Hawaiian Legacy Foundation: Eddie & Myrna Kamae

Interview with Eddie Kamae about Sam Liʻa; 1987 tape 1

Interview with Eddie Kamae recorded on Hawaiʻi Island in 1987 for the documentary "Liʻa: The Legacy of a Hawaiian Man." This video contains several takes of Kamae saying dialogue for the documentary. First Kamae tells a story about how Sam Liʻa Kalainaina came to work for the newspaper Hawaiʻi Tribune Herald, rather than returning to school at Lahainaluna High School. Kamae also shares how Kalainaina wrote Heha Waipiʻo for his friend from school, Joe Perez, for his wedding day. The last stories are about how when Kalainaina first heard a fiddle being played by serenaders who came to his father's house in Waipiʻo, this inspired him to make his own fiddle out of bamboo; how his brother-in-law gave him a violin; how Kalainaina used mango wax for his fiddle; and Mary Kawena Pukui's reaction when Kamae shared lyrics written by Kalainaina with her. Kamae is interviewed by Boone Morrison as he sits on a rocking chair with Kalainaina's violin.

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.