Feed Our Kia'i
Donation protected
Update: Help us keep going!
Since July 19th, my brother @kailuamike and I have been up on Mauna Kea every weekend. Sometimes it was Thursday to Sunday, sometimes Friday to Monday. We’ve been fulfilling a commitment to #hanaiinakiai (feed our protectors) born out of an idea we had to help support efforts to #protectmaunakea in our own unique way - with food! Since the very first day we’ve made dishes like pastele stew, kamaboko salad, pork luau + mac salad, kim chee tako, smoke meat and hōʻiʻo, Thai chicken curry, chicken hecka, hōʻiʻo salad, pickled ‘ōpae, oxtail soup, Chinese juk, fresh won ton soup, miso ramen, somen salad, corn chowder and corn bread, baked teriyaki salmon, pork adobo, squid luau, kabocha curry + uala + fry bread, and all kinds of poke. For the first two weekends we spent nights feeding the night crew. For the last two weekends we’ve been directly in the kūpuna tent feeding mostly lunch, but sometimes dinner too. During this time, many folks have asked if we have our own restaurant or if we’re a catering business. The truth is yes and no. My brother runs his own catering business on Oahu called @kailuakinegrindz, but we don’t run anything like that together. And this was never about promoting our cooking ability or trying to drive commercial success by virtue of it. This was always about supporting the mauna, supporting our people, and doing our part to #kukiaimauna. One of the things that has been talked about over and over while we’ve been up here is the need to know and honor our genealogy. And this is so fitting because one of the ways we honor our roots is through our cooking. While we don’t have a restaurant together, we come from a family of chefs. Our father is Derek Jon Sakaguchi (@derekjs1954). From him we learned about 80% of the meals we’ve prepared so far. We joke sometimes that when we were young, we pretty much ate the same 20 meals on rotation. And now it’s come full circle with us preparing many of those same meals we ate, and then learned how to prepare, as children. From our papa Alex Akau from Waimea, we learned how to prepare Hawaiian food and in volume! With papa we’d cater big grad parties, weddings, baby luaus, and all manner of celebrations growing up. These two men were the biggest source of our learning in the kitchen and we honor them each and every time we share our meals. But we also must recognize some very important women in our lives as well, and give thanks to them for their culinary teachings. First, our mother Charlene Kaohunani Carla Pokipala (@charlenesakaguchi), and our two grandmothers Gloriann Keohokulani Mo’ikeha and Lillian Len You Ho. I would also personally like to thank my wife Pichu Yeh (@pichuplus4) for her and her family’s (a family of restaurant owners) for their influence as well. Mahalo to everyone who has allowed us to give in this way and especially to the donors who made it possible to fund this operation over the last 4 weeks. We could not have done it without them. Thank you. From here, we will continue to work and support the mauna and the efforts of our people. And as much as possible, do so through the sharing of good food that brings people together. #comeeat #wearemaunakea #protectorsnotprotestors #kapualoha #alohaaina
My brother and I are heart broken with the events happening on Mauna Kea. But we’re also inspired by all the unity and aloha as well - and we can feel the mana - even though I am on Oahu and my brother is traveling for work on the mainland. I’m sure many of you feel it too. We’ve been talking about how we can help. If you follow me, @kailuamike, or my brother, @cloudywithachanceofalex on Instagram, you know we both love to cook! We want to use our talents to help feed our kūpuna and the other Kia’i up there. We are going to do what we can regardless of how much money we raise. My brother returns home to Kea’au tomorrow and I will fly up to meet him so we can cook and help out in anyway possible. As Hawaiians, we feel this is our kuleana. We don’t know how long this will last or how long I can even stay on the big island, but we will do what we can with the time we have, and we’ll document it every step of the way. If you can’t be there and you would like to help and hānai i nā kia’i, feel free to donate whatever you can and we will make sure it’s put to good use. Eō Mauna Kea! #wearemaunakea #kukiaimauna #aoletmt #alohaaina
