Hawaii | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

February 17, 2019 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Three Contemporary Leaders

While not the three amigos, these were three concurrent warriors and leaders of their respective parts of the planet – Kamehameha, Washington and Napoleon.

Each came into prominence through war and each left a mark in history in civil governance.

Kamehameha I (ca. 1758 – May 8, 1819)

Kamehameha was initially known as Paiʻea, which means “hard-shelled crab;” Kamehameha means “The Lonely One.”

Raised in the royal court of his uncle, Kalaniʻōpuʻu, Kamehameha achieved prominence in 1782, upon Kalaniʻōpuʻu’s death.

While the kingship was inherited by Kalaniʻōpuʻu’s son Kiwalaʻo, Kamehameha was given the prominent position of guardianship of the Hawaiian god of war, Kūkaʻilimoku.

In 1785, Kamehameha married Ka‘ahumanu, the daughter of one of his most trusted advisors. In 1790, he attained control of Hawai‘i Island, then he successfully invaded the Islands of Maui, Lāna‘i, Moloka‘i and O‘ahu, by 1795.

Ultimately, in 1810, Kauai‘i’s Kaumuali‘i decided to peacefully yield and unite with Kamehameha and join the rest of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi.

Kamehameha instituted the Kānāwai Māmalahoe, the Law of the Splintered Paddle. The law, “Let every elderly person, woman and child lie by the roadside in safety,” is enshrined in the state constitution, Article 9, Section 10, and has become a model for modern human rights law regarding the treatment of civilians and other non-combatants.

George Washington (February 22, 1732 – December 14, 1799)

The first president of the United States, George Washington, serving from 1789 to 1797, is often referred to as the Father of Our Country.

He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783.

After victory had been finalized in 1783, Washington resigned rather than seize power, proving his opposition to dictatorship and his commitment to the emerging American political ideology of republicanism. Washington was elected as the first president in 1789, and re-elected 1792.

Dissatisfied with the weaknesses of Articles of Confederation, in 1787, Washington presided over the Constitutional Convention that drafted the United States Constitution.

Napoleon Bonaparte (August 15, 1769 – May 5, 1821)

Napoleon was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.

As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815. He is remembered for his role in the wars led against France by a series of coalitions, the so-called Napoleonic Wars.

His legal reform, the Napoleonic Code (with enhanced civil rights, property rights and class privileges were extinguished,) has been a major influence on many civil law jurisdictions worldwide.

After a streak of victories, France secured a dominant position in continental Europe and Napoleon maintained the French sphere of influence through the formation of extensive alliances. Ultimately, in June 1815, Napoleon was defeated at Waterloo; he spent the last six years of his life in confinement by the British.

I find it interesting to see what these three notable leaders were doing at the same time in disparate and unconnected parts of the world.

I don’t know about you, but I am curious and fascinated in looking at similar timeframes and comparing histories of different parts of the world.

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February 16, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Letting A Stream Be A Stream

The State Water Code provides for the Commission on Water Resource Management (Water Commission) to establish and administer a statewide instream use protection program.

Duties under this program include:
• Establishing instream flow standards on a stream-by-stream basis whenever necessary to protect the public interest in waters of the State
• Establishing interim instream flow standards
• Protecting stream channels from alteration whenever practicable to provide for fishery, wildlife, recreational, aesthetic, scenic, and other beneficial instream uses
• Establishing an instream flow program to protect, enhance and reestablish, where practicable, beneficial instream uses of water

Instream Flow Standard (IFS) is “a quantity or flow of water or depth of water which is required to be present at a specific location in a stream system at certain specified times of the year to protect fishery, wildlife, recreational, aesthetic, scenic, and other beneficial instream uses.”

The technical language of the law is complicated; I simplify this to say that the instream flow standard allows a stream to be a stream.

Unfortunately, for the most part, Hawai‘i does not have permanent IFS; our streams are monitored under Interim Instream Flow Standards (IIFS.)

Essentially this means that, years ago, the Water Commission allowed existing diversions to continue and whatever remained in the stream was the IIFS.

