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Canoe Crops

He keiki aloha nā mea kanu
Beloved children are the plants
(ʻŌlelo Noʻeau 684)

In the recent past, significant advances in radiocarbon dating and the targeted re-dating of key Eastern Polynesian and Hawaiian sites has strongly supported a “short chronology” model of Eastern Polynesian settlement.

It is suggested that initial Polynesian discovery and colonization of the Hawaiian Islands occurred between approximately AD 1000 and 1200.  (Kirch)

These early Polynesians 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.

It is believed that these settlers, and the settlers that followed them, introduced a variety of plant species – the canoe crops.  The following list notes the Hawaiian name and (common names;) origin; how it’s grown and uses for some of these various plants.

1. Ko (Sugar Cane) India; Upper-stalk cutting; Food, Medicine, Religion, etc.

2. ʻOhe (Bamboo) Pacific Islands; Root; Knives, Kapa stamps, etc.

3. Niu (Coconut Palm) South Pacific; Sprouted coconut; Food, Cordage, etc.

4. ʻApe (Elephant Ear) Tropical Asia and Oceania; Tuber; Food in times of famine, etc.

5. Kalo (Taro) Tropical Asia; Tuber; Main food plant: Hawaiian-Polynesian “Staff of Life”

6. Ki (Ti Plant) Tropical Asia and Australia; Stem cuttings; Food, Medicine, etc.

7. Pia (Polynesian Arrowroot) Malay Archipelago; Tuber; Food, Medicine, etc.

8. Uhi (Yam) Asia; Tuber; Food, most important kind of yam

9. Hoi (Air Potato) Tropical Asia; Tuber; Food during famine

10. Piʻa (Five-Leafed Yam) Tropical Asia, Pacific; Tuber; Food during famine. etc

11. Maiʻa (Banana) Cultigen (Obscure Origin); Suckers; Food and its preparation

12. ʻOlena (Turmeric) Tropical Asia; Root; Dye, Purification, etc

13. ‘Awapuhi (Wild Ginger) India; Root; Scenting, Medicine, etc

14. ʻAwa (Kava) Pacific Islands; Sprouting stem; Relaxing beverage, etc

15. ʻUlu (Breadfruit) Pacific Islands, probably Guam; Root sprouts; Food, Craft, etc

16. Wauke (Paper Mulberry) East Asia; Root sprouts; Make kapa and clothing

17. Paʻihi (Bitter Cress) Polynesia; Transplant small plant; Food, Medicine

18. Auhuhu (Fish Poison Plant) Tropical South Asia and Pacific; Seed; Fish poison, etc

19. Kukui (Candlenut Tree) Asia, Pacific Islands; Seed or seedling transplant; Lighting, Food, Craft, etc

20. Hau (Hibiscus) Tropical Pacific and Old World; Stem cutting; To make fire, canoes, medicine, fertilizer, etc

21. Milo (Portia Tree) Coasts of Eastern Tropics; Seed; To make calabashes, etc

22. Kamani (Alexandrian Laurel) Tropical Asia and Pacific; Seed; Calabashes, Lei, etc

23. ʻŌhiʻa ʻAi (Mountain Apple) Tropical Asia, Oceania; Seed or seedling transplant; Food, Craft, etc

24. ʻUala (Sweet Potato) Tropical America; Slips or stem cuttings; Food: vegetable from leaves, starch from tubers

25. Kou  Africa to Polynesia; Seed; Best wood for calabashes

26. Noni (Indian Mulberry) Asia, Australia, and Pacific Islands; Root sprout, Seed; Medicine, etc

27. Ipu (Bottle Gourd) Tropical Asia or Africa; Seed; Containers for food storage, musical instruments, etc

(The listing is from Polynesian Seafaring Heritage; Dr Harold St John and Kuaika Jendrusch.  Domesticated animals, including pigs, dogs and chickens were also introduced.)

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Watertown

As a means of solidifying a site in the central Pacific, the US negotiated an amendment to the Treaty of Reciprocity in 1887.  King Kalākaua in his speech before the opening session of the 1887 Hawaiian Legislature stated (November 3, 1887:)

“I take great pleasure in informing you that the Treaty of Reciprocity with the United States of America has been definitely extended for seven years upon the same terms as those in the original treaty, with the addition of a clause granting to national vessels of the United States the exclusive privilege of entering Pearl River Harbor and establishing there a coaling and repair station.”

