For Yvonne “Von” Mahelona, helping her community to heal is activism in and of itself.
on August 8th. But her way of fighting these injustices is a little different from what you might expect. Inspired by her time on Mauna Kea, Mahelona left her job as a bank accountant to become a grief worker who uses ceremonial rituals to help people process their emotions and heal. And to her, grief work is activism work; the two are inextricably linked.
“On the Mauna, I came to understand just how much fighting for justice takes out of us both spiritually and emotionally,” she continues. “And that’s why it was so important for us to be in ceremony every day while we were there and when we got home, too—because it’s too much to fight for our land and our bodies and our communities without it. We give our time and our energy and our hearts and our love, but we also need to allow ourselves to be taken care of in return.
Mākua Valley is a sacred space to the Kānaka Maoli people and currently occupied by the U.S. Military. A recent bill has been introduced for a return of the land from the US military for culturally appropriate use.A shrine erected outside the gates of the headquarters of the commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet.
The sacred Ko’a was carved by Hui Kūpāʻaikʻe and is dedicated to deity Kāneikawaiola, Kāne of the life giving waters.The Hawaiian word for grief is, which translates to “something heavy is going to be lifted,” and that’s ultimately what Mahelona considers herself today: a vessel to help people lift their spirits. Maybe by doing so, she hopes, they will always have a little more room to give.
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