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Welcome to the Cultural Curriculum Chat

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, where we will dive deep into

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this captivating folkloric tale

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that transcends time and

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place . Today , join us as

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we uncover the remarkable

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story of Kape'e Mahu , a

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mystical journey of a dual

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male and female spirit traveling

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from Tahiti to Hawaii

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armed with awe-inspiring healing

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powers . So stay tuned for this

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episode filled with magic , folklore

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and the enduring power

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of legends . Hello

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everyone , my name is Jeba Edmonds

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and welcome to the Cultural Curriculum Chat

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Podcast and , if you're watching

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me on YouTube , mrs Edmonds

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, cultural Corner . Now , this story

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is riveting and

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it has both historical

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connotations with folklore

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and magic , and I know

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your students are going to want

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to enjoy themselves

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. And it is written by Hidna

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Ale'e , moana Wong-Kalu

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, dean Hamer and

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Jill Wilson , illustrated by

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Daniel Sousa . Now

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, I apologize if the

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pronunciation might be a little

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off , but I am going to practice while

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I keep going . I love

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this book . It is

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about four human

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beings from Tahiti , and

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they possess the power of both mind , body and spirit . And they were

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dual spirited as well , with male and female spirits in

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their hearts and in their minds and in

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their bodies . And they left

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Tahiti , the four of them , and

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ventured off into the beaches

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of Waikiki in Hawaii . Now

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each of them were visitors

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that seemed towering and intimidating

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but they possessed a soft-spoken

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and gentle spirit . They came

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for lots of reasons

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of healing the people in

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Waikiki and what

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I loved about it with the

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name of Mahu it is

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a term that talked about two-spirited

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people , two-spirited beings . You

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see that in a lot of indigenous cultures

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of people that have two spirits

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and I

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love how the leader of the

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group of the Kapa'amahu , where

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the gods that favored

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. In this book it says four

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visitors with the skill and the science

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of healing . And Kapuni

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possessed the great spiritual power

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. And the second

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healer

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was Kinohai , who saw

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the ailments in seeing and

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healed through sight . Kahaloa

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could heal from afar

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. Kaha

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Loa could heal from afar . And Kapa'e Mahu , who was the

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leader of Waikiki in Hawaii

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, really did admire

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and brought down four big healer

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stones . And

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I don't want to give away too much about it , but the Kape'e

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Mahu people , the Mahu people , came with their dual spirits and their power of healing

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and they did this wonderful ceremony that lasted a full moon , by praying and possessing

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their power over these healer

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stones , and it remained sacred

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for centuries , hundreds

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and hundreds of years . These stones

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were a sacred

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site . They were revered

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with all of the people of

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that island nation and

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with colonialism and

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missionaries and

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government overthrowing

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and taking over and tourism and

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statehood , those healer

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stones started to be

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erased by being pushed aside

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, literally being buried . You're

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going to learn about with your students

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where they buried them . Where

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they buried them , here's a hint Pins that are white and

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a big bowling ball . Yep , mm-hmm , it was buried under a bowling alley

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, y'all yes . And so it wasn't

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until much later that it was

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recovered and brought

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to a very

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popular square in

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the area in Hawaii

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, to the connotations

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of why other

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people's perception of what is

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sacred and true is

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not perceived through a lot of people's

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lenses . So when we're

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talking about indigenous peoples and

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their sacred rituals and their sacred

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healing powers , a lot

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of people who don't realize that tend

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to push

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it over somewhere else , erase

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the historical connotation

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, they erase the oral history about

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it , and so the indigenous

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people are starting to really

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speak up even more

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and elevate and amplify their voice

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, voice and using

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that true history of

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power that these stones still

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hold as a living power

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. Now

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that you can find these four healer stones , a lot of people don't even know what

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they mean if they don't take into account the historical

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context of these four sacred

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stones . The author does

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a wonderful job , I'm sorry

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. The authors do a wonderful

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job in having

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both the translation of

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the Olelo

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Nihau , which is a

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form of the Hawaiian language spoken

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by the indigenous people

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of the Hawaiian dialect

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one of the many Hawaiian dialects

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into the

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story . The author's notes

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said that this must have

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been one of the most accurate

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depicted dialects of

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the time when the Kape'e

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Ma'u and the other Ma'u beings

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came from

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Tahiti . So they tried to make it

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as accurate as possible

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for the readers to understand and

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of course , it does have the English language

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interpretation below . It

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is such a powerful book

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, to say the least . It is such a powerful

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book , to say the least . And the native

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beings , the indigenous beings , talk

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a lot more in the author's

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notes about the third gender

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identities , you know , and it was

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once respected in

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the past in indigenous cultures

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and now it's more

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of a target of , and I quote

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, hatred and discrimination . So

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the first author wanted our young people , and I quote , to understand that the ability to embrace

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both the male and female aspects of their spirit is not a weakness

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but a strength , a reason

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to rejoice and not fear

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. End quote . They even

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filmed a wonderful

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short documentary . So

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it's a wonderful short animated film too as well . So I highly recommend

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reading this book , understanding

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gender fluidity when

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we're talking about intersectionality

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in our classroom structure

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. Ka Pe'e Mahu is

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a wonderful tale , that is

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true , with some folkloric

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how do you say it

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? With some folkloric tendencies

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, as well as magic

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. That's all I have to say . It is

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a magical book y'all , and

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I really enjoyed it . And I

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learned so many historical contexts

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inside this book that

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I didn't know existed

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. And I remember being on

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the beaches in Waikiki

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and I really

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remember on the beaches of Waik

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powers , the more you can

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enjoy and understand

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the cultural norms

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and traditions

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that still resonate today . So

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I highly recommend getting this book

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Kapa'e Mahu by

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Hine Le Moana

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, wongkalu , dean Hamer

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and Joe Wilson , illustrated by Daniel

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Sousa . Award-winning

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authors , award-winning book . You

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need this on your shelves and watch that

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short animated film as well

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to pair with this

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book , so your students can really understand

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the meaning behind this book . So

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, before I go , I

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want you to be a part of my

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community of breaking

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down barriers and creating

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a culture of multicultural

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educational resources and tools

10:50

. Don't forget to subscribe

10:53

in the link below so

10:55

you get first and foremost

10:57

notice on a

10:59

new episode that drops . So even

11:01

ring that notification bell so

11:04

you get it in real time

11:06

. Thanks again for joining us on

11:08

the Cultural Curriculum Chat and

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Mrs Edmond's Cultural Corner . I

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look forward to seeing you here same

11:15

time next week . Bye , bye .