Chuck’s great-grandfather’s fishing grounds were located right offshore of Red Hill at Hokuli‘a, where the family once lived. His grandfather, Henry Leslie, Sr., and great-uncle, Robert Leslie, built the Napo‘opo‘o Wharf with the Army Corps of Engineers in 1912. Chuck recalls the time in the late 1950s when, at age 17, he was helping his grandfather on the wharf after a day of fishing akule. To everyone’s shock, the waters in Kealakekua Bay started to recede completely from the wharf all the way across the bay to Manini. “My grandpa knew exactly what was going on and started running. It was a tsunami from an earthquake—we had no warning. The water rushed over the pier and we started running too. We could barely catch up with him, even though he was 70.” A lifelong resident of Napo‘opo‘o Village, Chuck also vividly recalls the tsunami of 1960: “I was on the boat when it happened. The earthquake came from Chile and we had moved the boat off the mooring that night. All of a sudden, the whole island got dark from the electrical outage. We heard the pier buildings fall down at the wharf. We saw an entire house float on the water and sink in the same place as the house did after the 2011 tsunami. In 2011, I knew it was going to be big. It wasn’t a surprise, and it did the same exact thing it did in the 1960 tsunami.”
KeOlaMagazine.com | March - April 2019
Cultural Practitioner Recently, Chuck has become active in cultural practitioners’ networks, sharing his knowledge about traditional Hawaiian
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fishing methods and observations. He has also participated in cultural festivals across the island, demonstrating the netmaking process and showing the dexterity it takes to work the needle. Attending conservation conferences and gatherings with marine scientists, Chuck contributes mo‘olelo (history) about the significance of traditional practices. “Ancient Hawaiians knew the importance of kapu [conservation] and how to preserve their food sources,” he says. Chuck also serves on the West Hawai‘i Fishery Council. On most days, however, his primary focus continues to be full-time fishing as he has done his entire life. “Fishing is hard work,” he said. “I do it because I like it. It’s what I know. To live this life, you have to have a little saltwater in your blood.” ■
For more information: thelastopeluman.com As the sun rises above Kauna, below Ocean View, Chuck tosses his kaÿaÿai (bait rag) into the water before deploying his net. photo courtesy of Deron Verbeck