Candido Manatad - About Me
Hi! I am Candido Kaiya Kaleikaumaka Manatad IV. I come from Wāiahole, Oʻahu mai Koʻolaupoko. I was raised in the ocean from my baby days and have found a love like no other since. The makani I found for my favorite area of Wāiahole was the Kiliua, the numerous amounts of ua that I found for my area consist of Ua Kani Koʻo (the cane-tapping rain), Ua ʻApuakea (named after a women of Kahaluʻu), Ua Mololani (name of rain at Kahaluʻu) and Ua Pōʻaihala (the famous name which means the rains surrounding the pandanus).
The topic on mālama hōnua has grown on me during the past four years. During my first year in highschool I would constently hear the phrase “mālama hōnua” but it never really meant anything to me personally. I have always been an ecofriendly person due to the way I was raised but my whole perspective on mālama hōnua had changed during april in my sophomore year. I was presented with the opportunity to go to Tahiti with Hōkūleʻa and the world wide voyage. Before we embarked on the trip, we had to do research about the places we were going to see. This project had opened my eyes on how much we are impacting the hōnua. We waste so much and pollute not only our oceans but our air as well. This had opened my eyes to see how much we needed to take care of the place we call home. No matter the cost, we caused the distruction of this world and we need to do something to fix it. After my Sophomore year in high school I have taken my concept of mālama hōnua and have been trying to do my part as a kanaka to try to heal this earth. Simple actions can sometimes go a very long way and something as simple as picking up a piece of plastic could save a honu for mistaking it as food and digesting something that isnʻt meant for them.
One moʻolelo I would like to share that relates to Mālama Hōnua is one my grandfather used to tell me. First some background information on my grandfather. His name was Candido Manatad Jr. the second of candidos. He was raised is Wāiahole, ʻOʻahu and was born to be a fisherman. Through out his whole life he was raised near the ocean, just as I was. Learning the tides and the patterns the ocean followed. He always used to tell me a story about how he would catch the ʻia from the kai and trade it with a family from the uplands of Wāiahole who cultivated Kalo a staple food for our people. This would provide a wide range of foods, if a fisherman was only to catch and eat fish, he would only eat fish. If he chose to trade for different foods he would have an abundance of mea ʻai to choose from. This really hit home for me because people now days only know of the supermarkets, buying and cooking the food they bought. Many donʻt understand the process of catch their own food and creating something by their own hand. This also relates to another topic which is imports and exports. We pollute the oceans and air so much by importing and exporting goods, I understand that it build our economy and all of that but in reality the air and the ocean can only hold so much pollution. I want to try to contribute to give back to the place we call home.
The topic on mālama hōnua has grown on me during the past four years. During my first year in highschool I would constently hear the phrase “mālama hōnua” but it never really meant anything to me personally. I have always been an ecofriendly person due to the way I was raised but my whole perspective on mālama hōnua had changed during april in my sophomore year. I was presented with the opportunity to go to Tahiti with Hōkūleʻa and the world wide voyage. Before we embarked on the trip, we had to do research about the places we were going to see. This project had opened my eyes on how much we are impacting the hōnua. We waste so much and pollute not only our oceans but our air as well. This had opened my eyes to see how much we needed to take care of the place we call home. No matter the cost, we caused the distruction of this world and we need to do something to fix it. After my Sophomore year in high school I have taken my concept of mālama hōnua and have been trying to do my part as a kanaka to try to heal this earth. Simple actions can sometimes go a very long way and something as simple as picking up a piece of plastic could save a honu for mistaking it as food and digesting something that isnʻt meant for them.
One moʻolelo I would like to share that relates to Mālama Hōnua is one my grandfather used to tell me. First some background information on my grandfather. His name was Candido Manatad Jr. the second of candidos. He was raised is Wāiahole, ʻOʻahu and was born to be a fisherman. Through out his whole life he was raised near the ocean, just as I was. Learning the tides and the patterns the ocean followed. He always used to tell me a story about how he would catch the ʻia from the kai and trade it with a family from the uplands of Wāiahole who cultivated Kalo a staple food for our people. This would provide a wide range of foods, if a fisherman was only to catch and eat fish, he would only eat fish. If he chose to trade for different foods he would have an abundance of mea ʻai to choose from. This really hit home for me because people now days only know of the supermarkets, buying and cooking the food they bought. Many donʻt understand the process of catch their own food and creating something by their own hand. This also relates to another topic which is imports and exports. We pollute the oceans and air so much by importing and exporting goods, I understand that it build our economy and all of that but in reality the air and the ocean can only hold so much pollution. I want to try to contribute to give back to the place we call home.