The Limu Lady - Indigenous Heroine | Isabella Aiona Abbott

When I think of Isabella Aiona Abbott, a song comes to mind titled “Ka Uluwehi o Ke Kai”.

I never had the pleasure of meeting Doctor Isabella Aiona Abbott when she was alive but memories were passed on by my hānai mother who was a friend to her. She shared with me some of Isabellaʻs memories that were shared to her by conversation back in the 1980ʻs.

”When I was young, Waikīkī beach (near the Ilikai) was known for having lots of Lipoa - the smell of it was so strong that you could catch wafts of it from all the way in Manoa Valley”.

The song I mentioned earlier is a traditional Hawaiian Mele with a specific verse that touches a chord with me when I reflect on the culturally and ecologically important work carried out by our Indigenous Heroine - born Isabella Aiona, to a Pure Hawaiian Mother from Hana Maui and a Chinese Father who had migrated during plantation days. Isabella learned to speak Hawaiian from eavesdropping on her parents speaking Hawaiian to eachother during a time when speaking the Hawaiian Language was outlawed.

Copyright The Artist Vei — “Olelo Outlawed” Available Upon Special Request

The Hawaiian Renaissance began in the 1970ʻs with the Launching of the Hōkūleʻa Hawaiian Sailing Vessel, which brought ancestral memories and hope to Hawaiians after many years of oppression and lifestyle degradation. About 10 years after that, Dr.Abbott retired from her teaching position at University on the North American Continent and returned home to Hawaii where she would then begin instructing at The University of Hawaii, making enough of an impact with her incredible work for the Institution to develop the now available bachelors Program in Hawaiian Ethnobotany there.

For some, the sentiment of Limu is dear as it is an ancestor of ours from a time out of mind. That is one of many reasons why Isabellaʻs work is invaluable. With a fixed mind on indigenizing what we call our limu to identifying, and chronicling their lives and diaspora; Isabella Aiona Abbott was THE authority on the subject of Pacific Marine Algae.

For her research and contributions to the world of knowledge, she was awarded the Gilbert Morgan Smith Medal from the National Academy of Sciences in 1997. A couple more examples of her excellence is her accomplishment as being the first Native Hawaiian Woman to earn her Ph.D in 1950 with a focus in Biology and she was also the first Minority and Woman to teach at the Stanford Universities Biology Department. Though she was aware that her accomplishments were rare during her time, she retained a Seemingly dismissive regard for those facts because she was used to being surrounding by males- having grown up surrounded by many brothers.

Lyrics Below from the song “Ka Uluwehi o ke Kai” offer a Melodious sentiment reminiscent of Isabellaʻs undying love for our indigenous - and rapidly declining -critically endangered Limu.

Verse 3

Hoʻō kohukohu e ka limukohu

Ke kau i luna ō nā moku la

'O ia moku 'ula la e hō

'Oni ana i 'ōi 'ane'i

Translation:

How enticing is the display of limu kohu

Atop the rocks

Enticing one to pick them

As they sway to and fro

Ka Uluwehi O Ke Kai (Plants of the Sea)- Words & Music by Edith Kanakaole - Huapala. Org

In the manner which I was taught the Hula for this Mele, the movement in the third verse weaves the joyous pasttime (which Isabella shared with, and where she learned of Limu from her Mother) of collecting Limu with a message for Hawaiians to heed today. The movement imitates one picking limu lipoa from the shoreline at shin-level and placing their collection in a container that hung slightly behind them near their waist. It is a symbollic movement of the Hawaiian perception of existence - facing and bringing (our ancestor/ Kaona Lipoa) from the past (which is before us) into the future (which is behind us).

It is a symbollic movement of the Hawaiian perception of existence - facing and bringing from the past (which is before us) into the future (which is behind us).

A small thank you to our late Indigenous Heroine of the Week, Isabella Aiona Abbott. For her dedication and love to preserving knowledge and life of our ancestral Uluwehi o ke Kai. You can easily discover interviews and talks about her accomplishments and enjoy the beautiful books listed below, which she has contributed to the world. A hui hou till next time.