#hawaiian culture

byRay Simon - October 8, 2015:

“Gender Across Cultures” is the focus of the Penn Museum’s Second Sunday Culture Film Series, which begins Oct. 11. Two documentaries about Hawaii will be shown: “A Place in the Middle” and “Heart of the Sea.” The screening takes place at 2 p.m. in the Rainey Auditorium of the Penn Museum, located at 3260 South St. Museum admission applies ($15), giving attendees access to the museum’s exhibits.

The film series is cosponsored by the Penn Humanities Forum and the William Way LGBT Community Center, among others. The theme, “Gender Across Cultures,” compliments the PHF’s yearlong exploration of the topic “Sex.”

There will be six screenings between now and March. All of the films are relatively recent documentaries that examine how gender is shaped and understood in various cultures. At each screening, a knowledgeable speaker will provide context and answer questions from the audience.

For Kate Pourshariati, curator of the series, these screenings are an excellent opportunity to see films that are not widely distributed.

“I usually try to find films that are really pungent and interesting but that haven’t been seen much yet or are not easy to stream online,” she said.

“Heart of the Sea” is a 2002 documentary about Rell Sunn, an accomplished female surfer who succumbed to breast cancer in 1998. Sunn, Hawaii’s number-one female amateur surfer for five years, was also a passionate advocate of traditional Hawaiian culture and an environmental activist.

As a woman equally comfortable dancing the hula and spear-fishing, Sunn confounded stereotypes.

“This person is really stepping outside of what was the normal, expected thing coming up, even in the 1960s, to not just be the girl on the beach watching the guys surfing,” Pourshariati said. “She stepped right into it, and she was a very strong, powerful person.”

That afternoon’s other film, “A Place in the Middle,” will be of particular interest to PGN readers. The 2014 documentary by Dean Hamer and Joe Wilson follows 11-year-old Ho’onani, a young girl whose goal is to lead the all-boys hula performance at the end of the school year.

Ho’onani is encouraged by her teacher, Kumu Hina, a transgender woman. Kumu Hina’s life’s work has been to reintroduce native Hawaiians to their traditional culture, which includes the concept of being “in the middle.” People “in the middle” possess both masculine and feminine traits and were traditionally accorded respect.

In one scene, Kumu Hina explains to the teenage boys why a girl, or wahine, is being included in a performance representing masculine spirit, or ku.

“You have a biological wahine standing over here in front of you because she has more ku than everybody else around here, even though she lacks the main essential parts of ku,” Kumu Hina says. “But in her mind and in her heart, she has ku.”

The concept of being “in the middle” is just one manifestation of a worldwide phenomenon, according to William Wierzbowski, who works as a keeper in the Penn Museum’s American Section. Wierzbowski is an expert on Two-Spirit culture among Native North Americans and will be on hand that day.

When Europeans first encountered Native Americans, Wierzbowski explained, they were surprised to meet people we would now call gay. These people lived openly within their tribe and were accorded great respect. French trappers and explorers called them berdache, which was slightly pejorative. That perception gradually shifted as Native Americans began to reclaim their heritage.

“It was Native-American activists who happened to be gay that coined this term Two Spirit, which basically means that the individual embodies within — and I’m going to speak specifically about males here — that embodies within himself both the male and the female. So it’s actually quite a beautiful, almost poetic term,” Wierzbowski said.

Being Two Spirit or “in the middle,” he added, is not limited to any specific sexual behavior. Instead, it encompasses a wide range of attitudes, practices and roles. Within traditional cultures, for example, people like Kumu Hina and Ho’onani could be said to bridge the male and female aspects of the universe, actually helping to bind it together.

Those are big ideas, but it should be noted that the two documentaries being screened are neither pretentious nor didactic. On the contrary, they are colorful, eye-opening and fun to watch.

Pourshariati hopes that the film series will prompt attendees to be more receptive and respectful of other people and to consider new ideas. But she also wants them to enjoy themselves. Movies are an ideal medium to accomplish both goals.

After a screening, Pourshariati said, “Everyone has something in common: You’ve already seen the film together, so now you can talk about it. I find that really invigorating.”

For more information about the Penn Museum’s Second Sunday Culture Film Series, visit www.penn.museum/culturefilms.

Hawaiian Anti-Bullying Film to Screen at Libraries Statewide

An educational toolkit for safe and inclusive schools.

HONOLULU, HI, Sept. 14, 2015 - TheHawaii State Public Library System will present “A Place in the Middle” - a short Hawaiian film at the heart of a newbullying prevention campaign centered on cultural empowerment and gender inclusion - in a series of screenings at eight selected public libraries statewide from Friday,   Sept. 18 through Wednesday, Oct. 28.  (See list below for screening   locations, dates, and times.)

Created by Kumu Hina Wong-Kalu,  and directed by Emmy-winners Dean Hamer and Joe Wilson, “A Place in the  Middle” tells the true story of a young girl who dreams of leading the  boys’ hula troupe at her Honolulu school, and an inspiring teacher who  uses traditional Hawaiian culture to empower her. After each screening,  the team will talk story with the audience about the film and  educational campaign - supported by Pacific Islanders in Communications,  Hawaii People’s Fund, Ford Foundation, and PBS Learning Media.

“We  encourage our patrons to learn more about Hawaii’s rich cultural  heritage through our libraries’ resources and programs,” said State  Librarian Stacy Aldrich.  "As community hubs, libraries serve as the  perfect venues to host discussions that enable our patrons to connect,  learn and celebrate Hawaii’s indigenous and diverse cultures.“

This  one-hour program is suitable for students, parents, and educators   interested in Hawaiian culture and community-based efforts to make   schools safe and inclusive for all.  Free DVDs and teaching guides will be available for participants committed to using them in their work.

