MO‘OLELO, STORYTELLING: STORYTELLERS OF HAWAI‘I GIVE VOICE TO THE UTILIZATION AND PRESERVATION OF A HAWAIIAN TRADITION IN URBAN HIGH SCHOOLS A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE DIVISION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI‘I AT MĀNOA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF EDUCATION IN PROFESSIONAL EDUCATIONAL PRACTICE AUGUST 2014 By Sandra Lea Mapuana Patria Dissertation Committee: Jeffrey Moniz, Chairperson Hannah Tavares Keywords: mo‘olelo, ha‘imo‘olelo, storytellers, preservation, pedagogy i Dedicated to my sister Puanani and my son Ikaika ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS To Ke Akua and all my Hawaiian ancestors To my grandparents, Tutu kane Fred Pregil, Sr. and Tutu wahine Puanani Helenihi To my parents, Nelson and Barbara, for all their sacrifices To my son, Ikaika To my kaikuaana, Puanani, and her children, Puananionaona, Kawehi, and Pomaikai To my brother, Dana To Kawenaokalaniahiiakaikapoliopelekawahineaihonua Pukui To na haimoolelo, Dr. Ishmael Stagner, Barbara Pregil, Francine Dudoit, Mahealani Kanae To Dr. Jeffrey Moniz, Ph. D, Assistant Professor, doctoral advisor, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa To Dr. Hannah Tavares, Ph. D, Associate Professor, mentor, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa To Saint Damien, Saint Marianne Cope, Uncle Johnny Cambra, and all the patients of Kalaupapa For the grace of Ke Akua, God and the support of the above-mentioned parties, I privilege and express my humble gratitude for your manao and your faith in me. iii ABSTRACT My doctoral research is an inquiry into the art of moolelo, storytelling and its implications for educational settings particularly in underserved urban schools. For this study, I conducted extensive interviews with storytellers, both practitioners of storytelling and non- professionals, in various parts of the state. I approached this inquiry with a Hawaiian lens searching to gain insights into the purpose, the use of, the role, and the educational significance of the art of moolelo. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgments.......................................................................................................................... iii Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... iv Foreword ........................................................................................................................................ vi Introduction ......................................................................................................................................1 Chapter I: Kuu Moolelo o Kalaupapa .........................................................................................3 Chapter II: Literature Review ....................................................................................................10 Chapter III: Methodology of Data Collection and Inquiry ....................................................48 The Storytellers of Old - The Storytellers of the 19th Century .................................................60 Historicizing the Arrival of the Hawaiian Language Newspaper in Hawaii .....................61 Moses Manu – Storyteller, Historian, Politician, Pound master ........................................66 Robert Louis Stevenson, Louis ..........................................................................................69 King Kalakaua – His Majesty the King and Robert Louis Stevenson ...............................71 Mary Kawena ula o kalani a Hiiaka i ka poli o Pele ka wahine ai honua Pukui ...............75 Scheherazade......................................................................................................................79 The Brothers Grimm ..........................................................................................................83 The Descendants – The Storytellers of the 21st Century ...........................................................89 Ka Moolelo o Dr. Ishmael Stagner ....................................................................................91 Ka Moolelo o Tutu Kawena ...............................................................................................96 Ka Moolelo o Barbara Pregil ...........................................................................................100 Ke Kala Ulaula – The Red Sun ........................................................................................104 Penny Breakfast ...............................................................................................................106 Kekai o Waiawa ...............................................................................................................107 Iolani Luahine – “What is this Place?” ..........................................................................109 China “Clippa” ...............................................................................................................110 Kalaupapa 1998 ...............................................................................................................111 Ka Moolelo o Mahealani Kanae ......................................................................................114 Aunty Moana’s Hula Halau .............................................................................................117 Francine Dudoit ...............................................................................................................119 Ka ulu Kukui o Lanikaula – The Kukui Grove of Lanikaula ...........................................122 Kalaupapa 1920 Instruments of Music ............................................................................124 Chapter IV: Findings of the Data Analysis ............................................................................125 Intergenerational Transfer and Acquisition Transfer of Cultural Knowledge/Hawaiian ...... ..........................................................................................................................................129 Cultural Knowledge Transfer and Acquisition through Hawaiian Epistemology Ao .....133 Preservation and Advocacy of Moolelo ...........................................................................139 Place Names or Place-Based Moolelo .............................................................................142 Moolelo through Time and Space ....................................................................................145 Chapter V: Conclusions, Implications, Recommendations ..................................................148 Appendix A .................................................................................................................................160 Appendix B .................................................................................................................................163 Appendix C .................................................................................................................................164 A Final Tribute to Dr. Ishmael Stagner, “Uncle Ish” .............................................................167 References ...................................................................................................................................170 v FOREWORD Stories are timeless. They move through the ages with ease and the prowess of the teller and contain centuries of ancient wisdom. Stories teleport us to familiar and unfamiliar lands. Stories expand our imagination, awaken old memories, and deliver new memories to future generations. Stories are records of our history, our birthright, and our identity as a people. Stories in their many forms, folktales, folklore, legends, myths, memoirs, journals, letters, dance, songs, and oral histories imprint our earthly existence and insure our survival. Above all, stories teach. Embedded in stories are the lessons, the values, and the beliefs of society that are the very core of who we are as a people. In his dialogue with the devil, Doctor Parnassus1 maintains: Somewhere in this world, right now, someone is telling a story. A different story . a saga, a romance, a tale of unforeseen death. It doesn’t matter. It’s sustaining the universe. That’s why we’re still here. You cannot stop stories being told (Gilliam & McKeown, n.d.). Mapuana Patria Researcher and Dissertation Author January 18, 2014 1 Parnassus [Parnassos] is a mountain near Delphi in Greece. It is sacred to Dorians, Apollo, and the Corycian nymphs. Roman poets believed Parnassus to be the home of the Muses, and they received their inspiration from Parnassus’ Castalian Spring. In Greek Mythology, the muses were the nine daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne— Calliope: Muse of epic poetry, she carried a stylus and a tablet or trumpet; Clio: Muse of history, she carried a trumpet and scrolls; Erato: Muse of lyric and hymns, she carried a lyre; Euterpe: Muse of flute planning; Melpomene: Muse of tragedy, she carried the mask of tragedy; Polyhymnia: Muse of mime, she had a pensive attitude; Terpsichore: Muse of dance, she carried the lyre and plectrum; Thalia: Muse of comedy, she carried the smiling mask and a shepherd’s crook; and Urania: Muse of astronomy, she carried a globe and compass (Daly, 1992, p. 81). vi INTRODUCTION For many years storytelling has been an integral part of my high school curriculum. The stories we tell impart knowledge and yield a sense of humanity. Through our stories we share our joy and our pain, expose our fears and our frustrations, we uncover secrets, and we learn the truth. In other words, stories