67 Miles on Molokai

I was tracking the mileage from the only ends of Molokai you could go to, starting off at my home town of Kualapu'u, heading north 5 miles to Pala'au State Park to check out Kalaupapa peninsula. Or I should say Makanalua peninsula. Then heading 17 miles southwest or south southwest to Maunaloa. From Maunaloa heading east towards the main town of Kaunakakai which is 16 miles away. And from Kaunakakai going to the most eastern portion of the island to Halawa Bay 28 miles for a total of 65 miles actually, but on google maps totals 67.

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Molokai, not Molokaʻi

I was watching Keanu Saiʻs video when I realize how he wrote the name of our island.

Good to know that it's catching on so that people realize the original name.

Unexpected Molokai visit

Back in late October I finally made a trip back home. Last time I was there was for my father's funeral in February 2003. Here I was again, making a trip back home for a memorial service of a childhood friend, Matt whose sister Jenny is my classmate and a dear friend.

Jenny asked if I could make it back with her and of course I agreed. It was the least I could do. I told her of our relationship and how friendship is not the true meaning basically since our ties go back further. Her grandma Fujie (Aunty Fudge) and her grandpa were close friends with my father's sister Aunty Nila and her husband Uncle Gaga. Not to mention Aunty Fudge's brother Uncle Taka and my father were very good friends.

Ironically I felt awkward somewhat because I was there for Jenny, not to visit my family, but because it's been a number of years, I did manage to at least have a dinner get together with the relatives there. How so few of them left, makes me sad.

I wanted to take that opportunity to gather as much of genealogical info. I could, but didn't. I wanted to do it from Aunty Fudge as well as Uncle Johnny. Amazingly though, what little time I had with Aunty Fudge (actually more time than with my own relatives) I was surprised to hear her tell me about how she knew my grandfather, who died 9 years before I was born.

Turns out they lived across from us, so basically the Arinoki family (Aunty Fudge's family) lived across from us, which may explain how my father & Uncle Taka and Aunty Nila & Aunty Fudge became close.

Then Uncle Ted, Aunty Fudge's son started asking me about my chicken. Turns out he used to hang out with my dad and Uncle Taka too. I knew of the other guys my dad used to hang out with whom hung out with Uncle Ted, but never made the connection.

Uncle Ted said to me that he would've taught me hunting. I was puzzled by that at first but now I find out that my father was the one who taught Uncle Ted how to hunt. I'm sure in return Uncle Ted taught his nephews how to hunt.

I learn so much about my father each time. The people whom he taught how to play the Ukulele like my mother and in return she taught some people some tricks or two on the ukulele and now with hunting.

People don't realize it but a "legacy" doesn't have to be something so big and great. Even the smallest knowledge that becomes essential in one's life is important and memorable.

Unfortunately because of the company we had plus the situation and why we went to Molokai for 4 nights really didn't allow us to take in the scenic view of the island, which was very disappointing for me. Instead, we managed to see a lot of our classmates, something I never, ever do. That definitely made up for it, especially since I never go back for our class reunions. It was so worth it. Even at the memorial service I saw some Kualapu'u people like Kenneth Pinheiro who flew from Maui for the service. It was so nice to reminisce of our childhood and the negative things too where we just look back on it and realize they were lessons learned. Not sure what exactly, but well worth remembering.

I guess it made me realize how little problems we had to worry back then and now we cause problems and complications in our lives which makes living stressful. Maybe that's my ultimate goal, is to move back and just live a care free life and enjoy the people of whom I have a long history with.

Molokai's outsiders

I ran across this commentary/letter in THE MOLOKAI DISPATCH written by Alona Demmers who mentions Steve Morgan's satirical take on La'au Point.

