Post #469791 by Aaron's Akua on Fri, Jul 17, 2009 4:45 PM

- Talkin' Story -

So one day in Kauai we decided to drive up and see Waimea Canyon...

It's a really beautiful drive with lots of lookout points along the way. Well worth the trip.

Driving back down the grade, we found a shady picnic area where we could sit & have some beer & grinds from the cooler. All the other covered picnic spots were taken, and everyone there appeared to be locals (no tourists but us). One spot had a family gathering, and deer meat was hanging in bags off the rafters. At another spot was a small family cooking on a hibachi, and the other had a group of Hawaiian guys in Cammos & t-shirts drinking beer, cooking stew, and listening to country music playing loudly from the truck stereo. The truck had a wild boar sticker in the back window. They looked for the most part like redneck hunters, except, well... Hawaiian.

By that time we had been used to being surrounded by Haole Tourists like ourselves, but figured what the heck and grabbed a nearby table. Everybody said Aloha, Howzit, etc. as we walked by. Very friendly.

We're having lunch and one of the hunters walks over with a big bowl of Mulligan Stew (with portugese sausage - tasty!) and says hey, you gotta try some of this. So we started eating and talking and a few others came over and soon everyone was drinking beers and talkin' story. These guys come up the canyon to hunt wild boars and goats, but today they were just there to hang out and beat the heat. It's a good 10 degrees cooler up in the Canyon vs. down at the Beach. I asked the first guy (named "Chief") why I hadn't seen any Hawaiians carving tikis in all of our island trips, only Tongans. He got a serious look for a moment and said that they saw it as bad mojo, kind of like voodoo. He said in the old days the tikis were very powerful and could ward off bad stuff. In the old times there were powerful Kahunas that could kill you just by staring at you, he said. The tikis eventually lost their potency, though. You could surround your house with them and they would still would not protect you from evil.

(I'll insert my own theory here, which is that Hawaiians are a largely Christian group now, and the original Missionary taboo placed on idol worship is so ingrained now that carving tikis, even to sell to tourists, is generally distasteful. The Tongans have no such qualms though, so they are the only game in town. Of course I could be totally wrong on that. But I digress...)

I asked Chief if he knew of any Hawaiian carvers. He thought for a moment, then said "Go see Uncle Larry". Uncle Larry, he said, was an old Filipino carver that lives in Waimea town, who carves tikis. "Go down to the low income housing just behind the Subway sandwich shop and ask for him", he said. "Everybody knows him..."

The stew was delicious, so we returned the favor and gave them some cookies. They offered us some mangoes, but I told them we had just bought some at a stand up at the Canyon Lookout. They all cracked up and said "You paid for those? You can pick 'em!!!" We all laughed & said our goodbyes before heading on down the windy canyon road. I felt a bit bad leaving so soon. These folks were genuinely nice.

We had stuff to do that day so we headed back to our side of the island. My wife, who knows me well, said "You're gonna go find Uncle Larry, aren't you"?

He-he! You know it!!

So a couple of days later we found ourselves alone with a whole day to kill (my son was at the "Keike Aloha" kid's program at the Sheraton that day). Of course, you can guess where I was headed. Nina looked a bit dubious about asking around the low income housing complex looking for Uncle Larry, but she's a good sport and generally humors me when I get on a roll.

So we found the Subway shop, and I asked the lady who worked there. She said "Sure, I'll show you where he lives". We walked around back (leaving the store unattended), and she pointed out the place.

Well, it didn't look so bad. Pretty homey, and not the type of place you'd associate with "low-income housing". And the beach was just a block down. I could live there!

There was plenty of evidence of a carver, but evidently no Uncle Larry.

Some old ladies sitting outside their units across the way said "Go walk down to the beach. Uncle Larry said if anyone stops by tell 'em he's down there".

Okay, now we're in business! So we strolled down to the beach, and getting closer, heard that familiar "tok-tok-tok" that can only mean one thing.

Uncle Larry's a kindly old soul. We walked up and introduced ourselves, told him that I'm a tiki Carver of sorts, and that Chief had sent us over. Old Larry didn't mind us stopping by at all. We talked about carving and how we both like to do different stuff, tools, sharpening, etc. Larry has been around for 70 years and has been carving tikis for about 50 or so of them. He's missing a few teeth but seems pretty spry for his age. He says carving keeps him young.

He's got a pretty nice spot where he carves outdoors on the beach. He says he gets his inspiration from the beach, the sky, and the scenery. He say's he wouldn't live anywhere else, especially not the other (busier) side of the island. "You can hear yourself think here!"

He's got a bunch of Monkeypod wood laying around and nobody messes with his stuff. I gotta say, Kauai seems like an especially laid back and friendly island.

Dig these tools. How many tikis has that mallot seen? He fabricated the chisel himself - it's homemade! Nice.

That was a monkeypod bowl he had just started. I asked him if he had any finished tikis to show, but he said they all sell as soon as he carves them. Nowadays he only carves here and there, when he feels like it. He doesn't get much done very quickly. (Hmmm, sounds like me!).

One of his friends chimed in. "Go down to the Museum down the street - he's got one in there".

His other friend told us about a really big tiki that Uncle Larry carved which sits out in the park at the Public Beach in Kapa'a (That's on the other "busier" side of the island).

So we said goodbye and promised to stop by next time we make it out to Kauai.

Next we headed down the street to the Museum which is also a visitor's center. Here's Larry's tiki. I'm not sure how long ago he carved it, but it is a showcase piece. In fact it was in a showcase, but I tried to get some decent pictures for you guys in spite of the glare on the glass.

A few days later we were driving over to Hanalei Bay on the opposite side of the island. We were driving past Kapa'a Public Beach so we took a side trip to see Uncle Larry's big tiki. Here's the beach.

And here is the big tiki out by the beach park pathway, nicely weathered. It looks like it's been there a while.

I always try to look up the local carvers when I visit the islands. You can learn lots from them, and Uncle Larry was no exception. If ever in Kauai, visit Waimea Beach and look him up. He loves to talk story.

That's the end of my longwinded tale, hope you enjoyed!

Aloha!

A-A