Native Hawaiian Salt Makers
Kekanemekala Taniguchi, son of Tina Taniguchi, smooths wet black clay onto the wall of a salt bed in the Hanapepe salt patch on Wednesday, July 12, 2023, in Hanapepe, Hawaii. 22 Native Hawaiian families work the beds each summer to make “paakai,” or Hawaiian salt, which can only be given, not sold. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)
Malia Nobrega-Olivera, a Native Hawaiian salt maker, holds Hawaiian salt, or “paakai,” on Monday, July 10, 2023, in Hanapepe, Hawaii. An important part of this cultural and spiritual practice is that this salt can only be given, not sold. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)
Tina Taniguchi prepares one of her family’s many salt beds by rubbing it with a smooth river rock on Monday, July 10, 2023, in Hanapepe, Hawaii. Taniguchi’s family is one of 22 who over generations have dedicated themselves to the cultural and spiritual practice of "paakai," or Hawaiian salt. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)
Roz Choi, left, and friend Eddie Topenio, tend to Choi’s family salt beds on Sunday, July 9, 2023, in Hanapepe, Hawaii. The Choi family is one of 22 who over generations have dedicated themselves to the cultural and spiritual practice of "paakai," or Hawaiian salt. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)
A sign and large boulders mark the edge of the Hanapepe salt patch near Salt Pond Beach Park on Wednesday, July 12, 2023, in Hanapepe, Hawaii. Over the past decade, this tract has been under constant threat due to development, pollution from a neighboring airfield, sand erosion from vehicle traffic and littering by visitors to the adjacent beach. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)
A rainbow appears over Salt Pond Beach Park in Hanapepe, Hawaii, on Tuesday, July 11, 2023. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)
Kanani Santos stands for a portrait near his family’s salt beds used in making Native Hawaiian salt on Sunday, July 9, 2023, in Hanapepe, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)
Sonia Topenio’s legs covered in mud after working in the Hanapepe salt patch on Sunday, July 9, 2023, in Hanapepe, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)
Salt begins to form in one of many salt beds in the Hanapepe salt patch on Friday, July 14, 2023, in Hanapepe, Hawaii. This Native Hawaiian salt has been hand made for generations and is one of the last remaining salt patches in all of Hawaii. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)
Malia Nobrega-Olivera shows a photo of her grandparents making Hawaiian salt, or “paakai,” while sitting at Salt Pond Beach Park in Hanapepe, in Hawaii on Sunday, July 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)
From left, Eddie Topenio, his wife, Sonia Topenio, Roz Choi, and Kanani Santos share a meal after working in the Hanapepe salt patch on Sunday, July 9, 2023, in Hanapepe, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)
Native Hawaiian salt makers stand for a portrait near the Hanapepe salt patch on Kauai Island on Thursday, July 13, 2023, in Hanapepe, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)
From left, siblings Kekanemekala Taniguchi Butler, Piilani Taniguchi Butler, and Analia Taniguchi Butler use dark, wet clay to reconstruct salt beds used in making traditional Hawaiian salt on Wednesday, July 12, 2023, in Hanapepe, Hawaii. 22 Native Hawaiian families work the beds each summer to make “paakai,” or Hawaiian salt, which can only be given, not sold. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)
Salt water evaporates in the mid-summer sun leaving behind layers of salt crystals at the Hanapepe salt patch on Sunday, July 9, 2023, in Hanapepe, Hawaii. Each year, 22 Native Hawaiian families keep the tradition alive by tending to the salt ponds and giving it away for free. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)
Piilani Taniguchi carries a bucket of wet clay to her family’s salt beds on Wednesday, July 12, 2023, in Hanapepe, Hawaii. The salt beds or “loi” are smoothed out using river rocks. The beds are then lined with this rich black clay. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)
Kane Turalde reaches into a salt bed to examine the salt crystals on Friday, July 14, 2023, in Hanapepe, Hawaii. Climate change, air pollution and littering by tourists and visitors are all threats to this practice, but the 22 families who continue this tradition are fighting to keep these threats at bay and pass on this sacred practice to future generations. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)