Peter T Young

June 13, 2015 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Pauahi

Pauahi was born on December 19, 1831, the daughter of Abner Kaʻehu Paki and Kanaholo Konia; she is great-granddaughter of King Kamehameha.

She was born in the house known as ʻAikupika (Egypt,) a native-style house, not large, with a grass-roof. (It was situated just mauka of what is now known as the corner of Bishop and King Streets in the heart of the downtown area.)

Inoa (a name) was a ritual of power. Hawaiians believed that every name had mana, a force of its own, that could influence and shape the character, personality and even destiny of the bearer. A good name could bring good fortune while a bad inoa could bring a person bad luck. (Kanahele)

Paki and Konia gave her the name Pauahi (‘the fire is out.’) It was the name of Konia’s half-sister, the child’s aunt and mother of Ruth Keʻelikolani. The original Pauahi was nearly burned to death as a child through an accidental explosion of gunpowder; to commemorate her lucky escape, she was given the name: pau or finished and ahi or fire. (Kanahele)

Pauahi was hanai (adopted) to her aunt, Kinaʻu (the eldest daughter of Kamehameha, who later served as Kuhina Nui as Kaʻahumanu II, a position similar to a Prime Minister.)

Later, on September 2, 1838, Lydia Liliʻu Kamakaʻeha was born to Caesar Kaluaiku Kapaʻakea and Analeʻa Keohokālole; Liliʻu was hānai to Pākī and Kōnia (she later became Queen Liliʻuokalani.)

In Liliʻu’s own words, “…their only daughter, Bernice Pauahi … was therefore my foster-sister. … I knew no other father or mother than my foster-parents, no other sister than Bernice.”

“She was one of the most beautiful girls I ever saw; the vision of her loveliness at that time can never be effaced from remembrance; like a striking picture once seen, it is stamped upon memory’s page forever.” (Liliʻuokalani)

Pauahi lived with Kīnaʻu for nearly eight years, then Kinaʻu died suddenly of mumps (April 4, 1839.) It was shortly after this Pauahi entered the Chief’s Childrens’ School (Royal School – created by King Kamehameha III to groom the next generation of the highest ranking chief’s children of the realm and secure their positions for Hawaii’s Kingdom.)

Seven families were eligible under succession laws stated in the 1840 Constitution of the Kingdom of Hawai‘i; Kamehameha III called on seven boys and seven girls of his family to attend the school. On the morning of June 13, 1839, Pauahi began her first day at school.

“It was a boarding-school, the pupils being allowed to return to their homes during vacation time, as well as for an occasional Sunday during the term.” (Liliʻuokalani) Pauahi was a student there for about 10-years; this is where she and Liliʻu directly interacted – they were not raised in the same household.

“(B)y the time she left the school, Pauahi had largely formed her Christian commitment. She was deeply spiritual, but not fanatical; a believer in the wisdom of the church, but not a doctrinaire fundamentalist; a woman of faith, but not of blind, unquestioning, and unreasoning conformity.” (Kanahele)

“Amongst the young men who began to visit the school was Mr. Charles R Bishop. He came of good New England stock, inheriting from his ancestry the intelligence, industry and perseverance”. (Memoirs of Bernice Pauahi Bishop)

Pauahi “married in her eighteenth year (May 4, 1850 – in the parlor of the Royal School,) She was betrothed to Prince Lot, a grandchild of Kamehameha the Great; but when Mr Charles R Bishop pressed his suit, my sister smiled on him, and they were married. It was a happy marriage. … Mr. Bishop was a popular and hospitable man, and his wife was as good as she was beautiful.” (Liliʻuokalani)

Immediately after their marriage, the Bishops spent several weeks on Kauai, then returned to Honolulu and lived for some months with the family of Judge Andrews in Nuʻuanu Valley. They later moved into a home built by her father Pākī. (This new home replaced Pākī’s thatched-roof home.)

