Date: February 20th, 2022

Location: Russell Pakani’s Residence, Pana’ewa Homestead. 

Interviewer: Ainaaloha Ioane

Interviewee: Russell Pakani

Summary:

In an interview with Russell Pakani he remembers as a child the abundance of fish from Third Bay, Waiokawa, to Papa’i, “Sometimes we used to walk all da way down to Papa’i Bay, couple hours for walk but the fishing was really good. Da big moi’s, ‘aholehole’s was all down dat side. Da moi’s big kine…. My faddah guys….. ‘aholehole’s, giant kind ‘aholehole’s I neva see ‘aholehole’s like dat, giant kine”. He recalls the long walk and stopping at freshwater ponds along the way to rest, jump in and even drink, “me and my braddah had to carry da fish, carry ‘em all da way back, had to rest. And den along da way, along da way get all dis brackish wattah ponds, we used to stop go jump inside. Right by your faddahs place get dat, right on da addah side of Second Bay get dat nice spot, everytime we get deah we used to jump inside deah to. Had one addah pond pass your faddahs bay, had about three or four ponds along da way we used to stop and sometimes we could even drink da wattah to ahh, which was all fresh wattah ponds ova deah along Kings Landing”. He reflects back on his fathers desire to build a school at Waiokawa Bay, ”Kula Kauka, he wanted to teach Hawaiian values ok, Kula Kauka, da native, da native Hawaiian cultural experience, so his intentions was, he wanted to pass his knowledge on, as far as Hawaiian values, about, about, about learning, traditional Hawaiian way of living, da ocean, da ‘aina.” Russell intense to take his children and grandchildren back to Waiokawa to fulfill his fathers dreams, “my kids, my grandchildren dey all growing up now and yah dey need to go down deah dey need to learn dis dey need to learn da ocean, deay need to learn da ‘aina dey need to learn all dis all down deah.” 

Russel Pakani:

My name is Russell, actually, Russell Wayne Inoka Pakani. I am the youngest son of William Kulakauka Pakani. I have two older brothers and one older sister. My first journey to Waiokawa Bay. It was like the late fifties early sixties, fiftynine around there, ummm we used to walk along the coastline all the way to Waiokawa Bay, because the lauhala we used to go down and pick the lauhala, my mom used to make ummm the Kona hats and she said that the best lauhala grows next to the ocean and we used to go down walk along the coastline, I was like I don’t know, nine, eight, nine years old, we used to go down and get the lauhala at Waiokawa Bay, and I remember when we went down there that somebody was actually care taking this place, they had the stone wall, somebody made the stone wall, the sand, everybody kept da, da thing was kinda over grown, but looked like somebody used to care take that place. 

(1:11)

After dat we used to go down ummm fishing ….. Da fishing was really good down deah da bay… the ‘opihi, the limu kohu was really good so I used to we used to go and I used to like carry da bag, carry da bag of fish after my dad guys used to go drow da net all my uncles used to go down deah and drow net……We used to go to Uncle Sam’s place all da time and Uncle Sam had da fishing grounds. From Uncle Sam’s place we used to walk down to all da fishing grounds all ova deah. First Bay, where your faddah was, where you guys was that was Second Bay. Waiokawa was Third Bay, so Tree bays. So all da fishermen when you mention da bays, dey know, First Bay, Second Bay, Third Bay. So, that’s how I remember, I neva know was Waiokawa, I neva know da Hawaiian name, I neva know. All I know dat where Waiokawa is dat was called Third Bay and your faddahs place was called Second Bay, and where ummm, Jim Iopa used to live had one bay right on da coastline straight out from his house had one addah bay dat was da First Bay. In fact right by Uncle Sam’s house was da First Bay, had one addah bay ova deah. So when we used to go Uncle Sam’a house before dey made da road we used to have to walk down to da coastline and walk all da way down to Waiokawa Bay. 

(2:49)

Sometimes we used to walk all da way down to Papa’i Bay, couple hours for walk but the fishing was really good. Da big moi’s, ‘aholehole’s was all down dat side. Da moi’s big kine…. My faddah guys….. ‘aholehole’s, giant kind ‘aholehole’s I neva see ‘aholehole’s like dat, giant kine. All silva da net, and den, and den my faddah my uncles, me and my braddah, me and my braddah had to carry da fish, carry ‘em all da way back, had to rest. And den along da way, along da way get all dis brackish wattah ponds, we used to stop go jump inside. Right by your faddahs place get dat, right on da addah side of Second Bay get dat nice spot, everytime we get deah we used to jump inside deah to. Had one addah pond pass your faddahs bay, had about three or four ponds along da way we used to stop and sometimes we could even drink da wattah to ahh, which was all fresh wattah ponds ova deah along Kings Landing. 

