Measuring the Elements: A Lecture by Lilikalā Kame’eleihiwa

Hālāwai, in collaboration with Arts in a Changing a America, Asian/Pacific/American Institute at NYU, Safe Harbors Indigenous Arts, and La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, proudly present a lecture by Dr. Lilikalā Kameʻeleihiwa. Dr. Kame'eleihiwa is a senior professor and the current director at the Kamakakūokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.  She is the lead professor in the field of Kumu Kahiki: Comparative Hawaiian and Polynesian Studies.

Recent research by faculty and students of the Kamakakūokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies has shown that there are a number of Hawaiian and Tahitian temples built in ancient times with one wall measuring 0˚ North. Such temples were used to track the movement of the sun through solstice and equinox, and ordered the worship of Akua or Elemental Gods. The sharing of this technology was made possible by Polynesian voyaging canoes like Hōkūleʻa! Come see how the Ancestors did it!

The Hōkūleʻa is a Polynesian voyaging canoe built and navigated entirely in the style of the native Polynesian people.

It's currently on a three-year voyage around the world, spreading a message of international cooperation, bridging the modern and the traditional, and advocating for our cultural and environmental resources.

On June 5, 2016, it plans to dock in New York City. Hālāwai is working with the Polynesian Voyaging Society to pave the way, organizing logistics, spreading the word, and planning events leading up to and during the Hōkūleʻa's visit.

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