"A Place in the Middle” Film & Talk Story Events

Sept. 18 (Friday) - 6:00pm: Thelma Parker Memorial Public & School Library (Kamuela, Hawaii Island)

Sept. 29 (Tuesday) - 6:00pm: Kahuku Public & School Library (Oahu)

Oct. 3 (Saturday) - 3:00pm: Kihei Public Library (Maui)

Oct. 7 (Wednesday) - 6:30pm: Waianae Public Library (Oahu)

Oct. 14 (Wednesday) - 6:30pm: Waimanalo Public & School Library (Oahu)

Oct. 15 (Thursday) - 6:00pm: Hawaii State Library (Honolulu)

Oct. 22 (Thursday) - 6:00pm: Hanapepe Public Library (Kauai)

Oct. 28 (Wednesday) - 5:00pm: Molokai Public Library (Kaunakakai)

For more information, contact Library Development Services Manager, Susan Nakata, at (808) 831-6878.

It’s back-to-school time in Hawaiʻi. Over 200,000 students will enter grades K-12 this year, full of curiosity and ideas. Unfortunately, many of them will have their studies disrupted and hopes crushed by bullying.  

Despite our reputation as the “Aloha State,” surveys show that one-fifth to over one-half of students in both public and private schools have been bullied or harassed.  And even though more than 90 percent of voters say that “bullying is important for the state of Hawai'i to address,” attempts to pass a statewide Safe Schools Act have failed repeatedly in the legislature.  Some parents, such as a father whose two young children were bullied for years without intervention in East Hawaiʻi schools, have even resorted to suing the Department of Education.

We’re fortunate that several local groups have stepped in to develop their own anti-bullying programs; the E Ola Pono,Adult Friends for Youth Anti-Bullying and Violence Convention, and Mental Health America of Hawaii Pono Youth Program are outstanding examples.  Even local comedian Augie T is helping out through B.R.A.V.E. Hawaiʻi, a program started by his daughter after she herself fell victim to bullying.

But bullying doesn’t occur in a vacuum; it’s the product of underlying stigma and prejudice.  That’s why it’s time to move beyond telling children that it’s bad to be mean, and start showing them why it’s good to be inclusive and accepting - not just for the targets of bullying, but for everyone in the school and community.  

We had the opportunity to witness first-hand the effectiveness of this approach during our two years of filming Kumu Hina, a nationally broadcast PBS feature documentaryabout a Native Hawaiian teacher who empowers her students at a small public charter school in downtown Honolulu by showing them the true meaning of aloha: love, honor and respect for all.  It’s a powerful lesson for children and adults alike.

In order to make Kumu Hina’s teaching available to students and teachers in K-12 schools across the islands, we’ve  produced a youth-friendly, short version of the film called A Place in the Middle that focuses on the story of one of her students, a sixth grade girl who dreams of joining the boys-only hula troupe. This might make her a target for ridicule and bullying in many schools, but the outcome of this story is very different.  It’s a powerful example of why students who are perceived to be different, in one way or another, deserve to be celebrated precisely because of those differences, not simply tolerated despite them.

Overcoming bullying in Hawai'i requires a systemic, long-term, multifaceted approach.  The true story of a local girl who just wants to be herself - and in so doing helps her fellow students and entire school - is a good place to start.

A Place in the Middle is available at no cost for streaming and download from PBS Learning Mediaand on Vimeo, and the accompanying Hawai'i Teacher’s Guide  can be downloaded from the Hawai'i Educators Website. The program will be touring Public Libraries across the islands beginning this fall.

As the documentary Kumu Hina reveals, living between both genders is the more powerful “mahu" way.

byJade Snow - July 28, 2015:

In traditional Hawaiian culture, creative expression of gender and  sexuality was celebrated as an authentic part of the human experience.  Throughout Hawaiian history, “mahu” appear as individuals who identify  their gender between male and female. Hawaiian songs often contain  deeper meanings—called kaona—that refer to love and relationships that  don’t conform to contemporary Western definitions of male and female  gender roles.

Expressions of sexuality and gender by mahu individuals were often  reflected in Hawaiian arts, particularly in traditional hula and music,  which continue today. The 2014 documentary Kumu Hina follows  the journey of Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu (“Hina”), a teacher—or kumu—at a  Hawaiian charter school in Honolulu, who is mahu. Kumu Hina explores the role of mahu in Hawaiian society through the lens of a  Native Hawaiian who is deeply rooted in the traditions of her ancestors  and committed to living an authentic life.

As a 21st century mahu, Hina’s experience is not unlike many others  who defy Western gender classifications. Born Collin Kwai Kong Wong, she  struggled to find acceptance throughout her youth. Today, Hina presents  herself as a female in her dress and appearance, though she embraces  both masculine and feminine aspects of her identity equally. And while  the film focuses on her journey to become Hina, it characterizes her by  more than her gender identity. The film presents a portrait of Hina as a   devout cultural practitioner and educator whose most fundamental   identity lies in being Hawaiian.

As a kumu at the charter school Halau Lokahi, Hina instills  time-honored traditions and cultural values in her students. One student  in particular, middle schooler Ho‘onani, traverses the ever-treacherous  waters of youth with the additional strain of identifying as being “in  the middle.” Hina relates to Ho‘onani’s journey and challenges the  students to create a safe and accepting environment. This proves  transformative for Ho‘onani, as her determination to define herself and  prove her capability garners her the lead role in the school’s all-male  ensemble, which the boys do not dispute. Due to the example Hina sets,  her classrooms embrace a new “normal” that openly acknowledges all  identities. The result is a confident, empathetic community of young  people who validate the complexities of Ho‘onani’s reality and provide  her with a compassionate place to grow up.