(4:03)

We was still going down deah and it wasn’t until high school sixtyseven I remember my dad actually decided to put up one pavilion right deah on da sand. This was a first structure we put up ova deah, this was after da house when burn ehh. Ummm I remember dat house, I remember dat house it used to sit on a hill. I remember dat house. I didn’t know who lived in dat house but I know dat dey burned da house down and I guess no body could go down deah. And den my dad decided, he actually wanted to go down deah and put up a structure so we can go deah on the weekends. We actually did, me, me and one of my braddahs and my dad we actually put a pavilion down deah right on the sand and we used to go down because had that road because they made that road it made it easy we could drive all da way down to dat place had dat road dat goes all da way down to Waiokawa Bay.

(5:07)

And we used to go deah on the weekends and we put up a big pavilion down deah and we used to go on the weekends and stay deah on the weekends and you know it was good times, but it was hard work too. Seventyone I joined the navy I left for four years, my dad was still going down deah and my mom and everything. Sooo in nineteen seventy four I got married in seventy four so in nineteen seventy three my mom and dad got divorced after dat my dad moved out of da house he was leaving in Pana’ewa on Railroad and he was… das when he started leaving down deah permanently nineteen seventy four. He married Audry Travis, he married Audry and dey lived down deah. By den, by den, by nineteen seventy four, dat, dat pavilion we had made he enclosed da whole ding he poured a concrete floor, put up windows and everyding, he was actually living down deah right deah on da sand dat first house, he was living down deah. I come out of da navy and I was wondering…. And I go down deah and visit him and I was like wow look at dis place, I mean he cleared out all da dings…. All da….all da….was different from what I remember he when just open up dis whole place.. Da pond…wow. I was surprised, look at dis place man was nice he opened it up, cleaned it up, but das da way my faddah was. I go down deah I talk to him he tell me you know Russ, he tell me, dis for you guys, you know we gotta do dis den slowly I used to go down deah, slowly I was going down deah….. And you know my kids was growing up…. Den eventually I started taking my kids down deah like what she was sharing… I was going down and I was kind of helping him too da place too cause I wanted to be down deah and he made da place looked really nice.

(6:55)

I just put it on da same place I using da same tiers and everything. The same, the same place dat house was is da same place that…… and I just redo the cement piers. I started dat project in like two thousand and nine it took a couple of years my family all came took a couple of years. 

Yah well he told me growing up, he grew up by da ocean too.

Ainaloha Ioane:

In Kaua’i?

Russell Pakani:

In Kaua’i. He grew up by da ocean just like dat too and he remembered how da ocean was how, how his dad, you know his dad taught him how to fish too and his mom too. My granmaddah she was one pretty good fisherman. She could go down and pick ‘opihi and pick limu like dat too, yah my grandmaddah when she used to come ova heah, she was living O’ahu, but when she used to come down heah, she, she can go down to da ocean and she like fo pick up ummm da sea cucumber. She could prepare the sea cucumber, da black one, da black one. 

(8:01)

Ok, because, because all da years, even before, even before I even went down deah he was going down deah, fishing, fishing, my faddah was one fisherman, him and Uncle Sam, mu attah kine my uncle ummm Kanani dey all used to walk and every, and every time he go down deah he talk about dat place, and one day I going like live down deah, one day I going live down deah. Eventually when I went down deah, wow dis is a nice place, it was kind off over grown but das was da only place had sand, and dat stone wall is not deah all ready, because da, da high sea used to just knock em down and all dat… and my faddah fell in love with dat place. And he told me one day dis is where he like come down, you know I was one small kid you know what I mean, das hard work… but, but because of dat because all da years dat passed because I see how dat place I see how my dad did with dat place, because my kids, my grandchildren dey all growing up now and yah dey need to go down deah dey need to learn dis dey need to learn da ocean, deay need to learn da ‘aina dey need to learn all dis all down deah so das, das, das why because my dad had memories of him growing up on Kaua’i and dat place kind look similah he said, similah, the area look similah to what was like Kaua’i. He fell in love with da place. Brought him back child, brought back childhood memories when he was growing up in Kaua’i. So.. and das why he wanted to go down deah to and he was determined my dad he was determined and you know some times we neva like I neva like go down but we had to go down. Get in dis truck get in da truck put all da tools in da truck… put all da tools…. Put all da… get ova deah…. Das how my faddah… k we going, going drew… see da road was deah already. Kingslanding road going down. Going and den, going drive all da way down to da sand, drive all da way down, by den we had cleared da road and we could actually drive one cah now, had one trail go down ova deah. Get one big fresh wattah pond ova deah. Stay all ova grown with ahhh california grass. I wanted to clean dat up gottah get something for just dig all dat up, can plant taro along da edge but get fish inside dat pond, da mullet everyding stay inside dat pond, but get plenty work, plenty, plenty work and…

(10:46)

What he wanted to do, he wanted fo do dat school Kula Kauka ehh, Kula Kauka, He wanted to teach Hawaiian values ok, Kula Kauka, da native, da native Hawaiian cultural experience, so his intentions was, he wanted to pass his knowledge on, as far as Hawaiian values, about, about, about learning, traditional Hawaiian way of living, da ocean, da ‘aina. And he wanted to teach da kids, so he actually wanted to have an established school, right deah.