Island Flavor

PORT HUENEME —  If it weren’t for the whip of a chilly wind, the little swath of waterfront in Port Hueneme on Sunday could have passed for Tahiti.

There was a strip of palm trees, a pretty blue sky, the stretch of sea, a guy playing the ukulele--and a string of dancers shaking their hips like wind-up toys.

Port Hueneme Harbor Days has a 45-year history, but only three of the events have had a Polynesian feel. This is the third year of Lotogatasi Polynesian Expo, the annual weekend event meant to promote cultural harmony and give about 10,000 visitors their fill of island dishes, including kalua pig, lau lau and skewered barbecue.

“ ‘Lotogatasi’ means ‘One heart, one soul, one mind,’ ” said Oxnard’s Kilisitina Vainuku, the Samoa-born organizer of the event. “We’re sharing with the community. If you can’t go to the islands, you can enjoy the Polynesian spirit.”

Vainuku, dressed regally in a head wreath and garlands of kukui nuts, had a front-row seat for some of that spirit: a drum-beating, foot-stomping, hip-wiggling tour of Tahitian dance by a group from the “Island of Costa Mesa.”

Performance groups came from as far east as Virginia and as far west as Hawaii to celebrate their culture, Vainuku said.

Lokelani Kaahanui-Asuega came in from Orange County, by way of Tahiti, Tonga, Fiji, Samoa and Hawaii. She and her troupe of dancers and musicians hosted a kind of musical tour of Polynesia, from the gentle strum of the ukulele to the pulsing beat of the drum. Such activity reminds Polynesians and others of their cultural history, she said.

“It’s not as strong as it once was,” she said. “When people come to the mainland they sometimes lose their culture. It’s coming back.”

The Kaleiohi sisters of Oxnard keep their Hawaiian culture alive with their own catering company, Sistas. They are one of the few businesses serving the community’s small but loyal Polynesian population.

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Their booth and others gave locals a rare opportunity to taste Polynesian cuisine. The Kaleiohis served Hawaiian barbecued pork, lau lau (a combination of pork, beef and fish wrapped in a taro leaf), lomi lomi salmon (salmon with tomatoes and onions), and poi (mashed taro root) to a population not always sure of what such things were.

“We’re doing a lot of teaching. We let them know what all these things are,” said Koreena Kaleiohi. “We want to show that there is Hawaiian food in this county.”

Shell necklaces and Polynesian tapestries were for sale. Local children tap-danced across another stage. Filipino, Mexican and Thai food shared sidewalk space with the Polynesian treats.

That was good news for the O’Neill family of Oxnard. Although starting out with the more familiar tri-tip, they came prepared to eat, browse through racks of Polynesian prints, and relax with a laid-back island vibe.

A familiar coastal chill was the main reminder that they were at the harbor.

“It’s typical for here,” said Dan O’Neill. “But, I don’t think it gets this way in Hawaii.”