All in the
‘OHAnA
Meet 3 cultural practitioners who are
keeping native Hawaiian traditions alive
BY RACHEL NG
T
he past few years have seen a renewed interest in traveling more
authentically and learning about indigenous cultures in a more
nuanced, respectful way. Here in the Islands, native Hawaiian cul-
tural practitioners, such as those who work at three Four Seasons
resorts, are at the forefront of hospitality leaders’ efforts to offer
guests hands-on experiences in traditions such as ‘ōlelo Hawai‘i (the Hawaiian
language), lauhala weaving, lei making, mele oli (Hawaiian chant), mele hula, and
outrigger canoeing. So much more than a tourism catchphrase, the aloha spirit is
alive and well because there are ‘ohana who nurture it. Meet Earl Kamakaonaona
Regidor, Pi‘iali‘i Lawson, and Wendy Tuivaioge—cultural ambassadors on Hawai‘i
Island, O‘ahu, and Maui, respectively, who are keeping the flame alive.
JOSHUA FLETCHER (2)
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Hawai‘i Island
“UNCLE” EARL
KAMAKAONAONA
REGIDOR
Manager (recently retired), Ka‘ūpūlehu Cultural
Center, Four Seasons Resort Hualālai
U
ntil last December, the man affectionally known as Uncle Earl had
been a familiar presence at the AAA Five Diamond Four Seasons
Resort Hualālai for nearly 3 decades. Guests may have heard his
velvety vocals and joyful ‘ukulele in the lobby or witnessed him blowing a
pū (conch shell) during a torch-lighting ceremony at sunset. As manager
of the resort’s on-site Ka‘ūpūlehu Cultural Center, Regidor helped design
cultural activities and programs ranging from feather tying to oli to quilting.
“You can never teach aloha from a book—it comes from within,” he says.
“Our guests want to be immersed in the culture, and they want authentic-
ity. Here at the cultural center, we try to show our visitors the real side of
Hawai‘i’s culture versus the glitz and glamour of the cellophane hula skirts.”
Regidor’s exposure to Hawaiian culture began at a young age. His father,
John, had emigrated from the Philippines to Hawai‘i Island in 1919 to work at the Hamakua Sugar
Plantation, where he met and married Mary Mahuna, a full-blooded native Hawaiian. The youngest of Save
12 children, Regidor was born and raised in Pa‘auilo, a former sugar plantation town on the pristine
Hāmākua Coast. He recalls listening at age 10 to his mother talk story about her youth. In high school,
the Date
Regidor spent a lot of time with his mother’s brother. “He taught me a lot of Hawaiian values. One of APRIL 9–15
them is, of course, aloha. If one doesn’t have aloha in them, it makes it difficult for them to share true Merrie Monarch
and genuine aloha. Second is ‘ohana—the importance of family, respect, being able to work together, Festival
respect of not only a person but the land that we are mere stewards of.” Now in its 60th year,
After high school, Regidor enlisted in the Navy and served 2 tours in Vietnam before returning to the weeklong festival
Pa‘auilo to work at the sugar plantation. He earned a teaching degree at the University of Hawai‘i at features world-class
Hilo and taught physical education and Hawaiian culture at Hōnaunau Hale O Ho‘oponopono, the hula competition,
Alternative Learning Center of Kamehameha Schools. After the center closed in 1996, Regidor applied an arts and crafts
for a job at the newly developed Hualālai Resort. He hired on as a security guard and was quickly pro- fair, cultural
moted to work as a mea ho‘okipa (hospitality ambassador) at what is now the Ka‘ūpūlehu Cultural demonstrations, and
Center. Instead of teaching children, Regidor imparted his knowledge of Hawaiian culture to interna- a parade. Various
tional and domestic visitors of all ages. locations in Hilo.
After 26 years with Four Seasons, Regidor, 73, passed the torch to Hawai‘i-born Kaaiohelo McAfee-
Torco—but his impact on guests will undoubtedly endure. “I would love for the guests to take that
aloha spirit back and share it with their family and friends,” he says. “And maybe someday this aloha
spirit will encompass this beautiful planet we call Earth.”
“THE ISLAND OF HAWAI‘I IS STILL ALIVE. IT BREATHES.
THE ENERGY HERE IS SO DIFFERENT.”
_ "Uncle" Earl Kamakaonaona Regidor
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 O‘ahu
PI‘IALI‘I LAWSON
Master weaver and ancestral spiritual healer,
Four Seasons Resort O‘ahu at Ko Olina
S
porting a dapper hat and a laid-back vibe,
Pi‘iali‘i Lawson comes off more like a cool
braddah you’d have a craft beer with than
a kumu (teacher) of one of the most timeless
Hawaiian traditions. At 37, Lawson is already a
respected master of ulana lauhala (pandanus
weaving) and a Hawaiian cultural practitioner
who has taught all over Hawai‘i, the mainland,
Japan, Germany, and the Netherlands.
For Lawson, weaving is more than just creat-
ing a beautiful handicraft. “It’s also very compli-
cated,” he says. “And the more frustrated you
get, the lauhala might break and you’re going
to get even more frustrated. It really teaches
Save patience. Lauhala weaving is a medium to really
understand yourself.”
the Date Born and raised in Wai‘anae, Lawson grew up
accompanying his father when he went fishing
JUNE 10
for manini or weke, diving for he‘e (octopus),
King and hunting wild boars. “My dad learned how to
Kamehameha fish and hunt from his elders and continued that
Celebration way of life providing for our family,” he says. “A
Floral Parade lot of what we ate came from my dad’s catch.
This King Much of what I remember as a child is accompa-
Kamehameha Day nying him as he took me and my brothers with
parade of floats, him, most of the time, either to the mountain
dancers, and pa‘u or the sea.” But other than studying Hawaiian
riders (female in high school, Lawson says, he wasn’t as con-
horseback riders) nected as he could have been to his cultural
begins at ‘Iolani heritage. It wasn’t until his college years, when
Palace and ends he spent his summers with his late grand-uncle
at Kapi‘olani Kia, that he got serious about learning the fam-
Regional Park. ily’s weaving traditions.
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“EVERY PART OF O‘AHU
Under grand-uncle Kia’s careful guidance,
Lawson received lessons on ulana lauhala.
“It’s a kind of master apprenticeship, where he
IS LIKE A MELTING POT,
would be weaving and I would sit behind him
and watch,” Lawson says. “Then he would hand
AND THERE ARE SO
it to me and say, ‘Okay, now you do it.’ This way
of learning was very ancestral.”
MANY OPPORTUNITIES
Like many Hawaiians who were born after
TO EXPLORE CULTURE.”
the Second Hawaiian Renaissance, a period
of political and cultural rebirth in the 1960s
_P i‘iali‘i Lawson
and ’70s, Lawson knows just how important it
is to learn about and preserve Hawaiian culture
and traditions.
“My grandmother grew up in the generation
where people could get beaten for speaking the
Hawaiian language,” he says. “So when she saw
me getting into Hawaiian culture, she was so
happy because she felt like she wasn’t able to.
By me getting deeper into learning about the
Hawaiian culture, it also helped bring a little bit
of healing to that loss for her, that her grand-
COURTESY FOUR SEASONS RESORT O‘AHU AT KO OLINA (2)
child can now continue that.”
Today, as the resident lauhala practitioner
at the AAA Four Diamond Four Seasons Resort
O‘ahu at Ko Olina, Lawson leads lauhala weaving
workshops for hotel guests.
“They’re learning about the plant,” he says.
“They’re engaging, and they’re moving their
hands. But a lot of my teaching is also diving
into the spirituality behind our culture. My abil-
ity is to allow people to really get a deeper
understanding, appreciation, and respect of
our culture.”
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 Maui
“AUNTY” WENDY
TUIVAIOGE
Director of Hawaiian Programs,
Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea

