Ep. 139: Hidden Waikiki: What the Hawaii Tourist Brochures Won’t Tell You with Kamaka Pili

Hidden Waikiki

[00:00:00] Bryan Murphy: In this episode, you’ll discover the untold story of Waikiki Howie Lush Paradise. Once central to Hawaiian culture became the iconic destination that it is today, and the surprising truth that every visitor should know. Before their trip.

[00:00:19] Bryan Murphy: Aloha and welcome to Hawaii’s Best, the podcast that helps you discover the best of Hawaii. Here you’ll get travel tips, the latest news and everything you need to plan an unforgettable trip to Hawaii.

[00:00:33] Bryan Murphy: Aloha. My name is Bryan Murphy, your guy to Hawaii. And in this episode, you’ll discovered the untold story of Waikiki, what was once a sacred wetland that cared for over a hundred thousand Hawaiians. How this royal residence became the second settlement of all Hawaiians in history and what most visitors am miss about its true cultural legacy.

[00:00:54] Bryan Murphy: Welcome to episode 1 39 of Hawaii’s Best on the show. We love learning from local businesses and voices, and having guests on the podcast and helping us travel with aloha to Hawaii. Today I’m thrilled to welcome back Kamaka Peli, a native Hawaiian cultural practitioner and creator of Aloha, authentic. If you haven’t listened to my conversation with Kamaka, part one was last Wednesday, and you can go ahead and listen to that.

[00:01:21] Bryan Murphy: You don’t need to necessarily listen to that prior to today’s episode, both of the episodes standalone, and that’s kind of why I did a part one and part two. In part one, we discussed a lot about the word aloha, what it means to travel with aloha. So after. Today’s episode, you can just go back to episode 1 37, I believe that will be the episode with Kamaka.

[00:01:44] Bryan Murphy: You’ll be able to learn more about what it means to travel with aloha and a little bit more about Kamaka. But today we are talking primarily about Waikiki and most visitors to Waikiki only see the hotels. Shops and beaches, many aren’t aware of Waikiki’s past. I learned a ton from my time with Kamaka about Waikiki and the fight to create a more authentic experience for Hawaiians and visitors to Waikiki.

[00:02:12] Bryan Murphy: Now, don’t get me wrong, Waikiki, there’s some incredible spots. You know, you got that iconic diamond head backdrop. You know, if you’re at Dukes or staying at the Royal Hawaiian, there’s still so much history in Waikiki. But in today’s episode, we’re gonna dig down a few layers deep about what Waikiki was in the past, and by the end of today’s episode, you’ll learn why this history matters and how these stories can make your time in Hawaii even more meaningful.

[00:02:40] Bryan Murphy: So let’s continue to talk story with Kamaka

[00:02:52] Bryan Murphy: like you keep being. I guess probably the, the mecca, if you will, of tourism in Hawaii. And maybe you, you talked about nothing tall as a coconut tree, but maybe you could, if you’re able to just go beyond that a little bit and share about Waikiki’s past and kind of paint us a picture of what Waikiki was.

[00:03:12] Kamaka Pili: I would love to thank you for that opportunity because as a native Hawaiian and I, I think it’s safe to say that I can speak on many native Hawaiians, not all, but we don’t like to go into Waikiki. Hmm. And growing up, I never wanted to go. The only time I would ever go into Waikiki is when we would have Don patrol and you go early in the morning when it’s still dark, to go jump in the water and surf before all the people come out and crowd the water.

[00:03:36] Kamaka Pili: Other than that, we never wanted to. And then as I got into, I. Becoming a young adult and I got my first jobs. I remember doing the gig and I was walking down on the sidewalk from a hotel down to the Du Moku statue ’cause it was a ceremony honoring him. Well, I’m just in my malo or my loin cloth and walking down the side of the sidewalk and people are just turning and staring at me and making weird looking faces.

[00:03:59] Kamaka Pili: And I just felt, it was like you’re trying to make me feel uncomfortable in my own home wearing. Traditional attire that my ancestors wore. I don’t accept that, and it just made me feel like, okay, even more so, I don’t like Waikiki, but as much as I don’t like Waikiki, it feels like it just became a responsibility.

[00:04:17] Kamaka Pili: As much as I didn’t like it, I have to do something to fix that, at least for myself. Over time, I met this uncle who had since passed, but his name is Joe Reka and he was a Waikiki historian, and he was the one who really just with the short amount of time that I spent with him. Opened up this whole other side of Waikiki that was completely out of my awareness.