From 1901 to 1908, the Navy devoted its time to improving the facilities of the 85 acres that constituted the naval reservation in Honolulu. Under the Appropriation Act of March 3, 1901, this tract of land was improved with the erection of additional sheds and housing. The station grew slowly, and not always at an even pace.  (navy-mil)

On May 13, 1908, the US Congress affirmed Pearl Harbor’s strategic importance by appropriating funds and authorized and directed the Secretary of the Navy “to establish a naval station at Pearl Harbor, Hawaiʻi, on the site heretofore acquired for that purpose”.  (Congressional Record)

Until the transfer of the Naval Station to Pearl Harbor, the naval reservation in Honolulu remained nothing more than a rather elaborate coaling station. The major interests were the shipping and weighing of coal and the checking of invoices.  (navy-mil)

Immediate improvements included dredging the entry channel; constructing the necessary infrastructure and other naval facilities; and building a drydock.

Congress further noted that Secretary “may, in his discretion, enter into contracts for any portion of the work, including material therefor, within the respective limits of cost herein stipulated, subject to appropriations to be made therefor by Congress, or may direct the construction of said works or any portion thereof under the supervision of a civil engineer of the Navy.”  (Congressional Record)

“A small army of men, looking for work at Pearl Harbor, besieged the Naval Station this morning.  … Men, who have been turned away from time to time with the promise that they might find something, when the necessary papers arrived, this morning thronged to the place to get the precious slips. … The men are to be put to work as soon as Washington has been heard from and building at Pearl Harbor begins.”  (Evening Bulletin, August 6, 1908)

On December 5, 1908, the newly-formed “Hawaiian Dredging Company of Honolulu was found to have made, the lowest figure of the six bidden ($3,560,000,) which included two Honolulu concerns and four mainland companies.”  (Evening Bulletin, December 1, 1908)

Hawaiian Dredging apparently initially intended a partner, “The contract for the dredging of the Pearl Harbor channel… will be handled in a combination with the San Francisco Bridge Company”. (Hawaiian Star, December 18, 1908)  However, shortly thereafter, it was noted that Hawaiian Dredging “is now controlled and owned entirely by the Dillingham interests”.  (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, December 22, 1908)

“The contract was signed December 24, 1908, and actual dredging operations began March 1, 1909.”  (Congressional Record)  The period from 1908 to 1919 was one of steady and continuous growth of the Naval Station, Pearl Harbor.  (navy-mil)

That leads us to this piece’s title and the focus of this summary – Watertown.

With all the work underway at Pearl Harbor, Hawaiian Dredging created a camp, more like a small city, to house and provide for the workers and their families.

It was called ‘Watertown,’ because of the frequent leaks in its water main, which was installed so hastily that much of it lay above ground.  (McElroy)  (It was alternatively known as “Dredger’s Row” or “Drydock Row.” (Waller))

It was situated “on the Waikīkī or Honolulu shore of the channel … just below Bishop Point, and mauka of Queen Emma Point (Fort Kamehameha.)”  (Pacific Commercial Advertiser; Papacostas)

Watertown was a 2,000-acre settlement containing numerous large structures, roads, rail lines, port facilities and an ethnically diverse population of laborers responsible for the dredging of Pearl Harbor. In the early 1930s the population of Watertown numbered 1,000 laborers and their families, including 300 school-aged children. (McElroy)

The residents were made up of Japanese, Russians, Chinese, Portuguese and a score of Americans who were the employees of the dry-dock, machinists, launch hands, laborers and native Hawaiian fishermen.  (Fletcher)

In addition, off-duty inspectors overseeing the dredging operations lived at Watertown in quarters provided by Hawaiian Dredging and ate their meals at a restaurant conducted by Chinese. (While on duty they slept and ate on the dredges which were located from one-half to two miles from shore in the channel.)  (Fletcher)

The town included a schoolhouse and adjacent Catholic Church, a theater, post office, at least one hotel and a number of stores and offices.

In addition to housing its resident population, Watertown was noted as a recreation hub for the entire region, complete with gambling, drink and prostitution.  (McElroy)

By the early-1930s, Watertown was falling into disrepair and businesses were declining. Demolition began in 1935 and had disappeared by December 11, 1936, when an Army air base (later Hickam Air Force Base) replaced the town (however, the former Watertown school buildings were initially used by the construction crew associated with the Hickam construction.)  (Waller)

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Portland and Oregon

A small article in the Honolulu Star (March 27, 1900) made the announcement … “Hibernia block will probably be the name of the new sky scraper to go on Hotel Street, between Union and the Elite building.”

“It is not stated that the building will be painted green though best authorities agree that it will be one of the handsomest In Honolulu. Several stores in the block have already been spoken for.”

