The Spirit of Kohala Lives on at the Christmas Lu’au

By Jan Wizinowich

The story of the Hawi Christmas Lū‘au is the tale of a plantation community finding and holding its heart.

Although sponsored by the Mormon Church, the entire community participated, beginning weeks in advance. You offered what you had, whether it was something from the garden, a special skill, or the labor of your hands.

“The branch president would decide when the lū‘au was going to be and then have a meeting to work on it. Theyʻd go out and ask people and they’d say, ‘No worry. We take care.ʻ  Everybody knew about it. It was the talk of the town,” says Aunty Audrey Veloria, retired Kohala Elementary teacher.

Beginning Traditions

The first Hawi Christmas Lū‘au was held at the original church site in Niuli‘i, just past Keokea Road on the left, which featured a gym as well as a chapel.

“The church always had a lot of activities; dances, sports, and all that. I came back here and became the branch president in the 60s and they already had the lū‘au going,” says George Hook.

The Christmas Lū‘au was a time of inclusion and connection. Although plantation life at Niuli‘i was organized around various ethnic camps, the preparations and the events leading up to it brought people out with offerings of aloha.

“My dad was telling me before when they had all those different ethnic camps, they would go from camp to camp and it was just a celebration of different traditions. He used to go with Elmer Lim and they would serenade all the different camps. My dad would dress up in one pāpale (hat) and he would take one of my gram’s mu‘umu‘u and he would sing and dance,” says Gwen (Tita) Sanchez, daughter of Armstrong and Gwendolyn Yamamoto.

When plantation life changed, so did the location of the church and the lū‘au.

“It had to do with the transition of plantation camps. They used to have camps all over Kohala and then they were moving it out to subdivisions by the main road—Kynnersley, Hala‘ula. Everybody was moving away from Niuli‘i,” says George.

The community needed a new center and Bill Sproat decided to do something about it.

“Bill went to Mr. Sterns, the manager of Kohala Sugar Company, to propose a deal that would give the Mormon Church the gym (now True Value Hardware in Hawi) and the property around it,” says George. “Because of the faithfulness and the quality of the LDS workers at that time the management decided to give the church the gym and all the surrounding property for a really good price,” he adds. That was in 1961 and by 1963 a new chapel had been built and dedicated.

Connecting with Food and Feeding the Soul

There was more happening than just food preparation. The lū‘au food came from the land and the knowledge and traditions of the kūpuna (elders). “It’s a good time to pass on tradition. The Hawaiian way of teaching is to do. They learn to bond with older people by being there,” says Uncle Earl Veloria, retired Kohala teacher and basketball coach.

Armstrong Yamamoto and his wife Gwendolyn took care of some of the essentials such as laulau and the imu.

Their daughter Gwen says, “I remember when it was in Niuli‘i in the chapel and my dad, Armstrong Yamamoto, telling us that he learned to make the laulau from his grandfather, Solomon Kapeliela. Before they didnʻt have string or foil to put it in so you learn the old way. He would show us how to tie it in. One day, he was given the assignment to do it. His grandfather and his brother came and tried it and said, ‘Okay. It was good’. It had to pass them before it could
go out.”   

Agnes Aniu was the maven of kulolo (Hawaiian taro/coconut pudding).

“This is something that was so remarkable about this lady. We would make so much of it that they would be in #3 galvanized tubs. She would go from one tub to the other and take a sample and say, ʻOh, this one needs one cup of sugar.ʻ Then sheʻd go to the next one, ʻOh, this one needs one cup of honey.ʻ How she came to that, I donʻt know, but when it was cooked, it was all delicious. She had a touch. Her own way of identifying and tasting,” says George.

For lū‘au, according to Earl Veloria, “You need pork and you need poi.”

The pork was often supplied by the Sproats who monitored the beach trail where the pigs tended to run.

“We had a source of poi from up in the mountains,” says Earl. This was Rose Loke and Shoichi Maeda’s lo‘i in Pakulea Gulch.

“Itʻs a type of poi thatʻs not served anywhere else. Only Kohala. The taro is called pololū. It goes back many generations. The common name among the Kohala people is bakatade. In Japanese it means hard headed and it’s hard to work with. It feels like wood when you grab a hold of it,” says Earl.

The poi was cooked in large drums and ground up several days before the lū‘au.

“The bakatade stays fresh tasting for days. Most Hawaiians like it a little bit sour. Itʻs an acquired taste,” says Earl.

When the taro was harvested, the lū‘au leaf tops could then be used for laulau. “Sometimes we had chicken laulau. They cut up whole chickens so you couldnʻt just put it in your mouth without the other hand pulling out bones. No store bought chickens,” says Earl.

