I am honored and blessed to be a part of an amazing team of women and a prestigious canoe club. This year Lanikai celebrates 60 years of perpetuating this ancient Hawaiian tradition. I have absolutely fallen in love with canoe paddling. I miss it terribly when I'm not on the ocean. So grateful to live in such a beautiful place and have amazing friends to learn and grow in this fabulous sport.
Tomorrow we bless our canoes. They are the most important team member as we compete in this year's regatta season.
Go Lanikai! Although truly, I deeply respect all my fellow paddlers from all the canoe clubs around Hawaii and elsewhere. We paddle and keep this Hawaiian tradition alive and can continue to pass it down to the next generations. I am honored to be a part of it. Aloha nui loa.
Some history:
The outrigger canoe or wa‘a, was held in high regard since it had the responsibility of returning men, women, and children home safely from ke kai (the sea).
The wa‘a was so important to the Hawaiian people that each wa‘a was considered part of their ‘ohana(family) and was treated as such. Just as important was the inoa (name) given the wa‘a.
Ho‘ola‘a wa‘a (Canoe Blessing)
Traditionally, nā wa‘a kino (canoe hulls) were fabricated from Koa trees and their ama (outrigger) were fabricated from the wiliwili-pua and the nā ‘iako (booms) were fabricated from the hau tree (sea hibiscus). These pieces were all lashed together using aha (Sennet made from coconut fiber) that was braided into flat cord.
The Hawaiian people believed that everything had mana (a living spirit or super natural energy). The Hawaiian ancestors taught that when a koa tree had fallen and died, it took on another life, a continued spirit called lā‘au mana. Therefore, when we bless a canoe we start by asking the koa tree from which the wa‘a was carved - for forgiveness in taking the trees life.
We also thank the forest from which the tree came from for allowing us to give its child a new life as a wa‘a.
This wa‘a is a gift from Aku (God) so we bless it. We also bless the wa‘a to celebrates its birth. From this point on, we consider it the seventh voyager of a six kanaka canoe.
We thank Aku (God), nā aumakua (the ancestors), Lono, the demigod of fertility which allowed the tree to grow, and Kanaloa the demigod of ke kai (the sea) for allowing us to paddle our wa‘a on his skin.
Today the majority of wa‘a are fabricated from modern composites. However, we still bless the canoes to pay our reverence to tradition and we still treat them as if they are part of our ‘ohana.
Many blessings to you.
Love always,
Maile
@mailemmm
@hilegacybuilder
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