Lehua | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

We still pronounce some of the Hawaiian Island names differently.

After western contact and attempts to write about Hawai‘i, early writers tried to spell words based on the sound of the words they heard. People heard words differently, so it was not uncommon for words to be spelled differently, depending on the writer.

However, it may be helpful to look how early writers wrote the respective Island names and see if there is a consistency in representative letters for names and the sounds they represent.

Remember, the writing of the letters in each word is based on the sound they hear, then written in the context of the sound of based on their own English language (and pronounced in the English language).

The first writers were Captain James Cook and his crew. Here are the ways he spelled the Island names (and the words we use for them now).

Cook (1778-1779:)
Oreehoua, or Keehoua (Lehua)
Tahoora (Kaʻula)
Oneeheow or Neeheehow (Niʻihau)
Atooi, Atowi, or Towi, and sometimes Kowi (Kauai)
Woahoo, or Oahoo (Oʻahu)
Morotoi or Morokoi (Molokai)
Ranai, or Oranai (Lanai)
Mowee (Maui)
Morotinnee, or Morokinnee (Molokini)
Kahowrowee, or Tahoorowa (Kaho‘olawe)
Owhyhee (Hawaiʻi)

First off, let’s look at the preceding O or A in some of the names. ‘O, and sometimes ʻA, beginning a word are markers to note proper name subjects (persons, places or certain special things.) They are vocatives (addressing the person or place you are talking about or to) – i.e. Atooi means ‘this is (or, ‘it is’) Tooi’ – so it is a proper word and the Island name is ‘Tooi.’ (Johnson)

Here are some other early writers’ ways of writing the Island names by the sounds each hears:

Portlock (1785-1788)
Tahoora (Ka‘ula)
Oneehow (Ni‘ihau)
Atoui
Woahoo
Morotoi
Ranai
Mowee
Owhyhee

Vancouver (1792-1794)
Attowai (Kauai)
Woahoo
Morotoi
Ranai
Mowee (Maui)
Owhyhee (Hawaiʻi)

Hiram Bingham (1820-1840)
Owhyhee (Hawaiʻi)
Woahoo (Oʻahu)
Attooi (Kauai)

Let’s start with the double vowel sounds to start to break down the sound … double O, ‘oo’, has a sound that rhymes with ‘Too’ or ‘Two’. Double E, ‘ee’, sounds like the way we say the single letter ‘E’ (rhyming with ‘wee’).

Now let’s look at the ‘i’ in the words – it, too, sounds like the way we say the single letter ‘I’ (rhyming with ‘eye’).

So ‘Atooi’ really is ‘Tooi’ – sounding like ‘two – eye’. As Hiram Bingham was working on the alphabet developed for the written Hawaiian, he actually notes that Atooi (Kauai), in his early writing was written as ‘Kau‘ ai’ (with the ‘okina before the second ‘a’, not after it) and sounds like ‘cow-eye’.

Some, today, say Atooi is pronounced as ‘Ah’ ‘two’ ‘ee’; however, they are putting in the Hawaiian sound for ‘I’ (which sounds like ‘ee’), rather than the English sound for ‘I’, which rhymes with ‘eye’.

Another Island name with varied pronunciations today is Molokai.

It seems there are at least two schools of thought; an explanation on the pronunciation/spelling of the island name (Molokai (Moh-loh-kī) versus Molokaʻi (Moh-loh-kah-ee)) is noted in the early portion of “Tales of Molokai The Voice of Harriet Ne” by Harriet Ahiona Ayau Ne with Gloria L. Cronin.

Harriet Ne’s grandson, Edward Halealoha Ayau, noted:

“The reason that the name Molokai (as used in the book) is left without the glottal stop is because my tūtū wahine (grandmother) says that when she was growing up in Pelekunu it was never pronounced Molokaʻi (Moh-loh-kah-ee), but rather Molokai (Moh-loh-kī).”

“Then in about the 1930s, the name changed to Molokaʻi, in part she believes because musicians began pronouncing the name that way. Mary Kawena Pukuʻi, three weeks before her death, called my tūtū and told her that the correct name is Molokai, which means ‘the gathering of the ocean waters.’”

“On the rugged north coast of the island, the ocean slams hard into the pali. On the south and east shores, the ocean glides gently to shore due to location of reefs at least a quarter of a mile offshore. Hence the name, Molokai, ‘Gathering of the Ocean Waters.’”

In a follow-up exchange with Halealoha, he resolved the matter saying that the “best answer is both pronunciations are correct and the most correct depends on which family you are speaking to. So for our ʻohana, it would be Molokai. For others, Molokaʻi.”

Bingham writes, “Aiming to avoid an ambiguous, erroneous, and inconvenient orthography, to assign to every character one certain sound, and thus represent with ease and exactness the true pronunciation of the Hawaiian language, the following five vowels and seven consonants have been adopted: a, e, i, o, u, h, k, I, m, n, p, w.”

“The power of the vowels may be thus represented: ‘a’, as ‘a’ in the English words art, father; ‘e’, as ‘a’ in pale, or ‘ey’ in they; ‘I’, as ‘ee’ or, in machine; ‘o’, as ‘o’ in no; ‘u’, as ‘oo’ in too. They are called so as to express their power by their names ‘ Ah, A, Ee, O, Oo.” (Bingham)

“The convenience of such an alphabet for the Hawaiian language, undisturbed by foreign words, is very obvious, because we can express with simplicity, ease, and certainty, those names and phrases with the sound of which former voyagers were utterly unable to make us acquainted by English orthography.”

