Ha'akūmalae-Into the Center of Knowing…
is the official Hawai'i protocols program at Hawai`i Community College. Delivered by the I Ola Hāloa Center for Hawai'i Life Styles, Ha'akūmalae is sensational and engaging... a pulsing invitation to enter into the informed practices of Hawai'i protocols as a way to keep us in balance with the natural, brilliant, and the very human world we live in today.
Ha'akūmalae is where the "community" gathers. Here you'll develop real-life partnerships outside of the classrooms with fellow learners, faculty and staff members of the College and the University of Hawai'i at Hilo. It is here where our families and our local and global communities come together to reacquaint ourselves with what it means to be Hawai'i. Simply said, Ha'akūmalae is the practice of knowing our place in the universe.
Haʻakūmalae - Into the Center of Knowing
Ua moʻa ka maiʻa, he keiki māmā ka Hina.
The bananas are cooked, [and remember that] Hina has a swift son.
"Letʻs finish this before we get caught." This saying comes from the legend of Māui and the mud-hens. For a long time he tried to catch them in order to learn the seret of making fire. One day he overheard one of them saying these words. He caught them before they could hide and forced them to yield the secret of fire. (ʻŌlelo Noʻeau #2830)
The ʻalae is a kinolau of Hina, Goddess of nocturnal currents and intuition. And as the mud-hen is both winged and water born, this speaks to the access to both conscious (winged) and unconscious (water) systems of knowing.
According to our kaʻao (myth) traditions, the ʻalae kept on Puʻuʻōpeʻapeʻa the secret of making fire from human-kind until Māui, son of Hina, wrung the neck of the chief of the ʻalae flock until the secret was exposed. After receiving the secret of fire making, Māui burned the lae (forehead) of the ʻAlae as reminder of this achievement. Having said this, the act of branding the forehead with fire is a metaphor for convincing the truth of knowing to enter into the world of the now- one might say, to experience the world from the eye of all-knowing (the third eye).
Haʻakūmalae, Into the Center of Knowing Protocols Program takes its cues from this mythic reality.
The practice of Hawaiʻi culture is not just about polishing antiquity. The Practice of Hawaiʻi culture is about making room for our most ancient memories and experiences to contribute to the quality of life we live today. Tangaro - 2009
Pāmaomao
Hawai'i Pāmaomao- Into the Horizons of Knowing…
is the protocols complement to Ha'akūmalae that prepares serious protocol members of our community to engage our Hawaiʻi protocols as a bridge for a rich and meaningful interface with our indigenous families from around the world. Our Kaʻao (Sacred Stories) tell us that, as indigenous members of Moananuiākea (Expansively Broad Ocean), we are all profoundly connected.
Hawaiʻi Pāmaomao allows for us to prepare and step into the experience of knowing how we connect, and more importantly, how we can enter this experience into the quality of life we live today.