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The Great Māhele
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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment
“The first symptoms of the fever is a restless sensation – an excited state of the system – a wild expression of the eye – and a light and elastic tread. These symptoms are followed with a desire to obtain implements for digging and washing …” (Polynesian, July 15, 1848)
There are “fearful ravages of a terrible fever which has nearly depopulated all the seaport towns and caused general rush to the interior. It is not exactly the yellow fever, but a fever for a yellow substance, called gold.”
“An exceedingly rich gold mine has been discovered in the Sacramento Valley, and all class all sexes have deserted their occupation and rushed en masse to the mines to make their fortune.”
“The gold taken from this newly discovered mine is not gold ore, but pure virgin gold. It is procured by the simple process of digging and washing, and is obtained at the rate of from two to four ounces per day by each laborer.” (Polynesian, June 24, 1848)
The great California gold rush began on January 24, 1848, when James W Marshall discovered a gold nugget in the American River while constructing a sawmill for John Sutter, a Sacramento agriculturalist. News of Marshall’s discovery brought thousands of immigrants to California from elsewhere in the United States and from other countries.
At first, there were only two routes. The first entailed a six-month sea voyage from New York around the tip of South America to San Diego or San Francisco. Rampant seasickness, bug-infested food, boredom, and high expense made this route unattractive for many would-be prospectors.
The second route brought travelers over the Oregon-California Trail in covered wagons—over rugged terrain and hostile territory. This journey also averaged six months’ duration.
By 1850, the length and difficulty of both routes had inspired the construction of the Panama Railway, the world’s first transcontinental railroad. Built across the isthmus of Panama by private American companies to speed travel to California, the railroad helped to shave months off of the long voyage around South America.
In addition to massive emigration from the eastern US, the California gold rush triggered a global emigration of ambitious fortune-seekers from China, Germany, Chile, Mexico, Ireland, Turkey, and France. The number of Chinese gold-seekers was particularly large, though many Chinese did not intend to settle in the United States, which they called “the Gold Mountain.” (harvard-edu)
It is estimated that not less than two hundred foreigners have left the Sandwich Islands for the gold mines in California.— Others it is rumored will soon follow. At the latest intelligence from the gold region there was no falling off in the amount of gold that rewarded the labors of the miner …” (the Friend, September 1, 1848)
“The rush, to that part of the world, flows in unabated. One hundred and eight vessels, are reported to have left the Atlantic States, for San Francisco, during the month of December. … The mines continue to yield the usual amount of gold, and no sign of being exhausted. The freshet and overflowings of the numerous streams and rivers, are reported to increase the amount of gold in the ‘diggings.’” (The Friend, April 1, 1850)
And, they came from Hawaiʻi … hundreds of Hawaiians came to California to work in the mines. Remaining place names, Kanaka Creek and Kanaka Bar remind us of their early presence in the gold country.
Others from Hawaiʻi, even some of the missionaries, joined in the quest for gold.
“Several other vessels left port some for California, which has become a very interesting quarter, since the reports have reached us of the gold mines.” (August 1, 1848) “Comore. Jones has gone to St. Francisco and it is said he will put a stop to the private operations in the gold district, and will claim the district & the gold for the U. S. government.” (Levi Chamberlain, August 8, 1848)
“There is at present a great excitement here about digging gold in California. … Mr. Douglass and Mr. Lyman of whom you have heard as former assistants in our school are both there, also — Mr. Ricord, the former attorney general. … Men, women, and children are all absorbed in it, the one great thing Gold.” (Julia Cooke, September 21, 1848)
Reverend Damon of the Seamen’s Bethel Church and publisher of The Friend travelled the area – not as a miner, but an observer of the activities there.
“In travelling through the country I have met scores of seamen with whom I had become acquainted while at Honolulu. I was cordially welcomed, although in more than a single instance they exclaimed ‘you are the last man that we expected to see at the mines.’ A few words of explanation were however sufficient to set the matter right.” (Damon, The Friend, December 1, 1848)
Thomas Hopu and William Kanui, who returned to the islands with the Pioneer Company of missionaries in 1820, joined the gold rush. Damon saw them in Sacramento on his journey through the area.
John Thomas Gulick, son of the Gulick missionary family, joined the rush after seeking his parents’ permission. By June 1849, his prospecting was reasonably successful, but after having his money stolen, he returned to Hawaii a few months later after having recovered his finances through various trading ventures. (Bennett)
Likewise, the Reverend Lowell Smith, the first minister of Kaumakapili Church, sailed to San Francisco for a rest because of poor health. He visited the California gold fields.
