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August 9, 2026 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Common Hawaiian-sounding Words … But Are They Hawaiian?

Are These ‘Traditional’ or New Words and meanings to the lexicon in Hawaiʻi?

While we use them in common language, and most often think of them as traditional Hawaiian words, it seems some words are relatively new to the islands and not part of the traditional Hawaiian language. Let’s take a look.

Lūʻau
To many, the lūʻau is the quintessential experience and expression of Hawaiian dining and hospitality. The reality is, it’s a relatively new word.

Traditionally, the ʻahaʻaina or pāʻina were the calls to feast and party together. These feasts marked special occasions — such as reaching a significant life milestone, victory at war, the launching of a new canoe or a great endeavor. They believed in celebrating these occasions with their friends and families.

In an April 1, 1850 story in ‘The Friend,’ the term lūʻau is used (possibly for the first time – in a translation of ‘Visit of the French sloop of war Bonite, to the Sandwich Islands, in 1836,’) stating, “At the King’s order the luau was served up. A gastronomic feast is called luau at the Sandwich Islands.”

“It takes its name from an indispensable dish of young taro leaves boiled, or cooked in fat. In an instant, the cloth was covered with young pigs, fowl, sweet potatoes, luau, etc – all these having been enveloped in leaves and cooked in the earth by the means of red hot stones.” (The Friend, April 1, 1850)

It’s also not clear if this is the first reference to “lūʻau;” but it predates what Pukui notes as the first use of the term ‘luau,’ where she says it goes back at least to 1856, when it was used in the Pacific Commercial Advertiser. The term “lūʻau” is mentioned again in references to the wedding celebration on Alexander Liholiho and Emma Rooke, when on June 19, 1856 they became known as King Kamehameha IV and Queen Emma. (This may be the reference Pukui was referring to.)

Palaka
It was a sad day when Arakawas in Waipahu (operating from 1909 to 1995) closed its doors. Gone was the assortment of colors and sizes of palaka wear (the shirts were originally only blue and white,) as well as the myriad needs filled by the diversity and depth of the merchandise in the store. Arakawas headed the growth of the palaka shirt.

Peter Young Kaeo (1836 – 1880), resident of the leprosy settlement at Kalaupapa, reported in a letter to his cousin Queen Emma, dated November 4, 1873, that he recently visited the settlement store and there bought several yards of cotton twill “to make me some frocks palaka” this is the first known use of the word palaka to describe the style of clothing: short cuts with no tail and meant to be worn outside of the pants. (Korn)

Scholars state that ‘palaka’ is a transliteration into Hawaiian of the English word ‘frock,’ the term used for the loose-fitting, long-sleeved work shirts worn by the sailors that came to Hawaiʻi. Gradually, the word came to describe a type and pattern of cloth; typically made into shirts (into plaid-like woven, not printed pattern.)

Pukui notes it is a checkered shirt; in the 19th century, a coarse work shirt worn by males, mentioned frequently in the literature and especially in Peter Kaʻeo’s letters in 1873–74 to his cousin, Queen Emma, and hence probably from English “frock” rather than from “block”. (Pukui)

Kaukau
Back to food; the notable reference was in a short note from Princess Kaʻiulani to Robert Louis Stevenson. In part she wrote, “Papa and I would like to have you come to our house on Tuesday next for dinner and Papa promises good Scotch “kaukau” for all you folks.” (She was referencing ‘food’ or ‘eats.’)

The Hawaiian term for food is ʻai. Kaukau in this context is not an Hawaiian word. Hawaiian dictionaries note ‘kaukau’ meant a heap of stones in a field used as a temporary altar on which the fruit of the field is laid as an act of worship or a snare to catch birds.

Pukui suggests that this term meaning to eat or drink, is probably local pidgin English derived from “chow chow,” Chinese for food. It is used by foreigners in conversation with natives, and vice versa. On the plantations, lunch break was “kaukau time.”

Hui
OK, this one is not as clear; the word is used in the Hawaiian language as “A coming together of two or more things; a uniting; an assembly. (In the Maori language, hui, means, come together.)” Today, in Hawaiʻi, a ‘hui’ is a partnership or association of folks cooperating in a common cause.

Hui is also a Chinese word, generally meaning ‘conference’, but which is sometimes used to refer to a secret society. The ‘Hui’ had special meaning in November 1894 when Sun Yat-sen, on his third trip in Hawaiʻi, established the Hsing Chung Hui (Revive China Society,) his first revolutionary society.

