The Pa'akai We Bring

Curriculum Connections

Oral history and storytelling, Native and Indigenous Cultures, Hawaiian and Pacific Island culture and history.

California State Standard

HSS-3.2 Students describe the American Indian nations in their local region long ago and in the recent past

California State Arts Standard

4.TH:Cn10 Imagine and identify the ways drama/ theatre work reflects the perspectives of a community or culture.

This original production introduces audiences to the Native Hawaiian relationship to pa'akai (salt).  Traditionally, pa'akai is food, medicine, a sacrament and a treasured gift.  The play follows a family with multiple generations of salt farmers on Kauai, mixing in ancient stories, hula, live music, original songs and plenty of audiences participation into a tasty potluck of performance, joyously served up with aloha. 

Led by HTY Artistic Associate Moses Goods, the HTY creative team traveled to the island of Kauai and spent time working and learning from traditional salt harvesters before creating this project. HTY would like to extend a special mahalo to the Nizo, Santos and Nobrega families and all the other salt-makers of Hanapēpē.  Without their ʻike and aloha this project wouldn't have been possible. This project was awarded the NEFA Theatre Project Creation Grant in 2021.

Founded in 1955, Honolulu Theatre for Youth (HTY) is one of the oldest and most respected children's theatres in the country. HTY is a theatre of place, deeply rooted in the cultures and people of the Pacific and dedicated to serving young people, families and educators across the Hawaiian Islands.