Rebekah’s Studio

Aloha, studio fans!

The events of FestPAC in Hawaii, the 11-day festival of Pacific Arts and Culture, are past, but its impact will be long lasting. Occurring last month in June, Kanaka Maoli in Hawaiʻi hosted the most diverse cultural gathering on the face of the planet, representing 27 Pacific Islands nations. 

The theme was “Hōʻoulu Lāhui —Regenerating Oceania” (or, “Increase and Preserve the Nation”). Another such event will not occur in Hawaiʻi for another 50 years.

I donʻt want you to think I had my head in the sand, hence this late post. My ʻohana and friends wanted to participate, but how to choose where to go? We watched the arrivals of the waʻa kaulua (double-hulled canoes) to O’ahu on television.

The next day we went down to nearby Hōkūleʻa Beach at Kualoa Regional Park where there were craft booths and music playing, as well as the canoes!



We ran into friends Kura & David Tovey there.

We went to Honolulu to the “Festival Village” at the Hawaii Convention Center. 

There I bought a souvenir flower for my hair from the Marshall Islands village. It’s woven from coconut leaf fiber. I ran into my Hawaiian language teacher Bill Keoua Nelsen, who is also a lauhala weaver. He was hosting a booth displaying woven lauhala crafts.

Bill Keoua Nelsen

My takeaway is that the Hawaiian Islands are at the top of the Pacific triangle, and that we would do well to look South of us for additional perspective to ideas West and East.

I just read that the Cook Islanders delegation arrived home at Rarotonga within the past 24 hours.

Be well.

~Rebekah