Uncle Lee Aoki & Emma Patao

This recording is part of Hui Mo‘olelo: Lahaina, our 2025–2026 gathering of talk-story recordings created to inform future public artwork, support collective healing, and provide trusted, community-informed guidance for the Lahaina Memorial Project. 

Here, Lahaina Intermediate School student Emma Patao sits with Uncle Lee Aoki, who paints a sensory portrait of a town defined by the aromas of the sugar mill and the rhythm of the sea. He recounts personal milestones, such as overcoming seasickness to gain his father’s trust as a skilled fisherman, while highlighting the close-knit spirit of a community where neighbors of all backgrounds supported one another through shared labor and bartered skills. Aoki honors the town’s vanished geography by naming beloved local businesses and family-run eateries of his youth. Emma's talk-story serves as a vital preservation of cultural memory, capturing a time when collective generosity and multicultural harmony were the cornerstones of daily life in Hawaii.