Kamahaʻo Canoe Club Kahili Paʻalima Workshop

Kamahaʻo Canoe Club is at Iroquois Point, Kapilina Beach Homes on Iroquois Drive. You can’t miss their canoe hale from the road. They are a canoe club that provides for both recreational and competitive paddling. Kamahaʻo also has strong cultural ties with their annual participation in the Joint Base Pearl Harbor - Hickam Makahiki when they bring Lono by way of a double hull canoe to Hickam Harbor Beach. They have been participating in these makahiki games for well over 10 years. Joining them in Lono’s canoe for this years Kapuaikaula Makahiki were Navy Captain Hayes, Navy Commander Leppard and Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Tadevitch. Their paddlers have been frequent winners at these makahiki games.Kamahaʻo Canoe Club has also been an integral part of the Kalaeloa Heritage Park for many years. They participate in our community workdays, site tours and cultural workshops. Many workshops support cultural practitioners by providing access to resources from Papahanaumokuakea through the support of the Cultural Working Group of OHA, NOAA and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife. Some of these hands on workshops taught feather practitioners how to remove feathers from Laysan Albatross gathered on Midway Atoll (Pihemanu). The removal of the wing bones from these same birds by kakau (tattoo) practitioners in the same manner it was once done anciently by our ancestors. These wing bones are used by practitioners in traditional tattooing. The construction of the parks traditional kauhale also served as a workshop in that construction and the traditional knots learned to fasten the logs and thatching. Recently members of Kamaha’o Canoe Club were provided a workshop in the construction of Kahili Paʻalima or feathered hand-held kahili. They were assisted by Shad Kane a practitioner of feather gathering and the construction of tall kahili ku at the Kalaeloa Heritage Park. As part of the workshop they were informed on the materials they would need such as the wooden picks, floral tape, wooden dowel, feathers and where to purchase them. Their color preference for the feathers were red and blue. This is who they are…..the men and women of the sea ………and the land of the setting sun.Kamahaʻo Canoe Club is one of our many dedicated community workday volunteers. They are an integral part of all that we do at the Kalaeloa Heritage Park. Mahalo Kamahaʻo.