FLAT STANLEY VISITS LAIE, HI

FLAT STANLEY VISITS LAIE, HAWAII

We have a visitor from Clermont, Florida. His name is Flat Stanley. Caleb Allen sent him to visit us and to travel around the island. Flat Stanley is a very friendly fellow, just like Caleb. He has made several new friends and two of them, Leilani and Mele are going with him on some of his travels.

May 5, 2009 we were invited to a very special celebration at Hukilau (hoo-key-lau) Beach so we took Flat Stanley and his friends with us. This was going to be a celebration of the launching of a sea going canoe called the Iosepa (ee-oh-sep-a), which is Hawaiian for Joseph.

Many people from the island came to help the communities of Laie (la-ee-ay), Kahuku (ka-hoo-koo), and Hauula (how-oo-la) prepare the Iospea for its voyage. They prayed, sang, danced hula, chanted old Hawaiian chants, and gave leis and presents; all to bless the crew and the canoe for a safe voyage to the nearby islands. You see the crew would steer the canoe in the same way that the ancient Polynesians steered their canoes—by the sun and the stars. The crew was primarily Brigham Young University Hawaii students with professors and community members who knew how to read the ocean currents, the sun, and the stars.  It was going to be a very exciting voyage.

The entire Laie Elementary School walked to Hukilau Beach to participate in the ceremonies. They sang “We Are The Children” and presented leis to the crew members. We asked a first grade teacher if it would be okay to have Flat Stanley and his friends take a picture with her class and she gave her permission.

Before the ceremony began Flat Stanly, Leilani, and Mele wanted to climb on board the Iosepa. Caleb’s Grandpa Lee knew one of the crew members, Mike, so he asked permission to have the pictures taken and Flat Stanley and his friends were able to go onto the canoe.

There were many people to sing songs and give leis and presents to the crew. One of the very special groups was a school where everyone speaks only Hawaiian. You might not think that speaking only Hawaiian is so unusual unless you understand that the Hawaiian people had nearly forgotten how to speak their language until about 20 years ago. At that time people thought the Hawaiian language was gone because less than 1,000 people in all of the Hawaiian islands could speak Hawaiian. They were very sad that the young Hawaiian people would lose their language and their culture. So a few people who could still speak the language began to work very hard to bring the language back. They taught other people to speak Hawaiian. They encouraged the students in the schools all over Hawaii to be taught Hawaiian words. Over the last twenty years the number of people speaking Hawaiian has grown because the people wanted to work very hard to save their language and their culture.

The school prepared to participate in the launching ceremony by every student and their parent making a ti leaf lei. They also learned a special Hawaiian chant, which they chanted as they circled the canoe. When they were all in a circle around the canoe they then tied their individual leis together to make one enormous lei that went around the entire canoe. It was a wonderful thing to listen to and to watch.

After everyone had presented their leis and presents it was time to move the Iosepa off the beach and into the water. In ancient days people made ropes of coconut fiber and pulled the canoe into the water. Today people help pull but a tractor and special metal rails under the canoe made the work much easier. Caleb’s Grandpa Lee joined the people pulling on the ropes to help the canoe go into the ocean.

We had such an enjoyable day watching and learning about the Hawaiian culture. We loved being a part of this community that is working so hard to keep the cultures of Polynesia alive for not only today but for future generations. We hope you have enjoyed this little adventure with Flat Stanley.