Maui Nō Ka ʻOi Magazine - March-April 2023 preview

George Kahumoku Jr.

MAUI’S RENAISSANCE MAN artist, farmer, slack-key legend

Old La - hainaLu

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THE HISTORY OF HAWAI‘I TOLD THROUGH MUSIC & DANCE

Eco-friendly ales to soulful sunscreen: Do Hawai‘i, sustainably

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Keiki Surf Contest

A World of Pure Imagination p. 22

THE SUBMARINER

Created for divers in 1953, the Submariner is a universal symbol of waterproofness and reliability. It remains one of the most iconic watches of all time. Now, with a new 41 mm case and a next generation movement, the story of the Submariner continues. #Perpetual

Legacy Oceanfront Estate • Kahana

Estates • Kapalua

Oceanfront Estate • Mahinahina Kaanapali

Oceanfront Residence • Kahana

50 contents features

22

IMUA DISCOVERY GARDEN

Story by Savy Janssen

Photographs by Jason Moore

A Wailuku estate is transformed into an outdoor learning environment for the children of Maui.

26

OLD LAHAINA LŪ‘AU

By Serene Gunnison

Photographs by Joshua Hardin and Azelan Amundson

A dazzling photo essay showcases authentic hula dancers, musicians and traditional Hawaiian arts.

A MODERN HA‘IKŪ HOME

Story by Serene Gunnison

Photographs by Travis Rowan

Take a tour of the stunning architecture and décor of an elegantly crafted, 6,600-square-foot Ha‘ikū home.

34

SUSTAINABILITY STEWARDS

By Serene Gunnison and Ashley Probst

Meet some of the businesses and community members who are making our island a better place.

42 GEORGE KAHUMOKU JR.

by Peter von Buol with Chris Amundson

The life of a legendary Maui slack-key guitarist traces the history of the Hawaiian Renaissance.

To the rest of the world, George Kahumoku Jr. is a Grammy Awardwinning virtuoso, but in his own mind, his most important role is as a steward of the land.

Story page 42.

Here are some of the talented folks who make Maui Nō Ka ‘Oi the magazine it is. 14

By Chris Amundson

Tales of Hawai‘i fresh off the coconut wireless. 58

Discover what’s new and exciting in Maui’s dining scene.

Looking for something to do? Here’s what’s happening. 80

A sea turtle cruises through the waves off Mākena. 82

Meet Wendy Tuivaioge, director of Hawaiian programs at Four Seasons Resort Maui.

Photo by Jason Moore

ASHLEY PROBST

West Side’s Ashley Probst has been making her mark on Maui’s journalism world since she was in 7th grade, when her first article was published in the Maui News. After attending Chapman University in Southern California and working as an editor for Firebrand Media, Ashley returned home to Maui to live in Lāhainā where she works as a full-time freelance writer and a professional tarot card reader.

Ashley’s intimate knowledge of Maui helped her as she interviewed and co-wrote this issue’s “Sustainability Stewards” feature (page 34), which celebrates businesses and community members making a positive impact on our environment. When Ashley isn’t writing about her home on the Valley Isle, she’s usually traveling. Ashley has traveled solo to 13 European countries, and even embarked on a year-long solo road trip around the western United States. She’s looking forward to visiting new countries like Japan and Indonesia next.

SAVY JANSSEN

Longtime Maui Nō Ka ‘Oi contributor Savy Janssen returns to this issue to share her thoughtful prose. Savy wrote this issue’s feature story, “A World of Pure Imagination,” about the fantastical Will Smith Imua Discovery Garden in Wailuku.

Savy spent her childhood barefoot exploring Maui before moving to California to attend Chapman University. During her time in California, Savy earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in literature and worked as a lecturer. She now lives back on Maui, in Makawao, where she teaches high school English at Seabury Hall and works as a freelance writer. Her writing has been published in Los Angeles Review of Books, Lennon Wall Magazine, Calliope Magazine and The Panther. When Savy isn’t teaching or writing, she enjoys reading at the beach and hiking with her family.

PETER VON BUOL

Peter von Buol’s love for Hawai‘i runs deep. The Chicago-based journalist became captivated by Hawaiian history at a young age, engrossed in tales of the Hokule‘a and Captain James Cook. Peter has been making extended bi-annual trips to the islands for nearly 40 years, and in that time, he has met some of Hawai‘i’s most prolific artists, including Herb Kane, Henry Kapono and George Kahumoku Jr., a longtime family friend featured in this issue (cover and “Slack Key,” page 54).

When back home in Chicago, Peter is a docent at the Field Museum’s Ruatepupuke II, a living Maori meeting house. Peter has contributed many stories to Maui Nō Ka ‘Oi through the years, spanning unique topics like native lichens and “singing” tree snails.

MARCH-APRIL 2023

VOL. 27, NO. 2

Maui Nō Ka ‘Oi is an international magazine dedicated to exploring the life and culture of Maui Nui. There’s a saying known in the islands: Maui nō ka ‘oi, Hawaiian for “Maui is the best.” We hope you think so, too. Thanks for reading as we explore the islands, people and cultures of Maui Nui.

Publisher & Executive Editor

Chris Amundson

Associate Publisher

Angela Amundson

ED ITO RIAL

Executive Photo Editor Joshua Hardin

Assistant Editor Matt Masich

Photo Editor Jason Moore

Dining Editor Carla Tracy

Staff Writer Serene Gunnison

ADVERTISING SALES

Brooke Tadena, Marilyn Koponen

GRAPHIC DESIGN

Edie Mann, Karlie Pape

SUBSCRIBER SERVICES

Lea Kayton, Katie Evans, Janice Sudbeck

DIGITAL MEDIA

Azelan Amundson

SUBSCRIBE

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CONTRIBUTE

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COPYRIGHT

All text, photography and artwork are copyright ©2023 by Flagship Publishing, Inc. For reprint permissions, email editor@mauimagazine.net.

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Maui Nō Ka 'Oi Magazine is printed on acid- and chlorine-free paper from Sappi, an environmental leader whose paper products comply with the Forest Stewardship Council and Sustainable Forestry Initiative.

Here are some of the folks who make our magazine nō ka ‘oi (the best).

First Hula Lesson

BURIED DEEP in our family archives is a photo of a young dad and magazine publisher attempting, with limited success, to dance hula.

Our family of five happened onto the start of a hula demonstration at Lāhainā Cannery Mall, where we eagerly sat in the front row as the show was about to begin.

We watched, all amazed, for 30 minutes as young hula dancers moved gracefully across the stage. Their motions mimicked the waves of the ocean and the mountains of the land. As they rhythmically swayed with the music, we began to realize they were telling us stories.

My emotional investment in the performance must have been obvious, because before I could say “mahalo,” I was being ushered on stage to receive my first hula lesson.

Looking back, I can’t imagine I did it well, nor did I bring honor to the art of hula. But what I did sense at that time was hula is more than a dance: Hula is a way of life.

Or so I thought.

“Hula is life,” Aunty Wendy Tuivaioge told me during our interview for this issue’s “Ambassadors of Aloha” (p. 82).

Now the director of Hawaiian Programs at Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea, “Aunty Mopsie,” as her hula friends call her, started taking hula lessons as a little girl, at the insistence of her mother.

