Images of Old Hawaiʻi

by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Palena

What is commonly referred to as the “ahupuaʻa system” is a result of the firm establishment of palena (place boundaries.)  This system of land divisions and boundaries enabled a konohiki (land/resource manager) to know the limits and productivity of the resources that he managed.

Ahupuaʻa served as a means of managing people and taking care of the people who support them, as well as an easy form of collection of tributes by the chiefs.  Ultimately, distribution of people throughout the Islands helped in preserving resources.

A typical ahupuaʻa (what we generally refer to as watersheds, today) was a long strip of land, narrow at its mountain summit top and becoming wider as it ran down a valley into the sea to the outer edge of the reef.  If there was no reef then the sea boundary would be about one and a half miles from the shore.

Defined palena brought greater productivity to the lands; lessened conflict and was a means of settling disputes of future aliʻi who would be in control of the bounded lands; protected the commoners from the chiefs; and brought (for the most part) peace and prosperity.  (Beamer, Duarte)

Typically, natural features served as boundary markers: summit peaks, ridge crests, streams, volcanic cones, etc.  Additional markers were placed to note the ahupua‘a boundary – so called because the boundary was marked by a heap (ahu) of stones surmounted by an image of a pig (pua‘a,) or because a pig or other tribute was laid on the altar as tax to the chief.

Māʻilikūkahi is recognized as the first great chief of O‘ahu and legends tell of his wise, firm, judicious government.  He was born ali‘i kapu at the birthing stones of Kūkaniloko; Kūkaniloko was one of two places in Hawai‘i specifically designated for the birth of high ranking children, the other site was Holoholokū at Wailua on Kauaʻi.

Soon after becoming aliʻi, Māʻilikūkahi moved to Waikīkī.  He was probably one of the first chiefs to live there. Up until this time, Oʻahu chiefs had typically lived at Waialua and ‘Ewa.  From that point on, with few exceptions, Waikīkī remained the Royal Center of Oʻahu aliʻi, until Kamehameha I moved the seat to Honolulu.

Māʻilikūkahi is noted for clearly marking and reorganizing land division palena (boundaries) on O‘ahu.  Defined palena brought greater productivity to the lands; lessened conflict and was a means of settling disputes of future aliʻi who would be in control of the bounded lands; protected the commoners from the chiefs; and brought (for the most part) peace and prosperity.

Fornander writes, “He caused the island to be thoroughly surveyed, and boundaries between differing divisions and lands be definitely and permanently marked out, thus obviating future disputes between neighboring chiefs and landholders.”

Kamakau tells a similar story, “When the kingdom passed to Māʻilikūkahi, the land divisions were in a state of confusion; the ahupuaʻa, the ku, the ʻili ʻāina, the moʻo ʻāina, the pauku ʻāina, and the kihāpai were not clearly defined.”

“Therefore, Māʻilikūkahi ordered the chiefs, aliʻi, the lesser chiefs, kaukau aliʻi, the warrior chiefs, puʻali aliʻi, and the overseers (luna) to divide all of Oʻahu into moku, ahupuaʻa, ʻili kupono, ʻili ʻaina, and moʻo ʻāina.”

On Maui, Kalaihaʻōhia, a kahuna (priest, expert,) is credited with the division of Maui Island into districts (moku) and sub-districts, during the time of the aliʻi Kakaʻalaneo at the end of the 15th century or the beginning of the 16th century.  (McGerty)

On the Island of Hawaiʻi, ʻUmi-a-Līloa (ʻUmi) from Waipiʻo, son of Līloa, also started to divide the lands following this similar mauka-makai orientation.

ʻUmi also started a significant new form of agriculture in Kona; archaeologists call the unique method of farming in this area the “Kona Field System.” (These are long, narrow fields that ran along the contours, along the slopes of Mauna Loa and Hualālai; farmers then planted different crops, according to the respective rainfall gradients.)

The Kona Field System was described as “the most monumental work of the ancient Hawaiians.”  The challenge of farming in Kona is to produce a flourishing agricultural economy in an area subject to frequent droughts, with no lakes or streams for irrigation.

