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September 30, 2017 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Date Line

The date line is the logical consequence of the so-called Circumnavigator’s Paradox, which was known to scientists before it was witnessed for the first time by Antonio Pigafetta in the early 16th century.

One of only 18 crew members out of 237 to survive Ferdinand Magellan’s first circumnavigation of the globe, Pigafetta kept a diary throughout the voyage. When the ship Victoria made landfall at the Cape Verde islands after almost three years’ absence from lands accustomed to Western timekeeping, he noted: (Jacobs, NY Times)

“On Wednesday, 9th July (1522,) we … sent the boat ashore to obtain provisions … And we charged our men (that) they should ask what day it was.”

“They were answered that … it was Thursday, at which they were much amazed, for to us it was Wednesday, and we knew not how we had fallen into error. For every day I, being always in health, had written down each day without any intermission.”

Pigafetta then concluded, “As we were told since, there had been no mistake, for we had always made our voyage westward and had returned to the same place of departure as the sun, wherefore the long voyage had brought the gain of twenty-four hours, as is clearly seen.” (Magellan’s Voyage, Pigafetta)

“(T)he Europeans in the Sandwich Islands reckon time from West to East, brought through Canton, so that we who brought time from East to West, were a day behind them in reckoning, just as was the case in Kamtschatka and the Russian settlements.”

“The same difference was the case between neighboring cities of San Francisco and Port Bodega. When one must take into account the old and the new calendar, the reckoning of time from East to West here, Greenwich time, ship time, mean time, and apparent time, sun time and star time, the astronomical day, etc., it is not easy to say what is the time of day.” (Adelbert Von Chamisso; 1816; HHS)

In October 1884 astronomers and representatives from various countries convened in Washington at the International Meridian Conference to recommend a common prime meridian for geographical and nautical charts that would be acceptable to all parties concerned.

Twenty-six nations, represented by 41 delegates, participated in the conference; Luther Aholo (Privy Counsellor) and William DeWitt Alexander (Surveyor General) went to Washington as a commissioner from the Kingdom of Hawaii to the International Meridian Conference in 1884 (Alexander also represented the Republic of Hawaii in 1893-1894.)

The Greenwich Meridian was chosen for international use at the International Meridian Conference on October 22, 1884; “from this meridian longitude shall be counted in two directions up to 180 degrees, east longitude being plus and west longitude being minus.” (Resolution III, International Conference, 1884)

Given the North and South poles, which are approximately the ends of the axis about which the Earth rotates, and the Equator, an imaginary line halfway between the two poles, the parallels of latitude are formed by circles surrounding the Earth and in planes parallel with that of the equator.

If the circles are drawn equally spaced along the surface of the sphere, with 90 spaces from the equator to 90 degrees North and South at the respective poles, each is called a degree of latitude.

Meridians of longitude are formed with a series of imaginary lines, all intersecting at both the North and South poles, and crossing each parallel of latitude at right angles but striking the equator at various points.

While the Conference decided on the Prime Meridian through Greenwich, they did not determine its anti-meridian. 180 degrees east (and west) of Greenwich was the natural choice for the International Date Line.

However, neither the International Meridian Conference, nor any other subsequent global committee, ever sanctioned its ‘official’ use. (Jacobs, NY Times) No international agreement, treaty or law governs the precise location of the date line. (Ariel)

The International Date Line exists for a specific reason. It marks the time zone border where the date is actually changed by a whole day.

The International Date Line prevents the date from being uncoordinated with the real calendar. If you cross the date line during travel while you’re moving in an easterly direction, you must subtract a day, but if you cross the date line moving in the opposite direction – west – then you must add a day. Ultimately, it helps keep everyone across the world synced up with the real time. (WorldTimeServer)

Due to the lack of any international guide lines for the location of the date line, 20th-century map makers have tended to follow the recommendations of the hydrographic departments of the British and the American Navy.

Both departments regularly issue charts and pilot books for the Pacific Ocean region that represent the date line as a series of connected straight lines (or better ‘circle segments’). The earliest recommendations issued by these departments referring to the date line appear to date from 1899 and 1900.

Two adjustments of the date line took place in 1910 near the island chain of Hawai‘i and between Samoa and the Chatham Islands. (Utrecht University)

No record can be found as to when Hawai‘i decided it was east rather than west of the International Date Line, but presumably this occurred not too many years after Chamisso’s visit.

