Interview with Josiah "Black" Ho‘ohuli (2)
Josiah "Black" Ho‘ohuli, 65-years-old, full-blood Native Hawaiian Resident, Nānākuli Homesteads, works at Nānākuli High School, talking about his childhood days:
"We go down Ka‘ena to pick up limu when we have a big lū‘au – limu pepe‘e, the limu kohu, and the līpoa...that was always from Ka‘ena side. The limu kala was plentiful [in other places]. When we go it was a complete day's work! The whole family going, we go down there, once we pick 'em up [then] clean 'em all down there, bring 'em home and it's ready for the next day's party!"
During those days was good, because there wasn't too much houses...
Going to the beach was something! 'Cause everything was right from the beach: limu, vana, crab, hā‘uke‘uke, fish, pipipi, everything was right from the ocean. All kinds of fish – ala‘ihi, weke, aweoweo, kala, palani. We caught those fish right there.
Everybody had something to do, the bigger ones [of the children] go dive. The ladies was always on the reef picking up the limu – limu kohu, limu ‘ele‘ele, limu kala, limu pepe‘e...and sometimes we dived for huluhuluwaena...those things was always there.
The crabs we do during the night, all the boys and the men go with torches, and a lot of uhu during the night, squid too, and lobsters...whatever came in the pot, that's what you going eat!
We went anyplace on the Wai‘anae Coast – Mākua, Nanakuli, Ma‘ili. Usually when we go, we liked to go far, like Mākua. Was barren [no people] down there, you know, when you go in the water, you going come out with something. Sometimes we moe-moe net, we lay net overnight.
I don't see that [all the different limu and shellfish] no more...
Reference Cited
Coastal Zone Management (CZM) Hawaii. 2003. Record of a personal interview regarding childhood in Waianae between Lehua Lopez-Mau, Ethnographer, and Josiah "Black" Ho‘ohuli, Nānākuli Homesteads Resident. October 30.