Traditionally, the Island of Kaua‘i was divided into five moku (districts): Haleleʻa, Kona, Koʻolau, Nāpali and Puna. However, after the battle of Wahiawa in 1824, the land of Kaua‘i was redistributed and district boundaries changed. The new district names became: Hanalei, Kawaihau, Līhuʻe, Kōloa and Waimea.  (Cultural Surveys)

The size of the ahupuaʻa depended on the resources of the area with poorer agricultural regions split into larger ahupuaʻa to compensate for the relative lack of natural abundance. Each ahupuaʻa was ruled by an aliʻi or local chief and administered by a konohiki.

These natural land divisions were the result of the flow of water over the land (streams or springs.)  In keeping with the concept of wealth being fresh water, the traditional land tenure system in ancient Hawaiʻi had at its very core the presence of water.  Although of many shapes and sizes, the typical ahupuaʻa consisted of three area types: mountain, plain and sea.

Later, during the Mahele and subsequent testimony before the Land Commission, properties were identified by the ahupuaʻa and the boundaries were known.

Fearing the loss of knowledge of the ancient palena, on June 26, 1862 a bill providing for Commissioners of Boundaries notes, “Owners of said lands require a settlement of the boundaries of said lands, for the reason of the death and consequent loss of the testimony of witnesses necessary for the just settlement of such boundaries.”  (Beamer, Duarte)

More formal mapping was made to preserve the traditional locations, with provisions noting, “Lands will be mapped to make clear the ancient ahupuaʻa boundaries, or in some cases maps will be made to make clear `iwi (boundary of a land division smaller than an ahupuaʻa), at the place where one’s land ends.”

Surveys conducted and maps produced during the Māhele and Boundary Commission era were some of geography’s earliest encounters with Hawaiʻi and its people.

Mapping was applied to aid in the transition from the traditional system of land “tenure” to that of fee simple and leasehold ownership and to record traditional knowledge of boundaries and places. (Beamer, Duarte)

The image shows what is believed to be an ahupuaʻa marker on the ridge at Kuliʻouʻou valley (from a collection from John Dominis Holt (DMY.))

© 2015 Hoʻokuleana LLC

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Wisdom

We’re the same age.

We were born in the Islands; I have been fortunate to have visited her home island on several occasions.  She has flown over 3-million miles; I have over 1-million miles in my Hawaiian Air account.

She represents inspiration and hope – folks on the island named her recent child ‘Mana‘olana’ (Hope.)

They call her ‘Wisdom.’

She lives on Midway, at least during the breeding season she can be found there.  She is joined by about a million other Laysan albatross, there.  She has had around 35 chicks, nesting each year within 15-feet of prior years’ nests.  She’s the oldest known wild bird.

The Laysan species of albatross traditionally mate with one partner for life and lay only one egg at a time, each year. It takes much of that year to incubate and raise the chick.

Laysan albatross are black and white seabirds named after Laysan Island. They stand almost 3-feet tall, weigh 6 to 7-pounds and have wingspans of more than 6-feet.

They spend most of their days out at sea and spend hours gliding on headwinds – they eat mostly fish, fish eggs, squid and crustaceans.

Laysan albatross live on both land and sea. The birds spend nearly half the year in the North Pacific Ocean, touching land only during breeding season.

Here’s a link to short video of Laysan Albatross mating ritual on Midway:

Here’s a link to short video of Laysan Albatross sitting on nests on Midway:

Here’s some of the “street view” from Google:

Its traditional name ‘moli’ means a bone tattoo needle, which was made from the bone of an albatross.

Albatross are famously mentioned in Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s epic poem ‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner,’ published in 1798 …

‘God save thee, ancient Mariner!
From the fiends, that plague thee thus!—
Why look’st thou so?’—With my cross-bow
I shot the Albatross.

Ah! well a-day! what evil looks
Had I from old and young!
Instead of the cross, the Albatross
About my neck was hung.

The Mariner’s act of shooting the albatross (that had once brought good luck to his ship) is the mother of irrational, self-defeating acts. He never offers a good explanation for why he does it, and his crewmates get so upset that they hang the dead albatross around his neck as a burden, so he won’t forget what he did.