Moreover, according to Howse, “The date line as originally drawn had a kink to the westward of the Hawaiian Islands to include Morrell and Byers islands which appeared on nineteenth-century charts at the western end of the Hawaiian chain. It was then proved that they did not exist, so the date line was straightened out.” (Schmitt & Cox)

North of the Bering Strait, at the latitude of Wrangel Island (Ostrov Vrangelya, and considered part of Russia) that separates the East-Siberian Sea from the Chukchi Sea, the date line experienced some local adjustments during the early 1920s.

A Canadian expedition to colonize the barren island failed miserably and by 1926 the Russians had re-established their claim by settling the island with Russian-Siberian colonists.

The temporary adjustment of the date line in 1921 to bisect Wrangel Island would appear to indicate the initial recognition of the Canadian claim on this island by the British Hydrographic Department. (Utrecht University)

In 2011, Samoa changed the date line near them – as “the clock struck midnight (10:00 GMT Friday) as 29 December ended, Samoa and Tokelau fast-forwarded to 31 December, missing out on 30 December entirely.”

“Samoa announced the decision in May in a bid to improve ties with major trade partners Australia and New Zealand.
Neighbouring Tokelau decided to follow suit in October.” (BBC)

The change comes 119 years after Samoa moved in the opposite direction. Then, it transferred to the same side of the international date line as the United States, in an effort to aid trade.

The date line doesn’t just demarcate days; generally north of the equator severe tropical cyclones east of the date line are referred to as hurricanes, west of the date line they are caller typhoons (if a named hurricane crosses the dateline, it keeps the same name, but is then referred to as a typhoon.) (NOAA)

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TimeZones-International Prime Meridian
TimeZones-International Prime Meridian
International Meridian Conference attendees
International Meridian Conference attendees
International Date Line-1921
International Date Line-1921
International Date Line-1910
International Date Line-1910
International Date Line-1900
International Date Line-1900
SAMOA-TIME/ - Map locating Samoa and the international date line. The Pacific island nations is changing its date on Friday. RNGS. (SIN01)
SAMOA-TIME/ – Map locating Samoa and the international date line. The Pacific island nations is changing its date on Friday. RNGS. (SIN01)
Samoa Change in Date Line
Samoa Change in Date Line

Filed Under: General, Economy Tagged With: International Date Line, Hawaii

September 29, 2017 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

When Hiram Met Sybil

For a while, the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) prohibited unmarried persons from entering the mission field. The Board believed that married missionaries could cope better with hardships and resist sexual temptations.

Thus, they required young men to be engaged at least two months before entering the mission field. To help the would-be missionaries find wives, the ABCFM had an ongoing list of “missionary-minded” women who were considered “young, pious, educated, fit and reasonably good-looking.” (Christian History Institute)

“Missionaries are ambassadors of Jesus Christ, beseeching people to be reconciled to God. Their business is not with believers, but unbelievers; they are not pastors or rulers, but evangelists.”

“Their first duty is to gather a local congregation. They will be spiritual leaders to it, but will leave it to a native minister and move on to preach the gospel in some other place. The sole exception is when a church is organized and there is no suitable native pastor available.”

“The missionary should raise up ministers and give them responsibility. Too many missionaries in any area will retard the development of the churches. Missionaries should be married, and their home will be a model of Christian family life.” (Legacy of Rufus Anderson; Beaver)

“How to improve the social life of a nation so demoralized and degraded, was a problem not easy of solution. Uncouth manners were to be corrected, and modes of dress and living to be improved. Only married missionaries could do this. Living models of domestic Christian life were indispensable.” (Anderson, 1872)

Augustine George Hibbard, in his history of the town of Goshen (where the ordination took place), notes the description of the time that Hiram met Sybil (his future wife), at the ordination (September 29, 1819) of then-single missionary Hiram Bingham (as told by Reverend AC Thompson).

“Nor was there wanting a touch of romance. Next to the singing of Melton Mowbray, the incident which lingered most vividly in the recollections of the people is one which they rightly regarded as a marked interposition of God’s good providence.”