“It’s all a natural thing,” Ho’onani explains. “Kumu’s in the middle  too. Everybody knows that, and it’s not a secret to anybody. What  ‘middle’ means is a rare person.” Under Hina’s mentorship, Ho‘onani  flourishes, excelling in all areas of study, including music and hula,  and earning the respect of her peers. As she prepares for a school  event, Hina instructs that shell leis be worn by students based on  color: white for the girls and yellow for the boys. Without hesitation,  Ho‘onani suggests she wear both, and Hina agrees. “See, you get  both—because she’s both,” she explains. This is Hawaiian mahu, unique in  its perspective that an individual who has embraced both sides of their  gender identity does not require exclusive definition. Those who  identify with being mahu may exude more masculine or feminine qualities,  but their inner experience is one that ebbs between the two with the  grace and subtlety of the ocean tide.

When I interviewed Hina for MANA magazine’s 2014 feature “Beyond the  Binary,” she explained: “A mahu is an individual that straddles  somewhere in the middle of the male and female binary. It does not  define their sexual preference or gender expression because gender  roles, gender expressions, and sexual relationships have all been  severely influenced by the changing times. It is dynamic. It is like  life.” The “changing times” Hina refers to began with the arrival of  Christian missionaries in the 1800s and the imposition of Western values  on the Hawaiian community. They banned cultural expressions that  celebrated diverse sexual views and traditions they believed to be  profane, such as hula, and drove them underground. The suppression of  traditional Hawaiian values and practices marked a turning point in  Hawai‘i’s history, one in which mahu began a struggle to find  acceptance.

One of the greatest journeys of the human experience is the struggle to accept oneself and live authentically. Kumu Hina lifts the veil on the misunderstood and marginalized experience of   “other” gendered individuals whose identity cannot be defined by the   broad strokes of contemporary Western categorization. For many Native   Hawaiians, authenticity is at the heart of the human experience. Living authentically is one of the highest honors individuals can bestow upon themselves, their families, and their communities. By embracing her   identity, Hina not only fulfills her own personal journey to find love   and happiness, but she is able to positively influence the lives of   students like Ho‘onani who are grappling with their own identities.

To continue promoting Kumu Hina’s message of acceptance, a  24-minute version of the film and teaching guide were created as an  educational resource. This short film, called A Place in the Middle,  premiered in February 2015 in Germany and played at Toronto’s TIFF Kids  International Film Festival in April. According to co-producer Joe  Wilson, the film “has struck a chord with educators and other   professionals in need of resources on gender diversity and cultural   empowerment.” The film demonstrates healthy ways to address gender   identity in the classroom and promotes a safe academic environment for   youth to thrive.

Thanks to the determination of Hina and others, the Hawai‘i Marriage  Equality Act of 2013 was passed in November 2013. And though further  efforts are needed to reach equality, Hina finds validation in her home.  “I’m fortunate to live in a place that allows me to love who I love,”  she says. “I can be whoever I want to be. That’s what I hope most to  leave with my students—a genuine understanding of unconditional  acceptance and respect. To me, that’s the true meaning of aloha.”

A PLACE IN THE MIDDLE tells the true story of an eleven year-old Hawaiian girl who dreams of leading her school’s all-male hula troupe. The only trouble is that the group is just for boys. She’s fortunate to have a teacher who understands what it means to be “in the middle” - the Hawaiian tradition of embracing both male and female spirit. Together they set out to prove that what matters most is what’s in your heart and mind.

This youth-focused educational film is a great way to get K-12 students thinking and talking about the values of diversity and inclusion, the power of knowing your heritage, and how to create a school climate of aloha, from their own point of view!

The film is accompanied by a Classroom Discussion Guide that includes background information about Hawaiian culture and history, discussion questions, and lesson plans aligned with the Common Core State Educational Standards and additional educational benchmarks.

The complete film, Discussion Guide, and other resources, including a displayable “Pledge of Aloha,” are available for freeatAPlaceintheMiddle.org. They are also available on the trusted educator’s website PBS LearningMedia, and in hard copy upon request.

From the Berlin and Toronto International Film Festivals to classrooms across the United States, A PLACE IN THE MIDDLE is proving to be a powerful tool to talk about the intersections between gender, identity and culture, and the positive outcomes that occur when schools welcome students with love, honor and respect.

ClickHERE to see TRAILER.

What people are saying about A PLACE IN THE MIDDLE

“An inspiring coming-of-age story on the power of culture to shape identity, personal agency, and community cohesion, from a young person’s point of view.” –Cara Mertes, Ford Foundation

“A valuable teaching tool for students in elementary, middle and high schools, as well as for parents and teachers.” –Carol Crouch, Eleʻele Elementary School, Kauaʻi, Hawaiʻi

“An amazing tool to help educators understand the need for acceptance for each and every child regardless of gender expression.” –Tracy Flynn, Welcoming Schools

“One of the most positive films about the trans experience I’ve ever seen.” –Jennifer Finney Boylan, author and writer-in-residence at Barnard College

“Uniquely accessible for youth.” –Gender Spectrum

”A true-life ‘Whale Rider’ story.“ –The Huffington Post

Kumu means teacher, and Kumu Hina has a lot to teach the world about how to educate with aloha – love, honor and respect for all.   We’ve developed tools to use with both the full documentary KUMU HINA, and a shorter kids’  film called A PLACE IN THE MIDDLE, with students from kindergarten through graduate school. Check it all out HERE.

