Images of Old Hawaiʻi

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kapuanoni

“The village with the walled pond and grove of hau and coconut trees was Kahalu‘u, and Kahalu‘u-kai-ākea was the chief who controlled the ahupua‘a which bears his name.”

“He was the father of the beautiful, glowing-skinned chiefess, Mākole‘ā. The beauty of Kahalu‘u is described with the saying “Kahalu‘u ua ‘āina ala i ka wai puka iki o Helani” (Kahalu‘u is the land [known for] the small rising waters of Helani.)”

“At Kahalu‘u, Hale‘ōpele was the āhua (hillock-agricultural feature) covered with coconut trees…”

“…A hō‘ea i ke kuono iloko he ‘ili‘ili wale no ke one, a ke kai e po‘i ana me ka ho‘omaha ‘ole o nā Keauhou ia — And when you arrived at a bay with pebbly sand, where the ocean continuously laps upon the shore it was Keauhou…”

“A komo mai la ‘olua i ka ulu ‘ōhi‘a o nä Keauhou ia, o ka ulu ‘ōhi‘a o Moku‘aikaua — and when you entered the ‘ōhi‘a grove in the lands of Keauhou, it was the ‘ōhi‘a grove of Moku‘aikaua…” (Ka Hōkū o Hawai‘i, April 9, 1914, Maly)

At Kahalu‘u is Kapuanoni Heiau … “Only portions of walls could be traced, 97 feet apart; one of them, a wall foundation, could be followed for 40 feet, and the other, a standing wall 4.5 feet wide, was distinguishable for 34 feet. The place had the appearance of having been much disturbed in early times.”

“It is now overgrown with hau. Local information, from the grandson of its last priest, was that the heiau was built by Kalani‘ōpu‘u and that it was for prayers in general.” (Stokes, 1906) It was “a temple dedicated to agricultural and fishing success.” (NPS)

Thrum (1908) describes Kapuanoni as “a large heiau of Kahaluu, described as an ancient puuhonua and luakini, built in the time of Lono.”

“Tradition has it that when Malaihi was its kahu (or keeper), a native fled to it from Pahoehoe and was followed in by his pursuers, seized, and taken away without remonstrance, which violation coming to the ears of the king he had the keeper slain and sacrificed on the altar of Ohiamukumuku.”

The name “ka pua noni” can be translated literally as ‘the’ (ka) ‘noni flower’ (pua noni). The deeper kaona (meaning) behind this place name has not been passed on. (SWCA)

Kapuanoni is situated on the promontory that forms the southern headland of Kahaluʻu Bay and is surrounded by water on three sides. The heiau formed an integral component of the chiefly and religious compound of coastal Kahalu‘u during the traditional period. (SWCA)

Subsequent to c. 1730s, the chiefs Alapa‘i, Kalani‘ōpu‘u, and Kamehameha I, are all associated with residency and activities in this region of Kona, with specific references to Kahalu‘u and Keauhou. (Maly)

“The years 1775, 1776, 1777, 1778, and 1779. Kalaniopuu went to war at Kaupo on Maui, with his Alii, his war Officers, and his soldiers. Kalaniopuu first went to war at Kaupo …” (Kuakoa, Dec 8, 1866)

“Ka-lani-‘opu‘u returned to Hawaii embittered against Ka-hekili by the realization of his defeat, and spent a year in preparing an army made up of a body or men from each of the six districts of the island, each division led by a warrior chief.” (Kamakau)

“Six army corps or brigades were organised, and became known by the names of I, Ahu, Mahi, Palena, Luahine, and Paia; the members of the royal family were formed into a life-guard, called Keawe; and the Alii-ai-alo – the nobles who had the privilege of eating at the same table with the Moi – composed two regiments called Alapa and Piipii.”

“While thus preparing material resources, Kalaniopuu was not forgetful of his duties to the god whom he acknowledged and whose aid he besought. This god was Kaili – pronounced fully ‘Ku-kaili-moku’ – who, from the days of Liloa, and probably before, appears to have been the special war-god of the Hawaii Mois.” (Fornander)

“[H]e repaired and put in good order the Heiaus called ‘Ohiamukumuku’ at Kahaluu, and ‘Keikipuipui’ at Kailua, in the Kona district, and the high priest Holoae was commanded to maintain religious services and exert all his knowledge and power to accomplish the defeat and death of the Maui sovereign.” (Fornander)  Kalani‘ōpu‘u is also credited with building the heiau of Kapuanoni, presumably during this time. (Maly)

At the time of Captain James Cook’s arrival (1778-1779), the Hawaiian Islands were divided into four kingdoms: (1) the island of Hawaiʻi under the rule of Kalaniʻōpuʻu, who also had possession of the Hāna district of east Maui; (2) Maui (except the Hāna district,) Molokai, Lānai and Kahoʻolawe, ruled by Kahekili; (3) Oʻahu, under the rule of Kahahana; and at (4) Kauai and Niʻihau, Kamakahelei was ruler.

