Filmmaker Bryson Kainoa Chun squints at the camera screen. Inside the frame, a young Hawaiian man races from a dilapidated Hilo house in the pouring rain, hops onto a moped clutching an obscured object wrapped in ti leaves and speeds down the gravel road. As the vehicle vanishes from sight, throwing rocks up in its wake, […]
So, this is what Hawaii really looked like, I think to myself, as I ascend up a sunlit valley on the north shore of Kauai, warmly enveloped by 120 species of native and indigenous plant life. Limahuli Garden and Preserve. Photo: Kicka Witte/HAWAIʻI Magazine I’m wandering through Limahuli Garden’s most vital and awe-inspiring acreage, a section
Like many Hawaiian or local students, I remember when I was first introduced to both the word and practice of hooponopono: It was the sixth grade by our teacher, Kumu Miki. Sensing a disruptive class morale due to a handful of students who weren’t getting along for days on end, kumu (teacher) spontaneously cleared our studies
A thousand-year-old heiau (stone temple) stands in the middle of a Honolulu suburb. The last remaining heiau in the ahupuaa (land division) of Waikiki, Kukaoo (standing digging stick) was dedicated to agricultural rituals. It rests atop an ancient lava flow with 60 species of tropical plants. Two-thirds of those plants are native, meaning they came
The Peahi Challenge got the green light earlier this week and is scheduled to run on Friday, Oct. 27 and/or Saturday, Oct. 28. Watch it live via the World Surf League live stream. Peahi, also known as Jaws, is a surf break off the northern coast of Maui that is expected to deliver 40–50-foot waves
The morning is settling into itself at Waipa, a 1,600-acre ahupuaa (land division) on the north shore of Kauai, when the clouds roll in and it begins to pour. The smell of fresh kalo (taro) is thick in the humid air around several dozen of us, our bodies hunched over knee-high tubs deep with heavy corms. “This
Dancer and choreographer, Christopher Morgan, is touring the Islands with his dance theater piece, “Pohaku,” which pairs hula kahiko (traditional hula) and modern dance styles together. It’s a solo dance performance, but he shares the stage with his kumu hula (hula teacher) Elsie Kaleihulukea Ryder of Halau Hula o Kukunaokala and electric cellist Wytold, who have also created a
This past summer, I was a crewmember on the Hawaiian double-hulled canoe, Hokulea, as she sails around the world on the Malama Honua Worldwide Voyage. While deep-sea travel and navigating by traditional methods are Hokulea’s primary raison d’être, this voyage is equally focused on its mission: malama honua, which means literally to care for the
Let the countdown begin! Hawaii is just days away from the most respected and celebrated long-distance race for women in outrigger canoe paddling. On Sunday, September 25, the world-renowned competition, Na Wahine O Ke Kai, sets off from Molokai’s Hale O Lono Harbor to Duke Kahanamoku Lagoon in Waikiki. That’s 41 miles, non-stop, in the
Standing behind the counter of Kamaka Hawaii’s Honolulu store, Fred Kamaka strums through each of the nine ukulele hanging on the wall next to him, and the conversations of the people chatting around me fade away. It’s the signal that the factory tour is about to begin. The large factory is seperated into many stations and
Queen Liliʻuokalani was the last ruling monarch of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi, remembered for her intellect, elegance and diligence towards Hawaiʻi’s citizens even in the face of the injustice she endured in the overthrow of her governance. Her nobility is readily apparent in her writings—famously, the historical memoir “Hawaiʻi’s Story by Hawaiʻi’s Queen”—but her storytelling
August 24 marks the 126th birthday of Duke Paoa Kahinu Mokoe Hulikohola Kahanamoku, a legend who goes by many names—The Big Kahuna, The Godfather of Surfing, Ambassador of Aloha, and simply, The Duke. Kahanamoku’s legacy and milestone achivements are well-known and documented: He’s credited for gifting the world the art and sport of surfing. He revolutionized
