Tsunamis in Maui County: Oral Histories

  • Collection DOI:
    Principal Investigator:
    Jeanne Johnston
  • These interviews are part of the Center for Oral History's project, Tsunamis in Maui County: Oral Histories. Interviews from this project are available in the Center's ScholarSpace open-access repository.

    This collection of interviews represent first-person accounts of any tsunami occurring in Maui County. Although the most severe tsunami occurred on April 1, 1946, some residents recalled tsunamis occurring as far back as 1923. In addition to the first-person accounts, the interviewees provide descriptions of the areas that they grew up in. They also provide advice to the readers on what to do in the event of future tsunamis.

    The Center for Oral History (COH), in the Department of Ethnic Studies at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, collects, documents, preserves and highlights the recollections of Native Hawaiians and the multi-ethnic people of Hawaiʻi. It produces oral histories and interpretive historical materials about lifeways, key historic events, social movements and Hawaiʻi’s role in the globalizing world, for the widest possible use.

Interviewee Sort ascending Collection Description Interviewer Date of Interview Location of Interview Affiliation
Winifred Naehu Tsunamis in Maui County: Oral Histories

A woman talks of being hanai or adopted in the Hawaiian custom. She speaks of her adoptive mother, a lau hala weaver. She also remembers the 1946 tsunami, which her father foresaw in a dream, and describe the damage it caused to her home.

Jeanne Johnston Waialua, HI University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Center for Oral History
Wallace Miyahira Tsunamis in Maui County: Oral Histories

The son of Okinawan immigrants describes his Haiku lifestyle. After graduation from Maui High School, he worked at Maui Pine and Libby, McNeill & Libby, where he met his wife. He describes his observations of the 1946 and 1957 tsunamis.

Jeanne Johnston Pukalani, HI University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Center for Oral History
Thomas Wright Tsunamis in Maui County: Oral Histories

A former Marine Corps officer describes the Spreckelsville beach neighborhood where he lived in 1946. He explains his duties inspecting the Naval Air Stations at Puunene and Kahului. He shares anecdotes and observations on the 1946 tsunami, including the ensuing damages.

Jeanne Johnston Kihei, HI University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Center for Oral History
Thomas Matayoshi Tsunamis in Maui County: Oral Histories

A Molokai resident talks about fish ponds and fishing on the east side. A teenager in 1957, he watched the incoming tidal wave flow beneath him from his perch on a mangrove tree.

Jeanne Johnston Ho'olehua, HI University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Center for Oral History
Taiji Inamasu Tsunamis in Maui County: Oral Histories

Haiku-born man remembers growing up in a plantation camp. A Lahaina Technical School boarder, he worked for HC&S sugar plantation after graduation. He and a coworker were working on Spreckelsville beach when the 1946 tsunami hit Maui. In their escape, he particularly recalls the roar of the incoming water.

Jeanne Johnston Kahului, HI University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Center for Oral History
Sam Pedro Tsunamis in Maui County: Oral Histories

A Molokai man outlines his family background. He describes the 1946 tidal wave which displaced two east side homes.

Jeanne Johnston Kalua'aha, HI University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Center for Oral History
Sam Kalilikane, Sr. Tsunamis in Maui County: Oral Histories

A man who grew up in MolokaI talks about his family background, fishing, his schooling, family life, and moving to Honolulu. He describes his experience of the 1946 tidal wave that hit the east end of Molokai.

Jeanne Johnston Honolulu, HI University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Center for Oral History
Rudy Bissen Tsunamis in Maui County: Oral Histories

A man raised in Kahului's Kanaha Camp touches on his parents, schooling, and work. He retains a trace memory of tsunami flooding in Kahului.

Jeanne Johnston Wailuku, HI University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Center for Oral History
Roseline Brito Tsunamis in Maui County: Oral Histories

A woman recalls her parents and growing up in Hana, Maui. She tells of moving to Molokai and meeting her husband. On the beach with family members when the 1957 tidal wave arrived, she describes the receding ocean, their getaway in a truck, and a near accident.

Jeanne Johnston Kaunakakai, HI University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Center for Oral History
Roland Enos Tsunamis in Maui County: Oral Histories

A part-Hawaiian man recalls living in Kahului with his musician grandmother and businessman grandfather. Six years old on April 1, 1946, he tells of running with his grandparents from the tsunami that washed into their Kahului Beach Road home. He also outran the 1960 tsunami and witnessed the damage it caused in Kahului.

Jeanne Johnston Kahului, HI University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Center for Oral History