When Cook arrived on the Island of Hawai‘i (1779), Kalaniʻōpuʻu was on the island to Maui to contend with Kahekili, king of Maui. The east side of Maui had fallen into the hands of Kalaniʻōpuʻu and Kahekili was fighting with him to gain control.

Kalaniʻōpuʻu returned to Hawaiʻi and met with Cook on January 26, 1779, exchanging gifts, including an ʻahuʻula (feathered cloak) and mahiole (ceremonial feather helmet.)   Cook also received pieces of kapa, feathers, hogs and vegetables.

“After Captain Cook’s death [in 1779] Kalaniopuu dwelt some time in the Kona district, about Kahaluu and Keauhou, diverting himself with Hula performances, in which it is said that he frequently took an active part, notwithstanding his advanced age. “

“Scarcity of food, after a while, obliged Kalaniopuu to remove his court into the Kohala district, where his headquarters were fixed at Kapaau.” (Fornander)

“During the period of his rule, between c. 1782 to 1819, Kamehameha I was noted for his dedication to his gods and their kapu. Kamakau records that Kamehameha I dedicated the heiau of Kama-i-ke‘e-kū and ‘Ōhi‘a-mukumuku in Kahalu‘u to his war god.”

“In Thrum’s account of Hawaiian temples, readers are told that Kamehameha also built the heiau named Hāpaiali‘i shortly after the battle at Moku‘ōhai in c. 1782. It was through the battle of Moku‘ōhai at Ke‘ei, that Kamehameha I secured a portion of the island of Hawai‘i under his rule.”

“Also, following the death of Kalani‘ōpu‘u the lands of Kahalu‘u and the “two Keauhou” were among those divided between the chiefs.”

“Among the most important ali‘i of the Kamehameha I period associated with Keauhou and Kahalu‘u, was the chiefess Keōpūolani, known in her youth as Wahinepio. She was raised at Keauhou, where she lived until ca. 1795.”

“The daughter of Kïwala‘ō, she was also the sacred wife of Kamehameha I, and mother of the children who succeeded him in rule.” (Maly)

“Kuakini was born in 1791, while his parents lived at Kahalu‘u and Keauhou. Kuakini was a younger brother of Ka‘ahumanu, the favored wife of Kamehameha I, and regarding the birth of Kuakini, and his tie to the lands of Kahalu‘u and Keauhou, Kamakau, recorded that:”

“At the birth of the child [Kuakini] there was a great hula at Kaha-lu‘u, and the name hula (hula inoa) was being danced for the birth of the new son to Na-mahana and Ke‘e-aumoku.”

“Visitors came to bring gifts (ho‘okupu), and among them was Ka-mehe-‘ai-ku who had gone away and hidden in the country and slept with a man and given birth to a child.”

“She was a cousin of Ke‘e-au-moku, and when she was discovered among the spectators at the hula Ke‘e-au-moku gave the child to her to suckle and gave with him the land of Keauhou; and Ka-mehe-‘ai-ku took the little chief to Keauhou and there nourished him until he was grown…” (Kamakau, Maly)

“In 1931, a visitor to nearby Keauhou Bay described Kahalu‘u as ‘miles off the beaten path … a place where people used to live in numbers and now live no more’ (Schench). By the 1950s, the area was mostly abandoned and heavily overgrown”

“In 1970, the Outrigger Keauhou Beach Hotel was constructed just inland of Kapuanoni Heiau. The heiau was situated directly adjacent to the hotel pool.” (SWCA) (The demolition of the Keauhou Beach Hotel was completed in August 2018.) (KSBE)

While some of the walls of the heiau complex remain, the seaward edges of the structure have been badly damaged by high surf events while its interior has been modified by various additions and reconstruction efforts undertaken when it formed part of the grounds of the Outrigger Keauhou Beach Resort.

