[Original size] ʻAi Pono-3

KANU O KA ʻĀINA NCPCS ISSUE NO. 1

ʻAI PONO

INGESTING RIGHTEOUSNESS

FIRST OF ITS KIND

Our new inquiry-based curriculum
never done by any other kula.

E 'AI KĀKOU

"we ate & smiled together..."

UA KANU NĀ ʻAI NUI

Planting and reconnecting with our
ʻāina Kupuna

KULIA I KA NU'U

PRODUCED BY THE STUDENTS OF
THE HIGH SCHOOL ACADEMIES

2017-18

KANU O KA ʻĀINA NCPCS
64-1043 HI‘IAKA STREET

KAMUELA, HI 96743

CONTENTS

1 INTRODUCTION Creating a new paradigm
TO ACADEMIES

3 HEALTH exploring traditional Hawaiian
& WELLNESS systems of agriculture relating
to ʻAi Pono and overall wellness.

5 LĀʻAU LAPAʻAU

Keoki & Yvonne Carter

7 LOMILOMI

Pōmaikaʻi Freed

9 IMU

Kamuela Yim
Kaleo Bertelmann

11 AGRICULTURE & exploring traditional Hawaiian
ENERGY systems of health relating to ʻAi
Pono and overall wellness.

13 KALO

Nalei Kahakalau

15 ʻUALA

Manaiakalani Kalua

Kehau Marshall

Peter Vitousek

17 KŌ

Kealiʻi Lilly

19 MAHALO NUI LOA! our gratitude for everyone

who took the time to share
their ʻike with us.

ACADEMIES

We as students at Kanu O These two academies
Ka ʻĀina always strive to were created to help the
reach our highest juniors and seniors gain
potential. This year we experience and
made the transition into knowledge through the
high school academies in people in and outside of
hopes of gaining more our communities. Our
experience in our desired Kumus hopes were that by
fields of work. We had the transitioning into
option of choosing academies we would be
between two academies. able to gain not only
Depending on what we felt cultural and community
would best suit us we readiness but also college
could either choose and career readiness. By
between Health and the end of this year we
Wellness or Agriculture hope to be able to show
and Energy.These two how much we learned
academies were created to from each of these
help the juniors and individuals and also just
seniors gain experience how much this type of
and knowledge through learning can work.
the people in and outside
of our communities



HEALTH &
WELLNESS

HEALTH &
WELLNESS

LĀʻAUKEOKI & YVONNE CARTER
LAPAʻAU

WRITTEN BY :
 KAMALANI STRAUS, NADIA YOSHIZUMI & PIIKEA PURDY

H    e   a l th       is defined as a person’s mental or

physical condition. The students in the Health

Academy got the chance to learn that health is

much much more. Lā'au Lapa'au is a

Hawaiian way of healing that uses plants,

mana, and thoughts to address the whole well-

being of a person. The La’au Lapa’au ʻUHALOA
speakers that came in were Aunty Yvonne and A NATIVE HAWAIIN
Uncle Keoki Carter. PLANT USED IN LĀʻAU
LAPAʻAU PRACTICES
 Yvonne and Keoki Carter are masters at
“UHALOA” FILMING FLORIDA, 
ʻlā au lapa'au: traditional Hawaiian medicine. HTTP://WWW.FILMINGFLORIDA.COM
/DAILY-SPECIES/UHALOA/
ACCESSED. 25 SEPT. 2017. 

They have been practicing this way of

healing for the past eight years. They learned

from their kumu Papa Auwai, who is also a After 40 years of marriage, the Carters know each
master at La’aulapa’u. To learn from Papa other better than they know themselves. Together,
Auwai you are first required to write an they are active in our community doing a service of
essay answering important questions that test healing and perpetuating the Hawaiian culture, by
the haumāna’s dedication to learning. The sharing their knowledge of lā’aulapa’u. Medicine,
essay determines whether or not you are food, and water are not the only essentials to a
eligible to learn this traditional practice, and healthy life but laughter plays a big role as well.
the Carters were one of a few applicants that The Carter’s filled the room with joy through song.
were chosen. “We learned more than just Listening to them sing their original songs was
La’au lapa’au, 80% of our training was heartwarming, the sound of the guitar, how uncle
talking as well as learning about spirituality. Keoki played with his bandaged fingers. Everything
The other 20% was learning lā'au lapa'au.” about them is vibrant and infectious. I believe that
says aunty Yvonne. Everything you do you it’s only because of the way they live pono lives. 
must be spiritually connected. 

