Images of Old Hawaiʻi

by Peter T Young 1 Comment

What a beautiful day for fishing …

In March 1865, Brigham Young (President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1847 until his death in 1877,) in a letter to King Kamehameha V, requested permission to locate an agricultural colony in Lāʻie. The king granted his request.

That year, Mormon missionaries (Francis Asbury Hammond and George Nebeker) purchased about 6,000-acres of the ahupuaʻa of Lāʻiewai to Lāʻiemaloʻo (in Koʻolauloa) from Mr. Thomas T Dougherty for the Mormon Church.  The missionaries hoped to create a gathering place for converts to their faith to settle in.

On April 5, 1882, King Kalākaua visited the village of Lāʻie as guest of honor for the ceremonial placement of four cornerstones for a new chapel being built by the Mormons.

The chapel remained until 1915 when the Hawaiʻi Temple was started and the chapel was moved. Unfortunately, the historic chapel burned down during renovations on July 11, 1940.

1945 saw the end of World War II. With the end came the return of the simple island life.

To replace the church they needed to raise funds.   After a few unsuccessful attempts at fundraising, the decision was made in 1947 to pull together a hukilau as a fundraising event. (PCC)

Hukilau (Huki = pull; lau = leaves, specifically, ki (ti) leaves) is a community fishing technique with long ropes, with dried ti leaves attached to frighten the fish.

The net was taken out and surrounds fish out in the water; then, the ends of the net are pulled into shore, corralling the fish.  The fish are either caught in the nets or picked up by hand.  This operation in the old days brought together men, women and children of the whole community.  (Maly)

A well-known expert fisherman, Hamana Kalili supplied the nets for fishing.  (Kalili is credited for starting the ‘shaka’ hand sign (but that is the subject of another story.))

Beatrice Ayer Patton (Mrs. George S Patton – her husband was stationed on Oʻahu during the mid-1920s) described Kalili as “a magnificent example of the pure Hawaiian. A man in his sixties, with white hair and a deeply carven face, he had the body and reactions of a teenager. He lived and fished on the windward side of the island”.  (Patton-Totten)

“… they would go out in the ocean, in a semicircle and pull the nets to shore, and that was the hukilau, part of it.  After the fish was all caught and so on, then they would go to the luau part.  And the luau, as you know, is a place where you can have lots of food, and have lots of entertainment.” (Roland Maʻiola “Ahi” Logan; Kepa Maly)

January 31, 1948, members of the Lāʻie Ward started the hukilau. (PCC)  A $5 fee was charged to enjoy the hukilau, food and hula show. Two hundred and fifty people arrived for the first fundraiser and the church raised $1,250.

Jack Owens enjoyed this Hukilau. That night, suffering sunburn, aches and pains, he was inspired to write this song. Introduced publicly at a Methodist lūʻau in Honolulu, it became an instant hit.  (Our Honolulu, Bob Krauss, Advertiser, April, 1998)

“So that became the Church fund raiser.  After the success of the first one.  That was done. … Hukilau gave the people of Lāʻie the impact of economic growth.  Next thing you knew, the ladies went into making crafts, the children were making coconut hats … the Hukilau was something that strengthened the people in the community.”  (Logan; Maly)

During that time, it was one of the most popular visitor attractions. To actually pull in the hukilau nets, feast on the lau lau and watch as the ʻama ʻama went swimming by was truly a Hawaiian activity. (PCC)  (The Hukilau continued to 1971.)

In 1959 students and faculty at the Church College of Hawaiʻi (BYU-Hawaiʻi) organized the “Polynesian Institute” (later renamed “Polynesian Panorama”) and took the show on the road.  Students performed first at the International Market Place, then put on larger performances in the Kaiser Hawaiian Dome in Waikīkī.

Two years of shuttling Church College students back and forth to Waikīkī for performances convinced decision-makers that a spirited, tourist-oriented Polynesian revue with a student cast was definitely marketable.

And although some argued that Lāʻie was too far from Honolulu, others insisted that the success of the hukilau demonstrated that they could draw audiences large enough to make the venture profitable.  (Webb)  Thus, the Polynesian Cultural Center was born.

Click HERE for a link to Owen’s Hukilau Song.

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Kamilo Beach

 

Kamilo Beach (milo tree; the twisting (of ocean currents) (Pukui)) on the Kaʻū coast of the Big Island of Hawaiʻi expectedly has a stand of milo trees. But that is not the only wood here.

