“Kaha ka ‘io ka malie.
The ‘io bird (hawk) poises in the calm.
Said in admiration of a handsome person. An ‘io dips gracefully as it flies, with wings that flap slowly. ”
'Io Hawaiian Hawk by Alan Schmierer
I’ve been seeing hawks on my early summer morning walks in Oak Park. One morning, I heard crows cawing loudly. I looked up and saw five of them in a huge tree that had little or no leaves. They were cawing because a large brown hawk was circling about very near to them.
Then the hawk joined them on that same big tree. 5 crows and a hawk in the cool, early morning calm. The crows got very silent, as if they were communicating telepathically with the hawk.
Hawks or ‘io are ‘aumakua in Hawaii. ‘Aumakua are family or personal gods or ancestors who might take the shape of sharks, pueo/owls, plants, rocks, some birds, dogs, or clouds. Humans do not harm their ‘aumakua and ‘aumakua protect or warn humans in visions, dreams and calls.
I remember seeing hawks soaring around huge eucalyptus trees where I grew up in Kukaiau, Hawaii. Twelve years ago, just after we had buried my father in the Hilo Veteran’s Cemetery and we were walking to our cars, we saw an ‘io soaring from the tall trees that border the cemetery in a straight diagonal line down over the cemetery to an unknown destination.
Hawks were a symbol of royalty in old Hawaii. They fly highest in the air and have great vision. According to the American Bird Conservancy, they now breed only on Hawaii Island. Their biggest threats are deforestation from agriculture, development and logging along with habitat degradation from introduced livestock and invasive plants. The ‘io were delisted as an endangered species in 2020 but the International Union for Conservation of Nature calls them near threatened.
In hula we practice, practice, practice so our bodies can learn the steps and hand motions of the story we are telling through dance. Our bodies will slowly learn these motions if we are patient. This is how I was taught by my teachers. Anything good takes time and effort marked by patience, and aloha - deep love and respect for yourself and the tradition. You have to slow down to learn.
You also have to give up any notions of perfection. Let those thoughts go and just be with your body as it is. Focus on the steps first, then focus on the hand motions. After awhile, your body will learn the moves and you can put hands and feet together. Only then can you start to think about the story you are telling and bring emotions to your motions.
That’s the way you can be like an ‘io poised in the calm gracefully dipping, with wings flapping slowly.
Malama pono (take good care of body and mind),
June Kaililani Ryushin Tanoue
Kumu Hula, Sensei
P.S. Enjoy the students of Halau i Ka Pono dancing Poliahu https://youtu.be/RpZv9U2OVKk lyrics by and sung by Frank Kawaikapuokalani Hewett and Teresa Bright. Poliahu is the Hawaiian Goddess of the Snow atop Mauna Kea also known as the goddess of compassion. Mahalo to video editor Oscar Caudell.