“Though it were possible to spell them with our English alphabet it would still be inconvenient. A few names may illustrate the reasons for our new orthography.” (Bingham)

The Old. Corrected in English. The New, or Hawaiian.
Tamaahmaah Kah-mā‘-hau-mā-hah Ka me‘ ha-me‘ ha
Terreioboo Kah-lah‘-nȳ-ō-poo‘-oo Ka la’ ni o pu‘ u
Tamoree Kah-oo‘-moo ah lee‘-ee Ka u‘ rnu a Ii‘ i
Owhyhee Hah-wȳe‘-ee Ha wai‘ i
Woahoo, O-ah‘-hoo O a‘ hu
Attooi Cow‘-eye‘ Kau‘ ai‘
Hanaroorah Hō-nō-loo‘-loo Ho no lu‘ lu

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A 2003 archaeological survey located and mapped stone platforms and ahu (rock cairns). One site is over 800-years old. Ancient Hawaiians visited Lehua for fishing and feather collecting.

Lehua was one of the first five islands sighted by Captain James Cook in 1778, which he referred to as “Oreehoua”.

Cook first sighted Oʻahu on January 18, 1778. On February 2, 1778 his journal entry named the island group after his patron: “Of what number this newly-discovered Archipelago consists, must be left for future investigation. We saw five of them, whose names, as given by the natives, are Woahoo (Oʻahu,) Atooi (Kauaʻi,) Oneeheow (Niʻihau,) Oreehoua (Lehua) and Tahoora (Kaʻula.) …. I named the whole group the Sandwich Islands, in honour of the Earl of Sandwich.” (Clement)

Lehua, part of Kauaʻi County, is approximately ¾ -mile north of Niʻihau and about 18-miles west of Kauaʻi. The largest of Hawaiʻi’s offshore islets, Lehua is about 290-acres in size and 702-feet high at the highest point. It is more than twice the size of Kaʻula.

Several sea caves are present on Lehua, including Anakukaiaiki which is home to Kukaiaiki, son of the shark god Kuhaimoana. (Kuhaimoana was a deified shark (ʻaumakua) who lived at the island of Kaʻula and had a cave so large that a small schooner could sail through it. “Kuonoono ka lua o Kuhaimoana” means, “He has a cave like Kuhaimoana’s.”) (OIRC)

The volcanic crater that formed Lehua 4.9-million years ago has been sculpted by marine erosion and is dominated by grasslands and herblands.

It is in the rain shadow of Kauaʻi and is very dry, especially during the heat of summer. Much of the island is bare rock; eroded sediment has collected only in gully bottoms, ledges and small caves. Vegetation is sparse but many plants have a growth spurt after winter rains.

The south side of the island is characterized by steep sea cliffs notched with sea caves at the water’s edge. The cliffs taper off to low-lying points that border a wide-mouthed bay opening to the north.

Lehua Island was set aside as a Lighthouse site under the control of the US Department of Commerce in a proclamation dated August 10, 1928. The island is owned by the US Coast Guard and managed by the State DLNR.

The federal government built a lighthouse on Lehua, the highest beacon operating in marine service. It is situated on a narrow ledge along the crest of the islet. (Brown, HJH)

The light became operational in April 1931 and was visible for about 15-miles. A modern light is in operation at present and is maintained by US Coast Guard personnel using a helicopter to land on the narrow crest of the island. (Brown, HJH)

Lehua is one of the largest seabird colonies in the main Hawaiian Islands. The island is designated as a State Seabird Sanctuary and DLNR-DOFAW is responsible for the management of such Sanctuaries and is a trustee for seabirds and other native plant and wildlife resources on the Sanctuaries. Lehua is home to at least eleven species of seabirds, as well as monk seals and native coastal plants. (DLNR)

Lehua is important for the number and diversity of breeding seabirds it supports and for the presence of several seabird species that are rare or have restricted breeding ranges. (Audubon)

Surveys estimate approximately 50,000-seabirds are on Lehua. Seventeen seabird species are present, including eleven species nesting or attempting to nest on the island. Some of the bird species found include Laysan and Black-footed Albatross, Red-Footed and Brown Boobies, Red-tailed Tropicbirds, Hawaiian Petrels, Band-rumped Storm Petrels, and Newell’s and Wedge-tailed Shearwaters. Migratory shorebirds also visit the island. (USFWS)

The Brown Booby colony on Lehua is the largest in the Hawaiian Islands with 521-breeding pairs, and the Red-footed Booby colony is one of the two largest in the Hawaiian Islands, with 1,294-pairs and approximately 4,288-total individuals. The colonies of Laysan Albatross (28 pairs, 93 total individuals) and Black-footed Albatross (16 pairs, 53 total individuals) are small but appear to be growing. (Audubon)

These species appear to be declining in Hawaiʻi and may be difficult to manage on the larger Hawaiian Islands. Offshore islets such as Lehua may become increasingly important in the conservation of these species because their small size makes it more feasible to eradicate predators and manage other threats. (Audubon)

When the first biologists visited Lehua in 1931, Polynesian rats and Rabbits had already been introduced. Rats eat many native species of plants, insect, seabirds and intertidal invertebrates; they are a major threat to island by decimating native plants, allowing alien plants to dominate, and impacting smaller seabird species.

In 2005, resource managers were able to eradicate the feral rabbits (with that, seabirds no longer have to fight for their burrows;) the efforts to eradicate the rats is ongoing.

Landing on Lehua requires permission from the US Coast Guard. Activities on Lehua are also subject to Hawaiʻi Department of Land and Natural Resources regulations for State Seabird Sanctuaries.

Disturbance of seabirds and other wildlife within the sanctuary is forbidden. Federal law also protects seabirds, shorebirds, and threatened or endangered species.

The image shows Lehua Island in the foreground and Niʻihau in the background. In addition, I have added other images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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