Moʻi Itutaua hails from Lualualei on the west coast of Oʻahu. Doing some genealogy work led Moʻi to consider a career as a Hawaiian Studies teacher. But her passion is writing. An assignment in her creative writing class was to write about a childhood memory. Summers in Mākaha is the delightful result. Written in Hawaiʻi Creole English (called “pidgin” by its speakers), this poem won a Ka ʻUmeke Kāʻeo Native Hawaiian Writing Achievement Award in Fall 2013.
Credits: video by Rokki Midro, feature post photo courtesy of Kahoʻolemana Naone