“Oral traditions in regard to it have so many slight variations of detail, that I give what will be accepted as authentic and final, an extract from a letter written, at my request, by Mr. Bingham, many years since:”

“On leaving Andover, at the close of my course there, I took a rough journey to Goshen, and as the friends were gathering thickly there, in the afternoon previously to my ordination, Mr. Thurston and myself submitted to the requisite examination which was somewhat extended to meet the rising interest in the cause of our contemplated mission.”

“I was quartered at the Rev. Mr. Harvey’s. He and others attended, in the evening, a Bible Society meeting; but fatigued with closing all up at Andover, my journey and examination, I chose to stay quietly at the house of Mr. Harvey.”

“In the course of the evening, a gentleman, Rev. Mr. Brown, called and asked for lodgings for himself and a young lady, whom he had brought with him from the valley of the Connecticut. I stepped over to the meeting, and privately asked Mr. Harvey what should be done with them.”

“He replied laconically, and with little interruption to the routine of Bible meeting business, ‘Take them to Deacon Thompson’s.’ I offered, therefore, to accompany them thither.”

“Mr. Brown went to the public house, and brought out the young lady, introduced her to me, and took us into his vehicle, and, at my direction, drove to Deacon Thompson’s.”

“I had taken cold by a night’s ride over the mountains, and I wrapped a handkerchief about my neck, chin, and mouth, that cold evening, and this awakened ready sympathy in the sensitive heart of the young lady, who had for years been warmly interested in the missionary cause.”

“Mr. Brown had introduced her as Miss (Sybil) Moseley, the name of a lady teacher at Canandaigua, NY, whom Rev. Levi Parsons had mentioned to me as a most amiable, and thoroughly qualified companion for a missionary.”

“During the whole interview, the ride, and the call at your father’s, my mind was intently querying whether this could be the very same.”

“When introduced by your kind parents into the parlor, and seated by a hospitable fire, we sat and conversed for a few minutes. I measured the lines of her face and the expression of her features with more than an artist’s carefulness, and soon took leave of her, and Mr. Brown, and the family, receiving some very generous cautions from her respecting my cold.”

“The next day I learned that she was the young lady of whom Brother Parsons had spoken so highly. I saw her in the course of the next day most intensely interested in the missionary cause, and learned a good deal about her from Mr. Harvey, Brother S. Bartlett and wife, and Brother Ruggles and wife, about to embark for the Sandwich Islands.”

“I mentioned the case to Dr. Worcester, Mr. Evarts, and my brother, and asked their counsel. A prayer-meeting was arranged at Mr. Harvey’s while I authorized Dr. Worcester to ascertain from her whether a private and special interview with me would be allowed.”

“He saw her while prayers were offered for Divine guidance. He stated my case, held up the great work at the Islands with which her soul was already filled, and left her with the words, ‘Rebecca said, I will go.’”

“Returning to Mr. Harvey’s, he told me I could see her. I gave her some account of myself, put into her hands a copy of my statement to the Prudential Committee, in offering myself to the work, asked her to unite with me in it, and left her to consider till the next day whether she could give me encouragement, or not.”

“The next day she said she would go with me to her friends, and, if they did not object, she thought she should not. It was arranged for us to ride in a chaise to Hartford. The result you know (they married less than 2-weeks later).” (Hiram Bingham)

On October 23, 1819, Hiram and Sybil, and the rest of the Pioneer Company of American Protestant missionaries, set sail on the Thaddeus for Hawai‘i. By the middle of the trip, four of the wives were pregnant.

Sybil was pregnant when they arrived at Kailua-Kona on April 4, 1820. That first child of Hiram and Sybil, Sophia Mosely Bingham, is my Great-Great Grandmother.

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Portraits_of_Hiram_and_Sybil_Moseley_Bingham,_1819,_by_Samuel_F.B._Morse
Portraits_of_Hiram_and_Sybil_Moseley_Bingham,_1819,_by_Samuel_F.B._Morse

Filed Under: Missionaries / Churches / Religious Buildings Tagged With: Hawaii, Missionaries, Hiram Bingham, Sybil Bingham, Goshen, Ordination

September 28, 2017 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Chinese University of Hawai‘i

“The Chinese Hawaiian baseball team proved conclusively that they had the University Wildcats outclassed in every department when they took the second of a series of two games by a score of ten to two here today.” (Bisbee Daily News, March 24, 1915)

The exact wording may not be the same, but the message was: from 1912-1916, newspapers all across the continent shared the similar news – the Chinese University of Hawai‘i squad was the team to beat – but most couldn’t.