T Save
hreading purple orchids and ti leaves into a lei, the woman known to folks at the Maui resort
as Aunty Wendy pauses. Then she explains to hotel guests the significance of ti leaves in
Hawaiian culture—that they bring about blessings and protections. As the director of Hawaiian
programs at the Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea, Tuivaioge oversees cultural activities and
the Date
curates programs for May Day, King Kamehameha Day, and Aloha Week. During the height of the SEPTEMBER–
pandemic, Tuivaioge created a “Live Aloha” series at the AAA Five Diamond hotel that included rare OCTOBER
opportunities to observe a traditional hula practice led by her kumu hula, Kamaka Kukona. “Even as Festivals
the resort’s cultural ambassador, I have protocols that I follow to be as authentic as possible,” she of Aloha
says. “Being a haumāna [student of hula], I had to get permission from my kumu hula to teach hula This multi-week
lessons to our resort guests. I have to share with him what I will be teaching, and I get suggestions festival features
to better the authentic experience for the guests.” cultural exhibits,
For Tuivaioge, imparting her knowledge of Hawaiian culture in a genuine way is her kuleana an artisan and craft
(responsibility). Unlike her paternal grandparents, who were forbidden from speaking Hawaiian in market, ‘ukulele
public, Tuivaioge, who is half Hawaiian (she also has Chinese and Portuguese ancestry), grew up performances,
during the Second Hawaiian Renaissance. “There was a time in our history when the Hawaiian culture hula, and parades.
was looked down upon,” says Tuivaioge. “A lot of things were banned because they were thought to Various locations
be pagan; hula had to go underground. People from that generation passed on all this knowledge throughout Maui.
to us. If we don’t teach it, if we don’t take the responsibility as kūpuna [keepers of ancestral knowl-
edge], it could fade away again.”
Tuivaioge, 61, has been employed in the tourism industry for more than 3 decades, working her
way up from a Four Seasons concierge to director of Hawaiian programs in 2022. A trained hula
dancer and chanter, she sought to dispel the outdated images of dancing girls in cellophane skirts
made famous in Elvis Presley movies. “Hula dancing is more than just pretty movements,” she says.
“Every hand motion, every facial expression has a meaning. A lot of guests will tell me that they didn’t
realize how much emotion goes into the hula itself, that they can feel it when you’re dancing. When
they feel it, that’s something that they carry with them. It makes them remember.”

“HERE ON THE VALLEY ISLE IS WHERE OUR PEOPLE DWELL

AND THRIVE. THIS IS MY MANA‘O [PURPOSE].”
FLORA HANITIJO (2)

_A
" unty " Wendy Tuivaioge

RACHEL NG is an award-winning food and travel writer based in Volcano, Hawai‘i.

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