On another visit to Hawaiʻi (in 1903,) Sun reorganized the Hsing Chung Hui into Chung Hua Ke Min Jun (The Chinese Revolutionary Army) in Hilo. In 1905, in Tokyo, Sun reorganized the Hsing Chung Hui and other organizations into a political party called the Tung Meng Hui. Likewise, the Chinese Revolutionary Army was reorganized and all of its members Tung Meng Hui members.

This party spread all over China and rallied all the revolutionists under its wings. He then made his last visit to Hawaiʻi to form the Hawaiʻi Chapter of Tung Meng Hui. The revolutionary movement in China grew stronger and stronger. Tung Meng Hui members staged many armed uprisings, culminating in the October 10, 1911 Wuhan (Wuchang) Uprising which succeeded in overthrowing the Manchu dynasty and established the Republic of China. (Hmmm, was he using Hawaiian of Chinese in his organizational formation?)

Lomi Lomi Salmon
Back to food; lomi lomi salmon … but Hawaiʻi’s waters don’t teem with salmon; so, how did this become a lūʻau staple and into a compartment of our lūʻau plates?

Near the turn of the last century, the most valuable commercial fisheries in the world, excepting only the oyster and herring fisheries, were those supported by salmon. Of these the most important, by far, were the salmon fisheries of the Pacific coast of North America (California, Oregon, Washington and Alaska, including also British Columbia.)

Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) had its regional headquarters was in the Pacific Northwest in the mid-1800s. Salmon was a mainstay of life of the Northwest Coast Indians. Fresh or preserved salmon, in turn, became a staple food for HBC posts west of the Rocky Mountains.

By 1830, the HBC was preserving salmon on the Columbia River and at Fort Langley on the Fraser River as well, mainly to feed Company personnel, but with some 200 to 300 barrels of Columbia River salmon exported that year, presumably all to Hawai’i. Preserved salmon found a ready market on O’ahu, particularly among native Hawaiians.

Just when that notable dish, lomi lomi salmon, first made its appearance is unknown, but if it was in fashion by the 1830s, the HBC can take credit for being the main provider of its principal ingredient. During the 1830s, HBC sold several hundred barrels of salmon a year in Honolulu. The 1840s saw a major increase in sales; the peak year was in 1849, with 2,610 barrels exported to Honolulu.

Lomi Lomi salmon, not a traditional Hawaiian dish (however, Hawaiian salt was used in preserving the salmon destined for Hawaiian consumption.) The source of the salt shipped by HBC to the Northwest Coast could have come from the Moanalua salt lake on Oʻahu, whose salt was considered the best for salting provisions and as a table salt in Honolulu.

August 8, 2026 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

From Job to Job Around the World

In 1907, Alfred Charles Benson Fletcher graduated from the University of California, where he was a leading figure on the campus. He was editor of the Daily Californian, prominent in other affairs, and a member of the Golden Bear and Winged Helmet honor societies and the Psi Upsilon fraternity.

He decided to take a graduate course in the school of hard knocks and see the world on his nerve and native hardihood and made “a three-year trip … around the world, starting from San Francisco with only a five-dollar gold piece and earning [his] way.”

“[His] wanderings took [him] to Hawaii [and multiple other countries and boasted that his travels show] that it is possible to work one’s way around the world and do so with a considerable degree of comfort.”

“‘The loveliest fleet of islands that lie anchored in any ocean,’ were the words in which Mark Twain once described the Hawaiian group, and the time we spent in the ‘Paradise of the Pacific’ proved to be one of the most enjoyable periods of the trip.”

The following is a portion of his account of his experiences in Hawai‘i that he wrote in his book (of the same title as this summary) in 1916; his recollections give some insight into Hawai‘i at that time …

“‘What’s the trouble? Are you seasick or homesick?’ cordially inquired [Ralph J] Richardson, approaching a stranger who was hanging over the side of a ship bound for Honolulu.”

“‘Neither, my friend,’ I replied with a smile.”

“These were the initial sentences of a dialogue which was happily destined to continue for three years.”

He two were “starting out on a similar expedition – a trip around the world.” He and the friend he met onboard the SS Alameda out of San Francisco had “A combined wealth of less than ten dollars and the wide, wide world in front of us!”