Mainland media tell part of the story … “The faculty and also the board of directors of the Chinese university of Hawaii have given permission to the baseball team of the institution to tour the United States in 1913.”

“A cable message was immediately sent to Nat C Strong in New York and he will arrange the schedule. It is expected the Chinese team will play Yale, Harvard and Princeton next year.” (Wilkes-Barre Times Leader, Pennsylvania, November 5, 1912)

“Mr Strong is an exceptionally active man in his line of work. He is the man who booked all the games for the Chinese baseball team, now playing on the coast, since June.”

“Because of the fact that the Chinese baseball boys now on the mainland have been such a good drawing card everywhere. Mr Strong has already secured seventy games for the All-Chinese aggregation should they decide to tour the United States again next year.” (Star-bulletin, September 28, 1912)

“The baseball team of the Chinese University of Hawai‘i will sail tomorrow for San Francisco, to begin a tour of the United States. After a few coast matches the team will go east, ending its schedule with a series of games with New England colleges the latter part of June.”

“The tour will comprise approximately 50,000 miles. The party will include fifteen prayers and will be in charge of Captain Akana. Nearly all of the players were members of the team which made a similar tour of the United States last year.” (Bismarck Daily, March 18, 1913)

“Supported by Chinatown business interests in Honolulu, as well as the Hawaiian Merchants and Advertiser’s Club of Honolulu, a baseball team of Chinese Americans was dispatched in 1912 to the mainland.”

“The nine’s backers hoped the athletes would pump up mainland tourism and investments in the Islands, as well as erect a cultural bridge between European Americans and Chinese Americans.”

“The 1912 and 1913 squads largely consisted of players of Chinese ancestry, although several athletes such as Buck Lai Tin, Vernon Ayau, Ken Yen Chun, Apau Kau and Land Akana also possessed indigenous Hawaiian and haole backgrounds.” (Franks)

“In subsequent years, the team became more ethnically diverse, but essentially remained Asian Pacific Islander. Thus by 1914, the team fielded several players possessing Japanese and indigenous Hawaiian ancestry.” (Franks)

In 1915, “arrangements have been completed for the famous All-Chinese baseball team of Honolulu, which was so successful against the leading American College clubs on its tour of the United States last year, to come to Shanghai and take part in the series for the open baseball championship of the Far East.”

They needed to raise $5,000 for expenses. Chinese President Yuan Shih-kai sent a letter of support, “stating the president’s hearty approval of the effort to popularize baseball in China as a suitable outdoor sport for Chinese youth …”

“… and the president also sent his check for $500 as a personal contribution towards the expenses of bringing out the All-Chinese baseball team from Honolulu, which he believes will do much to stimulate interest in the game among Chinese.” (Star Bulletin, April 8, 1915)

Furthermore, “Under the patronage of the Chinese government and with the personal assistance of Wu Tang-fang, former Chinese minister to the United States, a baseball team of American-born Chinese is on its way to Shanghai on the steamer Mongolia, by way of the Philippines and Japan.”

“Their expenses in China will be met by the Chinese Government. The team will tour the (principal) cities of the interior to introduce American athletics for the physical improvement of the youth of China.” (Columbus Weekly Advocate, April 15, 1915)

“Sixteen games were played in all during the trip to the Philippines and China, and of these 12 were won, three lost and one tied.”

“In Peking the president of China gave us a reception, and talked to us for about five minutes. We received special permission
to visit the old royal residence, and altogether were treated as distinguished guests.” (Star-Bulletin, June 22, 1915)

Back in the Islands, “The local press initially called the nine the All-Chinese but eventually took to referring to the Hawaiian ballplayers as the Travelers, the Hawaiian Travelers, or the Chinese Travelers.” (Franks)

However, “The young ballplayers crisscrossing the Pacific to the mainland did not go to the ‘Chinese University of Hawai‘i.’ There was no such institution. It was the concoction by one or more of the Hawaiian promoters of the trip.” (Franks)

The team’s management encouraged the fiction that baseball fans at Stanford and Penn State were watching a college team in action.

