Pili Productions

Kau Lā‘au & Ma‘ama‘a: Traditional Hawaiian Ulua Fishing, The DVD (2004)

The film is a half-hour documentary about the traditional ulua fishing practiced by Hawaiians from Kalapana village on the Big Island of Hawai‘i. The video features three generations of the Hauani‘o family, who still use the spectacular technique called kau lā‘au, hang-baiting, to catch the largest ulua weighing up to 100 pounds or more. It follows Uncle Ben, his nephew Aku, and Aku's son Kainoa, as they make an ‘ohi‘a pole, dye the line, and catch eel for bait. When everything is ready, the fishermen head down to the isolated coast. There the pole is wedged into a cliff above the sea, and then a hook baited with eel tail is suspended from the pole down to the white water below. Sometimes the fishermen throw out a ma‘ama‘a handline as well. Kau lā‘au was widely practiced before World War II, when Uncle Ben was growing up. Today it is little known, but Aku is trying to pass on the traditional knowledge and skills to his children. Declining numbers of ulua and increasing competition from fishermen who use new techniques now make it harder to catch ulua in the old way, and harder for Aku to pass on his knowledge. This is a story about trying to maintain Hawaiian traditions and values in a changing world. It was created in collaboration with the fishermen and they provide most of the commentary. Shot over a nine-year time span on location in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park, the dramatic scenery provides a backdrop for the respect the men have for the sea, the fish, and traditional Hawaiian customs.

Production Team:

Executive Producer Charles Langlas is the co-author of two books about twentieth century Kalapana, The People of Kalapana, 1823-1950 and He Mo‘olelo no Kapa‘ahu/Story of Kapa‘ahu. Writer, director and editor Kate Sample has produced documentaries and news magazine shows in Hawai‘i since 1987. She wrote and edited The Volcanoes of Hawai‘i, which aired on the Discovery Channel.

DVD includes the film itself (27 min 37 sec), plus an interview with fishermen Ben Hauanio and Aku Hauanio by Charles Langlas (1 hr 24 min) filmed at Mokuhulu, Puna District, Hawai‘ï Island and excerpted for the film.

Price: $10 to individuals, $100 to libraries (includes shipping within the U.S.)

He Mo‘olelo no Kapa‘ahu/Story of Kapa‘ahu (1996)

The book presents stories by Emma Kapunoho‘ulaokalani Kauhi about her early life growing up in the Hawaiian village of Kapa‘ahu in Puna, Island of Hawai‘i between 1916 and 1935. The book contains the stories as they were told in Hawaiian by Mrs. Kauhi and tape-recorded, together with translations into English by Charles Langlas. Together the stories provide a picture of rural Hawaiian life in the early Twentieth Century. Kapa‘ahu, like other villages in economically marginal areas of Hawai‘i, was an island of Hawaiian culture which had survived within the encroaching flow of Western economic development.

Contents:

1. Ho‘omana‘o no Kapa‘ahu - Remembrance of Kapa‘ahu
2. ‘O Ko‘u Noho ‘Ana ma Kapa‘ahu - My Life in Kapa‘ahu
3. Ka Holoholo Kahakai - Traveling Along the Beach
4. ‘O ka Hana a ka Po‘e - The Work of the People
5. ‘O na Mea Pa‘ani a me na Mea Hana a na Keiki - Children’s Games and Chores
6. Na Pa‘ina - Parties
7. Na Ho‘ailona - The Portents
8. ‘O ka Lā‘au Lapa‘au a me ka Ho‘oponopono - Medicine and Healing
9. Mo‘olelo o Pele a me ka ‘Öhelo - Story of Pele and the ‘Öhelo
10. Ho‘omana‘o ‘Ana Ia Waha‘ula Waha‘ula - Memories

36 pp.

Price $10.00 (includes shipping within the U.S.)

The book is also sold at Hawai‘i bookstores, including Borders (Hilo), Book Gallery (Hilo), Basically Books (Hilo), Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park Visitor Center, Native Books (Honolulu).