Some children, like Wendy, who begin

dance or music at a young age, might not understand why. They might even resist a little. But Wendy’s mother persisted, as did her loving kumu hula (hula teacher).

Five decades and many kumu later, Wendy is not only an ambassador of aloha, she is an ambassador of hula – sharing with anyone interested in learning how entwined hula is with the very breath of Hawaiian life.

MANY MOTHERS and fathers across Maui today feel as passionately about hula as Wendy’s mother did. They send their sons and daughters to any of 20 hālau (hula schools) where they learn the language, culture and mo’ōlelo (stories) of Hawai‘i’s past and present through music and dance.

Some of them go on to perform at lū‘au across the island, including at the ‘Aipono Award-winning Old Lāhainā Lū‘au, which we feature in this issue (p. 26).

Schools across the Hawaiian Islands now teach ‘Ōlelo Hawai‘i (Hawaiian language), alongside traditional Western education. Maui’s George Kahumoku Jr. has been a leader in the rebirth of Hawaiian culture through education, farming, art and music. We sat down with George at breakfast on his lānai for this issue’s cover story, “Slack Key: Maui's Renaissance Man for the Hawaiian Renaissance.” (p. 42).

Like Aunty Wendy, Uncle George is generous with his time – ready to share a story or nugget of Hawaiian wisdom with locals and visitors alike.

Some of us may have given up hope of ever becoming an elegant hula dancer, but the world will be a better place when we strive to live with more of the aloha spirit that radiates from deep in the Hawaiian culture.

Chris Amundson Publisher

A Vanishing Act: Maui’s Mysterious Manta Rays

By SERENE GUNNISON

Douglas Hoffman

The shallow channels between Maui Nui’s four islands attract scores of humpback whales every winter. But these waters are also a preferred habitat for another marine giant: hahalua, the majestic manta ray.

The four islands of Maui Nui are home to the largest known population of manta rays in the U.S., with more than 600 cataloged individuals. Unlike the conspicuous humpbacks, manta rays are far more elusive – and increasingly so.

When Lāhainā-based Mark Deakos, a researcher for the Hawai‘i Association for Marine Education and Research (HAMER), started studying Maui’s mantas in 2005, he averaged more than six manta sightings per dive.

Today, Deakos is lucky to spot one in 20 dives. “This could be an indication that population numbers are declining, or that they are no longer visiting the area,” Deakos said.

Twenty years ago, manta sightings were all but guaranteed at a “cleaning station” off West Maui. Here, mantas would congregate as cleaner wrasses nibbled away at parasites inside their gills and mouth. However, Deakos believes due to declining reef health, wrasses are not as reliably present at the cleaning stations, causing the mantas to abandon them. Where are they going? “We are trying to figure that out,” he said.

Deakos and his team are examining

18 years of data to better understand if the population is growing, stable or in decline. Based on genetic samples taken of mantas in Maui Nui and Hawai‘i Island, they discovered that these two populations are genetically isolated, meaning they don’t mix, furthering each population’s vulnerability.

Manta rays are a slow-growing species, with females giving birth to a single pup only once every three to seven years. The mantas’ slow birth rate coupled with an uptick in human-caused hazards could spell trouble for Maui’s manta population, Deakos said.

While some protections exist for mantas in Hawai‘i, they pale in comparison to the slew of regulations that safeguard threatened and endangered sea turtles, monk seals and humpback whales. More research is needed to properly protect Maui’s mantas, but Deakos says mitigating storm water runoff that threaten our reefs and establishing a marine protected area for manta critical habitat could be beneficial.

Divers who spot manta rays statewide can help with research by emailing photographs of the manta’s unique belly spot patterns to HAMER at reportmanta@mantatracker.com.

If you’re lucky enough to see a Maui hahalua, its graceful underwater ballet is sure to amaze, inspire and ignite hopes for the population’s utmost protection.

Adult manta rays living in the waters of Maui Nui have 12-foot wingspans and weigh 1,000 pounds. Manta rays are a slowgrowing species, with females producing a single pup only once every three to seven years.

Mark Deakos/The Hawai'i Association for Marine Education and Research (above, right)

Douglas Hoffman

Arabella Ark

Mystery and antiquity in clay

By CYNTHIA SWEENEY

Arabella Ark’s ceramics resonate with a timeless, mystical quality.

By firing in the Japanese raku tradition, she lends her architectural temples and tea houses a sense of story, spirituality and feeling of antiquity.

Ark has deep roots in Maui, especially Hāna, which she calls “a very powerful place.” She now lives on Moloka‘i, near her family and grandchildren, on property overlooking a fishpond, bordering the reef and channel between Moloka‘i and Lāna‘i.

“The beauty is overwhelming with natural landscape, the sea, dawns and dusks. I kayak or swim as often as I can and walk the beach with my golden retriever.”

Ark says she is inspired by Japanese architecture, and her world-wide travels. Her artwork has won major awards

Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Martha Killebrew (above)

Arabella Ark (above), Mickey Pauole (below, right)

and is exhibited around the world. She has pieces in permanent collections in Honolulu, at the Smithsonian Art Museum’s Renwick Gallery, and in China and Australia.

Yet ceramics came into her life through a back door while she was an actress, theater director, mother, and writer. Originally from northern California, Ark has produced numerous plays, started a production company in France and performed with the National Theatre of Greece in Athens. While in Europe, “I traveled, and traveled, and traveled. I never, ever thought about being a potter,” she said.

When Ark moved to Hawai‘i in 1972, she started making glazes for another artist’s ceramic artwork. When she tried her own hand, the first pieces she created were quite large, and looked “like Stonehenge.”

Loading the kiln back then, she dropped a favorite piece inspired by the Daitoku-ji Temple in Kyoto. She calls it her “Zen lesson” in learning how to let go. “From that point on, I’ve never worked as though my work was precious. I do it just for the joy of making it.”

Ark’s large fortress creations are influenced by ancient ruins and by the Japanese tea ceremony. They seem to evoke a sense of strength and protection. In other pieces, instead of putting a standard foot at the bottom, “I would put a little set of stairs that were ascending because I wanted a feeling of let’s go upwards with our thoughts.” She also added windows, doorways and staircases “because I wanted that feeling of willingness to go into a new space. To look beyond where we are.”

On Moloka‘i, Ark built a beautiful showroom and art studio, also used by her grandchildren.

“I believe I am happier than I have ever been, absorbing the magic of dawn and dusk colors here at the beach in Kawela.”

Arabella Ark’s ceramics can be seen and purchased at Village Galleries in Lāhainā, Viewpoints Gallery in Makawao and Maui Hands Gallery stores across Maui. ArabellaArk.com

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A Whale of a Place

Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary Visitor Center reopens with flair

By SERENE GUNNISON

A strange yellow device resembling an archaic cell phone sits on display at NOAA’s Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary Visitor Center in Kīhei. This peculiar gadget is a satellite tag, and like many of the artifacts on display at the center, it was once fastened to a 40-ton humpback whale.