Two Thumbs Down for Steve Morgan's Satire

What I noticed was how Alona begins questioning and making assumption about Steve Morgan's connection to the island, bringing up the issue of an "outsider" and what really does constitute an outsider and, in a typical Haole mentality, if there is an outsider, there must be an insider, and what makes Steve an insider? Alona asks if it has to do with Steve siding with the community and choses to go against the plan that makes him an insider?

To me, these are the most stupidest things you could question. Worse, Alona mentions how after living on the island for 2 years (yeah, as if that is a long time) that one thing that is real is that 80% of the island's people that [s]he knows were not born and raised there. This is so easily explained. Given the fact that Alona is an outsider, they don't get a chance to know all the locals and most importantly the families there. That, and/or Alona only met a lot of the old people who migrated to Molokai decades ago to work, knows mostly the Filipinos who weren't born and raised there and same goes for the Haoles. There are so many families on Molokai who has been there for more than a few generations including those homestead families like my own. On my maternal side, the family has been there for at least 6 generations now and on my paternal side, we have had 4 generations born and/or raised on Molokai. If Alona only knew my relatives, that would make it 100% of the people been born/raised on Molokai. So you can see how Alona can easily claim 80%, but that doesn't reflect that [s]he has gone throughout the entire populace and took an informal census.

Now as for being an outsider, I posted this link:
http://molokainuiahina.blogspot.com/2008/02/recently-i-mentioned-to-nish-friend-of.html
This says a lot about blending in and assimilating. When you assimilate, you become one with the community, the environment, the people. Therefore, you won't be considered this "outsider". And 2 years, compare that to my 18 years of living on the mainland of which I quickly adapted to. Some people just refuse to go with the flow. That is Alona.

Makahiki Festival

I remember back in the late 70s when the Makahiki festivities began. Molokai was the first to bring it back. The Molokai Dispatch had a number of photos of the festivities.

Aunty Kauwila


See the MOLOKAI DISPATCH for more photos that they posted on the Makahiki Festival. They also have another article here on Na'iwa, where the Makahiki used to be held in ancient days.

Doing it "Molokai Style"

"Molokai Style" could be used to describe anything really, anything that is done the way things are done on Molokai, which implies that you should relax. But here are some tips I came up with based on this article from the Hawaii Business magazine. It was a very good article detailing the difference in doing business in Hawaii compared to the mainland. But here is my "Molokai" version of it.

Molokai style is about working together.

Everyone kokua or helps. (see previous entry about Molokai's Communal Lifestyle.) Help is not always asked for, but rather people will volunteer. When my father died, there were people who volunteered to pay for the pig, cook the food for those that attended the funeral, build the box for my dad’s casket to be laid in the ground, etc. Others were asked and quickly agreed to help such as setting up refreshments, baking food for the people, digging my father’s grave, printing the flier (announcements), giving us thank you notes for those that attended the funeral, and all of this were done at no cost to us. Everyone came together as a community and chipped in. We all worked together.


There’s an intricate & intimate social dance that Molokaians perform together every day on and off the job. Unwritten set of rules of behavior, informally known as “local style” or in this case - "Molokai Style", is essential for anyone who has made Molokai their home.

Basically certain etiquette needs to be followed while on Molokai. A lot has to do with trust and being that Molokai is a small place, this trust is pretty much set in stone, but not spoken of. In my friend's situation, new neighbors who aren't accustomed to the cultures and protocols of the islands had moved in next door. Rather than deal with the situation as we would, the new neighbors decided to write a letter in a threatening manner providing a date that the action that needs to be taken must be done or legal action would be taken. Was that necessary? Certainly not. The outsiders simply displayed how they had no trust in people. They crossed that imaginary line, didn't follow protocols and the social etiquette that we are accustomed to that says out loud that they have broken those set of rules of behavior.


Understated way of social interaction is a complex mix of culture, race and history and is characterized by soft, humble, indirect communication and a respect for others’ accomplishments.