[00:04:41] Kamaka Pili: If you start looking into history books, just imagine how Waikiki is today. Take everything away. Take everything away, and just think it’s a big old wetland. From the shore all the way up into the back of the mountains is just what we call Lolo or tarot. Patches and tarot, or what we call kalo is our, our main staple starch in Hawaii.

[00:05:02] Kamaka Pili: We actually, in Hawaiian stories, consider that to be our older brother. It was just filled. And then aside from that, then you had fish ponds and. All of that today, majority of that today has been filled in. So a lot of the, the things that you see today of Waikiki is the landscape itself is completely different.

[00:05:21] Kamaka Pili: I mean, if we just look at the name Waikiki and I, that’s an important thing in Hawaiian culture or our names. So if you look at Waikiki, why WAI is is freshwater and Kiki is the action of. Of spouting like a spring. So Waikiki literally means the spouting springs because all throughout the shoreline and up into, which is now all covered by cement, they’re all freshwater springs, and that’s what provided the wetlands and sourced the wetlands.

[00:05:50] Kamaka Pili: Aside from. Streams that flowed down from the mountain. Well, imagine there’s, which no longer is there, but there are three prominent streams that flowed into Waikiki for visitors who may have stayed at some hotels. The ILI Kai Hotel, which is on one side of Waikiki that was the mouth of. One of these streams, and I think it was the largest one, it was called Pinao, and it provided a lot of water to a lot of the fish ponds that remained on that side.

[00:06:17] Kamaka Pili: In the middle of Waikiki, kind of near Royal Hawaiian Hotel was a stream called apu, and it literally split Waikiki into two different sections. Then the third stream closest to Honolulu Zoo today is was the stream known as ku, and that actually provided for those who may be familiar with Honolulu Zoo, that whole area, the parking lot, that was all wetlands.

[00:06:40] Kamaka Pili: There was actually small little islands within that area, and there was a largest, one of the largest islands was known as McKee Island, named after a gentleman. Just thinking of that growing up, we would’ve never, never imagined that because you can’t imagine water in Waikiki. ’cause it’s all filled in now.

[00:06:56] Kamaka Pili: Then I’m coming across stories that. The amount of Kahlo that was grown in Waikiki at one point in history, story shares that it had up to, it was able to provide up to a hundred thousand Hawaiians at one time.

[00:07:09] Bryan Murphy: Wow.

[00:07:09] Kamaka Pili: A hundred thousand Hawaiians in Waikiki. You cannot imagine that today, huh? Like, it’s so complicated to imagine that.

[00:07:16] Kamaka Pili: So it’s, it’s those kind of things. I mean, we have the Wai Canal today, as mentioned as, as you’re mentioned, the clip. I did a video and it’s just trying to find, you know, the Hawaii State Archives here in Hawaii is. A great source of old pictures and photographs and they continue to upload throughout the days and times.

[00:07:35] Kamaka Pili: So I’m always constantly looking to see what they may have uploaded. And I came across these old pictures of actually people fishing in the oui. And today the a oi, if you don’t know, is just a canal that is so dirty and it stinks and it’s getting better, it’s improving, but it actually was created. To take away those streams.

[00:07:54] Kamaka Pili: Some stories, some people say that the AWA was created because they wanted to take away the streams and dry up Waikiki so it can become a tourist destination and people can make money. But the more prominent story you hear is that because of the still water that was throughout Waikiki, it became much more unsanitary because over time we had Chinese immigrants moving into Waikiki.

[00:08:13] Kamaka Pili: They converted those fish ponds, which traditionally fish ponds were great because it, it never captured water. It flowed. Water would enter, water would exit. But then when the Chinese came in, they, they converted those to rice patties, the water then just stayed and sat. Mm-hmm. So then you have a lot more mosquitoes.

[00:08:30] Kamaka Pili: You have ducks and, and feces. And it became a lot more unsanitary. So then in the 1920s, the health department dredged the allay to help to alleviate that unhealthy conditions. But from that point, it was just, Waikiki just seemed to divert much more to tourists. And my recent. Interview I actually had was around Waikiki speaking with old Kupuna or our elders who grew up and are from Waikiki, and they’re telling their stories of how it used to be.

[00:08:59] Kamaka Pili: Nothing as mentioned, nothing taller than a coconut tree. They all had gravel roads, the beach boys and the fun music and musicians. One point Hawaiian music would be coming out of every corner of Waikiki. Now you hardly hear Wiki Hawaiian music. Now, those same kupuna are saying they never come into Waikiki because it’s not oriented for.

