Images of Old Hawaiʻi

by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Niu

When the first Polynesians landed and settled in Hawaiʻi (about 1000 and 1200 AD (Kirch) they brought with them shoots, roots, cuttings and seeds of various plants for food, cordage, medicine, fabric, containers, all of life’s vital needs. “Canoe crops” (Canoe Plants) is a term to describe the group of plants brought to Hawaiʻi by these early Polynesians. One of these was ‘niu,’ the coconut; they used it for food, cordage, etc.

Hawai‘i is on the edge of the coconut belt. The coconut bears better nearer the equator, where it is more widely used than here. In Hawai`i there are other plants, native and introduced, that provide as well for people’s needs. The tree bears fruit around the seventh birthday, for up to 70-100 years, providing food for a human lifetime. There may be up to 50 fruit a year.

by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Kauakaiakaola Heiau

Kauakaiakaola (Ka-ua-kai-aka-ola – also known as Kauaikahaola (Ka-ua-i-kaha-ola)) Heiau was a temple for increase of food and fish (Heiau Ho‘oulu ‘Ai, Ho‘oulu I‘a.) (It translates to ‘the rain which gives life to all living things.’) “It is related that when King Kamehameha I, on the advice of a kahuna of the island of Kauai, decided to restore the old heiau in his day, he approached it by canoe”.

It is believed the heiau was built during the time of ‘Umi (about the same time of Christopher Columbus crossing the Atlantic to America.) It sat abandoned, then Curtis V Crellin purchased the property with ‘a pile of rocks.” He later learned it was a heiau and in 1947, with guidance from Kenneth Emory at Bishop Museum, restored it. In today’s context, the heiau is just north of the Casa de Emdeko condominiums, just outside of Kailua-Kona.

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Did the Missionaries Ban Surfing?

Invariably there are definitive statements that the missionaries “banned” and/or “abolished” surfing, hula, even speaking the Hawaiian language. However, in taking a closer look into the matter, most would likely come to a different conclusion. First of all, the missionaries were guests in the Hawaiian Kingdom; they didn’t have the power to ban or abolish anything – that was the right of the King and Chiefs.

Most will agree the missionaries despised the fact that Hawaiians typically surfed in the nude and that hula dancers were typically topless; they also didn’t like the commingling between the sexes. So, before we go on, we need to agree, the issue at hand is surfing and hula – not nudity and interactions between the sexes. In keeping this discussion on the actual activity and not sexuality, click the link for more on surfing.

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Kahuna to Christian

“Hewahewa knew the prophesy given by Kalaikuahulu a generation before. This prophesy said that a communication would be made from heaven (the residence of Ke Akua Maoli, the God of the Hawaiians) by the real God. This communication would be entirely different from anything they had known. The prophecy also said that the kapus of the country would be overthrown. … when the kapus were overthrown, Hewahewa knew a communication from God was imminent.” “In the days of Kamehameha I, Hewahewa was the highest priest in the land. … Hewahewa developed doubts about Hawaiʻi’s pagan system and the gods – Kane, Ku, Lono, and Kanaloa – who ruled over it.”

“He observed foreign traders who ignored or even scoffed at the sacred kapus yet suffered no ill. … Thus it was not strange that when Liholiho (Kamehameha II) asked Hewahewa’s advice about breaking the eating-kapu, the priest in a few words indicated that he would not oppose such a move.” Later, Hewahewa wrote a letter to Levi Chamberlain of the mission, stating, in part, “I walk in fear and awe of God for the wrongs of my heart, for he is the one who knows me. The love of the son of God is true indeed. It is of my own volition that I tell this to you. Regards to all the church members there.” (Hewahewa)

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Koʻieʻie Loko Iʻa

The Hawaiian walled fishpond stands as a technological achievement unmatched elsewhere in island Oceania. Hawaiians built rock-walled enclosures in near shore waters to raise fish for their communities and families. It is believed these were first built around the fifteenth century.

Ko‘ie‘ie Loko I‘a (also called Kalepolepo Fishpond) is the smallest and northernmost of three documented ponds that were present in Kula Kai along the coast of Kihei, Maui. The presence of these fishponds would have significantly increased food production by providing quantities of fish species such as ‘ama‘ama (mullet) and awa (milkfish) to an area that received relatively little rainfall (average of 12 inches annually.)