DC | Hoʻolauleʻa: Welcoming Kānepō Ka Lua

Join the museum to welcome Kānepō Ka Lua (meaning Kānepō the Second) to Washington, DC with a hoʻolauleʻa (Hawaiian celebration). Kānepō Ka Lua, a volcanic stone from the famed area of Kaʻauea that overlooks the caldera of Halemaʻumaʻu, hails from the district of Kaʻū on the island of Hawaiʻi. Kānepō was loaned to the museum for a 20-year period by Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park in consultation with their Kūpuna (Elders) Consultation Group. The group of elders recognized the importance of sending a new stone to serve as the museum’s Western cardinal marker and as an ambassador for Kānaka Maoli in DC. Bring the family to celebrate Kānepō Ka Lua with curator tours, music by The Aloha Boys, hula performances by Halau Ho'omau I ka Wai Ola O Hawai'i, and hands on activities.

*Please Note: For visitors who may leave hoʻokupu (offerings) or gifts for Kānepō Ka Lua, please do not leave anything made of synthetic materials. Appropriate gifts include lei made of organic materials and paʻakai (salt) from Hawaiʻi. After some time, hoʻokupu and gifts of lei and other vegetal materials will be collected by our staff and taken to the museum’s Cultural Resources Center (CRC) in Suitland, Maryland. The materials will then be buried in the forest surrounding the CRC so it can decompose and return to the earth.

SCHEDULE

Outdoors, Welcome Plaza

• 11:30 AM, 1:30, and 3:30 PM |Curator Tour: Kānepō Ka Lua
• • Join Dr. Halena Kapuni-Reynolds (Associate Curator of Native Hawaiian History and Culture) to learn more about Kānepō Ka Lua’s journey to Washington, D.C. Tours are limited capacity, first come, first served.

Level 1, Potomac Atrium

• 11 AM, 1, and 3 PM | Performances by The Aloha Boys
• • The Aloha Boys, Glen Hirabayashi, Isaac Hoʻopiʻi and Irv Queja–met in 1996 while playing music for their children at Hālau O 'Aulani, a school of Hawaiian culture, in the Washington, D.C. area. The band plays kanikapila or an acoustic down-home, backyard-style Hawaiian music, which includes everything from the very traditional to contemporary songs and styles. Their music has taken them from the Washington, DC area to venues throughout the United States and abroad. The music of The Aloha Boys brings them and their audience back to a lifestyle that is unique and precious to Hawaiʻi.
• 12, 2, and 4 PM | Performances by Hālau Hoʻomau I ka Wai Ola O Hawaiʻi
• • Hālau Hoʻomau I ka Wai Ola O Hawaiʻi, meaning “through hula and halau, we remain young at heart and full of life,” is a traditional Hawaiian cultural school. The Hālau, established in 2000, is based in Alexandria, Virginia. The Hālau was blessed by their Auntie Genoa Keawe and Auntie Nona Beamer who presented an ipu heke ʻole (a gourd instrument used in hula) that belonged to Nona’s mother Helen Desha Beamer to carry on the teachings. The Hālau’s Kumu Hula Manu Ikaika studied under John Piʻilani Watkins and Mahina Bailey.
• 11 AM–1 PM, 2, and 4 PM | Hands On: Ti Leaf Bracelets
• • Learn about the cultural significance of the Ti (Cordyline fruticose) or Hawaiian good luck plant. Native Hawaiians use the Ti from root to leaf, incorporating it into lei making, food wrapping, and ceremonial practices. Visitors can make a Ti leaf bracelet to take home!

Level 3, imagiNATIONS Activity Center

• 11-11:45 AM, 12:30-1:15 PM, and 2:30-3:15 PM | Hands On: Kapa Workshop with Page Chang
• • Learn the art of Hawaiian kapa making with Kumu (teacher) Page Chang of Pūkoʻa Studios in Waimānalo, Hawaiʻi. Participants will have the opportunity to strip a branch of wauke (paper mulberry) and pound the baste fiber with traditional tools and make their own piece of kapa to take home.

*Schedule and events subject to change without prior notice.