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Biographies

William Kauaiwi'ulaokalani Wallace III:

William K. Wallace III, Director of Brigham Young University Hawai'i's Jonathan Napela Center for Hawaiian Language and Cultural Studies, was born and raised on Moloka'i, but he can trace his ancestral roots in La'ie back almost a thousand years.

Following his early years on Moloka'i, often under the tutelage of his grandparents and other Hawaiian kupuna, Wallace graduated from Kamehameha School before attending Church College of Hawai'i. While a student there, Wallace worked part-time at the Polynesian Cultural Center. After graduating from CCH in 1972 with a degree in history, Wallace worked fulltime at PCC, eventually becoming one of four divisional managers.

Wallace then returned to Moloka'i, where for a number of years he developed and conducted a program to train teachers of Hawaiian Studies. Then he decided to attend law school at BYU in Provo, Utah, where he earned his J.D. degree in 1984. Wallace said he initially struggled with his law studies and the amount of information that must be memorized, until he started applying Hawaiian cultural learning techniques, such as using his ipu, a dried gourd used as a percussion instrument, to create mnemonic rhythms.

Wallace, whose mother is part-Samoan, next put his new law degree to work for the Attorney General's office in American Samoa, where he stayed until returning to La'ie. He joined the BYU Hawai'i history faculty in 1991 and was named director of the Hawaiian Studies program in 1997. Most recently, "Uncle Bill" as almost everyone affectionately calls him, was named BYU Hawai'i teacher of the year.
Wallace and his wife, Nihipora, who is a Maori originally from New Zealand, reside on La'ie Point.

Tuione Pulotu:

Tuione Pulotu, who is originally from Pangai, Ha'apai, Tonga, came to La'ie approximately 40 years ago as a volunteer labor missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to help build parts of BYU-Hawai'i and the Polynesian Cultural Center. He immediately fell in love with Hawaiian and other Polynesian carving styles, and has been creating his own ever since, starting with a pocketknife and small pieces of wood. He quickly graduated to carving various styled tikis at the PCC and throughout Hawai'i.

Pulotu is widely known for his skills in creating projects without blueprints or plans, quick sculpting huge logs with chain saws of all sizes and using the traditional Polynesian adz to create finer carved details. In fact, there are no blueprints for the BYU Hawai'i sailing canoe, besides those in Pulotu's mind.
Pulotu carved his first Hawaiian outrigger canoe in 1987 for a Maui shopping center owned by the Weinberg Foundation, which also commissioned him the following year to carve a 35-foot wa'a kaulua, or traditional twin-hulled Hawaiian sailing canoe out of koa logs which cost an estimated $40,000. He says that canoe is now worth about $100,000.

In 1999, Pulotu returned to Tonga to direct the carving of a 105-foot traditional kalia, a double-hulled canoe where the smaller hull acts as an outrigger. Of this feat, BYUH Hawaiian Studies Director William K. Wallace III said, "Tuione is a living treasure. I don't know of any other Pacific Islander who's built a canoe in this age over 100 feet long."

In January 2000, while Pulotu was still working on the 105-foot Tongan canoe, Wallace commissioned him to help build the BYUH vessel. Because suitably sized koa logs were not available in Hawai'i, Pulotu selected appropriate hardwood logs for the La'ie project in Fiji.

After completing his four-year LDS labor mission, Pulotu married Mahana Mo'o, whom he had met at the Polynesian Cultural Center. The couple now live in La'iemalo'o and have six children

Kawika Eskaran:

Master carver Kawika Eskaran is a part-Hawaiian who has been carving things since he was a boy and "waiting for a project like this all my life," he recently said of the new BYUH Hawaiian sailing canoe.
Eskaran, who is originally from the Hale'iwa-Waialua area, graduated in 1974 from Kamehameha School where he studied carving and woodwork with Fritz Abtlanalt and Wright Bowman Sr., the 94-year-old patriarch of Hawaiian canoe builders. After graduating, Eskaran enrolled at BYU Hawai'i and began working in the PCC Hawaiian village, though he preferred to work with Maori master carver Epanaia "Uncle Barney" Christy.

He got the chance several years later: Following his Spanish-speaking LDS mission in Anaheim, California: Eskaran returned to PCC and helped design and carve the panels on the Maori entrance gate and also helped Christy repair the 40-man King George V waka taua war canoe. Eskaran also returned to BYU Hawai'i, where he eventually earned a bachelor's degree in sculpture. He also met and married fellow student Terry Stiezel. The couple now live in Kahuku and have five children.

In all, Eskaran spent 13 years at the Cultural Center honing his art and creating special customized souvenirs for world dignitaries, including the Premier of The People's Republic of China and U.S. President Bill Clinton. Eskaran next spent six years working as a Hawaiian cultural trainer at Kualoa Ranch, a visitor attraction, and most recently worked for the Queen Lili'uokalani Children's Center as a community development officer, helping youth organizations and working with taro farmers, before he joined the BYUH Hawaiian Studies program as its second fulltime employee in April 2001.

In addition to his carving and canoe responsibilities at BYU Hawai'i, Eskaran will also oversee the program's Malama 'Aina ['care for the land'] component, which includes a taro farm named Kahuaola located between the campus and the Nioi heiau site.

Maintained by University Advancement

November 2, 2001