To have an albatross around your neck is to have a constant reminder of a big mistake you made. Instead of the gift that keeps on giving, it’s the blunder that keeps on taking. The phrase has come to mean carrying a great burden.  (Schmoop)

Kuaiheilani, suggested as a mythical place, is the traditional name for what we refer to as Midway Atoll.  Described in the legend of Aukelenuiaiku, the origin of this name can be traced to an ancient homeland of the Hawaiian people, located somewhere in central Polynesia.  (Kikiloi)

According to historical sources, this island was used by Native Hawaiians even in the late-1800s as a sailing point for seasonal trips to this area of the archipelago.

Theodore Kelsey writes, “Back in 1879 and 1880 these old men used navigation gourds for trips to Kuaihelani, which they told me included Nihoa, Necker, and the islets beyond … the old men might be gone on their trips for six months at a time through May to August was the special sailing season.”  (Papahānaumokuākea MP, Cultural Impact Assessment)

Look at a map of the Pacific and you understand the reasoning for the “Midway” reference (actually, it’s a little closer to Asia than it is to the North American continent.)

Midway’s importance grew for commercial and military planners. The first transpacific cable and station were in operation by 1903. In the 1930s, Midway became a stopover for the Pan American Airways’ flying “clippers” (seaplanes) crossing the ocean on their five-day transpacific passage.

The US was inspired to invest in the improvement of Midway in the mid-1930s with the rise of imperial Japan. In 1938 the Army Corps of Engineers dredged the lagoon during this period and, that year, Midway was declared second to Pearl Harbor in terms of naval base development in the Pacific.

The construction of the naval air facility at Midway began in 1940. At that time, French Frigate Shoals was also a US naval air facility. Midway also became an important submarine advance base.

The reef was dredged to form a channel and harbor to accommodate submarine refit and repair. Patrol vessels of the Hawaiian Sea Frontier forces stationed patrol vessels at most of the islands and atolls.

The Battle of Midway (June 4-7, 1942) is considered the most decisive US victory and is referred to as the “turning point” of World War II in the Pacific.  The victory allowed the United States and its allies to move into an offensive position.

In 2000, Secretary of the Interior designated Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge as the Battle of Midway National Memorial, making it the first National Memorial designated on a National Wildlife Refuge.

Of all the Islands and atolls in the Hawaiian archipelago, while Midway is part of the US, it the only one that is not part of the State of Hawaiʻi.

Today, Midway is administered by the US Fish and Wildlife Service as Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge within Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument (a marine protected area encompassing all of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.)

The image shows Wisdom and her chick.  (USGS) In addition, I have added other related images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

© Hoʻokuleana LLC 2015

by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Mokuola

Mokuola, in Hawaiian culture, is a place of healing.  A rock just off its shore is believed to have healing powers, and people who were sick have come to Mokuola to swim around the rock in the hopes of healing their ailments.  (Miller)

People came here for spring water believed to have healing qualities; umbilical cords of infants were hidden here under a flat stone known as Papa-a-Hina (stratum of Hina) to protect them from rats.  (Pukui)

A sea pool to the right of the landing on the island was called Puaʻa-kāheka.  Just outside of Mokuola is a small islet called Kaulaʻi-nā-iwi, literally ‘dry the bones’ (bones of chiefs were dried here.)  (Hawaii County)

Occasional reference is made to Mokuola (also now called Coconut Island) as the place of refuge of the Hilo district, hence its name, life island. Careful enquiry shows that the area of this puʻuhonua included also a portion of the mainland adjoining. The heiau connected with it, named Makaoku.  (Thrum)

Makaoku is an ʻili in Waiākea. In 1909, the Territory set aside 3.5-acres in the ʻili of Makaoku, Waiākea as the Kauikeaouli Park. Today, the Liliʻuokalani Gardens (the Japanese Gardens) and associated land has a land area of about 30-acres and is near this former park named for the earlier king (the latter is part of the golf course.)

Mokuola was repeatedly struck when tsunami entered Hilo Bay.