“We agreed not to make any definite plans; we mapped out no itinerary, except the general one of around the world; we had no elaborate scheme of travel nor ideas of how we were to make our way, but decided to resign ourselves to chance and bang around, taking whatever came along.”

“My idea was to explore the earth before I was anchored by matrimony, and Richardson wanted to see all of this world before he went to the next. We set out not as tourists–that familiar species of humanity–but as two refined American tramps. …”

“The six days it takes to go to Honolulu from San Francisco were spent as such days are usually spent at sea, talking and reading in the morning, shuffle-board and other games in the afternoon, singing and spooning in the evening–on the whole a civilised trip. On the morning of the seventh day we arrived in the harbour of Honolulu.”

“After being amused by a group of native boys diving for coins thrown by all passengers except ourselves–who felt inclined to strip and join the divers – the ship was soon alongside and in a short time we were mingling with the cosmopolitan inhabitants on the streets of Honolulu.”

“The next day found each of us enrolled on the teaching staff of two different schools. We became school teachers! … Richardson affiliated himself with Mills Institute, a school under the control of the Hawaiian Board of the Congregational Church Missionary organisation.”

“I assumed the duties of teacher of the fourth and fifth grades in Iolani School, a parochial institution connected with Saint Andrew’s Cathedral …”.

“I have been surprised on many occasions at the ignorance displayed by people in the United States, and especially in the East, concerning the Territory of Hawaii.”

“They imagine that the natives are a half-clad race recently descended from cannibals, that Honolulu is a semi-civilised village of Hawaiian huts and that modern conveniences have not yet found their way to the islands.”

“Honolulu is a city of fifty thousand people, of whom a large number are Orientals and but a few thousand are Americans. … Honolulu is one of the most beautiful and up-to-date cities of its size under the American flag.”

“It was in this paradise that Richardson and I began our wanderings. During the recesses we had from our school duties we explored the island of Oahu, upon which Honolulu is situated, and became as familiar with it as the average man is with his own back yard.”

“We learned to ride the surf at Waikiki–the finest bathing beach in all the world. We climbed all the hills in the vicinity of Honolulu. We visited Diamond Head and its fortifications. We took a dip in the Kalihi swimming hole, and we explored the island from one end to the other.”

“Through the kindness of an American friend, we had at our disposal a summer cottage at Kaneohe, about twelve miles from Honolulu on the northern shore of the island. … It was situated on the beach of Kaneohe Bay.”

“At this ideal spot we spent many week-ends and, the whole time, we would go about clad in only a pair of trunks and devote the pleasant hours under the semi-tropical sun to swimming, boating and fishing.”

“Many a time since, I have longed for another few days’ stay at this little resort–to bathe in its sunshine and enjoy its outdoor pleasures undisturbed by the noise and bustle of civilisation. …”

“

We concluded that teaching stipends would never get us around the world. … We therefore decided to give up our schools and to rustle a more remunerative line of labour.”

“Hearing that the United States Navy Department needed inspectors for its operations in connection with the construction of the naval base at Pearl Harbour, about twelve miles from Honolulu, I wandered into the navy headquarters one morning and bluntly addressed the first man I saw.”

They studied for the exam to be inspectors, and passed the examination to obtain positions as sub-inspectors of dredging on the construction of the Pearl Harbour Naval Base.

Waiting for the job openings, they “decided to visit some of the other islands while awaiting developments. We wished to see Kilauea, the only active volcano in the Hawaiian archipelago, on the island of Hawaii, about one hundred and twenty-five miles south of Honolulu.”

“We also wished to see Haleakala, the largest extinct crater in the world on the island of Maui. We sailed on the S.S. Wilhelmina for Hawaii”.

“We landed at Hilo on the island of Hawaii early in the morning, and bought a third-class round-trip ticket for $1.60 to Glenwood, twenty-two miles distant. From Glenwood we walked the remaining nine miles to the Volcano House in two hours and fifteen minutes, rising two thousand feet and beating the stage by twenty minutes.”

“The road was a good thoroughfare through tropical forests of tree ferns, twenty feet in height; of ohia lehua, a tree belonging to the same family as the eucalyptus; koa or Hawaiian mahogany; wild bananas; papaia, water lemons, palms and wild roses.”

“On arriving at the Volcano House we had something to eat and then set out across the lava beds for three miles to Halemaumau–the active pit of the volcano–where we spent the night in a shack perched on its edge.