The newly renovated visitor center is a window into the realm of humpback whale research and rescue. After a lengthy closure following the pandemic, the center reopened in December 2022, debuting a new look and focus. Fresh exhibits have been added to showcase the intricacies of whale research and emphasize the importance of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s whale disentanglement work within the marine sanctuary, which encompasses 1,370 square miles of coastal waters in Hawai‘i.

Apart from research, whale disentanglement is one of NOAA’s primary focuses in the Hawaiian Islands. Hundreds of thousands of whales, dolphins and porpoises worldwide become tangled in marine debris every year, which can lead to severe injury, infection or starvation. Fortunately, success stories abound, and tangible evidence of such victories is displayed at the visitor center.

Lining the exhibit shelves are weathered tangles of rope, cable and other debris that were removed from humpback whales by trained NOAA staff. The detritus is affixed with tags that show when and where the humpback was first spotted and subsequently freed.

One piece of debris, a thick black cable, was removed from the mouth of a whale off Kīhei. According to one of the visitor center’s hospitable docents, the whale had 500 feet of underwater coaxial cable tangled around its mouth. “I mean, where does that even come from?” he said. “They had to send us down to get bolt cutters from Ace Hardware to remove it.”

Despite the sobering reminders of humanity’s effect on humpback whales, good news proliferates. Docents proudly assert rising humpback populations and quip to guests about victorious whale rescues. And with collective conservation efforts, this spectacular whale species will thrive for generations to come.

Visit the Hawaiian Islands Whale Sanctuary Visitor Center at 726 S. Kīhei Road in Kīhei from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Jason Moore (both)

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unlight filtered through the outstretched arms of the 120-yearold monkey pod trees, and a warm Wailuku breeze swirled through the air. Behold a forest to envy the likes of Eden: dark

Explore Imua Family Services’ Will Smith Discovery Garden in historic Wailuku

Imagination World of Pure A

Story by SAVY JANSSEN

Photographs by JASON MOORE

monstera leaves, fuchsia Hong Kong orchid trees, ripe avocados rolling lazily, fragrant Calamansi limes, a mango tree heavy with fruit and a carpet of lush green lawn under foot.

“We are going to have to tell kids, ‘No playing under the mango tree!’ when it’s mango

season,” jokes Dean Wong. Dressed in hot pink from head to toe and smiling warmly, Wong walks and talks as he tours the grounds of the Will Smith Imua Discovery Garden at 2471 Main St. in downtown Wailuku.

Wong is the executive director of Imua

Family Services, an organization that supports the developmental and special needs of Maui County families and children. Wong is leading the creation, implementation and development of Imua’s Discovery Garden, a place where all of the children of Maui are invited to learn through playing in and exploring an outdoor learning environment.

From the rolling acreage that seems to say “Let’s run!” to the low-branched trees that beckon passersby to stop and climb, it is not hard to imagine children all around, laughing and playing, just as Wong envisions.

“Our goal is to create outdoor experiences where children and families are connecting,” Wong said, be it through exploring the grounds, through art, music, dance or the other cultural and community events hosted here.

Wong is full of energy this Saturday afternoon, which may be from the natural high he seems to get from sharing this project he’s been working on for the last six years. He narrates the past and future: what was and what will be. The old canal that once fed the sugar cane fields, the empty plot that will one day become the ethnobotanical garden honoring the ali’i who once walked this land, a veranda where

visitors will one day enjoy the shade and sip tea while their children chase monarchs in the butterfly garden.

Wong is like the property’s Willy Wonka, spouting beautiful ideas that will fulfill children’s fantasies. He points out what appears to be an old garage (really an old carriage house) near the property’s north gate that will soon become the indoor shelter for the outdoor preschool. Learning outside feels dreamlike already. In this garden, dreams seem as real and tangible as the ground below.

The idea for the Discovery Garden first arose in 2017 at a visioning meeting among Imua staff and directors. Their goal was to discern community needs and imagine the future of early childhood development in Maui County. And as they visioned, they saw troubling trends in behavioral problems. More “outside” became a theme of solutions.

Even before the Covid-19 pandemic, today’s children spend less time in nature than prior generations. The numbers are shocking: children under 3 spend less than 30 minutes outdoors each day but spend more than three hours a day on devices. Wong says increased behavioral and developmental issues come as no surprise.

The Will Smith Imua Discovery Garden in Wailuku was constructed on the former estate of late Maui businessman and Realtor Masaru “Pundy” Yokouchi. The 6-acre grounds include 120-year-old monkey pod trees. Built by Imua Family Services, the garden is designed to give children a place to play outdoors, using their imaginations and getting away from technological devices.

“In my day, parents used to tell us to ‘Go, play outside, come back when the streetlights come on,’ ” he said.

“But that’s not true for kids anymore,” Wong continued. “Parenting today is so safe guarded. Playgrounds limit creativity; play dates are all arranged. We keep eliminating the risk of children having disappointment, and we keep pacifying them with tech instead of teaching them to use their imaginations.”

The Discovery Garden is built on the philosophy that when kids play outdoors, nature teaches them to problem solve, to navigate relationships and to learn from failure, Wong said. “It’s not rocket science.”

Dean walks over to the back lawn and down toward a valley of green and roots that will, awaiting permits, become tunnels and bridges made of natural materials where children will experience “navigating through space.”

“When my partner and I go to New York City, we bring our son to Central Park,” Wong said. “I assumed he would want to check out the merry-go-round, or the fountains, but you know where he wanted to play? On the rocks.”

Though instinctive, Wong points out that this simple fact lost in today’s society: Children

want to dwell in nature where they can use their imaginations.

When complete, Discovery Garden will invite kids to invent play, where the choices are as limitless as their own creativity.

“I always say, once you start to put a vision out into the universe, you can expect that things are about to move,” Wong said.

Following the 2017 visioning meeting, the idea for an outdoor preschool and garden was set in motion. The next step was finding a location: somewhere with space, but also central so it could serve the community.

Sure enough, the right answer sought them out. The children of the late, well-known local Maui businessman and Realtor Masaru "Pundy" Yokouchi approached Imua with an offer to take over the Yokouchi Estate in Wailuku.

As the founder of the Maui Arts and Cultural Center, Yokouchi believed in fostering art and exploration in the Maui community. While the family mostly used the property for entertaining, the same 6 acres, within walking distance from at least six preschools and schools, became a no-brainer for Imua.

Yokouchi's generosity as a philanthropist

directly influenced what Maui looks like today, and now his impact will be ongoing. The history of the property, however, predates his ownership. Prior to his purchase in 1991, the property was once the first manager’s residence for the Wailuku Sugar Co. plantation. Renowned American architect Charles W. Dickey – known for his designing of other notable Maui estates such as the Hui No‘eau in Makawao, as well as Seabury Hall’s Cooper House – designed the house that still crowns the property in 1937.

The white walls of the house stretch wide, nestling into the upper acres, backlit by the greenery of the West Maui Mountains. The tropical Downton Abbey has servants’ quarters, a formal dining room and four sizable bedrooms that now accommodate therapists and clinical staff as they relocate to the island. The beautiful outdoor veranda will continue to host events, as under the previous owners, in addition to a tea house for visitors to enjoy.

