Kaleo Pilago, program director for the Kaho'okāne Project, teaches a hula kāne to the boys and girls of the Lanakila Learning Center and the Alaskan men of the Family Wellness Warriors Initiative. - Photo: Courtesy of Hui Mālama Ola Nā 'O¯iwi

Helping kāne thrive

Hilo men's group hosts Alaskan Natives

By Lisa Asato / Ka Wai Ola Editor

The itinerary might sound like a pleasure trip to the islands – learn hula, oli, lua, visit sites like Volcanoes National Park and Pu'ukoholā Heiau – but the trip that a group of 11 Alaskan Native men made to Hilo recently had a deeper meaning.

They were here for their first goodwill exchange with Kaho'okāne Project to see how the after-care treatment program incorporates culture in helping Native Hawaiian men overcome substance abuse, domestic abuse and other social challenges. That's because despite their geographic distance, their native populations share some grim statistics.

“Both of our communities are the highest in the nation with child abuse and neglect, we're first in the nation with incarceration, we're first in the nation with all the wrong things,” said Alaskan Native Maxim Dolchok Sr. of the Family Wellness Warriors Initiative in Anchorage. “What we're trying to do is provide all the right things for our children to grow up once again in happy families.”

Alaskan elder Luke Titus honors the group and the drum with an impromptu performance of a traditional Alaskan chant at Kı¯lauea caldera. - Photo: Courtesy of Hui Mālama Ola Nā 'O¯iwi

During their March 2 to 8 visit, the Alaskan men observed Kaho'okāne's work with the Big Island Substance Abuse Council and participated in youth activities it does for Lanakila Learning Center, said Kaloa Robinson, chief executive of Hui Mālama Ola Nā 'Ōiwi, the Native Hawaiian Health Care System that oversees Kaho'okāne.

And just as they would for the people they treat, the hosts took them sailing in Hilo Bay on the double-hulled canoe Lauhoe, which is used to break down barriers, taught them breathing exercises and lua, which helps illustrate “the balance between Kū and Hina,” the strong and the gentle, Robinson said.

“We're learning that we're both utilizing our culture to bring our families back together and for the males to once again adopt the role of being a provider and being a security for the family,” Dolchok said. The Anchorage program, he said, “just got of the ground with activities with men and women,” and is now designing a youth program.

Kaho'okāne plans to visit its Alaskan counterparts sometime this summer, perhaps with some of its youth program participants in tow.

Robinson said Hui Mālama Ola Nā 'Ōiwi recently received a $93,000 grant from OHA to help Kaho'okāne evaluate the recidivism rates of those it treats.

He said the Alaskan men's visit highlighted “a strong sense of connection between their culture and our culture. We were all sharing in the pride of being native men, and that was powerful.”