“It is extremely fascinating to sit on the edge of this pit and watch the incessant dashing and splashing of the glowing lava. It impressed even such homeless tramps as ourselves. …”

“The regular tourist rate from Honolulu to Kilauea is $59.50, which includes round-trip by boat, railroad fare from Hilo to Glenwood, stage charges to the Volcano House and board and room while there. Admitting that we missed a considerable degree of comfort, nevertheless, we saw all that the average tourist sees and at a cash outlay of only $2.10 each.”

They headed to Maui … “Huddled in the steerage of the Mauna Kea (one of the small steamers of the Inter-Island Steam Navigation Company) with a score of Chinese, Japanese and Hawaiians, we left Honolulu for McGregor’s Landing on the island of Maui to see the extinct volcano Haleakala.”

“The trip was a night’s journey and, as no sleeping accommodations are provided in the third-class of Hawaiian steamers, we bunked on the soft side of a coil of rope.”

“The ship arrived at McGregor’s Landing about five o’clock in the morning and we went ashore feeling anything but rested after a most wearisome night. We made a bargain with a Chinese hack driver to carry us to Kahului, eight miles across the island.”

“After breakfast we boarded a little narrow gauge train for Paia, a sugar plantation village a short distance up the coast on the slopes of Haleakala. We purchased a supply of provisions at the plantation store and were soon started on the twenty-mile climb to the top of the mountain.”

“Haleakala is just over ten thousand feet in elevation and the trail to the summit ascends on an average of five hundred feet to the mile. A trip up Haleakala proved to be far from a pleasure jaunt.”

“The first part of our walk from Paia past the huge sugar factory lay through the great cane fields of the Maui Agricultural Company, the second largest plantation in the Hawaiian Islands. The cane was being harvested and the Japanese cutters were as busy as bees all about us.”

“About ten o’clock we reached the four-thousand-foot level. The cane fields began to disappear and our path wound its way among banana farms and taro patches. …. The real climb began after midday.”

“We left fertile fields and were soon following the trail across the middle slopes of the mountain. There were few trees and the sun shone down from a cloudless sky. Our gait was easily under the speed limit, only about two miles an hour. It was a hard stony road over which we had to travel.”

“As we ascended the view began to widen out on every side. We could look back over the cane fields to the Pacific and see the breakers rolling ashore. Above us towered the mountain, the summit now and again lost in a fleecy cloud. We almost forgot the hardships of the climb with such a picture before us.”

“Although the ascent from Paia to the top can be made in a single day, we decided to break the journey about half way, spend the night and start out refreshed for the last stretch. We stopped at Idlewilde and put up in the summer home of a Kahului friend. We made an early start.”

[Apparently build as a rest house by Henry Perrine Baldwin, from 1901 until 1931, Worth Osbun Aiken (bookkeeper at Baldwin’s Haleakalā Ranch) ran a tour guide operation from the property called Idlewilde, located near the top of what is now referred to as Olinda Road. (DLNR)]

“The trail was plainly marked with guide posts, each tenth of a mile. Idlewilde is eight miles by trail from the summit and the ascent from this point is over five thousand feet – seven hundred to the mile. The first three or four miles were comparatively easy, for we were fresh and the footing was good.”

“About the fifth mile the real work began. The trail became steeper and steeper until it seemed straight up. We began to strike loose, volcanic dirt and sand. …._

“The high altitude made frequent stops necessary for breathing spells. Our progress was slow. The last three miles took over three hours. …”

“Suddenly the view of the great crater burst upon us. It is a sight I shall never forget. We had reached the top of the trail and were walking along a low wall of rock towards the mountain house.”

“We came to a break in the rock and in an instant Haleakala appeared before us. … In the morning we saw the greatest of all sunrises – a Haleakala Sunrise.”

After a few months in the Islands, they started to look “for passage to either Australia or the Orient … we decided to take the Asia to Yokohama. … We closed up our affairs in Honolulu, put our money into American Bankers’ Travelers’ checks, ate a few farewell meals, drank a few final toasts and were in readiness to depart.”

“The Royal Hawaiian Band played Aloha Oe, the ship got under way and we began the second leg of our trip with seven hundred dollars each in our pockets.”

He eventually “arrived home broke. [He] had been away three years, had circled the globe and had travelled over sixty thousand miles.” (Alfred CB Fletcher)

July 29, 2026 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

ʻŌhiʻa

There is a disturbance in the forest.

