Place Names | Page 124 | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

March 28, 2017 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Timeline Tuesday … 1920s

Today’s ‘Timeline Tuesday’ takes us through the 1920s – dredging of the Ala Wai Canal, Hawaiian Pineapple buys Lāna‘i, billboards outlawed and Honolulu Hale is completed. We look at what was happening in Hawai‘i during this time period and what else was happening around the rest of the world.

A Comparative Timeline illustrates the events with images and short phrases. This helps us to get a better context on what was happening in Hawai‘i versus the rest of the world. I prepared these a few years ago for a planning project. (Ultimately, they never got used for the project, but I thought they might be on interest to others.)

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March 26, 2017 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Hono O Nā Pali

The Natural Area Reserves System (NARS) (administered by DLNR) was created in 1971 to “preserve in perpetuity specific land and water areas which support communities, as relatively unmodified as possible, of the natural flora and fauna, as well as geological sites, of Hawai‘i”.

The NARS is based on the concept of protecting ecosystems – not merely single species. Because the natural resources of Hawai‘i are under constant threat from invasive species, human encroachment, feral ungulates, climate change, and other threats, the NARS seeks to protect the best remaining examples of the State‘s unique ecosystems.

Kauai is the oldest of the eight major Hawaiian islands, and the island consists of one main extinct shield volcano estimated to be about 5 million years old as well as numerous younger lava flows (between 3.65 million years to 500,000 years old).

The island is characterized by severe weathering, which has formed the spectacular cliffs of the Nā Pali coast and Waimea canyon areas.

Hono O Nā Pali Natural Area Reserve encompasses almost 3,600 acres on the north coast island of Kauai. The Reserve was designated in 1983 and expanded in 2009 to preserve native natural communities in the Hanalei and Waimea Districts, including the Hanakāpī‘ai, Hanakoa and Waiahuakua ahupua‘a.

The Reserve stretches from sea level along the picturesque Nā Pali coast to the highest point at Pihea (4,284 feet.) The Reserve encompasses parts of Hanakāpī‘ai and Hanakoa streams and all of Waiahuakua Stream; the southern boundary of the NAR is the south side of the Alaka‘i Swamp Trail.

The Reserve can be broadly classified as containing three major ecosystems including lowland mesic (which includes a variety of grasslands, shrublands and forests,) lowland wet (here, typically dominated by Kukui,) and montane wet (the forest canopy is a mix of ʻōhiʻa and other native trees.)

The lowland coastal ecosystems also contain steep cliffs characterized by plants found in drier areas. The coastal areas and cliffs provide habitat for a number of other seabirds including ‘iwa, brown booby and both red and white-tailed tropicbirds.

Hono O Nā Pali Natural Area Reserve has been described as “one of the best remaining forest ecosystems in Hawai‘i, as well as the rare and endangered plant and animal species it supports.”

Land use records from 1856-1857 show that lands in this area were being used for the cultivation of kalo, olona and kula. In the late-1800s Hanakoa and Hanakāpīʻai were also used for coffee cultivation. Kalalau was abandoned in 1919 and then used for cattle grazing in the 1920 for a limited time. (DLNR)

“The mountains along the shore, for eight or ten miles, are very bold, some rising abruptly from the ocean, exhibiting the obvious effects of volcanic fires; some, a little back, appear like towering pyramids”. (Hiram Bingham, 1822)

“There is a tract of country on the west coast of the island, through which no road is practicable.” (Bowser, 1880; Maly) “For twenty miles along the northwestern coast of Kauai there extends a series of ridges, none less than 800-feet high, and many nearly 1,500-feet, terminating in a bluff that is unrivalled in majesty.”

“Except for a very narrow, dangerous foot-path, with yawning abysses on each side, this bluff is impassable.” (The Tourist’s Guide, Whitney, 1895)

The trail was originally built around 1860 (portions were rebuilt in the 1930s) to foster transportation and commerce for the residents living in the remote valleys.

Local labor and dynamite were used to construct a trail wide enough to accommodate pack animals loaded with oranges, taro and coffee being grown in the valleys. Stone paving and retaining walls from that era still exist along the trail.