A brief glimpse of “Kumu Hina” co-producer/director Joe Wilsonʻs June 24, 2015 visit to Mauna Kea.  Mahalo nui loa to everyone who shared their manaʻo. View the video HERE.  For more information please visit www.protectmaunakea.orgorfacebook.com/protectmaunakea.

Educational and home use DVDs are now on sale.  You can also rent or buy a digital copy of the film on VimeooriTunes.

KUMU HINA is a powerful tool for addressing the intersections between culture, gender and identity and is well suited for classes on a variety of topics including Gender, Women’s Studies, Ethnic and Cultural Studies, Sexuality, Health, and Film Studies.

Theeducational DVD package ($295) includes a public performance license that permits unlimited screenings in classrooms and community assemblies. The accompanying Discussion Guide includes information about Hawaiian history, gender diversity around the world, and suggestions for thoughtful conversation and for action.

Kumu Hina herself is also available for personal appearances, either in-person or by Skype, to share her cultural expertise and participate in post-screening discussions.  

Contact us for fees and availability. Email:[email protected]

Also, enjoy watching KUMU HINA in the comfort of your home.

Please note this DVD ($24.95) is strictly for personal use. Any school, educational use or public showing must include the purchase of an educational DVD with public performance rights.

There is a $7 shipping charge for destinations outside the USA.

Mahalo!

Janet Mock of MSNBC’s weekly talk show “So Popular!” talks about how the film title “Aloha” is misused and how Hollywood, in general, has a history of doing this with Hawaiian culture and language. Mock, who’s   Native Hawaiian, is frustrated at how some people view Hawai‘i as a   “pretty movie backdrop” and don’t learn or understand its culture.

“The ongoing appropriation and commercialization of all things   Hawaiian only makes it clear as to why it is inappropriate for those   with no ties to Hawai‘i, its language, culture and people, to invoke the  Hawaiian language,” she says.

ClickHERE to watch video.

By Dean Hamer, Co-Producer/Director of “Kumu Hina” –

Many U.S. schools serve groups of kids who are diverse in terms of race, ethnicity, age, religious or non-religious belief, national origin, family situation, ability, sexual orientation and gender identity. This diversity is especially vibrant here in Hawai'i, where many people describe their ethnic background as “chop suey,” Christians are in a minority and gender-nonconforming individuals are not only accepted but are respected and admired for their important role in perpetuating cultural knowledge and traditions.

For two years, we were given the opportunity to film a remarkable māhū (transgender) native Hawaiian teacher, Kumu Hina Wong-Kalu, as she created a “place in the middle” where every student at her small Honolulu charter school felt welcome, included and ready to learn to the best of their ability. Hina’s story is portrayed in our PBS feature documentary Kumu Hina, which is being nationally broadcast on Independent Lensas of May 4, 2015.

But we also wanted to bring Hina’s teaching to K-12 schools, which led us to produce a youth-friendly, short version of the film called A Place in the Middle that has been excerpted for the Perspectives for a Diverse America anthology. Here are some ways these video clips can be used to help students appreciate the value of inclusion, the strengths they inherit from their cultural heritage and their own power to create a school climate of honor and respect.

Celebrate Difference. In the scene “Welcome to Hawai'i,” Kumu Hina is preparing the students for a hula performance by handing out lei necklaces, yellow for boys and white for girls. But 11-year-old Ho'onani decides that she wants to wear both colors—a decision that her classmates meet with envy rather than scorn. In a later scene,“Kāne-Wahine and Wahine-Kāne”(Boy-Girls and Girl-Boys), Hina explains that she has created this “place in the middle” so that gender-creative students have a specific space they can call their own.

These clips are a reminder to teachers that students who are perceived to be different, in one way or another, deserve to be celebrated preciselybecause of those differences, not simply tolerated despite them. And it’s a jumping off place for students to think and talk about how every person’s identity is comprised of multiple interacting facets. A good discussion prompt is to note that Ho'onani is in the middle between male and female, then ask how many other ways people can be “in the middle”; for example, being more than one race or bilingual, being part of two households after a divorce and so on.

Use the Power of Heritage. In “Hawai'i Poniʻī,” the principal of the school urges her students to take seriously their lessons on Hawaiian culture because, “We didn’t get to sing ‘Hawai'i Poniʻī’ (the Hawaiian national anthem) in our schools. We had to pledge allegiance to the flag that took over Hawai'i.” Her approach works: By the end of the film, even the students who began the year with little enthusiasm have become full participants in the school’s activities.

You can use this clip to inspire students to inquire into their own heritage, starting with well-known aspects, such as food, holidays, etc., and progressing to a deeper conversation that incorporates social, cultural, political and historical contexts. Ask students to bring in food dishes typical of their heritage, and after the Smorgasbord is consumed, ask what ideas, values or practices their home cultures could contribute to their classroom or school.

Another clip, “Hawaiians Live in Aloha,” uses Polynesian-style animated figures to tell the history of how early Hawaiians respected and admired people with both male and female spirits, giving them the special name of māhū. Asking students to interpret images from this animated portrayal of Hawaiian history prior to and after viewing the film is a good ice-breaker for what some consider a sensitive topic. You can follow up by asking them to draw their own interpretation of what it means to be “in the middle.”

Teach With Aloha. Many people think of “aloha” as just a cute way to say hello or goodbye, but as Kumu Hina explains in a clip about her transition, the deeper meaning is to have love, honor and respect for everyone. Ask students how the characters in the film demonstrate aloha, and then how they do (or could) demonstrate it themselves. Most important, how do you rate your own classroom and school on living up to this standard?

