Beau Makanamakamae Shishido
Kula Kiʻekiʻe; Kumu ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi
High School Teacher
Kawaikini NCPCS
No Papakōlea, Oʻahu
Mai koʻu wa liilii, puni au i na moolelo kahiko Hawaii a minamina hoi ka naau i ka nele ana i keia mau moolelo. Aole nae kakou nele i na moolelo kahiko. He mau moolelo hiwahiwa no, a malama ia nae ma ka olelo kanaka. Oiai he lahui kakou ma ka kakou olelo kupuna, he lahui no hoi kakou ma ko kakou mau moolelo kupuna. A he alahele keia i kipapa mua ia e na kupuna. E ole lakou, ola mau ai ia ike i keia au hou nei. O kaʻu, he hoʻaʻo no ia e hoomau i ka lakou hana, i ole ai minamina ka naau o na opio o keia wa.
I enjoyed stories of old Hawaiʻi from when I was a little child and there was a sense of loss that there was such a lack of these stories. We are not lost to these old stories, however. They are precious and preserved in our native language. When we are a people literate in our native language, we become a people who tell our ancestral stories. This is a path that was first paved for us by our ancestors. Without them, the knowledge would not still be alive today. For me, I am trying to continue their work so that the young people today will not have to feel that same sense of loss.