A Bygone Era — Hilo’s Old Courthouse and Police Station
By Marcia Timboy If walls could talk, an 86-year-old building in downtown Hilo would have a myriad of stories to tell of a wahi pana (special legendary place). In an area where ruling chiefs governed during the pre-contact era, and…
La‘au Lapa‘au: Medicinal Plants and their Healing Properties
By Marcia Timboy Hawai‘i is viewed throughout the world as a place of rest and rejuvenation, a concept that is deeply rooted in and supported by the healing environment of our islands. Ancestral wellness wisdom is the basis of the…
Managing with Aloha: Alaka‘i: To Lead Well, Guide Well
By Rosa Say “Alaka‘i is the value of leadership. You shall be the guide for others when you have gained their trust and respect.” Fifteenth in Series Two on Managing with Aloha When we talk about leadership, we commonly speak…
Beauty All Around: Young Kohala Artist Elijah Rabang
By Jan Wizinowich Entering Hāwi, on the North Kohala coast, just past Kohala Coffee Mill, you are stopped in your tracks by a wall mural with a stunning scene of frolicking humpback whales. You’ve just stepped into the realm of…
Pāhoa Town: Then and Now
By Tiffany Edwards Hunt Pāhoa’s old-timers will tell you that living on the East Rift Zone, they have dealt with flowing lava before. The volcanic soil attracted the Puna Sugar Company to the area, making Pāhoa rich in the history…
Hawai‘i Island’s Hospice Services: Providing More Than You May Think
By Paula Thomas Contrary to what people may think when they hear the word ‘hospice’, hospice is not a place. It is a philosophy of care that is patient-focused, holistic, comprehensive, and designed to support and improve patientsʻ quality of…
Statewide Boat Mooring Program Boasts Kona Roots
By Fern Gavelek From time to time, something is done purely because it is the pono (right) thing to do. How the statewide day-use mooring (DUM) system came to be is one of them. The strategically placed moorings protect marine…
Flying through the Air with the Greatest of Ease: Aerial Arts on Hawai’i Island
By Ma’ata Tukuafu If you’ve ever been to a circus, the trapeze performersʻ seemingly effortless performances might have intrigued and inspired you. In the past five years, several people on Hawai‘i Island have begun teaching different forms of aerial arts…
Amy B. H. Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden: One Woman’s Vision to Preserve Hawaiian Heritage
By Lara Hughes The Vision Amy Beatrice Holdsworth Greenwell was a woman with ideas beyond her time. As it goes, when one has a vision, itʻs essential to have help from others to carry it forward into the future. Amy…
Mālama Mokupuni–Caring for Our Island Environment: A Walk through a Home Food Forest
By Rachel Laderman Stepping onto the narrow path of a food forest, the first thing you notice is the cool, quiet peacefulness. In the dappled shade, you see a variety of leaf forms, textures, and colors—dancing oval katuk (sweet leaf…
Ray Bumatay: A Canoe Calling
By Brittany P. Anderson The outrigger canoe is one of the most essential and iconic elements of Hawaiian culture. For centuries, kāhuna kālai wa‘a (master canoe carvers) have been guided by their ‘aumākua (ancestral spirits) who live in the ocean…
Local Foods: Hawai‘i Island Hō‘i‘o (Fiddlehead Fern)
By Brittany P. Anderson It’s one of those rainy days, when the sky is filled with endless layers of clouds painted with broad strokes of lilac and gray. Looking out at the ocean, I see dark indigo patches of rain…
Woodworking: A Love Story
By Catherine Tarleton Award-winning wood artist Timothy Shafto is part artist, part engineer, and part impresario. A stonemason by trade and self-taught woodworker, Tim presently paints—pours, actually—large epoxy, sand, and wood wall art, using special techniques he has developed over…
Ka Wehena: Ala ka Lehua, Ke ‘ike Aku
Na Kumu Keala Ching Ala ka Lehuah Ā ala ka Lehua ē Ē ‘e‘e ka ‘āina Pele ī Ī ‘ili‘ili ka Leo malu ō Ō ola ka Luapele ū Ū ‘uhola ke Aloha ē Awakened is the lehua (referencing the…
Ahupua’a: Living Aloha
By Jan Wizinowich Beyond canoe plants and animals, the first voyagers to these shores brought the spirit of ahupuaʽa, a sense that they were of the land. On the most basic physical level, the ahupuaʽa is a dedicated land division…
Mālama Mokupuni–Caring for Our Island Environment: The Break Down on Microplastics
