*1.3. Case Study: Halau ' ¯ Ohi'a and Ritual ¯*

The unique Halau ' ¯ Ohi'a program was developed and is taught by Kekuhi Kealiikanakaoleohaililani, ¯ a master teacher, who is trained in and has been practicing for over 40 years the Hawai'i traditions of *hula*, chant, and ritual. She is one of the *kumu hula* (teacher of traditional Hawaiian environmental dance) in the traditional dance school of learning Halau o Kekuhi, a position previously held by ¯ her mother and grandmother. We, Halau ' ¯ Ohi'a, began our journey in 2016 because of a novel ¯ question posed by Kumu Kekuhi's research assistant, who asked: (1) "How can Hawaiian culture help us do our jobs?" and (2) "How can this work place become a community?" From that profound query, the idea of Halau ' ¯ Ohi'a was born. The last two and a half years have included: 35 sessions; ¯ a *pamaomao ¯* (international exchange among communities) with Maori communities of Aotearoa (New Zealand); many *k¯ıpaepae* (a term created by *Kumu Hula* and faculty member from the University of Hawai'i, Taupouri Tangar ¯ o, for the process of setting the foundation for engaging relationships ¯ through traditional ritual); and *huaka'i* (journeys) to Kanaloa (a small, very sacred island off the coast of Maui that was confiscated by the US Military, denuded and defiled over 40 years of intensive bombing practice, and through nonviolent protest returned to the Hawaiian people for restoration and reconciliation), as well as *huaka'i* through all the *moku* (land divisions or sub-county districts) of Hawai'i Island: Kona, Ka'u, Puna, Hilo, and H ¯ am¯ akua. During these ¯ *huaka'i*, we meet and work with *kama'aina ¯* (children of a place), perform bioculturally structured ritual to enter place and perform the work of culturally-grounded restoration, conservation and resource management. We also engage larger audiences through academic presentations (for example, at the annual Hawai'i Conservation Conference, which attracts 1000+ participants from across Hawai'i and the Pacific region), and we also serve the ritual needs of our conservation community (for example, by helping to lead *k¯ıpaepae* for community, educational, or scientific events). Through these experiences, we understand more clearly now that if we are to succeed in our professions as stewards, then practice of our professions demand nothing less than the *aloha* and conviction of a devoted parent for an adored child.

We also understand that we must foster a collective resurgence of sacred commitment to the places and processes we steward, a change that we believe is required if we are to heal the biogeochemical wounds of unsustainable resource extraction and restore sacred relationships across our evolutionary family that together will ultimately foster socioecological well-being. We have, effectively, reimagined our personal and therefore our professional relationship to the places that we steward: the plants, the animals, the corals and microbes, the elements, the human people, the mountains and the valleys, the rivers and the shorelines, and the bays and the open ocean.

#### *1.4. Why We Need to Tell Our Story This Way*

Halau ' ¯ Ohi'a creates a space for collectively recognizing and celebrating deeply held personal ¯ motivations that often drive one's relationship with land, river, and sea. This kind of relational dialogue was either not present in our professional work environments or present in very limited ways; this contemporary reality had many of us thinking (to ourselves or in conversations with like-minded colleagues): how can we do our work better and more aligned with personal beliefs and practices? Kekuhi challenged us to use this writing opportunity to articulate our Halau ' ¯ Ohi'a learning in article ¯ format. To be absolutely honest, we struggled with this task, but through extensive discussions, have decided to share our learning in the form of ritual process manifested in the following journal article. You, the reader, may be surprised to learn that simply by arriving at this point of the paper, you have begun the ritual with us, which in the context of our learning as *haumana ¯* of Halau ' ¯ Ohi'a ¯ begins with a *Welina* (physical and spiritual welcome).

What follows in each section of this paper is an opportunity, if you choose, to engage your own ritual experience. The format then is quite different from what is encountered in indexed scientific journals, including *Sustainability*. Specifically, drawing from elements of our experience of Hawai'i practice, our ritual follows these five steps: the *Welina* or the welcome and orientation (Section 1 above); this is followed by the *Ho*'*omakaukau ¯* (To set intentions; Section 2), or personal and collective call to

preparation that includes setting personal intentions; after setting intentions, the *Ho'¯ ¯ınana* (To come to life; Section 3) follows and includes the sacred process of initiating, entering into, and moving through multiple layers of knowing and meaning; Section 4 is the *Pani* (Closing), where individually and collectively, we recognize that the ritual has been performed and it is time to transition to Section 5, the *Ho'oku'u* (To release from ritual), which allows the participant to return to the mundane after having engaged, embraced, and absorbed sacred lessons provided by the ritual catalyzed experience.

We have made this decision to go with a ritual-based format because this writing effort is not only focused on transferring information, but is intent on providing *hua 'ohi'a lehua ¯* (the seed-laden fruits of *'ohi'a ¯* ) that lead each reader and author into an opportunity for transformation—both yours and ours. So, by aligning the structure and intention of this paper with this particular ritual process, by making the writing and reading of this paper a ritual in itself, we feel that we are more able to effectively and authentically convey the transformative power of ritual in the pursuit of sustainable resource management and effective conservation. Finally, we believe that it is remarkably appropriate that this paper should be published in a sustainability-focused journal because sacred connections to self, community, and to place are foundational to maintaining the resilience and sustainability of any system.