Because of the various cultures that obviously contributed these social behaviors onto our culture today, we all learned to adapt and incorporated them into our daily life. Humility could be viewed as coming both from the Japanese and the Hawaiian cultures, if not others as well. The Chinese have this as a part of their culture too. Maybe if people were mindful of these cultural differences, they wouldn’t have such a hard time fitting in, getting in trouble with the locals and not be so disliked. It all comes down to adaptation, learning to adapt to the environment, the people and most importantly their culture, their ways.


Molokai style is collaborative, putting more value on the “we” and not the “I”.

Typical Haole mentality focuses on individuality, something very prominent in American society. It is all about the individual. The “we” thing exists in Asian cultures too, but in Hawaiian culture, since ancient days it has always been a “community” based culture. People, especially the commoners did not have much for their own personal use. Individuality is not or was not something you would really see. You have heard stories of how the people had to work the land for the chiefs. This is because it was a communal based society. Individual ownership was limited to the malo, kapa, and their own name. That is why emphasis is put on the Hawaiian name because it was one of the few “individually possessed” items. Everything was about “we”. So this aspect has worked its way into today’s society on the island.


Molokai style is very verbal and engaging. It isn’t all talk. Actions always speak louder than words.

I think we know this to be true. You can boast all you want but it won’t get you anywhere unless you can show that you can put out what you say you can do. Mainland style is all about impressions. I have witnessed this firsthand, especially in a large city like Los Angeles where it's always about impressing in order to get attention, or else you lose that business deal. There is competition, so it's all about first impressions, which is what you would see in auditions and struggling actors have to really impress the casting directors in order to get that part that they're auditioning for. So you can lie all you want and people are impressed, but that it is nothing more than a way to attract attention, something that is not necessary on Molokai. You can say you are a king but unless you can show your regalness, no one really would care.


Local people are up to their necks with Mainlanders telling them how they should be living their lives.

Change is one thing many people do not like, in general. On Molokai however, it is magnified. The last thing people want is outsiders trying to tell them what they think would work best for them. Only the locals would know what would work best for themselves and future generations.


Many of them think they’re superior and discount the accomplishments of the local guy. People with that superior attitude don’t last very long on Molokai.

Mainlanders have that mentality that they are superior because of money, education and probably preconceived notions that locals are just inferior because of all those I mentioned. Other things that may make them think that would probably based on the mentality of locals, the speech, and basically the “Molokai style” living or the laid back, passive character.


The islands have a long history of Mainland newcomers, who are lionized as people of vision and destiny, then publicly mauled for their inability to fit in. It goes all the way back to Hawaii’s first malihini, Capt. James Cook, whose divine aura wore off quickly.

Nothing irritates locals more than outsiders displaying this type of behavior. Mainlanders see themselves as a leader of change and find that there may be others who idolize them or seem to show some type of idolizing, probably just awe struck by their conduct or manner of doing things. But as always, these things do not last very long and people begin disliking them for it. On Molokai there was the incident with John McAfee. He donated computers to schools and a youth center and donated a truck to Kahua Ola Hou. When it came time to sell his land in Kawela that caused a huge controversy, he assumed based on his actions that people would sympathize with him, however everyone was against it. Whether he was donating for the sake of being genuine and that was a part of who he really was, or if he was trying to prove that he could be this hero, this person to be idolized or viewed as divine for his deeds.


Should visionary leaders spend valuable time learning the lay of the island landscape when their job is to blaze new trails in the first place? Is the prevailing culture preventing the state from making significant and necessary change?

There’s always that balance. How much is too much? Most importantly, how much are they really losing if “opportunities” are not available by way of modernization or industrializing an area? It’s always good to communicate this type of information with the locals and the entire community if possible and get their input. If they feel they should try to progress by building new things, then they should have that opportunity to express that feeling because it is their life at stake. And unlike these “visionaries”, locals are not necessarily for these things for “profit” but rather for a much more comfortable living.