The name Paki gave his new home has been translated by some as ‘House of the Sun’ or Haleakala, but he probably meant it to be Haleʻakala or the ‘Pink House,’ after the color of the stone used in its construction. (Kanahele)

It immediately became the center of all that was best, most cultivated, and refined in Hawaiian social life, has been graphically described by a cousin of Mr Bishop (Mrs. Allen) as “the most beautiful in Honolulu, the house large and pleasant, the grounds full of beautiful trees, shrubs, and vines and so well cared-for.” (Memoirs of Bernice Pauahi Bishop)

Liliʻuokalani and John Dominis were married at Haleʻākala; much later (August 24, 1890,) Duke Kahanamoku was born at Haleʻakala. (On the afternoon of January 16, 1893, US Sailors and Marines established ‘Camp Boston’ in the home (then known as the Arlington Hotel,) at the time of the overthrow of Queen Liliʻuokalani and the Hawaiian monarchy, January 17, 1893.)

Daughter of Pauahi’s namesake, Princess Ruth Keʻelikolani, inherited all of the substantial landholdings of the Kamehameha dynasty from her brother, Lot Kapuāiwa; she became the largest landowner in the islands.

At her death (May 24, 1883,) Keʻelikolani’s will stated that she “give and bequeath forever to my beloved younger sister (cousin), Bernice Pauahi Bishop, all of my property, the real property and personal property from Hawaiʻi to Kauai, all of said property to be hers.” (about 353,000 acres)

Shortly thereafter, Bernice Pauahi Bishop, in the last days of her battle with breast cancer, wrote the final codicils (amendments) of her will at Helumoa in Waikīkī (former home of her great-grandfather and others in the Kamehameha line.) She died at Keōua Hale, former home of Ruth Keʻelikōlani on October 16, 1884.

Pauahi’s will formed and funded the Kamehameha Schools; “I give, devise and bequeath all of the rest, residue and remainder of my estate real and personal … to erect and maintain in the Hawaiian Islands two schools, each for boarding and day scholars, one for boys and one for girls, to be known as, and called the Kamehameha Schools.” (KSBE)

Bernice Pauahi Bishop’s will (Clause 13) states her desire that her trustees “provide first and chiefly a good education in the common English branches, and also instruction in morals and in such useful knowledge as may tend to make good and industrious men and women”.

Because Pauahi’s estate was basically land rich and cash poor, Charles Reed Bishop contributed his own funds for the construction of several of the schools’ initial buildings on the original Kalihi campus: the Preparatory Department facilities (1888,) Bishop Hall (1891) and Bernice Pauahi Bishop Memorial Chapel (1897.)

On November 4, 1887, three years after her death, the Kamehameha School for Boys, originally established as an all-boys school on the grounds of the present Bishop Museum, opened with 37-students and four teachers. A year later, the Preparatory Department, for boys 6 to 12 years of age, opened in adjacent facilities. In 1894 the Kamehameha School for Girls opened on its own campus nearby.

Next to her royal lineage, no other aspect of Pauahi’s life was as important to her fulfillment as a woman – and as the founder of the Kamehameha Schools – as her marriage to Charles Reed Bishop. He brought her the love and esteem she needed as a woman and the organizational and financial acumen she needed to ensure the successful founding of her estate. (Kanahele) (Lots of information here is from KSBE, Kanahele and Memoirs of Bernice Pauahi Bishop.)

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Bernice_Pauahi_Bishop-before_marriage-ksbe

Bernice_Pauahi_Bishop-16-years_old-ksbe

Bernice Pauahi Paki and Lydia Kamakaeha (Liliuokalani)-1859

Bernice_Pauahi_Bishop-ksbe

Bernice_Pauahi_Bishop,_age_twenty-three

Wedding_portrait_of_Mr._and_Mrs._Charles_Reed_Bishop,_June_4,_1850

Bernice_Pauahi_Bishop-HerbKane

Bernice_Pauahi_Bishop,_San_Francisco,_1875

Bernice Pauahi and Charles Reed Bishop

Charles_Reed_Bishop_and_Bernice_Pauahi_Bishop_in_San_Francisco-September_1876

Mr._and_Mrs._Charles_Reed_Bishop

Photograph_of_the_Royal_School,_probably_after_1848

Bernice Pauahi’s residence at Haleʻākala build by her father Abner Paki. The building itself is called Aikupika-1855

Camp_Boston_in_Honolulu_(1898)

USS_Boston_landing_force,_Arlington_Hotel-1893_(PP-36-3-002)

Abner Pākī (c. 1808–1855) was a member of Hawaiian nobility. He was a legislator and judge, and the father of Bernice Pauahi Bishop-1855

Laura Kōnia (c. 1808–1857) was a member of the Hawaiian royal family. She was grandaughter of King Kamehameha I

Commemorative Plaque to Amos and Juliette Cooke – listing students they taught at Royal School

June 11, 2015 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

La Ho‘o-mana‘o O Kamehameha I

Kamehameha Day was first celebrated in 1871 by Kamehameha V as a day to honor his grandfather, Kamehameha I (however, it was first celebrated on December 11 of that year.)