[00:09:18] Kamaka Pili: Local people anymore. It’s all geared to tourists. So that’s how you can see the love-hate relationship. The one thing I would love to tell people though, is as you come down here, it’s those stories we want you to hear. It’s those stories that we want you to capture. What you see today is just business that’s.

[00:09:36] Kamaka Pili: That’s outsiders coming into Hawaii using our culture to turn around and sell and make money off of other people. How then can we start to reclaim our land? Because Hawaiians aren’t part of that conversation. I mean, not that I know of. And we’re over here. You know, a lot of times you go through Waikiki, you see homeless people, people who are on drugs and unfortunate lives on the side, on the sidewalk, and a lot of those are unfortunately local Hawaiian people.

[00:10:03] Kamaka Pili: Yet at the same time, you’re having these rich. You told you people coming and spending their vacation again, their vacation is our day of trying to survive. It’s a complete contrast. So I would just like to bring that contrast into people’s attention. What you and the decisions you make from that point that’s on you, but at least I’m trying to provide to you the more authentic experience and what we want you to know while at the same time trying to reclaim our voice and reclaim our power.

[00:10:29] Kamaka Pili: Mm-hmm. Because this is our home and we have kule to it.

[00:10:33] Bryan Murphy: Say someone’s listening and they have a trip booked and they, they happen to be staying in Waikiki, say this summer, for example. What would you want them to know? But I think maybe more importantly, once there on Ahu and in Waikiki, how would you want them to go about their, their trip or their experiences?

[00:10:59] Kamaka Pili: Thank you for asking that because I, I, I think that’s one thing we always, we would like to share as Hawaiians. One thing is enjoy. We’re not angry in the fact that don’t come here, you know, and you stay away. That, that’s not my perspective. At least come and enjoy because again, our essence of being Hawaiian is, we’re here to share this with you, but at that same time, there’s more to Hawaiian culture and Hawaii to the extent that you know, than what is just in your face.

[00:11:29] Kamaka Pili: Mm-hmm. Other, you know, aside from. Checking out Waikiki. And of course people have their more tourist things they wanna do. I would just highly encourage people, if you’re gonna come down here, enjoy yourself, but find ways to learn about the culture and the history and the people and take a step further.

[00:11:47] Kamaka Pili: And how can you give back? I mean, as wine, I think all of us here are always finding ways to give back to the land. There’s a, we call it, or a wise saying or a proverb, and it’s something to the effect of.

[00:12:04] Kamaka Pili: I think, and it, it means that the land is the chief. The people are its servant. So in Hawaiian mental, there wasn’t not just a chief and everybody works towards to keep the chief or the king, and he calls the shots. The main idea was the chief’s responsibility is to make sure that the land is being cared for.

[00:12:23] Kamaka Pili: So Hawaiians, we’re always trying to find a way to give back to the land. Don’t necessarily always see that with visitors, and I think that would be a great opportunity for a visitor to have the more authentic Hawaii experience. Go into a, go into a tarot patch, go in, get your feet dirty. Get your hands into the mud, because that is what being Hawaiian is, is being one with the land.

[00:12:48] Kamaka Pili: As mentioned, kalo is revered as our older brother. To that extent, that’s how much we try to care for land. If there’s specific places I would recommend to go. Palace is a must go. I Palace is in Honolulu, but it’s a, it’s a capture of kind of one portion of our monarchy, which is the latter portion of our monarchy.

[00:13:11] Kamaka Pili: I mean, but there’s so many other palaces as well. Here on Oahu, there’s for Queen Emma Summer Palace, but other places there are Klo Ranch, which a lot of people will be familiar with that. Because a lot of movies were filmed there just such as Jurassic Park and 51st Dates and many others, but it’s from a, a Hawaiian family and they continue to keep that organization and, and that company within their family, but open it up to the world.

[00:13:36] Kamaka Pili: So it’s one of those more authentic experiences by Hawaiians providing this experience. Why Male Valley is another one and that’s all the way up in the North Shore. But when you go in there, you literally are stepping into a valley that is set up. The way that it once was, and you’re walking around, you’re hearing these stories.

[00:13:56] Kamaka Pili: Those are the experience that I think we want. Start there. Have conversations, build relationships, and see where those will go. But if you’re trying to have your first time here, those are the main places, especially Ani Palace, I would say check out.

