 I am your host, Walter Kawaii, a junior, or Roots Hawaii. We are here in downtown Honolulu at Fink Tech, Hawaii. I would like to say thank you to all our supporters for their generous donations that make it possible in having this platform to discover and connect with our ancestors. This month's show was hosted by our friend at Pinoy Power, Emmy Ortega Anderson. But today, we start new and fresh. We will continue the discussion on genealogical research and family history. Today's show is entitled, The Beginnings of Roots Hawaii. Joining me today is my special guest Peggy Kaohulani Chi. Thank you so much for taking time to be here today. The two of us are volunteers working with FamilySearch International, a non-profit family history organization dedicated to gathering, preserving, and sharing the world's records. It is partnered in this effort with more than 10,000 archives and more than 200,000 volunteers worldwide. FamilySearch International creates and preserves archival quality images and indices, making them freely available to millions of people seeking information about their ancestors. Now, before we talk story with our guest, Peggy, I'd like to turn everyone's attention to this backdrop or this piece of artwork that I have behind me. And I'd like to introduce that, this creative or unique piece of artwork that was conceived by the artist, Aaron Kapial Kavaiaya, who just happens to be my oldest son. Now, Kapial is a very talented and extremely creative individual. His inspiration for this particular artwork comes from a series of canvas paintings that he did about seven years ago. He called these 12 pieces of artwork his Kalo series. Kapial's manao or thought behind this was to take the metaphoric representation that likens the Kalo plant to the Hawaiian and present it to the world in both a historical and contemporary perspective. So, this background that will be used for our monthly program is called Kalo Family. I'd like to begin by pointing out certain parts of this particular piece of artwork. There you see the full plant, but I'd like to take us to the three parts of the plant. The first part discusses the artist's thoughts and ideas and kind of ties everything into genealogical research, discovering and connecting with our ancestors here at Think Tech Hawaii, Hawaii's newest program, Roots Hawaii. So, if I could pause for a second. There you see at the very base of the stock in the Hawaiian word for the stock is the ha. There are two facial images. So, when my son Kapial decided to do this particular piece entitled Kalo Family, he put his mom and his dad, myself, there at the base of the ha, or the stock. And if you take a look at those images, one is reflecting upwards to the leaves, which we'll get to in a minute, or what the Hawaiians refer to as the lao. The other facial image, which apparently looks like me, is looking downward towards the root of the Kalo itself, which at this point of the plant would literally be hidden underground. So, I guess metaphorically speaking, the artist's conception or his thought process was one of us is looking upwards towards our ancestors, probably reflecting on them, most of them being gone from this life, while the other is reflecting down, looking towards the future, towards the taro, as it will come forth. And the taro would represent the future generation. So, I guess now we can take a look at the lao or the leaf portion of the plant. So, there you have all of these images. And those images in the artist's mind was to represent both myself and my wife's ancestors, you know, grandma, grandpa, great-grandma, tutu, tutu man, tutu lady, and those kinds of expressive thoughts. And so, there you have those images reflected in the lao, as the Hawaiians called it, or the leaves. And then the third part of the plant is at the base, or, you know, at the stage of growth, it's underground. So, there you see the roots of the Kalo, but you'll notice the Kalo has an image, it has an eye and a mouth and a nose if you look carefully. Representing, again, the cultural tie that the Hawaiians made, that they were closely connected to the Kalo. And you've got some limbs, I guess they're protruding, which is unique. And so, the limbs represent the future generation. So, for my wife and I, or for mom and dad, that would represent the future, children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. So, we just felt that it was appropriate, as we thought about this particular program and what we wanted to share over time, was how all of this connected. And so, as we do genealogical research, and there's so many of us now in this particular time in the world that people are searching to make connection and to discover ancestors in the past, and as we labor in this particular type of work, we're helping to prepare the way and pass on and share for future generations their ancestry as well as stories and memories, perhaps. And so, like I said, it's quite apparent that people across our planet are seeking out their ancestors. And our goal here at Ruth's Hawaii is to talk about some of the very exciting things that are occurring in the field of genealogical research, preservation of original records, through the process of image capturing, digital conversion of microfilm, indexing, and the use of technological advancements that are hastening this work at an accelerated pace and thereby making so much more information available and readily accessible to ordinary folks like myself, like Peggy, and to all of us. And I'd like to now invite my special guest, Peggy, co-volunteer with Family Search International, Peggy Chi, to join us. Peggy Aloha. Thank you for being here. I'm going to, you know, she has a reputation. She's known in the community and in her church that she serves. She's known as a genealogist and she's very passionate about that. So I'm going to put her to a test. She doesn't know about