Eric McD. "Iki" Moir
Koloa: An Oral History of a Kauai Community
In 1984, members of the Friends of Koloa Public/School Library began researching their community's history for a commemorative publication, marking the sesquicentennial of commercial sugar cultivation in Hawaii.
''Iki" Moir is the only child of Hector Moir and Alexandria Knudson Moir. Hector Moir was the manager of Koloa Sugar Company from 1933 to 1948; he stepped down when Koloa Sugar Company merged with Grove Farm. Alexandria Knudson Moir is a descendent of the Sinclair, Gay and Robinson families who owned Ni'ihau and parts of Kaua'i. Iki, born and raised in Po'ipu, attended Koloa School. He left the islands in 1944 to attend high school in New Mexico. He then worked in the construction business in California. In 1976, he returned to Kaua'i and built a home in Po'ipu, where he currently resides. Iki has a strong interest in Kaua'i history and has read and lectured extensively on the subject. He sits on the board of the Kaua'i Historical Society and conducts tours for the Grove Farm Homestead Museum. lki also is active with the Friends of the Koloa Public/School Library and helps with observances and celebrations relating to Koloa's plantation history.
Scope and Content Note
A lay historian, son of Koloa Sugar Company manager, talks about his Scottish family; Koloa childhood; Poipu families; Koloa's history; Koloa during World War II; Grove Farm takeover of Koloa Plantation; Koloa and Poipu development; and Hurricane Iwa.
Program Note:
This interview is part of the Center for Oral History's project Koloa: An Oral History of a Kauai Community. Interviews from this project are available in the Center's ScholarSpace open access repository.
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.
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