Lack of Instream Flow Standards has caused a number of litigations, Waiāhole being the most prominent. The Waiāhole water case and others have taught us that we need to do things differently.

The Hawai‘i Supreme Court emphasized in the Waiāhole case that instream flow standards serve as the primary mechanism by which the Water Commission is to discharge its duty to protect and promote the entire range of public trust purposes dependent upon instream flows.

Under the Constitution, the State has an obligation to protect, control and regulate the use of Hawaii’s water resources for the benefit of its people. In the Waiāhole case, the Supreme Court reaffirmed that the public trust doctrine applies to all water resources of the State.

The Court also identified three purposes or uses under the public trust doctrine: Maintenance of waters in their natural state (letting a steam be a stream;) Domestic water use (drinking water for you and me;) and Native Hawaiian traditional and customary rights.

Rather than react to the next litigation or crisis, we need to take proactive, comprehensive and collaborative approaches in developing instream flow standards for Hawai‘i’s stream systems.

While at DLNR, I Chaired the State Commission on Water Resource Management (the Water Commission.) We worked on several programs to develop a better understanding of Hawai‘i’s 376 perennial streams.

These programs included: Statewide Watershed Coding System – providing a framework for inventorying of surface water resource information; Stream Diversion Database – providing information for all diversions statewide …

Surface Water Information Management System – providing the informational foundation for instream flow standards; and Hawaii Stream Assessment through DLNR’s division on Aquatic Resources – the stream coding system.

The goal is to establish permanent instream flow standards for all streams across the state that are consistent and, to the extent practicable, based on scientific or measurable data, all in a manner that is understandable and transparent. It is anticipated that this methodology will avoid future, lengthy litigation, as experienced in the past.

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Stream-CWRM

February 15, 2019 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Honolulu, 1810

This reconstructed map (from Bishop Museum Press,) reportedly a reasonably accurate depiction of Honolulu in 1810, is based on three documents:

John Papa ʻĪʻī recorded the location of trails and various sites in Honolulu between 1810 and 1812 in his “Fragments of Hawaiian History;” a sketch map made by lieutenant Charles Malden of HBMS Blonde in 1825; and a government road map of 1870.

The map notes locations of uses in 1810 with subsequent road alignments as of 1870 – the present day street alignments are generally similar to the 1870 road alignments.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. For me, maps and pictures capture moments in time and, in doing so, tell us stories. I love maps, especially old ones, because of the stories they tell.

This map tells lots of stories. Here are highlights on some.

The first thing that jumps out at you is the timeframe and location of the map – 1810 in Honolulu.

As you will recall, 1810 marks the ultimate unification of the Hawaiian Islands.

It was here, in 1810, at Pākākā (the point jutting into the harbor,) where negotiations between King Kaumuali‘i of Kaua‘i and Kamehameha I took place – Kaumuali‘i ceded Kauaʻi and Ni‘ihau to Kamehameha and the Hawaiian Islands were unified under a single leader.

This time and place marks the beginning of the unified islands. This location continues to be the center of commerce, government, finance, etc in the State.

A bit more history: Kamehameha I, who had been living at Waikiki since 1804, moved his Royal Center there in 1809. His immediate court consisted of high-ranking chiefs and their retainers.

Those who contributed to the welfare and enjoyment of court members also lived here, from fishermen and warriors to foreigners and chiefs of lesser rank. (Kamehameha’s home and surrounding support uses are noted with his name (adjoining Pākākā.))

In those days, this area was not called Honolulu. Instead, each land section had its own name (as noted on the map.)

There are reports that the old name for Honolulu was said to be Kou, a district roughly encompassing the present day area from Nuʻuanu to Alakea Streets and from Hotel to Queen Streets, which is the heart of the present downtown district.

Honolulu Harbor, also known as Kuloloia, was entered by the first foreigner, Captain William Brown of the English ship Butterworth, in 1794. He named the harbor “Fair Haven.”

The name Honolulu (meaning “sheltered bay” – with numerous variations in spelling) soon came into use.

As you can tell by the overlaying 1870 road map, it is obvious that following this timeframe, the fringe reefs noted on the map were filled in and land added to the water front. (In 1810, the waterfront was along the present Queen Street.)