[00:14:10] Bryan Murphy: That’s beautiful. Now, this might be a lofty question or just maybe a dream question, but Yeah.

[00:14:17] Bryan Murphy: I, I like to, to dream a little bit where Waikiki is now today in 2025, how would you see not the trajectory that Waikiki is going currently, but if there could be like a, um, a change of course, uh, how would you see a future for Waikiki?

[00:14:37] Kamaka Pili: My odd question is have Waikiki back in our hands and just as beautiful as the pictures as I see it in the old days.

[00:14:44] Kamaka Pili: Honestly, that’s what I would love to see. Yeah, knowing that’s pretty unrealistic, at least in the near future. One thing is just the presence of Hawaiians, for example, through my show and the interviews I’ve been having, especially with the. Who were musicians in Waikiki, as mentioned before, there used to be music coming out of every corner of Waikiki.

[00:15:08] Kamaka Pili: Some of these aunties that are used to singing Waikiki, they would say they would come from one place doing their show on the break. They would go across the street to the next house or the next club or the bar, go inside, sing over there, jump to the next one. And they would do that, and it was just strolling down.

[00:15:22] Kamaka Pili: You have that essence now. Hawaiian music and Hawaiian musicians are getting booted because they cost too much. So they’re gonna bring in a foreigner or somebody else who does super cheap music that’s not Hawaiian and not authentic, and then they’re gonna advertise it as Hawaiian music. That’s not okay at all.

[00:15:41] Kamaka Pili: It’s not okay. I mean, it’s little things like that. Hawaiian someone, somebody who dances in Hawaii. In Waikiki, you have shows that there’s not enough shows, and again, the shows in my perspective, are used as fluff. What about, how do you take that next step? You know, because these are the things that Hawaiians are doing.

[00:16:00] Kamaka Pili: Hawaiians are the musicians. Hawaiians are the dancers. Hawaiians are the guys on the beach teaching the surf lessons. Hawaiians aren’t necessarily the ones that are in the corporate office in the, in the, in, you know, are the big bosses of these hotels. That’s not us. I mean, I’m, I, I would like to say that there are people, which I do know that there are, but there’s far and few between compared to outsiders coming here.

[00:16:23] Kamaka Pili: And controlling it because the older I’m getting and the more people I speak with, I’m realizing as easy it is to say that money talks. Money truly, truly talks and Hawaiians don’t got money compared to the rest of the world. So if you look at it as a losing battle, you’re gonna lose. But in my mind, I’m always thinking there has to be a way.

[00:16:46] Kamaka Pili: There has to be a way. So for me, I’m just trying to do a little thing. By little by little. And so for my videos, my personal going, this is just me, and I think it’s a big thing. Eventually others could see it’s such as a small minute thing. But I would like to do a video on every street in Waikiki, because with every street comes a street name.

[00:17:06] Kamaka Pili: So if I can, and that’s what I do, is I, I take the street name and I build a one two minute story about what that street name speaks of. Well, it’s those little things and then there comes the consistency. I mean, you can go on and do a little story share with people. One day and the next day just not do it anymore.

[00:17:22] Kamaka Pili: I’m realizing though, by the consistent effort that you put into something that is where traction will start to build. I think for Hawaiians, it’s our responsibility individually to make that happen. I always say, God is gonna be only as true to you as you want him to be. And bringing that back home, Waikiki and its future is only gonna be as real as you want it to be.

[00:17:49] Kamaka Pili: If you’re gonna allow somebody else and you’re gonna give them the effort to do it, you can’t grumble to how it’s gonna turn out. But if you are putting your hands, you’re giving your effort, you are doing your due diligence, and you’re kuana your responsibility and you’re privilege to do this, that’s where I think.

[00:18:04] Kamaka Pili: You can help to mold what the future looks like. But again, it’s kind of going back to aloha. What is sharing too much? What is sharing too little and and where is that punal balance in between? I.

[00:18:17] Bryan Murphy: Hmm. Yeah, you’re absolutely right. Like as simple as having Hawaiians and sharing their music. We were recently in Waikiki at a restaurant and you know, guys playing John Mayer and, you know, all the top 40 hits or whatever, and yeah, it sounds good.

[00:18:33] Bryan Murphy: But I was watching a live stream of a native Hawaiian. He was, you know, it’s a stream in his set. He was asking for requests over the feed. I think I requested like some, like a brother is song like Clay Ohno or something like that. And he, and he played it and it was just like, there was just something about him singing it and, and just the, like, it just felt alive.

