I recently read a book called Island Wisdom that explored the question, “what does it mean to be Hawaiian?” To answer this question the authors used the themes of Aloha (deep, innate love), ‘Ᾱina (the land), Mo’olelo (the art of storytelling), and ‘Ohana (the family) to paint a picture of the Hawaiian culture. Storytelling serves many purposes in Hawaiian culture. As a culture rooted in oral tradition, storytelling was how they passed down their knowledge, connected with family members, and preserved their history through the dancing of hula (which I learned is a sacred storytelling art in Hawaii). There is a saying that goes, “Know who you were so you can know who you are.” We need to know the generations of people that populate our family tree, because their stories are our creation myths.
Since I love the theme of “finding who you are,” let us explore how knowing the stories of our ancestors helps us find meaning in our lives. Moana is a story about a young woman who lives on an island that she is prohibited from leaving. As the chief’s daughter, and next in line to govern the island, her dad makes it very clear that no one sails beyond the reef because it is too dangerous. However, their island is dying, and the solution lies in far away places. Her sweet grandmother prompts Moana to accept her call to save the island and journey beyond the reef to do so. She leads Moana to the revelation that her ancestors were voyagers, and with this knowledge of who she was, Moana is able to complete the difficult task of saving the island, and presumably the rest of the world. Knowledge of her ancestor’s stories helped her know who she was to become—a voyager once again.
Another favorite story of mine is the tale of Elsa in the movie Frozen. She was born with powers that seemed to her shameful, after inadvertently harming her sister with them. She spent her youth trying to hide them from her community and her sister. After accidentally exposing her powers on her coronation day as Queen of Arendelle, she ran away. The mystery of her powers continued to haunt her until she learned that her mother was from the Northuldra tribe in the Enchanted Forest. Once she learned stories from her mother’s childhood, Elsa finally understood her powers, saved her people, and realized her purpose. Again, knowing the stories of her ancestors brought meaning to her life.
As for me, I recently lost my grandmother. I know some basics about her life, but I feel like I’m missing the pieces that give me a clear picture of who I have been. How did my grandma handle raising four kids after her divorce? Why did she never remarry? What led her to become a travel agent? What did she love about growing up in Tennessee? What was her favorite flower? What kind of friend was she? Did she have a midlife crisis? I have so many questions, but now I have to get the answers from secondary sources. Thankfully I’ve not been tasked with saving the world by discovering my family secrets, but I do hope to leave more stories for my children, grandchildren, and even great grandchildren to know who they were, so they can know who they are.
Image Credit: "She Will Find What is Lost" by Brian Kershisnik
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