You can help spread the concept of aloha by hanging aPledge of Aloha poster in your classroom or by handing out Pledge of Aloha postcards that can be signed and returned to Kumu Hina in Hawai'i. The module can be considered a success if students use this opportunity to share what they’ve learned about Hawai'i and its uniquely inclusive approach to gender and many other types of diversity.

By Nina Wu - Sunday, May 3, 2015:

Standing by the Sun Yat-sen statue at the Chinatown Cultural Plaza, kumu Hinaleimoana Kwai Kong Wong-Kalu reflected on a recent journey to southern China to explore her family roots.

There, in a small village more than 5,500 miles from home, she found acceptance from long-lost relatives, a powerful testament to the role of family in self-identity.

Being a mahu, or transgender person, as well as both Hawaiian and Chinese, defines her identity “in the middle” and is the subject of a documentary film, “Kumu Hina,” which premieres nationally on PBS’ “Independent Lens” on Monday in celebration of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.

The film, by Haleiwa filmmakers Dean Hamer and Joe Wilson, tells of Wong-Kalu’s evolution from a timid high school boy to a confident mahu and respected kumu and community leader in modern-day Honolulu.

All through her struggles, family is what gave her strength.

“My purpose in this life is to pass on the true meaning of aloha — love, honor and respect,” says Wong-Kalu in the film. “It’s a responsibility that I take very seriously.”

Born a boy named Collin, Wong-Kalu was raised by both a Hawaiian tutu on her mother’s side, Mona Kealoha, and a Chinese popo on her father’s side, Edith Kamque Luke.

“My Hawaiian tutu and popo were the most influential in my life,” Wong-Kalu said in an interview with the Hono­lulu Star-Advertiser. “Both of them raised me to be very cognizant and respectful, and to be very mindful of Hawaiian culture and Chinese culture.”

With both parents working full time, Wong-Kalu spent much of her childhood with extended family — the Hawaiian side in Mililani and the Chinese side in Liliha.

With the Hawaiian side, she was called the “pake child” because of her more Asian looks. The Chinese side referred to her as the “Hawaiian one” because of her darker skin and larger size.

“I grew up in the middle,” said Wong-Kalu, whose parents separated when she was in the second grade. “I grew up not belonging completely to one or the other. Being both, and going to one side, they always consider you ‘the other.’”

So it was, as well, with gender.

Wong-Kalu, 42, remembers from a very young age feeling that she was more female than male. She would sneak into her mother’s closet while she was away at work.

“I’d put on her clothes and high heels and prance around the house for hours on end,” she said. “I wanted to be as beautiful as my mother.”

It was after graduating from Kamehameha Schools in 1990 and attending the University of Hawaii at Manoa that Wong-Kalu fully emerged as a transgender, taking the name Hina.

Besides being teased in elementary and middle schools for being too girlish, she was also taunted for her Chinese name, Kwai Kong, with kids calling her “King Kong” or “Ding Dong.”

“It was very hurtful,” said Wong-Kalu.

She said she found refuge in Hawaiian culture, where mahu — those who embody both the male and female spirit — are respected as a source of ancient knowledge.

Her father’s Chinese side of the family also accepted her transition. During high school Wong-Kalu had stayed mostly in Liliha, becoming the primary caregiver for Luke up to her death in 1997.

“Because I was the caregiver for the matriarch and everybody loved her, they all loved and accepted me,” she said. “She was the kindest one.”

Wong-Kalu has three older siblings — two sisters and a brother, famed Hono­lulu chef Alan Wong. She said her father, Henry Dai Yau Wong, a former U.S. Army sergeant and man of few words, accepted her as well.

“No matter my father’s internal struggles — and he did struggle — with the changes in my life, he never, ever made me feel less than — ever.”

An invitation to join Hamer and Wilson at the Beijing Queer Film Festival in September turned out to be the perfect opportunity for Wong-Kalu to search for her father’s relatives, with whom the family had lost touch. Through research, Wong-Kalu was able to find the name of her grandmother’s village, Gam Sek, in southern China.

Her popo, Luke, had always kept a framed family portrait in a side cabinet and Wong-Kalu brought a copy of it with her when she and the filmmakers took a two-hour taxi drive past numerous factories to the stone gate at the entrance to the small village.

Upon entering, Wong-Kalu met Luc Lu Moy, wife of a distant cousin. At an ancestral shrine there, she found a matching copy of the family portrait. It turns out a great uncle from Hono­lulu had brought it with him in the 1970s.

“I  burst into tears,” said Wong-Kalu. She placed her lei over the photo.

To introduce herself, Wong-Kalu showed the film to her relatives in China and found they embraced her despite her transgender identity.

“KUMU   HINA” follows Wong-Kalu in her former role as cultural director of Halau Lokahi, a Hawaiian public charter school, as she prepares students for an end-of-the-year performance. According to the filmmakers, the documentary is as much about the importance of understanding one’s culture as it is about family and societal acceptance of those who are different.

“This is really a reflection, through Hina’s life, of what family values can mean in the most positive and comprehensive sense,” Wilson said. “With her (students), she often talks about no matter who you are, where you come from, you should know there’s a place in the middle for you.”

A 25-minute version of the film, titled “A Place in the Middle,” is available for free through PBS Learning Media along with a classroom discussion guide for educators.

For Wong-Kalu, finding acceptance from relatives in China, a country where most transgenders largely remain invisible, was affirming. It was in the same spirit of aloha that she lives by.

Standing in Hono­lulu’s Chinatown, Wong-Kalu cited an inscription below the Sun Yat-sen statue that reads, “All under heaven are equal.”

