Hawaiian Fishing Traditions celebrates the great fishers of ancient Hawai'i, known for attracting and propagating fish, inventing fishing techniques, and bringing in extraordinary catches. The most famous of these fishers was Kû'ula-kai, who became deified as an 'aumakua (god) of fishing because of his power to control fish. He built a fishpond in Hâna to keep the ali'i and the people continuously supplied with seafood. His son 'Ai'ai continued his father's good work by locating offshore fishing grounds called ko'a, teaching people how to catch fish, and telling them to practice conservation and to distribute the catch generously. He estabished fishing shrines, also called ko'a, and told fishers to offer the first fish to his father and mother as thanks-giving, to insure a good supply, and to lift the kapu on the catch and free it for consumption.

The book layout is in Hawaiian and English text together on facing pages. It is a book of traditional Hawaiian fishing methods for different types of fish found in Hawaiian waters.

This book provides a lot of information on the importance of fishing in ancient Hawaiian society. It includes drawings of fish with both Hawaiian and scientific names.

This book is intended as a general introduction to the ethnobotany of the Hawaiians and as such it presumes, on the part of the reader, little background in either botany or Hawaiian ethnology. It describes the plants themselves, whether cultivated or brought from the forests, streams, or ocean, as well as the modes of cultivation and collection. It discusses the preparation and uses of the plant materials, and the methods employed in building houses and making canoes, wearing apparel, and the many other artifacts that were part of the material culture associated with this farming and fishing people.

The word kua‘âina translates literally as "back land" or "back country." Davianna Pômaika‘i McGregor grew up hearing it as a reference to an awkward or unsophisticated person from the country. However, in the context of the Native Hawaiian cultural renaissance of the late twentieth century, kua‘âina came to refer to those who actively lived Hawaiian culture and kept the spirit of the land alive. The mo‘olelo (oral traditions) recounted in this book reveal how kua‘âina have enabled Native Hawaiians to endure as a unique and dignified people after more than a century of American subjugation and control. The stories are set in rural communities or cultural kîpuka—oases from which traditional Native Hawaiian culture can be regenerated and revitalized. By focusing in turn on an island (Moloka‘i), moku (the districts of Hana, Maui, and Puna, Hawai‘i), and an ahupua‘a (Waipi‘io, Hawai‘i), McGregor examines kua‘âina life ways within distinct traditional land use regimes. The ‘òlelo no‘eau (descriptive proverbs and poetical sayings) for which each area is famous are interpreted, offering valuable insights into the place and its overall role in the cultural practices of Native Hawaiians. Discussion of the landscape and its settlement, the deities who dwelt there, and its rulers is followed by a review of the effects of westernization on kua‘âina in the nineteenth century. McGregor then provides an overview of social and economic changes through the end of the twentieth century and of the elements of continuity still evident in the lives of kua‘âina. The final chapter on Kaho‘olawe demonstrates how kua‘âina from the cultural kîpuka under study have been instrumental in restoring the natural and cultural resources of the island.

This volume celebrates the great fishers of ancient Hawai'i, known for attracting and propagating fish, inventing fishing techniques, and bringing in extraordinary catches.

The primary focus of this manual is on fishpond production benefits as an economic outcome, but we also hope that revived interest in traditional fishponds creates opportunities for potential new science curriculums for Hawai'i's youth.