A rock canal cuts through the center of the property below the home and down the sloping green lawn. These remnants of stone form the Kama ‘Auwai Ditch that used to feed fresh water from Waikapu on one end, and ‘Iao

Artist rendering of carriage house converted to preschool

The Discovery Garden is built on the philosophy that when kids play outdoors, nature teaches them to problem solve, to navigate relationships and to learn from failure; children can climb on rocks and explore the natural landscape of the sprawling grounds. The former carriage house will become an indoor shelter for the outdoor preschool. The Renowned American architect Charles W. Dickey designed the impressive home on the property, built in 1937, which served as the first manager’s residence for the Wailuku Sugar Co. plantation.

Valley on the other, into this central meeting place, propelling the waters to run a 14-foot waterwheel. The exposed walls of variegated brown rock divide the lower portion of the garden into what will be a central walking path on one side and a stage area on the other.

This land has served many purposes – from the residence of King Kahekili II, who ruled Maui in the 18th century, to the missionary station of the Rev. Jonathan Green in 1832, who established the first thatched school nearby, to a female seminary run by Edward and Caroline Bailey of Massachusetts, who bought the land in 1942. Bailey & Son’s Sugar and Flour Plantation created the stone artifact that stands today, and the neighboring Hale Hō‘ike‘ike-Bailey House Museum run by the Maui Historical Society. The Discovery Garden cherishes this genealogy and its relationship with the museum that it physically envelopes – no fence line demarcates borders, fostering inclusion and participation from visitors of both places.

Under the direction of Hōkūao Pellegrino, sustainability and ‘aina-based learning designer and facilitator at Kamehameha Schools, an ethnobotanical garden in honor of Hawaiian history will soon grow from an empty lot on the Main

Street side of the museum. Children and visitors will find inspiration in the native plants, the shady hale, and the shadow of the stinkytoe tree (West Indian locust) and the stories they tell.

The tour concludes back where we started at the old carriage house, or the new future outdoor preschool, depending on how you look at it. Imua Family Services already offers a preschool for children of all abilities, but now they plan to take the learning outside.

“Here nature actually becomes the classroom,” Wong said. Mud tables, sitting logs, a garden and a bunny borough will all become the primary learning environment for the students. “The kids direct the learning, and the teachers design lessons to follow. If they want to build a veterinarian or post office, the class will create it themselves.”

After the lockdowns of Covid-19, outdoor learning doesn’t seem like a wild idea. “As a non-profit, I never thought I would launch a $5.5 million capital campaign in the middle of a global pandemic,” Wong said. While so many schools were forced to move haphazardly outside, this preschool is designed for outdoor learning. After being inside and isolated for so long, embracing the freedom that nature

HOW TO GET INVOLVED

Fundraising continues for the Will Smith Imua Discovery Garden. To contribute funds or other resources, contact Dean Wong at (808) 244-7467 or visit imuagarden.com and click “donate.”

provides makes more sense than ever before.

From the stage that will one day host Shakespeare plays, to the fields where food trucks will feed event goers, to the lawns where picnickers and plein air artists will ponder, to the “mooing” and “baaaaaing” of the animal paddocks, to the butterflies and music that will fill the air, Will Smith Imua Discovery Garden seems like a paradise for all to enjoy. The families who already benefit from the work of Imua Family Services will be joined by the countless others who will soon treasure this community space and the welcoming hands who run it.

The garden will celebrate a formal groundbreaking in May 2023, but its dreams are far from over. “If you think for a minute about Central Park, there is something going on in every nook and cranny of the grounds. So far, we’ve barely scratched the surface,” Wong said. “We are thinking even bigger now. What will this place be years from now? How will it continue to help the Maui community beyond the time that we get to spend here?”

Just like the mountain stream waters that once gathered here from the north and the south, the Will Smith Imua Discovery Garden turns a new tide for all of Maui.

Hula dancers Kanani Garso and Kelsi Badua perform in a beachside, sunset show at Old Lāhainā Lū‘au during the song, "He u‘i lani ‘oe," which translates, "You are of heavenly beauty," as sisters Pele and Hi‘iaka reconcile and display the Hawaiian value of the bond of family.

L U A U

Dance and music take audiences on a journey through time

By SERENE GUNNISON

Photographs by JOSHUA HARDIN & AZELAN AMUNDSON

On this page, wood carver Lafa’ele Folaumoeloa displays hand-carved ki‘i at the lū‘au. Preston Ako plays ukulele at the nightly shows. Reagan Timmins demonstrate the various hula implements used in the show. On the next page, hula dancer Tyler Rabara performs while Kumu Kapono Kamaunu provides rhythmic accompaniment on an ipu heke.

Apair of torches scarcely illuminates the darkened stage. The audience can hear the sound of waves crashing on the beach just beyond. Suddenly, drums start beating rapidly. The lights come on, and the hula performers come dancing onto the circular stage. This is the Old Lāhainā Lū‘au, one of Maui’s most genuine celebrations of island culture.

Cultural and historical accuracy are guiding principles at Old Lāhainā Lū‘au, and this fusion of education and entertainment is evident. As the

sun dips below the horizon and the stage lights go up, guests are taken on a journey through time, transported by hypnotic dance and mo‘olelo (stories) of Hawaiian gods and great leaders.

“The experience here at the Old Lāhainā Lū‘au is a little bit different. The show is all based around the history of Hawai’i,” said Kapono Kamaunu, the kumu who leads the dancers. “Each night the guests get a little glimpse of what the history is.”

As the show progresses, narrators give

On the previous page, hula dancers perform with ipu, which are made from gourds. Later in the show, dancers don tall, elaborate headdresses. Traditional Hawaiian dishes made with locally grown ingredients are presented in one of the four meal courses. Sous Chef Brandon Fujiwara prepares plates of food for lū‘au guests. Employees lift the leaves off the ‘imu, or underground oven, soon to reveal the roast pig that has spent hours inside steaming.

the audience an account of scenes from Hawaiian lore that the dances are depicting.

“Old Lāhainā Lū‘au helps us continue to perpetuate the culture and present it in an entertaining way, yet still educate the guests about the history,” Kamaunu said. “As practitioners, we get to tell the story through the chants, through the hula, through the music, through the mo‘olelo or the stories that we share about our Hawaiian people.”

The hula that you see at Old Lāhainā Lū‘au is a tradition that has been passed down from generation to generation. All the songs and mele tell the story of Hawai’i. The show traces two millennia of Hawaiian history, beginning with the story of Pele’s voyage to the Hawaiian Islands and the first Polynesian settlement in the islands. Number by number, hula carries guests forward in time, depicting pre-contact

society, the arrival of the missionaries, the subsequent banishment of Hawaiian culture and the near-death of hula itself.

“The hula was banned for many, many years, until the Merrie Monarch, King David Kalakaua, restored the hula back in 1883 at his coronation ceremony,” Kamano said. “The hula that you see at Old Lāhainā Lū‘au are many of those hula that were restored during that era.”

Beyond the hula and historical depictions, all facets of Old Lāhainā Lū‘au are steeped in authenticity. Pre-show activities beckon guests to learn traditional dances, connect with Hawaiian artisans and watch as the ‘imu (underground oven) is unearthed, revealing the roast pig below. Come dinner, guests are given the opportunity to try a selection of traditional dishes, like pua‘a kālua (kālua pork), laulau (meat or fish dish

wrapped in taro leaves), poke and poi.

