EVA MAUAEIKAKALUAOLONOIKAHIKI ~OMROY An Interview by J. Ward RLJssell January 14, 1986 This oral history interview is a project of the Historical Committee of the Outrigger Canoe Club. The legal rights to this material remain with the 0LJtrigger Canoe ClLjb, Anyone wishing to r·eproduce j.-t 01~ quo·te at length From it should contact the Historical Committee of the Outrigger Canoe Club. * "The reader sho..tld be awcre tha t an r.r.a.l history document portrays informati on as recalled by the interviewee, Because or the spontaneous nature of this kind of document, it may contain stat:ements and imp,~essions that are not .factual. 11 --Quoted by permission of the University of Hawaii Ethnic Studies Program, Ot~al Hista~y P!"'Oject . DCC 27-1 EVA MAUAEIKAKALUAOLONOIKAHIKI POMROY Inte1~view by .J . Wa..,d Russell January 14, 1986 Th is is Tuesday, .January 14, 1986, I am Ward Russell a member of the Outrigger Canoe Club ' s Histori cal Comm i ·ttee and this morni ng it i s my pleasure to interview a long-·time employee of the O~Jtt~i g ger~ Ca noe Club, Eva Mauaeikakaluaolonoikahiki Pomroy*. Eva worked for· the Club for over thirty years and thi s mol"ning we are seated in hel~ apartment on Leahi Avenue on the slopes of Diamond Head just a few steps away fl~om the Outrigger Canoe Club. It is a love ly morning and we have been t a lking aboLJt ·the past. We are now ready to start our interview. WR: Eva, when and where were you born? EP: In Honolulu at 3213 Monsarr at Avenue. WR: And wi1at year' was that? EP: 1904. November 27, 1904 . WR : We ll, now that would make you, how old? EP: I will be eighty -two yeEl!~ s o l d this November 27 , 1986. WR: You ar'e extraordinar•y. You ar'e cer tainly a ver y active and youn g 82-year old . Eva, tell me about your ps~en·ts. EP : We l l , my .f'a·ther 1 9 name was Walter Me l vill e Pomroy . He came From San Fr a ncisco , Originally From Engl and, b ut thE~ Y set t .l ed i n San Frsncisco - he a nd his family . W R ~ How did he hsppen to come t o Hawaii? EP: He wcrked f er the newspapers so ·t hey sen t h i m he , ~e to wor•k for the Ho n olulu Gazette . WR: Oh, the o l d Gazette . EP : The Advert iser, now. It used to be the Gazett e - t h e Ha wa ii Gazett.e. P apa was a printer and he wcrked t here u nti l he passed away . WR: And, your mother• ? >~ Nee Pomr•oy - married n ame DeCcJteau ( became DeCota) - when h t.i sband died, name legally changed b ack to Pomroy by Mr . Wi J.J. iam Barlo w. ace 27~-2 EP: My mother was born in Keauhou, Kana . ~IR : Keauhou? EP: Yes. Laei Pukt.Ji was her first name. WR: Was she related to Mary PtJku.i'? EP: Mary married her brother. Auntie Mary mar·ried r-lomma ' s bJ~other, WR: How many child1~en were in your mother's family? EP~ Momma had, let me see, nine childr~en. WR : And you were? EP: I am the youngest. WR: You are the youngest? EP: rhe youngest, yes. Well, we had one ma"'e, but when momma had the last child she died, and my uncle, Walter Davis, I don 't know if you have ever heard of Wally Davis, Sam King 1 s nephew? WR: Oh, yes. EP: ·I mean, Sam King was his nephew. Big Sam. WR: Sam 1 s youngest son was named after Davis. EP: Yes . That 1 s right. Well, thet was my uncle through mar•riage . He married momma's cousin, so they took my new brother a nd raised him until a year old. In those days t hay had pneumonia 1 but they didn't have medication, you know, and he passed away •••. • WR: I see. EP : ••••• at the age oF one year old • WR : How many of' your· br•others ancJ s isters ere 1 i ving now? EP: None. Just myself. WR: You are the lsst of the family , that's inte,~esting. Now, tell me about your relationship to Many Pukui, you say she ••.