Sharing traditions

Last Saturday, hundreds packed the main gym of the Peter W. Stott Center to participate in and watch traditional dances, sample a variety of foods and learn about many cultures at the annual Pacific Islanders Club luau.

The sixth-annual luau consisted of a traditional Hawaiian dinner, a raffle, local vendors selling products made from the Pacific Islands and a showcase of dances from the islands, which was the main entertainment of the evening.

The luau serves as the primary fundraiser for the Pacific Islanders Club to raise money for scholarships that help students from the Pacific Islands attend PSU.

Kenji Lee, public relations officer for the Pacific Islanders Club, said the luau is as good as it is because of the involvement of students.

“Every year our club is growing exponentially in members and experience,” Lee said. “It was originally started by five people, now we have 50 active members.”

With a program of over 18 different native dances, all performed by PSU students and representing Pacific islands, including Tonga, Tahiti, Hawai’i, Fiji and Samoa, the luau encompassed the many cultures within the club, as well as many who attended to watch the dancers in action.

One highlight of the night was the Samoan Fireknife Dance, called Siva Afi. Three dancers spun sticks, which were lit on fire at both ends, as a test of the dancer’s strength, ability and courage.

Another aspect of the event was the kava circle. Kava is a native plant of the Pacific Islands that can be ground into a powder and mixed with water, much like coffee, and is a legal intoxicant.

According to Sione Tuipulot, who was in charge of stirring and handing out coconut shells full of the liquid, it is a traditional and ceremonial drink, founded on the social bonding of the head of families.

A Fijian dance at the event was dedicated to Harvey Fuapau, who founded the Pacific Islanders Club in 2001. Many of the audience members said this was a high point of the luau.

Fuapau started the club after receiving invitations from other Oregon schools to start clubs that represented only one island, such as a Hawaiian club. Fuapau wanted to include all the islands and have representation of those islands by bringing students-funded by scholarships-to attend PSU.

Fuapau stepped away from his official duties with the Pacific Islanders Club last year because he wanted the students to take a more active role and grow on their own as a club and community.

“The islands are scattered all over, like a broken window,” Fuapau said, “that is my motivation, to form the window from the pieces.”

For one student who had never been to an event like this before the luau was a great time. “I like it, I have never been to a college luau before,” said PSU junior Ben Eshleman, “a friend of mine told me it would be a good time, and I have not been let down.”

LEARN MORE

For more information on the Pacific Islanders Club, contact [email protected].