In November 2017, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs published Mana Lāhui Kānaka, a multidimensional study of mana: what it is, how to articulate it, and how to access and cultivate it in order to uplift our lāhui. The book shared mana‘o from community contributors, including Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, on using culture and traditional knowledge as a foundation for how we advance in the world today.
Mana is what sustains me, it is what grounds me, it is what elevates me to the highest of heavens when I need it.
Mana is that strength, it is that power, and it is authority.
And it is what keeps me focused when I need it the most. Mana is and simply will always be within me. Mana is that which allows me to do what I do, and to live my life as kānaka.
Living in the twenty-first century, I make the active choice to embrace the kuleana that has been given to me, and to embrace what has been left for me. Mana comes to me through my ‘ohana; through my kūpuna and my makua. Mana comes through their names, it comes from their lives and their many life experiences. Mana comes from me understanding where my family has come from, and looking into my future, and knowing where I must go. Mana is never alienable from who we are as kānaka. Mana makes us kānaka and mana keeps us kānaka. Mana keeps me kānaka.
Tap into your mana by downloading a free copy of Mana Lāhui Kānaka at oha.org/mana.