The green paint reference was suggested since Hibernia is the Latin name for Ireland (with green its national color.)  It’s not clear what its original color was, but it dropped the Hibernia name and ended up being called the “Oregon.”  It had an odd notch where the “Portland” building was added.

Part of it eventually gave way to Bishop Street; but that is getting ahead of ourselves.  Let’s look back.

Almost every new building erected during the construction boom that followed the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom and the annexation of Hawaiʻi by the US was anticipated by the press to be the best, the finest or, as in this case, the handsomest structure yet to adorn the city.  (Papacostas)  The anticipated Hibernia was no exception.

Before they built, they needed to take down some of the existing structures on the property – among them, the old Bell Tower building on Union Street.

“When first erected, the buildings were used by the volunteer fire department and the hook and ladder and an engine were housed there. In the tall tower the fire bell was hung and a watchman gazed from its heights, during the night-time to detect the first signs of a fire.”  (Hawaiian Gazette, May 4, 1900)

Apparently, demolition was long overdue.  “The tumble-down structures, weatherbeaten and dilapidated, have been standing for the last thirty years, unoccupied of late except as a carpenter shop.”

“(W)hen the building began to show signs of age, the steeple became unsafe and was cut down to the proportions of a small-sized cupola and the bell was removed, fire signals being given by a deep-voiced siren along the waterfront.”

“As soon as the buildings are razed, excavation work will be commenced on the site. The residence cottage now standing on the Ewa side of the new Elite building, on Hotel Street, will be razed. The new Hibernia building, when erected, will thus have the advantage of two line frontages, one on Hotel Street and the other where the Bell Tower buildings now are.”

“The corner property will not be touched for the present. The Hibernia block will be a fitting companion to the artistic Elite block, just finished.”  (Hawaiian Gazette, May 4, 1900)

Before it was finished, the building name was changed to “Oregon Block.”  It was expected to be completed September 1, 1901; owners were AV Gear, J Lando, V Hoffman, JF Reiley and LA Rostin.  (The Independent, April 26, 1901)  Later, owners were identified as Sullivan and Buckley.

As built, it didn’t last long.  Just as the fire tower and other improvements stood in its way (that were later removed to allow construction,) the Oregon Block stood in the way of the extension of Bishop Street up to Beretania.

At the time, Bishop Street was not the road we see today.  It came into existence around the turn of the century (about 1900.)  Initially, it was only a couple of blocks long, between Queen and Hotel Streets.  Business and bankers wanted it extended, mauka and makai.  However, the mauka extension posed a problem for the Oregon Block.

“Bishop Street, extended mauka, will cut through the Oregon block just shaving the edge of Jim Quinn’s automobile stand, take in the shed in its rear, cut off the back building of Helen’s court and two or three old sheds adjoining on the Ewa side…”  (Hawaiian Gazette, June 21, 1910)

However, “(t)he proposition of Superintendent Campbell to extend Bishop street straight mauka going through a portion of the Oregon block property and closing up Union street is not meeting with approval generally by holders of real estate to be affected.”  (Hawaiian Gazette, November 25, 1910)

A year later, the Bishop Street Extension Commission completed its report to the Governor.  “The only feature not satisfactorily settled was in relation to the Oregon block property, owned by Sullivan & Buckley, for which the owners demand a price of $100,000”

“The commission tells the Governor that it believes this price to be too high, but that possibly it will be a saving in the long run, considering that several years may be required to secure the title by condemnation proceedings.”  (Hawaiian Star, September 26, 1911)

Negotiations went on and on, and they didn’t go well; the owners refused a land exchange and held out for more money.  Condemnation proceedings were started.

A couple years later (September 24, 1913,) the Honolulu Star-Bulletin reported, “Bishop Street will be extended … This is, in part, a revival of the undertaking of the territory two years ago, when proceedings were started to condemn property necessary for the Bishop Street extension.”

By 1923, Bishop Street extended makai to the harbor (absorbing (and realigning) the former Edinburgh Street) – with no further extension mauka.

Negotiations opened, again; “property owners did not consider the city’s offer sufficient, for in 1924 the City and County of Honolulu filed a condemnation petition for the entire area, naming fifteen owners in the suit.”  (Ames; Papacostas)  The actual extension of Bishop Street mauka of Hotel to Beretania did not materialize until 1927 (Papacostas)

Oh, the “Skyscraper,” as noted by the newspaper, was (and still is) a two story brick building.  A series of eight arched windows were on the second floor facing Hotel Street; a remnant of the Oregon remains on the mauka side of Hotel Street, between Union Mall and Bishop Street.