“We stick strictly to the Hawaiian culture, down to our food, to the show,” longtime Old Lāhainā employee Kona Pokipala said. “We try to educate our guests about even down to the taro root, our pre-shows and everything. It all has to do with Hawaiian native culture. … That’s what our culture is all about, anyway. Friends, ‘ohana (family), and just having a good time. That’s what we do here at the lū‘au.”

Through their dances, the hula dancers at Old Lāhainā Lū‘au tell the story of Hawaiian history and culture, including legends and historical events. Narrators help fill in the audience on the significance and meaning of the performances as they watch them. The dances and costumes at the lū‘au represent the ever evolving hula styles.

Sustainability Stewards

Meet some of the businesses and community members who are making our island – and the world – a better place.

By SERENE GUNNISON and ASHLEY PROBST

Eco-Friendly Ales

Maui Brewing Company, Kīhei

Maui Brewing Company’s beers are cooled by the sun.

While that might seem like an oxymoron, nearly every aspect of the brewery’s expansive operation is solar powered. Four thousand solar panels blanket Maui Brewing Company’s cathedral-like facility in Kīhei, powering everything from the taproom lights to the glycol jacket technology used to cool beer temperatures during brewing.

By supplementing solar energy with Tesla batteries and biodiesel generators, Maui Brewing Company became one of the first craft breweries in the nation to reach grid independence in 2019. Reduced energy costs and lucrative tax breaks made going off-grid a savvy financial move. But beyond the economic boons, sustainability has long been embedded in Maui Brewing Company’s ethos.

Since MBC’s inception in 2005, founder Garrett Marrero has introduced numerous sustainable initiatives, including donating spent grain to local farmers for feed, using locally sourced ingredients where possible and growing yeast to reduce freight costs and emissions. Another early effort involved eliminating glass bottles in favor of aluminum cans. Because of its light weight, aluminum is easier to recycle and results in less shippingrelated emissions than glass.

More recently, MBC decided to swap plastic six-pack holders with recyclable cardboard cartons. However, the most impressive and promising eco-friendly feature of Maui Brewing Company is its carbon reclamation system.

CO2 is an essential component in beer. How else would brews get their delightful fizz and tiny bubbles? Coincidentally, CO2 is a by-product of the brewing process. Rather than releasing that carbon into

the atmosphere, Maui Brewing Company invested in a CO2 recovery center, which compresses and filters the gas into “high purity” carbon. MBC’s captured carbon now accounts for sixty percent of the brewery’s CO2 needs.

Looking to the future, the brewery has its sights set on one day drawing CO2 from the atmosphere to carbonate its brews, soda

lines and effervescent hard seltzers. In the meantime, Marrero and the Maui Brewing team will continue to carve new notches into their well-worn belt of sustainability, setting the bar for what local businesses can achieve on Maui.

Maui Brewing Company (top-left); Jason Moore (top-right, bottom)

Green Getaways

Hyatt Regency Maui Resort and Spa, Kā‘anapali

Much of Kā‘anapali’s sandy three-mile strip is dotted with luxe resorts. These lofty towers harbor expansive pool areas, outstanding restaurants and experiences archetypal of a Maui visit. When it comes to sustainability, one property has been a pioneer in leading the charge.

The Hyatt Regency Maui Resort and Spa has incorporated a long list of sustainable practices into its day-to-day operations. Some involve simple swaps, like stocking guest rooms with refillable aluminum water bottles. Others are wildly more complex, tackling issues of energy, water consumption and refuse.

The Hyatt has one of the largest rooftop

solar photovoltaic systems in Hawai‘i, which produces enough electricity to power 2,144 homes for a year. To curb water use, the resort installed advanced pool filtration systems and high-efficiency shower heads. And by adopting dynamic recycling practices and favoring purchases with eco-friendly packaging, Hyatt Maui has reduced its landfill-bound waste output by 37 percent.

As a result, the Hyatt is one of only two Leadership in Energy and Design (LEED) Gold-certified resorts in the state. To earn LEED certification, a project collects points by complying with requisites that address emissions, waste, water, energy and indoor environment quality.

While most of Hyatt’s sustainable practices happen behind the scenes, evidence of the resort’s green efforts is scattered throughout the property. Guests can take a self-guided

sustainability tour to learn more about Hyatt’s eco endeavors – and be reminded that sustainable tourism on Maui is shifting from chimera to reality.

200 Nohea Kai Dr., Lāhainā hyatt.com | (808) 661-1234

Hyatt Regency Maui (both)

Plastic-Free Made Easy Zero Waste Hale, Ha‘ikū

In today’s modern world, plastic seeps into every area of our lives. The average American discards over 280 pounds of plastic annually, and for many, the deluge seems unavoidable. But Ashley Bowman of Zero Waste Hale is determined to show people the light.

Bowman’s airy shop in Aloha ‘Aina Center in Ha‘ikū is stocked with practical alternatives to our plasticridden lives, like dish soap cubes, toothpaste tablets and shampoo bars. The space also includes an “Eco-Refill Bar,” where customers can fill reusable containers with non-toxic home cleaning products rather than buying them in plastic receptacles.

The overarching goal of Bowman’s zero-waste shop isn’t to push consumers toward a 100 percent zero-waste lifestyle but rather inspire the Maui community to cut back where they can. “This is all about progress versus perfection,” Bowman said. “I’m just trying to help people be more mindful and really think about their purchases.”

810 Kokomo Rd., Ha‘ikū

zerowastehale.com

IG @zerowastehale

Audrey Billups

Soulful Sunscreen One Love Body Soul, Ha‘ikū

Chaos theory says that a small, seemingly insignificant event can create a chain reaction that dramatically influences the future. For Erin Elizabeth, founder of One Love Body Soul (OLOVE), that moment came nearly a decade ago when marine researchers announced an unsettling discovery.

In 2015, a team of international scientists released a study concluding oxybenzone,

a common ingredient in sunscreen, can cause death and DNA damage in corals. The news pushed Erin – a passionate water woman who had begun to notice coral decline on Maui – to add reef-safe sunscreen to her budding organic skincare line, OLOVE.

Since releasing her first batch of sunscreen, One Love has grown exponentially. Retailers around the nation now carry OLOVE’s plastic-free products. Yet, despite her brand’s success, Erin never lost sight of her objective: ocean conservation. More recently, Erin's passion for the sea has

steered her into the political realm.

Erin was instrumental in helping pass Ordinance 5306, which prohibits the sale, use and distribution of non-mineral sunscreens in Maui County. The ordinance took effect on Oct. 1, 2022. Erin also helped to pass a similar bill on Hawai‘i Island and is now working with legislators on O‘ahu. “The point of it all is preservation,” Erin said. “Using mineral sunscreen will help preserve what little coral we have left.”

For a complete list of retailers, visit onelovebodysoul.com.

