ʻAuwai
n. Ditch, canal
ʻAuwai was created using the Pewa, or fishtail joint design. This design wraps around the pick to represent that our waterways are all connected. The Pewa is used in wood working to repair cracks in canoes. I was called to create this design as a form of bringing attention to the red hill water crisis. Water is sacred. Water is life and all water on Oʻahu is connected. Where there is one contamination, there is contamination that impacts everyone. In the ahapuaʻa system, ʻauwai and water ways were upheld and protected because our ancestors understood that without water we cannot live.  #shutdownredhill