The native Hawaiian ʻōhiʻa (Metrosideros polymorpha) is the most abundant tree in the Hawaiian Islands, comprising about 62 percent of the total forest area.

The name Metrosideros is derived from Greek metra, heartwood, and sideron, iron, in reference to the hard wood of the genus. Known as ‘Ōhi‘a Lehua, the species is found on all major islands and in a variety of habitats. (Friday and Herbert)

‘Ōhi‘a lehua is typically the dominant tree where it grows. Although the species is little used commercially, it is invaluable from the standpoint of watershed protection, esthetics, and as the only or major habitat for several species of forest birds, some of which are currently listed as threatened or endangered.

ʻŌhiʻa is a slow-growing, endemic evergreen species capable of reaching 75- to 90-feet in height and about 3-feet in diameter. It is highly variable in form, however, and on exposed ridges, shallow soils, or poorly drained sites it may grow as a small erect or prostrate shrub.

Its trunk may range in form from straight to twisted and crooked. Because the species can germinate on the trunks of tree ferns and put out numerous roots that reach the ground, it may also have a lower trunk consisting of compact, stilt-like roots.

The hard, dark reddish wood of ʻōhiʻa lehua was used in house and canoe construction and in making images (ki‘i), poi boards, weapons, tool handles, kapa beaters (especially the rounded hohoa beater), and as superior quality firewood.

ʻŌhiʻa lehua, though of a very nice color, cracks or ‘checks’ too easily to be useful for calabash making. The foliage served religious purposes and young leaf buds were used medicinally. The flowers and leaf buds (liko lehua) were used in making lei.

To Hawaiians of old, the gods were everywhere, not only as intangible presences but also in their myriad transformation forms (kinolau) and in sacred images (ki‘i). Most of the large images were carved from wood of the ʻōhiʻa lehua, an endemic species that is regarded as a kinolau of the gods Kane and Kū.

The materials used in large part depended on the resources available nearby and whether a hale was for aliʻi or makaʻāinana, but in either case, hardwoods were selected for the ridgepoles, posts, rafters, and thatching poles. Hardwoods grew abundantly in Hawaiian forests, in terms of both number of species and the count of hardwoods as a whole.

ʻŌhiʻa lehua grew on all the major islands and was widely used in housebuilding. Canoe decking, spreaders, and seats were commonly made of ʻōhiʻa lehua, as well as for the gunwales.

ʻŌhiʻa lehua was one of the five primary plants represented at the hula altar (ʻōhiʻa lehua, halapepe, ‘ie‘ie, maile and palapalai.) The hālau hula, a structure consecrated to the goddess Laka, was reserved for use by dancers and trainees and held a vital place in the life of an ahupua‘a.

Inside a hālau hula was an altar (kuahu), on which lay a block of wood of the endemic lama, a tree whose name translates as “light” or “lamp” and carried the figurative meaning of “enlightenment.” Swathed in yellow kapa and scented with ‘olena, this piece of wood represented Laka, goddess of hula, sister and wife of Lono.

A number of other deities were also represented on the altar by plants: ʻōhiʻa lehua for the god Kukaʻōhiʻa Laka (named for a legendary ʻōhiʻa lehua tree that had a red flower on an eastern branch and a white one on a western branch) …

… halapepe (Pleomele aurea) for the goddess Kapo; ‘ie‘ie for the demigoddess Lauka‘ie‘ie; maile representirig the four Maile sisters, legendary sponsors of hula; and palapalai fern, symbolic of Hi‘iaka, sister of the volcano goddess Pele and the benefactor of all hula dancers.

Native Hawaiians consider the tree and its forests as sacred to Pele, the volcano goddess, and to Laka, the goddess of hula. ʻŌhiʻa lehua blossoms, buds and leaves were important elements in lei of both wili and haku types.

ʻŌhiʻa is the first tree species to establish on most new lava flows. As the entire portion of eastern Hawaii Island is a volcanic area, lava flows occasionally cover areas of forested land. Thus, while some forests are covered with lava, other forested areas serve as ‘seed banks’ and help to bring growth back life to the lava-impacted area.

There is a disturbance in the forest. Rapid ʻŌhiʻa Death is posing the greatest threat to Hawai‘i’s native forests. A newly identified disease has killed large numbers of mature ʻōhiʻa trees in forests and residential areas of the Puna, Hilo and Kona Districts of Hawaiʻi Island.