Here’s a little background on the celebration (Kepa Maly) and the reasoning why we now celebrate Kamehameha Day on June 11.

“The celebration of Kamehameha Day on June 11 came about in the following way.”

“On December 11, 1871, the birthday of Kamehameha V who was at that time ruling king, a public celebration was held with horse-riding and other sports.”

“It was agreed to make this celebration an annual event, but because of the uncertain weather in December to change the date to June.”

“Kamehameha V died soon after, and the holiday remained as a “Day in Commemoration of Kamehameha I,” (La Ho‘o-mana‘o o Kamehameha I.)”

So, while linked to Kamehameha V’s birth date (December 11,) because the weather is better in the summer, the decision was made to have the Kamehameha I celebration six months from the King Kamehameha V’s birthday (i.e. June 11 – the date has no direct significance to Kamehameha I.)

The 1896 legislature declared it a national holiday.

“Kamehameha Day was generally observed by the people. Elaborate preparations were made for the celebration of the day, with sumptuous feasts and sports, and every effort was brought to bear in order to insure the success of the occasion.”

“It might well be said that, in the language of the poet, its observance was usually attended with: ‘The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power, And all that beaut’, all that wealth e’er gave.’”

“The celebration itself was characterized by a cheerful spirit and good-fellowshlp. ‘Aloha,’ the watchword that opened every heart and brightened every soul, was greeted on every side, and hospitality, unalloyed and unbounded, was displayed at every door. There was no distinction in race, color or creed.” (John C Lane, Mayor, 1916)

In 1939, Hawaiʻi Revised Statutes under the Territorial Legislature of Hawai‘i created the King Kamehameha Celebration Commission – that law remains in effect, today.

State law notes: §8-5 King Kamehameha celebration commission … “The commission shall have charge of all arrangements for the celebration each year generally observed throughout Hawai‘i Nei on June 11, to commemorate the memory of the great Polynesian Hawaiian warrior and statesman King Kamehameha I, who united the Hawaiian Islands into the Kingdom of Hawai‘i”.

In 1978 the legislature renamed this holiday King Kamehameha I Day.

Almost from its first observance this day was celebrated chiefly by horse races in Kapi‘olani Park; but the races eventually gave way to today’s parades of floats and paʻu riders.

On February 14, 1883, the Kamehameha statue was unveiled at Aliʻiōlani Hale during the coronation ceremonies for King Kalākaua.

The stance of the statue, with spear in left hand and right outstretched with open palm, showed the “successful warrior inviting the people … to accept the peace and order he had secured.”

There are now four similar statues of Kamehameha:

The first replica stands prominently in front of Aliʻiolani Hale in Honolulu
The initial (repaired) casting of the statue is at Kapaʻau, North Kohala
Another replica is in US Capitol’s visitor center in Washington DC
Another statue is at the Wailoa River State Recreation Area in Hilo

Click HERE for a link to a prior post on the Kamehameha Statue.

The customary draping of the Kamehameha Statue with lei dates back to 1901. The image shows the lei-draped statue of Kamehameha in Honolulu. (wongsto)

Kamehameha Day-2015-(wongsto)

June 7, 2015 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Chief’s Canoe

Throughout the years of late-prehistory, AD 1400s – 1700s, and through much of the 1800s, the canoe was a principal means of travel in ancient Hawaiʻi. Canoes were used for interisland and inter-village coastal travel.

Most permanent villages initially were near the ocean and at sheltered beaches, which provided access to good fishing grounds, as well as facilitating convenient canoe travel.

As long distance voyaging declined, the need shifted from voyaging canoes to large canoes for chiefly visits and warfare within the Hawaiian Islands, resulting in changes in canoe design.

For these short coastal and inter-island trips, paddling replaced sailing as the dominant power mode. Never certain when hospitality might turn sour, chiefs prudently traveled with bodyguards. On a visit to another chiefdom, they might prepare his food to avoid poisoning.

