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ʻAumākua


Ever feel like someone's looking out for you? Visit Honokahua, Maui, to learn about ‘aumākua.

Unit lesson

ʻAumakua

Video Questions

1) What are ʻaumākua?

2) Why do ʻaumākua try to protect and communicate with their family members?

3) Have you ever had a feeling that says, “Don’t do it”? How do you react when you have that kind of feeling?

4) In Hawaiʻi we often have trade winds. How can you tell the difference between a regular breeze and a time when ʻaumākua might be trying to communicate?

5) Certain forms in nature are considered ʻaumākua for some families. How should you show respect for animals such as the pueo (owl) and manō (shark)?

6) The video shows a kiʻi, or sculpture representing ʻaumākua. If you were to create artwork representing ʻaumākua, what materials would you use? What shapes and motifs would you include? Draw or make an example of your ideas.

 

Video Vocabulary

1) pā ka makani
the wind is blowing; the wind is considered one of the signs through which ʻaumākua communicate

2) kiʻi
a picture of some sort, a sculpture

3) ʻaumakua
an ancestral family guardian that takes on the form of an animal

4) ʻaumākua
the plural form of ʻaumakua

5) pō
night, darkness; the realm of the gods and ancestors; in the Kumulipo, pō is the source of all life

6) puka
hole or perforation; a door or gate

7) ao
daylight, dawn; to dawn; in the Kumulipo, at the end of wā ʻewalu, the eighth age, the coming of the light is known as ao.

8) hala
to pass away, to die

9) leina
a place where the spirit can jump from this world (ao) to go to pō

10) Makaluapuna
the name of the point of land that is the leina for the Honokahua area of Maui Island

11) ʻohana
family, relatives

12) manō
shark, a common form taken by ʻaumākua

13) pueo
Hawaiian short-eared owl, a common form taken by ʻaumākua

14) kuleana
privilege and responsibility

15) wahi kapu
a sacred place

16) naʻau
guts, intestines, figuratively, the “heart” of a person

17) hoʻomana
to worship or empower through religious ceremony

18) hānai
to feed

 

Guiding Questions

English

Hawaiian