Taylor Jackson, Capture Maui Photography

Sweet Sustainability

Maui Ku'ia Estate Chocolate, Lāhainā

Owning and operating the largest chocolate factory in Hawai’i sounds like a sweet gig, though it wasn’t the original plan for Gunars Valkirs, CEO of Maui Ku‘ia Estate Chocolate. After moving to Maui for retirement, Valkirs decided to take up cacao farming as a hobby on 20 acres of open plain in the ahupua‘a (Hawaiian land division) of Ku‘ia. He quickly discovered the only way to maintain a viable farm would be to make and sell chocolate.

In addition to a community-focused business model, Maui Ku‘ia Estate Chocolate uses clean energy, zero-waste farming practices, and eco-friendly packaging.

“We’re off-the-grid here,” Valkirs said. “Making chocolate is a power-hungry business, so if you’re not generating your own energy, then it’s not clean when it’s all fossil fuel-generated and that’s a problem.”

The hot Lāhainā sun powers the factory during the day while Tesla batteries are charged to store the energy and keep things running at night and on the occasional cloudy day.

Upscale Upcycling

Michi.CO, Lāhainā

Plastic is notoriously harmful to the environment, but local business owner Michiko Smith is turning this infamous material into something beautiful and sustainable.

“Recycling here is so trash,” Smith said of Maui’s infrastructure. But instead of simply hoping for a new recycling center to open, she applied her environmental science degree and created Michi.CO sustainable home decor. The original collection features soap dishes, trinket trays, incense holders and vases – all of which are made using upcycled plastic.

According to the Hawai‘i Wildlife Fund, up to 20 tons of marine trash washes up on our coastlines annually, and 96 percent of it is plastic. Innovative businesses like Michi.CO are working to mitigate our plastic pollution problem.

The plastic she uses is sourced from local people, beaches and two Lāhainā-based businesses. This includes milk jugs and other No. 2 plastics from Nagasako General Store and bottle caps, (No. 4 plastics), from Choice Health Bar.

Smith sorts the plastics by color, removes any stickers, cleans and dries each piece, and

then puts it through a shredder machine up to 10 times.

The plastic pieces in Michi.Co’s collection have been mixed with cement, but Smith recently acquired a new machine that now allows her to manufacture products using 100 percent plastic. This change is necessary to keep up with the high volume of plastic that she accumulates. Once this transition is complete, production will be geared toward

When it comes to farming the cacao, everything gets returned to the soil. If trees need to be removed, the wood is chipped and redistributed as mulch, while the husks and cacao shells are thrown back into the field to decompose naturally. “There’s certainly no trash, no waste coming out of the farm,” Valkirs said.

Additionally, the company’s best-selling 5-gram pieces are packaged with sustainable materials: paper, wax and foil covering the chocolate piece – all of which can be composted.

And we can’t forget about the award-winning product within. “We do make world-class chocolate, it’s already been proven,” Valkis said, referencing accolades like the 2021 Cocoa of Excellence Gold Award, the 2022 Good Food Award and the 2022 ‘Aipono Award for Excellence in Sustainability.

making filament for 3D-modeled pieces.

The original Michi.CO collection can be found online and at zero-waste stores like Ho‘olawa Maui in Nāpili, Rooted in Wailuku, Zero Waste Hale in Ha‘ikū, Choice Health Bar, Westside Vibes, Manakai Swimwear, the Hawai‘i Wildlife Discovery Center in Lāhainā and The Monarch Collective in Makawao.

michicodecor.com

Maui Ku‘ia Estate Chocolate

Jason Moore

Low Footprint Fashion Dos Gardenias, Pā‘ia

Take a deep dive into the world of “fast fashion,” and you’ll quickly be met with a barrage of alarming statistics, from excessive water use to exorbitant pollution output. The good news? Not all fashion is inherently bad for the planet. Some brands are taking meaningful steps to become stewards of the environment.

Brighdie Grounds and Dorothy Day, founders of Dos Gardenias luxury swimwear, are making a name for themselves as luminaries in the sustainable fashion world.

Since 2020, Dos Gardenias swimwear has been made with ECONYL, regenerated nylon constructed from waste like fishing nets and industrial plastic. ECONYL is infinitely recyclable and massively reduces carbon emissions and crude oil use when compared to conventional nylon. The fabric is also fortuitously perfect for swimwear: stretchy, soft and chlorine resistant.

Beyond their fabric swap, Grounds and Day are steadfast in reducing Dos Gardenias’ carbon footprint. “From our packaging to our tags, really everything is sustainable,” Grounds said. “If there’s a sustainable approach, we take it.” In other products, the pair uses materials

like 100 percent cotton and neoprene made from limestone rather than petroleum.

In addition to their sustainable business practices, Grounds and Day work with like-minded nonprofits, including GLAM4GOOD, Waves 4 Water and Mauibased coastal clean-up organization, Love the Sea.

Fashion lovers can shop the sleek, sustainable collections at the Dos Gardenias Pā‘ia store, located at 106 Hāna Highway.

106 Hāna Highway, Pā‘ia

Open daily, 10 am-5 pm

dosgardenias.com | (808) 856-0211

Dos Gardenias

Zero Waste & Plant-Based

Moku Roots, Lāhainā

Sustainability is woven into the core of Moku Roots, a zero-waste vegan and vegetarian restaurant in Lāhainā. Five years after its opening, Moku Roots remains the only zerowaste restaurant on Maui, highlighting both the utilitarian and nutritional power of plants.

The eatery’s plant-based menu prioritizes locally sourced ingredients, including produce from its own farm in Launiupoko.

This is where all the restaurant’s kale and collards are grown, in addition to herbs, bananas, papayas, avocados, ‘ulu and occasionally taro –though many items are outsourced from other

local farmers to keep up with demand.

When deliveries arrive, any packaging is reused or repurposed. All the compost created at the restaurant goes back to Moku Roots' farm, for a true farm-to-table-to-farm cycle.

On the consumer end, the restaurant doesn’t offer single-use takeout containers or utensils. Instead, to-go sandwiches and other handhelds are wrapped in ti leaves and banana husks, while other dishes can be taken home in a metal tin for a refundable $10 deposit.

There's also eco-friendly retail items available: reef-safe sunscreen, metal straws and bulk food items like beans, quinoa, or hot sauce.

When looking toward the future of this ecoconscious company, owner Alexa Caskey has big plans. One plan already in motion is the

acquisition of a second farm in Kula, which will give the restaurant more control over its supply chain.

“We’ll be putting into action regenerative farming practices, which I’m really passionate about,” Caskey said. “And hopefully get it to where we’re sourcing almost 100 percent of our produce from ourselves.”

A second restaurant is also in the works and is slated to be more than twice the size of the Lāhainā location. The space in Kahului will include a rooftop garden and dining, as well as solar panels to generate power for the property.

Jason Moore

by

Slack Key

George Kahumoku Jr.

Maui’s Renaissance man for the Hawaiian Renaissance

Peter von Buol with Chris Amundson

It is a beautiful Wednesday evening at Nāpili Kai Beach Resort in Nāpili on Maui’s west side. As the sun is setting over Nāpili Bay, legendary Maui musician George Kahumoku Jr. is on stage playing his signature 12-string guitar to open his weekly George Kahumoku Jr. Slack Key Show: Masters of Hawaiian Music.