[00:18:52] Bryan Murphy: And it’s hard to put your finger on it, but you feel that compared to like, nothing against John Mayer, but you feel that, you know, compared to like a John Mayer song, it’s like, okay,

[00:19:01] Kamaka Pili: yeah, a hundred percent. So, so

[00:19:02] Bryan Murphy: I, I’ve never thought about that. I resonate with that.

[00:19:05] Kamaka Pili: You can go anywhere in the world and visit the John Mayer, but you come to Hawaii to, to take the Hawaii experience and you know, when we talk about people I know.

[00:19:14] Kamaka Pili: Kuna who showed up to work one day at a hotel, and as they showed up, they were told, this is your last day, like you’re fired on that day. I mean, where is Yolo that, that’s just not. Cool at all. I mean, why? Because they brought in a cheaper musician to play non Hawaiian music. But these people, I would just like to make note that these people who spend their time to play music, they charge a lot because that’s their product just as much as another person who’s doing whatever is their product and they sell it and there’s no problem with that.

[00:19:42] Kamaka Pili: Musicians. And again, in Hawaii, music, music, chance dance. That is our means of keeping our stories alive. So to, to somebody else, it could just be, ah, they’re just singing. Yeah. But that’s, that’s a, a vital essence to who we are. Mm-hmm. And if they’re charging their price, it’s because our cost of living in Hawaii is extravagant.

[00:20:03] Kamaka Pili: Why? Because of outsiders moving here and upping the price for us, and then it bumps us out, I think. Just the latest report I’ve seen come out one out of, I think it was one out of three Hawaiian families are looking to move out as of right now because it’s too expensive. So that’s an issue that only kind of has its fingers within our community across the islands.

[00:20:27] Kamaka Pili: So then that’s why people have, are so passionate about it, and when they just cut you off for somebody cheaper, it’s not just getting fired. It’s like you’re disrespecting so much more. To me, that’s, that’s kind of how I look at it.

[00:20:41] Bryan Murphy: That’s interesting you say that. I mean, where I live, I have friends with this family from Laier.

[00:20:46] Bryan Murphy: They opened up a Hawaiian plate lunch. Which is great. You know, we had ’em on the podcast and yeah, it is interesting in my conversation with them, like there are these, these little communities, especially on the west coast of native Hawaiians. Obviously the ninth Island being Las Vegas is huge, but, but even in, in the little community that I’m in, you know, there, there is a good little pocket of a lot of people from the North Shore that had to move out.

[00:21:11] Bryan Murphy: This is probably a bigger conversation, but a lot of people who visit Hawaii and. I was one of the first time I, I visited. I’m like, oh man, what? I just gotta, what can I do to like move here? And I just wanna live here. And I think it’s a, an innocent question, but how would you respond to somebody who has visited from the, the continental us?

[00:21:31] Bryan Murphy: I just wanna move there. I just wanna live there. I just, I just feel this, this poll to live there. How would you respond to that person?

[00:21:39] Kamaka Pili: On the inside of me. ’cause I, so I always say too that, you know, there’s the angry Hawaiian for me. The angry Hawaiian still remains on the inside. But I think over time I realized how, and I found ways of how to express that anger because of everything we’ve learned through our history and use it in a positive way.

[00:21:54] Kamaka Pili: And for me, my videos and my stories is my means of trying to express that on the inside. We all kind of have a conversation between Hawaiians, like, no, don’t move here. We’re, we’re over here trying to, we’re trying to fix our land. We’re, we’re trying to, you know, reclaim our land because we lost it. So we put that aside.

[00:22:12] Kamaka Pili: Think about what my. Professional opinion would be, and my answer, I would, I would say, go back to the word Juliana.

[00:22:21] Bryan Murphy: Mm-hmm.

[00:22:21] Kamaka Pili: Juliana, if you look in Hawaiian dictionary, very easy. If you ask somebody, oh, it’s responsibility. Which is true, it’s responsibility. But in, in Tutu, Mary Covena P’S dictionary. It’s interesting ’cause I came across, I think it’s the second.