“We have had a great disaster at Hilo … at 5 o’clock it swept in, in a mighty wave, washing up and into nearly all the stores … But at Waiākea the damage was frightful. … There has been nothing like this tidal wave since the year 1837 … when many grass houses were destroyed.”  (Severance, Pacific Commercial Advertiser, May 26, 1877)

“The water was 3 inches deep in Conway’s store, when the 5 o’clock wave came In. The wave at Waiakea must have had a perpendicular height of 16 feet, to have taken the bridge and wharf where they now lie. The water swept completely over Cocoanut Inland, and the hospital there has disappeared.”  (Severance, Pacific Commercial Advertiser, May 26, 1877)

A tsunami struck again. “Cocoanut Island was pretty well wrecked. The wave swept it completely.  The old house formerly used by the keeper of the island, was turned completely around and swept seaward for a distance of about 20 feet and then laid flat on the ground.  A tall cocoanut tree, directly in its path was snapped off at the ground. The bathhouses were also torn down and moved some 12 feet nearer the landing place.”  (Hawai‘i Herald, February 8, 1923; Miller)

There is a coconut palm on the Island with small bands that indicate the maximum wave height of tsunami that washed over the island (8-feet, 1957; 12-feet, 1952; 15-feet, 1960; and 26-feet, 1946.)

The Spanish-American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence.  Back then, Spain had interests in the Pacific, particularly in the Guam and Philippines.  Although the main issue was Cuban independence, the ten-week war was fought in both the Caribbean and the Pacific.

In the Islands, there was no assigned garrison here until August 15, 1898, when the 1st New York Volunteer Infantry regiment and the 3rd Battalion, 2nd US Volunteer Engineers landed in Honolulu for garrison duty.  They setup camp (‘Camp McKinley’) at Kapiʻolani Park.

Later (November 8, 1898,) approximately 200-soldiers of the 1st New York sailed from Honolulu to Hilo to inspect sites for a possible permanent military post – a highlight of their visit was a hike to the Kilauea volcano. The soldiers camped in the new wharf (just down the coast from Mokuola.)  (Greguras)

In 1900, the Hilo Swimming Club petitioned the government to designate Mokuola as a recreation area. Swimming facilities including a bathhouse and diving boards were built.

In 1910, a 30-foot-high wooden diving tower was built with platforms at 5-foot, 14-foot, and 30-foot levels. After it was destroyed in the tsunami of 1923, a stone tower was built with two levels, steps, springboards, and railings.

At the beginning of World War II, the military took control of Coconut Island, and the Navy used this tower to train troops in amphibious warfare.  (Valentine)

This was not the only military use on the Island.  In 1942, Mokuola USO was established, and recreational and training facilities were constructed there for American soldiers.  The facilities were officially opened to soldiers in 1943.  (Miller)

During the war, the island was restricted to military personnel. On two days per week, however, lady friends of servicemen were allowed to visit the USO, which was accessed by a pontoon bridge, the first bridge to the island. During the occupation, a new pavilion, showers and restrooms were built. The military gave the island back to the county in 1945. (Valentine)

When the island was finally turned over to the county in 1945, the pontoon bridge was put off-limits due to it being a “hazard to children and too costly to maintain.”

Boat service between the island and the shore resumed until April 1, 1946 when a devastating tsunami once again destroyed all of the structures on Mokuola except for a concrete diving tower that is believed to have been constructed by the Army Corps of Engineers for training purposes.  (Miller)

The 1960 tsunami washed completely over the island, destroying all buildings and the new bridge there. For three years, Mokuola was abandoned.

Funds were eventually allocated for a major restoration project of the island, including a new metal and concrete bridge, and new concrete walls to slow erosion.

By 1969 the bridge was completed and the park was re-opened to the public.  (Miller)  It remains a public park.

The image shows Mokuola. (DMY)   In addition, I have added others similar images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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Hōnaunau

Each island was divided into several moku (districts,) of which there are six in the island of Hawaiʻi, and the same number in Oʻahu. There is a district called Kona on the lee side and one called Koʻolau on the windward side of almost every island.  (Alexander)  The moku of Hawaiʻi Island are: Kona, Kohala, Hāmākua, Hilo, Puna and Kaʻū.

The Polynesians who came to the Hawaiian Islands were quick to consider the sunny, sheltered Kona district of Hawaiʻi, rising gently to fertile, cloud-covered slopes, as an environment suited to their needs.

It was ideal for food crops such as taro, breadfruit, banana, sweet potatoes and sugar cane they brought with them. Its clear, calm waters offered excellent near- and off-shore fishing. This coast became the most densely populated area in the islands and the coveted land of the chiefs.