Two places here were called Ka-milo-pae-aliʻi (Ka-milo landing (of) chiefs) and Ka-milo-pae-kānaka (Ka-milo landing (of) commoners.) Drowned commoners washed in at the latter, chiefs at the former.

Kaʻū people traveling to Puna cast lei tied with loincloths and pandanus clusters into the sea at Puna; when the lei drifted back to Ka-milo, the Kaʻū people knew that the travelers had reached Puna. (Pukui)

Native Hawaiians, seeking wood for dugout canoes, used to go to Kamilo Beach at the southernmost tip of the Big Island to collect enormous logs that had drifted from the Pacific Northwest. (LATimes)

True to its name, ocean currents, actually two currents – one coming up from South Point and the other coming down from Cape Kumukahi – combined with fierce onshore winds to make this rocky stretch of shoreline the final resting place for plenty of natural debris – it was known as a magnet for driftwood.

However “the strangest thing about Kamilo is that it’s covered with plastic trash — things that we use every day. I find shoes, combs, laundry baskets, Styrofoam, toothbrushes and countless water bottles.”

“There are even toys like LEGO blocks and a little green army man. Beneath the recognizable things are millions of tiny, colorful plastic pieces — the fragments of broken-down larger objects. They look like confetti.” (Marinez, ScienceNews)

This plastic sand is coming from all around the Pacific rim, swirling into a vortex which eventually brings it to these shores. This is the place where Hawaiians came to find bodies of people who were lost at sea. Nowadays, this beach is where we come to find what our throw-away society has done to the environment. (HawaiiNewswNow)

Algalita Research Foundation founder Charles Moore estimates that more than 90% of the trash on Hawai‘i beaches is not generated in the Islands. Kamilo Beach on the Big Island, gets the worst of the debris influx, with trash over a foot deep in some areas. (HonoluluMagazine)

“Our exploration brought us no answers but inspired more questions and speculations. We confirmed that some debris on Kamilo Beach has travelled in the Pacific subtropical gyre from far away East Asia and from the North American West Coast.” (Maximenko, IPRC)

“The current meters tell us that the waves and the tides provide the energy, pushing the debris to shore like a broom. The rather long shore break may contribute to debris accumulation.”

“But, we still need to understand the interaction between large-scale currents collecting debris from the entire North Pacific and the coastal dynamics that move the debris over the reef.” (Maximenko, IPRC)

Finds range from everyday items like shampoo bottles, combs and toothbrushes; fishing industry items like buoys, hagfish eel traps and glowsticks; mariculture leftovers like oyster spaces; children’s items like army toys; and a remarkable number of unidentifiable bits and pieces, broken fragments and resin pellets (aka “nurdles.”)

Some of the more interesting debris items include a full-size refrigerator with Japanese kanji, a military box with Soviet Union tags, and a select few glass floats made in Norway, Korea or Japan. (NPS)

Some debris is generated in Hawaiʻi. But much of the debris comes to Kamilo from much farther away. One piece of plastic had Japanese writing. Ropes were sprinkled with a species of barnacle found commonly in the Pacific Northwest. (CivilBeat)

Volunteers regularly pickup and dispose of the trash. Of the over 130-tons taken out, glass gets recycled, plastic garbage ends up in the landfill and old fishing nets are barged to Oʻahu, where they’re burned in H-POWER to provide some of Honolulu’s electricity. For every truckload of garbage that comes out, more comes in from the ocean. (Gilmartin, Hawaiʻi Wildlife Fund (HWF))

HWF co-founder Bill Gilmartin and colleagues estimate that approximately 15 – 20 tons of debris wash ashore here annually. About every other month, HWF coordinates a community-based cleanup effort at the “dirtiest” section of this coastline.

On average, they bag and remove about 3,600 lbs. of marine debris in a single day’s effort. By weight, about 62% (199,600 lbs.) of the total debris removed has been derelict fishing net bundles. (NPS)

The debris from the North Pacific Garbage Patch occasionally escapes and the model shows it floats towards the Hawaiian Islands, making windward shores of the islands trashcans for marine debris.

Kamilo Beach near South Point on the Big Island is arguably the most famous beach for the enormous amount of marine debris sweeping up on it. A BBC video labeled it as “The Dirtiest Beach in the World.” (iprc)

Lessons can be learned from HWF’s experience, and have been. Volunteers now see the relationship between beach litter and our own daily reliance on single-use, throw-away plastics.

Imagine if we each made a commitment to reduce the amount of single-use plastics we personally consume and dispose of on a daily basis; this would make a difference to the marine ecosystem. (NPS)

 

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Keʻanae Prison Camp

In June, 1925, Governor Wallace Farrington and the County Board of Supervisors Chairman Samuel Kalama led a grand procession of cars on the official opening of the road from Kailua to Hana.