It traverses 5-valleys (and the NAR) over 11-miles, from Hāʻena State Park to Kalalau Beach, where it is blocked by sheer, fluted cliffs (pali;) it drops to sea level at the beaches of Hanakāpīʻai and Kalalau. The first 2 miles of the trail, from Hāʻena State Park to Hanakāpīʻai Beach, make a popular day hike. (DLNR)

“During the Māhele, the King granted lands to the Kingdom (Government), the revenue of which was to support government functions. In the Nāpali District, the ahupuaʻa of Kalalau, Pohakuao, Honopu, Hanakāpīʻai and one-half of Hanakoa were granted to the Government Land inventory.”

“Portions of the lands that fell into the government inventory were subsequently sold as Royal Patent Grants to individuals who applied for them.”

“The grantees were generally long-time kamaʻāina residents of the lands they sought… Thirty grants were sold in the Nāpali District to twenty-seven applicants; the lands being situated in Kalalau and Honopu.” (Hawaiian Government, 1887; Maly)

The upper region of the area was put into Territorial Forest Reserve (Nā Pali – Kona Forest Reserve) for protection in 1907. Even before that time, the concern for native forest prompted cattle eradication activities in this area during 1882 and 1890.

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vista-of-the-Alakai-including-the-Hono-o-Na-Pali-NAR

Fencing to help protect Hono O Na Pali

On-the-coastal-trail-at-hono-o-na-pali

Hono o Na Pali Natural Area Reserve

Na-Pali-Coast-Kauai

Kalalau-View-from-Hono-O-Na-Pali

Alakai Swamp at Hono O Na Pali Natural Area Reserve

The Hono O Na Pali Natural Area Reserve on Kauai features a stream crossing on the Alakai Swamp Trail

Hono-O-Na-Pali-Map

March 21, 2017 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Timeline Tuesday … 1910s

Today’s ‘Timeline Tuesday’ takes us through the 1910s – Duke Kahanamoku is Hawai‘i’s first Olympic Champion, Outdoor Circle formed, Hawai‘i National Park is formed and Lili‘uokalani dies. We look at what was happening in Hawai‘i during this time period and what else was happening around the rest of the world.

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March 19, 2017 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Increased Population – Increased Production

Kohala on the Island of Hawai‘i was likely settled in its windward valleys about A.D. 1100–1200 and along the leeward shoreline between A.D. 1200 and 1400.

Kamakau noted, in early Hawaiʻi “The parents were masters over their own family group … No man was made chief over another.” Essentially, the extended family was the socio, biological, economic and political unit.

Because each ʻohana (family) was served by a parental haku (master, overseer) and each family was self-sufficient and capable of satisfying its own needs, there was no need for a hierarchal structure.

With such a small (but growing) population based on the family unit, society was not so complicated that it needed chiefs to govern or oversee the general population.

Kamakau states that there were no chiefs in the earliest period of settlement but that they came “several hundred years afterward … when men became numerous.”

Ancient household units in Hawai‘i are represented archaeologically by clusters of small stone and earthen structures, including terraces, enclosures, and small semicircular stone shelters.

The mauka field system was likely established between A.D. 1200 and 1400.

Marion Kelly noted dryland field systems were one of the three noted subsistence production intensification techniques initiated by the early Hawaiians (along with walled fishponds and lo‘i kalo (irrigated, terraced pondfields for taro cultivation)).

Farmers found, farmed and intensified production on lands that were poised between being too wet and too dry. Archaeological evidence of intensive cultivation of sweet potato and other dryland crops is extensive, including walls, terraces, mounds and other features.

In the mauka field system, larger residential features are identifiable by constructed terraces with stout stone walls on the upslope (windward) side of these structures, which served as windbreaks and anchored the perishable thatch hale.

Natural bedrock outcrops were also used for habitation and were modified with abutting stone-faced terraces and stacked stone-wall enclosures.