Besides Beijing, “Kumu Hina” screened at the Hawaii International Film Festival in April 2014 and has been shown on the U.S. mainland and in Tahiti.

“The film emphasizes my life as a Hawaiian, but I am also very influenced by my life as a descendant of some of the very first Chinese that came to Hawaii,” Wong-Kalu said. “The influence on me makes me very devoted to the name of the family and to honor my parents and grandparents.”

On the Net:

» Learn more about “Kumu Hina” - kumuhina.com.

» Learn about PBS/Independent Lens - pbs.org/independentlens/kumu-hina/.

» Watch the trailer - https://youtu.be/MWAM1738JbM.

» Order “A Place in the Middle” with free classroom discussion guide at aplaceinthemiddle.org.

Hawaiian culture empowers and inspires throughout the islands, from the beautiful dance of hula to the traditions of mahu. For Hinaleimoana Kwai Kong Wong-Kalu, a cultural advocate and transgender woman at the center of docu-drama Kumu Hina, this culture has defined her life.

Text by Kelli Gratz | Images by Kai Markell - Lei Magazine

In 2011, filmmakers and partners Dean Hamer and Joe Wilson began a cinematic journey—one that neither of them could have anticipated. The subject they started with was Hinaleimoana Kwai Kong Wong-Kalu, cultural advocate, transgender woman, and Director of Culture at Hawaiian values-based public charter school Halau Lokahi. For the next two years, they followed Wong-Kalu through an interesting time in her life—she had recently married Haemaccelo Kalu, a native of Tonga, and was facing the daily struggles of leading an all-male hula troupe. But throughout the filming process, another story presented itself in the form of a sixth-grade girl named Hoonani, who insisted on joining the troupe. The result of that collision of stories is the gorgeous, inspiring three-character docu-drama Kumu Hina, which comes to PBS in May.

Being in the spotlight seems natural for 42-year-old Wong-Kalu. For more than two decades, she has lived her life as a mahu wahine, or transgender woman, and hasn’t ever looked back. As a child growing up in Honolulu, Wong-Kalu, then named Collin Kwai Kong Wong, knew he was different. He played dress up in his mother’s closet, and as an adolescent attending Kamehameha Schools, was often teased for being too feminine. He felt pressured to be what biology and society deemed him—a boy. But, by the time he was 20 years old, he decided to stop the charade, and transformed into Hinaleimoana, or the goddess of the moon.

Since then, Wong-Kalu has made incredible contributions to the Hawaiian community. A founding member of Kulia Na Mamoa, a community organization aimed to improve the quality of life for mahu wahine, she now chairs the Oahu Burial Council and even ran for a board position on the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, one of the first transgender candidates for political office in the United States. Clearly, she does not limit herself to anything or anyone, and believes in the cultural traditions of mahu, respected teachers and keepers of cultural traditions who were never stigmatized or discriminated. “They have the sensitivity for caring and the soft side which is more associated with wahine (women),”Wong-Kalu says. “Yet they have enough aggressiveness and enough strength—the backbone. Not to say that Hawaiian women were not strong … but the mahu had qualities of both man and woman in them.”

In person, Wong-Kalu is equally aggressive and nurturing. Her large figure, covered in Polynesian tattoos, is easily recognizable by many, and her presence is welcomed at community events and gatherings. I recall one in particular: the Hawaii Marriage Equality Bill signing in 2013. Her voice echoed through the corridors, and though I couldn’t understand everything she was saying since she was speaking in her native tongue, Hawaiian, I could feel her ha (spirit). Her oli (chant) was so powerful that days later, I would get chicken skin just thinking about it.

The film’s trailer has a similar effect. It’s a huge, controversial subject told through a captivating love story. A love between a man and a woman, a love shared between a teacher and student, and a love for culture and tradition. Kumu Hina examines the intricacies of a woman who struggled with her identity and the modern-day perceptions of what it meant to be a mahu. Always hovering in the “place in the middle,”Wong-Kalu is figuring out what her next move will be. No matter what, she will continue to speak her opinion, and inspire all around her.

Kumu Hina Premieres on Independent Lens Monday, May 4, 2015 on PBS. For more information, visit pbs.org/independentlens.

To learn more about the documentary and the woman who inspired it, visit kumuhina.comoraplaceinthemiddle.org.

byChad Blair for Hana Hou: The Magazine of Hawaiian Airlines

There’sa scene in the filmKumu Hina in which the hula teacher at Halau Lokahi stands facing sixboys slouching in a doorway of the public charter school in Honolulu.The tattooed, five-foot-ten-inch-tall kumu (teacher) looks imposing despite the yellow plumeria tucked behind her ear. “Stand up straight. Stand tall,” she commands. She demonstrates: shoulders back, feet rooted. “I need this. This is what I need from you, all the time.” The boys comply, looking uncomfortable. Once the kumu is satisfied, she invites them to enter and sit before her. She belts the opening line of a chant from Hawai‘i Island hula teachers: “‘Ai ka mumu keke pahoehoe ke!” Her voice resounds in the huge space as she waits for them to repeat it.

It’s all in a day’s work for any kumu trying to whip a group of hula-challenged high school boys into performance-ready shape. Forty-two-year-old Hinaleimoana Kwai Kong Wong-Kalu is a kumu hula, cultural practitioner and activist; the acclaimed documentary film based on her life premiered in April 2014 at Hawaii Theatre and has been shown on the Mainland and in Asia. It will be featured at the Pacific International Film Festival in Tahiti this February and air nationally in the United States on PBS in May. Kumu Hina is a portrait of a respected cultural practitioner passing Native Hawaiian values to her students. It is a love story, too, between Hina and her Tongan husband. More than anything it is the story of what it means to be mahu. 

