Families of Waimea Middle School students are invited to the free Ohana Makahiki Festival from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday in Waimea Middle School’s Malaai garden and fields.
Families of Waimea Middle School students are invited to the free Ohana Makahiki Festival from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday in Waimea Middle School’s Malaai garden and fields.
Makahiki games will be staged on the soccer field and include games of skill such as: konane, a form of checkers; ulumaika, or disk rolling; moa pahee, or dart sliding, and huki ma ka papa, or one-on-one tug-of-war. Games of strength include hakamoa, opponents each hold a leg up while forcing the other off-balance or out of the ring; uma, or arm wrestling from a prone position, and pohaku hooikaika, or stone toss.
A lupe, or kite, demonstration will be held on the field. Families will learn the history of kites and their importance to Polynesian voyagers. Participants will each make a kite to take home. The kites will be flown at the Makahiki Championship Tournament in January. They will also be flown the day the Hokulea canoe sets sail in mid-2013.
Voyaging foods including coconut, kalo, sugar cane and ulu will be shared at stations in the garden. Cultural practitioners will talk about growing and preparing these foods and offer samples. Families will also share in voyaging games and activities complementing lessons students are learning in science, math and social studies. Participants will be given passports to stamp at each station to redeem for a gift from the garden.
For more information, visit waimeamiddleschool.org.