Ab Kawainohoikalai Valencia and Tim Tunison lead a field seminar, “Plants of Hula: Na Mea Kanu o Ka Hula,” from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. April 27 in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.
“Please join us for this exciting program, following on the heels of the Merrie Monarch Festival, in which a kumu hula (hula teacher or master) and botanist team up for a cultural and scientific exploration of the plants used in hula,” Friends of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park spokeswoman Elizabeth Fien said.
Valencia will discuss hula plants as kino lau, manifestations of Hawaiian deities in plant form — as his Halau Hula Kalehuakiekieikaiu understands them.
“There are plants for the hula altar, the kuahu, which include maile, ieie, ilima, lehua and halapepe. Plus, there are adornments — mele hula plants that are worn by the dancers — which include maile, ilima and lehua, plus palapalai, aalii, pukiawe and olapa,” Valencia said.
Participants meet at the Kilauea Visitor Center. The day begins with a welcoming oli, or chant, followed by a short walk to the kahua hula — the hula platform that overlooks Halemaumau Crater, home to the volcano goddess Pele.
Next, the group will drive to Kilauea Overlook to discuss cultural protocols used when picking plants — and to walk among native species in their natural environment, with scientific information and insight shared by Tunison.
“After lunch, we’ll visit Tunison’s property in Volcano Village, where he is restoring the land to its native ecosystem. We’ll get a hands-on lesson in native plant propagation, plus receive plant seedlings to grow at home,” Valencia said.
Valencia was born and raised in Honolulu, though his family was originally from Hilo. He established Halau Hula Kalehuakiekieikaiu in Honolulu in 1991, and currently maintains his halau in Honolulu, as well as Volcano.
Tunison worked for the National Park Service for more than 30 years. He was a botanist at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park from 1982 to 1994 and chief of resource management from 1995 to 2006, when he retired. Since then, Tunison has taught field botany, native plant propagation and forest restoration.
This event is presented by the Hawaii Volcanoes Institute, a program of the Friends of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, a nonprofit organization. Program cost is $45 for Friends members and $65 for nonmembers. Students (K-12 and college with valid student ID) are $25. Nonmembers are welcome to join the Friends in order to get the member discount.
To register for the “Plants of Hula” field seminar, call 985-7373 or visit fhvnp.org.
Anyone who requires an auxiliary aid or service for effective communication or reasonable modification of policies and procedures to participate in this event should email institute@fhvnp.org or call 985-7373 as soon as possible, but no later than five days prior to the program start.