It initially had an odd shape, with a notch left open at what would be the corner of Union and Hotel (look in the album for an image.)

This was filled in, as noted by Thrum in 1902, “A neat two-story cement-faced brick store, termed The Portland, is just finished at the corner of Hotel and Union streets, which fills out the jog of the Oregon block at that point.”  Both buildings carry their names in lettering near each top, seen from Hotel Street.

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kahuna Kuni

“The ancient Hawaiians were a very religious people. Almost every important undertaking was accompanied by prayer. These prayers were addressed to a great number and diversity of gods and covered a wide range of subjects.”

The kahuna has been a tremendous power in this land. Praying to death has long been recognized as a potent agent in swelling the mortality list in the past, and has not yet ceased to act with its blighting influence on people so long subject to its deadly power. (JS Emerson)

“When a person dies under suspicious circumstances, it becomes the duty of one of his family, or a near relative, to consult a ‘kahuna kuni’ to determine the cause of his death.”

“There are five classes of ‘kahuna kuni,’ characterized by the number of pebbles (iliili) used in their incantations. These numbers are 25, 28, 36 and 42 respectively. These iliili are carefully kept by the kahuna wrapped up in a ‘kapa kahuna,’ such as the ‘ouholowai,’ ‘ekahaloa,’ ‘puakai’ and others, in a place of safety where they will not become ceremonially defiled (haumia).”

“Generally they are put in a coconut shell (puniu), or gourd (hokeo), and suspended to the side of the house, for if they were put in a trunk it would defile them for any one to sit on the trunk.”

“The kahuna takes the iliili and kapa out of the hokeo or puniu, which he leaves behind and goes to the house where the sick person or corpse is.”

“He places the iliili on a clean new mat, covers them with the kapa and offers a prayer to Uli, stating the facts of the case and asking Uli to take vengeance on the guilty person who caused the death or sickness of the victim. He then takes something, known as a ‘maunu,’ from the person of the deceased …”

“… a lock of hair, a tooth, a pairing of finger nail, or some vomit or other excreta, positively assuring his client that during one of the following nights, namely ‘Ku-kahi,’ ‘Ku-lua,’ ‘Ku-kolu,’ or ‘Ku-pau,’ that is either the 3d, 4th, 5th or 6th night of the lunar month, when the moon is in the west …”

“… or during one of the following nights, namely: ‘Kaloa-ku-kahi,’ ‘Kaloa-ku-lua’ or ‘Kaloa-pau,’ that is either the 24th, 25th or 26th night of the month, when the moon is in the east, the guilty one would die.

The class of kahunas using 42 pebbles have an advantage over those using a lesser number, from the fact that their iliili cause death on the night known as ‘Kane,’ the 27th of the month; and that of ‘Lono,’ the 28th of the month, in addition to the seven nights mentioned above.

On leaving his client the kahuna takes the ‘maunu,’ secured from the deceased, as already described, and hides it in the water that his victim is to drink, in his food, in his pipe, with his tobacco, or buried in the road where his victim will travel.

This is followed by a ‘pule anaana,’ or prayer, addressed to Uli, Kane, Kanaloa, Pele or Kamohoalii, in which the death of the victim is invoked in a horrible, sometimes in a bloodcurdling fashion.’

It is “a prayer by a ‘kahuna kuni,’ addressed to Pele, who is his ‘aumakua,’ or ancestral god. Its object is to destroy the evil-doer, the rival kahuna, who by his black art has caused the death of a well-known person by whom, it is claimed, no offence justifying such a fate has been committed.”

“‘Slain by a god,’ the prayer says, yet the punishment falls on the kahuna who was the party responsible for inciting the god to commit the murder. This god had no option in the matter. He simply had to obey the command of his master, the kahuna.”

“The ‘kuni’ prayer is only used after the ‘kuni’ fire is lighted which must be made of uhaloa wood. Upon it is thrown some ‘pupu-awa’ and ‘opihi-awa,’ and, inclosed in a wrapping of ki leaves, are put some ‘pupu makaloa,’ ‘kua-paa,’ ‘limu-kala’ and ‘kalolau-loa,’ which are roasted in the fire as a preliminary to the prayer.”

“This ceremony is limited to no particular night. It may even be performed in the daytime. The word ‘Ku,’ to stand, is applied to any dry land where one may stand, and thus becomes an appellation of Pele, who made the dry land.”