In the centuries prior to 1778, seven large and densely-populated Royal Centers were located in Kona along the shoreline between Kailua and Hōnaunau.  These included Kamakahonu at Kailua Bay, Hōlualoa, Kahaluʻu, Keauhou, Kaʻawaloa, Kealakekua and Hōnaunau.

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

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

The small but deeply indented Hōnaunau Bay, with a sandy cove where canoes could be easily beached, was a favorite residence for the king.  (Emory)

The grounds of the Royal Center was centered around the small embayment known as Keoneʻele Cove.  Cup holes, which may have held kapu sticks, are noted to the north, east and southern boundaries of this area. It is believed that these kapu sticks demarcated the boundary of the royal area.

In pre-contact times, the royal grounds contained several chiefly residences and ceremonial-related structures. Other highlighted sites used by royalty included the Heleipālala fishponds and Keoneʻele Cove canoe landing.

“When first seen by Europeans, the district was composed of scattered coastal settlements of thatched houses with two nodes large enough to be called villages: Hōnaunau at the north end and Kiʻilae at the south.”  (NPS)

“Hōnaunau, we found, was formerly a place of considerable importance, having been the frequent residence of the kings of Hawaii, for several successive generations.” The town contained 147-houses. (Ellis, 1823)

“We arrived in the afternoon at a village by the seaside called Hōnaunau, about two leagues (4-miles) to the southward of Kealakekua Bay. … They took us to a large house which was tabooed for the king, with a number of smaller houses contiguous to it for sleeping in and for his attendants when he comes to the village.”

“We were told that he has a set of houses kept for him in the same way in every village he is likely to stop at round the Island, which; when he once occupies or eats in, cannot afterwards be used by any other.”  (Menzies, 1793)

A feature found at Royal Centers were fishponds.  Cartographer Henry Kekahuna called the Honaunau ponds Heleipālala. These were a number of fish ponds inland from the shore and containing a mixture of fresh and ocean waters.

They were probably stocked with fish (most likely ʻamaʻama (mullet) and awa (milkfish.))  Given their location within the royal grounds, an area inhabited and used by aliʻi, the Heleipālala ponds were most likely kapu (prohibited) to commoners.

Beyond the boundaries of the royal grounds, around the head of Hōnaunau Bay, lived the chiefly retainers and the commoners. To the south were scattered settlements along the coast and inland under the cliffs of Keanaeʻe.  (NPS)

At Hōnaunau was the puʻuhonua, The Place of Refuge, termed the ‘City of Refuge’ by Rev. William Ellis in 1823, with its adjoining chiefly residences and associated with the Royal Center.

Hōnaunau was not the only puʻuhonua in the Islands.  Ethno-historical literature, and available physical, cultural, and locational data, note at least 57-sites across the Islands.  Puʻuhonua tended to occur in areas of high population and/or in areas frequented by chiefs.  (Schoenfelder)

Hale O Keawe, at the northern end of the eastern wing of the Great Wall at Puʻuhonua O Hōnaunau, was named after and either built by or for Keawe around 1700.  In ancient times the Heiau served as a royal mausoleum, housing the remains of deified high chiefs.

Historical information indicates that in the area immediately east of the Hale o Keawe was once the location for a ti leaf thatched structure called the “Hale O Lono.”  In 1919, archaeologist JFG Stokes was told by elderly Hawaiians that this area was a temple used for the four periods of prayer held monthly for eight months of the year.

The area bordering the east side Keoneʻele Cove was traditionally known as Kauwalomālie. Kauwalomālie is said to have contained a large platform, fronted by an 8-foot high retaining wall. The platform was reportedly the location for a chiefly residence and/or ceremonial area.  (NPS)

At about the time of ʻUmi (about the same time Christopher Columbus was crossing the Atlantic,) a significant new form of agriculture was developed in Kona; he is credited with starting this in Kona.  Today, archaeologists call the unique method of farming in this area the “Kona Field System.”

This intensive agricultural activity changed farming and agricultural production on the western side of Hawai’i Island; the Kona field system was quite large, extending from Kailua to south of Hōnaunau.