Newcomers to the islands often have difficulties fitting in, due to the fact that on Molokai people have strong associations with family, so a lot of their activities involve family and extended family.

Mainlanders seem to be disconnected from their own large and/or extended families to begin with. So it is easy for them to just concentrate on themselves. Those that have assimilated have become part of someone’s ‘ohana. That says that they learned to adjust to their new environment. They may or may not have had some difficulty at first but learned how to quickly adapt in order to survive on Molokai.


As a rule, most locals are bicultural. That is, they know how to behave in different ways when situational pressures dictate it. Culture and cultural differences are programmed into the locals.

We all grew up with different cultures. For me personally, there was the Hawaiian culture which we all were exposed to. Then there was the Japanese people in our town whose influence was unavoidable. And in our household it was Filipino culture with a combination of the other two that I mentioned. This is normal for local people. This can become modified as one moves into different social settings. There's a way to behave in a more professional environment versus a more familial type of setting.


6 degrees of separation. On Molokai it usually is 1 degree of separation. Be mindful of what you say to people because you’ll never know if they are related.

Everyone knows everyone. Or, they end up knowing that person’s aunty, uncle, cousin, neighbor, etc. It’s a very small place. I used to work in the tallest building in downtown Los Angeles and a man who works in that building asked if I was from Oahu after finding out that I was from the islands. I told him that I was from Molokai. He said he didn’t know anyone from Molokai, and told me that he was from Kauai and I said that my uncle was from there and he asked the name. I told him the last name and he said, “Kenneth?” Turns out that this guy and my cousin Kenneth were classmates. That is 1 degree of separation, not 6. Even while attending a community college in Los Angeles I ran across a young Hawaiian man who noticed my t-shirt that said, "Justice for Hawaiians". We began talking, following the normal protocol by identifying genealogy. Although he comes from Waimea on the island of Hawai'i, his great-grandparents were from Molokai and he began asking me if I knew who this person and that person was. How many degrees of separation? Only one, but multiplied so many times. He and I share the same cousins. My classmate is also his cousin. Later it was revealed that an Aunt of his who was hanai'd into his family was actually related to my older half-brother. So Molokai is a very small place.


Molokai is all about developing relationships. Regardless of your qualifications, people aren’t likely to work with you until they have established a relationship with you.

This goes back to culture. Emphasis is put on family and becoming a part of that family, the community is what it boils down to. This is how relationships are established, through familial connections.


Do not confuse slow with incompetent. Some people equate the slower pace with people as not having talent.

If there's anything important, it certainly would be this. This is nothing more than different lifestyles. Some may see New York as a much more faster pace environment than the laid back Californian environment. Californians do things differently from New Yorkers. I've heard this from people on the east coast about Californians. It’s just the way that it is. Molokai is no different. Their standards are different from other places. People need to learn to accept things as they are rather than trying to judge based on what they are accustomed to.


Fast-talking braggadocios may get by on the mainland, but people on Molokai have very little tolerance for the brash and arrogant.

This goes back to the part about how local or Molokai style isn’t just all talk but a lot has to do with actions. This “talk” can come across as arrogant, snobbish or high-makamaka. Locals just cannot deal with that type of bragging because it really doesn’t matter to them. Unlike on the mainland, people thrive on those type of things. It’s basically the norm.


Learn to balance confidence with a healthy dose of humbleness. There’s a certain style of leadership on Molokai – humility, coupled with results. It is the most highly respected form of leadership.

This is just basic “good character” and what gets people admired. If we look at those who are “successful” in Hawaii, they are the ones that exhibit both of these type, and that is confidence and humbleness. One example is Nainoa Thompson, who was a key player in revitalizing the ancient Hawaiian navigation system across distant seas. He is now (last I checked) one of the Kamehameha Schools Bishop Estates’ trustees. He was selected as a trustee because of his commitment to the culture, his knowledge and he is very humble about it. This I am sure why one of the reasons he is admired, because he has balanced the two.

