I’ve been a farmer for a long time.  I live on my ancestors’ lands.  I live in my grandparents’ place in Wailuanui.  I still farm, still fish, just the same way we have been doing since time immemorial here.    Only the houses have changed; the people, and our practices, are the same.  

When I was born, we always came back here, and I would come to help the kūpuna.  When the elders were done, I came and restored as much as I could.  Because of the dewatering, it was hard for a long time. I have worked for a long time, fought hard for well over 25 years to get our water back.  And with many of us working together, fighting for the water together, it did come back. The taro is growing.   Hāloa is alive and well.

I am a combat veteran; I was in Viet Nam.  I have also been a strong advocate for sovereignty, independence and community building.  I learned from the old-timers, including Uncle Harry Mitchell, who is from this place.  I spent time on Kahoʻolawe in the early days, and was part of an effort to educate people about independence for Hawaiʻi.  I have a pretty long resumē.  The most important part of all of it is just being a kanaka.

As a Hawaiian, the main thing that keeps me striving on, keeps me healthy,  is having the opportunity to exercise my traditional and native rights on a daily basis.  Simply the practices of fishing and farming.  Being in nature.  Eating the food that, as kanaka, we need to eat – taro, uala, ulu, fish, ōʻio – our staple foods.  

Being healthy in mind and spirit is important for overall health – we need that.  That is part of our food.  You can eat a lot, but if your mind and spirit are not balanced, then you are not balanced.

I always think of the ancestors and what was taught to me.  Pule.  Always remember the ancestors.  The kupuna ʻiwi.  Never forget all they had to go through.  

Life is hard sometimes, but we just gotta try .  Keep trying.  Work hard.  Exercise.  Keep moving.
 
Kuleana -- as who we are as kanaka –- we all have kuleana.  This is important to health.  Friends, family are part of this kuleana.  Even to our nation.  

I have been taught to live my life like this .  Accepting – we must accept life as it is, and make the best of it.   The things you can change, change.  The things you cannot – well, accept that there are some things that we cannot change, and do not let it make you sick.

Be proud of being a kanaka.   To lift up our spirit, our identity.  So we can keep balance on a daily basis.  Life is about one day at a time.  It’s a good thing.  Whether you are in the country or in the city – wherever you are, living the life of kanaka is good.   
I try to keep life simple and not complicated.  It’s easy to get complicated because of all that surrounds us.  Live life on a daily basis.  

What do we need to have a healthy community?

Here in Wailuanui, because we are in a predominantly Hawaiian community of farmers, we are able to work together with a common understanding.  To help the community achieve its goals, we established a nonprofit.  We may have difficulties sometimes, but we stick together.  

We eat good.  We eat what we are supposed to be eating, because we are farmers and fishermen, and because we have the opportunity -- which all kānaka should have.

We must have respect for one another.  As individuals, how can we help our neighbor?  We have to think like that.  In the village, when the men fish, they give it away – to the elders, to the women, to those who don’t fish.  Those who hunt, they share their catch.  It quickly becomes abundance:  abundance of fish, abundance of good foods, abundance of love.  Food for the body and soul.  It goes back to being proud as a kanaka.    

In a good community, in a healthy community, life becomes more rewarding.  

These ways are the basics of life.  When you start to do that as a community, your community will thrive.  It comes strong.  Together, we are ready to face the issues that affect us as a community.   

There are many reasons our people don’t eat the foods that we should as kānaka.  The foods are too expensive.  The water is not there for everyone to live as they should in order to thrive.  I hear a lot of people say that they “used to farm”.   Now, they cannot.  Many don’t have land, water -- sometimes even a home.  

I believe firmly that the State of Hawaiʻi should give our people the opportunity to farm kalo.  Reopen ALL the lo’i in Hawai’i.  Mālama Hāloa -- he is very, very important to our people.  It is our staple. Our food.  Hāloa is our brother.  Why should we as kānaka not mālama our brother?  Something is not right.    Our people have been denied our right to this practice because of dewatering due to sugar and development.  This has had a great impact on our people.   On their health.

Our people have lost a lot.  Hopefully one day we can get back what we need in order to feed our people, house our people.  Those who have must share.  Help each other.

Give communities an opportunity to feed their soul.

The taro patch is peaceful.   When you work the loʻi, you have to have a good frame of mind.  If you have a bad frame of mind, then what you harvest will not be good.  When you kanu, you must be clean.  Then the kalo will be clean, and the food good.   The word is mālama ʻāina.  

When you work around water, you are alive.  Water is life.  Being around the auwai and taro patches brings life.   And Hāloa, our brother.   

We need the ʻāina.  Hopefully one day it will happen – our lands will be returned, and the Hawaiians will have an opportunity to live like this.   Even on a smaller scale, this would do a lot.   Reopen the loʻi and feed our people the food our people lack.  Give people the opportunity to live this life, for real.  That is health for Hawaiians.

The loʻis are a magial place to be at.   We have huli that has been kanued many, many generations.  Each one touched by a lineage of hands.  When you kanu the huli, you are in touch with Hāloa – the spirit of being a kanaka.  The spirit plays an important role in our life.   The spirit will embrace Hāloa, which is us, kānaka.

We need that spark –the touch of the ʻāina, the touch of nature.  We need to roll in the dirt every once in a while – come strong.   

I was given the kuleana from my grandparents to perpetuate the way of life of this place.  All the others here, they have the same kuleana.   Hopefully others can learn from this.  

My family has been farming the same taro patches from time immemorial.  That is the spirit.   All I am doing is carrying on what my ancestors did many years ago.   I am thankful that I have the opportunity to live this life.  Because of the return of the wai, and the farmers’ dedication, we have taro again.  So as a community, we have health.

How I keep myself healthy throughout all of life:

I’ve been in the mud long time.  That’s what has kept me healthy.  Physical.

We need to keep the spirit strong, to eat right, exercise...and we need to be happy.  Also, good sleep is important.  We all need a good night’s sleep to keep the body strong.  Eat small portions, not large portions.  Exercise plays a big role, keeps the body healthy.  

We need to be kind to each other, and have respect for each other.  It’s a challenge just to do those simple things.   

Keep life simple!  Life is full of stress.   

Main thing, enjoy life.  Life is short.  

Again, I am fortunate in that I am living the life of a kanaka on a daily basis.  It is the opportunity to live as kanaka, working hard and enjoying life in the ways of the ancestors -- that is what keeps me going strong.