“Hello Makawao, how y’all doing today on this Fourth of July weekend?”
Thousands of fans cheered as announcer Rob Smets welcomed the crowd at the Fourth of July Makawao Stampede on Maui. It’s Hawaiʻi’s largest rodeo — and a tradition that’s been going strong for almost 65 years.
“It really is about celebrating our paniolo culture, our neighbor ranches, the cowboys and our community,” said Morag Miranda, the fifth-generation stewarding her family’s Kaonoulu Ranch in Makawao, along with her husband, Ken, who also comes from a long line of ranchers.
The Miranda ʻohana continues to foster paniolo traditions, hosting the annual rodeo with a team of staff, volunteers, friends and community members. Morag’s great-grandfather, Harald “Pop” Rice, bought the ranch in 1916, and the arena is named after her grandfather, Oskie Rice.
“It is definitely a privilege that this weekend we got to rodeo with the great-grandchildren and great-great-great-grandchildren of the founder of our ranch and that arena,” she said.
This year’s event featured nearly 250 competitors from across Hawaiʻi and around the country. Some 6,000 spectators flocked to the area Friday night for the sold-out Bull Bash. Thousands more came out Saturday and Sunday.
Hot, dusty and happy, the crowd roared as cowboys and cowgirls of all ages competed in events like barrel racing, roping, bull riding, and mutton busting — keiki hold on tight to the backs of sheep as they run at top speed.
Outside the packed bleachers, there’s also food, music and activities, as families put on their cowboy boots together and spend the weekend at Makawao’s most anticipated annual event.
The Mirandas work all year to plan a safe and ʻohana-friendly event, despite the large numbers.
“I feel like we've helped change the culture of the rodeo environment here on Maui, where it is a place you want to take your kids, and there are people that they can look up to and say, ‘I would like to be like them someday,’” Morag Miranda said.
Roping in the wins
The Stampede also features an event unique to Hawai’i’s rich ranching history: the poʻo wai u. Modeled after tying wild cattle to a tree like cowboys would do on a working ranch, competitors in the arena use a forked stand, or amana.
“It's an event of skill and horsemanship. It's beautiful to watch,” Miranda explained. “Both men and women can compete in it, and it holds a special place in my heart, because my dad helped create the event.”
Over the weekend, her youngest daughter, Elizabeth Miranda, earned second in the event.
“Starting off strong, Elizabeth got it caught around the horns, headed to the amana, she’s going to get it, yeah!” yelled announcer Preston Deluz in excitement, as the crowd erupted.
“I watched my dad and my brother enter all of the events since I can remember, my grandpa when he was alive, and now I get to be part of the family tradition. So it's pretty cool,” Elizabeth said.
She went on to win the weekend’s All-Around Cowgirl title, as the recent high school graduate competed alongside her dad, brother and sister.
“It's in their DNA to be competitive,” Morag Miranda told HPR.
But the wins don’t come without hard work.
“They're the ones who are up there at that arena at six in the morning putting cattle in the pens with their dad, and they're the ones that are up there at six in the evening feeding cattle after the rodeo. They're in the back of the pens, loading and sorting and helping, besides competing. They practice hard, they work hard, and then they contribute to the success of the event as a whole,” she said.
Steer wrestling is an event of speed, precision and grit.
“Now, if you’ve never seen steer wrestling, what it is, is we got a cowboy jumping off his horse at full speed, onto the back of the animal,” Deluz explained.
“They’re all watching that steer, as that shoulder moves, they’re going,” Smets said. “How’s about we go to Kanoa Awai-Dickson, another one of our Ulupalakua Ranch cowboys from Kula, Maui.”
Awai-Dickson and horses go way back.
“My dad put me on a horse when I was 2 weeks old,” he said. “And yeah, that was my, my life ever since.”
Taking a deep breath and clearing your mind is important before entering the arena to compete.
“If I don't try and keep my composure before my run, you know, you'll definitely see it in my horse, trying to rear up — they have nerves too, and your nerves on top of their nerves don't help anything,” he explained.
Continuing the traditions
Awai-Dickson said growing up, the Oskie Rice arena always had a good turnout, but now it’s bigger than ever.
“It makes a lot of us happy and proud, you know, to be from this island, and kind of see our lifestyle and our culture and everything shared with the rest of the island and the rest of the world, I guess,” he said.
Being a cowboy isn’t an easy lifestyle, but for Awai-Dickson, rodeo holds valuable lessons.
“You learn teamwork and how to depend on your teammate, and also your horses. You know, that's a different way of talking, trying to communicate with your animal athletes as well.”
Morag Miranda said carrying on the lifestyle, values and roles of working the land is critical.
“If we don't have cowboys and ranching and cowgirls, we're not going to have food,” she explained. “They grow, raise and feed America, and it may not pay what a tax job pays or a doctor or lawyer, but if we don't have people falling in love with the land and the culture, then we're in serious trouble.”
For these rodeo families, it’s all about helping each other out, building community and passing on the paniolo traditions.
“We've got to create a space for them to come and try and learn, because we need more cowboys, and I think it's growing,” Miranda said. “I absolutely believe culture is changing. It's not wild like it used to be. … Families and kids are being drawn back into the paniolo ranching lifestyle.”
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