The road was called the Belt Road and would link the isolated communities of East Maui with the rest of the island. By December, 1926, the governor and the board chairman were able to drive all the way to Hana on the dream road that was fast becoming a reality.

Wait … Let’s step back a bit.

Handy, Handy & Pukui report that in ancient times there were several major population centers on the Island of Maui: Kahakuloa (West Maui) region; the deep watered valleys of Nā Wai ‘Ehā (Waiheʻe, Wai‘ehu, Wailuku and Waikapū;) the ‘Olowalu to Honokōhau region of Lāhainā; the Kula – ʻUlupalakua region and the Koʻolau – Hāna region.

They note the importance of the Koʻolau region in this discussion: “On the northeast flank of the great volcanic dome of Haleakala…the two adjacent areas of Keʻanae and Wailua-nui comprise the fourth of the main Maui centers and the chief center on this rugged eastern coast”

“It supported intensive and extensive wet-taro cultivation. Further eastward and southward along this windward coast line is the district of Hāna…” (Maly)

Settlement in the watered valleys along the Koʻolau coast consisted primarily of permanent residences near the shore and spread along the valley floors. Residences also extended inland on flat lands and plateaus, with temporary shelters in the upper valleys.

Handy, Handy and Pukui further note that “…Ke‘anae lies just beyond Honomanu Valley. This is a unique wet-taro growing ahupua‘a… It was here that the early inhabitants settled, planting upland rain-watered taro far up into the forested area.”

“In the lower part of the valley, which is covered mostly by grass now, an area of irrigated taro was developed on the east side. A much larger area in the remainder of the valley could have been so developed.”

“However, we could find no evidence of terracing there. This probably was due to the fact that the energies of the people were diverted to create the lo‘i complex which now covers the peninsula.” (Maly)

In modern times, when Hāna was without a road, and the coastal steamer arrived on a weekly schedule, Hana-bound travelers unwilling to wait for the boat drove their car to the road’s end at Kailua, rode horseback to Kaumahina ridge, then walked down the switchback into Honomanu Valley. (Wenkam, NPS)

Friends carried them on flatbed taro trucks across the Keʻanae peninsula to Wailua cove. It was a short ride by outrigger canoe beyond Wailua to Nāhiku landing where they could borrow a car for the rest of the involved trip to Hana. Sometimes the itinerary could be completed in a day. Bad weather could make it last a week. (Wenkam, NPS)

It was not until 1847, that the historic and modified trail and road alignments became a part of a system of “roads” called the “Alanui Aupuni” or Government Roads. Work on the roads was funded in part by government appropriations, and through the labor or financial contributions of area residents, or prisoners working off penalties. (Maly)

The law (Sec 1536DD. Warden, Deputy, Duties, Powers) allowed a warden to have “the immediate charge and direction of all Territorial prisons and prison camps and the administration thereof.”

“The warden shall be responsible for the safekeeping of all prisoners and persons who may be committed to said prisons and for the enforcement of proper order and discipline among and concerning prisoners and prison officers and employees.” (Attorney General)

Neighbor Island prison camps were set up, there were 4: Maui had three, the other was on the Big Island (outside Hilo.) Keʻanae camp had 22-prisoners and 3-guards; Olinda camp had 31-prisoners, with Jailer and 3-guards and Paukakulo camp had 27-prisoners, with 1-jailer and 3-guards. The three camps on Maui are engaged in road work and forest lines.

A large part of the road to Hāna was constructed by prison labor based at the Keʻanae Prison Camp. The camp was built in 1926 to house the prisoners who would construct the road, including several bridges from Kailua to Hana.

When the road was completed in 1927, men from Keʻanae to Hāna town were hired to maintain the road, especially during the rainy season. (McGregor)

Later, an announcement in the Maui News (January 20, 1934) carried the headline, “Conservation Program Will Be Launched Within Week or 10 Days.” Sub-headlines were “$421,000 Is Provided” and “…To be Located at Keʻanae’s Old Prison Site.”

No longer needed, the Keʻanae prison camp was converted into quarters for the Civilian Conservation Corps. This federal program, created by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to provide jobs to get the US through the depression, brought in men from other parts of Maui and other islands to plant thousands of eucalyptus and other introduced trees throughout the Hana coast. (McGregor)

In December 1942, during World War II, Governor Ingram Stainback tried to assist the war effort by sending forty inmates from Oʻahu Prison to the former Keʻanae Prison camp to revive the old Nāhiku rubber plantations in the hope of yielding 20,000 to 50,000-pounds of crude rubber annually. The venture was no more successful than the earlier ones had been.

