Growing the Sacred Community
Niu Now: Reconnecting to the Tree of Life
Featuring Manulani Aluli Meyer & Indrajit Gunasekara
This special article has as its focus a video and enriching dialogue rather than a text. NIU NOW: Reconnecting to the Tree of Life looks at the efforts by a grassroots group in Hawai’i tackling the challenge of food security while reconnecting to the cultural heritage of the islands. In the words of co-founder Dr. Manulani Aluli Meyer, “Niu Now is a movement of friends dedicated to the animation cultural agroforestry…and revival of Aloha.” At the heart of this movement is community. It weaves together the core values of indigenous Hawaiian culture to strengthen community and thereby address a key issue facing many indigenous Hawaiians. Below you will learn about the two individuals featured in the video, Dr. Manulani Aluli Meyer and Indrajit Gunasekara, and be introduced to the story behind its creation. Enjoy!
Manulani Aluli Meyer is a singer of ancient Hawaiian chants that express the miracle of life and our connection with Mother Earth. Her doctorate is from Harvard University, and she has overseen more than 30 doctoral candidates in the area of indigenous epistemology (think indigenous knowledge). On the faculty of University of Hawaii West Oahu, she also serves as Konohiki of Kūlana o Kapolei, a Hawaiian place of learning. Dr. Aluli Meyer is a widely published author and the subject/presenter of more than a dozen video, talks, and panel presentations free to stream on the web.
Coconut seedlings - Photo: NiU Now Facebook
Manulani is heart-directed, not of sentimental affection, but in a deeply grounded sense of Aloha. She is a radical collaborator and planter in the fields, a community organizer, a Hawaiian philosopher, a cultural historian, a coach, aunty, and idealist.
Manuʻs work is spiritually grounded and carefully framed in the ethical and practical boundaries of ho'oponopono, a Hawaiian ritual practice of reconciliation and forgiveness. Ho'oponopono is grounded in Hawaiian cultural values dedicated to truth, accountability, and aloha. Hoʻokahi laʻau he mihi. The first medicine is forgiveness.
Forty years into being a cultural visionary, teacher, and scholar-practitioner, Manuʻs on-going community work is the subject of the video Niu Now: Reconnecting to the Tree of Life (presented below). Niu means coconut in Hawaiian. This video is the story of the emergence of a coconut campaign which is setting out to transform not only Hawaii but the world, centering love and community. This effort is shared by Indrajit Gunasekara, a native of Southern Sri Lanka and an Indigenous knowledge keeper of coconuts who moved to Hawaii to find this work they both share and love. He has an unbroken line of connection (3,000 years) to the use, purpose and spiritual function of the coconut, and his love and knowledge of the niu has activated the Niu Now movement focusing on the coconut as a vital food resource.
In the second half of Niu Now, Manulani and Indrajit are joined by moderator Audrey Kitagawa, producer of this video and a host of others, many focused on resolving the troubles of the disinherited. Audrey is the Founder and President of the International Academy for Multicultural Cooperation. She is also the producer of The Gift of Aloha (Love), which again features Manulani and explores Aloha, the heartbeat of Pacific Island spirituality.
We encourage you to watch Niu Now. The hour spent will enrich your understanding of what it means to cultivate and live into the values of a beloved community and leave you inspired and more knowledgeable about indigenous Hawaiian culture.
Header Photo: Wikimedia
