Hilo, My Hometown

Everyone needs a hometown. That nest full of familiar places where you know the shortcuts to get somewhere fast, even if it means trespassing or jumping a couple of fences. The place where there are people who knew your parents before they met. Where you can close your eyes and recall the sights and sounds of your best memories, and where your children and grandchildren wish they lived now even though they have high-paying jobs and big houses somewhere else.

WHERE I LIVE… HILO, HAWAII

There is something very humbling about living in a place that is on many people’s bucket lists. Living in a vacation destination like Hawaii, I’ve seen the best and worst of tourism and its effects on those of us who are living our daily lives in the place travelers have chosen to visit.

The Hawaiian archipelago is made up of eight main islands that are the most isolated population centers anywhere in the world, and Hawaii is at the top of the Polynesian Triangle with Aotearoa (New Zealand) and Rapa Nui (Easter Island) at the bottom. It’s about 2,400 miles to the mainland U.S. and 4,000 miles to Japan. The shortest flight to the nearest airport outside of the State of Hawaii will take you a little more than five hours flying over ocean.

Hilo is the name of my hometown on the Island of Hawaii, also nicknamed the Big Island because it is larger than all of the other islands combined. There are two main towns on the island – Hilo on the eastern side and Kona on the western side. Neither of these towns are big enough to be called a city, and the entire island is considered rural.

I’ve lived in other places during my life, mostly in Southern California. I can honestly say that I enjoyed living wherever I’ve been planted, but there is no place like my hometown of Hilo. I hope you’ll agree.

THE ANCIENT HISTORY…

If it’s humbling to be on somebody’s bucket list, then it’s really humbling to know that my Native Hawaiian ancestors have lived in Hilo for 900 years. That’s right. Nine centuries.

Archaeologists estimate that the first Polynesians landed in Hilo about 1100 AD, and my mo'okū'auhau (genealogy) says that I descend from some of those on the first canoes.

I often wonder where my ancient ones walked. Did they climb the hill near my house? They swam in the same ocean and inhabited the bare earth under today’s concrete and asphalt. Where are their bones buried? What did they love about Hilo?

Isolated from the western world, the evolution of European nations, and scientific discoveries, how did the ancient ones develop such a thriving sustainable society without foreign contact until the end of the 18th century?

The word ‘Hilo’ (pronounced HEE-low) has several meanings in ‘Olelo Hawai'i (the Hawaiian language). Hilo was a famous Hawaiian navigator. Hilo also means ‘twisted or braided’. But the most well-known meaning is that the name Hilo is given to the first night of the new moon.

Ancient Hawaiians understood that the moon had a definite effect on the ocean and tides. Hilo is the very first night when a sliver of moonlight can be seen after Muku, the final night of the lunar phase when the moon is completely dark and rebuilding her energy. Traditionally, the day and night of the Hilo moon was thought to be good for deep sea fishing but not for reef fishing. It was also considered a good time to gather below-ground roots and vegetables.

THE LAND AND CLIMATE…

The town of Hilo lays sprawling at the feet of Mauna Kea, the tallest mountain in the State of Hawaii. Most of Hilo is built just a few feet above sea level, and that has cost it dearly over the past century. Hilo experienced three devastating tsunamis – in 1946, 1960 and 1975 that wiped out much of Downtown Hilo and killed a total of 222 people. There is now a Tsunami Warning System that tracks earthquakes and tsunamis in the Pacific, but all you can really do when a tsunami is imminent is to get to higher ground.

All of the Hawaiian islands are of volcanic origin. That means underwater volcanoes erupted over millions of years until the lava rose above sea level and formed islands. The island I live on is the youngest of the Hawaiian islands. Even as I write this, Kilauea Volcano about 30 miles away is erupting fresh hot lava although it is remaining in the crater and not flowing out. As recently as 2018, a lava flow in a neighboring district flowed downhill to the ocean destroying over 700 homes in its path. Lava has not flowed into the Hilo district since 1984, although that flow didn’t destroy homes or lives. But there are three volcanoes on the Big Island and they are considered dormant but not dead. That means that they are likely to erupt again at some time in the future. Mauna Kea hasn’t erupted in 4,500 years but scientists predict that she will again, although it is impossible to know when. People in Hilo have reverence for our volcanoes, but don’t live in fear of them. We realize that there are many things we don’t control in life, and volcanic eruptions is one of them.

Some of Hilo is built on lava flows that happened in the 19th century. You will be disappointed if you want to see white sand beaches in Hilo. They aren’t here. Our beaches and shorelines are rocky and have black sand, which is just lava that has worn down over time. They offer a unique beauty not found in many parts of the world.

Hilo is known for her prolific rains, which keep a carpet of lush green foliage throughout the Hilo district. In the Hawaiian language, Hilo’s mist-like rain is known as ka ua kani lehua (the rain that rustles lehua blossoms).

Hawaii doesn’t have the four seasons. We have a rainy season and a dry season when it tends to rain less, although our high mountains catch gathering rain clouds and break them open. Hilo gets about 127 inches of rain per year. Some say that Hilo is the rainiest place in the U.S., but I’ve never felt that way living here and I don’t see rain as a negative. Hilo has good drainage with its porous lava underbelly, and the aquifers on our island are full of fresh water renewed constantly. The rain happens often at night, and when the day begins with rain it often ends with sunshine. Another nickname for the Big Island is the Orchid Isle because of the orchids that grow profusely here on the roadside and in the wild. I love the Hilo rain because it brings flowers and rainbows.

THE PEOPLE...