Archaeological evidence indicates a chronology of household expansion (and, by inference, to population growth, as well as increased managerial presence and a desire to produce higher yields) spanning three temporal periods between A.D. 1400 and 1800.

The overall pattern is one of an exponential rate of increase in residential features, with the greatest number of such features existing in temporal period 3 (A.D. 1650–1800), just before European contact.

The pattern of early expansive construction (the phase 1 alignments and trails) indicates that the area was developed over time as farmers established new fields and farmsteads.

During phase 2, additional residential clusters were established, and the ahupua‘a was subdivided with new agricultural alignments inserted predominantly between the new residences and trails.

The lands were progressively subdivided with new trails and alignments (such as phase 3 constructions), as preexisting territorial segments were carved into smaller units.

This chronology fits well with the previously established chronology of agricultural system intensification which shows a pattern of late intensification (marked by increased field alignment construction) after A.D. 1650.

Archaeological evidence of intensive cultivation of sweet potato and other dryland crops is extensive, including walls, terraces, mounds and other features.

The fields throughout the Kohala system were oriented parallel to the elevation contours and the walls (and perhaps kō (sugar cane) planted on them) would have functioned as windbreaks from the trade winds which sweep down the slopes of the Kohala mountains.

Configured in this way, the walls would also have reduced evapotranspiration and – with heavy mulching – retained essential moisture for the crops. This alignment of fields also conserved water by retaining and dispersing surface run-off and inhibited wind erosion and soil creep.

The main development of the Kohala field system took place AD 1450-1800. By the late-1600s the lateral expansion of the field system had been reached, and by AD 1800 the system was highly intensified.

The process of intensification involved shortened fallow periods, and agricultural plots divided into successively smaller units.

The archaeological map of the Kohala field system depicts over 5,400-segments of rock alignments and walls with a total length of nearly 500-miles.

The fields begin near the north tip of the island very close to the coast. The western margin extends southward at an increasing distance from the coast, with the eastern margin at a higher elevation and also an increasing distance from the coast.

From north to south the field system is more than 12-miles in length. At its maximum, it is more than 2.5-miles in width.

Scientists speculate that this farming did not just support the local population, but was also used by Kamehameha to feed the thousands of warriors under his command in his conquest of uniting the islands under a single rule.

Based on experimental plantings, if only half of the Kohala Field System was in production in one year, it could be producing between 20,000 to 120,000-tons of sweet potato in one crop.

Archaeologists conclude that the higher frequency of residences within the core area of the field system, as well as the initial expansion of field system trails and alignments that demarcate major land divisions, suggests that this process was managed from the outset.

On the basis of ethnohistoric documents from the 18th and 19th centuries, they note that such management was performed by elites, who were required to generate surplus at the level of the ahupua‘a.

Population growth, coupled with increased management and tribute requirements, supported the increasingly hierarchical sociopolitical system of archaic states that emerged in Hawai‘i ca. A.D. 1600–1800

The system was abandoned shortly after European contact in the early- or mid-19th century. (Lots of information here is from Field and Kirch.)

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Kohala Field System_photo

Kohala Field System-photo-Vitousek

Kohala Field System_photo-Vitousek

Kohala Field System-walls-trails-map-Vitousek

Kohala Field System-location-map-Vitousek

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North_Kohala-(SOEST)

March 17, 2017 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Kamehameha III Tablet

Kauikeaouli, Kamehameha III
Son of Kamehameha I and Keōpūlani
Born March 17, 1814
Died December 15, 1854
Ka Moi Lokomaikai

“Under the auspices of the Daughters of Hawai‘i the centenary of Kauikeaouli Kamehameha III, was observed this year in an unusual manner …”

“… first in memorial services at Kawaiahaʻo church in this city (Honolulu,) March 17th, at the unveiling of the tablet prepared to mark his birthplace at Keauhou, Kona, Hawai‘i, and again at its erection on that historic spot August 15th …”

“… both of which occasions were made impressive with eulogies in Hawaiian and in English, and in song and recitation illustrative of ancient custom now rarely met with. Queen Liliuokalani and Mrs. E. K. Pratt, claiming lineal descent from Keawe, founder of the Kamehameha dynasty, participated in both commemorative services, which were largely attended.” (Thrum, 1914)

“The centenary of the birth of Kamehameha III was celebrated March 17, 1914, at Kawaiahaʻo church, this city, under the auspices of the Daughters of Hawai‘i, services commencing at 4 pm.”

