Hāwane Rios Instagram – H Ō L A N I Inviting you into this intimate moment on Hōlanikū, the eldest atoll in our island chain. I was called by my ancestral mandate to build ahu in all cardinal directions and one central one. This is the largest ahu on Hōlanikū, set in the wahi of Punanakamanu, that I named for the camp area. My sister helped me to gather the small ko’a that is the paepae of this ahu. She helped me to offer ‘awa and oli here at this ahu. She completed the portion of her Rites of Passage that I was alaka’i of here at this ahu. I stood here every morning and evening to ceremony. When I close my eyes and need to center myself in my mauli, this is where I go. This is my sacred place of ritual and prayer. My hand touched every ko’a that makes up this ahu. There was a prayer and chant in every setting of every coral that sits here. I tried to do build five ahu when I was on Hōlanikū at 22 but I knew the way I built them wouldn’t last. It took building ahu on the mauna and in my own pā hale to prepare me to create them on Hōlanikū at 33 with the permission of the land and of the ko’a. Hōlanikū guided me through every stage and gave me strength to bring this many ko’a from the shores I love, inland to the land I love. It is the highest and most sacred offering I have made in my life. I remain in contact with every single field camp that goes out there to guide them on how to take care of them and align with them from here as they do ceremony there. The ahu that sits in the west is dedicated to the divine feminine and is named after the Hale o Papa of Pu’uhonua o Hōnaunau and the divine feminine goddesses that created everything we know. The name of that ahu is ‘Akahipapahonuamea. I named this papa that begins today after that ahu because the purpose is centered in the same thing – a sacred commitment to healing and a sacred commitment to our living culture. The registration link will open until Thursday ulaaihawane.com/akahipapahonuamea To Kahiki We Go @halehaumea #halehaumea #akahipapahonuamea