The Lahaina Fire in the Hawaiian Nation and Moving Beyond Legacy Capitalism and Settler Colonialism

American Indian Airwaves

On August 8th, 2023, a deadly fire swept through the Hawaiian town of Lahaina, destroying nearly everything in its path. The number of lives taken has reached at least 115 as of 8/22/2023, more than 800 people are still missing, and more than 2,000 structures were destroyed. Eight hours before a deadly fire swept through the Hawaiian town of Lahaina, a small brush fire broke out on the edge of a residential neighborhood approximately a mile away from the town’s historic waterfront. While the fire was contained, and kept away from nearby homes, it is suspected that hurricane-force gusts helped reignite the fire. Lahaina, or by its original place name: Malu’ulu o Lele (Ma la ulu o lele) means the “land of the flying breadfruit” became Lahaina when colonists eradicated this traditional food and replaced it with sugar cane plantations. This scared place to the Indigenous peoples of Hawaii, the Naka moli, is rich in cultural traditions and history kept alive through generations. The Lahaina fire destroyed more than the settler colonist homes, business, tourism, but it is the violence of settler colonial, its legacy in Hawaii, and the climate crises that has cause so much additional trauma to people, the land, water, and life throughout the area. Today on American Indian Airwaves, our guest for the hour is a well-known international photographer, professional writer, an accomplished journalist, and cinematographer. His family lived on the Big Island of Hawaii and one his ancestors is Kaloni o’ Pue ew, a chief of a large portion of Maui precolonization. Guest: David Pu’u (https://davidpuu.com), photographer, cinematographer and Writer with broad experience ranging from editorial publication to television and feature film production. Archived programs can be heard on Soundcloud at: https://soundcloud.com/burntswamp American Indian Airwaves streams on over ten podcasting platforms such as Amazon Music, Apple Podcast, Audible, Backtracks.fm, Gaana, Google Podcast, Fyyd, iHeart Media, Player.fm, Podbay.fm, Podcast Republic, SoundCloud, Spotify, Stitcher, Tunein, YouTube, and more. American Indian Airwaves is an all-volunteer collective and Native American public affairs program that broadcast weekly on KPFK FM 90.7 Los Angeles, CA, Thursdays, from 7:00pm to 8:00pm.