In 2005, the trustees of Kamehameha Schools decided to restore the five coastal heiau of Kahalu‘u, including Kapuanoni.  Restoration of two heiau (Ke‘ekū and Hāpaiali‘i) was completed in 2009.  Restoration of Makoleā followed that and planning and activities to restore Kapuanoni and Po‘o Hawai‘i pond are underway.

Drone flyover of Kapuanoni: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxsRxa1pimA&t=1s (SWCA)

© 2025 Ho‘okuleana LLC

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Suo Oshima

The Seto Inland Sea is dotted with about 700 islands of various sizes, and Suo Oshima (officially Yashirojima), located in the southeastern part of Yamaguchi Prefecture, is the third largest island. (Kawai, JANM)

Situated off the coast of western Honshu is Suo Oshima, often noted English as “Suooshima” or “Suo-Oshima,” this rural part of Japan is one of the countless landmasses that can be found out on the Seto Inland Sea. Officially part of Yamaguchi Prefecture. (Kimball)

Seto Inland Sea is the largest inland sea of Japan and is surrounded by Honshu. Shikoku, and Kyushu.  Features of the Seto Inland Sea is fast tide due to a big difference of high and low tide There are high tides and two low tides twice a day.

Water level difference between high tide and low tide is called “tidal range” – here, it is 3-10-feet in the east and 10-13-feet in west. (International Environmental Management of Enclosed Coastal Seas (EMECS) Center)

Suo Oshima is home to a series of peaks that are collectively called the “Seto Inland Sea’s Alps”. Comprised of Mt. Monju, Mt. Kano, Mt. Genmeizan, and Mt. Dake, the heights of this mountain quadruplet are nearly 2,300-feet tall.

Back during the Edo Period (1603–1868), Suo Oshima was overpopulated. Due to the mountainous core of the goldfish-shaped island, residents had a hard time finding ample space to live. (Kimball)

“The population is now around 15,000, but at the beginning of the Meiji period there were about 70,000. At that time, politics was in chaos, and there were also natural disasters such as typhoons, so the islanders could not make a living.”

“At the same time, the island had a history of migrant workers, and it was common for people to go out on boats. At that time, the government talked about migrant workers (overseas emigration), and many people applied. For the islanders, it probably felt like going to a faraway place for a long period of time.” (Makoto Kimoto, JANM)

A shortage of laborers to work in the growing (in size and number) sugar plantations in Hawai‘i became a challenge.  The only answer was imported labor.

Starting in the 1850s, when the Hawaiian Legislature passed “An Act for the Governance of Masters and Servants,” a section of which provided the legal basis for contract-labor system, labor shortages were eased by bringing in contract workers from Asia, Europe and North America.

The first to arrive were the Chinese (1852.)  The sugar industry grew, so did the Chinese population in Hawaiʻi.  Concerned that the Chinese were taking too strong a representation in the labor market, the government passed laws reducing Chinese immigration.  Further government regulations, introduced 1886-1892, virtually ended Chinese contract labor immigration.

In 1868, an American businessman, Eugene M Van Reed, sent a group of approximately 150-Japanese to Hawaiʻi to work on sugar plantations and another 40 to Guam. This unauthorized recruitment and shipment of laborers, known as the gannenmono (“first year men”,) marked the beginning of Japanese labor migration overseas.  (JANM)

However, for the next two decades the Meiji government prohibited the departure of “immigrants” due to the slave-like treatment that the first Japanese migrants received in Hawaiʻi and Guam.  (JANM)

In March 1881, King Kalākaua visited Japan during which he discussed with Emperor Meiji Hawaiʻi’s desire to encourage Japanese nationals to settle in Hawaiʻi.

Kalākaua’s meeting with Emperor Meiji improved the relationship of the Hawaiian Kingdom with the Japanese government and an economic depression in Japan served as motivation for agricultural workers to move from their homeland.  (Nordyke/Matsumoto)

The first 943-government-sponsored, Kanyaku Imin, Japanese immigrants to Hawaiʻi arrived in Honolulu aboard the Pacific Mail Steamship Company City of Tokio on February 8, 1885.  Subsequent government approval was given for a second set of 930-immigrants who arrived in Hawaii on June 17, 1885.

With the Japanese government satisfied with treatment of the immigrants, a formal immigration treaty was concluded between Hawaiʻi and Japan on January 28, 1886. The treaty stipulated that the Hawaiʻi government would be held responsible for employers’ treatment of Japanese immigrants.

