Interview 3
Part I begins here.
INTERVIEWER: Ok, tell me about your aunties.
LIMU GATHERER 3: My one auntie was auntie Girly and she was a white, um, um, uncle
Gabby’s wahine and she was the one that actually took me by my hand – ‘cause I was a little
girl so I needed to be – hold her hand and we walked along the beach in front of my home in
Waimanawa and there she, she, uh, she was holding my hand, she took my hand in such a
way that she took my hand and she made me, uh, put my hand in the water and pick up,
um, pluck the, pinch the waewae’iole. That’s how I knew how to collect, um, from the water.
Okay, my idea of, um, gathering limu at that time, that young age was to just go pick – Walk
along the shoreline and pick it up from the sand. That was my gathering, because, you know,
not going into the water at that time but when my auntie, she just – she showed it to me, she
didn’t really say too much, she just showed it to me. And she taught me how to pluck with
the end of my fingers, my fingernails.
INV: So, it would be like this?
LG3: Yeah.
INV: Like, between the two fingernails, basically?
LG3: Yeah.
INV: You just chop it.
LG3: Uh huh, uh huh.
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INV: Like, close to the point where it’s attached? Rather than pulling, you’re saying.
LG3: Right, right.
INV: Yeah.
LG3: That was – To her it was important, okay, at the time, that I learned to do that. And I
was, like, really young. Like, seven years old. Very small, you know. So, and we walked
along the shore. I have a vivid memory of that. ‘Cause that was my most vivid, uh, memory,
as far as limu, picking limu correctly. Being taught.
INV: And how old were you at that time?
LG3: Seven.
INV: Seven, you said. Okay. Seven years old, and she had taught you. And was it just you
and her, or were there other –
LG3: Just me and her. It was just me and her. I remember my moment alone with her.
INV: So, when you say, “auntie”, it doesn’t mean, it doesn’t mean, necessarily, your mother’s
sister, your dad’s sister, it just means someone of that age?
LG3: Yeah, yeah.
INV: So she’s a special person to you.
LG3: Almost.
INV: Okay.
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LG3: She’s a special person to me. Her husband, Uncle Gabby, is, um, first cousin first
cousin of my dad.
INV: Oh, okay.
LG3: Yeah, so it is a family.
INV: It’s a family thing.
LG3: Yeah.
INV: And did she, she show you how to gather any other species besides waewae’iole?
LG3: Uh, no. No.
INV: That was the only one.
LG3: She did show me that one – She only showed me waewae’iole.
INV: Waewae’iole.
LG3: Uh huh. Um, the second person that taught me how to go and get limu was my dad.
INV: Okay. So, how did he – Tell me what he showed you.
LG3: He knew – My dad was stay on top of the, the, the, the highway and then he would
watch me. And I would dive into the water, ‘cause there was this, um, limu, um, that had
broken away from the, the reefs, and, um, they were all along – patches of it along the
shoreline. I grew up with that. And, eventually, they would end up on the, on the shoreline.
But this was the time when there were in the water, not yet reached the shoreline. So I would
dive into the patch and pick up my favorite limu. It was a red, bunchy limu, like, it looked like
a bunch of lettuce. It was red. It was slippery. Really slippery, and it was red. That was my
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favorite limu. I could – I could eat a whole bowl. As a little kid, I could actually eat a whole
bowl. And the reason why I liked that limu, too now, unintelligible the taste and everything,
the reason I liked it? Because you didn’t have to clean all the sand off of it!
INV: Oh!
LG3: It was just, you know, brush it, swish it in the water, and all the sand will be off of it. So
I could have an – I could eat a whole – a lot of it. And just enjoy it.
INV: Tell me again how it looked.
LG3: It was a bunch of – It was, you know, like a flower bunch, like this. It was like, bunch –
It was together, like this, and, um, um, it was slippery and it was red. I have – Until this ver –
I don’t know. I just call it the slippl – The slippery limu.
INV: The slippery one?
LG3: Yeah, the slippery red limu.
INV: Did it have – Were the edges of it, were they smooth edges or were they rough – I
mean –
LG3: No.
INV: I guess, did it have, like, was it, like, that on this edge or . . ?
LG3: It was curly. Curly.
INV: Very curly at the end. Okay.
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LG3: Yeah. I think some was, at the, at the base of it, it was a little sharp things sticking up,
but, no, it was, it was curly, it was nice, it was cute. I love that limu. I still have that vivid
taste in my mouth.
INV: When’s the last time you ate that type?
LG3: A long time ago.
INV: Oh.
LG3: I don’t even know where to get those anymore. I don’t see the limu patches that I used
to see – Maybe because I’m not being that observant, or really going out looking for it. But
I’m sure they’re out there, you know. But, uh, um, that was my, my experience, and my father
would stand on the highway, and I’d be the one going – diving in and out. I’d look up, see
that my dad was still there, then I’d dive in again. Get me a whole – And I mean, I would
bring up a lot, you know.
INV: What would you – What would you do with it? Where would you put it after you pick it?