“Kamae went immediately to speak to the Hawaiians in other places to come so we might be together for the week. I witnessed their work in the gold fields …. They were not able to obtain much on account of the scarcity of water. Some made a dollar a day, others two dollars, and still others, nothing.” (Smith; Kenn, HHS)
The California Gold Rush drawing Hawaiians to the continent was not its only effect on the Islands; the Hawaiian economy was affected in several ways – good and not-so-good.
Prior to the Gold Rush, supporting the Pacific whaling and trading fleets and trade between the West Coast and Hawaiʻi was the scale of the Hawaiʻi participation. The scale of that significantly changed with the Gold Rush.
Hawaiʻi was only three to five weeks away, and with the growing population drawn to the gold fields, in addition to provisioning ships, Hawaiʻi farmers were feeding the gold seekers on the continent.
There were some down sides; this also brought a marked increase in the prices of consumer goods, especially food, caused by the great increase in agricultural exports to California, which offered very profitable new markets. (Rawls)
Likewise, the exodus to the continent created a critical labor shortage in Hawaiʻi, where a sizeable number of sugar plantation workers migrated to the California gold fields.
The parting of workers from the plantations between 1848 and 1853 was so large, Hawaiʻi sugar producers began to seek Chinese immigrants to fill the gap. (Rawls)
The ahupuaʻa of Mākaha, between Waiʻanae Ahupuaʻa to the southeast and Keaʻau Ahupua‘a to the northwest, extends from the coastline to the Waiʻanae Range
Earliest accounts describe Mākaha as a good-sized inland settlement and a smaller coastal settlement. These accounts correlate well with a sketch drawn by Hiram Bingham in 1826 depicting only six houses along the Mākaha coastline.
Green describes Mākaha’s coastal settlement as “…restricted to a hamlet in a small grove of coconut trees on the Keaʻau side of the valley, some other scattered houses, a few coconut trees along the beach, and a brackish water pool that served as a fish pond, at the mouth of the Mākaha Stream.” (Cultural Surveys)
This stream supported traditional wetland agriculture – kalo (taro) – in pre-contact and early historic periods
Supporting this, Māhele documents note Mākaha’s primary settlement was inland where waters from Mākaha Stream could support lo‘i and kula plantings. Although there is evidence for settlement along the shore, for the most part, this was limited to scattered, isolated residents.
One of the best preserved heiau on Oʻahu is situated inland in Mākaha Valley.
It was originally built possibly as a Lono class agricultural heiau, probably around AD 1545. Unlike many other ancient religious sites, it remained intact after the Hawaiian religion was overthrown. (Apo)
Mākaha Stream, a focal point of the ahupuaʻa, gave life to the valley in both ancient and modern times. After six reconstruction phases, Kaneʻaki Heiau was transformed into the present day Luakini class structure. This final phase, imply direct reference to a paramount chief having commissioned and participated in the event, since only he/she could build such a heiau. (WaiʻanaeHawaiianStudies)
Excavation data suggests that Kaneʻaki Heiau was in major operation for centuries, beginning in AD 1545. The last phase of construction occurred during Kamehameha’s campaign to unite the islands (1795-1810.) (WaiʻanaeHawaiianStudies)
When the kapu system was overthrown, Kaneʻaki Heiau, unlike many other ancient religious sites, remained intact. In time, two restoration projects (one from 1969-70 and the other from 1996-97) were completed in order to retain the physical, spiritual and historical aspects of Kaneʻaki Heiau. (WaiʻanaeHawaiianStudies)
Nearby is a huge stone, “Pohaku O Kāne” (Stone of Kāne). This is one of the forms of the god Kāne, the uppermost of the four major gods, was worshipped by the many ʻohana that lived that ahupua’a. In modern times, it has come to be regarded as the guardian over the heiau and is still venerated by some people. (WaiʻanaeHawaiianStudies)
Earlier restoration was completed in 1970. A terrace and platform temple was first constructed on this site about 1545. It underwent six alterations, becoming ever larger and more sophisticated. (NPS)
Tradition says that in 1795 Kamehameha ordered that Kaneʻaki be transformed into a war heiau to insure his final conquest of Kauaʻi (Kaʻena Point, nearby, points directly at that island). (NPS)
Supposedly those who started restoring the temple in the 1940s used Puʻukohola Heiau (at Kohala on the Big Island) as a model for the placement of the houses and idols. (NPS)
Bishop Museum staff supervised the restoration. There is a low terrace from which observers watched the ceremonies, the large hale mana for the priests on the upper platform alongside the smaller hale pahu, with an altar on pole legs between them. (NPS)
Behind the altar is the god figure flanked by two prayer towers. These structures were reconstructed on the basis of postholes found in the stone platform. (NPS)
Waiʻanae School Hawaii Studies Program suggests the following General Protocol Guidelines.
