MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
In Hawaii, there's an ancient sport that involves a sled and breakneck speed. It is not as well-known as surfing, but native Hawaiian cultural practitioners are working to change that. Hawaii Public Radio's Catherine Cluett Pactol explains.
CATHERINE CLUETT PACTOL, BYLINE: The tradition of he'e holua is thousands of years old.
MAHI LA PIERRE: OK, put them right on the line.
CLUETT PACTOL: These sleds weren't raced on snow, but steep stone courses.
LA PIERRE: Lying down with your face six inches off the stones, flying down a hill (laughter).
CLUETT PACTOL: That's cultural practitioner and educator Mahi La Pierre at a recent holua workshop on the island of Moloka'i.
LA PIERRE: Some people say the Hawaiian extreme sport - so people die.
CLUETT PACTOL: Ancient papa holua - or sleds - were up to 18 feet long and just 6 inches wide. They were raced on tracks stretching a mile from the mountains down to the ocean. The goal was distance, speed and survival.
Pohaku Stone has been researching and riding holua for more than three decades. He says historically, to start the ride, you'd run while carrying the papa holua and throw yourself over a wall onto the main track.
POHAKU STONE: You're holding that sled that's 50 pounds or more, and you're casting it forward out in front of you as you leap over this wall.
CLUETT PACTOL: Once you picked up speed, you'd hurtle headfirst down the track as fast as 80 miles an hour. Today, holua are usually ridden on steep, grassy slopes, or whatever hill you can find, like at the workshop.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Whee (ph).
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: (Laughter).
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: (Non-English language spoken).
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: (Non-English language spoken).
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: (Non-English language spoken).
CLUETT PACTOL: Stone says early Hawaiian legends describe volcano goddess Pele riding holua down the lava fields, and the sport honors her. Tracks were found across Hawaii. But in the 1800s, with the influence of Christian missionaries, he says holua was banned, along with other cultural practices.
STONE: Most of those slides were systematically destroyed. There was a great movement to erase that completely.
CLUETT PACTOL: Stone has been instrumental in piecing together what we know of holua today from written accounts, oral histories and archaeological research. He's led an effort to rekindle the sport. Mahi La Pierre and Iliahi Doo (ph) are also working towards that goal. The two of them recently led the three-day workshop on Moloka'i. Participants built seven-foot long papa holua. Doo says he hopes holua will once again be commonly practiced in Hawaii.
ILIAHI DOO: That's what our intention was - was to make it normal, you know, because it's such a lost art.
CLUETT PACTOL: At the workshop, Moloka'i participants from youth to elders used hand tools to sand the rough-cut native ohi'a hardwood.
(SOUNDBITE OF SAW RASPING)
LA PIERRE: Just feel, yeah?
(SOUNDBITE OF SAW RASPING)
LA PIERRE: See, you're instantly doing something already.
CLUETT PACTOL: After the wood is smooth as glass, its color darkens and shines with coconut oil to help the sleds glide. Then the pieces are lashed together. For La Pierre, it's a sacred process.
LA PIERRE: Two days ago, we just had wood. Now we have a vehicle to ride in the footsteps of our ancestors.
CLUETT PACTOL: Kanoelani Davis hosted the workshop through her nonprofit Ho'aka Mana. One of their goals is fostering well being through native Hawaiian traditions.
KANOELANI DAVIS: The health of our cultural practices and disciplines is the health of our people.
CLUETT PACTOL: She says participants loved the event and want to get together again to ride holua. For NPR News, I'm Catherine Cluett Pactol on Moloka'i.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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