Shopping for groceries on a teacher's salary in Wai'anae was challenging, with basic meals costing over $20. Acceptance of fresh fish and vegetables improved culinary experiences while sparking ancestral curiosities. Learning to chant, speaking to the ocean, and restoring taro patches provided cultural fulfillment. Enrollment in Hawaiian language classes and translation of family documents broadened understanding of heritage. The process of making charcoal with natural materials added another layer of connection to the local culture. Sweet potatoes were experienced as precious, visually beautiful, and symbolically significant.
They looked like toy amethysts-talismans that might save a princess, a king-the brightest, striated purple, glowing from the inside. I ate those potatoes like apples, bite after bite.
Speaking to the ocean, learning to oli (chant), asking questions of mānaleo (Native speakers), digging my hands into the darkest soil for lo'i (taro patch) restoration-each experience a distinct privilege.
I enrolled in 'ōlelo Hawai'i classes and started translating my 'ohana's documents and letters too, working my mouth around new vowels and glottal stops.
She showed me how to move the wood with giant tongs to a bucketful of water-and then it's the hiss in your ears, the wood bobbing to the surface, unbelievably light.
#cultural-identity #hawaiian-heritage #food-and-tradition #language-learning #community-and-connection
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