Many Japanese people living on Suo Oshima opted to move.  From 1885 to 1894, 3,913 people living on the island took advantage of the opportunity and moved to Hawai‘i (about 13.5% of the total of about 29,000 Japanese emigrants to Hawai‘i during that time).  Thus, many of the Japanese now living in Hawaii originally have roots that harken back to Suo Oshima. (Kimball)

After Hawai‘i was annexed by the US, many people from Suo Oshima went to Hawaii, and many Suo Oshima people were active in Hawaiian society. After the war, many donations and goods were brought from Hawaii to Suo-Oshima. (Japan Hawaii Immigration Museum)

To commemorate the connection between Suo Oshima and Hawai‘i, the Japan Hawai‘i Immigrant Museum was opened February 8, 1999 after four years of collecting materials.

Here is a link to the Museum website: https://suooshima-hawaii-imin.com/en

The building of the Japan Hawai‘i Immigrant Museum is a reproduction of the former Fukumoto residence built by the late Chouemon Fukumoto.

After returning to Suo Oshima in 1924, he built the Fukumoto residence, which is now the Japan Hawaii Immigrant Museum, in 1928. (Japan Hawaii Immigration Museum)

Many of the materials displayed in the Immigration Museum were donated by townspeople and their families who had returned from Hawaii. The museum also has historical materials, old documents, and a data search corner for information on the history of immigration to Hawaii. (Japan Hawaii Immigration Museum)

Kauai County and Suo Oshima established a sister city relationship which was signed in June 1963.  “The relationship between Japan and Hawai‘i is an integral part of our state’s historic, cultural, and economic well-being – just look at our food, our customs, and our people,” said Mayor Kawakami.

“Through our 60 years of friendship, we have come to share a mutual understanding of each other’s government, economy, agriculture, tourism, and community. And as we celebrate together this milestone, we continue our promise to pass along our customs with the next generation, keeping both Japan and Hawai‘i culture and tradition alive.” (Kauai County)

© 2025 Ho‘okuleana LLC

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Sweet Lady of Waiāhole

Early in the morning, she would gather all her island fruits,
And pack them as she starts another day.
Carefully she makes her way beside the mountain stream,
As she sings an island chant of long ago.

Sweet lady of Waiāhole,
She’s sitting by the highway
Selling her papaya
And green and ripe banana
(“Sweet Lady of Waiāhole”)
(Written by Gordon Broad, performed by Walter Aipolani (Bruddah Waltah.))

“Legendary references to Waiahole suggest that agriculture was being practiced in the valley in the AD 1600s (calculated genealogically at a rate of 25 years/generation). For example, the warrior Kuapunohu is said to have dug up and burned the taro from a patch of four acres.”

“Fornander, in a variation of the same story, notes that because Kapunohu (his spelling) used the taro for firewood, the saying, ‘the hard taro of Waiahole,’ is known from Hawaii to Niihau.”  (Archaeological Resources in Waiāhole Valley, Tomonari-Tuggle, 1983)

“[K]uleana awards to commoners were spread out along the banks of the valley streams, from the coast to 2.3 miles inland.  Some parcels were situated on the Kaneloa terrace and along the base of the southern spur near the ocean.”

In general, the parcels along the stream edges were used for irrigated taro cultivation. The kula parcels were planted in a variety of crops, including potatoes, melons, sugar cane, awa, and bananas. Houses were usually located with the kula farms and described as being ‘separate and not enclosed.’”

“Awards in the upper gulches and in the delta area of Waiahole Steam did not have kula parcels. Within twenty years, however, subsistence agriculture was supplanted by commercial rice growing. Thrum writes that the rice industry took off with the decline of whaling in the early 1860s, and with such enthusiasm in some cases that good taro was pulled up and terraces replanted in rice.”

“This industry made a tremendous impact on land use and settlement in Waiahole Valley, which was one of the primary rice growing areas in the islands throughout the industry’s life span.”

“Many taro fields were converted to rice cultivation, and Miyagi notes that rice farmers brought new areas into irrigated cultivation through the construction of more canals, particularly those which crossed the top of the Kaneloa terrace.” (Archaeological Resources in Waiāhole Valley, Tomonari-Tuggle, 1983)

“1917 saw the completion of the Waiahole Ditch tunnel by Lincoln Loy McCandless, which changed the valley forever by diverting stream water to the Ewa side of the island for sugar plantations” (Reppun)

“From the turn of the century, the rice industry began a decline which culminated with the final blow caused by the appearance of the rice borer insect in the late 1920s.  In Waiahole, rice fields were abandoned as early as 1910, although some rice was being planted as late as 1920.”