Indeed, Kahumoku is one of the masters. He combines authentically Hawaiian slack key guitar finger work with lyrics steeped in Hawaiian heritage. Recently honored with a Nā Hōkū Hanohano Lifetime Achievement Award and winner of three Grammy Awards, Kahumoku just returned from traveling the mainland on his annual Masters of Hawaiian Music winter tour. After turning 72 in January, this Maui resident has no plans to slow down.

Now in its 20th year, Kahumoku’s Slack Key Show is one of Hawai‘i’s premier showcases for authentic Hawaiian music. Seated and

center stage in Nāpili Kai, Kahumoku opens the night performing “Kilakila O Haleakalā” a classic Hawaiian mele (song) that praises the “majestic” and “beautiful mountain of Maui,” “Glorious Maui, is the very best.”

He picks and strums his 12-string guitar with melodic, rhythmic fingerwork that sounds like three guitars in one – yet again proving he is one of the modern greats of Hawaiian slack key.

His deep voice delivers a mele that carries a lifetime of warm memories, a feeling he conveys convincingly during his performance. It’s a song he heard frequently as a child at large family gatherings at his grandparent’s farm on Hawai‘i Island. Kahumoku’s version might seem hauntingly familiar to Maui residents: A few years ago, he recorded a public service announcement advocating for water conservation during times of drought.

That radio spot provides a glimpse of how Kahumoku sees himself – he often reminds

friends and family the root name of “George” means “farmer.”

Despite having achieved worldwide acclaim as a musician and composer, in his own mind Kahumoku is steward of the land. While Kahumoku has earned a shelf full of music awards, he is just as proud of his Hawai‘i 4-H and top U.S. pork producer awards.

In his younger days, he owned a large beef and hog farm on Hawai‘i Island. Today, Kahumoku still raises crops and livestock on a 2 ½-acre farm in the Cliffs at Kahakuloa agricultural subdivision 8 miles north of Wailuku.

Chickens, sheep and miniature horses roam his farm. Fruit trees and traditional canoe plants carried by the original Polynesian settlers dot the farmyard and hillside, including 51 varieties of taro that he plants according to moon cycles.

Each morning, after breakfast on the lānai, he visits the pen of his horses to scoop and redistribute the “fuel that the runs the farm.”

Chris Amundson

George Kahumoku Jr. enjoys Nāpili Bay before his Masters of Hawaiian Slack Key Show. On stage, Kahumoku sings and plays his signature 12-string guitar. Kahumoku tends to his sheep on his farm 8 miles north of Wailuku in the West Maui Mountains.

Jason Moore (opposite, above and below)

“The thing is, I love being on the land and growing things. It’s a big part of my Hawaiian soul,” he said. “Even weeding is a favorite thing that calms me and gives me focus.”

Back at Nāpili later the same night, Kahumoku performs “Ho‘okupu Kamapua‘a,” a tale of the tumultuous love affair between Tūtū Pele, the goddess of fire and volcanoes, and Kamapua‘a, the superhuman hog-man.

The hog-man pursues the fire goddess, but the two quarrel and became embroiled in battle. Their fight moves through the chain of Hawaiian islands, creating new land wherever they scuffle. At one point in the mele’s refrain, Kahumoku snorts like a pig – his Nāpili audience erupts in laughter.

Kahumoku’s DNA and upbringing are steeped in Hawaiian traditions. He traces his musical lineage back to one of Hawai‘i’s first slack key guitarists, George Kuluwaimaka Kaleohano Kauila Mahikoa Kahumoku of Hawai‘i Island. Like the axis deer overpopulation on Maui today, Hawai‘i Island in the 1800s had a cattle problem. Wild cattle introduced during the reign of King Kamehameha I were destroying land, crops and eating roofs off thatched houses.

In the 1830s, King Kamehameha III brought Spanish-speaking vaqueros ( cowboys) to Hawai‘i Island and Maui to teach Hawaiians to capture, herd and domesticate the cattle, launching Hawai‘i’s cattle industry.

As cowboys are known to do, the vaqueros often played their Spanish guitars and sang songs around the campfire. When they departed Hawai‘i, they also left behind their guitars, but hadn't taught their Hawaiian paniolo (cowboy) students how to play or tune them.

Through trial and error, the paniolo, including Kahumoku’s ancestor, developed their own methods of tuning that slackened or tightened each string to allow for melodic and chordal possibilities that hadn't existed before in traditional tunings.

Each family developed its own ki ho‘alu (loosen the key) tunings – possibly hundreds existed – which were closely-held secrets until the mid-1900s. These tunings, along with the manner the guitars were played, became known as Hawaiian slack key.

The vaqueros were not the only outsiders to influence Hawai‘i in the 1800s. Industrialists and Christian missionaries came. They brought religion, commerce, new types of land use and

influence that threatened to exterminate traditional Hawaiian culture and traditions. As was happening to the native tribes on the mainland, ‘Ōlelo Hawai‘i (Hawaiian language), hula (dance) and oli (chants, songs and oral histories) were at risk of being snuffed out.

Though the guitar was of European descent, slack key playing was more closely related to traditional Hawaiian ways. Slack key remained an underground folk art that incubated virtually unknown to the outside world for a century. Then, Hawaiian music and culture burst onto the world scene at the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco. Within a year, Americans bought more recordings of Hawaiian music than any other genre of music.

However, two other instruments – the steel guitar (a Hawaiian invention) and the ‘ukulele (an adaptation of a Portuguese instrument) – took center stage. Slack key guitarists performed as background accompaniment.

Finally in 1946, slack key broke through with a recording by Gabby Pahinui – a haunting version of an old Hawaiian love song “Hi‘ilawe.”

skill demonstrated slack key guitar could become a lead instrument.

Pahinui’s

Chris Amundson

Kahumoku and Danson Lindsey perform at the Made in Maui County Festival. A young Kahumoku plays with his brother, Moses. Grammys and other awards are displayed at his home. Kahumoku shares a moment with protégé J.J. Jerome.

Hawai‘i tourism and interest in Hawaiian language and culture increased after World War II. Eventually in the 1960s, the heightened respect for Hawaiian language and culture sparked what became known as the Hawaiian Renaissance.

Many serious musicians eschewed the commercialized steel guitar and ‘ukulele music that was associated Waikiki tourists. They looked to Hawai‘i’s history for inspiration. They found it in slack key guitar, which became a lead instrument of this nascent cultural movement.

Through birth, timing and location,

Kahumoku was positioned to help lead the Hawaiian Renaissance.

Born in 1951, as a child Kahumoku was immersed in cattle farming, music and Hawaiian mele at his grandparents’ South Kona cattle ranch on Hawai‘i Island.

One of six children, Kahumoku was part of a large ‘ohana (family) – grandparents, greatgrandparents, aunties, uncles and cousins. Family gatherings were celebrations infused with adults playing musical instruments – especially ‘ukulele and guitar in the slack key style.

After the adults tired for the night, the children would sneak away with the guitars and ‘ukuleles and try their best to imitate what they saw and heard.

“Besides me, we had 26 cousins running around like crazy,” Kahumoku said. “The jams would go on for days.”

By watching his relatives, Kahumoku learned different methods of playing, including slack key. By the early 1960s, Kahumoku could play one song very well.

