on Kaua’i. The Salt Pans are a very unique geological phenomenon, but they are much more: Ritually harvesting the salt that is deposited on the soil surface, from ocean water that seeps under the Salt Pans, is a Hawaiian tradition that dates back to antiquity. Salt was, and is, a vital part of Hawaiian life.
“I bring you an offering,” ‘Iokepa said to John. “Because we are walking now on your land and the land of your ancestors. For thousands of years my ancestors voyaged here to integrate with your people–never to teach them anything, never to change them.”
John said: “The Indian and the Hawaiian message is much the same. The details vary. The needs of our people are the same. “
The common ground was fertile.
John’s Talley’s native name is Talks On The Wind. “I see changing winds. I see growth in our native peoples–finding the way back.”
‘Iokepa answered, “In Hawaiian, we have 160 words for the wind–each one speaks to a subtle difference. It’s not that the wind blows against you. It blows through you, like a ticker-tape full of knowledge.”
John said: “The simpler your lifestyle, the less likely you’ll be crushed by the winds of change.”
For 32 years, John Talley has produced an Oregon radio show called, Indian World. (”We were trailblazers.”)
Today, he invited ‘Iokepa to be the featured guest on his show next week: Thursday, October 18, from 1:30-3:00 p.m., on Oregon station, Kboo.
Their continuing conversation will go public then.
Impressions, and Expression.
For nine and a half years, the Hawaiian Islands have been my home. In that time, ‘Iokepa and I have visited the continental United States infrequently, and briefly.
This time, we are here for nine full months. Return Voyage is the impetus, and renewed culture is the purpose.
Both that impetus and that purpose have been compelling. The compassion and fascination for the aboriginal culture–we have encountered everywhere we step–is continually affirming. Yes, there are people searching for spiritual substance in our distracting, demanding, and noisy world. There are people responding to the ancient words and wisdom of the ancestors.
So what are my first impressions?
They are primarily physical. Without an ocean on one side of me, and the volcanic mountain on the other, I am hard pressed to find North, South, East, and West. (And in the Pacific Northwest, the sun is often hiding its directional cues.)
Not a palm tree in sight, but I am loving the autumn. The leaves are changing to yellows and oranges before my eyes. The sky–as we drove yesterday from Idaho to Seattle–was huge! That horizon–over land, not ocean–is wider than I’ve encountered in all these years.
So far from the tropics: The blazing sun feels weak and mild. That means: No chance of sunburn, and the moon is especially visible–in daylight hours!
The sky just looks different. I’d forgotten about fluffy clouds. Island clouds are more defined, less billowy.
In sum: The differences are wonderful. Because it feels so different, all my senses are alert, and I’m noticing the subtlest things I’d have missed at other times of my life. And, after all, isn’t that what this Return Voyage is about? Remembering all that we carry inside, but neglect to use?
So, let us celebrate the gifts we’ve been born with–and use our senses, our hearts and our souls to touch the places that are waiting to be touched. Our ancestors knew how. We are born to remember.