“This name for Pele should not be confused with that of Ku, one of the four principal gods.” (All here is from JS Emerson)

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Maluhia

Following the annexation of Hawaiʻi to the United States in 1898, plans evolved for the coastal defense of the island and the Naval station at Pearl Harbor.

The Artillery District of Honolulu was established in 1909 and consisted of Forts Ruger, DeRussy, Kamehameha and Armstrong.  The District was renamed Headquarters Coast Defenses of Oahu sometime between 1911 – 1913.

In 1906, the US War Department acquired more than 70-acres in the Kālia portion of Waikīkī for the establishment of a military reservation; it was designated Kālia Military Reservation, but in 1909 was renamed Fort DeRussy in honor of Brevet Brigadier General Rene Edward DeRussy, a veteran of the War of 1812 and the Civil War.

Back then, nearly 85% of present Waikīkī was in wetland agriculture or aquaculture.  The Army started filling in the fishponds which covered most of the Fort – thus, the Army began the transformation of Waikīkī from wetlands to solid ground.

The post was used almost exclusively as a seacoast defense for Honolulu Harbor during World War I. During World War II it was used for seacoast and antiaircraft defense, as a garrison for troops, headquarters for the Military Police, as a camouflage school, and as Headquarters for the US Armed Forces Institute.

The area also served as a rest and recreation area for personnel in the middle Pacific Area. Fort DeRussy was the biggest recreation center on Oʻahu, providing clubs and overnight accommodations for enlisted men and officers.  In 1949, the post was officially designated an Armed Forces Recreation area.

And, that, in part, is what this summary is about … the Maluhia Recreation Center.

The area contained a gymnasium, bowling alley, bathhouses and dressing rooms, a snack bar, surfboard lockers, a fully equipped dark room, a studio for making recordings, a library, a hobby shop, a pistol range within the coastal battery, an officers’ club, hotel facilities, and bars and restaurants.  A tram shuttle service ran between Maluhia and the bathhouses on the beach.

Before WWII, six different agencies were providing recreation, entertainment, and support services for the US Armed Forces, in addition to their regular services.  These were the Salvation Army, the YMCA, the YWCA, the National Catholic Community Service, the National Jewish Welfare Board and the Travelers’ Aid Association.

In early-1941, the groups decided to pool their efforts, and a single group was formed – the United Service Organizations, or USO. The six agencies continued with their other charity efforts, and the USO managed the US Armed Forces work.  The USO was entirely a civilian volunteer operation.

During WWII, the USO used what buildings they could, such as churches, private homes, beach and yacht clubs, commercial businesses, and even railroad cars. Services provided included dances, food, facilities for pressing clothes, showers, reading rooms, games, among others. The most publicized was the live entertainment for the military personnel stationed throughout the world.

It was provided by Camp Shows, Inc., which was a separate organization of professional entertainers and managers set up and supported by the USO.

Maluhia, which means “haven of rest,” was opened on April 27, 1943 as a recreation center for enlisted men.  Although built by the Army on Army land, the building was constructed to serve as a recreation center for the men and women of all of the armed forces, including those stationed in Hawaiʻi and those passing through Hawaii while returning home from the warfront. It was one of the largest of its kind in the world.

The restaurant and terrace provided seating for 1,200 men and women (although on busy days many more were able to pack in.) It also contained the longest bar in the Hawaiian Islands.  The 1944 wing addition on the west side added a hostess office, hostess consultation room, enlisted men’s quarters room, an office for the officer in charge and a store room.

“Broad lanais, spaciousness and a feeling of the ‘outdoors brought inside’ (were) some of the elements that (made) the building characteristically Hawaiian in atmosphere”.

During WWII, Maluhia was open seven days a week, from 11 am to 5 pm; typically 1,000 to 2,000 people a day visited Maluhia during the week, with often over 4,000 a day on the weekends.

Music was provided by various service bands throughout the islands. Free entertainment was provided each afternoon, including music, variety shows, movies and sketches. Dances were held at least three to four days a week.

At the end of the war, the troops stationed throughout the Pacific gradually were taken home. The number of military personnel in the Pacific increased due to the Korean Conflict in 1950-53 and the Vietnam Conflict in 1963-73.  Later, demand waned and the Maluhia Hall was eventually torn down.

The Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies opened new “Maluhia Hall,” a new state-of-the-art learning center at Fort DeRussy. The learning center brings more than 10,000-sq ft of additional classroom space to support the US Department of Defense institute’s security cooperation and executive education programs  (Lots of information here is from Maluhia-HABS-NPS.)

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