#### **2.** *Ho'omakaukau ¯* **—Setting Intentions**

#### *Ritual and Multiple Layers of Meaning*

In setting our intentions for writing this ritual, we felt it important to demonstrate how ritual expression can provide a path forward for sustainability, resource management, or conservation professionals to actively be in sacred and intimate relationship with the places that we serve—much as one would be in relationship with one's family or closest friends. To do this, we build on our growing awareness of and commitment to the sacred relationships that define who we are in relation to self, family, community, as well as the world of organisms and processes that sustain us and that are sustained by us. To be clear, developing these spiritual relationships does not require a dismantling of one's personal/professional belief system, but only to consider the notion that spiritually based relationships promote well-being and support a more sustainable path into the future.

As part of the *Ho'omakaukau ¯* phase, we take time in our daily lives to practice, study, interpret, and learn from *mo'olelo* (life stories), *ka'ao* (stories of, for example, creation and cosmologies), *mele* (traditional songs and chants), *oli* (vocalizing), *hei* (performed string art linked to *oli*), *hula* (Hawai'i's environmental dance), and traditional Hawaiian scientific knowledge, such as that which is captured in *'olelo no'eau ¯* (wise sayings of biocultural significance). A central part of this practice is being aware of and prepared for embracing multiple sources of knowledge, multiple layers of meaning, and multiple ways of interacting with the world [21].

A central but sometimes overlooked feature of Indigenous knowledge systems is the very formal and structured botanical, ecological, agricultural, hydrological, atmospheric, oceanographic, etc., observations that shape Indigenous knowledge of a place [3]. This celebration of diverse ways of knowing is powerfully exemplified within the multilayered *Ki'i* (reflections) framework, composed of *Ki'i 'Iaka* (reflections of self), *Ki'i Honua* (reflections of community), and *Ki'i Akea ¯* (reflections of the universal), upon which we rely heavily to convey our lessons learned to you the reader. So, this article, a physical manifestation of the ritual into which we are asking you to engage, seeks to teach and transform at three different scales, perspectives, or levels including the deeply personal, the collective family or community or even regional, and the universal.

In reading a sacred text, interpreting a chant, or in creating a poem, we are drawn personally and uniquely to the exchange because our being is uniquely engaging the elements of a story or chant in that very moment and in a particular place. For example, you, the reader, in reading a story may connect to the sacrifice of an elder brother for his younger sibling because you are the eldest sibling of your family, perhaps have taken on much of the responsibility of raising younger siblings, and by making this connection to the story, certain sections of text or themes have a specific message for your

unique experience as elder sibling. This *Ki'i 'Iaka* reflection might be particularly poignant if you have just experienced a powerful sharing with your younger sibling. As the regional reflection, *Ki'i Honua* evokes for the participant a particular set of shared experiences—experiences that might bind together a family, community, or culture. For example, a chant might evoke the importance of a journey across a body of water for accessing new lands or escaping harmful conditions, and you may see your own family's or even community's immigrant journey reflected in the story. In Hawai'i, engaging this theme might conjure images of the *wa'a* (canoe) and the literal and metaphorical importance of the *wa'a* to the Hawaiian people as a vessel for discovery, for connecting peoples across the Pacific, but also as a vehicle for coordination, elevated cooperation, and in the best cases, collaboration. The *Ki'i Akea ¯* asks the participant to find that which is universal within the images, themes, or ideas that are being shared. For example, loss and sacrifice in preparation for the birthing of something new can be seen as broadly foundational to the human experience, and in the engaging of this cycle, we become part of and are provided an opportunity to learn from the global human experience of transformation by sacrifice.

In engaging this *Ki'i* framework here, this paper structured as ritual expression seeks to:


A final critical aspect of *Ho'omakaukau ¯* is the identification of one's genealogical (not necessarily genetic) and biogeographical relationships with places or processes. This is a fundamental concept, as these connections define one's reciprocal stewardship relationship with one's surroundings as much as elucidating one's human family genealogy helps us to understand our connection to parents and grandparents, uncles and aunts, the migrations that brought our families to specific geographies, and the cultural identity and traditions that shape and enrich our lives. Viewed more broadly, genealogy as understood within a Hawai'i perspective pushes us to consider broader connections defined by biogeochemical and evolutionary ties, including to sources of food and water that literally make up a resident's physical and spiritual being, and that person's connections to all members of the evolutionary tree of life. By becoming familiar with, engaging, and then cultivating gratitude for one's familial (*Ki'i 'Iaka*), biogeochemical (*Ki'i Honua*), and evolutionary (*Ki'i Akea ¯* ) relationships, those relationships that make up the broadly defined genealogies that sustain us, we are better prepared to enter into *Ho'¯ ¯ınana*, engage in ritual, learn from ritual and then apply lessons to our daily professional and personal lives.
