“Hanai”
This was written by my husband's (Kaipo Midro's) Grandfather, George Furtado. (1927-2018)
Dedicated to ...
These stories and my life has been dedicated to my wife Emily, son Burton and daughter Michele.
I am especially grateful to have been “Hanai” to my Aunty Lydia Huddy Gomez and Uncle Domingo. It was because of the unconditional love and support from them that I have reached my level of success.
I am writing of my memories in the hopes that my Grandchildren and Great-Grandchildren will learn to appreciate my efforts to raise them to another level.
To my Grandmother and Grandfather Kamaile who taught me to always appreciate what I have rather than what I wanted in life. To my dearest cousin Lydia Leinani Gomez Nakatsuji, my heartfelt Aloha for her
unconditional love. With acknowledgement to the Honorable William H. Huddy, who was the first magistrate Judge of the county of Hanalei, Kauai, Hawaii. For Aunty Lydia, it is with loving respect to her memory
that I dedicate this body of work.
“Let gratitude for the past inspire us with trust for the future”
George Furtado
Foreword
This book is a collection of my childhood memories written in my hand and edited by my son (George Burton Furtado). He has included words and phrases in bold italics to emphasize important events in my life.
I dedicate these memories to my Ohana who, each, in their own way characterized who I am today.
George Furtado
Chapter One - The Early years
I was the youngest child born to Manuel and Violet Furtado on the 13th of January 1927. When they brought me home from the Waimea Hospital on the island of Kauai, I of course had no idea how lucky I was to be born in Paradise. Sadly, when I was only two years old , my mother died of a massive brain hemorrhage. My father, who was employed by Kekaha Sugar Plantation, had the awesome responsibility of supervising many cane field workers from dawn to dusk. My sister Margaret (Maggie) was the eldest of the three girls which included Mary, and Violet. Maggie accepted the responsibility of taking care of both the girls and my brothers Manuel, Philip and Frank. After my mother passed on, the family lived in Kekaha. The West side of Kauai is hot and dry. The natural food resources were limited with a large population of Plantation workers. These were hard economic times. The additional burden of raising a toddler made it increasingly harder for my sister. Thus, in the tradition of our island custom, the "Hanai" system was invoked. I was to be raised by my aunt and uncle at their home on the North side of the island in a tiny box canyon called "Wainiha."
This part of the island was known for its abundance of water and other resources. We were close to Mount Waialeale which is also known as the wettest spot on earth. The run-off from the mountains provided the nearby towns of Hanalei and Kilauwea with the irrigation necessary to sustain the natural resources of this side of the island. This is the primary reason why this island is called the Garden Isle. Lydia Huddy Gomez was a wonderful woman who had already borne 12 children, and one would think had more than her share of children to raise. Her eldest was also named Lydia, and she insisted that I be included in the family as well.
I think that she actually felt as if I were really a blonde-ha1red, blue-eyed "live dolly" for her, but nonetheless she loved me like a brother. The other children were her sisters Lei Momi, and Angeline.
The boys were Herbert (the surviving twin from birth)
Harry, Walter Arthur Abner, Alexander and Bernard. The three oldest boys went on to seek higher educational opportunities. Herbert succeeded in attaining a managerial position with the Makaweli Sugar Plantation. He later became the only Hawaiian to manage two separate plantations on the big island of Hawaii. These positions had always been held by the Haole managers sent from the mainland (USA}. There had always been close ties between the plantation management and the "Big Five." These corporate entities (McBryde, Baldwin, Brewer, Lewers & Cooke and Dillingham) controlled all of the agricultural business in Hawaii. The political overthrow of the Hawaiian Monarchy
in January of 1893 left the American businessmen the new "Aliʻi'' of the land. The native Hawaiians were ostracized on their own ancestral lands. This is why it was such a special achievement for Herbert to even be considered to such a level of management. I was very fortunate to be raised by such a loving family, and I was always treated as if I were an equal. My "sister" Angie was not only one of my favorite people but my sparring partner as well. She is one year and eight months older than I, but we were very close in mind and spirit. Today, the bond between us remains stronger than ever. Life was good in Wainiha, but because we were still on the outer edge of technology, there were no luxuries like "hot running water." Oh no! water had to be heated in a 50 gallon drum using dried guava wood to bring it to a boil. The hot water
was then transferred to the bathtub in 2 gallon buckets for bathing. The hot water was also used to perform the mundane task of washing clothes. It was one of the chores I helped my aunt with by carrying
the hot water to her "laundry shack" so that she could scrub the soiled clothing with brown bar soap and a "coconut husk" brush. Along with her wooden washboard , she worked hard at keeping the family looking
presentable. No washing machine or dryer for this lady, it was all done by hand and hung to dry on thick but smooth metal wire lines with clothes pins to keep it secured. Now ironing the clothes was a different story. I'll get into that a little later.