[00:22:34] Kamaka Pili: Definition, but before responsibility is stated, privilege comes first. So kuleana is not just responsibility, but it’s also your privilege. For me, if anybody wants to move here, I would say, what is your kuleana? Mm-hmm. What is your responsibility to this land? Because I remember, you know, as we were talking, Hawaiians say

[00:22:59] Kamaka Pili: is the land. We are just here to serve the land because when the land is ripe and the land is providing, we are being able to live and we take this time to live, to give back. So then there’s this cycle. When you move here without that cycle in mind. Then you’re already going against what Hawaiians are thinking and that momentum continues to build, which is why Hawaiians are being pushed away and pushed out of our own home for those who are interested.

[00:23:28] Kamaka Pili: My question to you is what then would your responsibility be to this land? Because we’re here to provide for it to make sure that this land will continue to thrive and its stories. Its resources for arch cakey and their next generations. If we were to damage all our streams, take away all our water to build, at some point we’re not gonna have water.

[00:23:52] Kamaka Pili: So it’s that kind of mentality. You know, when we build the low eala, as mentioned, the water comes through, the Waller moved through from in and out. It never stayed stagnant. That came when foreigners came in, and that’s what then led to unsanitary conditions. Are you gonna come here and move here to.

[00:24:10] Kamaka Pili: Create a rice padding to just keep water to yourself and keep it stagnant, where eventually it’s going to turn into a unhealthy situation. So are you here just to think for yourself and just to live now? Or are you gonna be here to build a low eala, to build something That water will move through you and you can find your own space here to contribute back to the land.

[00:24:33] Kamaka Pili: What is your KU now? Because if you’re here just to build your own little space and be selfish with it. You’re gonna have a much harder time with the Hawaiian community, but if you’re here to be a part. Our community and try to make all of our lives thrive and keep us balanced. Yeah. Then you know, then you’re gonna have much easier time here.

[00:24:54] Kamaka Pili: So it’s your mindset. Some people come here and they never mesh in a video with some Holly guy arguing with a Hawaiian on the beach of Waikiki. Actually, I don’t know what they’re arguing about. I have in instances where people start to come to me and raise their voice and have a little more of a different tone because what I’m sharing, they don’t like it.

[00:25:12] Kamaka Pili: But what I’m sharing is my knowledge is, is our, is our home, is how we live. We have a unique way of living here in Hawaii that you won’t find any place else. And so I guess as a Hawaiian, I would just ask you if you’re gonna move here, find your space that you can help to give back to the land as well.

[00:25:27] Bryan Murphy: Hmm. Yeah. Well said. And that makes a lot of sense. Kamaka, anything else about Waikiki specifically, maybe that we didn’t cover or that you would like people to know?

[00:25:37] Kamaka Pili: Waikiki is, is a beautiful place, as you mentioned. It is. It’s the mecca of tourism, I think. Not just for Hawaii, but the entire Pacific. You know, so it, it definitely brings the world here.

[00:25:50] Kamaka Pili: But before the world came here, Waikiki was. One of the main spots for many Hawaiian royalty. So I read story once. This one story shares that the first native Hawaiians who migrated here, they’re on the water, they’re on the ocean, and they chose to come to Oahu because Oahu looked to be the most lush.

[00:26:12] Kamaka Pili: Mm-hmm. And as they arrived, story shares that they arrived, which is now the home of Bellow’s Air Force Base in Waiman. The traditional name of that place is Nijo. Well, the story shares that they arrived on those shores. They settled between Waimanalo and its two neighboring AUA or or towns today, Kailua and then Kane O.

[00:26:32] Kamaka Pili: So from Wlo, Kalu Kane is known to be, at least to this one story, the first settlement of all Hawaiians in all Hawaii. Because this story shared that the land was so lush between the ecology, the, the water, so much fish in the marine life and pristine resources. From there, they said the they, they moved, they got into the canoe, they paddled around the point.

[00:26:52] Kamaka Pili: The second settlement of all Hawaiians across all Hawaii is believed to be in Waikiki because Waikiki’s environment was the closest to this side of the island. Wa, Kao, K. That within itself to me. Is Wow. Like chicken skin just now, if, if Waikiki is the second settlement of all Hawaiians in the entire history, Hmm.

[00:27:14] Kamaka Pili: Shouldn’t we be treating it a little bit more special and with a little bit more reverence than just continuing to build. Cement buildings. To me that builds sanctity and that that’s one thing. But then over time, Waikiki, a lot of Hawaiian chiefs royalty once lived in Waikiki because that’s how awesome it was.

[00:27:33] Kamaka Pili: It was even the capital of the kingdom at one point. So King Ham, the great, the first was the gentleman who created the Hawaiian kingdom, and he formed the Hawaiian Kingdom. In 1810 was when it finally was officially formed. But throughout his conquest, wherever he traveled, the capital of his kingdom traveled with him.