Between 1857 and 1870 a combination of fill and dredging formed the “Esplanade” (not labeled on this map (because it’s over the reef) between Fort and Merchant Streets, creating the area where Aloha Tower is now located.)

In 1907, the reefs fronting the Kakaʻako area (on the right of the map) were filled in to make Fort Armstrong.

Fort Street, one of the oldest streets in Honolulu, was not named for Fort Armstrong; it was named after Fort Kekuanohu (aka Fort Honolulu,) constructed in 1816 by Kamehameha.

Today, the site of the fort is generally at the open space now called Walker Park, a small park at the corner of Queen and Fort streets (there is a canon from the old fort there) – (Ewa side of the former Amfac Center, now the Topa Financial Plaza, with the fountain.)

The left section of the map (where Nuʻuanu Stream empties into the harbor) identifies the area known as Kapuukolo; this is “where white men and such dwelt.”

Of the approximate sixty foreign residents on O‘ahu at the time, nearly all lived in the village, and many were in the service of the king.

Among those who lived here were Don Francisco de Paula Marin, the Spaniard who greatly expanded horticulture in Hawaiʻi, and Isaac Davis (Welsh,) friend and co-advisor with (John Young (British)) to Kamehameha. (The Marin and Davis homesites are noted on the map.)

The large yam field (what is now much of the core of downtown Honolulu) was planted to provide visiting ships with an easily-stored food supply for their voyages (supplying ships with food and water was a growing part of the Islands’ economy.)

This map, and the stories it tells, gives us a glimpse into Hawai‘i’s past.

Campbell-Honolulu-1810_map_over_GoogleEarth

Downtown_Honolulu-sites-uses_noted-1870_roads_in_red-Map-1810

February 13, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Poʻouli

I vividly remember a meeting of the Board of Land and Natural Resources, in September 2004. In the middle of the meeting, my secretary came into the room and approached me.

She knew that I frowned upon interruptions of Land Board meetings (in fact, this was the one and only time it happened in the over-four years I was chair); but she also knew of my interest and concern about the Po‘ouli.

She handed me a note and shared the great news, which I then shared with the rest of the people at the Land Board meeting.

They caught a Po‘ouli.

The Po‘ouli is a stocky Hawaiian honeycreeper endemic to Maui that was not discovered until 1973. Po‘ouli have short wings and tail, a finch-like bill and distinctive plumage.

Aptly named “black-faced” in Hawaiian, Po‘ouli have a large black face mask, white cheeks, throat and underparts and brown wings and back; no other Hawaiian forest bird is similarly colored.

It has been listed as Critically Endangered (Possibly Extinct) and probably holds the distinction of being the most endangered bird in the world.

In 1980, the Poʻouli population was estimated at 140 birds. Last seen in 2003 and 2004, there are only two known individuals: one male and one female.

The two remaining birds are at least seven years old and are nearing the end of their reproductive lifespan; unfortunately, they had differing home ranges.

The exact causes of Poʻouli’s rapid population decline, since the species’ discovery in 1973, are not well understood.

The Po‘ouli is likely susceptible to the same factors that threaten other native Hawaiian forest birds, including: loss and degradation of habitat, predation by introduced mammals (including cats, rats and mongoose) and disease.

The remaining Poʻouli individuals were found in windswept, high-elevation rainforest on the northeast slope of Haleakala Volcano.

I remember a previous helicopter trip flying over this region on our way to Waikamoi with folks from The Nature Conservancy; we knew that people were on the ground trying to capture the, then, three remaining Poʻouli.

Crews were attempting to catch the elusive birds to attempt to breed them in captivity; since it appeared natural breeding was not occurring.

Then members of the Maui Forest Bird Conservation Center captured one of the only three remaining Po‘ouli birds that had been known to exist. The male was a very old individual with only one eye.

The other two individuals, believed to be the only remaining Po’ouli in the world, were last seen during this same period and then were never seen again.

In the following days, I was included in the flurry of e-mails for days after this; the excitement, anticipation and hope that each shared in the prospect of saving a species was phenomenal. This was an exciting time to be at DLNR.