this, so I'm going to hold this up on the screen. There's no label on this, but this is what is called, in old terms, it was dental floss. But in today's term, we refer to it as essential floss. And frankly, I like the word essential. And so I'm going to ask Peggy. I'm going to pass this to her very subtly and I'm going to give her a second or two. So Peggy, before you tell us about yourself and the work that you're involved in over the Hawaii State Archives, I'd like to test your genealogical prowess. So if I were to give you this object, which is essential floss, how would you use this to teach a group of people that have never done genealogical research before, someone like myself, by comparing the use of dental floss, or in this case, essential floss, with doing genealogical research for the first time? You know, I've been in the dental field for over 30 years. Really? I didn't know that. I retired. I retired. And one of the things we do in the dental field is we teach patient care. And one of the first things we teach them is how to use dental floss. And the question always comes up, which tooth should I floss? And I tell them, only the ones you want to keep. Okay. There are 32 teeth in your mouth. And if we start at one, if you have it and go all the way around, you'll cover all your bases. Likewise, in genealogy, we need to begin. And that same question comes up, where do I begin? Most people would like to do a favorite relative, my grandfather, my grandmother, my uncle, my tutu, somebody. But if we start with number one, we'll cover everybody. Okay. So you worked in the dental field. I'm hearing this for the first time, folks. So I mean, you have to, I mean, I guess you don't have to start at tooth one when you floss, but is there a reason why in your experience in the professional field that you would recommend to the patients that when you floss, you start with one? You begin at the beginning so that you don't miss anything. And likewise, when you're working with genealogy, you want to begin with yourself and systematically go back and not miss somebody. How would you feel if you were the one that was forgotten? In forgetting one person, we don't only forget that person. We forget everyone behind him. The children, the grandchildren, the grandparents, the great grandparents. So it's essential that we cover all our bases or all of our teeth today. Okay. So all of our teeth. So I think I'm getting the picture. So tell me if I'm right in my thinking as I'm following your explanation. So, okay, we start with one when we're flossing, but let's say I've never done genealogical research before. So in terms of start with one in genealogy, who would be one? Let me guess. Would that be me? I'm one. So when we're telling to our viewing audience out there if you've never done genealogical research before, perhaps what you want to start with is you, not perhaps, you should start with yourself. You really need to. There's no foundation. If you jump to the top or to the side or someone else. And there are two main forms that we begin with. One is a family group sheet which shows you as a child. You want to do it twice. Once you show you as a child, which would show your mother and your father and any siblings. And the next one you would do, same form, would show you as an adult. If you're married, then you have a husband, a wife, and all of the children, and that captures everyone. That's your first. The second is generational. It is a pedigree chart. It shows you and your grandparents, your great-grandparents, et cetera, and they go that way. I see. This is where the concept of the tree, the genealogical tree, comes from. It's born out of using the pedigree form. Okay. Where you identify one and then left and right, so on up the line. Right. Okay. Well, that's a good analogy. So I guess what we've learned from Peggy today is that two things. One, we should start with self as number one when we're doing genealogical research. And number two, when we floss every morning and evening, we should start with one. Okay. And there's how many teeth? Only the ones you want to keep. I would assume everybody wants to keep all of their teeth, right? So in that same parallel comparison, we want to keep all of our ancestors. Exactly. And we want to get them all on their tree. Exactly. Well, it makes sense because while you're explaining that, I'm thinking, okay, so if I started, and I'm sure there's many of our viewers out there that can relate to this because, you know, I'll just share this story off the top of my head. So I was fortunate to be raised by my mother's grandmother. So this would be my matriarchal great grandmother. And it was at her request. She told my mother, you know, my mother's story is somewhat sad. My mother's no longer with us. She passed away a number of years ago. But my mother in coming into this world, my mother's mother died in childbirth. And her biological father, my grandfather, had already contracted leprosy and was already residing in Kalaupapa. Well, at the time it was Kalaupapa. And Kalaupapa. And so my mom comes into the world under those circumstances. And so I think her grandmother, you know, my tutu, my great-grandmother, you know, had probably feelings of compassion for my mom being brand new. And so she directed her that when I was born, that my parents were to give me to her, which they did. And so for the next seven years of my life, I was raised by two old folks, my great-grandmother and her mother, Abigail Iowahi, who was in her 90s at the time. And so all I remember growing up was being raised in this home that had these two old folks. And you know, as a young boy growing up, that was kind of frightful. But I think that because I did that research, I was well acquainted with that. It kind of defined, in part, as I grew up into adults with the kind of person I became. And I have a special liking for old