E `Ōlelo Kakou, Sisters E Pule Kakou, Sisters
POETRY FORMAT, 28 Apr 2025
Puanani Burgess – TRANSCEND Media Service
(Let us speak together, Sisters) (Let us pray together, Sisters)
Sisters and Brothers Hear our prayer to you,
In the spirit of Aloha which our gods bequeathed to us and
to you,
We ask you to hear our words and
feel our pain.
Long before your Christian forefathers came upon our sacred ‘Āina (Land),
We were three hundred thousand strong. Strong in body, mind and spirit.
Our gods, our ways, our ‘āina, our sea and sky provided and nourished us.
But your forefathers came to our shores they brought with them the Cross and
the Flag,
and Disease,
and Alcohol,
and Despair,
and Greed, and
Shame for what we were – “lowly heathens”
(I think they said).
They offered, no, demanded,
that we accept the Cross and the Flag (these Siamese twins of Power)
And said, “Here. With these you will prosper.”
We tried to put into their hands, our symbols:
The Kalo, (taro) from whose body we take sacred nourishment. The ‘āina, from whose body we take sacred nourishment.
The Wai and the Kai, (the inland and sea Water) from whose body we take sacred nourishment.
But they scorned our symbols, They scorned us. They said, “Here. With these, you will prosper.”
But look at us now, Sisters. We are the poorest.
We live in cars, tents, on benches and sidewalks.
We occupy more jail cells, more hospital beds, more morgue slabs and coffins
Than any other race in Hawaii.
Our children are labelled “DISADVANTAGED” and can’t read
can’t write can’t get a job
can’t get an education.
We are beggars in our own homeland.
But no more.
As we lay down the Cross,
As we lay down the Flag,
We search and have found those symbols which spring from this place
this time this People.
In our hands we offer you
a scoop of earth, the ‘Āina
a scoop of water from the land and the sea, Life a rainbow, Hope
and Aloha, Love.
But let us be clear.
Whether you accept our symbols or not,
We will continue to speak the truth of our history
the truth of our pain
the truth of our oppression the truth of our colonization.
And through this truth we will be free.
This is our prayer to you, sisters.
Listen to it with your soul, sisters.
Amene.
__________________________________________
Puanani Burgess (1947 -2024) was a poet, priest, aunty, and friend to many. She was a community activist in the Native Hawaiian sovereignty movement for over fifty years. As the designer and facilitator for Building the Beloved Community – a process that brings ceremony, storytelling, and circles of trust and respect – Aunty Pua shared Native Hawaiian practices throughout the world to bring healing and reconciliation. She served as the Myles and Zilphia Horton Chair for the Highlander Research and Education Center in Tennessee and as a community scholar in residence at the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Hawai’i. Aunty Pua was an ordained Zen Buddhist priest in the International Daihonzan Chozen-ji.
“You want to make a difference? Then start by looking within.” – Aunty Puanani Burgess
Tags: Colonialism, Colonization, Hawaii, Poetry, USA
This article originally appeared on Transcend Media Service (TMS) on 28 Apr 2025.
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