However, scientists’ efforts for captive breeding were crushed when, on November 26, 2004, despite attempts to help the bird, he died. (However, scientists successfully took tissue samples for possible future cloning.)

I want to make sure people realize and appreciate the magnitude of this story. We are talking about the possible end of a species. Someone, a few short years ago, had in his hands potentially the last bird of its species.

Sad as this story ends, it is an example of the kind of stuff that happens in resource management, especially in a place like Hawaiʻi where there are so many plants and animals that are endangered.

There is a lot of good work being done by a lot of good people to save a lot of species at risk. Thank you to all.

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February 12, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Whippoorwill Expedition

“When the USS Whippoorwill left Honolulu at 5 o’clock on the afternoon of Thursday, July 24 (1924), carrying scientists who were to make a survey of the Line islands for the Bishop Museum, the vessel headed first to Fanning.”

“Halfway between the Hawaiian group and the atolls of the southern Pacific, the Line islands, coral-bound, are strewn on the bosom of an equatorial sea. Stepping-stones, as it were, up from the lazy latitudes.” (Advertiser, September 6, 1924)

Line Islands, chain of coral islands in the central Pacific Ocean, some of which belong to Kiribati and some of which are claimed as unincorporated territories belonging to the US

“There is Palmyra, the northernmost, where a man may joust with land crabs measuring 14 inches in diameter. There is Washington, the little paradise, which is as beautiful as any island in Polynesia.”

“There is Jarvis, the desolate; where the broken schooner Amaranth, tossed up nearly a dozen years ago, lies bleaching in the sun of endless days.”

“There is Christmas where, in company with native divers, one may wrest the bearing pearl shell from the coral bottom of the lagoon; where the pickled awa float, belly upwards, on the waters of an inland lake, and where the Bay of Wrecks on the reef-set, windward shore, offers convincing evidence, century-old.” (Advertiser, September 6, 1924)

The Navy Department assigned the minesweeper Whippoorwill, under Captain W. J. Poland, to survey the Line Islands; the first group left Honolulu on July 24, 1924.

The scientific personnel were under the leadership of Charles H. Edmondson, and the members of the group concentrated on zoology, botany, conchology, entomology, and geology.

Edmondson came to Hawaii in 1920 with a joint appointment as professor of zoology and director of the Marine Biology Laboratory of the newly constituted University and as zoologist at the Bishop Museum. (UH)

The second group, with C Montague Cooke, Jr., in charge of the scientific personnel, left Honolulu on September 15, 1924 and visited Baker and Howland Islands.

“‘We had three objectives,’” Dr Edmondson said, in explanation’ and they were Christmas, Jarvis and Washington. The scientific work on Fanning had been well covered by Sr Stanley C Ball and myself in 1922 and Palmyra had been investigated by other parties – Dr CM Cooke Jr, and Professor Joseph E Rock in 1913, and Lorrin A Thurston, ‘Ted’ Dranga and David Thaanum a couple of years ago.”

“Dranga went diving for pearl shell. … ‘I saw a couple of natives diving,’ he said, ‘and I jumped into a skiff and rowed out to them. … ‘Sharks? One must expect that. But we kept close to the boat. … No I didn’t find any pearls.’”

“‘Pearls are scarce and one might get hundreds of shells before finding a single one. Sharks add to the fun of pearl-diving,’ he admitted, ‘but I, for one, would have appreciated the sport a great deal more it there had been none of the beasts around.’” (Advertiser, September 6, 1924)

A good deal of material in the natural sciences and geology was collected, and the ensuing reports were published by Bishop Museum. Notes on and a location map of some archaeological remains on Howland were made for future study.

“(T)he navy boat docked at Honolulu at 9 o’clock on the evening of the twenty-seventh. Dor Edmondson announced that the expedition had been a conspicuous success.”

“‘The real research work will take a long time, Edmondson concluded, ‘but it is certain that every collection we made will give us a clearer insight into the distribution of plant and marine forms in the Pacific and will aid, ultimately, in the solution of the problem of the origin and migrations of the Polynesians.’” (Advertiser, September 6, 1924)

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