Below is a mo'olelo shared by Mark Kahalekulu, who was also interviewed for the oral history research. In it, Kahalekulu shares his recollections and knowledge about the limu resources in the 1980s at One'ula, 'Ewa.
Thelma Genevieve Parish, a.k.a. Sister Parish, was born in 1918. She descended from prominent families in the history of Hawai‘i, and shared generational ties to the ‘ili of Pu‘uloa in Honouliuli Ahupua‘a. She was educated as an anthropologist, and became a Catholic nun serving for 50 years as a teacher and school administrator with the Order of Sacred Hearts. Sister Parish was a lifelong student of history and until her passing in 2004, she was working on a manuscript of Hawaiian history. Unfortunately her work has been left incomplete.
Below are two interviews conducted by Kepā and Onaona Maly with Aunty Arline Wainaha Puulei Brede-Eaton. Aunty Arline grew up in Pu‘uloa and has been an incomparable resource. The first interview was done in 1997 and the second was in 2011.
Six members of the Shibuya-Dayanan family gathered together for a small family reunion at Kualaka‘i-White Plains Beach in September 2012. Barbara Shibuya, one of the younger members of the family, coordinated the opportunity for the interview to take place. While a 33-year difference in ages between the eldest interviewee (born 1933) to the youngest (born 1966) existed, the interviewees shared strong familial connections, and memories with elders who have now passed on.
Harry Alama was born in 1958, and began coming to ‘Ewa Beach with his family in the mid-1960s. Harry’s family secured leases on three lots from the Dowsett-Parish family and built homes along the ‘Ewa Beach coast in the late 1930s, early 1940s. When the war broke out they were unable to return to the shore, but after the war, they settled back in. In the early 1960s, development was coming to ‘Ewa Beach and the family decided to give up some of the leases—those are the lands that were later associated with Ted Farm and family.
The following is a hali‘a aloha of Honouliuli written by Mark Kahalekulu. The narrative is dated August 29, 2012 and is entitled “Diving the Three Stones, ‘One‘ula Beach.” It is written as notes to mo‘opuna, and contains important background on ocean resources. Mark ‘Ehukai Kahalekulu kindly granted permission to Kepā Maly on April 25, 2014 to share this one of several hali‘a aloha.
Mark ‘Ehukai Kwock Sun Yoshio Kahalekulu was born in 1956 along the Honouliuli coast, at ‘Ewa Beach. His kupuna father worked for the Dowsett-Parish Ranch on the Pu‘uloa lands, and lived at various locations between Pu‘uloa, One‘ula, and Kualaka‘i. The Kahalekulu line originated in the Ho‘okena-Ho‘opūloa Region of South Kona, and were displaced by the 1926 Mauna Loa eruption. Mark’s entire young life from toddler through high school was connected to the ocean and nearshore lands of the Honouliuli Ahupua‘a.
Recording oral history interviews is an important part of the historical review process. The experiences conveyed through interviews are personal; also, the narratives are rich and more animated than those that may be typically found in reports that are purely academic or archival in nature—the personal narratives tend to present modern audiences with descriptions of cultural values, practices, and transitions in the landscape. Thus, through the process of conducting oral history interviews, things are learned that are often overlooked in other forms of documentation.