By the time I was about 4 or 5 years old, I was also learning how to feed the chickens, rake the yard, and pick the wild Guava that grew in the valley. Aunty would take those Guava and make delicious jams and jellies from them. I never had a chance to go to Kekaha until about 1936. I had only heard that Wainiha Valley was very different than Kekaha. There were many different varieties of fruit trees that grew in Wainiha. While Kekaha had sugar cane fields as far as the eye could see. This lush valley was abundant with fruits and flowers that truly made it a wondrous place. Wainiha was close to Hanalei but we kids felt it was miles away from the rest of the world. We could only dream of what was on the other side of the valley walls. At the same time it was this beautiful place that provided for us an ideal home. The furthest I had ever traveled was to Kilauwea 25 or 30 miles away about 2 or 3 times a year. It was always a special treat for us kids to get go to the movies in Kilauwea. We followed the adventures of Tarzan, Tom Mix and Buck Rodgers for 10 cents. Later, when I moved to Eleele we only had a three mile walk to Hanapepe to go to the movies, and the price had gone up to 15 cents! I received 25 cents on my cousin's payday to pay for the movie and buy a nickel candy bar which left 5 cents to be returned to my cousin.
If we seemed poor, by today's standards than we were certainly unaware of it. Times were hard but life was good! The Depression years really didnʻt have much impact on those of us in the valley. Compared to the U.S. cities and suburbs we had our own resources to draw from. We either grew or gathered our food. The plantations played a vital role by supplying raw and processed sugar products to the U.S. and the world. My Uncle owned two horses which we rode to get to the Taro patch, herd cattle and go wild pig hunting with. We also rode them to school which was about a 12 mile round-trip. Uncle Domingo was a Hydro Electric Engineer and supervisor for the power plant in the
valley. He earned a respectful salary of $70.00 a month. He was the principal reason for the boys obtaining a higher education.
Our main food supply was either grown, or caught within a 3-mile radius of our home. Aside from the fruit trees that I mentioned before, there were wild mushrooms, young ferns and bamboo shoots that grew in or near the rivers up country. The weather was rainy in the upper Wainiha valley, which helped to irrigate our Taro patches and flood
our river with large O'opu both in size and in numbers. During times of heavy flooding, when the rivers would overflow their banks, and knock out the bridges, we built wooden rafts to float the cars across one at a time. The Wainiha river had 2 large bridges, Lumahai had 1, Hanalei town had 2, and Kalihiwai had 1.
This was where we hunted the elusive wild pigs, and goats. My aunt would make lots of side dishes with every bit of the pig or goats that we brought home. Exotic dishes such as "Portuguese Blood Sausage" was one of the family favorites along with "Linguica."
When there was quantity, she of course had to salt or dry the meat because there was no refrigerator or freezer to store them. Our Taro patch was just one mile down river, and of course the river also provided us with Oʻopu, Opai and my Auntʻs favorite delicacy, the rare Goldfish. I knew that by catching her favorite fish it would always make her very happy. It wasn't as easy as you would you think, and it had to be brought home alive. In order to do this it would first have to be trapped in a "throw" net thrown gently so as to surround the fish without injury. Then it would have to be transported quickly to
the house before it died. So what if it was about a half-mile run! ... it was for Aunty Lydia! I always felt proud to do it. Little did I know that it would instill an important work ethic in my life that would carry on to this day. I had a sense of fulfillment in doing things for people without expecting anything in return except that feeling of genuine
appreciation from the way they express a sincere and simple ... "thank you."
Another important resource we had nearby of course was the ocean. The ocean represented food for the entire community, especially when we gathered the fish for a big Hukilau. Most of the seafood could be gathered either on or near the shore. Items such as Opihi, Limo Kohu, Black Crab (Aama), Ahukiuki, Pipipi and Vana.
During the summer months, a commercial fisherman could be seen atop a large Pine tree that grew on the mountainside overlooking Wainiha bay. He would be making sightings for the others to launch their boats at his direction. If the schools of fish were headed inland towards the Hukilau nets, the community was alerted to pull in the catch of the day. If there were no fish spotted because the ocean was too murky, then the villagers would Paʻi-Paʻi, ( slap the water with your hands, so as to scare the fish into the nets). This was always great fun for us kids and of course it was a very efficient way to catch a large amount of fish in a very short time. Sadly, those days are gone. Overfishing of our island waters by people who have no respect for the sea has taken its toll. We only took what we could eat for the day, and tried to keep the kapu traditions of sectoring the fishing areas from month to month. Iʻve often found myself looking out to sea in hopes of spotting large schools of Opelu, or Akule swimming in close to shore. I still get excited when I see large shadows near a reef, only to find that my failing eyesight has tricked me into chasing reflections of clouds on the surface of the water. To this day, I enjoy eating my fish and poi. It really brings back strong images of the families preparing the fish in so many different ways. There was raw, poke, pulehu, smoked, fried, dried, stir-fried, steamed in Luau leaves wrapped around them (imu style) and baked fish in an old kerosene heated oven. Total cost to the consumer was in time spent catching the fish, and that was it!
