Nina Agbayani: Riding with royalty
by Donica Kaneshiro | June 20, 2019
Nina Agbayani knows it takes more than a bright smile to ride with royalty in the King Kamehameha Day Parade.
After six months of planning, weeks of practice, days of fundraising and hours of stringing up flowers to ready for the parade, she wound her way from Iolani Palace to Kapiolani Park on June 8, for her fifth, and likely last, ride in the event.
“Come that day and you’re up on there, you just feel really accomplished, and then you feel honored, too, that you’re actually there, because riding is not easy at all,” she said. “I felt very honored to be a part of the Paʻu Queen’s Unit, the parade, the celebration, and its purpose. We had some teary-eyed moments.”
In her third year as an executive secretary for Power Supply Vice President Bob Isler and her 16th year with Hawaiian Electric Company, Nina knows that collaboration is key. And it was through her strong relationships outside of the office that Nina was first introduced to paʻu riding.
About 10 years ago, Tahitian dance kumu Aunty Denise Ramento (a previous Paʻu Queen who passed away two years ago) selected four women from her halau Here Tama Nui to perpetuate her passion for paʻu riding. Nina was one of those women, as was her friend Kehau Holi-Robb, this year’s Paʻu Queen. The two friends took the journey together, learning all that paʻu riding entails, with Nina riding by Kehau’s side for five years in the parade — four years as a princess’ attendant to Kehau’s island princess roles and this year as a lady in waiting to Kehau’s queen.
The paʻu riding tradition dates back to the 1800s when Hawaiian women used yards of paʻu fabric to cover and protect their fine clothing as they traveled to events on horseback. Today, the tradition is carried on in ceremonial parades and events as riders dress in formal wear, displaying the colors of each island. Each is wrapped in 12 yards of satin that comprises the skirt, held in place only by six kukui nut enclosures.
The event sounds like the culmination of every little girl’s princess fantasy, but not Nina’s.
The self-proclaimed tomboy embraces the experience as an expression of her commitment to friendship and culture. Nina has long filled her time with activities that celebrate her Hawaiian heritage: paddling, hula and Tahitian dance.
In addition to time spent at planning meetings, practices and lei-making, countless hours are spent fundraising: hosting events with entertainment and raffles, cooking and selling kalua pork, laulau and pastele stew, and designing and selling T-shirts. It’s a necessity to cover the thousands of dollars each rider spends on horse rentals, flowers, make-up, outfits and more.
“Every year [Hawaiian Electric] has donated $500 generously, consistently, without question,” she said. “They’ve been very generous and I’ve been very fortunate. It’s been very rare that I’ve had to put out of pocket for expenses.”
And then there’s time spent bonding with her horse — feeding, brushing, riding at the ranch, saddling and desaddling.
At 5:30 a.m. on the morning of the parade, their rented motorcoach transported the group from her friend’s Kapolei house to the staging area at Iolani Palace, where friends and family assisted them in the two-hour process of getting dressed and parade-ready.
By the time she is riding down the final stretch on Kalakaua Avenue, Nina knows the time and effort were well worth it.
This year was Nina’s friend Kehau’s final ride in the parade, having participated as a princess for all eight islands and as Paʻu Queen, and will likely be Nina’s final appearance in the parade as well because of the tremendous time commitment.
But she’s not closing the door entirely. “If future paʻu riding opportunities are presented to me, I may consider it,” she said. “Maybe later, but for right now I’m good.”
Donica Kaneshiro is a communications consultant at Hawaiian Electric Company.
