Outrigger canoe paddlers on the east side of Hawaiʻi Island are reviving the traditional place names of their home turf, Hilo Bay, with a mural.
The Hilo One Mural Project will be on display at the upcoming canoe regatta this Saturday.
Over the course of five days, about 50 youth paddlers from canoe clubs across the east side of the Big Island put down their paddles and picked up paint brushes to create a mural that maps out the traditional place names in and around Hilo Bay, or Hilo One.
"Eh we gotta keep saying these names, if not they will die," Alana Cabatu of Puna Canoe Club said.
Cabatu is one of the organizers of the mural and said the project was prompted in part by the passing of several notable kūpuna in Hilo's paddling community.
"What we’re seeing is a calling, a kahea, to have the next generation come up and not only just jump in the canoe and win medals, cause that’s part of it. But also we wanted to make sure the culture of hoe waʻa was perpetuated in a meaningful way," she said.
Keaukaha Canoe Club paddler Kaʻohulani Kalama, a senior at Ke Kula ʻO Nāwahīokalaniʻōpuʻu, said she’s starting to use the name "‘Ohele" instead of "Suisan," a popular jumping spot nearby.
"I ō mau, i mau ia ʻike. ʻOiai he mea waiwai nō ka ʻike a nā kūpuna. E like me Waiolama, ʻaʻole ma ʻaneʻi i kēia wā," Kalama said.
She said these traditional place names are filled with history that may not be obvious when viewing the current landscape. For example, Waiolama, was the name of a river and marsh area just inland of Hilo One. But it was drained and filled in the early 1900s, according to Kalama.
"No laila ma o ka hoʻōla hou ʻana, ma o kēia pena kiʻi, hiki iā kākou ke ʻike i ke ʻano ma mua. I ke ʻano o nā kūpuna," she said.
Kalama said reviving these names through the mural project also helps to preserve the wisdom of her ancestors. And that’s knowledge Cabatu hopes keiki continue to share.
"So now we’re going to reclaim these place names and say them as many times as possible," Cabatu said.
The Hilo One Mural is located on the ʻOhele side of the Puna Canoe Club Hālau.