Their numbers were a silent announcement of his status. At a signal, they could launch a raid, fight a skirmish, or conduct a guarded retreat to the canoe landing. (Kane)

The canoe was used by the chiefs as a means of ostentation and display. On a voyage the alii occupied the raised and sheltered platform in the waist of the canoe which was called the pola, while the paddle-men sat in the spaces fore and aft, their number showing the strength of the king’s following. (Malo)

And for a chief eager to make a quick getaway regardless of wind conditions, his bodyguards could also be put to work as paddlers. No longer need he wait for a favorable wind, or beat upwind to a destination on long tacks. Paddling provided great freedom of mobility, the ability to move canoes in any direction despite calms or adverse winds. (Kane)

Royal Centers were where the aliʻi resided; aliʻi often moved between several residences throughout the year. The Royal Centers were selected for their abundance of resources and recreation opportunities, with good surfing and canoe-landing sites being favored.

The Hawaiian court was mobile within the districts or kingdom the aliʻi controlled. A paramount’s attendants might consist of as many as 700 to 1000-followers made of kahuna and political advisors (including geologists, architects, seers, messengers, executioner, etc;) servants which included craftsmen, guards, stewards; relatives and numerous hangers-on (friends, lovers, etc.)

There was no regular schedule for movement between Royal Centers. In part, periodic moves served to ensure that district chiefs did not remain isolated, or unsupervised long enough to gather support for a revolt.

In addition to personal economic support, the king also required tribute and taxes by which to maintain and display his political power.

Structures associated with the Royal Centers include heiau (religious structures) and sacred areas, house sites for the aliʻi and the entourage of family and kahuna (priests), and activity areas for burial, bathing, games, recreation, and crafts.

Religion and politics were closely interwoven in Hawaiian culture. The Royal Centers reflect this interrelationship with residential sites, heiau and sacred sites present within a defined royal compound.

Puʻuhonua (places of refuge) were often associated with these Royal Centers, reflecting the strong association between puʻuhonua and sites occupied by the high-ranking aliʻi.

A ruling chief moved his court as desired, travelling along the coasts by canoe with his attendants and setting up temporary establishments at certain sites for purposes of business or pleasure.

The canoes “have the bottom for the most part formed of a single piece or log of wood, hollowed out to the thickness of an inch, or an inch and a half, and brought to a point at each end.”

“The sides consist of three boards, each about an inch thick, and neatly fitted and lashed to the bottom part. The extremities, both at head and stern, are a little raised, and both are made sharp, somewhat like a wedge, but they flatten more abruptly, so that the two side-boards join each other side by side for more than a foot.”

“They are rowed by paddles, such as we had generally met with; and some of them have a light triangular sail, like those of the Friendly Islands, extended to a mast and boom. The ropes used for their boats, and the smaller cords for their fishing-tackle, are strong and well made.” (Captain Cook’s Journal)

“This village (at Kealakekua Bay) we found to be the residence of (Kamehameha;) from whence, before the ship was well secured, eleven large canoes put off from the shore with great order, and formed two equal sides of an obtuse triangle.”

“The largest canoe being in the angular point, was rowed by eighteen paddles on each side…. (The Chief’s) canoe was advanced a little forward in the procession, to the actions of which the other ten strictly attended, keeping the most exact and regular time with their paddles, and inclining to the right or left agreeably to the directions of the king…”

The Chief “conducted the whole business with a degree of adroitness and uniformity, that manifested a knowledge of such movements and maneuver far beyond what could reasonably have been expected. In this manner he paraded round the vessels, with a slow and solemn motion.” (Captain Vancouver)

Later, “Near sunset, our distinguished guests took leave and returned to the shore on their state vehicle-their double canoe, seated on a light narrow scaffolding which rested on the semi-elliptical timbers by which two large parallel canoes, each neatly carved from a tree, are yoked together, five or six feet apart.”

“Their large canoes are two to three feet in depth, and thirty to fifty in length. The thin sides are raised by the addition of a nicely fitted waist-board. Additional pieces of thin wood, ingeniously carved, are attached at the ends, covering a few feet as a deck turning up some fifteen inches at the extremity, and giving the appearance of greater finish, beauty and utility.”

“The favored passengers on a Hawaiian double canoe sit three or four feet above the surface of the water, while the rowers sit on thwarts in the canoe with their feet below the surface and their faces forward. The steersmen sit in the stern.”

