The Makawoa Rodeo is an event that attracts a diversity of Maui inhabitants and tourists alike. I grabbed my Tony Lama boots and drove up the hill to this island production. Paniolos ( Hawaiian cowboys ) gingerly rode their horses around the arena and hoisted beers out of coolers. My mother had always taken my brother Stephen and I to the rodeo at Madison Square Garden each and every year as children. Seeing cowboys on the Manhattan streets was surreal. Here in upcountry Maui it seemed to fit. The Hawaiian cowboy is a tinge more colorful then the mainland variety, as most had flower leis and complex feather bands on their western hats. For the most part they were of Portuguese decent. It is of interest that somehow they all looked like the same fellow. The event galloped on into the early evening, red dust rising into the air. Winners and losers alike had a great boozy time. We all had those cowboy dreams in my generation. No matter where you lived the six gun and the horse were akin to manhood. I decided to buy a horse. Mahina Hula came into my life shortly after my first Maui rodeo.
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