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Waianae students
want Kanaloa tiki
to rise again
An art teacher goes to bat
By Lori Tighe
on the Internet to get the symbol
of Hawaiian pride back
up front at school
Star-BulletinThe tiki, which Waianae High School students carved from a discarded utility pole into the likeness of legendary Hawaiian ocean navigator Kanaloa, is like the Statue of Liberty to Regina Johnson.
"It's a symbol of greatness," said Johnson, a Waianae student. "Kanaloa was a great man who contributed a lot to the Hawaiian people. We figured the school and the community would be proud of what we've done."
But that wasn't to be the case. About half a dozen people, including some pastors, protested the tiki as a pagan idol, leading to its removal in mid-April.
Like the Statue of Liberty, the tiki has become a symbol for the students to stand up for what they believe. They want the tiki restored to the front of their school, where it once stood 10 feet high.
Their art teacher, Christine Ho, went public yesterday over the Internet with their plight.
"I feel very strongly the kids' accomplishment and Hawaiian heritage should be showcased in front of the school," Ho said.
She urged parents and community members to voice support of the tiki to Leeward school officials for the sake of the students' self-esteem and school pride.
She almost agreed with school officials who asked her to move the statue in back of the school earlier this week but decided she couldn't go against the students. "They believe so much in making a difference with their art. I need to stand up for them."
The controversy began when some Waianae residents, including the Rev. Jeff Yamashita of the Waianae Assembly of God, complained to school officials about the tiki, which they considered a Hawaiian religious symbol.
"We believe culture and religion are inseparable," Yamashita said, "and a permanent display of something, which to many in the community is a religious symbol, is inappropriate on the grounds of a public school where students of many cultures and religions attend."
Kanaloa was one of Hawaiians' four major gods, worshiped as separate deities, according to Nana I Ke Kumu (Look to the Source), published by Hui Hanai of the Queen Liliuokalani Children's Center. He was the ocean god, god of salt water, who by inhaling and exhaling made the ocean tides.
The Attorney General's Office cleared the tiki of religious significance when the school board asked for legal advice.
The Rev. Stephen Cheah, of Cavalry Assembly of God in Honolulu, said he considered the tiki animalism, the worship of nature. "Even if it doesn't lead to worship, it's a symbol, like the cross."
But Kanaloa was not a god, he was a man revered, said Hawaiian artist and master carver Pat Pine, who directed the tiki's production.
For Kanaloa's feats as the Hawaiian people's first recorded navigator, he came to represent the ocean as a spiritual guardian, Pine said.
"Six thousand years ago, Kanaloa first brought people from Indonesia to the Pacific. Fifteen hundred years from now, there'll be a 'god' named Abraham Lincoln," Pine said.
The banishment of the tiki resembles discrimination against indigenous people's culture and values, said Kaleo Patterson, a Hawaiian Episcopal pastor of Kaumakapili Church in Kalihi.
"When you look at the Hawaiian culture and the blatant destruction of historical sacred sites, it's coming from the same place as the feeling directed at this tiki," said Patterson, who is also executive director of the Hawaii Ecumenical Coalition.
Wanting a Hawaiian icon for the tiki, Pine and Ho decided on Kanaloa because Waianae High School sits beside the ocean. About 25 art students worked on the tiki every Sunday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. for three months.
Waianae Principal JoAnn Kumasaka asked Ho to poll the faculty and student body on where the tiki should stand. Ho's students received 800 student and 130 teacher signatures, which overwhelmingly wanted the tiki in front of the school. It went up on Feb. 19 and came down April 14. It now rests in the back of Ho's art class.
"I still feel the same: It's an art project the students should feel proud of," Kumasaka said. "They worked hard on it. But we recognize there is a concern from the community."
Kumasaka plans to meet with the art students this Monday to gather their ideas on how to resolve the controversy.
"We want to make sure it's not a divisive thing in the community," said Bruce Naguwa, deputy superintendent of the Leeward school district. He also plans to meet with the art students for their input.
But most students believe in only one solution: return the tiki to the front of the school.
"The tiki was not meant to be anything religious. It was an art project," said Johnson, a senior. "We've never created anything successful before until this, and there's been so many negatives and misunderstandings."
Email teacher Christine Ho