people, always have it. We'll talk more about that in a second. And so I guess we're reaching the halfway point and we need to take a break. And so thank you, Peggy. We'll be right back. Stay tuned, viewers. We're going to take a short break. We'll be back. We'll continue this discussion about our ancestors and our roots, where we learn to discover and connect with our ancestors. Aloha. I'm Wendy Lo, and I'm coming to you every other Tuesday at 2 o'clock live from Think Tech Hawaii. And on our show, we talk about taking your health back. And what does that mean? It means mind, body, and soul. Anything you can do that makes your body healthier and happier is what we're going to be talking about. Whether it's spiritual health, mental health, fascia health, beautiful smile health, whatever it means, let's take healthy back. Aloha. Aloha. This is Winston Welch. I am your host of Out and About where every other week, Mondays at 3, we explore a variety of topics in our city, state, nation, and world, and events, organizations, the people that fuel them. It's a really interesting show. We welcome you to tune in, and we welcome your suggestions for shows. You got a lot of them out there, and we have an awesome studio here where we can get your ideas out as well. So I look forward to you tuning in every other week where we've got some great guests and great topics. You're going to learn a lot. You're going to come away inspired like I do. So I'll see you every other week here at 3 o'clock on Monday afternoon. Aloha. Aloha, and welcome back to Roots Hava'i here at Think Tech Hava'i. I'm your host, Walter Kava'i, a junior, and we were talking story earlier before our break with Peggy Chi, a historical records specialist, working with Family Search International. We were, before the break, I was telling you the story about my being raised with these two old folks, one being my great-grandmother, and the other being her mother, which would make that my great-great-great-great-grandmother. And the thing about Tutu Lady, we called her great-great-great-grandmother, was she only spoke Hawaiian. And so in those growing up years in this home with these two old folks, she was only in her room on her whole rocking chair. And whenever I heard her speak to her daughter, my great-grandmother, it was always in Hawaiian. And not knowing Hawaiian language at age, what, three, four, five, six, I thought she was speaking some foreign tongue. So I thought this old lady was strange. And my great-grandmother was a school teacher, a retired school teacher, and she was very, how should I define her? I mean, I loved my great-grandma. I called her my Nana. It was my Nana. And I know many families use that term of endearment. She was smart. She was well-educated. So I grew up in this kind of home. Why, for only the first seven years of my life? Because I remember the first day of school that September, 1957, she took me, we lived in the area where the airport is. Back in those days, it was called Damon Track. And so I think the year was 1957, September. And my parents drive up to take me to school, and I never saw her again. Later that morning, she took ill, rushed to the hospital, and she passed away. And it was really sad for me. But as I reflect back on those times, I'm just really feel blessed that I had the opportunity to grow up in a household where here's one woman talking to her daughter in Hawaiian. Here's her daughter who's a retired educator and school teacher that I just loved. And so I think the foundation for that for me was that I've always had this special liking and kinship of older people. I can remember when I was courting my wife, who comes from Kuala in Hawaii, and the first time I met her parents, when I went to ask for her hand in marriage, and I got to meet her grandparents, who lived in Newly, which is the last city just before you get to Pololu Valley there in North Kuala. And I remember meeting grandma and grandpa, nothing fancy. The roof was made of corrugated iron, so when it rained, it was like we were in World War III. And it's kind of like the table, the kitchen table was just along, like a bench picnic table, but it had to feed because my mother-in-law was the fifth oldest of 14 children. And the first nine children were delivered on that dining room, that table. So again, the connection going back to my roots of my great-grandmother raising me, I immediately connected and fell in love with grandma and grandpa, Luana's grandparents and so. But I'd like to ask Peggy, so I know you're passionate about genealogical work, you've been for years, you do a lot in your church, in your community. Was there ever a defining moment in your life when you knew, even if you didn't know much about genealogy, but somehow you knew that this is something you wanted to pursue? You know, you kind of touched on it as you were talking, it kind of came to my mind. I have a sister that was raised by my tutu man and my tutu lady, and he is a Manilew speaker. They spoke Hawaiian in the home, but the language is only a part of it. It's the lifestyle that is connected to it. Anyone who truly speaks good Hawaiian, especially a Manilew speaker, they live the culture. And when I hear you talking about your great-grandmother, your great-great-grandmother speaking Hawaiian, you're blessed because along with the language came the culture. And the culture is tied to our past. I was about eight or nine when I first was given a piece of paper and they said, fill this out and put down your family's name. And I had grandparents and I put tutu man and tutu lady. And the lady came over and she said, but what is your tutu man's name? And I looked up and this is a moloka in my name. So everybody knows everybody. And I said, tutu man. And she said, what about your grandmother? Tutu lady. And I thought, what a low, low person. Everybody knows tutu man and tutu lady. So I went home thinking