Waipi'o Valley is located on the wind ward shores of the island of Hawai'i. It has been described as "the way the Lord would have liked to fashion the Garden of Eden" by J.D. Bisignani, a travel writer, in his Big Island of Hawai'i Handbook, published in 1994 (193). Contrary to Bisignani, through my grandfather's eyes, Waipi'o Valley was a place of hard physical labor and long days.

The valley was home to many great Hawaiian chiefs. King Umialiloa planted taro like a commoner and fished with his own hands. Kamehameha the Great found solace and comfort here after heavy battles. He felt the valley was a source of "earthly and spiritual power" (197). Kamehameha fought one of his rivals, Keoua, just off the shore of the valley. They fought with artillery acquired by bartering with sea captains. Two sailors from those ships, Davis and Young, became trusted advisors to Kamehameha and helped him in conquering what became know as the "Battle of the Red- Mouthed Gun" (Bisignani 197).

Known for its majestic beauty, Waipi'o has enchanted all who have stepped foot on this rich fertile land, from the valley floor, which is fronted by a black sand beach, to the hills of the five waterfalls, Waiamea, Na'alapa, Nanaue, Papala, and Hi'ilawe. If you stood at the lookout, which gives a breathtaking view of the valley, you can see the outlines of garden terraces, taro patches, and fishponds. Every source of food once flourished in the valley. In times of famine it is said that the produce of the entire island could sustain the populace of the island of Hawai'i (193). At the time Captain Cook arrived, the population was 4000 plus. A century later, only 600 of these native Hawaiians remained (197). The decline of the population was due to common natural disasters such as flooding, which would wash away the crops of the farmers. In 1946 a tsunami swept away most of the homes, leaving the valley devastated. With just a handful of natives still living there, Bisignani wrote, Waipi'o is now a "neglected maiden with a dirty face and disheveled, windblown hair. Only love and nurturing can refresh her lingering beauty" (193).

Na mele (oral chants) told of Waipi'o from the time of the eleventh century. These chants were very important to the Hawaiian people because they preserved their legends, traditions, genealogies, and history. One mele, "Hi'ilawe," which is a waterfall in Waipi'o Valley, tells the story of a girl from Puna who has a love affair at Hi'ilawe waterfall in Waipi'o (Elbert and Mahoe 49).

In the early 1900's, Chinese and Japanese immigrants came to the valley to cultivate rice, grow taro and pursue their dreams. One of these immigrants was my great grandfather, Hin Chun. Hin Chun came to the Hawaiian Islands as a contract sugarcane worker from China. He worked for the sugar plantation for many years before his contract was fulfilled. When his obligation was finished, my great grandfather moved to Waipi'o to grow rice. Together with many other Chinese in the valley, he began the cultivation and harvesting of rice. My great grandfather wanted to farm his own land. In pursuit of his dream he returned to China to find a wife, and then returned to Waipi'o Valley to start his family, a family he would need to help farm the land. Gung Gung (as I know my grandfather) was born on June 22, 1918, the ninth child out of ten.

Gung Gung said that the planting of the rice was the hardest part of growing it. The work involved constantly standing in mud and water up to the knees bending over to plant the rice, a position which was not good for the back.

When it was time to harvest, the rice was cut in the morning. In the afternoon everyone would bundle the rice and take it to the mill where it would be threshed. Everyone had a job to do around the farm. The older and stronger the kids got, the more physical and intense their work became. If the children were too young to do heavy work, their job was to chase the pesky ricebirds away from the plants.

There were two crops of rice a year. Although the mill enhanced rice production, there was only one in the valley. The majority of the work was still done by human hands. Waipi'o rice depended solely upon water from the valley and was harvested by manpower. Because of this style of farming, the price of rice from Waipi'o was generally higher compared to the rice harvested on the mainland. The mainland had machines to help them in growing rice so that by the end of the day the harvest would be twice as much as Waipi'o Valley rice. People tasted a difference in the quality of Waipi'o rice compared to imported California rice, but because California was producing more rice and the cost was cheaper, people began buying California rice and lots of it.

What turned out to be Hin Chun's last crop was the one crop that filled the fields with what promised to make his family very wealthy. However, the weather in Waipi'o Valley was very unpredictable, and one rain washed away the efforts of Hin Chun's family and twenty-two men who had worked all day and night harvesting this prized crop. This dashed Hin Chun's dream of farming. It was at this point he told his children, There is no future in rice farming - you'd better go back to school" (Salmoiraghi and Yoshinaga 21). Hin Chun planted one more crop, saw his children back in school that next fall and died a few months later.

My Gung Gung finished high school in Hilo, as did his brothers and sisters. He eventually moved to Oahu where he worked at the Dole cannery and later went on to a trade school. He worked at Pearl Harbor until his retirement in the late '70s.

In 1946 a tidal wave hit Waipi'o and marked a turning point in everyone's lives. Several waves bombarded the valley and swept houses away, ruined crops, and terrified the people. Many natives moved out of the valley up to Kukuihaele, never to return. One observer noted, "Old man Nakanishi was white as a haole from fright. He got off his sandhill and climbed up the Pali trail and never went back into Waipi'o again" (27). The few families who stayed, worked together to rebuild their homes, crops, and restore the valley.

While people of today see Waipi'o Valley as a beautiful and historical tourist site, as a one time resident, my grandfather, will always remember his family struggling to make ends meet through hard work and extreme physical labor.

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