In lower elevations all the way to the shore, informal clearings, mounds and terraces were used to plant sweet potatoes; and on the forest fringe above the walled fields there were clearings, mounds and terraces.  Sweet potatoes grew among the breadfruit.

In 1871, a coastal trail that originally extended from Nāpōʻopoʻo south to Hoʻokena was repaired, and renamed the 1871 Trail.  It is a section of the historic coastal Alaloa (regional trail) and was a primary route of travel between communities, royal centers, religious sites and resources.  (Improved, it was a ‘two-horse trail’ because it was widened to accommodate two horses.)

The Alahaka Ramp, located near the southern end of the Keanaeʻe Cliffs, is a massive stone ramp that connects the historic 1871 Trail to Kiʻilae Village.  Prior to the construction of the ramp (probably in the mid-1800s,) folks used a ladder or rope to get up the slope.

(In 1918 the trail section north of Hōnaunau was improved for wheeled traffic; however, the section south to Hoʻokena was never modified for motorized vehicles.)

In 1891, the lands at Hōnaunau were deeded to the Bishop Estate Trustees and from 1921-1961 the County of Hawaiʻi leased the Bishop Estate-owned lands for a County Park. It is during this time, they constructed a series of seawalls that fronted the eastern and western sides of Keoneʻele Cove. (NPS)

The image shows Keoneʻele Cove and the area known as Kauwalomālie (NPS, 1912.)  I have added other images to a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Puna

Prior to Western contact, each of the major islands or independent chiefdoms in the Hawaiian chain comprised a mokupuni (island.) Over the centuries, as the ancient Hawaiian population grew, land use and resource management also evolved.

Each island was divided into several moku or districts, of which there are six in the island of Hawaiʻi, and the same number in Oʻahu. There is a district called Kona on the lee side and one called Koʻolau on the windward side of almost every island.  (Alexander)  Another moku (common on a couple mokupuni) is Puna (“well-spring”) – this summary is about Puna on Hawaiʻi Island.

Puna was once known for its groves of hala and ʻōhiʻa-lehua trees.  Hawaiians observed, “Ka ua moaniani lehua o Puna / The rain that brings the fragrance of the lehua of Puna”.

This ʻōlelo noʻeau refers to the forests of Puna, which attract clouds to drench the district with many rains, refreshing and enriching the Puna water table, and sustaining the life cycle of all living things in Puna.

While the Puna district does not have running streams, it does have many inland and shoreline springs continuously fed by rains borne upon the northeast tradewinds. (McGregor)

In Nā Mele o Hawaiʻi Nei, the reference “Puna paia ʻala i ka paia ʻala i ka hala,” is translated as “Puna of the fragrant bowers, fragrant with the blossoms of the hala” (pandanus.)  (King, 1938)

According to Pukui, in the olden days, people would stick branches of hala into the thatching of their houses to bring some of the fragrance indoors.

“Puna on Hawaiʻi Island was the land first reached by Pāʻao, and here in Puna he built his first heiau for his god Ahaʻula and named it Ahaʻula (Wahaʻula.)  It was a luakini (large heiau where human sacrifice was offered.)  From Puna, Pāʻao went on to land in Kohala, at Puʻuepa. He built a heiau there, called Moʻokini.”  (Kamakau; McGregor)

According to Kamakau, the Island of Hawaiʻi was without a chief when Pāʻao arrived in Hawaiʻi in the eleventh century.  Evidently the chiefs of Hawaiʻi were considered aliʻi makaʻāinana (commoner chiefs) or just commoners, makaʻāinana, during this time.

Pāʻao sent back to Tahiti for a new ruler for Hawaiʻi, thereby ushering in a new era of ruling chiefs and kāhuna for the Hawaiian archipelago. The new ruler was Pili-kaʻaiea, from whom King Kamehameha I eventually descended.  (McGregor)

One story tells that Hāʻena, a small bay near the northern boundary of Puna, is said to be the birthplace of hula.  The goddess Hiʻiaka is said to have been instructed to dance hula on the beach there.  Puna is said to inspire hula because of the natural movements of waves, wind and trees. (Other stories suggest hula was started in other areas of the Islands.)

Early settlement patterns in the Islands put people on the windward sides of the islands, typically along the shoreline.  However, in Puna, much of the district’s coastal areas have thin soils and there are no good deep water harbors. The ocean along the Puna coast is often rough and windblown.