Like, would you have a bag, or –
LG3: Yeah. Yeah, a bag. A bag.
INV: Yeah?
LG3: Yeah. And then I would – You know. It’s just a small bag, it’s not a big bag, ‘cause, you
know, I was eating it for me, I was catching it for me. I mean, I don’t know of anyone else
who was eating it in my house. I know that I was the one that was eating it. Wind
interference – That was like, that was my thing, eating it. And, that was a good one. I can
still see my dad, standing up there, watching.
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INV: Probably want to make sure you’re safe.
LG3: Yeah. That’s what he was doing.
INV: Yeah, while you do that. Did your father eat that limu also?
LG3: They did, but they didn’t – Pretty much, um, you know, it’s, it’s – They weren’t eating it
as much as I was – I mean, I was picking out – You know, I was really unintelligible. Just
eating it, I mean, I ate like the whole bowl, I mean, I love, what I loved about it, was when it
got a little older, it would shrivel down.
INV: Mhm.
LG3: Yeah, and it was just like flat and shriveled – I would still eat it. I would slurp a little
that time. Laughs.
INV: How was the taste different, then? If it would shrivel . . .
LG3: Oh, it was a little bit more – They call it, in Hawaiian, miko.
INV: Miko?
LG3: Yeah, miko.
INV: Yeah.
LG3: Yeah, a little bit more miko. But I could just roll it around on my tongue. You know?
Slurp, slurp, slurp.
INV: How often did your mother gather?
LG3: Oh, my mom didn’t. No.
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INV: Mom – Never?
LG3: No. Mom was a different breed. Hawaiian, but a different breed. A different type of
unintelligible.
INV: How often did your father gather limu?
LG3: Oh, that was like, all the time. I mean, it was normal for him. But he wouldn’t, you
know, I mean, he was just picky in limu, gathering the limu, enough to put in the food that we
ate. Whatever we were eating.
INV: Okay.
LG3: Yeah, it’s raw, like squid, or shino he’e, or vana. He put limu always, limu always go in.
INV: Sorry, what’s the he’e?
LG3: Uh, squid.
INV: Squid.
LG3: Oct – Is it octopus?
INV: Sorry, just –
LG3: There’s a difference between octopus and squid, right?
INV: Yeah. Yeah.
LG3: For me, I grew up thinking that they were both in the s – one and the same.
INV: Well, they’re similar, right? So . . . So those would be raw, with the limu.
LG3: Yeah. We did everything raw. Raw was good.
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INV: What other foods would you eat that had limu?
LG3: Uh, let’s see. . .
INV: That you remember.
LG3: Aki, aki. Aki.
INV: ‘Aki‘aki? That’s the limu, I thought. Or, the liver.
LG3: No. That’s the liver.
INV: Liver, yeah.
LG3: Yeah! Aki. And some would be in the longi salmon, some would be with, uh, the opai.
You know the opai? The dry opai. You put some inside.
INV: Oh, okay.
LG3: The opai.
INV: Wha – Wait, what’s the opai?
LG3: Opai is, um, some shrimp, some dried shrimp that we used to always eat, all of us.
INV: Oh, okay.
LG3: Comes in a blue by-the-bag.
INV: I need to put that.
LG3: And the opai in there. That’s the stuff that you put in the s – the saimin.
INV: Okay.
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LG3: Yeah, that type of opai.
INV: Okay.
LG3: And then, uh, there is a Hawaiian opai, yeah? In the, from the fresh wat – fresh water.
Opai.
INV: Oh, okay.
LG3: Yeah. That would be it. We’d eat it with that. I’ve seen some people put it in a s – In a,
in a stew, in stew. I’ve seen limu in a stew, but I don’t –
INV: Oh, cooks?
LG3: Yeah.
INV: It’s kind of more Japanese style, maybe. Or something.
LG3: I don’t know. But I’ve seen them do that, but I – I wouldn’t put my limu into the stew.
INV: Okay.
LG3: Yeah. That means it’s cooking, yeah. I want mine raw.
INV: Raw?
LG3: Yeah.
INV: Why would you prefer it raw?
LG3: Oh! Uh, it’s, it’s, um, if you eat it, it’s crunchy, it’s, uh, more taste to it, you know. I
mean, biting into a limu, it, you know, it has a flavor burst, like what I did with the limu you
gave me. I can still feel it in my mouth and it’s just like, cllll.
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Both chuckle.
LG3: You know, my, my palate is just like, “Wow.” Yeah.
INV: Yeah, it’s funny. Sometime, when I was doing this, I was doing this study at some point,
I started to think of, “Now I think of limu like food.” Before they were just plants.
LG3: Yeah, yeah.
INV: Now I think of it like food, so I know what you mean. ‘Cause sometimes, I get that same
thing, I think about it with my mouth watering.
LG3: Yeah.
INV: I remember you telling me that about the lipoa last time I saw – Last time we met. How
it makes your mouth water when you think about it.