I was smart and I told my mom, you know, they asked me tutu man's name, grandpa's name. And I told him tutu man and tutu lady. And she looked at me. She said, no, his name was not tutu man. His proper name was William Wallace. And tutu lady's name was Elena Wallace. And I went, oh, and it hit a chord with me. How old were you? I must have been about between eight and nine years old. That was young. And that moved me because then I began to think about my others. And I have to be honest and saying, I have always felt a connection. I've always felt that they're there waiting and they're guiding us. To me, they were. And when I find them, it's like, we're home. We're home. And their driving force has always been there. And I see it in others. As a grandparent myself, I have a special calm loving for my grandchildren that I didn't have for my children because I'm busy. I have things to do. Raising a family. But as a grandparent, I can step back. And grandparents offer a special kind of love. We have the opportunity to make any mistakes. Well, if you're an- Not that I made any. If you're in my home, so what I do, I take on the same feeling as a grandfather. And so when my five-year-old grandson, one of my grandchildren, comes up to grandpa. And it's in the evening. And I know in about an hour or 45 minutes, mom and dad go and take him home because he has to go to bed. So what do I do? I sit him on my lap and I just give him- I give him all that chocolate candy. And then when it's dad and my son, the artist comes up, he says, dad. And I go, oh, yes, yes, son, love you. And then the boy goes home and he's probably just wired and can't go to sleep. And I tell my son, that's grandpa's job. That's what I get paid to do is, you know. But anyway, I understand. Moving on to that, I feel a strong responsibility. And I think most of us are finding all my tutus. Everything that I am, that is good, ties back to that time and that period. Who we are and what we leave behind is also going to be tied to our Moopunas or our grandchildren. So I feel that these connections are important. It's who we are. Well, I appreciate you saying that. And so I want to share something. I'm going to ask you to put up an image on the screen. So my aha moment for me, I was attending the University of Hawaii majoring in Hawaiian Studies and we had an assignment for one of my classes. The assignment was to go to all of this, as many of the senior members that were still alive on both sides of my family and interview them, which I did. And part of that process took me to the, I fell in love with the Hawaii State Archives. So this would have been in the early 70s, 71, 72, and spent an awful lot of time doing research. Those were in the days of the Hawaii State Archives, where when you wanted to request for the July 4th issue of the 1924 Honolulu Advertiser, they actually brought it up to you. In today's world, you've got to go to the basement of the Hawaii State Library and reel it through a microfilm. And so I'm going through this and I'm looking for information. And so these three images is this woman. So what I found in the July 4th, 1924 issue of the Honolulu Advertiser, front page, page two and page three, all in Hawaiian. If anybody knows anything about their Hawaiian history, this is the period of time that that generation of people were being told not to speak Hawaiian. So I found it very odd that the Honolulu Advertiser would actually put in Hawaiian the opening, page one, two, and three. So I had to make a copy of it for me. I took it to Kavena Pukui and she translated it. When the translation come back, it was this woman's, this image that you saw on the screen. Her name was Ookamaka Ooke Opeopio, Naiole. She was born in 1823 in Avili, North Kohala. And she lived, she died in 1924, July 4th. She lived to be 101 years old. When Kamehameha the Great passed away, and Kahuman, one of Kamehameha's wives, his favorite wife, moved to Oahu. Her residence she took place was up in Mano Valley. Her Paradise Park is located. That was Kahuman's residence. This is where this ancestor of mine grew up. And her name was, you know, then she married, she married Henry Stillman, who along with Charles Reed Bishop became the founders of Bishop Bank, which is the forerunner of First Sawine Bank. So I'm sharing all of this. What does all of that have to do with history and genealogy? Everything. I never would have known all of that information. The result, I mean, this will, you know, we're running out of time, but the result of that story not only changed my life, but it changed the life of my son, the artist, and his son, which wasn't even born until 1999. So I became well acquainted with, you know, this copy of her history and all of the stories that were acquainted with that. So, you know, moving forward to today's time, talking about genealogical research, you and I both know from our genealogical backgrounds that it's, you know, it's fairly easy to go generation one, two, three, and four. It's when you stop moving backwards in time, generations five, six, seven, it becomes difficult. But, you know, we're going to have to leave that, Peggy, for another day. I really appreciate you being here with us. And to our viewers out there, we live in a time of technological advancements that more and more accessibility and availability of original records are coming forth and the work is coming forth at an accelerated pace. And so the thought I'd like to leave all of us with today is that get in touch, discover and connect with your ancestors. It defines who you are. And it's information, moments in time in your family, in your DNA that you can willingly pass on to that future generation. On behalf of Think Tech Hawaii, my special guests this morning, this afternoon, Peggy Chi, and your host, Walter Kawaiaya. Thank you for joining us on the beginnings of Roots Hawaii here at Roots Hawaii.