In 2012, Robert Hauff and other researchers noticed something unusual about the ohia trees they were studying in Puna. The canopy of the trees seemed to be dying back at an alarming rate. Residents had also been reporting similar observations in the area.

It would be several more years until scientists were able to identify and put a name to the cause: rapid ohia death, a disease caused by a type of fungus that infects the trees via open wounds. It inhibits the trees’ ability to circulate water, leading to their death over the course of just months.

Now, over a decade later, Hauff, who is the state protection forester with the Department of Land and Natural Resources, said efforts are ongoing to better understand and address rapid ohia death. While it has also been detected in different forms on other islands, it is most prevalent on the Big Island, where it is estimated to have killed over 1 million ohia trees and counting. (Star Advertiser)

Pathogenicity tests conducted by the USDA Agriculture Research Service have determined that the causal agent of the disease is the vascular wilt fungus; although a different strain, this fungus has been in Hawaiʻi as a pathogen of sweet potato for decades.

It is not yet known whether this widespread occurrence of ʻōhiʻa mortality results from an introduction of an exotic strain of the fungus or whether this constitutes a new host of an existing strain. This disease has the potential to kill ʻōhiʻa trees statewide.

The disease affects non-contiguous forest stands ranging from 1 to 100 acres. As of 2014, approximately 6,000 acres from Kalapana to Hilo on Hawaiʻi Island had been affected with stand showing greater than 50% mortality. The disease has not yet been reported on any of the other Hawaiian Islands.

Crowns of affected trees turn yellowish and subsequently brown within days to weeks; dead leaves typically remain on branches for some time. On occasion, leaves of single branches or limbs of trees turn brown before the rest of the crown of becomes brown.

Recent investigation indicates that the pathogen progresses up the stem of the tree. Trees within a given stand appear to die in a haphazard pattern; the disease does not appear to radiate out from already infected or dead trees. Within two to three years nearly 100% of trees in a stand succumb to the disease.

The fungus manifests itself as dark, nearly black, staining in the sapwood along the outer margin of trunks of affected trees. The stain is often radially distributed through the wood.

To reduce the spread, people should not transport parts of affected ʻōhiʻa trees to other areas. The pathogen may remain viable for over a year in dead wood.

UH scientists are working to protect and preserve this keystone tree in Hawaiʻi’s native forest. Through the Rapid ʻŌhiʻa Death Seed Banking Initiative, the Hawaii Island Seed Bank and other members of the Hawaiʻi Seed Bank Partnership are working to collect and preserve ʻōhiʻa seeds from all islands during the ROD crisis and store them for future forest restoration.

This project, called ʻŌhiʻa Love, was initiated by the Lyon Arboretum Seed Lab and funded by the Hawaii Tourism Authority. The Lyon Arboretum Seed Lab has been saving ʻōhiʻa seed for over 20 years, with seeds that germinated at 18 years without losing viability.

Each island is working to collect seed from their ʻōhiʻa trees to save this precious resource for the future. (Lots of information here is from Abbott, CTAHR. And Hawai‘i Seed Bank.)

July 23, 2026 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Pu‘ukoholā

A Prophecy of Keʻāulumoku (1716‐1784) on the Rise of Kamehameha

Exalted sits the chief and from on high looks forth;
He views the island; far down he sees the beauteous lands below.
Much sought after, hoped for, the island as sought for is seen …
Let him live forever. O let him live …
Let the little chiefs under him live.
Let the father chiefs live under his protection,
Let the soldiers live who fought in former times,
Let the mass of people live ‐ the common people …

Keʻāulumoku predicted “that Kamehameha would triumph over his enemies, and in the end be hailed as the greatest of Hawaiian conquerors. (Kalākaua)

By 1790, the island of Hawaiʻi was under multiple rule; Kamehameha (ruler of Kohala, Kona and Hāmākua regions) successfully invaded Maui, Lānaʻi and Molokaʻi.

While on Molokai, he sent an emissary to the famous kahuna (priest, soothsayer,) Kapoukahi, to determine how he could conquer all of the island of Hawaiʻi. Kapoukahi prophesized that war would end if Kamehameha constructed a heiau dedicated to the war god Kū at Puʻukohola.

Called back to Hawaiʻi by an invasion of Kohala by his cousin, Keōua (ruler of Kaʻū and part of Puna,) Kamehameha fought more battles without gaining a decisive victory.