Since July 19th, my brother @kailuamike and I have been up on Mauna Kea every weekend. Sometimes it was Thursday to Sunday, sometimes Friday to Monday. We’ve been fulfilling a commitment to #hanaiinakiai (feed our protectors) born out of an idea we had to help support efforts to #protectmaunakea in our own unique way - with food! Since the very first day we’ve made dishes like pastele stew, kamaboko salad, pork luau + mac salad, kim chee tako, smoke meat and hōʻiʻo, Thai chicken curry, chicken hecka, hōʻiʻo salad, pickled ‘ōpae, oxtail soup, Chinese juk, fresh won ton soup, miso ramen, somen salad, corn chowder and corn bread, baked teriyaki salmon, pork adobo, squid luau, kabocha curry + uala + fry bread, and all kinds of poke. For the first two weekends we spent nights feeding the night crew. For the last two weekends we’ve been directly in the kūpuna tent feeding mostly lunch, but sometimes dinner too. During this time, many folks have asked if we have our own restaurant or if we’re a catering business. The truth is yes and no. My brother runs his own catering business on Oahu called @kailuakinegrindz, but we don’t run anything like that together. And this was never about promoting our cooking ability or trying to drive commercial success by virtue of it. This was always about supporting the mauna, supporting our people, and doing our part to #kukiaimauna. One of the things that has been talked about over and over while we’ve been up here is the need to know and honor our genealogy. And this is so fitting because one of the ways we honor our roots is through our cooking. While we don’t have a restaurant together, we come from a family of chefs. Our father is Derek Jon Sakaguchi (@derekjs1954). From him we learned about 80% of the meals we’ve prepared so far. We joke sometimes that when we were young, we pretty much ate the same 20 meals on rotation. And now it’s come full circle with us preparing many of those same meals we ate, and then learned how to prepare, as children. From our papa Alex Akau from Waimea, we learned how to prepare Hawaiian food and in volume! With papa we’d cater big grad parties, weddings, baby luaus, and all manner of celebrations growing up. These two men were the biggest source of our learning in the kitchen and we honor them each and every time we share our meals. But we also must recognize some very important women in our lives as well, and give thanks to them for their culinary teachings. First, our mother Charlene Kaohunani Carla Pokipala (@charlenesakaguchi), and our two grandmothers Gloriann Keohokulani Mo’ikeha and Lillian Len You Ho. I would also personally like to thank my wife Pichu Yeh (@pichuplus4) for her and her family’s (a family of restaurant owners) for their influence as well. Mahalo to everyone who has allowed us to give in this way and especially to the donors who made it possible to fund this operation over the last 4 weeks. We could not have done it without them. Thank you. From here, we will continue to work and support the mauna and the efforts of our people. And as much as possible, do so through the sharing of good food that brings people together. #comeeat #wearemaunakea #protectorsnotprotestors #kapualoha #alohaaina
My brother and I are heart broken with the events happening on Mauna Kea. But we’re also inspired by all the unity and aloha as well - and we can feel the mana - even though I am on Oahu and my brother is traveling for work on the mainland. I’m sure many of you feel it too. We’ve been talking about how we can help. If you follow me, @kailuamike, or my brother, @cloudywithachanceofalex on Instagram, you know we both love to cook! We want to use our talents to help feed our kūpuna and the other Kia’i up there. We are going to do what we can regardless of how much money we raise. My brother returns home to Kea’au tomorrow and I will fly up to meet him so we can cook and help out in anyway possible. As Hawaiians, we feel this is our kuleana. We don’t know how long this will last or how long I can even stay on the big island, but we will do what we can with the time we have, and we’ll document it every step of the way. If you can’t be there and you would like to help and hānai i nā kia’i, feel free to donate whatever you can and we will make sure it’s put to good use. Eō Mauna Kea! #wearemaunakea #kukiaimauna #aoletmt #alohaaina
Organizer and beneficiary
Michael Sakaguchi
Organizer
Kailua, HI
Alexander Sakaguchi
Beneficiary