“Japanese replaced Chinese on the land during this period and truck farming replaced rice cultivation.” (Archaeological Resources in Waiāhole Valley, Tomonari-Tuggle, 1983)

“Throughout the decades of rice, pineapple, and truck farming, taro continued to be grown, though certainly at a lesser scale than pre-19th century Hawaiian land use. … The Waiahole Poi Factory operated continuously from 1904 to 1971, processing taro from the valley as well as from other areas.” (Archaeological Resources in Waiahole Valley, Tomonari-Tuggle, 1983)

“There were formerly lo‘i throughout the seaward lowlands of Waiahole. Some were in swampy lands, but most of them were irrigated by the stream from which the ahupua‘a takes its name. Groups of lo‘i adjoining Waikane were planted up into recent times.”

“Some kuleana a short way up the main stream, beyond its junction with Waianu, were still cultivated by Hawaiians living in the lower valley in 1935; and small terraces once went well up into what is now forest reserve.”

“There was also a sizable lo‘i section about half a mile up Waianu stream, with evidence of its having extended at least a mile farther inland along both the north and south branches of  Waianu.” (Handy, Handy & Pukui)

[In 1961, the “owner of the poi factory [said] that the Kauai taro was a better product because of its lower water content (possibly a result of the shipping time). Even after the factory closed in 1971, taro cultivation continued.” (Archaeological Resources in Waiihole Valley, Tomonari-Tuggle, 1983)

“[M]ost of the productive agricultural area in the Valley was owned by Mrs Elizabeth Marks [McCandless’ daughter] and leased to tenants, with one exception, on revocable leases. …”

“Most of the tenants want to keep the Valley primarily in agriculture and to retain the rural life style.”  (Agricultural Feasibility and Environmental Impact Waiāhole Valley Agricultural Park, HHFDC)

Here, one such farmer, Koji Matayoshi, an immigrant from Okinawa, and his father began cultivating undeveloped raw land with their bare hands & planted Okinawan sweet potato, and many other local produce. (Riveira)

Koji Matayoshi married Fujiko Shimabukuro and they wound up in Kahalu‘u, where they had eight children, five daughters and three sons. Fujiko was born in Kohala, Hawai‘i on March 18, 1914 and had moved to Okinawa when she was 3 and returned to Hawai‘i at 18. (McGrath)

They eventually moved from Kahalu‘u to the 10-acre plot of land at Waiāhole.  In addition to sweet potato, the Matayoshis grew papaya, banana, mango, watermelon and cucumber. (McGrath)

“After her husband died [February 18, 1966], Fujiko needed a way to support her children, so every day, she would gather all her fruits in a wheelbarrow and wheel them down to sell on Kamehameha Highway.” (McGrath)

“The neighbors, when they saw us, they would always say our mom was the kindest woman. She would make sweet potato tempura and give out to all the kids at the Waiāhole School basketball court.”

“Or she would give to the kids who swam in the swimming hole behind our house. Sometimes she’d make andagi with chocolate or sweet potato inside. She always had something for them to eat.” (Fujikos’ daughter, Nancy; McGrath)

Fujiko became known as the ”Sweet Lady of Waiāhole.” “Being a staple in her community and seen as a symbol of selfless acts of kindness, she was also supportive of grass roots efforts in preservation of their farm community.  ‘The Sweet Lady’ had grit and also a feisty side.” (Leilani Rivera) Fujiko passed away on March 30, 1985.

© 2025 Ho‘okuleana LLC

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Maui Alaloa

The canoe was a principal means of travel in ancient Hawaiʻi.

Canoes were used for inter-village coastal and interisland travel, while trails within the ahupuaʻa provided access between the uplands and the coast.

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

At about the same time of Christopher Columbus crossing the Atlantic to America (he was looking for an alternate trade route to the East Indies,) Piʻilani was ruler of Maui.

According to oral tradition, Piʻilani unified the entire island of Maui and ruled in peace and prosperity, bringing together, under one rule, the formerly-competing eastern (Hāna) and western (Wailuku) multi-district kingdoms of the Island.