Chapter Two - Life in the Valley
We slept on floors with Lauhala mats as our mattress, and hand-sewn quilts for blankets. We had only one flush toilet for a family of 15 (or more when counting visitors). We also had a large outhouse that could accommodate up to 4 people at a time and this included 2 large and 2 small seat sizes! It may seem strange to have such vivid memories about your “most personal moments” but when it is a dark night and you are a young child armed with only a lantern or flashlight and yesterday's newspaper for toilet tissue, it becomes an important event in your life. That long 300 yard walk to the outhouse is, indeed, a humbling experience. If it was raining, then you took care of business in a “chamber pot” and dumped it in the morning.
We had one family car and one Model “T” Ford truck. The car was used for shopping at Hanalei town and the truck was used to help haul things like taro and fishing equipment. The truck was your basic one seater without a top and an open flat bed, so it was perfect for utility work. The car was for long distance transportation, when we required more “horsepower” than a real one could provide. To solve the problem of not being able to fit everyone on board to go to church, we simply had the priest come to serve Mass at our house once a week on a Wednesday or Saturday. Normally 2 other big families would join us at our house and hear Mass and then receive Holy Communion. So, like Dominoes Pizza, we had our religion delivered to us! In those days there were other items delivered to the families of the plantation workers while their bread winners were busy in the fields. Soft commodities such as rice, sugar, coffee, salt, were charged against the employees company store account.
I attended the Haena Grade School, which consisted of two small bungalows. Each bungalow had a blackboard, and 4 neat rows of desks containing 5 desks and chairs in each row. Although there were only two bungalows one consisted of grades 1st to 4th and the other one took you from 5th to 8th. I remember my teachers names (Mr. & Mrs. Ho) not only because they had a short Chinese name, but because they were the only teachers I had until the third grade! One taught in each of the bungalows and they lived on the school grounds. Now thatʻs what you call maximum efficiency.
On the way to school and the return trip, we enjoyed picking and eating our school snacks. There was no such thing as “junk foods” in our day. If what you ate was said to be “junk,” then it meant that it was terrible tasting. So we ate the fresh fruits the valley had to offer, such as Mangoes, Papaya, Mamo Apples, Rose Apples, Mountain Apples, Viavees, Guava and Hawaiian Cherries.
After doing our homework, we had a variety of chores, such as working in the Taro patch, pulling weeds in the mud patch yielding Taro or planting it. The following day I spent pounding the Taro to make Poi. This was very hard work. It was easy to work up a good sweat, and also get very muddy in the process. This would call for a refreshing dip in the ice cold waters that constantly flowed down the valley. This was our recreation time and we always had fun swimming or just riding our horses. The Power Plant on the river was a favorite spot of mine. The wet and dry caves at Haena were another because they provided me with many hours of exploration and fun. In retrospect, Iʻve found that in all of my world travels and Military duty stations, I have never seen a place that could compare to the natural beauty of the land, rivers, and clean white sandy beaches of my beloved Wainiha Valley.
Hunting wild pigs with a pack of our best hunting dogs was really the most heart pounding and adventurous thing we could do in the summer. If your dogs couldnʻt control that wild animal, you could get seriously gored. Before that happened, you either had to be accurate and quick with a rifle, or the first one up a tree!
Something almost as wild occurred just about a mile down the way from us. There were some folks that concocted something they called Okolehau. It was the equivalent to what most of us know as moonshine. It was made from the root of the Ti Plant and the word was it would burn a blue flame when it was at the 150 proof alcohol level. More importantly it was known for really causing sparks to fly at a Luau. These parties were famous for those who imbibed in adult beverages. After all, everyone knew that these events could not officially end without a knock-down, drag-out, fight. These luauʻs werenʻt just for happy occasions, they could be for sad ones as well. Hawaiian Wakes were a little more personal in those days. The body of the deceased was on view in the Parlor of the family house. There was a ritual of placing a Silver Dollar on the forehead of the deceased. As the Kupuna were wailing and chanting inside the house, the mourners were celebrating outside the house. Friends and family would gather under the big Mango tree and sing the blues away. Of course there was more adult beverages to consume and that would also mean that more frequent trips were required to relieve oneself behind the Guava trees. Again, it was not uncommon for this Luau to end with a fight among family members or friends who drank too much “root of the Ti.”
Chapter Three - Life Outside the Valley
During the summer, Aunty Lydia would take me to visit and stay a few weeks with my Tutu Kahele. She lived in a small cove in an area called Molowaa. This was my second most favorite place on the planet. My Tutu was blind, and she would depend on me to help her with retrieving things. I would guide her to places like the beach where she would sit by the seashore and shell the Opihi and clean the Limo Kohu that I had gathered. Spear fishing the Manini and Kumu that were abundant in the area was almost too easy. The fish were so tame. It was a very idyllic lifestyle and one that I yearn for at times.
(*Add- “Pele”) handwritten at the end of this page…
**This was the final page written. Given that he mentions his great-grandchildren, and the fact that it is written, typed out and printed with graphics from a computer, it seems that it may have been written anywhere from 2005 - 2018. Papa George Furtado was born in 1927 and died in 2018 at the age of 91 in Kapolei, Hawai'i on the island of O'ahu. He is survived by his grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He was the most beautiful, kind-hearted, strong, generous, and loving man that we have ever known.
Comments
Post a Comment