Storyteller Nyla Fujii-Babb – In the Steps of the Monkey King; Ancestor Stories from Hawaii’s Hidden History
Click here to register for this free event
Monday, April 11 at 10:00am
Hosted by Kaunoa Senior Center
Once set down in written form family stories, like folklore, that had once been shared around the fire or around the dining room table, take on an aura of absolute truth. These written accounts lack the input of others who engaged in these original conversations who might have said, “That’s not how I remembered it!” So in written form it becomes “truth” only from the author’s own perspective. Nevertheless these ancestor tales gleaned from numerous conversations with aunts and uncles, grandparents and great grandparents, calabash cousins and nuclear family, are important to family unity, and cultural identity. Unlike the history books which document the famous and infamous of history, ancestor stories paint a portrait of the common people and their everyday lives which impact but are often hidden from official historic records. Here are two from Hawaii’s Kingdom Age through Statehood