Paddle with Me
This is a fun lesson! We are introducing the concept of storytelling. Native Hawaiians use storytelling to pass down stories of their ancestors, including stories of creation. In this lesson the videos will give you a history of cultural storytelling and the craft and power of a well-told story. You will also be learning about health perceptions within the Pacific context. If we are promoting health in the Pacific, we need to understand the values and beliefs surrounding health within the Pacific context. Why not put it into a story?
In this lesson we will be viewing the story of Hāloa (see required resources). It is said that all Hawaiians trace their roots back to Hāloa. This means that Hawaiians are all “mamo na Hāloa,” or descendants of Hāloa. Through the relationship to Hāloa, Hawaiians are related to the kalo (taro plant), the ʻāina (land), and the rest of the natural world. The story of Hāloa reminds Hawaiians that they/we are part of nature. The plants, animals, and islands are their/our ancestors, our kūpuna. We need to acknowledge and mālama (take care) these important connections. In honoring and respecting this value of connection, we could relate it to health by encouraging the idea of … Mālama (take care) our bodies through these connections. ʻĀINA In Schools is an example of a program that has taken the Hawaiian value of connection to the land and incorporated it into a health promotion program.
Storytelling is a tool that can be used to promote health by making cultural connections in the form of a story. Many cultures use storytelling to pass down traditions and other culturally relevant information from generation to generation.
For this lesson, there are four required videos. The first video gives some history on storytelling. The second video gives a Western perspective on how storytelling can be used and “done right”. Be mindful, the second video reflects a Western perspective. It is important to recognize the differences in values, beliefs and approaches. Many times, the Western approach may not work in the Pacific region for a variety of reasons. We’ll learn about some of this history later on in the course.
For the 2 required articles you’re reading in this lesson, try to put on your Pacific lens glasses – see what they see. In order to understand the cultural groups we want to serve, we must first see things as they see things. For example,
- In Guam, “health” includes the idea of “healing practices”. Wouldn’t you want to learn more about the healing practices in Guam? Perhaps, building on some healthy practices already in place would result in more adherence rather than trying to introduce a foreign concept.
- How could storytelling be incorporated into health promotion? Would you want to include the health perceptions of the Pacific peoples? For example, you might tell a story of a family and their practice of eating a meal together – where did the food come from (and not the store) – I mean WHERE did it come from? Where was it grown? How was it harvested? By whom? Who did the cooking? Why is it important to eat together as a family?
A Paddler’s Perspective
How is storytelling done? Think about the audience. It’s important to recognize the difference between Western and other perspectives. Then, ask the question – “who is your audience? (the population you’re addressing) If they are non-Western, would you follow the Western ways of storytelling? Probably, not. Today, storytelling is being used by Westerners to portray messages of leadership and teamwork in business and education settings. The “Why stories matter” video gives suggestions from a Western perspective – keep this in mind as it may be your tendency to create stories based on what you’ve learned in school about writing (a beginning, a middle and the end).
Storytelling in the Pacific is done differently. The last required video is one in a series by Kamehameha Publishing in which they have taken children’s books depicting Hawaiian legends and made a video series.
The videos are done in English and Hawaiian. In the English version, the narrator (storyteller) incorporates some Hawaiian words into the story. These stories have lessons embedded into them – as many stories do.