“I come back to the city – I live in Town – whole city lights, you know? A lot different. Born and raised a city boy in Honolulu, on Oʻahu, Moniz appreciates the drastic change and reconnection with his ancestral lineage. Seth will often fly over to the islet to reconnect with his roots and gain perspective. I get greeted by a ‘Welcome back!’ Like, ‘This is your real home, you know that?’” says Moniz. The family’s history is still present among the lore of the island, “Every time I go there it’s like my second home. I’m half Japanese and a little over a third Portuguese, but where we come from is Molokai….they say that we’re one of the first families from Molokai,” says Moniz. Theʻohana’s roots are traceable back into time, across the channel from Oahu to Molokai. This well-known image is a legendary offshoot of the famous Moniz family, of Hawaiian surf royalty and beach boy fame. In fact, she’s Seth Moniz’s grandmother Rachel Naki. Take a closer look and you’ll find she looks distinctly familiar – she’s undoubtedly a Moniz. A kind-looking kupuna, her worn, wrinkled face clearly mid-sentence, dominates the image. The entryway that welcomes hundreds of thousands of college students every year at the University of Hawaiʻi’s Campus Center has a wall-to-wall mural depicting generations of native Hawaiians practicing laulima, working together, in the loʻi, taro patch. Editor’s Note: This piece was done in conjunction with our partners at the World Surf League in celebration of Indigenous People’s Day
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