LG3: Mhm. Remember that taste in your mouth. Mhm.
INV: Have you noticed any differences in the taste from one side of the island to the other?
Of the limu?
LG3: Um, no. You know I – ‘Cause when I eat it here, it’s just as fresh as – It all depends if
you eat it straight from the ocean. Then you have the same great taste. You know, the
bursting in your mouth.
INV: Yeah.
LG3: And the other side, too.
INV: The same.
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LG3: Uh, I also ate limu fresh – straight from the ocean over in Hauula.
INV: Where is that, sorry?
LG3: Hauula.
INV: Aula?
LG3: Yeah, that has a beautiful bed, if you go to Hauula.
INV: Oh, Hauula! H –
LG3: Hauula. H-A-U-U-L-A. Hauula.
INV: Hauula bed. So, the good – There’s a good taste there, you’re saying?
LG3: Yeah! Oh, it’s ‘ono! ‘Ono taste!
INV: So, uh, which, which – Um, what are the names of the limu there that you can get?
LG3: Oh, limu – uh, limu kohu.
INV: The kohu there, okay.
LG3: Yeah, and then there is also waewae’iole.
INV: Um, so you’ve eaten the lipoa, I know.
LG3: Yeah.
INV: And how about for ogo? Do you eat ogo?
LG3: Yeah, I eat ogo, but I also know that that’s, um, brought here.
INV: That – Yeah. That may be cultivated. Yeah, yeah! It’s not the native, right. You’re right.
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LG3: Oh, here. This is the one that’s grown out here. Had tons of it.
INV: Um, have you eaten this one?
LG3: No, no, but what I do is I pop the bubble. . .
INV: Oh, uh huh.
LG3: . . .and I suck on the bubble.
INV: Oh, yeah! Yeah. And –
LG3: The bubble, it has oil in it.
INV: Oh, okay.
LG3: I don’t even know what the name of this limu is. Do you?
INV: Um, it looks to me like, like the limu kala, but I’m not sure –
LG3: Hmm, probably.
INV: – if it is. It looks similar to –
LG3: What do they make, um –
INV: It looks similar to the kala, I don’t know if it is.
LG3: They make lei out of it. Yeah.
INV: Oh, this one they do?
LG3: Yeah, I think they weave this one –
INV: Okay.
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LG3: Into a lei. In Ho’o Kupu.
INV: Yeah. I don’t know – Have you – Are any of these ones edible – Other ones, ones that
you’ve eaten?
LG3: Yeah, the hair one. You know the hair one you picked up?
INV: Oh, the one I picked up, yeah.
LG3: I was surprised to see you bring out the hair one.
INV: Yeah. That one you’ve eaten?
LG3: Okay.
INV: Here it is.
LG3: Yeah, I do. I do. I eat the hair one.
INV: Yeah.
LG3: However, I don’t pick it, because I don’t know how to pick it.
INV: Oh, I don’t –
LG3: Only old folks know how.
INV: Oh, the methods, yeah.
LG3: And then they pick it in such a way that there is no, um, dirt in them.
INV: Oh, okay, to avoid the sand.
LG3: This is hard to clean.
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INV: Yeah.
LG3: So the old folks would clean it. They know how to pick it. Yeah. This one – This one, I
wouldn’t personally pick it.
INV: Oh, okay. I just picked a little so we could look at it.
LG3: Yeah.
INV: But there’s a method to pick it to avoid, um, sand?
LG3: Yeah.
INV: Um, okay, so –
LG3: And they know, they know when it’s younger – You know, you want to pick younger,
not the old, the yucky older.
INV: Okay.
LG3: Yeah.
INV: And that one – Do you have a name you use for it?
LG3: Um, is that ele’ele – I’m not sure.
INV: I – I think it might be, but I’m not sure.
LG3: I don’t know – The hair. I get so confused with all my limus.
INV: Okay, so, that one is that. And, I guess, yeah. So how about the other green one?
LG3: You know the green one – You know, I don’t eat this.
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INV: Yeah.
LG3: However, if it’s made prepared for me to eat it?
INV: Yeah.
LG3: Yeah, I’ll eat it. But I don’t – To me, this is rubbish.
INV: To you it’s – Okay. Someone else might? Yeah.
LG3: Yeah, but not me.
INV: It’s, um –
LG3: I wouldn’t pick it to eat it.
INV: Do you have a name you call it?
LG3: No, I don’t.
INV: ‘Cause, um –
LG3: ‘Cause it – What I do is, I call this the slippery one.
INV: The slippery one, yeah, it’s quite slippery. I wasn’t sure if it was the, um, well, the
scientific name’s Ulva, I don’t know if the, um, palahalaha, maybe?
LG3: Uh huh.
INV: Oh, and this one’s the –
LG3: I personally wouldn’t eat it.
INV: – little different.
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LG3: Yeah.
INV: But people do, I guess, you’re saying.
LG3: Yeah.
INV: Hawaiians or other ethnicities?
LG3: Other ethnicities.
INV: Not the Hawaiians?
