Na Hoku Hanohano 2010 Winners
Favorite Entertainer of the Year
Jake Shimabukuro
Album of the Year
Amy Hanaiali’i: Friends and Family of Hawai’i
Song of the Year
Polinahe
Female Vocalist of the Year
Mailani for Mailani
Male Vocalist of the Year
Uncle Willie K for Uncle Willie K Live from Mulligans on the Blue
Group of the Year
Ho’okena for Nani Mau Loa: Everlasting Beauty
Most Promising Artist of the Year
Anuhea Jenkins for Anuhea
Hawaiian Album of the Year
Uluwehi Sings Na Mele Hula Aloha
Rock Album of the Year
Acousti-Me
R&B/Hip Hop Album of the Year
Before My Last Breath
Island Music Album of the Year
E Ku’uipo E Hula Mai Me A’u by Kuuipo Kumukahi
Contemporary Album of the Year
Anuhea
Reggae Album of the Year
Ekolu Music II Anthem
Hawaiian Language Performance
Ho’okena for Nani Mau Loa: Everlasting Beauty
Haku Mele
Hanohano Helumoa, by Manu Boyd from Nani Mau Loa: Everlasting Beauty
Jazz Album of the Year
Girl Talk
Slack Key Album of the Year
Maui On My Mind
Instrumental Album of the Year
Live
Taste Of Hawaii 2010
Taste of Hawaii, on the island of Kauai, is a food and drink festival with 50 of Hawaii’s best chefs, more than 15 beer, fine wine, water, soft drinks, specialty coffee drink, and smoothie vendors, and 14 musical groups performing throughout the afternoon. It is The Ultimate Sunday Brunch all set within the beautiful 30-acre grounds of Smith’s Tropical Paradise.
This year it takes place Sunday June 6th, 2010 from 11:30 am to 4:00 pm. For the all-inclusive price of $75, you can eat and drink all you want, tasting each chef’s fares, and visiting the beverage tents to sample beers and wines from around Hawaii. Chefs form Kauai and throughout the state present sample dishes like Seafood crab cakes with lilikoi-mint vinaigrette, Sesame scallops with chili plum sauce, Kalua Pork Sandwich with Habanero Chili Pepper BBQ Sauce with Maui Gold Pineapple Salsa, Braised beef brisket with coconut curry and peanut sauce, and Chocolate Bomb with Lilikoi.
Throughout the day participants also enjoy a variety of continuous musical entertainment acts, and a silent auction with art, jewelry, restaurant certificates, and other items. The event is also a fund-raiser to help the Rotary Club carry out various community projects, help worthy non-profit groups, and fund scholarships for deserving students. Photo by Ann O’Malley.
Canoe Plants and Kamani
The Polynesian settlers brought Kamani from the South Pacific islands in early migrations to Hawai’i mainly as a source for wood. This member of the mangosteen family, which is also called Alexandrian laurel, grows slowly along sandy shores and in lowland forests. Kamani was considered a sacred tree and often planted in villages and around heiau (temples).
Kamani (Calophyllum inophyllum) is a large attractive tree growing from 25 to 60 feet high, with a rounded head of dense foliage. It has glossy, oblong leaves about 8 inches long and 3 inches wide, fragrant white flowers, and large round fruit. The scientific name Calophyllum comes from the Greek words for “beautiful leaf.” The flowers are white and small (1 inch wide) with 4-8 petals, and their delightfully smell was used to give fragrance to kapa cloth and leis. This tree also bears a round, bright green fruit 1 to 2 inches in diameter.
The reddish-brown hardwood from the trunk was used to carve many objects including canoes, wooden containers, and food bowls. The kamani wood does not have a bad taste or odor, so it is perfect for vessels that will be containing food. A stone adze and chisel were used to hollow out bowls, which was then rubbed progressively smoother with rough lava rocks (‘a‘ā), coral (‘āko‘ako‘a), pumice (‘ana), polishing stone (‘ō‘io), and finally the skin of a shark, followed by a rubbing with kukui oil. This beautiful wood has a fine, lustrous texture that shows a distinctive interlocked grain and ages to a reddish brown.
In ancient Hawai‘i, the husk of the kamani’s fruit was used to produce a purple-brown colored dye for tapa or bark cloth (kapa). Oil derived from the seeds was also used as a wood finish, an alternative to candlenut oil in stone lamps to provide light, and for cosmetic and topical applications to heal burns and skin diseases.
