Hōkūlani Holt & Cody Pueo Pata
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In 2022, Hōkūlani Holt, PhD, Kumu Hula, Pāʻū O Hiʻiaka, Ka Hikina O Ka Lā, University of Hawaii Maui College and Cody Pueo Pata, Kumu Hula, Halau Hula ʻo ka Malama Mahilani met at the Bailey House Museum to record a talk-story as part of our collaborative Hui Mo‘olelo program with the Maui Historical Society and the County of Maui. In 2024, professional artists from across the globe submitted proposals to translate this story as a work of public art. Upon selection by a community panel, artist Richard O'Connor and his team at Ace & Son Moving Picture Co. entered a period of project development to meet the storytellers, learn more about the context of their story, and infuse the evolving design with their feedback.
• Full Story Recording HERE • Excerpt HERE On April 27, 2024, this animated film short was unveiled at the 2024 Hui Mo‘olelo Film Festival in Kīhei for a packed house. |
From the Story
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Pueo: You know, you mentioned your grandma was really adept at collecting all of the things from the kahakai, but what about home remedies for ailments or things like that
Hōkūlani: Oh absolutely. Again, she didn’t drive and so when my aunty went to work she took the car, so anything that happened at home you gotta take care of it yourself because there’s no jumping in the car and going to the to the doctor. So she absolutely, her go to plants were pōpolo, kukui, she used aloe quite a bit - and those are all plants she could grow in her close vicinity, um you know and living in the country there was always bangs and cuts and bruises and all kinds of crazy things that happened to to us as children and um you know we, she always found ways to heal them. I had fallen and split my upper lip in the middle and she she used aloe, she just squeezed it, she used aloe and she held it and the thing healed, you know, like it had been stitched. And then you know when you have crazy cousins that think that they’re gonna be Superman and tie the towel around their neck and jump off the roof (laughs) of the house you know she’s got to figure out how to how to take care of them. Because, or the other crazy cousin that dared his brother to walk on fire and he did. Pueo: Oh my gosh, oh Hōkūlani: So, you know, those kind of dont keep the kids together kind of thing, and so yes she did she had home remedies we, because we live down at the beach many of us had what in Hawaiian it’s called kane but um the slang word for it is um haole rot, but I think that’s a form of psoriasis and so um I had it and she she made a poultice that burned like hell. She made a poultice that needed to be on twice a day, um and then it goes away. So, I don’t know all of her remedies but, and I can’t tell you what the concoctions were that she put together, but most definitely around the house were, were those kinds of um plants that would be able to be used by her. Uh, ʻuhaloa for sore throat. I was asthmatic so those kinds of plants that help that, um we also had, she also took me up the sandhill to get what is known as ʻihiʻihi, and ʻihiʻihi when you, it’s a, it’s a clover family and when you eat it it’s warm when it goes down and so I know she she gave me ʻihiʻihi, we did we gathered koʻokoʻolau tea and prepared it and had it almost every day. Um, popolo, um aloe, Kukui, um, those are the things I remember. Pueo: I like too that the question said remedies because we just had that discussion about um medical the medical systems, and they have treatments and if it’s founded in um corporate structure or industry they want the treatment to be drawn out as long as possible but like when your grandma was able to um, she does it, Hōkūlani: Seal it Pueo: Yes, seal it, it’s a one time thing you want it to be a remedy for that, not just to treat it over an extended period of time Hōkūlani: and to have it work as quick as possible, you know Pueo: and cheap as possible Hōkūlani: and cheap as possible! (laughs) Pueo: (laughs) you talking about food now my stomachs all rumbling (both laugh) |
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Project Development
This is a season of storytelling. A time to share the tales from our kupuna and the legends our mo‘opuna will tell.
Meet the Storytellers
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Youth Task Force meeting
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‘Ōlelo No‘eau consultation
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Project Timeline
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