Every week on Monday and Tuesday, the 4th grade class meet with different members of the Nā Kālai Waʻa staff. The staff shared their knowledge and personal experiences of being crew members, captains, and a Pwo navigator, and how those positions on the waʻa all relate back to environment, knowing your surroundings as if itʻs your best friend. This is why one of the things we starting teaching the students from the beginning was how to kilo.
As the students of the 4th grade class focus on learning how to kilo (to watch closely, spy, examine, look around, observe, forecast) they learn about the wind, rain, the moon, and the sun. With learning about the sun, they learned the oli E Kānehoalani e. The following oli is a traditional oli that is chanted at sunrise. It is usually done three times and not begun until the sun rises. Here is a clip of half of the class and their first time learning the oli.
E Kānehoalani e
E Kānehoalani e, Kānehoalani e
Aloha kāua
Kau ka hōkū hoʻokahi
Hele i ke ala loa
Aloha kama kūkū kapa a ka wahine
He wahine lohiau, nana i ka makani
He makani lohiau, Haupu mai o loko ē