The team management wanted to schedule college teams and believed do so would be impossible unless mainland colleges were persuaded that the Hawaiian visitors represented a college. (Franks)

There was no ‘University of Hawai‘i’ in the Islands until 1920. When it was authorized in 1907, it was known as the ‘College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts of the Territory of Hawai‘i.’ In 1911, the name of the school was changed to the “College of Hawaiʻi.”

And, it wasn’t until 1917, after the Chinese Hawaiians stopped playing their mainland games, that the College of Hawaiʻi had its first baseball team, when an interclass game was played between the Aggies and Engineers (the Aggies won.)

With the addition of the College of Arts and Sciences in 1920, the school became known as the University of Hawaiʻi. The Territorial Normal and Training School (now the College of Education) joined the University in 1931.

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Chinese University of Hawaii played Rice Institute-Rice
Chinese University of Hawaii played Rice Institute-Rice
Chinese American baseball team from Hawaii-LOC
Chinese American baseball team from Hawaii-LOC
William 'Buck' Tin Lai; aka Lai Tin on 1914 Chinese team-LOC
William ‘Buck’ Tin Lai; aka Lai Tin on 1914 Chinese team-LOC
Lang Akana, captain and first baseman, Chinese university-LOC
Lang Akana, captain and first baseman, Chinese university-LOC
Columbia_-_Capt._Friedrichs;_Hawaii_-_Capt._Akana_(Chinese)-(LOC)
Columbia_-_Capt._Friedrichs;_Hawaii_-_Capt._Akana_(Chinese)-(LOC)
Chinese American baseball team tour of US-1913-LOC-under 2M
Chinese American baseball team tour of US-1913-LOC-under 2M

Filed Under: General, Economy Tagged With: College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts, Hawaii, Chinese, University of Hawaii, Baseball, Chinese University of Hawaii, College of Hawaii

September 27, 2017 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Yuimaaru

Yuimaaru is seen when communities support one another, especially in times of need. It is a reminder for all of us to live yuimaaru, in both small and big endeavors and decisions. (Haworth)

Uchinanchu is the term used by Okinawan immigrants and their descendants in Hawai‘i to identify themselves as an ethnic group distinct from the Naichi of Japan’s four main islands. Seven such were …

… Ryoshin Agena (native of Uruma City,) Yasuo Uezu (native of Uruma City,) Shinei Shimabukuro (native of Uruma City,) Yoshio Yamashiro (native of Uruma City,) Genbi Tonaki (native of Nanjo City,) Ushikichi Nakama (native of Itoman City) and Shohei Miyazato (native of the town of Motobu)

They are also referred to as the ‘seven heroes’ – a monument and musical, Umi Kara Buta ga Yatte Kita (Pigs from the Sea,) commemorate them.

Uruma City Mayor Toshio Shimabukuro commented, “We would like to show the bond between Hawai‘i and Uchinanchu to future generations through the monument and the musical performance.” (Ryukyu Shimpo)

Okinawa is located approximately 350 miles south of mainland Japan. It is the largest island in the Ryukyu Island chain, the southernmost prefecture of the then-Japanese Empire.

In WWII, the Pacific campaign started December 7, 1941 after the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. The campaign crossed all over the Pacific; the Japanese initially had the upper hand in the air and on sea and land.

After almost 4 years of naval, air, and land battles the tide had turned and by March 1945 the campaign had nearly reached its culminating point with American domination of the sea and air. It was now just Japanese territory that needed to be seized before the Japanese would admit defeat.

In a time when an invasion of mainland Japan was necessary to end the war, Okinawa was an essential preparation ground and jumping-off point for the impending invasion. (SSgt Frame)

The bombardment of Okinawa commenced on March 23, 1945 and lasted until the morning of the land invasion (codenamed Operation Iceberg) on April 1.

On June 23, 1945, all major combat operations ended on the island of Okinawa. Over the 3-month battle more than 8- million artillery and mortar rounds were fired, the equivalent of more than 1-round per second.

More than 12,000-American servicemembers were killed and more than 38,000-wounded or missing. The Japanese military lost more than 110,000, but the greatest loss of life by the Okinawan people.