LG3: Yeah.
INV: Yeah.
LG3: You know why? It’s cause it is a rubbish – You know, when you get, um, places where
it’s dirty?
INV: Mhm.
LG3: This’ll grow.
INV: Oh! Like, you – What kind of dirty?
LG3: Waikiki!
INV: Like, like, the water’s polluted? Or –
LG3: Waikiki, Waikiki.
INV: Oh, okay.
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LG3: It’s in Waikiki, it’s horrible. So that’s what I see! When I’m going – But you know, to me,
in my mind, but I never – nobody ever told me this – I just assumed it was cleaning up the,
the pollution.
INV: Yeah.
LG3: Where there’s pollution, you see that.
INV: Okay. Um, okay.
LG3: I have no idea what that is the one –
INV: Oh yeah, the one I picked up today.
LG3: And, I’ll be honest with you, you know what it comes down to? Limu kohu, did you
have some in there?
INV: Yeah.
LG3: Okay. I cannot tell the difference between limu kohu from the ocean and limu kohu in it
– behind all that silt. But I cannot – When it’s in the ocean, I don’t see it.
INV: Oh, you don’t see it in the ocean?
LG3: No, I don’t see it in the ocean.
INV: Well, maybe because it’s a little bit deeper and the – you have to be underwater.
LG3: No, no, no, no.
INV: What do you – if you snorkel?
LG3: I don’t recognize it.
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INV: If you’re snorkeling?
LG3: Yeah, I don’t recognize it, limu kohu.
INV: Oh.
LG3: But, if it’s on my table, I recognize it.
INV: Oh, I see. So you’re more used to seeing it when it’s prepared.
LG3: Prepared or – Prepared. I – I –
INV: Yeah, you’re like –
LG3: You know what, I –
INV: The culinary expert with the limu!
LG3: Yeah.
INV: You’re gonna start your own, like, limu restaurant.
LG3: Yeah. I’m not kidding, but in the ocean, um, I’m codependent upon somebody showing
it to me. And then – And then, to clean it, that’s another thing.
INV: What?
LG3: To clean it! I don’t know how to clean the limu kohu.
INV: Oh.
LG3: But it’s so – I know other people do. But yeah. Oh, boy, the iodine in it is, uh, yeah?
You can smell it, yeah? The iodine.
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INV: Oh yeah.
LG3: Yeah.
INV: It’s been soaking a little bit, so it’s not as –
LG3: Yeah, yeah.
INV: If you leave it out, it seems to get kinda strong, you know.
LG3: So when we, um, when it’s brought up, it gets soaked and washed first, before you
even eat it. For me, I didn’t like that limu, because you have to wash it first, right, to – The
iodine, though. Uh, so, I’m like, edible, you know, eat straight from the shoreline.
INV: So, I see, that’s more processing.
LG3: Yeah.
INV: Um, what is the iod – Is the iod – it’s Iodine taste?
LG3: Yeah.
INV: A good or bad taste, to you?
LG3: Oh, no. I mean, if it’s too strong, you can’t – as a chi – you remember, I was a child,
yeah? So. . .
INV: Yeah. So when you tasted it –
LG3: Yeah, for a child, it’s really, bleaugh. So, when you are young, you don’t even go there
with the limu kohu. Unless somebody really washed it out for you.
INV: So, the lipoa, does it have an iodine taste? Or not . . .
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LG3: Hm. No.
INV: It’s different.
LG3: Yeah. It’s a different – It’s a lovely taste.
INV: Um, have you noticed difference – Like, what would – What would make the lipoa taste
the best? Like, how would you get – If you wanted to have the best tasting lipoa, like, how
would you get it? How would you – Like, where would you go? Who would you ask? Or,
where would you buy it, or, I dunno, if you want the best taste?
LG3: Uh, the best taste of the lipoa, I think it was on the other side.
INV: Yeah.
LG3: Yeah, you know the windward side. It’s cleaner. You know, upper windward.
INV: Upper windward –
LG3: By Kolau – Ko’olau Loa.
INV: Uh huh.
LG3: That district. Cleaner. I mean, not too many people on the – on the, oh – On the, um,
you know, there’s a mountain, like, right here, and there’s a few houses. Nothing just –
chuckles. ‘Cause they’re all still on sesbus out there. So before it reaches the shoreline. . .
INV: Yeah. Waewae’iole. And this, okay, so the waewae’iole you told me about already.
LG3: Mhm.
INV: Oh, yeah, I brought this one, too – This one’s –
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LG3: That’s, that’s ogo.
INV: Yeah. Ogo. But this is the ogo, too. They’re different, though, right?
LG3: Yeah.
INV: Where is the – I thought I had more. Yeah, here.
LG3: Yeah.
INV: Have you eaten this one?
LG3: Oh, yeah. All the time. That’s oh – That’s a norm, that.
INV: Oh.
LG3: For now. That’s, like, common.
INV: So –
LG3: That’s only ‘cause it’s commercially growing out here.
