KA’APUNI UPDATES: OPENING CEREMONIES 2/21/09 12 a.m. midnight report

KA’APUNI E HO’A KUKUI O NA MOKU ‘AINA: A SPIRITUAL JOURNEY

(By Wendy OSHER © 2009)

Audio file: Ke’eaumoku speaks with us on the first leg of the 193-mile Ka’apuni procession as it sets off from Moku’ula.

KA’APUNI UPDATE SATURDAY, 2/21/09 1:30 A.M.: LIGHTING THE WAY, THE JOURNEY BEGINS

More than 100 people joined in the opening Ka’apuni protocol led with a chant by Kumu Kapono’ai Molitau.

Participants took turns rubbing sticks together before a flame was ignited, setting off a round of applause from those who had gathered at Moku’ula Friday night.

By midnight, the torch was lit, the procession turned right onto Front Street, and dozens of people with walking sticks, flags and a fullness of purpose headed west for the first leg of a 193-mile journey.

As the procession got underway, we walked alongside Ke’eaumoku Kapu, one of several event organizers, who spoke with us about the purpose of the event, the importance of unity in the Native Hawaiian community, and the hope for a better future for generations to come. The walk comes as a hearing in the U.S. Supreme Court Case on ceded lands nears.

The state administration filed an appeal of a Jan. 31, 2008, ruling by the Hawai’i Supreme Court which prohibits the state from selling or transferring ceded lands to third parties until the unrelinquished claims of Native Hawaiians are resolved.

The State of Hawaii v. Office of Hawaiian Affairs case is scheduled for a hearing in Washington D.C. on February 25th. Events have been planned in Honolulu, Seattle, San Francisco, Salt Lake City, New Haven, Connecticut, and Washington D.C. on that day.

The topic is just one of a list that event organizers of the Ka’apuni event on Maui hope to lend their unified voice and spirit of unity to. The Ka’apuni E Ho’a Kukui O Na Moku ‘Aina is scheduled to last for approximately six days and will likely conclude a day or two after the Wednesday hearing gets underway.

(Photos & Story by Wendy OSHER © 2009 Update. Images on this site are the property of the “Ka’apuni” and can not be used or reproduced without the expressed written consent of the Pacific Radio Group/Mauitoday.tv News Department.)