Anywhere from 40,000 to 150,000 of the Okinawans perished during the battle. Even with all the carnage, it was at Okinawa that the largest number of Japanese soldiers were taken prisoner (more than 7,000 – an unprecedented number). (SSgt Frame)

“The ravages of the Pacific War (of WWII) brought disaster and catastrophic damage to the island of Okinawa. Under these harsh conditions, the people of the island were forced to eke out a living, even as they struggled to find food amidst the scorched landscape.”

“An indispensable source of food, Okinawa contained over 100,000 pigs in the prewar period. After the war, this number had plummeted to just 7,731 (according to the Ryukyu Government’s 1946 records), leaving Okinawa in a dire situation.” (Monument Text)

The above named seven Uchinanchu (Okinawan immigrants) stepped forward to help those from their homeland. They raised over $47,000 from Hawai‘i’s Uchinanchu community, purchased 550 pigs in Oregon and took them to Okinawa after World War II.

The ship that they contracted for the journey was called the USS John Owen; it departed for Okinawa on August 31, 1948, and the voyage became a life and death struggle as the ship was assaulted by raging storms and battered by tall waves.

The journey was further delayed by the need to take a roundabout route in order to avoid sea mines left over from the war. By the 3 week mark, the passenger’s water supply and the feed for the pigs was almost completely depleted.

After 28 grueling days at sea, the passengers finally caught sight of the Okinawan islands on September 27. The Owen made landfall on White Beach, in the Katsuren Heshikiya region of Uruma City. (Okinawa-jp)

These pigs helped revive the Okinawan pig farming industry and were a source of nourishment for the Okinawan people, who were starving in the aftermath of the war.

The pigs, which are easy to breed because of their high fertility rate, are believed to have helped ward off starvation and provided a steady food source for many Okinawans. (Japan Times)

This movement which began in Hawai‘i eventually spread to the American mainland and South America, and in time aid began to pour into Okinawa from all across the globe. (Okinawa-jp)

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Hawaii Pigs arriving at Okinawa
Hawaii Pigs arriving at Okinawa
7 from Hawaii who brought pigs
7 from Hawaii who brought pigs
Pigs from the Sea-Memorial
Pigs from the Sea-Memorial
Pigs from the Sea Memorial
Pigs from the Sea Memorial

Filed Under: General, Military, Place Names, Economy Tagged With: Pigs, Pigs from the Sea, Yuimaaru, Hawaii, Japanese, WWII, Okinawa, Japan

September 26, 2017 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Water Rights

The Hawaiian word for ʻlaw’ or ʻrule’ is kānāwai – it is interesting to note that the literal translation of kānāwai is ʻrelating to water.’ Traditional Hawaiian law initially developed around the management and use of water. (Sproat)

Emma Metcalf Beckley Nakuina, Commissioner of Private Ways and Water Rights, wrote an article “Ancient Hawaiian Water Rights and Some Customs Pertaining to Them” published in 1893 in Thrum’s Hawaiian Annual. The following are portions of that article.

Water rights were primarily for lo‘i (pondfields,) that is, for kalo (taro) culture; potato patches, bananas or sugar cane had no recognized claim on a water right in the rotation.

The cultivation of these, regarded as dry land crops, were invariably during the rainy season except in the Ko‘olau or wet districts. Sugar cane and bananas were almost always planted on lo‘i banks (kuauna) so as to ensure a sufficiency of moisture from the seepage or ooze between them.

Each ‘auwai (water courses) had a proper name and was generally called after either the land, or chief of the land that had furnished the most men, or had mainly been instrumental in the inception, planning and carrying out the work.

All ‘auwai tapping the main stream were done under the authority of the Konohiki of an ahupua‘a, ‘ili or ku. In some instances, the Konohiki of two or three independent lands united in the work of ‘auwai making.

‘Auwai were generally dug from makai (seaward or below) upwards. The different ahupua‘a, ‘ili or ku taking part in the work furnished men according to the number of cultivators on each land.

The dams were always a low loose wall of stones with a few clods here and there, high enough to raise water sufficiently to flow into the ‘auwai. No ‘auwai was permitted to take more water than continued to flow in the stream below the dam.

The general distribution of the quantity of water each independent land was entitled to was in proportion to the quota of hands furnished by each land, but subject to regulations as to distance from source of supply. (There was no limit to the number of laborers any land might furnish.)