INV: How do you eat it? Or when would –
LG3: Oh, you just chop it up, throw it into the, uh, um, into the – (?)It’s in that cupboard(?).
Did you pick it out from the ocean?
INV: Yeah.
LG3: Oh, it’s ‘cause they’re good for you!
Both laugh
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LG3: Yeah, um, now it’s commercially grown, now. So they just chop it up, throw it down – in
every poke, every – every fish market.
INV: Are you familiar with the limu called ‘aki’aki? Limu ‘aki’aki?
LG3: Which one is ‘aki’aki?
INV: I don’t have it, but –
LG3: Probably, um –
INV: I think it might’ve gotten its name because it’s with, maybe with the liver, ‘cause you
mentioned the liver, so I’m just wondering if –
LG3: Yeah.
INV: It would – Well, this is not gonna be very good. Oh no, I do have a better picture, okay,
that’s the one, okay –
LG3: Uh huh. Okay, Yeah, just –
Part I ends here.
Part II begins here.
LG3: So it was here, like –
INV: Yeah, and I wonder if I have a better picture for you.
LG3: Yeah, it’s thin and it’s, um, I think it was dark color. Outside from this one, yeah? This
a little fatter, yeah.
INV: That one was –
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LG3: It was dark color. There, see the black ones? That’s what you would see. The black –
The dark colored ones, all chopped up, in the ahi.
INV: Okay. Oh, it might look like that on the ocean.No?
LG3: Oh?
INV: That’s supposed to be the same one. It might not be a very good picture. So –
LG3: Oh, I don’t know about this one.
INV: You can just ignore it. It’s not a good picture. Oh, so the red one, the red one that you
picked as a, as a girl, when you were, um, diving, it wasn’t like that?
LG3: Yeah.
INV: Or this? Here.
LG3: Oh, no, not, uh –
INV: Not that.
LG3: Not this one. This one.
INV: I have one more that’s red – It wasn’t like that. It’s kind of hard to tell, because it’s not
a plant.
LG3: Yeah, it’s just a piece of it, yeah.
INV: I think it’s just a piece – This one they call pahe’e, which I think means – Does that
mean slippery?
LG3: Oh, no.
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INV: And then –
LG3: But it looks like this too.
INV: This one here?
LG3: It looks like this. I would eat this one, but I would be looking for this.
INV: The, um, fatter part?
LG3: Yeah.
INV: Not the little, fringe fringe.
LG3: Yeah, the fringes. I would, I would go and – and eat this, this part – This is the part
that I liked. Yeah, but this would be, um, when I picked this up, this would be almost gone.
This would be existing.
INV: Oh, you wouldn’t really have all these little. . .
LG3: Yeah.
INV: So, but it – It wasn’t like that? Or no.
LG3: It’s like this but it’s, um, more this here. What do you call this?
INV: Um, it’s in here too. Palam – Pala – Palamenia? Oops, okay.
LG3: Palamenia – No, what do you call the Hawaiian?
INV: Oh, the Hawaiian? Um, lepe-o-Hina.
LG3: Oh.
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INV: Lepe-o-Hina?
LG3: Oh, lepe, okay.
INV: I think it’s –
LG3: There is a song. . .”Lepe Lepe”.
INV: “Lepe Lepe”?
LG3: Yeah.
INV: I think it might be the lepe-o-Hina. Oh, can I see that little book? And I can find it for
you. Um. . .
LG3: This is pieces floating, no?
INV: Yeah.
LG3: Yeah. Okay, here’s another picture.
LG3: Yeah.
INV: And that one is called, “Limu Lepe-o-Hina, the Fringe or Shawl of Hina”.
LG3: Yeah, that’s it.
INV: Hawaiian goddess, and then lemme see the oth – other names. ‘Cause up, up here,
they have this thing with the different names. Palamemia is the scientific, lepe ula’ula, or
lepe-o-Hina on Hawai’i island. On O’ahu they say, according to Isabel Abbott’s work, lepe
ula’ula.
LG3: Yeah.
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INV: I don’t –
LG3: Red is – ula’ula is red.
INV: Ula is red? Okay. So, maybe that’s the one you had as a young girl I don’t know.
LG3: Yeah.
INV: Possibly, right?
LG3: Yeah.
INV: There’s another one that’s red, but that – This one’s really stringy. That’s probably not it.
LG3: I was kind of wondering, when they – when they took this particular picture, is this a
younger one, or is it older?
INV: Yeah, see, I don’t know because I didn’t take them.
LG3: The one that would shrivel up where it got younger – It was the younger one, and it
was just starting to branch into, like, the little – I mean, there was a lot more this part to it,
because I made sure.
Both chuckle.
LG3: I made sure.
INV: ‘Cause that’s the part that tastes – I guess, that’s the part that tastes better? Or, you
like that slippery, like, fatter part.
LG3: I didn’t like this. You know when you’re – When you’re small, and your mouth – You get
all these little, tiny little things – It’s, it’s –
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INV: Oh, it was more like the texture.