Eventually, the YMCA operated the facilities as Camp Keanae; part of the land area continues to be used as a roadway base yard. Na Moku Aupuni O Ko‘olau Hui are now the stewards of Camp Keanae.

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by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Russian Colonization Thoughts in 1808

“There is nothing certain about trade with the islands; King Kamehameha, who lives on the main island, Hawaii, did not allow his subjects to engage in trade.”

“He did all the trading himself, maintaining large warehouses filled with European goods. He was not willing to sell his goods at a reasonable price.” (Hagemeister; Pierce)

“Because of the climate, one of these islands with small harbors can produce foods in quantities sufficient to supply [the population] of a large part of Asiatic Russia …”

“… sugar-cane, from which rum as well as sugar can be obtained; rice, which has been planted as an experiment and has yielded a good crop; also the bread plant, taro, which is similar to flour and is an important item.”

“If we are to undertake a settlement, we should start it on the island of Molokai, which is more fertile than the others. In the southern part there is a port for small boats. Near this island are the best fisheries.” (Hagemeister; Pierce)

“It would appear that the Russians had determined to form a settlement on these islands; at least, preparations were made for the purpose; and I was informed by the commander that if I chose I might get a situation as interpreter.”

“Being sure of meeting with American vessels at the Sandwich islands, in which I might get to Europe or America, I expressed a desire to embrace this opportunity of quitting Kodiak, and was accordingly permitted to take my passage in the ship.” (Campbell)

The Neva had a crew of seventy-five seamen, belonging to the Russian imperial service, and was commanded by Captain Hageimeister (Leontii Adrianovich Gagemeister (German: Karl August Ludwig von Hagemeister)), who had been bred in the British navy, and could speak English fluently. They left December 11, 1808.

They sailed for the Sandwich Islands, with instructions to establish a colony there, and to survey the field with a view to future occupation by the Russians.”

On January 27, 1809, “at day break, we discovered the mountains of Owhyhee, at the distance of ten leagues. In the afternoon, we were close in with the land, and coasted along the north side of the island.”

“We made sail in the evening, and reached Mowee the following day. … (and) weighed on the morning of tile 29th, and passing between the islands of Morokai and Ranai, reached the harbour of Hanaroora, on the south side of Wahoo, the same evening.” (Campbell)

“Arriving at a harbor on the southern side of O‘ahu, the ship was boarded by a large canoe, in which was seated, dressed in European costume, King Kamehameha, then the potentate of the Hawaiian group.”

“‘Immediately on his coming on board,’ says (Alexander) Campbell, a Scotch sailor who acted as Hagemeister’s interpreter, ‘the king entered into earnest conversation with the captain. Among other questions, he asked whether the ship was English or American.’”

“‘Being informed that she was Russian, he answered, ‘Meitei, meitei,’ or ‘Very good.’”

“‘A handsome scarlet cloak, edged and ornamented with ermine, was presented to him from the governor of the Aleutian Islands.’”

“‘After trying it on, he gave it to his attendants to be taken ashore. I never saw him use it afterwards. In other canoes came Tamena, one of his queens, Crymakoo, his brother-in-law, and other chiefs of inferior rank.’” (Bancroft)

“Fortunately, the Scotchman, Alexander Campbell, was with the expedition in the capacity of interpreter, and in conversation with a countryman at Lāhainā (MacCallum) in a moment of lucky indiscretion let the Russian cat out of the bag by revealing the secret purpose of the expedition …”

“… for which he was soundly rated by the captain for his frankness, who immediately sought to cloak his real purpose by giving out that he had an eye single to trade.”

“Though nothing came of this colonization scheme at the time, it had an eye-opening effect on Kamehameha, who the next year made advances towards placing his kingdom under the protection of the British flag.” (Emerson)

“(N)o attempt was made to found a settlement, though, if we can believe Kamehameha, Hagemeister tried to bring the natives of O‘ahu under subjection by threatening that ships of war should be sent against them.”

“After calling at other islands in the Hawaiian group, and bartering seal skins and walrus tusks for salt, sandalwood, and pearls, the captain sailed for Kamchatka, and thence for Novo Arkhangelsk, setting forth on his homeward voyage the following year.”

“In his report to Baranof, whom, as we shall see later, he succeeded in office, he states that taro, maize, and sugar could be purchased at moderate prices in Oahu and the neighboring islands, but that European goods were held at extravagant rates.”