Kaneʻaki Heiau remains a significant place of culture to this very day. Therefore, it is very important to establish guidelines that will ensure the preservation of this sacred site, and to protect those that come to visit. (WaiʻanaeHawaiianStudies)
by Peter T Young Leave a Comment
by Peter T Young Leave a Comment
Oʻahu is about 382,500-acres in size; the district of Puna on the island of Hawaiʻi is about 320,000-acres in size – almost same-same.
According to the 2020 census, Oʻahu has about 984,000-people and Puna has about 46,800. That means there are less than a half-acre per person on Oʻahu and about 7-acres per person in Puna.
For some, it sounds like optimal living; and, many are moving to the Big Island to enjoy this rural lifestyle.
Open spaces with room to roam, it sounds kind of like the Wild West. And, for some, that’s its nickname, however, not with the same context.
Wait, there’s more.
Between 1958 and 1973, more than 52,500-individual lots were created. There are at least over 40 Puna subdivisions. Geographically, these subdivisions are sometimes as big as cities.
For example, Hawaiian Paradise Park has over 8,800 building lots and is reportedly the second largest private subdivision in the United States. It is over 4-miles long and nearly 3½-miles wide.
Back then, they plotted out the subdivisions in cookie-cutter residential/agricultural lots across a grid, with very little space for other uses (such as parks, open space, government services, regional roads … the list goes on and on.)
To add insult to injury, most subdivision lots are accessed by private, unpaved roads. The streets generally lack sidewalks and lighting, and do not meet current County standards in terms of pavement width, vertical geometrics, drainage and other design parameters.
There are only two main roads to move the people in the district in and out – one (Route 130 – Keaau-Pahoa Road) goes into Pahoa to Kalapana; the other (Route 11 – Volcano Highway) serves the lots up in the Volcano area.
Most lots rely on individual catchment systems (captured off the roof and rainfall stored in water tanks) supplemented with private delivery trucks for drinking water. None of the subdivisions have central sewer systems. Large sections of some subdivisions are off the power grid.
Oh, and one more thing, about 6,400 subdivision lots lie in the highest lava hazard zone and over 500 of these are exposed to additional risks from subsidence, tsunami and earthquakes.
That’s not just hazards noted on a map; thousands of these lots have been covered by lava flows or have been rendered unbuildable by shoreline subsidence over the years.
While most of these subdivisions are on agricultural-zoned lands, the actual use of developed lots is predominantly residential.
At the time these subdivisions were approved, the Puna district was sparsely populated and, with the exception of a sugar plantation and a small-scale visitor attraction at the volcano, which had not yet been developed as a national park, there was little economic activity in the area.
Shortly after the approval of the first of these subdivisions, Hawai‘i was admitted as the 50th state. That event, coinciding with jet travel, spurred increased investment in the Islands.
To prevent the excesses of land speculation, Hawai‘i adopted the first State Land Use Law in the nation in 1961.
Most of the Puna district was placed in either the Conservation District or the Agriculture District when formal boundaries were established in 1964, and this somewhat served to abate the number of subdivision applications.
However, it wasn’t until the County adopted a subdivision ordinance in 1973, setting more rigorous lot size and infrastructure standards, that large subdivisions with minimal services were effectively discouraged.
In the first decade or so following the creation of the non-conforming subdivisions, lot sales were fairly brisk, but there was little lot development.
In the 1970 Census, the recorded population of the Puna District was only 5,154-residents, most of whom lived in the older settlements of Kea‘au, Pāhoa and Volcano.
That was then, over the years the population exploded, doubling to 11,751 in 1980, then up another 10,000 by 1990 (to 20,781,) and another 11,000 by 2000 (to 31,335,) and another 14,000 by 2010 (to 45,326) to the 2020 population of about 46,800.
Population growth has worn on the minimal infrastructure, as well as people’s patience.
Today, folks in Puna are living with the lack of planning and regulatory control over the subdivision bonanza days. But, they do benefit from lower sales prices (associated with the general lack of facilities and the huge availability.) Some say you are getting what you pay for.
This region is finally undergoing some short and long-range planning. And, there are attentive council members seeking to have Puna get its fair share.
Depending on your perspective, addressing the issues in this region today is either a planner’s nightmare or a planner’s dream. This is an area where I would love to get involved – for me, challenges create opportunities.
The image notes the individual parcels within the Puna district (overlaying the Google Earth image.) At this scale, many of the lots are not discernible – the fully gray areas indicate smaller lot residential uses, with no (or very limited) park space – where you can just see between the lines, these are 1-5 acre parcels.