LG3: Yeah, yeah. So, I wanted this part here. That’s what I was eating.
INV: Um, oh, you were saying you couldn’t recognize the kohu in the water.
LG3: Yeah, limu kohu. I’ve tried several times. So, I just give up. I think it’s my laziness.
Yeah. I think it’s my laziness, because I don’t want to clean it.
INV: Yeah.
LG3: Everybody else clean it.
INV: Get everybody else to clean it. Oh, here’s your –
LG3: Yeah.
INV: That’s supposed to be the lipoa. Does that look right?
LG3: Yeah. That’s right.
INV laughs.
INV: I know, I have all these random things I brought, but, yeah! So. . .
LG3: Yeah, see the iodine – Wow!
INV: The iodine taste?
LG3: Of the limu kohu.
INV: Oh, yeah.
LG3: Yeah.
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INV: So. . .
LG3: I’m – You know, there’s a lot of Hawaiian women and other females that are stronger
and more entrenched.
INV: Uh huh.
LG3: I was like the princess. Spoiled princess.
INV: But you liked the limu. Chuckles.
LG3: Oh yeah.
INV laughs.
LG3: Oh, yeah! So –
INV: Ok, but you were – you were spoiled – You aren’t –
LG3: I was spoiled.
INV: You went out – You weren’t out exploring as much, you mean, or you didn’t go to the
ocean as much, or – How were you –
LG3: Well, I knew that I had brothers and a father to go and gather them for me. I knew that.
INV: Oh, I see. They kind of took care of you in that way.
LG3: Oh, yeah, they spoiled me.
INV: They just got the stuff for you.
LG3: I would just –
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INV laughs.
LG3: I would be – In all truth, my father, he’s eighty-seven years old.
INV: Yeah?
LG3: And, to this very day – and he’s wapi, he can barely breathe. He’ll go and prepare me
food.
INV: That’s so –
LG3: I sit at ta –
INV: That’s so nice.
LG3: I sit down. He go to the kitchen and, say, go to the, go to the, um, -- And then tell me
that always was for me. I didn’t realize this was happening, but, yeah. I would sit at the table
and my father would prepare the food.
INV: That’s really nice.
LG3: I know! I was like, “Wow.”
INV: That’s very loving of him.
LG3: But it became a problem when I got married, though.
Both laugh.
INV: Oh!
LG3: My husband –
INV: You didn’t know how to –
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LG3: My husband! You know.
INV: Because your husband wouldn’t act like your father?
LG3: He was a little bit more cranky. He wasn’t all willing and ready to go and cook me food.
You know. But –
INV: Oh.
LG3: Even my brothers did the same thing to –
INV: That’s different.
LG3: “Si – Sit down!”
INV: Expectations.
LG3: And then they would, they would prepare me food.
INV: That’s very sweet. Um, so, which parts of the island – let’s see. Can we look at where
you gathered?
LG3: Yeah.
INV: On the island. . . You can take it if you want. You can just circle where – just, maybe,
put this –
LG3: Okay. Right here.
INV: And then circle places where you –
LG3: I’ve gone to Black Point with my aunties.
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INV: And if you could put the name of the type that you s – That you gathered there, that
would be great.
LG3: Uh, waewae’iole. Waikai – Where’s Waikiki? Ok, right here, right here.
INV: You can just circle it, and then write the name of the limu that you would gather there.
LG3: Black Point. Have you been to Black Point?
INV: Mhm! Yeah, there’s lots of stuff there.
LG3: Yeah. Waewae’iole. Is “iole” with an “e” or an “a”? A, E, I. A, E, I. Ah, eh, ih. Yeah,
iole. Ah, eh, ih.
INV: Waewae’iole. I’ll know which one to use.
LG3: Waewae’iole. Of course, all over here is waewae’iole, I did all over here.
INV: Can you put your age, too? When you gathered there? Because – Oh, I know I didn’t
ask this. I know I did before. I had a little. . .
LG3: Mmm, Paulai. You know the, um, the small one that has – Like, it’s crunchy? I don’t
know what it’s – Ele’ele? No, it can’t be ele’ele. Crunchy, it’s like a small branch.
INV: Is it a green one? Not green?
LG3: No, it’s, I think, a brown.
INV: Brown one.
LG3: That’s the one I like. And, and my brother goes and get it. Right over here.
INV: It wasn’t an ogo, though.
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LG3: No.
INV: Not in Manuea.
LG3: When it looks like it, it looks like small branches. I think that if I see the picture, then I
could find it.
INV: Okay.
LG3: But it’s right here. I’m gonna put a star here. Okay. And definitely –
INV: Oh, not like, like this one?
LG3: No, no.
INV: Oh, okay.
LG3: It’s even more crunchy. And it has a, has a beautiful taste to it.
INV: Not that one. This one’s supposed to be pretty crunchy.
LG3: No, no. It looks like this, so I was wondering –
INV: Oh it looks like this?
LG3: It looks like this, but that’s, that’s not what I’m looking at.
