Aloha! We have three guides to this beautiful place:

Carlos Andrade is a Hawaiian native to Kaua‘i, where his ancestors have lived for hundreds of generations. Carlos is a navigator, musician, taro farmer, and long-time acquaintance of Ha‘ena and its people. He is part of an organization working to restore Ha‘ena as a modern version of a working ahupua‘a. Carlos has sailed on the Hokule‘a and is now a professor of Hawaiian Studies at the University of Hawai‘i, Manoa campus.

Charles "Chipper" Wichman, Jr. comes from an old kama‘aina family in Ha‘ena. His ancestors have lived in Ha‘ena for five generations. in 1976 Chipper's grandmother Mrs. Juliet Rice Wichman gifted the lower portion of Limahuli Valley, the larger of two valleys comprising Ha‘ena, to be a National Tropical Botanical Garden. It is now known as "Limahuli Garden," and is directed by Chipper, who earned a Masters Degree in botany.

Samson Mahuiki was born and raised in Ha‘ena. A Native Hawaiian whose ancestors have also lived on Kaua‘i for hundreds of generations, Samson worked cattle in Ha‘ena and along the Na Pali Coast. His family was part of the Hui Ku‘ai Aina--a group of tenants who collectively bought and managed most of the ahupua‘a from 1872 to 1967. Samson is a deacon of the church in Hanalei and continues to farm taro in the area.

We are pleased to have further assistance from two other persons: Carol Silva, whose historical study of Ha‘ena has been enormously important to the our understanding of Ha‘ena; and Frederick Wichman, whose shared with us his written material on Kaua‘i legends and also spoke with us about traditions of Kaua‘i and Ha‘ena.

Carlos, Chipper and Samson give us first-person insight into life and legend in Ha‘ena, past and present. Their stories and knowledge are supplemented by historical records, maps, photographs, and contemporary writings, as well as insights on Hawaiian life and culture from the writings of Mary Kawena Pukui and Samuel Manaiakalani Kamakau.

Pacific Worlds welcomes you to explore this beautiful place through a series of eight thematic topics. Within each of these, you will find short, focused sections exploring particular aspects within that theme. Provided also are bibliographies and links to external sites that will teach you more about the topics discussed.