Book Recommendation: Kaiāulu

This book is about the place and community that I call home: the North Shore of Kaua‘i, specifically the moku (districts) of Ko‘olau and Halele‘a. Vaughan’s work draws from two decades of interviews with Hawaiian elders, leaders, and cultural practitioners to paint a portrait of how this coastline and our community have thrived for generations through Native Hawaiian values and practices that nurtured respectful relationships with the natural resources that sustain us.

Using the lens of traditional Hawaiian subsistence fishing, Vaughan shows how the concept of kuleana (rights, responsibilities, privileges) translates into a complex web of cultural practices that are deeply connected to the human and natural well-being of this coastline. This book, more than any other I’ve read, accurately portrays the culture, beauty, and difficult realities that we currently face in “paradise,” where local families are being rapidly priced out by skyrocketing tourism and luxury development.

Kaiāulu was not just written “about” our community but with our community. The voice and spirit of this land, and the depth and breadth of its people, speak through Vaughan’s text. Hawaiʻi is often grossly mischaracterized, and Kaiāulu both paints an honest portrait of the cultural practices that have stewarded our home for centuries and presents the immense challenges we face to preserve them in the face of dramatic socioeconomic changes.