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Papa Henry Auwae is a 93-year-old po'okela, or master Of Hawaiian herbal medicine. He began learning about the healing traditions-called la'au lapa'au-at the age of 7 from his great-great-grandmother and has been taking care of the health of the Hawaiian people and any others who ask for help for over 70 years. "Healing, " he says with conviction, "is 80%percent spiritual and20% medicine."
Papa Auwaes botanical pharmacology includes over 2500 different herbs, most of which he grows or gathers himself These herbs are then made into medicines for his patients on an individual basis. Because each patient is treated individually there is no written list Of conditions and corresponding list of herbs to use in treating those conditions. Talking with patients at length, helping them develop spiritually, and using his "x-ray hands" to diagnose conditions are all part of the healing process as well as knowing which herbs to mix with which in the making ofthe medicine. He is currently teaching (orally) about 100 students to carry on this tradition of Hawaiian healing.
Papa Auwae graciously agreed to be interviewed by Alternative Therapies in his home on the big island ofHawai' i. He will also be speaking at the journal's fifth annual symposium at the Orchid Hotel on the Kona Coast of Hawai'i in April 2000.
In this interview, we have tried to present Papa Auwae@ dialect as it was spoken to retain the nuances in his choice of words and the flavor of his culture.
Alternative Therapies: Let's begin with the essence of Hawaiian medicine. How would you describe it?
Papa Henry Auwae: Hawaiian medicine is not only Hawaiian herbs. The first thing Hawaiians learn is the spiritual part of any type of medicine.
My great-great-grandmother came [to Hawai'i] in the 1600s with the Chinese. She was part Cherokee and part Spanish. She came from Mexico and they arrived with beef cattle and horses. She was pretty and married a man who was a Hawaiian healer. My grandmother was an Indian healer. You know how easy it was in the olden days-they each had their own remedies and when they married, they combined their knowledge. I am of the seventh generation [of that family].
I was born 1906 and started to learn [Hawaiian medicine]...