“The control of the company’s affairs had long been felt as too severe a strain by the chief manager, who was now more than sixty years of age.”

“He had several times requested that a successor be appointed, and twice his request had been granted, but on both occasions the official who was sent to relieve him died on the way.” (Bancroft)

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Hagemeister-WC
Hagemeister-WC

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Hawaiʻi State Capitol

Prior to contact (1778,) Royal Centers served as the rulers’ residence and governing location.  Aliʻi moved between several residences throughout the year; each served as his Royal Center and place of governance.

Typically such Royal Centers contained the ruler’s residence, residences of high chiefs, a major heiau (which became increasing larger in size in the AD 1600s-1700s,) other heiau and often a refuge area (puʻuhonua).

The Royal Centers were selected for their abundance of resources and recreation opportunities, with good surfing and canoe-landing sites being favored.

On August 21, 1959 Hawaiʻi became the 50th state.

Today, we reference the location of the governing seat as the ‘capital’ and official statehouse as its ‘capitol.’

The present Hawaiʻi capitol building opened in 1969.  Prior to that time, from about 1893 to 1969, ʻIolani Palace served as the statehouse.

After the overthrow in 1893, the Provisional Government first established its offices in the Aliʻiolani Hale; after a few months, the governmental offices were transferred to ʻIolani Palace (that later building’s name was temporarily changed to the “Executive Building” – the name “ʻIolani Palace” was restored by the  Legislature in 1935.)  (NPS)

The former throne room had been used for sessions of the Territorial House of Representatives. The state dining room was used as the chamber of the Territorial Senate. The private apartment of Kalākaua and later Liliʻuokalani was used as the Governor’s office.  (NPS)

The location of the present Capitol was selected in 1944. In 1959, an advisory committee was formed.  They selected the Honolulu firm of Belt, Lemmon & Lo and the San Francisco firm of John Carl Warnecke & Associates to design the new state capitol.

Their design was approved by the Legislature in 1961; construction commenced in November 1965.  The building opened on March 16, 1969, replacing the former statehouse, ʻIolani Palace.

To quote from an address given by Governor John A. Burns, “The open sea, the open sky, the open doorway, open arms and open hearts – these are the symbols of our Hawaiian heritage. In this great State Capitol there are no doors at the grand entrances which open toward the mountains and toward the sea. There is no roof or dome to separate its vast inner court from the heavens and from the same eternal stars which guided the first voyagers to the primeval beauty of these shores.”

“It is by means of the striking architecture of this new structure that Hawaii cries out to the nations of the Pacific and of the world, this message: We are a free people……we are an open society……we welcome all visitors to our island home. We invite all to watch our legislative deliberations; to study our administrative affairs; to see the examples of racial brotherhood in our rich cultures; to view our schools, churches, homes, businesses, our people, our children; to share in our burdens and our self-sorrows as well as our delights and our pleasures. We welcome you! E Komo Mai! Come In! The house is yours!”

The building is full of symbolism: the perimeter pool represents the ocean surrounding the islands; the 40-concrete columns are shaped like coconut trees; the conical chambers infer the volcanic origins of the Islands; and the open, airy central ground floor suggests the Islands’ open society and acceptance of our natural and cultural environment.

There are eight columns in the front and back of the building; groups of eight mini-columns on the balcony that surrounds the fourth floor; and eight panels on the doors leading to the Governor’s and Lieutenant Governor’s chambers – all symbolic of the eight main islands.

The Hawaiʻi State Capitol is a five-story building with an open central courtyard. According to the architects, “The center of the building, surrounded by a ring of columns, is a great entrance well open on all sides at ground level and reaching upward through four floors of open galleries to the crown canopy and the open sky. Visitors can walk directly into the spectators’ galleries overlooking the House and Senate chambers situated at ground level, and they can reach any of the upper floors by elevators.”

Caucus rooms, clerks’ and attorneys’ offices, a library, a public hearing room, and suite for the President are at the Chamber level. The three legislative office floors (2-4) are of similar design, with peripheral offices for the legislators.

The suites for the Governor and Lieutenant Governor are on the uppermost floors, overlooking the sea on the outside and the courtyard on the inside. Public circulation on the upper floors is through lanais that overlook the court. Parking is provided in the basement.

The Capitol building is a structure of steel reinforced concrete and structural steel. The building is rectangular with dimensions of 360 feet x 270 feet (although it is often referred to as the “Square Building on Beretania.”)  It is 100-feet high.  (Lots of info here from NPS.)

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