How to whip a fish

On Tuesday we had another great day with Hi'ilei.  First we learned about the Hawaiian Moon Calendar, which was, and still is, critically important to fishpond management.  The phases of the moon are called Po Mahina, and there are 30 days in the Hawaiian Moon calendar.  Hawaiians had a unique name for the moon on every day.  The 30 days were broken into 3 phases (anahulu) of 10 days each: the ho'onui (rising) moons, the poepoe (full) moons, and the emi (falling) moons.  We learned about the practices and kapu associated with each of the phases and we also learned a nifty song and clap dance that helps you remember the phases.  The song is called Kamali'i 'ike 'ole i ka helu po (the child that doesn't know the moon phases).

Kamali'i 'ike 'ole i ka helu po
Muku nei, muku ka malama
Hilo nei, kau ka Hoaka
'Eha Ku
'Eha 'Ole
Huna, Mohalu, Hua, Akua
Hoku, Mahealani, Kulu
'Ekolu La'au
'Ekolu 'Ole
'Ekolu Kaloa
Kane, Lono, Mauli, pau.

Here we are learning and practicing it.

This ain't square dancing!

Anu was a pro and lead the rest of us through it.

Next we learned about "whip fishing" from Hi'ilei.  The name comes from the fact that you whip the pole to cast the line into the water.  As you will see, this is not a traditional fishing practice, since you use a fiberglass fishing pole with a reel, but it is still very important element of modern fishpond management.  The folks at Paepae o He'eia use whip fishing or reel fishing to catch predatory fish in the pond (those that would eat the herbivorous fish they're trying to grow).  Twice a year Paepae gets help from the community in catching these predators at open community fishing days.  Check out the fun that was had by all.

First we have to untangle the lines...

Pointers from the master

Leila is getting the swing of it

Looks like Daniel has done this before

Is that a fish, or more limu?

Success!!!

Even the "older" generation participated!