The konohiki of the land controlling the most water rights in a given ‘auwai was invariably its luna. He controlled and gave the proportion of water to each mo‘o‘āina (kuleana) or single holding of the common people cultivating on that land.

In ancient times the holders of a water right were required whenever it became their turn in the water rotation or division to go up with the luna wai (superintendent) to the water head or dam to see that it was in proper condition …

… follow down the ‘auwai from there, removing all obstructions which may have fallen in or had been carried down by the water during the night from the kahawai or mountain stream …

… shut off all branch ‘auwai or runlets from the main ‘auwai, except those conducting water to lo‘i entitled to water at the same time, the luna wai – who should be with him during all this time – making the necessary division by means of a clod, stone or both; the water holder continuing to follow the water until it entered his lo‘i and the koele in his charge.

Bordering on the upper portions of most ‘auwai were small lo‘i limited in size and number, generally on a hillside, or on the borders of a gulch.

These lo‘i were generally awarded kulu or drops; that is, they were entitled to continual driblets of water, and no one having a water share may turn the water entirely away from them unless, in times of scarcity, it should be seen that these lo‘i were full to overflowing.

It was a strictly enforced custom, that should any water right holder neglect to go, or furnish a substitute at the periodical ‘auwai cleanings, repairs of dam, etc., water would be withheld from the land of the absentee until such time as he should see fit to resume work for the benefit of what might be termed the shareholders of that ‘auwai .

It sometimes occurred that a land originally entitled only to a small portion of water, but afterwards held or presided over by an industrious, energetic man; whose popularity attracted many to live under him, would be accorded an increased supply in consequence of his promptly furnishing as many or more hands than some land entitled to more water than his.

After this had continued some time, the water-luna would recognized the justice of an increased supply for his land, and would either take a portion of water from any land failing in its due quota of hands, or as was more frequently done, simply adding a day, night, or both to the rotation; letting his land have the added time.

Anyone in the olden times caught breaking a dam built in accordance with the Hawaiian’s idea of justice and equity, would be slain by the share holders of that dam, and his body put in the breach he had made, as a temporary stopgap, thus serving as a warning to others who might be inclined to act similarly.

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Taro patches near Lihue, Kauai-Mitchell-BishopMuseum-ca. 1886.
Taro patches near Lihue, Kauai-Mitchell-BishopMuseum-ca. 1886.
Lo‘i at Honokōhau, Maui, Huli planted in lines-(BishopMuseum)-1940
Lo‘i at Honokōhau, Maui, Huli planted in lines-(BishopMuseum)-1940
Waipio_Valley-Taro_Loi-(DMYoung)
Waipio_Valley-Taro_Loi-(DMYoung)
Waikane_Loi_Kalo-BM-1940
Waikane_Loi_Kalo-BM-1940
Taro Lo'i Agriculture in Mānoa Valley-(UH_Heritage)-ca_1890
Taro Lo’i Agriculture in Mānoa Valley-(UH_Heritage)-ca_1890
Punaluu_Oahu-Loi_Kalo-BM-1924
Punaluu_Oahu-Loi_Kalo-BM-1924
Loi-aep-his151
Loi-aep-his151
Kakaako-Prior to the 20th century Ward Village was primarily fish ponds, salt pans and taro lo‘i-(avisionforward)
Kakaako-Prior to the 20th century Ward Village was primarily fish ponds, salt pans and taro lo‘i-(avisionforward)
Heeia Taro - 1930
Heeia Taro – 1930
Hawaiians_in_the_field,_photograph_by_Frederick_George_Eyton-Walker,_c._1890
Hawaiians_in_the_field,_photograph_by_Frederick_George_Eyton-Walker,_c._1890
Keanae-taro-(WC_Forest & Kim Starr)
Keanae-taro-(WC_Forest & Kim Starr)
Punaluu auwai and loi-KSBE
Punaluu auwai and loi-KSBE
One of the largest taro growing areas in the Hawaiian Islands is the Lower Hanalei Valley-(WC)
One of the largest taro growing areas in the Hawaiian Islands is the Lower Hanalei Valley-(WC)

Filed Under: Ali'i / Chiefs / Governance, Hawaiian Traditions Tagged With: Pondfield, Hawaii, Kanawai, Loi, Kalo, Taro

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