Keith Maile at the Prince Lot Festival

The Prince Lot Hula Festival in Moanalua Gardens was this past Saturday. I actually started work on the same time the event did. So I decided to pass through on my commute to see what I could find. I rode through all of the booths and was inclined to stop at one that caught my eye.

Keith Maile was already in conversation with another fellow that I recognized but could not figure where I knew him from. He most likely figured the same thing as we created each other with the traditional sharing of breath face to face. Later I realized that the gentleman was the other guy with a camera at the Pali lookout on the day of the Battle of Nuuanu memorial commemoration. I wish I got his name though. He's in the picture above and standing to the left of Mr. Maile.

Keith Maile was a gentleman and described each and every object he had on display. He mentioned that sharing knowledge about them is even more fulfilling than trying to sell them. Although I bet he gets by pretty good with that as well. He supplies Royal Hawaiian Jewelers and even Bishop Museum with his authentic Hawaiian carvings, implements, kapa, ornamentation, 'umeke, and weapons.

This adze o'o is secured to an Ulu wood handle. He mentioned that Ulu  (breadfruit) wood is very light. It is better for it to be light to handle as well as being easier to break before the stone does. As the stone would be harder to acquire after the tool's expected failure through repeated use.

I tried to sound smart and asked about the use of the wood from the only endemic olive, Olopua. He caught me right away and mentioned about Peter Young's recent post on the matter (exactly where I heard about it). Keith Maile actually had some samples of Olopua, a very hard wood used for many things from weapons to fishing. He asked us to smell it and mentioned that he has grown to tell the different woods apart by their smell when he works with them. It was hard for us to get that sense of smell from them as good as he would while sanding them and having the dust flown in the air while doing so. He also mentioned that the dust from creating these implements could also be harmful. Sanding teeth and bones cause a build up in the lungs and create a sort of cement in your lungs after a while. He recommends using a mask while handling those materials.

Here are some of his lures. These are his top sellers and he even keeps them in special made containers for the customers that want them.

Lastly, these shells blew my mind. Hihiwai are small stream snails that only thrive in the most purest of fresh water streams He acquired the largest one from Molokai. That he was wearing around his wrist. They are a beautiful black with a hint of orange just under that layer. The texture of the top looks like that of some sort of salamander skin. It must be very hard to find in a stream because of its rarety and camoflouge with the surrounding rocks it would be embedded in.  I didn't get to ask him about the snail itself and if it tasted good or was even edible. I'd probably eat it if I found one. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. Opihi craving!