TONIGHT: Ka Ho’ina: Coming Home premiere’s at HIFF!
Ka Ho’ina: Coming Home documents the legacy of repatriating iwi kūpuna (ancestral remains) by Native Hawaiians who have been trained under the direction of respected cultural practitioners Edward and Pualana Kanahele. What started off in December 1988 from the archaeological disinterment of over 1,100 ancestral Native Hawaiians from Honokahua, Maui led to the establishment of Hui Mālama I Nā Kūpuna o Hawai’i Nei, an organization dedicated to the proper treatment of ancestral Native Hawaiian remains. Over the past 30 years, Hui Mālama and its members have overcome the struggles of advocating for the cultural protection and right to care for iwi kūpuna. With more that 6,000 sets of iwi kūpuna repatriated from more than 60 different museums, institutions and agencies around the world, the team set off again on a journey of 7,000 miles from home for one of Hui Mālama’s final repatriations as an organization to return 145 set of iwi kūpuna. Ka Ho’ina: Coming Home hightlights how a strong foundation in supporting one another was critical to the success of the entire Hui Mālama organization as they worked to reinforce this foundational practice of caring for iwi kūpuna despite pushback even from their own communituy. Ka Ho’ina: Coming Home takes you through the timeline of cultural reawakening.