Hawaiian Shells and Niihau Shells
The three species of pupu o Niihau are momi, laiki, and kahelelani. Momi measure around 10 mm, are oval, slightly flaring, and have a shiny surface. They vary greatly in color from pure white to dark brown. The darker ones are more rare and are named momi kahakaha ikaika (powerful). The lighter shades are referred to as ahiehie (faded), and there are twenty-two distinct names for the different variations of momi. Laiki are approximately 7 mm long, resemble a grain of rice and have a smooth lustrous finish. These, which range from pure white to off white are traditionally used to make wedding leis. Kahelelani measure only 3 to 5 mm in length and have enough different variations in color and pattern to merit nine distinct names. Colors of kahelelani range from light pink to red to brown, and are named after an ancient chief of Niihau meaning ‘the royal way’. Their size makes them tedious to collect, sort, pierce, and string, and therefore are the most expensive.
For those of you who do not think in terms of millimeters, a 10 mm momi is about a quarter of an inch. And for those of you who are struggling to visualize handling and working with something that small, a 3 mm kahelelani is really, really small. Sorting is done by shell type, color, and size, with an eye for ones with flaws such as a chip, hole, or discoloration. Once the shells are sorted they are prepared by removing grains of sand in the aperture with an awl. Then, according to the style of lei to be made, the shell is pierced in a particular place with a gentle twisting motion of just the right pressure. Nearly twice as many shells are needed to create a given piece since up to half of the shells can break during the piercing process. Nylon thread is prepared for stringing by adding beeswax or glue to the end to serve as the needle.
Paepae o Heeia
Paepae o He’eia is a fishpond on the Island of Oahu that was constructed over 600 years ago by the residents of the He’eia ahupua’a. It is a loko kuapā (walled fishpond) and is unique because the 1.3 mile wall completely encircles the pond. The 88 acre pond is fed by He’eia Stream and Kāne’ohe Bay with a depth of two to five feet and six sluice gates (mākāhā) that control the flow of both fresh and salt water into the pond. These mākāhā are divided equally between the mauka (mountain-side) and makai (seaward) sides of the wall, to bring in salt and fresh water to a brackish environment, ideal for the cultivation of fish.
Fishponds were originally created by ali’i (chiefs) as stocking ponds to raise fish and provide for easy access to fish during the winter months when deep sea fishing was dangerous. Kua (from kuapā) means backbone or support, and is fitting since this 1.3 mile wall also ranges in width from 10 to 14 feet. It was constructed using pōhaku (basalt rock) and ko`a (coral) obtained from adjacent reefs. This unique natural resource provides fish, including pualu, moi, ‘awa, kaku, papio, ‘ama’ama, and crabs like sāmoan, mo’ala, kuhonu, ala’eke, ‘alamihi, and limu (seaweed) gracilaria salicornia, acantophera spicifera.
The friends of Paepae o He’eia are dedicated to the return of sustainability using this ancient fishpond which was considered an engineering feat in its day. If you would like to be a part of preserving this fishpond, they are always looking for volunteers to help in their restoration efforts – from scholarship recipients working off service hours to researchers to employee staff development participants. The best way to educate students about the fishpond is to involve them in the process of bringing it back to life through activities like rebuilding the wall, removing invasive limu, predator fish, and mangroves, aquaculture activities, native plant propagation, lo‘i (taro terrace) restoration, and stream restoration.
Kauai Hike – Okolehao Trail
The Okolehao Trail on the North Shore of Kauai offers scenic views surrounding Hanalei Bay. The red clay trail begins along the remains of an old dirt road used when okolehao (a Hawaiian liquor) was being distilled from the roots of ti plants. You can see ti and other native plants as the trail gains 1,235 feet up to a plateau and overlook. A bench has now been added here to rest and enjoy the sweeping views of Hanalei, Hanalei Bay, taro fields, Princeville, and the Kilauea Lighthouse. If you are content sitting here and enjoying the view… then this is as far as you need to go. If you want to hike father along Kaukaopua Ridge for another half mile you will enjoy subtle elevation loss and gain and more sweeping views including the mountains in the center of the island like Namolokama (4,420 feet). You will also begin to see the endemic Ohi’a tree with its bright red blossoms.
If on the other hand, you are an adrenalin junkie, and a hike is not a hike unless you return sweaty, muddy, bloody, and exhausted… then continue on at your own risk. Sharp vegetation begins to encroach on the trail ripping at skin and clothing, and at times the trail narrows to only a foot wide as it follows along a knife-edge ridge which drops straight down on both sides. There is a false sense of security along the ridge with fern growing out on either side, but this is just ‘green air’. You will come to several ropes to help you navigate down slippery slopes, and then comes rope after rope to assist you straight up several very steep pitches to the twin peaks of Hihimanu (2,400 feet).
Directions: Traveling north from Princeville, proceed about one mile to the bottom of the hill and turn left immediately after the one-lane bridge crossing the Hanalei River. This is Ohiki Road, which takes you through the taro fields. Drive 1/2 mile to the parking lot on the left, and the trailhead is across the street at the foot bridge with the Okolehao Trail sign.
Trail Length: 2.25 mi.
Difficulty: Moderate/Difficult (or Strenuous)
Elevation: 1235 ft