“Their paddles have a round handle from three to four feet long, and a thin blade from twelve to eighteen inches long and eight to twelve wide, and are grasped by one hand at the extreme end, and by the other, near the blade, and are used by main strength.”

“The chiefs, on this occasion, were rowed off with spirit by nine or ten athletic men in each of the coupled canoes, making regular, rapid and effective strokes, all on one side for a while, then, changing at a signal in exact time, all on the other.”

“Each raising his head erect, and lifting one hand high to throw the paddle blade forward beside the canoe, the rowers, dipping their blades, and bowing simultaneously and earnestly, swept their paddles back with naked muscular arms, making the brine boil, and giving great speed to their novel and serviceable sea-craft.” (Hiram Bingham)

The image shows Kalaniʻōpuʻu, Chief of Hawaiʻi, bringing presents to Captain Cook (John Webber.)

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Kalaniopuu, King of Hawaii, bringing presents to Captain Cook-John_Webber-1779

June 5, 2015 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Kaʻahumanu and the Missionaries

Kaʻahumanu was born about the year 1768, near Hana, Maui. Her siblings include Governor John Adams Kuakini of Hawaiʻi Island, Queen Kalakua Kaheiheimalie (another wife of Kamehameha I) and Governor George Cox Keʻeaumoku II of Maui.

By birth, Kaʻahumanu ranked high among the Hawaiians. Her father was Keʻeaumoku, a distinguished warrior and counselor of Kamehameha the Great. Her mother Namahana was a former wife of the Chief of Maui, and the daughter of Kekaulike (a great Chief of that island.)

Kaʻahumanu was one of the most powerful people in the Islands at the time of the arrival of the missionaries. There were those who were higher by birth, and there were those who were higher by title, but there was probably none who held greater influence.

While her reputation is as a strong supporter of the missionaries and Christianity, in an early description of her, Hiram Bingham noted, “This woman, with all her haughtiness and selfishness”. Others felt the same.

“For a long time she stood aloof from the influence of the missionaries, was haughty, proud, and disdainful in their presence, and frequently passed them without speaking to them.” (Lucy Thurston)

“Kaahumanu too, for many months, was either heedless in regard to Christianity, or scornfully averse to our instructions, and at the same time not a little annoyed by the profligacy of Liholiho and his boon companions.”

“Some were watching to despoil us of our few goods, or to expel us from the islands, and others to nullify our influence by slander and misrepresentations.” (Bingham)

But “the gospel at length took hold of her mind, and through the influence of the Holy Ghost wrought a great and permanent and salutary change in her character.” (Lucy Thurston)

Soon after the first anniversary of their landing at Honolulu on April 19, 1821, Kaʻahumanu, Kalanimoku and Kalakua visited the mission and gave them supplies; this visit became important because during it Kaʻahumanu made her first request for prayer and showed her first interest in the teachings of the missionaries.

From that point on, Kaʻahumanu comes into more constant contact with the mission.

She was later described to have a kindly and generous disposition and usually had as pleasant relations with foreigners who respected her royal rights. She was cautious and slow in deciding – more business-like in here decision-making – but once her mind was made up, she never wavered.

On February 11, 1824, Kaʻahumanu made one of her first public speeches on religious questions, giving “plain, serious, close and faithful advice.”

At a meeting of the chiefs and school teachers, Kaʻahumanu and Kalanimōku declared their determination to “adhere to the instructions of the missionaries, to attend to learning, observe the Sabbath, Worship God, and obey his law, and have all their people instructed.”

She had requested baptism for Keopuolani and Keʻeaumoku when they were dying, but she waited until April, 1824, before requesting the same for herself.

“She was admitted to the church in, 1825, and was baptized by the name of Elizabeth. Soon after her conversion, she made a tour of the Islands; the people were astonished at the change in her, and remarked that it was ‘not Kaahumanu, but Elizabeth.’” (Lucy Thurston)

Of her baptism, Kamakau said: “Kaahumanu was the first fruit of the Kawaiahaʻo church … for she was the first to accept the word of God, and she was the one who led her chiefly relations as the first disciples of God’s church.”

“She became distinguished for her humility, kindness, and the affability of her deportment, regarded the missionaries as her own children, and treated them with the tenderness of maternal love.” (Lucy Thurston)

“Her influence and authority had long been paramount and undisputed with the natives, and was now discreetly used for the benefit of the nation.”