One part of the legend stated that Kamehameha first intended to refurbish and rededicate Mailekini heiau, on the lower slope. But Kapoukahi, who had joined Kamehameha’s staff as royal architect, suggested that a new heiau on the summit would be more appropriate and provide greater benefits.

According to Thrum, Kapoukahi instructed Kamehameha “to build a large heiau for his god at Puʻukoholā, adjoining the old heiau of Mailekini.”

Thrum continues: “Of Mailekini heiau little of its history is learned, or what connection, if any, it had in its working with Puʻukoholā within two hundred feet above it. In early days it was said that traces of an underground passage existed, though it was difficult to tell whether or not the two temples were connected by it. …”

“A tradition is current that this was the one that Kamehameha set out to rebuild that he might be successful in war, but on the advice of Kapoukahi he transferred his labors to the upper one of Puʻukoholā.”

According to Samuel Kamakau, Kamehameha “…summoned his counselors and younger brothers, chiefs of the family and chiefs of the guard, all the chiefs, lesser chiefs, and commoners of the whole district. Not one was allowed to be absent except the women. . . .”

“The building of the heiau of Puʻu-koholā was, as in ancient times, directed by an expert … by a member of the class called hulihonua who knew the configuration of the earth (called kuhikuhi puʻuone) …”

“When it came to the building of Puʻu-koholā no one, not even a tabu chief, was excused from the work of carrying stone. Kamehameha himself labored with the rest. The only exception was the high tabu chief Ke-aliʻi-maikaʻi [Kamehameha’s younger brother]. …”

“Thus Kamehameha and the chiefs labored until the heiau was completed, with its fence of images (paehumu) and oracle tower (anuʻunuʻu), with all its walls outside and the hole for the bones of sacrifice. He brought down the ʻōhiʻa tree for the haku ʻōhiʻa and erected the shelter house (hale malu) of ʻōhiʻa wood for Kū-kaʻili-moku according to the rule laid down for the kahuna class of Pā‘ao.”

According to Historian Kuykendall, basing his information on Kamakau and Fornander, in 1790: “The building of this heiau was a great and arduous undertaking.”

“Priests were everywhere about; they selected the site, determined the orientation, the dimensions, and the arrangement of the structure, and at every stage performed the ritualistic ceremonies without which the work could not be acceptable to the gods.”

Recalling the words of Kapoukahi, Puʻukoholā Heiau was being used by Kamehameha to secure unification of the Hawaiian Islands (at the same time that George Washington was serving as the US’s first president (1790.)

Many of the stones on Puʻukoholā Heiau are believed to have come from Pololū Valley. It is storied that Kamehameha and his men formed a human chain nearly 20 miles long and passed the stones one person to another all the way to the heiau site.

After completing the heiau in 1791, Kamehameha invited Keōua to come to Kawaihae to make peace. However, as Keōua was about to step ashore, he was attacked and killed by one of Kamehameha’s chiefs.

With Keōua dead, and his supporters captured or slain, Kamehameha became King of Hawaiʻi island, an event that according to prophesy eventually led to the conquest and consolidation of the islands under the rule of Kamehameha I.

In early 1795, Kamehameha took Maui, Lānai, and Molokai. With the conquest of Oʻahu that year, Kamehameha succeeded in bringing all the islands, but Kauaʻi, under his control. In 1810, Kaumualiʻi, that island’s paramount chief, acknowledged Kamehameha’s supremacy, completing the consolidation of the islands into the Kingdom of Hawai’i.

Puʻukoholā Heiau was designated as a Historical Landmark by the Hawaiian Territorial Government in 1928.

The Queen Emma Foundation donated 34 acres of land in 1972, encompassing Puʻukoholā Heiau and the John Young Homestead, making it possible for the establishment of Puʻukoholā Heiau National Historic Site.

Through an act of Congress on August 17, 1972, this site became one of the chosen few to be recognized as one of our nation’s crown jewels and national treasures, to be preserved and protected for future generations.

July 22, 2026 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Portuguese in Hawaiʻi

Reportedly, the first Portuguese in Hawai’i were sailors that came on the Eleanora in 1790. It is believed the first Portuguese nationals to live in the Hawaiian kingdom sailed through on whalers, as early as 1794, and jumped ship.

The first recorded Portuguese visitor was John Elliot de Castro, who sailed to Hawaiʻi in 1814. During his days in Hawaiʻi he became a retainer of King Kamehameha I, serving as his personal physician and as member of the royal court.