Through He connects
 these 4 classes,  it to lā’au lapa’au,
we learned about a “Even numbers are chosen
variety of interesting plants. for everything that you do,
One of the favorite plants was However, when doing lā’au lapa’au
you use odd numbers. You need to be
ʻUhaloa. “My favorite plant Uhaloa different because you are asking a plant to do
things out of the ordinary” Uncle Kamuela
can be used for a muscle relaxer and if explained. A takeaway for the health academy
used it can help you recover faster,” says students is knowing and remembering that
Junior Health Student Nahenani Techera. “Different is good.”
Ka’ala Bertlemann was also asked what her
favorite plant was and its uses. She chose ”La’au Lapa’au has lots to do with our
mamane and she explains that it helps with high academy. Hawaiian Traditional Medicine is
blood pressure during pregnancy. The cool Health. ‘Ai Pono is not just eating right it’s all
takeaway for her was that she learned “women's around Health. La’au Lapa’au is not only using
immune systems are really strong, even
stronger than men.” plants to heal but to use your thoughts to
Another community member that met with us empower and help others. Helping other people
during the three weeks of academy intensives
was Uncle Kamuela Yim, who practices the Mentally, Physically, Emotionally, and
tradition of imu. He brought up the topic of Spiritually. Whether that be through La’au
things being sacred or different .vs. things being Lapa’au, Lomilomi, or imu, everything you do
mundane or ordinary. He states that “Being
different is so Hawaiian.”  and think has an impact.

A NEW PERSPECTIVE
NEW PERSON

MANA FOR THE SOUL
ʻAI PONO

CONFIDENCE-BOOSTING
POSITIVE GROWING

INSPIRATION IS WHAT YOU ARE
SACRED POWER OF LOMILOMI

-SENIOR, JOHNNA MARSH

Lomilomi

PŌMAIKAʻI FREED

WRITTEN BY :
JOHNNA MARSH, IKAIKA KRAKOVIC, & SERENA HENSHAW

ʻ  A   i  p   o n o     isn’t just about healthy foods, it’s about

having a healthy mental, spiritual and, physical lifestyle.
Lomilomi helps you dig deeper into figuring out who you
are and what you’re capable of doing. Lomilomi is about
self-reflection. ‘Ai Pono is also about spreading knowledge
to help make a positive impact. 
The knowledge you gain from Lomilomi is so powerful
that when you share it with others you help them learn
something new about themselves. Lomilomi doesn’t just
teach you how to be good kānaka (people) but it also
teaches how to have a positive attitude, which also helps
the people around you to thrive. 
‘Aunty Pomaika‘i, a former student of charter school
Hālau Kū Māna, sister charter school to Kanu o ka
‘Āina once had the opportunity when she was in high
school to learn from master lomilomi Kumu Alva
Andrews. Having the opportunity to learn from Uncle
Alva is what sparked her interest in Lomilomi. 

We interviewed two students Kamalani Straus and Pi‘ikea Purdy who were in the class and they shared their
mana‘o on Lomilomi. Before the class, Kamalani Straus thought of Lomilomi as just a “massage” and a way
of “healing”, as well as the majority of the class. After taking the class, she learned that Lomilomi was more
than just healing and massages, instead, it was more of a way to help learn about yourself. They also were
asked ¨how does Lomilomi correlate with ‘Ai Pono?¨ The response they had was similar to each other. Pi´ikea

ʻsaid, “Lomilomi has a connection to Ai pono because it's about having a good physical, mental, emotional

and spiritual health.” Kamalani said, “It correlates because you need to have a healthy mind and ‘Ai pono is
about being healthy.” They both mentioned that Lomilomi helps to bring your health to a maika‘i (good)
mindset. Helping to clear all your negative energy till there’s nothing but positivity. 

We also interviewed some of the kumu that decided to select aunty Pomaika'i to come and share her expertise
with the students from the health academy. The kumu that were interviewed were Kanoa Castro and Pua
Blossom Lincoln. Here is aunty Pua’s mana´o (thoughts) on why she picked aunty Pomaika‘i:

AUNTY PUALANI LINCOLN

 " I chose Aunty Pomaika‘i Freed to come here and share
with you guys because I recognized the mo'oku'auhau of
mastery that she comes from because she has a very
common factor with all of you and that she also attended
a charter school and she’s a product of a charter school.
She was introduced to her teacher at Halau Ku Mana
doing something very similar to what you guys are doing
now, engaging in community experts and practitioners
and it was because of that Experience that she was then
lead down a road that helped her to redefine but she was
going to be and how she's going to contribute to her
community. She is a great example of a young Hawaiian
that has taken on the kuleana, obligation of knowing and
has committed herself to sharing and ensuring that it's
sustained across generations to come. I knew that she
would have amazing things to share with you all. I had
no idea and it was unfathomable to even imagine the
impact that she was going to have on you guys. That I
was not prepared for.
I was prepared for her to come here and blow us all of
the water what she knew and to share from the depths of
her na´au who she is because of her practice but I could
not have been prepared for what she did for each of you
guys for her ability to tap deep into your guys ancestors
and who you guys are as kanaka and to bring that into
the Forefront of what you guys are going to do now with
your lives so I'm super happy. I'm more than happy that

we brought her in because she met all of my expectations
and beyond that for sure one of the things that I told her
when I first asked her if she would, I told her about the
new design of academies and she appreciated how we
are trying to engage you guys differently this year she
appreciated honoring 