Piʻilani’s prosperity was exemplified by a boom in agriculture and construction of heiau, fishponds, trails and irrigation systems.  Famed for his energy and intelligence, Piʻilani constructed the West Maui phase of the noted Alaloa, or long trail (also known as the King’s Highway.)

Ancient trails facilitated trading between upland and coastal villages and communications between ahupuaʻa and extended families. These trails were usually narrow, following the topography of the land.  Sometimes, over ʻaʻā lava, they were paved with waterworn stones (ʻalā or paʻalā).

Pi‘ilani died at Lāhainā and the kingdom of Maui passed to his son, Lono-a-Piʻilani (Lono.) Pi‘ilani had directed that the kingdom go to Lono, and that Kiha-a-Piʻilani (Kiha – Lono’s brother) serve under him in peace.

In the early years of Lono’s reign all was well … that changed.

Lono became angry, because he felt Kiha was trying to seize the kingdom for himself.  Lono sought to kill Kiha; so Kiha fled in secret to Molokaʻi and later to Lānaʻi. When Kiha, with chiefs, warriors and a fleet of war canoes, made their way to attack Lono; Lono trembled with fear of death, and died. (Kamakau)

Kiha assumed power over Maui.  Like his father, the reign of Kiha was, “eminently peaceful and prosperous, and his name has been reverently and affectionately handed down to posterity”. (Fornander)

Kiha resumed what his father had started in West Maui.  Kiha laid the East Maui section and connected the island.  This trail was the only ancient pathway to encircle any Hawaiian island (not only along the coast, but also up the Kaupō Gap and through the summit area and crater of Haleakalā.)

Kiha connected the entire island with a network of trails to aide his people in their travels which gave him quick access to all parts of his kingdom.

Four to six-feet wide and 138-miles long, this rock-paved path facilitated both peace and war.  It simplified local and regional travel and communication, and allowed the chief’s messengers to quickly get from one part of the island to another.  The trail was used for the annual harvest festival of Makahiki and to collect taxes, promote production, enforce order and move armies.

Missionaries Richards, Andrews and Green noted in 1828, “a pavement said to have been built by Kihapiʻilani, a king … afforded us no inconsiderable assistance in traveling as we ascended and descended a great number of steep and difficult paries (pali.)” (Missionary Herald)

By the middle-1820s, significant changes in the Hawaiian Kingdom were underway. The missionaries, who arrived in April 1820, selected key stations generally coinciding with the traditional Royal Centers, which by this time, were also developing as trade points with foreign vessels.

The development of trails to western-style roadways was initiated to facilitate access to mission stations, landings, and key areas of resource collection.

Until the 1840s, overland travel was predominantly by foot and followed the traditional trails. By the 1840s, the use of introduced horses, mules and bullocks for transportation was increasing, and many traditional trails – the ala loa and mauka-makai trails within ahupuaʻa – were modified by removing the smooth stepping stones that caused the animals to slip.

Eventually, wider, straighter trails were constructed to accommodate horse drawn carts. Unlike the earlier trails, these later trails could not conform to the natural, sometimes steep, terrain. They often by-passed the traditional trails as more remote coastal villages became depopulated due to introduced diseases and the changing economic and social systems.

Sometimes, the new corridors were constructed over the alignments of the ancient trails, or totally realigned, thus abandoning – for larger public purposes – the older ala loa. In addition to these modifications in trail location and type due to changing uses, trails were also relocated as a result of natural events such as lava flows, tsunami, and other occurrences. The Hawaiian trail system was and will remain dynamic.

Hoapili is credited with improving the King’s Highway (in early 1800s – portions were called Hoapili Trail, initially built during the reign of Pi‘ilani.)  Hoapili commissioned road gangs for the work. The Rev. Henry Cheever noted that these road gangs were largely composed of prisoners who had been convicted of adultery; Cheever called it “the road that sin built.”  (Samson)

By the early 1850s, specific criteria were developed for realigning trails and roadways, including the straightening of alignments and development of causeways and bridges. This system of roadwork, supervised by district overseers, and funded through government appropriations – with labor by prisoners and individuals unable to pay taxes in another way – evolved over the next 40 years.

With the passing of time, emphasis was given to areas of substantial populations. Because of the on-going decline of the Hawaiian population, and the near abandonment of isolated communities formerly accessed by the ala loa and earlier alanui aupuni, segments were abandoned.

