Limu Practitioners

In 2014, at the request of elders (kūpuna) who gather and care for native Hawaiian limu around the islands, Kuaʻāina Ulu ‘Auamo (KUA) partnered with the ʻEwa Limu Project in an initiative to “gather the gatherers.”

As a result, in September 2014, over 30 traditional limu practitioners representing six Hawaiian islands came together for four days of learning, sharing, knowledge documentation, and discussion. Gathering and network-building is a key approach for restoring limu knowledge, practice, and abundance. Gathering our limu gatherers nurtures trust, accelerates knowledge sharing, and grows collaboration towards common goals.

The Limu Hui continues to gather annually and has grown to include more than 50 individual limu practitioners who are working to preserve the ʻike related to limu – from moʻolelo and traditions, to its culinary, medicinal and ceremonial uses – as well as to restore limu to abundance in their own communities.

In this oral history collection, five members of the Limu Hui describe the different types of limu they gather and eat on their respective islands and how they became involved in limu restoration. They also discuss the importance of limu, its traditional uses, and impacts from climate change and development. These interviews were conducted in 2018 by Dr. Davianna Pōmaikaʻi McGregor at Kuaʻāina Ulu ʻAuamo in Kahaluʻu, Oʻahu, and at the Limu Hui gathering in Kalaemanō, Hawaiʻi Island.