[00:27:50] Kamaka Pili: So Ham moved and lived in Waikiki. So Waikiki became the capital of the Hawaiian Kingdom at one point, and it was com meha. You know, we think of kings and rulers around the world. Oh, you tell your, your rule, your, your servants and all your people to Oh, you go do this. Well, I’m gonna go and just bask and have the ladies family with leaves and everything.

[00:28:08] Kamaka Pili: Well, you guys do that well, was such a gentleman. And I sur remind our Hawaiian mindset. He was inside those Lolo and planting those tarot patches in Waikiki just alongside people because again, you needed to be able to survive. You care for the land so you can survive there. That’s just another layer of sanctity, like that’s not just a home for Ali, it was the capital of our kingdom.

[00:28:32] Kamaka Pili: It’s so easy to forget all these stories because let’s build another hotel. Let’s make some more money. Let’s have this. Let’s do that. Let’s take a time though to take a break from the craziness and the, the fastness of today’s world. And learn a little bit about the history because as they say, if you don’t learn your history, you’re bound to repeat the mistakes that you once did, so, mm-hmm.

[00:28:50] Kamaka Pili: I would just like to bring that attention that Waikiki is much more than what you think is.

[00:28:56] Bryan Murphy: Mm-hmm. I have a couple more questions, little bit lighter. What’s your favorite place to eat on ahu? So someone coming to visit or, oh, maybe. Maybe you don’t want to, maybe you don’t wanna release that one spot, but we

[00:29:09] Kamaka Pili: give what?

[00:29:10] Kamaka Pili: We gave fake answers to those questions. I know. I mean, if you’re coming to Hawaii, you have to try Hawaiian food. So if I’m gonna give out any Hawaiian food places, I mean, we have Highway Inn. There’s one place in Honolulu, close to Waikiki Highway Inn is a good place. Helen’s is another good place. Place, like good, fun, local stuff to eat though that I like.

[00:29:32] Kamaka Pili: Malasadas, which is a Portuguese donut kind of a thing. Leonard’s and right off of Kapa, Hulu, once you’re coming out of Waikiki. Malasada is a good thing. But number one food for me is poi. And for those who don’t know poi, which is really funny because tourists either like it or hate it, and sometimes they’re like, and people can get offended, but I think it’s more hilarious.

[00:29:54] Kamaka Pili: That, that you don’t like it ’cause more for me. But poi is, is the Apollo our, our, our staple crop. And we just mash it up with, with water and you make it into a pasty thing. We are raised on poi as like baby food, and then that keeps us connected with, with our, our older brother, with our land. And it’s just super delicious.

[00:30:14] Kamaka Pili: But to me, poi is awesome and a lot of other people don’t like it, which is cool.

[00:30:21] Bryan Murphy: Also on the show, we talk a lot about local businesses. What are some local businesses that visitors can support when visiting Oahu?

[00:30:30] Kamaka Pili: Oh, that is, there’s so much I would just highly encourage if you coming to Oahu. Number one thing is try to find local businesses first, because it’s so easy to go to.

[00:30:40] Kamaka Pili: I mean, Waikiki, you’re gonna find an a, b, c store on every single corner, which is a convenience store from Japan. So how to find the local shops first, but local businesses, I mean clothing. We have a lot of artists and, and they have a lot of beautiful attire. This is Lex Breezy is the name of, oh, this brand.

[00:30:57] Bryan Murphy: We, we had her on the podcast. Yeah. Oh yeah,

[00:30:59] Kamaka Pili: yeah, yeah. Oh, four shirt. These, this le is. This was actually made from my, my Kumu, my teacher in hula. But these are sandalwood or IHI we call it, and it’s just middle things like this that people spend their life making stuff like this because it’s one way that we can find how do we modernize our culture?

[00:31:18] Kamaka Pili: I. Put stories and designs from our culture onto more modern things, and that’s how we can get it across. So, I mean, if you’re looking to buy clothes, don’t go down Waikiki on K Avenue to Dior or Hermes or all those fancy stores that people come to Hawaii to go shop for, which you can find every place else.

[00:31:35] Kamaka Pili: Come to Hawaii to go buy Hawaii stuff. There’s so much. Mani is another, Zain is another. Manola is another brand. Smaller brands, I mean, you have Caico, you have Omana designs. You have so much. I’m gonna have comments coming to me. You didn’t mention my brand friend. I think that that’s on the top of my head.

