Ka’apuni Completes 193 Mile Journey with Renewed Faith

The Ka’apuni marchers completed a 193 mile trek abound Maui with renewed faith and hope for the future. In closing out the seven day journey, event organizer Ke’eaumoku Kapu reflected upon the kupuna and ancestors who he said serve as a source of light for the next generation.

Photo by Wendy Osher.

“Every day, the torch got heavier and heavier,” Kapu said, “then I realized why. It’s because we were carrying the weight of our ancestors with us on this journey,” he said.

Kapu explained that as the procession traversed the trails, roads and coastal regions of Maui, “across moku (district) boundaries, and into the homes welcoming families” it lit the way for future generations to learn from kupuna who walked along side them. “We walk on the iwi (bones) of our ancestors,” said Kapu.

Earlier in the journey, Uncle Richard Ho’opii, who chose the name of the procession, “E Ka’apuni A Ho’a Kukui Na Moku ‘Aina,” explained that the title speaks to the walk around the island as a way to enlighten and unify the people of Maui’s twelve moku.

While sitting with Uncle Richard during a stop in Kula moku of Kihei, he explained about the different winds, rains and practices of the various regions of Maui. By discussing the variations and similarities, he said, different regions can learn from each other and from the kupuna who passed down the knowledge in those places.

Photo by Wendy Osher.

As part of the closing ceremony, members of the procession were given the chance to mention the names of the kupuna who came before them. As names were spoken, the completed circuit around Maui was made one notch tighter as family ties were realized, and the light of the torch was returned to Moku’ula where it began.

The lingering question of, what’s next, was left to the individual marchers to grasp and take a hold of, as Kapu explained “the light continues to burn within each and every one of us.”

*(Images were taken by Pacific Radio Group/KPOA/mauiNOW.com, with the expressed permission of event organizers and are not to be copied or reproduced.)

(Story & Photos by Wendy Osher © 2009)