Mokapu Island restoration project

From what I read, apparently a restoration project on Mokapu island will begin. The US Fish & Wildlife Service along with the Hawaii Dept. of Land & Natural Resources' Division of Forestry & Wildlife are the ones responsible for the project. The project's goal is to eradicate the rat population on the island in order to save the native flora & fauna on the island being threatened by these rats.

Like the tight-knit community the island is known for, there were meetings for the public to inform and address any concerns regarding this process, not to mention a draft Environmental Impact Statement was also done and made available for public comment.

It's good to know that they're doing everything possible to preserve what we have now before things get out of hand, like with the other projects on Molokai such as fishpond restoration. If only we could eradicate all foreign flora & fauna.

Molokai's Communal lifestyle

Recently I mentioned to a Nish friend of mine about Molokai and its communal society. This discussion was further demonstrated as I just had replied in a forum where people were inquiring about "Hawaii" to where a young girl mentioned the unfriendly attitude of people of Molokai against tourists to which I corrected her.

http://community.livejournal.com/alt_hawaii/44030.html?view=193278#t193278

I've never heard of locals being hostile but have been very irritated by rude behavior displayed by outsiders in general and I understood it to be people from the mainland who moved to the island, rather than the tourists themselves. The tourists are the ones who go there temporarily, unlike the other older Haoles who move there that tend to want to change things there, change the lifestyle, mainly because they can't get on Molokai what they got in their own places where they lived. So they criticize the island for its lifestyle, saying that it is backwards, slow in progress (as it always has been) and that people have a laid back personality to where they seem to lack interest in things. Hardly true, but interesting observation. Then you wonder why these people ever moved to Molokai, right? What attracted them to the island in the first place? In any case, the assessment/comment made by that person was not only unfair but inaccurate.

The hostility definitely isn't towards the tourists, but rather people who move there and have this pretentious behavior because they demand things to go their own way and not the way the island has always been. And what is that really?

Hawaiian society in general has always been a communal one. As I've explained in the past to people the importance of names and according to the historian Tutu Mary Kawena Pukui, Hawaiian names were one of the few things that Hawaiians possessed as their own, hence the importance and protocols surrounding names.

Molokai is a place, one of the places that I know of and have experienced where this communal society still thrives even through all these changes today, it still continues to exist. I recently saw a link to the Molokai Enterprise Community website, specifically created to preserve certain cultural aspects of the island and preserved by the entire community. This is a community really focused on working together as a whole.

When my father died and I went back for his funeral, I forgot how much people came together. I always wanted to run away to Honolulu and of course later to Los Angeles because I yearned to be anonymous. But what I got to experience was an eye opener, having lived in LA for a long time. The entire community came together for my father's funeral. Granted things are done differently on Molokai than O'ahu and definitely from here.

I ran around the island with my aunt doing some errands in preparation for the funeral. According to Lori Buchanan (whose family runs the mortuary service on the island), the county pays for the burial so it's free (unlike elsewhere) but we have to build the box to place the casket in according to the specifications given. My step-cousin's husband who works for the county took care of the box since the dimensions is something he's familiar with having done that for other people. We stopped in town one day to meet Moku Buchanan, the husband of Lori. He gave us a bunch of THANK YOU cards to be used at the funeral. That way, we didn't have to purchase it ourselves. My step-cousin created a flier to let the island know of my father's funeral and we had to make copies. I was already surprised that Molokai had their own copying service. lol But when I took the flier to the place and made copies, the girl running the place told me that there was no charge for the copies. That was a very nice gesture and I thanked her for it and my Aunt was surprised too. But that was their way of contributing.

