Hawai‘i: Yo-Yo Ma on Moloka‘i

Nov 12, 2025

Bernard Punikaiʻa, a musician and advocate who lived in Kalaupapa due to Hansen's disease, shares his powerful life story and the role of music in building community. Mikiʻala Pescaia, a Molokaʻi native and U.S. Park Service employee, explains the cultural significance of mana and leads listeners through sacred sites like the kukui grove. Together with reflections on Yo-Yo Ma's performance, they honor the resilience of Kalaupapa residents and discuss the importance of memory and memorialization.

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ANECDOTE

Lanikaula Buried Under Kukui Trees

Lanikaula was buried in secret and kukui trees were planted so his mana would nourish them forever.
Mikiʻala led the hosts to that sacred grove to show how bones and roots connect energy to landscape.

ANECDOTE

Bernard's Childhood Removal

Bernard Punikaiʻa was taken from Honolulu hospitals as a child after red spots were found and sent away.
He remembered feeling like a specimen while nurses examined him and then being told he'd be admitted to Kalihi Hospital.

ANECDOTE

Shift To Kalaupapa During WWII

After Pearl Harbor, wartime fears prompted moving children with Hansen's disease to Kalaupapa.
Bernard and other kids pleaded not to be sent, having been frightened by nurses' dire descriptions.

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On the island of Molokaʻi in Hawaii, we trace the spiritual power of mana, from a sacred grove to the Kalaupapa colony, where music, story, and Yo-Yo Ma’s performance honor the resilience and memory of those who came before.

Perched on a plateau on the southeast side of the island of Molokaʻi sits a grove of kukui trees. Mikiʻala Pescaia tells us that beneath the roots of these trees are the bones of Hawaiian spiritual leader Lanikaula. It holds his energy and power, his mana, a key concept in Hawaiian culture. On the north side of the same island, on a rugged peninsula called Kalaupapa, we explore the mana left behind by another history. It’s the site of a government-mandated colony for people who contracted Hansen’s disease, also known as leprosy.

Historian Anwei Law tells us the story of Bernard Punikaiʻa, who came to Kalaupapa as a boy with a disease and created a life of music and community within the bounds of the colony. We reflect on how to memorialize the residents of Kalaupapa as the last remaining living residents listen to Yo-Yo play in one of the peninsula's many cemeteries.

Featuring music by Yo-Yo Ma and Bernard Punikaʻia

Watch a video of Bernard performing “Where Birds Never Fly”

Listen to the Our Common Nature EP

Credits:
Our Common Nature is a production of WNYC and Sound Postings

Hosted by Ana González
Produced by Alan Goffinski
Editing from Pearl Marvell
Sound design and episode music by Alan Goffinski
Mixed by Joe Plourde
Fact-checking by Ena Alvarado
Executive Producers are Emily Botein, Ben Mandelkern, Sophie Shackleton, and Jonathan Bays.
Our advisors are Mira Burt-Wintonick, Kamaka Dias, Kelley Libbey, and Chris Newell
Episode photo by Austin Mann; Episode and show art by Tiffany Pai

Our Common Nature is a production of WNYC and Sound Postings.

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