“She visited the whole length and breadth of the Islands, to recommend to her people, attention to schools, and to the doctrines and duties of the word of God, and exerted all her influence to suppress vice, and restrain the evils which threatened the ruin of her nation.” (Lucy Thurston)

Then, in mid-1832, Kaʻahumanu became ill and was taken to her house in Manoa, where a bed of maile and leaves of ginger was prepared. “Her strength failed daily. She was gentle as a lamb, and treated her attendants with great tenderness. She would say to her waiting women, ‘Do sit down; you are very tired; I make you weary.’”

Hiram Bingham’s account of her last hours is, in part, as follows: “On the third instant, Sabbath night, about midnight, Dr. Judd sent down to me to say he thought her dying. I hastened to Manoa and remained there until the fifth …”

“About the last words she used of a religious character were two lines of a hymn designed to express the feelings of a self-condemned penitent coining and submitting to Christ: ‘Here, here am I, O Jesus, oh – Grant me a gracious smile.’

“A little after this she called me to her and as I took her hand, she asked. ‘Is this Bingham?’ I replied. ‘It is I’—She looked upon me & added ‘I am going now’ I replied: ’Ehele pu Jesu me oe, Ehele pomaikai aku.’ ‘May Jesus go with you, go in peace.’ She said no more. Her last conflict was then soon over, – in 10 or 15 minutes she ceased to breathe.”

Her death took place at ten minutes past 3 o’clock on the morning of June 5, 1832, “after an illness of about 3 weeks in which she exhibited her unabated attachment to the Christian teachers and reliance on Christ, her Saviour.”

She was buried at Pohukaina at ʻIolani Place and later transferred to Mauna ‘Ala, the Royal Mausoleum in Nuʻuanu Valley. The image shows Kaʻahumanu. (Herb Kane)

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June 4, 2015 by Peter T Young 3 Comments

Punaluʻu

Punaluʻu i ke kai kau haʻa a ka malihini
Punaluʻu, where the sea dances for the visitors.

“The coast of Kaoo (Kaʻū) presents a prospect of the most horrid and dreary kind: the whole country appearing to have undergone a total change from the effects of some dreadful convulsion.”

“The ground is every where covered with cinders and intersected in many places with black streaks, which seem to mark the course of a lava that has flowed, not many ages, back, from the mountain Roa [Mauna Loa] to the shore.”

“The southern promontory looks like the mere dregs of a volcano. The projecting headland is composed of broken and craggy rocks, piled irregularly on one another, and terminating in sharp points.” (King Captain Cook’s Journal. 1779)

Henry ʻŌpūkahaʻia was born around 1792 in the area between Punaluʻu and Nīnole. At the age of 16, after his parents had been killed, he boarded a sailing ship anchored in Kealakekua Bay and sailed to the continent. “Memoirs of Henry Obookiah” (the spelling of his name prior to establishment of the formal Hawaiian alphabet, based on its sound) was published.

ʻŌpūkahaʻia, inspired by many young men with proven sincerity and religious fervor of the missionary movement, had wanted to spread the word of Christianity back home in Hawaiʻi; his book, a compilation of his writing, inspired the Pioneer Company of missionaries to sail to Hawaiʻi (October 23, 1819.)

In June 1823, William Ellis joined American Missionaries Asa Thurston, Artemas Bishop and Joseph Goodrich on a tour of the island of Hawaiʻi to investigate suitable sites for mission stations.

Coming from Waiʻōhinu, Ellis noted, “The country appeared more thickly inhabited, than that over which we had travelled in the morning. The villages along the sea-shore were near together, and some of them extensive.”

The following is his perspective on the area at ‘Punaruu’ (Punaluʻu.) “(W)e came to Punaruu, where the people of that and the next village, Wailau, collected together in a large house, and were addressed by one of the company, on the nature and attributes of the true God.”

“We generally preferred speaking to the people in the open air, as we then had more hearers, than when we addressed them in a house. But in the middle of the day, we usually found it too hot to stand so long in the sun. The services, which we held in the morning and evening, were -always out of doors.”

“We now left the road by the sea-side, and directed our course towards the mountains. Our path lay over a rich yellow looking soil of decomposed lava, or over a fine vegetable mould, in which we occasionally saw a few masses of lava partially decomposed.”

