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Story by Teya Penniman | Photography by Bob Bangerter, Ryan Siphers, Forest and Kim Starr; historical photos courtesy of Hawai‘i State Archives
Every day I weave. I weave my nets in the morning. At night I weave my nets. My nets is my love.”
James Sagawinit is at his kitchen table in one of the two houses he built in Ha‘iku, but everything about him speaks of the sea. His hair sweeps back from the sides of his face like the crest of a wave blown by offshore winds. His gaze is distant, not in this room, scanning the horizon for where to place his net, find his fish. His voice is slow and measured, like a low, unhurried swell telling an ancient, recurring story.