Kumu Hina has a long way to go with these boys. They try sheepishly to imitate her chant, their voices weak. Hina gently mocks them by whispering back: “‘Ai ka mumu keke …? No. Listen to my voice. There’s nothing wahine [female] about my voice. It’s thick and it’s too low.” She clears her throat, then chants the phrase again, deeper, louder and with almost physical force. The boys laugh, embarrassed and unnerved. Then she addresses them seriously, directly. “When I am in front of the entire school,” she intones, “you guys know that I expose my life. What the younger kids think about me, that’s up to them. But you, as older people, know.” What the boys know—and accept without question—is that their kumu was born male. “Now you, gentlemen,” says Kumu Hina, “gotta get over your inhibitions.”

Before the arrival of American missionaries in 1820, Hina explains in the film, every gender—male, female, mahu —had a role. Native Hawaiians believed that every person possessed both feminine and masculine qualities, and the Hawaiians embraced both, regardless of the body into which a person was born. Those in the middle—mahu—were thought to possess great mana, or spiritual power, and they were venerated as healers and carriers of tradition in ancient Polynesia. “We passed on sacred knowledge from one generation to the next through hula, chant and other forms of wisdom,” Hina narrates. After contact with the West, however, the missionaries “were shocked and infuriated. … They condemned our hula and chants as immoral, they outlawed our language and they imposed their religious strictures across our lands. But we Hawaiians are a steadfast and resilient people. … We are still here.” 

From an early age Collin Kwai Kong Wong knew he was “different,” as Hina puts it now. “I wanted to be as beautiful and glamorous and smart as my mother. I wanted to be this beautiful woman. When my mother would go to work and leave me at home alone, I was in her closet.” Hina laughs recalling this, but it was hardly funny when it was happening: Collin was teased for being too feminine, and he didn’t know how to talk to his family about what he was going through. He tried, like others in such situations, to conform. “I had girlfriends when I was younger, and I tried to play the role,” Hina recalls. “I tried to be the person that I thought my friends and family were expecting to see.”

Collin learned Native Hawaiian values through his grandmother, but it wasn’t until he enrolled at Kamehameha Schools that he learned the practices: hula, oli and ‘olelo Hawai‘i (Hawaiian language). After graduating he worked as an assistant to a kumu hula and traveled throughout the Pacific to places like Tahiti and Rarotonga.

Back home in the Islands, he connected with Polynesians from other island groups, particularly those from Samoa and Tonga, among whom he felt more comfortable expressing his feminine side. “They had a more inclusive way about them,” Hina says. “It seemed easier to migrate toward transitioning into how my heart and spirit felt and know that there would still be a place for me. That I could be myself and people wouldn’t look at me with such scrutinizing eyes.”

Hina was delicate with her family as she began to transition at 20 years old, though her Hawaiian mother nonetheless struggled with it. “How did I transition from being my family’s son to being my family’s daughter? Not by throwing it in their face. Not by being militantly loud and obtrusive,” she says. Her Chinese father, perhaps ironically, was more accepting. “He said, ‘I don’t care what you do in your lifetime, just finish school and take care of your grandmother.’ He didn’t impose other things on me, and that said to me that my father would accept me unconditionally.”

Collin chose the name Hinaleimoana. Hina is the Hawaiian goddess of the moon, among the most desired figures in Polynesian mo‘olelo (stories), a name she says honors her mother’s cultural heritage and one that Hina hopes to “live up to.”

Hina had been teaching at Halau Lokahi for ten years when filmmakers Joe Wilson and Dean Hamer met her in 2011 through a mutual friend, Connie Florez, who became a co-producer of Kumu Hina. Wilson and Hamer were already known for their Emmy-winning 2009 film Out in the Silence, which chronicles Wilson and Hamer’s same-sex wedding and the uproar it subsequently caused in Wilson’s Rust Belt hometown of Oil City, Pennsylvania. Wilson and Hamer saw Hina’s story as a fresh approach to the topic. “As people who come from the continent, we often have a superficial understanding of Hawai‘i,” Wilson says. “Meeting Hina introduced us to a Hawai‘i that we might not otherwise know about. When she embraced us as filmmakers to document her story, we realized that this is a Hawai‘i that everybody needs to know about.”

That Hina was both respected and approachable was evident from their first meeting with her. “As we went to dinner at Kenny’s in Kalihi, just walking from the parking lot to the restaurant took about thirty minutes,” says Hamer. “There were so many people who knew her and came up to her. Coming from the Mainland, where a mahu might be looked at as suspicious, it was so different and wonderful to see her as part of her community.” 

The crew shadowed Hina for two years and just let the cameras roll, often capturing touching moments between Hina and her students as well as a surprisingly intimate and honest view of her marriage. They filmed at Halau Lokahi, in her home and in Fiji. Much of the film focuses on Hina’s poignant relationship with a tough and talented middle school student, Ho‘onani Kamai, a girl who, like Hina, is “in the middle” and who, despite being female and considerably younger, confidently directs the high school boys as they practice their hula and leads them during the end-of-year performance. Wilson and Hamer are editing an age-appropriate version of the film that emphasizes Ho‘onani’s story to be shown in Hawai‘i schools. (The working title: A Place in the Middle.) “It’s told through the students’ point of view,” Wilson explains. “The value of that film is to reach people in the classroom setting.”