I was prepared for her to come here and blow us all of
the water what she knew and to share from the depths of
her na´au who she is because of her practice but I could
not have been prepared for what she did for each of you
guys for her ability to tap deep into your guys ancestors
and who you guys are as kanaka and to bring that into
the Forefront of what you guys are going to do now with
your lives so I'm super happy. I'm more than happy that
we brought her in because she met all of my expectations
and beyond that for sure one of the things that I told her
when I first asked her if she would, I told her about the
new design of academies and she appreciated how we
are trying to engage you guys differently this year she
appreciated honoring"

UNCLE KANOA CASTRO

¨Aunty Pomaika´i Freed was the perfect choice/
candidate to come in to talk about Lomilomi because not
only was she trained by a cultural practitioner, but she's a
charter school graduate and she's fairly young, so she
connected to you guys in a different way.¨ 

I was prepared for her to come here and blow us all of
the water what she knew and to share from the depths of
her na´au who she is because of her practice but I could
not have been prepared for what she did for each of you
guys for her ability to tap deep into your guys ancestors
and who you guys are as kanaka and to bring that into
the Forefront of what you guys are going to do now with
your lives so I'm super happy. I'm more than happy that
we brought her in because she met all of my expectations
and beyond that for sure one of the things that I told her
when I first asked her if she would, I told her about the
new design of academies and she appreciated how we
are trying to engage you guys differently this year she
appreciated honoring"

UNCLE KANOA CASTRO

¨Aunty Pomaika´i Freed was the perfect choice/
candidate to come in to talk about Lomilomi because not
only was she trained by a cultural practitioner, but she's a
charter school graduate and she's fairly young, so she
connected to you guys in a different way.¨ 

IMU





AGRICULTURE

AND
ENERGY



Kalo

KALO

Add subheading

Kalo





ʻUALAWRITTEN BY: HOOIPO BERTELMANN AND KAHUA STRAUS
MANAIAKALANI KALUA
KEHAU MARSHALL
PETER VITOUSEK

“HE ‘UALA KA ‘AI Day two, we got to meet the founder of
HO’OLA KOKE I KA WI" Ulumau Puanui, Dr Peter Vitousek. He took
us on a short hike halfway up Pu’u Kihena.
The sweet potato is the food that ends famine quickly” When we got halfway up the pu’u we sat
This ʻōlelo noʻeau was said because it only took a few down and uncle Peter talked to us about the
field system, how it worked and how
months foruala to mature. important it was to our people. He also talked
about the uniqueness of the field system. He
What we did says “The dryland field systems of Hawaii, of
which Kohala was perhaps the best
‘Uala was one of the main resources that our organized,  produced remarkable innovations
kupuna relied on for food, along with ulu and in agriculture that were not just unique in
kalo.Researchers traced dry sweet potatoes Polynesia (and so invented in Hawaii, long
(‘uala) origins to Ecuador and Peru on the before European contact); they were also
western coast of South America, uala was unique globally.  They still have something to
said to be domesticated in 8000 BC. ‘Uala teach us about how abundant food can be
eventually made its way across the pacific grown with little inputs of energy and
ocean via our kupuna and made its way to water.” 
Hawaii. Its original name is Kumara, and
some well known names in polynesia are also Kohala Field System
Kumara, Uala, Kuumala etc.  
We, the agriculture academy had the
wonderful opportunity to go to Puanui
mauka and learn about the cultivation of the
‘Uala field system. We had the chance to
work along with Aunty Kehau Marshall,
Aunty Maile Repozo, and Uncle Peter
Vitousek. On day one aunty Kehau had us do
a little piece of our ho'olauna to introduce
ourselves not only to the new people we
were meeting but also the place.  Shortly
after our ho’olauna we got straight to work
and ended up harvesting a little roll of ‘Uala,
during this time we were told if you wanted
to get every ‘uala you need to dig deep and be
patient. 







 MAHALO
 NUI
 LOA

FROM THE STUDENTS OF KANU ACADEMIES

This adventure has been full of excitement,
exploration, and education for all of our haumāna.

ʻEvery student was exposed to important ike

kūpuna throughout the time of our academies. On
behalf of all of our haumāna, we´d like to mahalo

every community member who took time out of
their week to teach us valuable lessons in their field

of work. We would also like to mahalo our
generous teachers for planning and providing this

opportunity for us. This is only the beginning of
this amazing journey to come, and our haumāna are

ready to take on any challenges that lay ahead. 

MAHALO

COMMUNTIY
EXPERTS

NALEI KAHAKALAU
MANAIAKALANI KALUA
KEHAU MARSHALL
PETER VITOUSEK
NOA LINCOLN

ʻm K E A L I I L I L L Y

KEOKI & YVONNE CARTER

ʻP O M A I K A I F R E E D

KAMUELA YIM
KALEO BERTELMANN

KUMUʻS

DAVID CLARKE
KANOA CASTRO
PUALANI LINCOLN MAIELUA
SCOTT PLUNKETT