“There was but little cultivation, though the ground appeared well adapted to the growth of any of the produce of the islands. After walking up a gentle ascent, about eight miles, we came to a solitary hamlet, called Makaʻaka, containing four or five houses in which three or four families were residing.” (Ellis, 1823)

During the 1830s, Protestant missionaries from Kona and Hilo would make occasional visits into Kaʻū but a permanent missionary presence would not be installed until the early-1840s when Catholic and Protestant missions were established in the district.

In 1842, the Protestant minister John Paris settled in Waiʻōhinu where he founded a church and school. In 1843, Rev. Paris reported that a stone meeting house (church) had been built at Punaluʻu and that the school’s average attendance there was 140. (Paris preached three Sundays each month at Waiʻōhinu and one Sunday at Punaluʻu.) Cultural Surveys)

Chester H Lyman in 1846, coming south from Volcano through the ʻōhiʻa forest of tree ferns and below Kilauea, passed through Kapapala, where he encountered dwellings and canoe-making sheds, the first such to be seen on descending the mountain.

He was impressed with the green hills, the moist state of the soil, the “several horses with cattle and goats” feeding near the chief’s house; and “the fires of Kilauea which shone up magnificently on the clouds like the light of a conflagration at evening.

Punaluʻu village he found “romantically situated on the beach, shut in in part by a rough lava stream.” Continuing along the shore, he passed the black-pebble beach of Nīnole and found “a succession of small villages” whose inhabitants were “extensively engaged in fishing.” (Handy)

While cattle and goats were the focus of commercial agriculture in the region in the 1850s, wheat growing was attempted in Kaʻū; but it proved difficult to co-ordinate the size of the wheat crop with the requirements of the flour mills. The business did not become a permanent one. (Kuykendall)

Life in Kaʻū during the 1860s was disrupted and devastated by the forces of nature. In March of 1868 began a sequence of major earthquakes and eruptions of Mauna Loa, a prelude to an earthquake in early April that precipitated an “earthquake and the tidal wave destroying the villages from Punaluʻu to Kaʻaluʻalu (north-east of South Point.”) (Handy)

Then, sugar changed the regional landscape. Alexander Hutchinson established the Hutchinson Sugar Company (1868) and Hawaiian Agricultural Company, was established in Pāhala (1876,) the latter used Punaluʻu as its port.

The railroad from Punaluʻu to the village of Keaiwa (where the Pāhala Sugar Mill was located) was reported in June 1878 to be “the first railroad in these islands”. Railroads continued to operate in Kaʻū until the 1940s but the Pāhala – Punaluʻu railroad was discontinued in 1929. (Cultural Surveys)

Starting in the late-1800s, to get people and goods around the Islands, folks would catch steamer ships; competitors Wilder Steamship Co (1872) and Inter-Island Steam Navigation Co (1883) ran different routes, rather than engage in head to head competition.

For Inter-Island’s routes, vessels left Honolulu stopping at Lāhainā and Māʻalaea Bay on Maui and then proceeding directly to Kailua-Kona.

From Kailua, the steamer went south stopping at the Kona ports of Nāpoʻopoʻo on Kealakekua Bay, Hoʻokena, Hoʻopuloa, rounding South Point, touching at the Kaʻū port of Honuʻapo and finally arriving at Punaluʻu, Kaʻū, the terminus of the route. (From Punaluʻu, five mile railroad took passengers to Pāhala and then coaches hauled the visitors to the volcano from the Kaʻū side.)

The Punaluʻu Harbor and Landing served the communities of Punaluʻu and Nīnole and the sugar plantation at Pāhala and was considered the “port town for the district in 1880.” (Orr) By the mid-1880s Punaluʻu had storehouses, a restaurant, a store, and numerous homes constructed of lumber. (Cultural Surveys)

C Brewer & Company acquired the sugar interests in the Pāhala to Nīnole-Punaluʻu area that were merged into Kaʻū Sugar (the last harvest was in 1996;) Brewer also went into macadamia nuts and other ventures.

Between 1969-1972, at Nīnole and Punaluʻu, C Brewer Properties, Ltd developed the Sea Mountain 18-hole golf course community, which included the Colony I condominium project, Kalana I single-family residential subdivision, the Aspen Institute Center for Humanistic Studies, the Black Sands Restaurant and the Kaʻū Center for History and Culture.

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