[00:31:57] Bryan Murphy: Well also, I mean, if, if you are in, in Waikiki, there’s House of Mana up is maybe a good spot. So you kind of get, I believe they’re at the Royal Hawaiian Center, if I’m not mistaken. Yeah,

[00:32:07] Kamaka Pili: yeah. Sec. Second floor, because it’s a co-op, so it is a. Bunch of different local artists that fill that shop up. That’s a good one.

[00:32:14] Kamaka Pili: Yeah.

[00:32:14] Bryan Murphy: Similar to, you know, local market, you know, farmer markets too. Are, are there any that you would recommend?

[00:32:20] Kamaka Pili: Oh yes. We have a bunch of farmer’s markets. Our biggest one is called our swap meet, which we, it’s held at our Aloha stadium, which I know they’re gonna be moving ’cause they’re gonna be redoing a new stadium.

[00:32:34] Kamaka Pili: That’s the main kind of a big swap meet and a farmer’s market. But within a lot of, I mean, even malls and shopping centers in Waikiki, I know at the Hyatt Hotel, they used to do it, I’m not too sure they still do it, but even within hotels, they’ll have farmer’s markets. So farmers would come down, artists would come down and they’ll fill it out with their local produce or their products.

[00:32:55] Kamaka Pili: And that’s one thing that I know hotels are doing an effort that they’re doing to try to bring back more locals into Waikiki. That’s just one step. We know, let’s, let’s do more. When you see a, a market like that. Highly encourage you to if, if you see something you like, buy it because a lot of those people are here living in Hawaii trying to make their ends meet.

[00:33:14] Bryan Murphy: Kuka, thank you so much for your time and I, I know we mentioned a lot about some of the projects you’re working on with your interviews and your videos. How can people find you, connect with you and follow along?

[00:33:27] Kamaka Pili: Well, thank you very much for having me. I, I greatly appreciate this time and opportunity.

[00:33:31] Kamaka Pili: Social media, aloha, authentic on Instagram or Facebook, or if you go to aloha authentic.org is my website and I just try to use that as pretty much what everything. So from my interviews, the long version interviews, my short street segments and all other videos, they’re all. On there. As a, as a, I would like to just point out that that becomes a public resource.

[00:33:51] Kamaka Pili: All the videos that I make, my goal, that it becomes available online for people to hopefully learn about our history in more of a modern way. Teachers like to use it, use it in schools and classrooms. So aloha, authentic. The goal is to become just an additional resource for our La Hui, our native wine community, but for the rest of the world to learn about Hawaii the way.

[00:34:13] Kamaka Pili: Want them to know.

[00:34:15] Bryan Murphy: I just had its vision. You know, a hundred years from now, people are going back in the archives of Kamaka and just seeing videos and stuff you getting in my

[00:34:22] Kamaka Pili: face.

[00:34:23] Bryan Murphy: That’s kind of cool.

[00:34:26] Kamaka Pili: Yeah.

[00:34:26] Bryan Murphy: Thank you. All right on. Thank you so much for your time. Thank

[00:34:30] Kamaka Pili: you. Right around. Appreciate it.

[00:34:31] Kamaka Pili: Thank you very much. Mala

[00:34:32] Bryan Murphy: Mala. And that wraps up our look at. The hidden Waikiki for me, probably one of the most interesting facts is that the freshwater springs that gave Waikiki its name are now under concrete. But what gives me hope is people like Kamaka bringing these stories to life and telling these stories via social media and the platforms like aloha authentic.org.

[00:35:00] Bryan Murphy: What surprised me. Probably the most in my conversation was learning that Waikiki was the second Hawaiian settlement in history and served as the capital under King Kme mea, who worked right alongside of his people in the tarot patches. So I hope that this episode maybe gave you a little bit more insight into Waikiki, and next time you’re there, remember you’re walking on land where Hawaiian royalty lived, which is pretty wild.

[00:35:27] Bryan Murphy: And a place with much deeper history than what appears on the surface. And until next time, as always, live with Aloha

[00:35:38] Bryan Murphy: Mala for listening to this episode of Hawaii’s. Best to stay up to date on future episodes. Hit follow on your podcast app. Hawaii’s Best is a production of Shore break media group with editing by easy podcast solutions and music courtesy of our friends Stick figure.

[00:36:04] Stick Figure: Stop.