After two years in Hawaiʻi, he sailed off to the island of Sitka, Alaska and joined the Russian-American Company under Alexander Baranov, working as a commercial agent.

Later, Whitney notes, “In (1828,) extensive fields of cane were grown in and about Honolulu, and mills were erected in Nuuanu Valley and at Waikapu, Maui. At the latter place, a Portugese, named Antonio Silva, is spoken of as the pioneer sugar planter.”

For 50 years after these early visitors arrived, Portuguese sailors came ashore alone or in small groups, jumping ship to enjoy Hawaiian life and turning their backs on the rough life aboard whalers and other vessels.

The 1853 population of the Hawaiian Islands was 73,134, including 2,119 foreigners, of these, reportedly 86 were Portuguese. Hawaiians referred to the Portuguese as “Pokiki.”

Eventually several hundred Portuguese made the Islands their home. Many of the settlers came from Madeira Islands (about half the size of Oʻahu,) off the coast of Africa. They also came from the Azores, nine islands between Portugal and the US, and about 1½-times the size of Oʻahu.

The reciprocity treaty in 1875 between the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi and the United States opened the US sugar market to Hawaiʻi and greatly increased the demand for workers.

Jacinto Pereira (also known as Jason Perry,) a Portuguese citizen and owner of a dry goods store in Honolulu, suggested in 1876 that Hawaiʻi’s government look for sugar labor from Madeira where farmers were succumbing to a severe economic depression fostered by a blight that decimated vineyards and the wine industry.

At that time, about 400-Portuguese, a large number of whom formerly served as seamen on whaling vessels, lived in Hawaiʻi. Then, the numbers grew.

São Miguel in the eastern Azores was also chosen as a source of labor. In 1878, the first Portuguese immigrant laborers to Honolulu arrived on the German ship Priscilla. At least one hundred men, women and children arrived to work on the sugar plantations. That year marked the beginning of the mass migration of Portuguese to Hawaiʻi, which continued until the end of the century.

In 1879 in Hawaiʻi, Portuguese musicians (Madeira Islanders) played on “strange instruments, which are a kind of cross between a guitar and a banjo, but which produce very sweet music” (this Madeiran guitar, the machete, was destined to become known as the Hawaiian ʻukulele.) (Hawaiian Gazette – September 3, 1879)

On his world tour, in 1881, King David Kalākaua visited Portugal and was entertained in royal fashion by Portugal’s King Dom Luis. That year two ships delivered over 800-men, women and children from São Miguel. The next year a treaty of immigration and friendship was signed between Portugal and the Hawaiian Kingdom.

Migration to Hawaiʻi became popular to escape poverty and a harsh military system. The dream of settling in islands that looked like home drew workers away from offers to labor in the fields of Brazil and urban seaports of the US.

Mass immigration of the Portuguese to Hawaiʻi also came from New England and California as Portuguese came to replace Chinese workers who left plantations to open stores and work in the trades.

While Chinese and Japanese workers had come as single men, whole families came from Portugal (reportedly, forty-two percent of the early Portuguese emigrants were men, 19% women and 39% children.)

The sponsoring of Portuguese immigration to Hawaiʻi was ceased in 1888 due to its high cost and the success of efforts to recruit Japanese workers. Almost 12,000-people had moved from Madeira or São Miguel, Azores to Hawaiʻi by that time.

Shortly after the overthrow, “An association has recently been formed here known as the Annexation Club.” Various regional Annexation Clubs formed in several communities.

“The majority of those who have joined the organization have done so after careful consideration and because it is their firm conviction that the country can no longer maintain a good and stable independent government.”

“It is the hope of the members of this association that a treaty of annexation may soon be accomplished between Hawaii and the United States”. By September 30, 1893, the largest portions of the membership were: Portuguese 36%, Hawaiian 25% and American 22%. Portuguese membership “being 73 per cent of Portuguese on islands and 41 per cent of club rolls.”

Many continued to be employed by the plantations even after their contracts had been fulfilled. Others, however, sought to take up independent work and turned especially to farming and ranching. Between 1890 and 1910, many Portuguese left Hawaiʻi and migrated to California, primarily the Bay Area.

The Portuguese have given Hawaiʻi many traditions. In music – they brought the ʻukulele and steel-string guitar. Try to image Hawaiʻi without sausage (linguiça,) malasada (malassada) or sweet bread (pão doce) … or Frank De Lima.