For her part, Hina says she is happy with the film and its success, though she insists that she didn’t do it for the stardom. “I don’t need the glory, I don’t need the fame,” she says, “but who doesn’t appreciate a pat on the back? What I want to know is that there is value and worth in my life—not the everyday value, but the larger value. Can I serve our people? Can I serve our community in ways big and small? I firmly believe that through being oneself, through living one’s truths and embracing one’s realities, others may find strength and courage.”

Not only are Hawaiians “still here,” as Hina says in the film, but once-suppressed native traditions like oli and hula are flourishing, and aikane (same-sex) marriages are today protected by Hawai‘i state law.

During the 2013 bill-signing ceremony for same-sex marriage in Hawai‘i, Kumu Hina delivered a stirring oli that sounded as if it roared from the caldera of Kilauea. She chanted before a packed auditorium of government officials, marriage equality advocates and friends and families at the Hawai‘i Convention Center. Those in the audience who did not understand Hawaiian wouldn’t know that Hina sang of “a new dawn.” But when Hina chanted about “the precious day of the aikane and of the mahu,” many in the audience laughed, clapped and whooped upon hearing the word “mahu,” causing the kumu herself to stop for a moment and break into a smile. (You can view the clip, with English subtitles, on YouTube.)

While she says she was honored to be asked by then-Governor Neil Abercrombie to deliver the oli, she did so “to be a catalyst for this change” and not, she says, to become a standard-bearer for LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) issues. That’s not a label, she says, that suits her; “I am not someone who wants to embrace LGBT and apply it to myself,” she says. Rather, it is her Hawaiian identity that predominates; if working in support of LGBT issues helps to serve that larger purpose, Hina is willing. But she points out that LGBT interests might well be served indirectly. “I put my-self out there for the larger community,” she says, “and if I do good for the larger community, then a more positive light will be cast on people like me.”

Last fall Hina concluded thirteen years as cultural director at Halau Lokahi. She’s still considering what she’ll do next, but whatever it is, it’s likely that she will advocate on behalf of Native Hawaiians. In 2014 she ran unsuccessfully for a position on the board of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. Hina also chairs the O‘ahu Island Burial Council, which ensures that iwi kupuna—the remains of Hawaiian ancestors—are treated properly when they are unearthed during construction projects. Jonathan Likeke Scheuer, who served as her vice chairman before his term ended last June, praises Hina’s ability to reach consensus between developers and descendants —no small accomplishment, he points out, given the intensity of the disputes that erupt over the treatment of iwi kupuna. “Her leadership comes from an absolutely culturally grounded place,” Scheuer says. “She is so comfortable in her own skin, in being the person she is. She embodies who she is in this wonderful way that is really the source of her power.”

“I really don’t know what’s in store,” Hina says at the end of the film, and though she’s referring specifically to her marriage, she might as well be talking about her life as a whole. “What I do know is that I’m fortunate to live in a place that allows me to love who I love. I can be whoever I want to be. That’s what I hope most to leave with my students: A genuine understanding of unconditional acceptance and respect. To me that’s the true meaning of aloha.”

by Cara Mertes, Roberta Uno, & Luna Yasui:

As grant makers at the Ford Foundation, we’re accustomed to collaborating. Our initiatives—Advancing LGBT Rights,JustFilms, and Supporting Diverse Arts Spaces—not only intersect; they also reinforce each other. When we work together, we’re reminded that three voices can truly sing louder than just one—an idea that was exemplified at a recent film screening and live performance.

On December 10, the foundation hosted 2014’s final JustFilms Philanthropy New York screening and performance series, this time celebrating cultural icon Kumu Hina, a transgendered Native Hawaiian activist and teacher, and the subject of the evening’s film. After her beautiful chanted greeting (a Hawaiian oli), she was joined on stage by world-renowned Hawaiian musicians Keali'i Reichel and Shawn Pimental, whose music brought the refreshing trade winds of Hawaii to a cold New York evening. By the time Kumu Hina returned to perform a hula, the 300-strong audience had been transported to a world of grace, revelation, and aloha. 

The performances were the perfect prelude to the screening of Kumu Hina. Directed by Dean Hamer and Joe Wilson, the film tells the inspiring story of Hina Wong-Kalu, also known as Kumu Hina. In high school, she was a young man named Colin Wong, who harnessed Hawaiian chant and dance to embrace his sexuality as a māhū, or transgender person. As an adult teacher, Kumu Hina supports a young girl student, Hoʻonani, as she fights to join the all-male hula troupe, pushing against the boundaries of conventional gender roles. Kumu Hina provides a holistic Native Hawaiian cultural context that affirms Hoʻonani as someone who is waena (between) and empowers her to move fluidly in her identity. 

Kumu Hina’s story centers on the power of culture to shape identity, personal agency, and community cohesion. It transcends the cliché of a young person coming of age through dance, because it is grounded in a Pacific Islander value system that offers a fluid way of understanding and valuing  identity—giving us all fresh ways to see each other with empathy. The film also points to Hawaii’s leadership as the first state to have two official languages, English and ʻŌlelo Hawai'i; as an early proponent of gay marriage; and as a model for a polycultural America, where culture and values influence each other and move fluidly across boundaries rather than live side by side, or in a hierarchy, as separate entities. But ultimately what makes this film so memorable is that it allows audiences to experience the incredible journey of one person and her community, teaching people everywhere to see, appreciate, and truly embrace LGBT people.   

This special event demonstrated how arts and culture, including film, dance, and music, serve as a central means of self-expression and political activism for LGBT people of color. They also exemplify how partnerships—those three voices singing as one—can help amplify a powerful story and support our grantees as they reach for a wider audience.

Watch Hina in performance with Keali'i Reichel & Shawn Pimental here:

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