INV: Okay.
LG3: It looks ugly. That looks ugly.
INV: Yeah, it does. I have a picture in here of one that looks like that, but. . . I think it’s just,
the picture’s not very good. I guess you can, you can just describe what it looks, though.
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LG3: I’ve been from Paela Point all the way down here. Not to Ko Olina, but to Nanikuli. I
think this is it. Is it? It looks like it. And it’s small. And it’s – This is small, right?
INV: Yeah. That’s a small one.
LG3: So, yeah, I think this is it. What is this known?
INV: Um, limu lipe’epe?
LG3: I think so.
INV: Limu lipe – Yeah. Lipe’epe.
LG3: Yeah.
INV: That’s, I think that’s the one.
LG3: Uh, I’ve gathered here.
INV: Lime lipe’epe. Mumbling.
LG3: Mumbling – persons. I can – I cannot tell you that – truly tell you that I went out to
gather it myself. I was always with people that were gathering. That’s when I, you know,
picked up. And – but, my consumption here go to the market. And almost – The food that I
buy has it in there.
INV: So when did you start only – When did you start only buying limu at the market?
LG3: Oh.
INV: Or, that’s always been. . ?
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LG3: Yeah. When did I start? You know what, when I started is when I was eating. . . Gotta
be an adult. Like, my late – It was right around – I actually got away from, um, when I went
to college. I was thirty eight years old. That’s when I was going to the market a lot. I was off
the shore already. I was at UH Manoa. That’s when I really started purchasing from the
market.
INV: Do you mind sharing how old you are now?
LG3: Yeah! Sixty-three.
INV: Sixty-three.
LG3: That was, really, my market years. ‘Cause I would be drinking in Manoa Gardens. Do
you – Do you still have Manoa Gardens?
INV: Yes!
LG3: Oh, yeah?
INV laughs.
LG3: You don’t buy low-key vitamin and take off. Sit in Manoa Gardens and drink.
INV: Unintelligible sounds nice! Chuckles.
LG3: Yeah.
INV: Um, do you mind telling me your ethnicity?
LG3: No. Ah, I’m not pure Hawaiian, like my dad. My dad pure Hawaiian. I am almost. I am
about seventy-eight percent. I got my white, um, casian, my white, um, English. White from
my mom.
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INV: So, you’re Hawaiian and you’re – What other ethnicity is. . ?
LG3: Uh, English. English white.
INV: English-white.
LG3: Yeah. Somebody from England came here.
INV: Any other ethnicities?
LG3: No. That’s it.
INV: Okay. And then. . .Oh, and you were born in Kailua?
LG3: No.
INV: Or where were you born?
LG3: I was born in Waikiki.
INV: Oh.
LG3: And I was born in my grandma’s house on unintelligible.
INV: Do you eat sushi or musubi?
LG3: Yes.
INV: Poke?
LG3: Yes.
INV: Opihi with le – with limu?
LG3: Definitely.
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INV: Soup with limu?
LG3: Yeah. I always or – Sometimes, I order limu soup. Seaweed soup. You know that
seaweed isn’t from here, yeah?
INV: Oh, in that one, right? It’s like, uh, imported seaweed.
LG3: Yeah.
INV: Yeah. Which food would you say you eat the most that has, uh, limu?
LG3: Ah, fish – Uh, poke.
INV: The poke?
LG3: Mhm.
INV: And how many meals – If you said, in a week, how many meals or snacks in one week,
would you say, have some limu or poke – Sorry, some limu in them? So, say you had, like,
three meals a day, seven days a week. That’s like, twenty-one total, meals, at least. Plus
snacks. How many of those would you say – that you eat, have some limu in them?
LG3: I would eat only three times a week.
INV: That have limu.
LG3: Mhm, yeah.
INV: Yeah.
LG3: I would eat it three times a week, because I can’t afford it. Chuckles. But one day. But I
don’t eat, uh, poke every night. I eat cold. Um, that’s what my main source of limu would be
36
– in the poke. And I would – I know I eat it about three times a week, because I would start
to crave for it, you know, miss it, you know, that, that, “Boy, I want poi.”
INV: Oh, you also eat poi with the poke? When you have poke?
LG3: Mhm, mhm. So I’m looking for the poi. Because I’m hungry by then, not unintelligible.
INV: Mmm, I wish they had that at the McDonald’s. Which edible limu is your favorite?
LG3: Waewae’iole. And that one you showed me. That one, oh I love that one.
INV: Okay. Have you ever used limu to treat an injury or illness?
LG3: Uh, you know, I don’t, but other people do. You know, you know that bubble thing?
INV: Yeah.
LG3: I sucked in that bubble because the oil – ‘Cause I was out on the ocean, and I was so
dried up, that was the only time. And then I was rubbing it on my. . . Unintelligible.
INV: Oh. So in terms of eating the limu, what is the effect on the body? ‘Cause you – I know
the taste is really important, but is there an effect on the body?
LG3: My head.