We stopped at the local clinic, my Aunt and I walked in and she asked the nurse working at the front, "Hey, aren't you my brother's classmate?" She said yes and then my Aunt asked her if she and the classmates could handle the refreshments for the services and she gladly obliged. That really surprised me because my Aunt had her list of things to do and she was just going down that list. lol Later on the day of the funeral I found out that some of the church members had already set up a lot of things at the church for my father's funeral. My father, actually his wife had made sure that my father was paying his dues to this "Filipino Club" which seems like the club does nothing but collect $$ from people and everytime there's a funeral, they donate a set amount. lol But still, a very nice gesture and the $$ was welcomed in order to pay for funeral expenses.

My Aunt also contacted my classmate's mother - Aunty Kanani. She was asked by my Aunt, since she worked at the high school cafeteria if she could use their facility to bake a huge pan of cake for the get together after the funeral. But that surprised me too because here my Aunt made arrangements with all kinds of people who had connection, all in preparation for the feast to follow the funeral services, it's like to say thanks to the people. Not sure if it's practiced elsewhere which I thought it was, but not sure if it's a combination of influence from various cultures (Filipino, Japanese) or a Hawaiian thing or a small community thing, etc. But the fact is, that many people came together to contribute. My step-mother's side of the family contributed a couple of pigs and others on that side of the family also contributed with the food to feed all the people who came.

Now this is what a communal society does. They're there for one another, they come together most especially during a time of need. I remember when I was younger we'd go fishing in the fishpond and my Aunt would share the catch with friends and neighbors and saved a lot of it in her freezer. And later she'd continue to give them away to friends, relatives & neighbors. I've seen my Uncle's neighbor do the same thing when he'd go fishing. My other Uncle and father did the same thing when they went hunting. They share the catch with the community. Basically with friends, relatives and anyone else around, like close neighbors. This is what a community society does, like in the old days. Many, many years ago I was helping a neighbor with her son's watermelon crop. What happened when we couldn't sell his watermelon? Later, we gave them away, to people in town. So when they came up, we gave them away. If you can't sell them anymore, why let it go to waste? People were tired of watermelons by then but the idea is, you share with others in your catch. Simple as that.

Looking back, I am so thankful for having been raised up the way that I was.

Hawaii Reporter compartmentalizes Hawaiians

I was reading OHA's KA WAI OLA paper when I saw a section about the racist cartoon on the Hawaii Reporter website run by Malia Zimmerman. I've mentioned her before and the racist newspaper created for Haoles (mostly) to vent about Hawaiians and programs benefitting Hawaiians.

The article in KA WAI OLA mentioned how OHA Chairperson Haunani Apolonia wrote, "Where is the humor in comparing Native Hawaiians to cows? Is 'Hawaii Reporter' saying that Native Hawaiians should be 'good cows' and sit back and 'graze' while watching opponents of Hawaiians dismantle programs that benefit the bottom-line of the State of Hawai'i by providing assistance to Native Hawaiians?" She continued to say that they are finally showing its true colors. Fuck, as far as I knew early on, they were pretty opened about how they really hated all these programs in existence and did everything they could to continue to marginalize and compartamentalize Hawaiians.

Here's the wonderful photo along with a response about the cartoon.

http://www.hawaiireporter.com/story.aspx?d66b37c2-3084-46f5-a99e-4c08f2729254



This pokes fun at the current KAU INOA program.

There's the famous cow for Meadow Gold Milk known as Lani Moo. Seems like they wanted to personally attack Haunani Apolonia and decided to call it Haunani Moo. So silly, so childish! But the website was nothing more than a means to allow Haoles to vent their prejudices, nothing more. I won't get into the details of this KAU INOA program which OHA persistently continues to send me notices about, but at least now this cartoon proves what I've always known about the HAWAII REPORTER. Now others can see what I've always known.

You have to read the description with the photo and see how they compare to Kanaka 'Oiwi. Also, my favorite Filipino-who-tries-too-hard-to-be-a-white-American Michelle Malkin has her own article.
http://michellemalkin.com/2008/01/31/the-state-of-hawaii-moves-to-censor-a-cartoon/