Huliau - The Return Voyage

The Reason

For too long, we have allowed others to define us, to discount us, and to commercialize our culture. For too long, we have allowed others to divide us. The Return Voyage takes us back to our genuine ohana--in its aboriginal meaning: “Everyone and everything you can see, that you can wrap your heart around, is your responsibility to take care of.” The time is now.

The Content

Every gathering will be different. Always intimate, always as fresh as the wind in our faces. Each spiritual circle will be shaped to the needs and focus of the particular group. For example:

* We see a couple dozen of our brothers and sisters gathered in a living room.

* We picture us together in your college social hall, or under a campus tree grove.

* We join your club or hālau at its regular meeting place.

“The ocean’s waves aren’t manufactured. Our gatherings are as our ancestors lived: Anything and everything can change in a breath.

“I’m not a teacher. I remind you of what you already know, but may have abandoned. Our lives are noisy, demanding, and very distracting. This huliau brings us home to what we carry within ourselves.”

‘Iokepa Hanalei ‘Īmaikalani

Who

If you have a single drop of Native Hawaiian blood, we invite you to join the conversation.
If you have no Hawaiian blood and you want to experience the Return Voyage--come.

There are almost 200,000 native Hawaiians scattered across the United States (outside of our Islands). There are Civic Clubs, University Hui, Hula Hālau, Social, Cultural, and Prison groups among those of us who identify ourselves as carriers of the ancient blood.

It is not necessary to belong to any of these affiliations to propose a Return Voyage location, or reserve a date. These gatherings require only a collection of friends who feel the call of our ancestors, or a yearning to know more about the truth of our people. The time is now.

To Host a Return Voyage--or Learn More About Gatherings in Your Area

This website and its attached E-mail address: info@ReturnVoyage.com is your way to host an event, reserve a date, or simply express your ideas.

The Return Voyage conversation began in the autumn of 2007. Your response determines the schedule of coast to coast events. That schedule will be published on the Ever-Changing Page of this website.

Each Return Voyage gathering is a three hour shared conversation: Each unique, and each responsive to the specific participants.

We ask that you lend your talents in support of this powerful momentum towards unity and personal freedom.

What to Expect

* You will never be embarrassed for what you know or do not know.

* You will not be asked to chant, dance, or perform in any way.

* You are not expected, nor required, to speak the Hawaiian language.

“I won’t stand at a podium, with a microphone in my hand. I’m coming to listen to the people of the Islands. We’re going to sit down and share our mana‘o—our ideas and beliefs—exactly as our ancestors did. This is a conversation. I’m there to strike the match.”

‘Iokepa Hanalei ‘Īmaikalani

The Facilitators

Each Retun Voyage gathering will be guided by ‘Iokepa Hanalei ‘Īmaikalani, with support from his wife Inette Miller ‘Īmaikalani.

For the past ten years, ‘Iokepa and Inette have prepared themselves for this powerful spiritual pilgrimage. They have lived a life of service to our people and to the ‘āina that has bolstered their faith, opened their hearts, and filled them with the truth of our ancestors’ lives.

The Cost

Retun Voyage is an unfunded walk of faith. Donations are necessary and always accepted. We suggest a $20 donation, but we prefer, as in all things, that each of you seek your own guidance.

“My Grandmothers tell me, if I speak to the people’s ears—that our ancestors will speak to their hearts.

“Regardless of whether you can afford a donation—we want you there. Our culture is not for sale.”

‘Iokepa Hanalei ‘Īmaikalani

The Consensus

“We agree on so much more than we do not. We agree that we—who are descended from the original ancestors--are brothers and sisters. We agree that our personal freedom relies on knowing who we are and who our ancestors were. We agree that the Creator entrusted the Islands to our care—that we are its stewards. We agree that we come from a people who took responsibility for one another, and for every part of the living creation. We agree: The time is now.”

‘Iokepa Hanalei ‘‘Īmaikalani