Since Hilo faces the east, we get the gorgeous sunrises in the morning. I think this must be the reason that Hiloans are traditionally early- risers. We wake up with the sun and sometimes…before.

We’re not afraid of hard work and physical labor. In the 19th and 20th centuries immigrants came from China, Japan, the Philippines, Korea and Portugal to work in the sugar plantations in Hilo and other plantation towns that still dot the landscape around the island. Each town has an old rusting hulk of a sugar refinery somewhere within it. A stark memory of when sugar was king, and cloudy smoke belched out into the tropic breezes.

Together, the people of Hilo have triumphed over natural disasters like lava flows, tidal waves, tsunami and earthquakes, and have rebuilt their seaside neighborhoods many times over.

Surviving nature’s destruction and rebuilding over the years, the people of Hilo are known to be tenacious and scrappy, with a “live and let live” attitude. They dive into the ocean from the lava-rock beaches. Daily life continues while the volcano erupts a short drive away. Children play soccer and adults run marathons regardless of the rain. But in the midst of all of this, you are unlikely to hear a car horn here, because Hilo drivers are known for their polite driving habits and consider it rude to honk your horn.

But along with our scrappiness, comes an attitude that is not dependent on tourism. There are beautiful tourist-centric cities in Hawaii where the entire town turns towards visitors and tourism is a compelling part of the city budget. Hilo isn't like that for the most part.

We do have some professional tours that will take visitors to the volcano or out for ocean sports. We have no professional luau shows targeting tourists. There's no shortage of hula dancers in Hilo. If you connect with a Hilo family, they're more likely to invite you to their house for dinner. Then after dinner, they'll pull out the ukulele and guitars and sing and dance to Hawaiian music. On their own time. In their own way. No charge. That's Hilo.

THE CULTURE

Hilo is a multi-racial and multi-cultural community. When the plantations brought in workers for the fields, they segregated them by the country they came from into “camps”. This was done to simplify life because of the language barriers. But eventually, people intermarried and racial lines blurred and became less of an issue with the passage of time.

When I say “multi-racial and multi-cultural”, I’m referring to a mix of the original races that immigrated to Hawaii as Christian missionaries, throughout the 19th century and to work on the sugar plantations. We don’t have a large mix of African Americans, Hispanics or Middle Eastern people. Hiloans are primarily mixed Hawaiian, Asian and Caucasian. I am Hawaiian-Chinese-French.

We celebrate Chinese New Year. It’s one of the days in Hawaii where you can legally do fireworks. We celebrate Girls’ Day on March 3 which is a Japanese holiday known as Hinamatsuri. On May 5, we celebrate Boys’ Day, another Japanese holiday known as Tango no Sekku. You will see large fabric carp banners flying in front of homes to represent how many boys they have in their family. Portuguese Day in the Park is an annual event honoring those from Portugal who settled in Hilo and have made it a better place.

Although Hilo is multi-cultural, there has always been a realization that there is a native culture that predominates and has woven itself into every other culture on the islands. Generations of Hilo natives have become “keepers of the flame” with a focus on preserving Native Hawaiian culture and language.

Hilo’s largest annual event is the Merrie Monarch Hula Festival held in the spring when thousands of visitors travel from around the globe to Hilo. Hilo’s population easily doubles during the week-long festival. If you want to see authentic hula, then come to Merrie Monarch where dozens of hula hālau (hula schools), consisting of both men and women, come to compete in hula. Craft fairs and booths are on every corner, and they feature traditional Hawaiian products. The smell of flower lei lingers in the air during that entire week. And on Saturday of Merrie Monarch Week, there is a large parade that winds through Hilo Town.

Hawaii is the only state to formally recognize two official languages - English and Hawaiian. In 1984, Native Hawaiians pushed to begin state-funded Punana Leo preschools that are taught completely in the Hawaiian language. Hilo was one of the first sites to start up.

Today there are K-12 schools that offer Hawaiian immersion programs throughout the state.

The University of Hawaii’s Hilo campus is well-known for its Hawaiian Studies program, and was the first university in the nation to award a doctorate in an indigenous language.

On the slopes of Mauna Kea, Native Hawaiians blocked the access road for months recently in opposition to the building of a thirty-meter telescope on the summit that they consider sacred ground. A thirty-meter telescope would be three football fields long and would dominate the summit.

Native Hawaiian activism and cultural advocacy is alive and well in Hilo.

WHAT IS THERE TO DO IN HILO?

There are lots of activities in Hilo. Most of them are outdoor activities, sports, cultural events and family-based or church-centered activities. Family-based means whoever you love and call your family. The word for that in Hawaiian is 'ohana. Many people have traveled to Hawaii, decided to stay and live here, and don't have blood relatives. But they have lots of family in Hilo.

If you don't attend a church, there are lots of clubs and social gatherings for people who have common interests like gardening, or maybe just orchids. There are service clubs and school-based events for children and parents. Being a University town, Hilo always has things going on there for the community.

Here's a pictoral rundown of some of the places to go in and around Hilo that I haven't already mentioned.

Ua pau…

This is the way to say…it’s over. I’m done. The end.

But with 900 years of history behind it, Hilo will never end. It will live on in the next generation and the generation after that.

I hope you can sense how much I love my hometown of Hilo. It is a part of me and I of it.

It’s not a perfect place. Nowhere is. We have a growing homeless problem. The prices for gas and food are too high. Many locals can’t afford to buy a home, so we have people from other states moving to Hilo because $400,000 is affordable for them but not for us. So there are challenges.

But the mana of Hilo, the spirit of Hilo, is maika'i loa. It is very, very good…