Along with being the captain of the imu, Armstrong harvested the ‘ōpae (shrimp).

“My father would go up in the mountain in the stream and they would catch the ‘ōpae in nets. He had the eye to see it and we couldnʻt even see it,” says Gwen. “Mom cooked the crab, the ‘opihi (limpets), and the ‛ōpae with garlic and Hawaiian salt,” she added.

Cooking up Stories

“The cooking took place right here. Right in the back of the chapel here. I used to like that because weʻd stay up all night and talk story. All the different things about parents, grandparents and all the different Hawaiian traditions would come out,” says George.

The lū‘au leaf stems were chopped and cooked up for a late night snack. “They would cook the lū‘au leaf stems and make kind of a stew. They knew that the laulau would be cooking all night, so they would come and sit and visit and that little ono (good) food was there for the work men. Then they had hot water for Hawaiian tea and cocoa,” says Audrey.

Final Preparations as Family and Friends Gather

The spirit of the Hawi Christmas Lū‘au calls absent family and friends home.

“It was the coming home to what we remembered. The excitement of knowing that your friends, your cousins are all working together. I remember carrying the pakini (bucket) on the stairway going into the gym and laughing,” says Gwen. “It was a gathering of everyone,” she adds.

All those away from home organized their lives by the lū‘au, not wanting to miss the chance to reconnect, infusing them with aloha for the next year.

“The families would schedule to be here at that time. Wherever they were, they would try to figure out how to get home for Christmas. The true gift was the interactions and the stories that made you feel part of something, that you belonged,” says Audrey.

Like the food preparation, folks made use of resources at hand for decorations. Someone cut a tree that was decorated with whatever could be found. Maybe tinsel one year and chains and popcorn. The tables were constructed using the gym’s bleachers placed on saw horses.

The center of the tables were adorned with ti leaf, ferns, plumeria, and ginger.

“Ti leaf with fern evolved over the years and we started looking around the community and worked with what we had. Anything we had. Mac nut leaves, pine cones, pine tree branches. One year Jenny Cheesbro crocheted little ornaments,” says Audrey.

It wouldn’t be a lū‘au without music and so a stage was added to the preparations.

“The stage had a platform, steps up the side, curtains and bamboo and banana for backdrop,” says Audrey. “Every family presented a number and when they started everybody got inspired and it just kept going,” she adds.

Inspiration came easy with the plethora of musical families from Kohala: The Lim’s, Poli‘ahu’s, Kupuka‘a’s, Pule’s, Sproat’s, and Manuel Kapeliela.

Of course it wouldn’t be Christmas without Santa.

“They would sing to invite him to arrive. Sometimes Jingle Bells five times and then they would hear the bell. The Santa suit was worn every year and whoever helped Santa with it had to do a little make up work. Maybe it was too long and it was starting to fray or maybe it needed a wash. No matter,” says Audrey. “The gifts were simple in a brown bag. Candies from Nakaharaʻs and maybe a tangerine.”

People brought their specialties to share. Jenny Chesebro made red, green, blue haupio.

“Mary Ann Lim would make her Lincoln pudding. It was a recipe her family kept for years and years,” says George. “You could know the ingredients but you wouldnʻt know the special touch that was in it. Family secret,” adds Earl.

“And then all the mea ‘ono (cakes), from the people who made them good. You had the Filipino noodles and Japanese sushi, Chinese red pork,” says Audrey.

Changing with the Times

Although the gym is no longer available, the Christmas party continues to be an annual tradition at the Mormon Church.

“Times have changed. The community has gotten smaller, some have moved away. Some have passed on, so we have a different generation today,” says George. “As far as the Christmas party, we have it every year and we invite people to come,” he adds.

Two years ago, Lehua Ah Sam, then Programs Director of the Kohala Village Hub, decided to bring back the lū‘au.

“I knew that we needed an event to “friend-raise” in the community, so I went to talk with our grandfather Henry Ah Sam. He suggested to me that I look into the Christmas Lū‘au, a fond memory of his as a child growing up. Our first Christmas Lū‘au was successful because all the community groups came together.”

Much like the previous lū‘au, the Christmas Lū‘au at the Hub is a showcase of year-long endeavors and community activities and includes Hawaiian music, hula and an array of crafts.

“Every year a different group handles the food. All traditional Hawaiian. Last year it was the seniors from Kohala High School. The families were all involved,” says Traci Figueroa, Hub Programs and Events Coordinator.

“It’s an event that brings our Kohala community together. The event was a huge success. We plan to continue to work with our community to throw a wonderful holiday event, celebrating those things that make Kohala, Kohala.”

“Connecting the community. That’s what the Hub is all about,” says Traci. ❖

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Contact writer Jan Wizinowich: janwiz@gmail.com