Here for the community. What is the Hawaiian word for elders? Is it kupuna? Kupuna.

Kupuna.

Yeah, kupuna. Because for this next remembrance, we're going to have a kupuna team. Bro, it was so beautiful that young men from Sacred Sons brought their moms and their dads to remembrance. It was really special to see that and it was like some of the olders will say they don't maybe need ritual combat and to do the the same work that the youngers are doing so what does the kupuna team look like what does the work look like for for that age group in that life stage and not to separate it but to like give them space to do their work because it might look different than the work that the youngers are doing. You know what I'm saying? And then can we bring it back together? And then what is the wisdom that not one elder or one wise person comes up with, but in that collective work of the kapuna, like now, what wisdom do you have to share with us as this community? And so that's an element of this next remembrance that I'm really looking forward to emphasizing. There were so many gray hairs there. I was very honored and also humbled by their presence. And I feel like just as much as we get to acknowledge the descendants and the generations that are coming, it's so important for us because we're the adults in the room now Kale and so we gotta give some attention to the kapuna who maybe they don't know because they weren't shown like this term elder even a lot of them got like they had resistance to this term and that's why I'm saying they're olders you know it's like but is there a path to eldership is there a path for cultivating that wisdom in that life stage? I say yes. What do you say? Yeah.

I say yes, man. You know, again, when it comes to the recognition of kupuna, right? So we need to understand the word as well, because sometimes English is a disservice to the stages. School me. Let me know. I got to

know because I need to deepen my understanding of these words too.

Yeah. So kupuna can mean like an elder or older person, but it can also mean like in reference to ancestors. So and also like to break down the word. And, you know, a lot of Hawaiian linguists don't like when I do this because they think it's new age. But it's like, hey, we use these words all the time. And there's an etymology of these words where they have much deeper meaning than just a direct translation into English. Of course. So if you're one of those Hawaiian linguists out there, sorry, not sorry. Because we're going to engage this ancestral practice regardless, because we out here, we got to start invigorating a culture. So Ku, it means to stand upright, but it's also that of like a deity, which is normally responsible for things that happen within the human realm. So if something is Ku, it's just like upright, strong, and is normally given a masculine force. But now, when you understand that the word kupuna as a whole can mean elder or ancestor, you get to a deeper meaning that this is now attached to things that are ancient and old. And it's still standing. Imagine an ancient mother tree, still standing, still ku, still upright, still strong. So there's an emotional attachment to this word of ku as well, not just like a material understanding. look at the other word which is puna, right? Puna can mean something that's generative or fertile, right? It's like a spring or source of water. It symbolizes life and the origin of sustenance. So if you look at the word now, kupuna, something that has lasted and still upright, that is providing life as a source of sustenance, an origin of sustenance. And that's what we call an elder, someone that brings still water to rise, someone that is still fertile and generative. They're not doing the same things as the youngers, you know, the makua, which is us, the parents. They're doing what the kapuna need to do. We just keep providing this source of wisdom and of life from the ways that they speak. So a good mark of an elder, I believe, is someone that's not just looking out for themselves or concerned about how other people see them or don't want to don the word of an elder because they don't feel like it's their time yet. Like all those things, I don't think is good hallmarks. What should be happening, I believe, for people that reach that older age is to be even more unabashedly, unapologetic towards what it means to provide wisdom and knowledge for people who are starving of it. I mean, shoot, man. How many stories do you hear about an uncle that is just like, zero fucks? You know what I mean? Like, you listen to that one. Or even the auntie who comes in, so sweet, so kind. Does everybody, make sure everybody's okay. But as soon as you cross her, she got a mouthful for you. And it's quick too. And it bites hard because you're going to say some personal shit. And you're just like, ooh, ow. My auntie Jojo, she's exactly like that. She's

exactly like that. No

filter. Just like, here it is. It's like, I don't care if you're my sister's son. I'm going to treat you like my own right now. That's elderhood. It's not pretty. It's far from it. It's gritty. It's leathery. It's endearing, captivating, and it's steadfast.

I think it's also honest. There's an inherent authenticity and honesty that has to come with it. Yeah, exactly.

And I think, you know, where we're at, we're not, you know, we're not here to make people elders or to tell them that they are ones, but we can recognize them. Yes. And I think that's good to acknowledge them, like you were saying, to praise them for what they've done so far. And there's still more to do because, you know, they're not taking their last breath yet. So I think it's really up to us as well as to like invigorate the channel for them, to give them some of that confidence because they too have been stripped of that. The same things that we're dealing with, they too, in their times when they were our age, they had to go through some shit. So it's like compassion, empathy, and grace, man. That's aloha. It always goes back to it. Yeah. like to think of when we look

to those who are coming after us, that we provide encouragement. Like we encourage those who are to come, like keep coming. And if we are so fortunate, you know, one day we may be in the place of the kupuna. We may be in that place of older and eldership. And so it's important for us to acknowledge. So whenever we have that opportunity to acknowledge those who came before us, who are still living, still standing, still providing, to provide that acknowledgement. Best grandpa ever. You know what I'm saying? That was that chant. That's the acknowledgement from the littles. And they just do that, you know? And so we, as adults, I feel like the society has become so self-serving through social media. It's like we're in the me, me, me, me, me. And I'm trying to come into the we, the we of like the fullness of the human life, the fullness of the human experience. And yeah, there was a moment at Remembrance where just in the very beginning that we had all of the older folks kind of like pass the torch, you know, to the leaders just for the weekend, just to give us the permission to step in and to, and looking into their eyes and just seeing the lines on the faces that have had those life experiences and the tears and the waters beginning to well up in the eyes just because we're acknowledging them. Just more of that. More

of that. More of that. Yeah, can mean the world just to have that. Yeah, bro. And so that's what it is. It's like what you said in this time of the me, me, you know, the meme. Me, me, me. You know, there's something I would say too is like there's always a cry in me, me, which means mimicry. And so it's like, yeah. And so why is that important to note? we only have so many living examples and they're not going to be here forever and so if we can mimic them just a little bit to try something on to see how it fits and to move with it and if it doesn't fit it doesn't fit but at least we mimicked it as best we could for things to change or to be helped or to be supported. And in that is a cry, the mimicry. Because you'll cry knowing that it's not going to be here forever, that we only have so much time left. And so to honor those who come before us as elders, even though they might not know what that means, or as people who have lived some time longer than we have in this world, it's a good place, good place for tears to flow, good place to cry. Because they too were in their own mimicking of somebody else. So can we don these things and can we release them too?