Hawaiian Legacy Foundation: Eddie & Myrna Kamae

B-roll footage of Waipiʻo and interviews with Eddie Thomas and Reverend Roy Toko 5/4/87

Interviews with Eddie Thomas and Reverend Roy Toko recorded separately in Waipiʻo Valley on May 4, 1987 for the documentary "Liʻa: The Legacy of a Hawaiian Man." The first half of the video includes scenic b-roll footage of Hiʻilawe and Hakalaoa waterfalls; a flowing stream; and misty mountains. Next is the interview with Thomas, the grandson who is also a hānai (adopted child) son of Sam Liʻa Kalainaina. In the interview Thomas points out coconut trees which mark where he and his grandfather were raised; shares stories of growing up in Waipiʻo with his grandfather; a story of his younger years when Kalainaina went off the pali (cliff) with his horse named Kanekapio; and how Kalainaina would be tied to his horse after drinking ʻōkolehao (liquor distilled from tī root in a still of the same name meaning "iron bottom"). Reverend Roy Toko talks about growing up with his grandfather in Waipiʻo Valley and Kalainaina being the song leader and taking them to Honolulu for a song contest, in which they won first place. The end of the video is an audio recording of the Lāhaināluna School Boarders Chorus of 1956 singing the school's Alma Mater.

This has been a small clip of the full video available. For more information about this title and the materials associated with it, please contact the archive.