INV: On your head? Your hair?
LG3: Yeah. My head.
INV: Oh, your head.
LG3: Inside my brain.
INV: Inside your brain? What’s the effect that it has for you?
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LG3: It’s, it’s like, here, you know, it’s like, my head clears up, yeah. That’s what happens to
me. Feels good. Um, I have no – Except my tummy, I know it’s in my tummy. I just got your
burping.
Both laugh.
LG3: And it feels good. It, it – You know, it’s – I feel a little bit more – Like, my nerves. It
gives me more energy. My nerves. My nerves is like, wow.
INV: Is this for any kind or certain kinds? Of limu. Which kind would have that effect?
LG3: Oh, no. They all have that effect.
INV: They all have that effect.
LG3: And always, in my back.
INV: Can you – Go ahead.
LG3: I can feel the waewae’iole –iole in my stomach.
INV: Oh, you can? How – How do you feel it?
LG3: Um, it’s like – It’s not food, but it’s like, it’s like, unintelligible in my stomach.
INV: Okay.
LG3: It’s not full, though, but it feels good. And I know I ate it and I know it was waewae’iole.
INV: Is there any way you can predict the flavor by looking at the limu? Like, you know – Is
there a way you could know what the flavor will be like, just looking at it?
LG3: Ohh, yeah.
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INV: How could you tell?
LG3: Huh?
INV: Tell me, tell me how you would know about the flavor by looking at it.
LG3: Um, I fell – You know my anoides? I start to feel it up here. The anoides. The, the
taste – unintelligible.
INV: Yeah.
LG3: But I feel it up in the anoides. When I look at waewae’iole. Guarantee. ‘Cause I ate a
lot of it. It just goes right up to my an – to my nose. Um, more that, the red one would be
right over here. And, of course, lipoa, when you burp it up, you know –
INV: The flavor’s there.
LG3: Yeah. It’s right there in my esophagus.
INV: Okay.
LG3: It’s like regurgitating itself.
INV: Yeah, I kind of noticed that too. Okay. Well, I think I’m going to have to head back to
town pretty soon, but I don’t know – If there’s anything else you want to ask or if there’s
anything else you want to share before –
LG3: Uh, no, it’s just, uh, auntie Girly here –
INV: Uh huh.
39
LG3: Black Point with my aunties, my, my dad’s, my dad’s sisters. Sisters. This is another
auntie Girly, um, auntie Rachel. And then, auntie Mara. And one, two, and three aunties over
here. Yeah. And then Hauula, I was just with the women, the women of the community.
INV: Oh. Can you say, like, maybe what age when you would get that type there?
LG3: Yeah, this is when I was pregnant, um, with my last baby. Seventy-eight. Nineteen
Seventy-eight.
INV: Around that time?
LG3: Yeah. Seventy-five to seventy-eight. Yeah. So I was pregnant with my last baby, I was
like, really, really, like, “I need limu!”
INV chuckles.
LG3: “Help!”
INV chuckles.
LG3: You got a note, I’m a princess, yeah?
INV laughs.
LG3: Unintelligible – a lot of people.
INV: Right?
LG3: Hello!
INV: Yeah. Well, I guess – My plan is, I’m – I think this interview went very well, it’s very
helpful for me.
40
LG3: Is it?
INV: Yes! Thank you! What did – I – What did you think of being interviewed?
LG3: Oh, it’s, it’s – For limu, anything.
Both laugh.
LG3: For limu gathering, anything. Eating, eating. My opportunities to eat. Yeah. Thank you
for my limu.
INV: Oh, yeah. Enjoy. I hope that works out. I know it’s not from the ocean, right, or direct,
so –
LG3: That’s great.
INV: Not as good, but –
LG3: You know, I’m gonna go chop it up, because I got some unintelligible.
INV: Oh, okay. Okay, because I don’t – I’m not yet – I don’t yet know how to find that one, so
I have to unintelligible.
LG3: Yeah.
INV: So, once I figure out how to find it, then I can bring it like a gift, from the ocean.
LG3: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
INV: But, I just don’t know –
LG3: You know what my brother say, you gotta smell the o – the air, it’s in the air.
INV: For the lipoa, yeah.
41
LG3: Yeah.
INV: Mmm. So, if you know anyone else who might want to speak with me, you can let me
know, but I’m gonna call –
LG3: You know what, unintelligible, but they, they part of the homeless, so. . . They know a
lot! Yeah, I could get, I can get, uh, two unintelligible.
INV: Yeah. Do you think that anyone would be willing to talk with me? I’d be happy to come
and talk with them and –
LG3: They would know more, yeah.
INV: I mean. . . So, I’m gonna put together, eventually, a document on kinda what I learned
so, I’ll make sure to send it to you, so you can – If you have time. You can look at it and,
you know. If – If anything doesn’t seem quite right, you can tell me.
LG3: Yeah. I’ll call my brother unintelligible.
INV laughs.
LG3: You know, and my brother’s always – Anything to do with gathering –
Part II ends here.
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