“This historic church that has witnessed so many of the royal ceremonials of the Hawaiian people was taxed on the occasion to the utmost of its seating capacity, to view the unveiling of the memorial tablet which had been prepared by the Daughters of Hawai‘i to mark the birthplace of Kauikeaouli at Keauhou, Kona, Hawai‘i.”

“The tablet was hidden from view by the royal standard of Liliuokalani and a Hawaiian flag loaned by Hawai‘i’s venerable ex-queen for the sacred ceremonial.”

“The queen and high chiefess Elizabeth Kekaaniau Pratt, both of whom are lineal descendants of Keawe, the ancient king of Hawai‘i and founder of the Kamehameha dynasty, were seated on either side of the memorial stone in the nave of the church.”

“Back of the queen and Mrs. Pratt were high chiefs Beckley and Hoapili, clad in the ceremonial feather cloaks and helmets of the royal courtiers.”

“Fred Kahapule Beckley, the spear bearer, is a direct descendant on his father’s side from Kame‘eiamoku, which Albert Kalaninoanoa Hoapili, the kalihi bearer, is a lineal descendant of Kamanawa.”

“These two therefore represented the spear and kahili bearers who are shown on the Hawaiian coat of arms, and are descendants of the two chief court alii of Kamehameha I.”

“On either side of the royal court representatives were the kahili bearers in ordinary, sixteen young men from the Kamehameha school, robed in capes and the costumes of warriors of old. representative of the court attendants.”

“The chancel and pulpit platform were tastefully decorated with beautiful ferns and palms while above was the royal standard
and Hawaiian flag.”

“The services opened with the grand old hymn, ”How Firm a Foundation,” by the choir and congregation, after which Rev. HE Poepoe gave the invocation. Then the royal chanter, Mrs Naha Hakuole, chanted the koihonua or song of genealogy of the king.”

“After this the queen drew the cord releasing her royal standard or personal flag, while Mrs. E. Kekaaniau Pratt released the Hawaiian flag covering the tablet.”

“This tablet was a polished block of fine grain deep lava from the Moiliili quarries, surfaced some ten square feet on which the … inscription stood out in bold letters, within a neat border….” (Thrum 1914)

“Like impressive ceremonies attended the dedication of the memorial tablet at its placement, marking the king’s birthplace, August 15th, at Keauhou, for which purpose the queen and a large delegation of prominent lady representatives of the various
Hawaiian societies, and a number of others, journeyed from this city.”

“The tablet was conveyed to Kailua by steamer, where it was met by a royal double canoe, manned by paddlers clothed in semblance of feather cloaks and bedecked with brilliant colored leis.”

“This large canoe was accompanied by a flotilla of small ones filled with ancient costumed warriors. Upon the stone being lowered into the double canoe the fleet paddled down the coast to its destination, Keauhou.”

“At its landing twelve stalwart descendants of warrior chiefs, each clad in costume emblematic of the rank and station of his ancestors, conveyed it by a litter to its designed place where services were held before a large concourse of Hawaiians that had gathered to do homage to their alii.” (Thrum 1914)

“The unveiling of a handsome tablet of Hawaiian lava granite, to the accompaniment of sacred chants composed a century ago, marked the 100th anniversary of the birth of Kauikeaouli, the third of the Kamehamehas, which yesterday afternoon was observed at old Kawaiahao church by the Daughters of Hawai‘i.”

“It was a fitting memorial to that ruler who, known to his subjects as the beneficent king, gave to the inhabitants of these islands their first written constitution, and, to make the observance further complete, the tablet will be taken to Keauhou, Kona, where it will mark the birthplace of ka moi lokomaikai.” (Star Bulletin, March 18, 1914; Nupepa-Hawai‘i)

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