Study Word

'Ike

To see, know, feel, greet, recognize, perceive, experience, be aware, understand; to know sexually; to receive revelations from the gods; knowledge, awareness, understanding, recognition, comprehension and hence learning; sense, as of hearing or sight; sensory, perceptive, vision.

Source: Hawaiian Dictionary; revised and enlarged edition
Mary Kawena Puku’i/Samuel H. Elbert

This word is one of my personal favorites, especially when I use it pertaining to the study of Hula. “To have the ‘ike” is an expression that refers to possessing the inner knowledge; the perceptive sensory of understanding the thought, feel, and interpretation of the words/story behind the mele (chant/song). In regards to the Kumu, the 'ike is the “inner eye” that reveals all truth and knowledge within the mele, as well as the insight to foresee the truth (desire/dedication) within each haumana (student). This is necessary to sustain the life of the Hälau.

Kumu Shawna Ngum