When he was five, his parents moved his family to O‘ahu, where his father, George

Chris Amundson

Jason Moore

Kahumoku Sr., worked at the city and county sanitation department. Kahumoku attended Kamehameha School-Kapalama Campus and worked a part-time job cleaning cars at Lippy Espinda's used-car dealership.

On his breaks, he would sit outside and play slack key. The dealership was next door to a strip club. One day, one of the club’s performers approached Kahumoku and asked about his guitar playing. The singer was Kuiokalani (Kui) Lee (soon to become famous for his song “I’ll Remember You”). Lee had quietly noticed Kahumoku’s proficiency on slack key, and though Kahumoku was only a teenager, Lee asked him to play a song at the club.

Later, Kahumoku recalled: “I knew my folks would kill me if they found out.”

But he went anyway and played his one song (“Grandpa Willy’s Slack Key”), which took him less than three minutes. The audience went crazy and threw money on stage.

Young Kahumoku went outside and counted – $27.10, more than a whole month’s pay of washing cars. He was hooked.

“I knew then I wanted to become a musician,” Kahumoku said.

The Kahumoku family’s move from Hawai‘i Island to O‘ahu proved to be key in his musical upbringing. Kamehameha High School nurtured student interest in Hawaiian music and became an incubator for not only Kahumoku, for but many of his classmates who became legendary Hawaiian musicians who helped usher in the Hawaiian Renaissance.

They included: Dennis Kamakahi, Aaron Mahi, Keola Beamer, Jerry Santos, Kalena Silva and Kaniela Akaka Jr.

While Kahumoku enjoyed performing music, he also wanted to pursue a degree in art. After graduation and through the generosity of a trustee at Kamehameha Schools, he attended an art college in California, where he earned degrees in art and education.

Upon college graduation in 1973, he returned home to Hawai‘i Island and worked briefly as a welder (a skill he had learned as an artist). During the summer, he went to Alaska to work on the oil pipeline. After he returned home again, Kamehameha Schools recruited him to be principal of what was then a small alternative school in South Kona, Hale O Ho‘oponopono. The school’s curriculum emphasized traditional Hawaiian knowledge alongside a Western-style education. Kahumoku also started working with Alu Like, a native Hawaiian social-services provider.

By the early 1970s, the Hawaiian Renaissance had fully blossomed with a strong interest in traditional Hawaiian arts and traditions, including music, language, crafts, farming, fishing, hula, history and literature. Having grown up in an extended family connected to the past and present, Kahumoku was well-positioned to make an impact in the Renaissance.

During his early tenure at the school, one of the leading voices of the Hawaiian Renaissance, Winona Kapuailohiamanonokalani Desha Beamer, came to help the new school get off the ground. Working with Kahumoku, she quickly became impressed by his ability to successfully teach both Western and traditional Hawaiian knowledge. Soon, she

described him as “Hawai‘i’s Renaissance Man.”

In the mid-1970s, Kahumoku also teamed up with his brother, Moses Kahumoku, to perform evenings at the luxurious Mauna Kea Beach Hotel on Hawai‘i Island. The pair released albums as The Kahumoku Brothers. George and Moses were a perfect match. George was rooted in traditional music, and Moses was interested in jazz and Latin music.

To this day, after their father, George credits Moses as having had the biggest influence on his musical career. During their performances, the pair often would seamlessly interweave their guitars with their different tunings. Playing with Moses introduced George to the minor keys and to frets on the neck of the guitar that were not used by other slack key guitarists.

Due to their authenticity, in 1979 The Kahumoku Brothers accompanied the late Edith K. Kanaka‘ole on her groundbreaking album Hi‘ipoi I Ka ‘Aina Aloha. The album won the 1980 Nā Hokū Hanohano Award for best traditional album. The first track on the album “Ka Uluwehi O Ke Kai,” which featured The Kahumoku Brothers on guitar and background vocals, became an instant classic. Watching Kanaka‘ole write her own songs provided the brothers the impetus to become songwriters.

In the mid-1990s, Hawai‘i’s slack key guitarists gained prominence on the mainland when George Winston, a platinum-selling jazz musician with a major distribution deal for his Dancing Cat Records label, began an ambitious project to record a series of Hawaiian

Chris Amundson

George Kahumoku

slack key artists on solo and duo acoustic recordings.

Winston had fallen in love with slack key years earlier when he had picked up a copy of Gabby Pahinui and Eddie Kamae’s Sons of Hawai‘i’s 1971 Five Faces album.

Winston describe’s Kahumoku’s music as a “beautiful, vibrant and unique sound” with a “very powerful rhythm, especially with the pull offs on the guitar, playing and fretting one note, then rapidly pulling the finger off the fretted note to sound the open (unfretted) note on that string.”

Winston considers Kahumoku one of Hawai’i’s “most accomplished composers.” Kahumoku has other abilities that make him a terrific stage performer, too.

“He loves sharing the history of the songs, along with playing his own unique and personal interpretations, as well and being a great interpreter of traditional songs and songs by other composers,” Winston said.

As of 2023, Dancing Cat has released 39

Kahumoku plays music on his lānai at his farm. His wife, Nancy, appears at a show in Chicago; he and Nancy met after he began recording for Dancing Cat Records, where she worked. Art that accompanies his sheet music in a new book depicts ‘ōpae‘ula (Hawaiian red shrimp) –it goes with a song he wrote about a childhood memory of Edith Kanaka‘ole sending him up a river to get shrimp for her. Breakfast on his lānai includes eggs from the chickens on his farm.

recordings in its still-ongoing Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar Masters series. Many did favorably on Billboard’s World Music Chart, and six recordings won Nā Hōkū Hanohano Awards for Instrumental Album of the Year. Kahumoku has also won three Grammy Awards for Best Hawaiian Music album for his work on three compilations albums: Legends of Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar-Live from Maui (2007), Treasures of Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar (2008) and Masters of Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar (2010).He had also co-produced the 2006 winner, Masters of Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar Vol. 1, but due to a clerical error, had not been listed as a producer, a requirement to be awarded a Grammy for a compilation album.

For Kahumoku, the increased exposure from Dancing Cat Records made him an indemand concert performer. It also brought him into contact with Winston’s sister, Nancy, who had worked for the label. Kahumoku and Nancy fell in love and are now married and living on their farm on Maui.

“Nancy is the heart, body, soul and hands that keeps the engine of the business running,” Kahumoku said. She manages the weekly Wednesday evening shows at the Nāpili Kai Beach Resort. Behind the scenes, she also manages the music contracts, licensing, royalty agreements and marketing. Trained as a swing dancer, she switch to hula ‘auana (contemporary hula) and often accompanies her husband on stage.

While there has long been some mainland interest in Hawaiian music, the increased visibility of Dancing Cat Records had made it much easier for the label’s artists to secure bookings. After Dancing Cat released Kahumoku’s Drenched by Music album in 1997, he joined the Masters of Slack Key Festival, and has continued to tour mainland cities ever since.

Slack key guitarist David Kahiapo, who has toured with Kahumoku, said there is no better description for Kahumoku than “Hawai‘i’s Renaissance Man.”

Chris Amundson (both)

HAWAIIAN SOUL

Kahumoku gathers apple bananas at his Maui farm.

Chris Amundson