Mauna Kea Oral History Appendix - Office of Mauna Kea Management

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Hmm. When you worked out Ke‘ämoku, you were living there, or you’d go out for the day
only
Only day.
Was someone still living out there
Not now, but used to have.
Yes. So when you were working out there
Yes, fence men and Filipinos who used to dig the grass.
The grass was for clean up, control, or for replant
For take out this fountain grass.
So that was their job
Yes.
They were out there…
Day in, day out.
Pull up the fountain grass
Yes. Had some Japanese men there, they would repair the fences. We had mostly
Japanese men in the out-stations for repair fences.
Ahh.
They had so many Japanese men stay, maybe three or four, all over.
Ahh.
When we drive big paddocks like that, they get horses, they come help us drive too.
‘Ae. Well I guess before, everyone kökua
Yes, everyone kökua, and everyone had a horse too. The only guy I can remember from
Parker Ranch, who worked fence, had one Portuguese guy, Manuel Vierra. He’d carry all
the blocks, his wire, and this guy, old Sam Purdy. He worked with the shovel and ‘ö‘ö, he
walked in the front. This guy, no matter how far they go from Waimea. They used to do
really hard job. Walk, those days, transportation, we didn’t get. Yes, I remember that old
man. He used to stay right next door to us with Purdy.
Sam
Yes, and his son was a cowboy too. He took my father’s place, shipping cattle. Pull cattle
in the water.
Sam did
George Purdy. That’s Martin Purdy’s cousin.
Ahh.
The uncle was Ikuä Purdy.
Hmm. [pauses] You know, as we look out across the land here, see the lava flow
Yes.
I guess that‘s the Ke‘ämoku flow.
That’s outside of Ke‘ämoku.
‘Ae.
Mauna Kea– “Ka Piko Kaulana o ka ‘Äina”
Kumu Pono Associates LLC
A Collection of Oral History Interviews (HiMK67-050606) A:561