By Julia Meurice From the stomachs of sea birds to the muscle tissues of fish and the beaches across Hawai‘i, tiny plastics are quickly building up in our marine environment. They may seem harmless enough, but both scientific data and…
Ka Wehena: Hanohano e ka Manu
Na Kumu Keala Ching ‘Ae, Hanohano e ka Manu Hanohano e ka manu Hāhālua ē Au aku i kai o ka moana ē He manu kō ke kai, maluhia ē Eō mai e ka manu Hāhālua ē Hanohano e ka…
Aunty Doreen Henderson: Fascination with Feathers
85 Years of Perpetuating an Elegant, Native Hawaiian Craft By Karen Valentine With the confidence of a master craftsman who is still working and teaching at age 92, Master Kumu Doreen Henderson’s eagle eye marks each student’s feather work and…
Art Meets Nature at Niaulani Sculpture Garden
By Alan D. McNarie It’s a drizzly morning in Volcano Village. Elizabeth Miller is kneeling in the new sculpture garden out behind the main building of Volcano Art Center’s Niaulani campus. She’s taking advantage of a small break in the…
Hawaii Tropical Fruit Growers: Cultivating Successful Farmers to Feed Our Island
By Fern Gavelek Growing fruit in Hawai‘i to feed our island is one thing. Growing farmers to do it successfully is another. The Hawaii Tropical Fruit Growers (HTFG) does both. The statewide nonprofit was founded in 1989 and boasts more…
Brother Noland: Award-Winning Singer/Songwriter Shares his ‘Less Talk, More Do’ Philosophy
By Karen Rose Ancient wisdom declares it is best for one to pass their days through song, therefore letting their whole life be a song. Hawaiian recording artist Brother Noland, also known as the “Father of Jawaiian Music,” follows this…
Hala Kahiki: A Brief History of Pineapple and Pineapple Pavlova Recipe
By Brittany P. Anderson Pineapple is one of my favorite fruits grown on Hawai‘i Island, with the white pineapple being absolute perfection. One of the only edible varieties of bromeliad, the pineapple is neither pine nor apple and many a…
Kuha‘o Makana Kawaauhau Case: Downloading from Heaven
By Ma‘ata Tukuafu When Kuha‘o Makana Kawaauhau Case plays music on the piano or organ, he can feel how his melodies affect the people listening. Kuha‘o is a self-taught musician who found his talent at the age of nine when…
Ocean Education: Unlocking the Mystery of Underwater Marine Life for Hawai‘i’s Keiki
By Karen Rose The famous French underwater explorer Jacques Cousteau famously said, “The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever.” Junior Program instructors at Jack’s Diving Locker agree, and are striving to inspire…
Anna Ranch: A Chapter of Waimea History
By Catherine Tarleton Behind the white rail fence and trellis gate, across the lawn and gardens at the foot of Waimea’s rolling hills, inside the gracious white house with blue-striped awnings on its sunny bay windows, lives a story. Opening…
Hawai‘i Island’s Champion: Ed Olson at 87 Years Young
By Leilehua Yuen Ed Olson first traveled to O‘ahu in 1959. He had come to teach a swimming pool builder how to use some new equipment. “It was about three weeks after statehood, and I fell in love with the…
Tropical Edibles: Dreaming of an Island Eden
By Lara Hughes The Dream On the mauka (mountain) side of the Māmalahoa Highway on the slopes where Hualālai and Maunaloa meet overlooking Kealakekua Bay, you can find a garden vision brought to fruition. Hailing from different places around the…
Larger Than Life: The Work of Marcia Ray
By Catherine Tarleton “Murals for me are the most important, because they are painted to tell a story,” says Waimea artist Marcia Ray. Four of her murals, and their stories, are stretched across the upper walls of Parker Ranch Center’s…
Managing with Aloha: The Ho‘ohanohano Perspective
“Ho‘ohanohano: Honor the dignity of others. Conduct yourself with distinction,and cultivate respectfulness.” Fourteenth in Series Two on Managing with Aloha By Rosa Say Hanohano is a glorious and honorable expression of human dignity. To Ho‘ohanohano is to assure dignity exists…
Then & Now: Obon Season–A Favorite Summer Tradition on Hawai‘i Island
By Denise Laitinen Summertime is obon season in Hawai‘i. Every year from June through August, the annual Japanese Buddhist tradition of obon festivals, or bon for short, takes place on Hawai‘i Island. These fun cultural events tend to draw large…