In the later years of the Hawaiian monarchy, the need to define and protect Hawaiian trails and roadways was recognized, particularly in support of native tenants living in remote locations. Often these native tenants` lands were surrounded by tracts of land held by single, large landowners who challenged rights of access.

In 1892, Queen Liliʻuokalani and the Legislature of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi signed into law an “Act Defining Highways, and Defining and Establishing Certain Routes and Duties in Connection Therewith,” to be known as The Highways Act, 1892.

“All roads, alleys, streets, ways, lanes, courts, places, trails and bridges in the Hawaiian Islands, whether now or hereafter opened, laid out or built by the Government, or by private parties, and dedicated or abandoned to the public as a highway, are hereby declared to be public highways.”

© 2025 Hoʻokuleana LLC

 

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Molokai or Molokaʻi?

Words matter … and how you say and write words matter.

There is one word, the name of one of the main Hawaiian Islands, that continues to have different pronunciations – some say Moh-loh-kī others say Moh-loh-kah-ee.

In an effort to be correct, I looked at various sources to see what they had to say.  A helpful source is actually some of the early writers to the islands.

When Captain Cook first visited the Hawaiian Islands (1778,) Hawaiian was a spoken language but not a written language.  Historical accounts were passed down orally, through chants and songs.

After western contact and attempts to write about Hawaiʻi, early writers tried to spell words based on the sound of the words they heard.  People heard words differently, so it was not uncommon for words to be spelled differently, depending on the writer.

Here is the way some of the early writers spelled some of the main Hawaiian Islands:

Cook (1778—1779:)
Oreehoua (Lehua)
Tahoora (Kaʻula)
Oneeheow (Niʻihau)
Atooi (Kauai)
Woahoo (Oʻahu)
Morotoi, or Morokoi (Molokai)
Mowee (Maui)
Owhyhee (Hawaiʻi)

Vancouver (1793-1795:)
Woahoo (Oʻahu)
Mowee (Maui)
Morotoi (Molokai)
Owhyhee (Hawaiʻi)
Attowai (Kauai)

Bingham (1820-1840:)
Ha-wai’i
Mau’i
O-a’hu
Kau-ai’
Mo-lo-kai’
La-nai’
Ni-i-hau’
Ka-ho-o-la’we
Mo-lo-ki’ni
Le-hu’-a.
Ka-u’-la

Here are some writings from some other early writers:

Eveleth’s 1831 book “History of the Sandwich Islands” spells it Mo-lo-kai (and adds a pronunciation helper – Mo-lo-kye).

Williams’ 1859 “Application of the Roman Alphabet” spells it Mo-lo-kai (and includes the same pronunciation helper, Mo-lo-kye)

Worchester’s 1860 “Primary Dictionary of the Hawaiian language notes Mō-lo-kaī’.

Webster’s 1870 “Improved pronouncing dictionary of the English language” notes the Islands as Mo-lo-kai’.

Colum, in his 1937 “Legends of Hawaiʻi” book, spelled the Island as Mo–lo-kai.

Finally, an explanation on the pronunciation/spelling of the island name (Molokai (Moh-loh-kī) versus Molokaʻi (Moh-loh-kah-ee)) is noted in the early portion of “Tales of Molokai The Voice of Harriet Ne” by Harriet Ahiona Ayau Ne with Gloria L. Cronin.

Harriet Ne’s grandson, Edward Halealoha Ayau, noted:

“The reason that the name Molokai (as used in the book) is left without the glottal stop is because my tūtū wahine (grandmother) says that when she was growing up in Pelekunu it was never pronounced Molokaʻi (Moh-loh-kah-ee), but rather Molokai (Moh-loh-kī).”

“Then in about the 1930s, the name changed to Molokaʻi, in part she believes because musicians began pronouncing the name that way. Mary Kawena Pukuʻi, three weeks before her death, called my tūtū and told her that the correct name is Molokai, which means ‘the gathering of the ocean waters.’”

“On the rugged north coast of the island, the ocean slams hard into the pali. On the south and east shores, the ocean glides gently to shore due to location of reefs at least a quarter of a mile offshore. Hence the name, Molokai, ‘Gathering of the Ocean Waters.’”

In a follow-up exchange with Halealoha, he resolved the matter saying that the “best answer is both pronunciations are correct and the most correct depends on which family you are speaking to.  So for our ʻohana, it would be Molokai.  For others, Molokaʻi.”

The image shows an 1897 map of the Island of Molokai.

© 2025 Hoʻokuleana LLC