• . EP : Auntie Mary married my uncle Napoleon Pukui . As a l i ttle boy he was taken by some rich haole people, t h ey came to Kana and wanted him s o Tutu let him go, and he went to Utah and he b ecame a Mor"mon elder. WR: You say you were bonn on Monsarr at Avenue, were all your brothers an d sisters bonn . DCC 27-3 EP: ,Jus·t my brother 1 Heni~Yv and I. WR: .Just you and your• brother . Where would that l;ouse be today? EP: The corner or Monsarr•at and Campbell. WR: Oh, r•ight where the ser~vice station is now, EP: Yes, they bought it rt~om us. WR: Oh, far goodness sakes. EP: Yes, Texaco bmJght it from us .. WR: Texaco. And then you moved here from ••••. EP~ Yes. I bought this apsrtment. WR: I see. Well 1 that wasn't too lon_g ago, was it? EP~ I came here in 163. WR: 1 63. Well, you've been ••••• EP: No, '62 - November. WR: Almost 24 year•s. Tell me about MonsSJ..,rat Avenue when you wer•e a 1ittle gir 1 • Wh at was it like? EP ~ Well, ·there weren't too many people. Papa was the first person that eve r~ lived on Monsarr·at. WR: For goodness sakes. EP; Then came the Mar•tins, Chwlie Martin. WR: Oh, Chwlie Martin, a member of the Outrigger Canoe Club? EP: Yes, WR : Oliver Mw·tin, EP~ Yes, his gr~andpa. And then tile Bush family. I don't know if you know Lo.l it;e and Jeannette. , • •• WR: I 'm not suee. EP: They-live right over here. Then came the Black ramily - the momma was a Rice From Kal ihi. WR: And what was Monsarrat Avenue like? EP: All dir-t road and 5. t. wa!"; all c::urvey and a11 dab?. trees, and we had ace 27-4 all marsh, you know - all dirty water. WR: Fish ponds? EP: Yes, plenty ·fish. We used to get mosquit;a fish. lr>IR: Mosquito fish. (Laugh) Well was Kapi.olani ••• • . EP: Oates, oh, b eauti f'ul datf.:lS - all along there wer~e dates. WR: The zoo wasn ' t there . EP: Oh, na. Laten d a te it came . WR: What was Kapiolani Park 11ke in those days? EP: Beauti ful, beautiful. They had prisonens came up and clean there. WR~ Now, tell me about the beach along in front af Kapiolani Park. EP : Oh, we US(,?d to s it on the stone wall and the bF-H3ch boys used to bring music. Haw<:liian music. Oh, it was nice, when the ships came in, you know , t hey used to play on the shi ps and when the ships came in the y c a me out to Wai kiki and play, you km.Jw. WR: Wha·t was Kuhi o Beach l ike i n t h ose days? EP: A l o t or sand . WR : A l ot oF sand? EP : A l o t of sand - go way out. WR : That must have been bef" ore t hey buil t those beach r etain i ng walls. EP: Yes . Oh, yeah, way ou t, a n d t;he Queen had her .l ittl e hou se , you k n ow, and t he h r::1use came way 01..1t - t he Kanakanuis , they l i vr::!d t her e and Alec C l eghorn - Al ec, he l ived the r e t r.m . And t hen Steiners - .Judge s·t einer i n t h e big wh ite h o u se . WR : Oh, y es . I remember we u s e d to keep slmfboaJ..,ds u nder,n eath the ,Judge's h ouse a n d change c l othes t h e r e. EP: My b r other used ta .•• we used to keep ou r boar d u nder Akana's place across from K1...1h io Beach . WR: We l l, I am going to come b sck tc1 Wai kiki in a mi n ute but now I want to tal k a b out your early days. Wher"e did y o u go t o school'? EP ~ Waiki ki Schoo l , first . WR : Where was that located? EP : P r·in cess K<=du l ani. Th a t was in the chu nch , the p ictui-e you j u s ·L saw . occ 27-5 WR: Oh, yes. EP : Hawaiian Church , and the graveyard was right there. WR: This is whePe the QLJeen Kapi olani Hotel is .•• • • EP : Yes. Ttlat was a branch of the Kawaiahao Chunch . WR: I see . EP: ••••• for Waikiki £'lide. You know how they have branches - Kaimuki ....• WR : Yes. A brancl1 oF the Kawaiahao Chur~ch •••.• EP: At that time nobody was using it so the school must have rented it - you know the State must have rented it out. WR: I see. You showed me a picture oF your Waikiki School classmates when you wer-e seven years old.