As a result, settlement patterns in Puna tend to be dispersed and without major population centers. Villages in Puna tended to be spread out over larger areas and often are inland, and away from the coast, where the soil is better for agriculture.  (Escott)

This was confirmed on William Ellis’ travel around the island in the early 1800s, “Hitherto we had travelled close to the sea-shore, in order to visit the most populous villages in the districts through which we had passed. But here receiving information that we should find more inhabitants a few miles inland, than nearer the sea, we thought it best to direct our course towards the mountains.”  (Ellis, 1826)

Alexander later (1891) noted, “The first settlement met with after leaving Hilo by the sea coast road, is at Keaau, a distant 10 miles where there are less than a dozen inhabitants; the next is at Makuʻu, distant 14 miles where there are a few more, after which there is occasionally a stray hut or two, until Halepuaʻa and Koaʻe are reached, 21 miles from Hilo, at which place there is quite a village”.

“Nearly all the food consumed by the residents of this District is raised in the interior belt to which access is had by the ancient paths or trails leading from the sea coast. The finest sweet potatoes are raised in places that look more like banks of cobble stones or piles of macadam freshly dumped varying from the size of a walnut to those as large as ones fist. In these holes there is not a particle of soil to be seen”.  (Alexander; Rechtman)

Puna was famous as a district for some of its valuable products, including “hogs, gray tapa cloth (‘eleuli), tapas made of mamaki bark, fine mats made of young pandanus blossoms (‘ahuhinalo,) mats made of young pandanus leaves (ʻahuao,) and feathers of the ʻoʻo and mamo birds”.  (Kamakau; McGregor)

An historic trail once ran from the modern day Lili‘uokalani Gardens area to Hāʻena along the Puna coast. The trail is often referred to as the old Puna Trail and/or Puna Road. There is an historic trail/cart road that is also called the Puna Trail (Ala Hele Puna) and/or the Old Government Road.

It likely incorporated segments of the traditional Hawaiian trail system often referred to as the ala loa or ala hele.  The full length of the Puna Trail, or Old Government Road, might have been constructed or improved just before 1840. The alignment was mapped by the Wilkes Expedition of 1804-41.  (Escott)

With Western contact, extensive tracts of Puna’s landscape were transformed, first with sandalwood export began in 1790, reaching its peak between 1810 and 1825.

After Hawai‘i’s first forestry law in 1839 restricted the removal of sandalwood trees, cattle ranching and coffee cultivation became the leading commercial activities. By 1850, agriculture diversified with the cultivation of potatoes, onions, pumpkins, oranges and molasses.

Before 1900, coffee was the chief agricultural crop in the area. Over 6,000-acres of coffee trees were owned by approximately 200-independent coffee planters and 6 incorporated companies.

Soon, sugarcane was in large-scale production. The dominant operation in Puna was the Puna Sugar Company, whose plantation fields extended for ten miles along both sides of Highway 11 between Keaʻau and Mountain View, as well as in the Pāhoa and Kapoho areas.

Initially founded in 1899 as Olaʻa Sugar Company, it was later (1960) renamed Puna Sugar Company. The coffee trees were uprooted to make way for sugarcane. ʻŌhiʻa forests also had to be cleared, field rock piled, land plowed by mules or dug up by hand with a pick. Sugarcane was in large-scale production; the sugar mill operation ran for just over 80 years, until 1984.

Macadamia nuts and papaya were introduced in 1881 and 1919, respectively. Since the closure of the Puna Sugar Company, papaya and macadamia nut production have become the leading crops of Puna.  About 97% of the state’s papaya production occurs in Puna, primarily in the Kapoho area.

Another thing growing in Puna is housing.  Between 1958 and 1973, more than 52,500-individual lots were created.  There are at least over 40-Puna subdivisions.

As a comparison, Oʻahu is about 382,500-acres in size; the district of Puna on the island of Hawaiʻi is about 320,000-acres in size – almost same-same.

According to the 2010 census, Oʻahu has about 955,000-people and Puna has about 45,500.  That means there are less than a half-acre per person on Oʻahu and over 70-acres per person in Puna.

However, in Puna, they plotted out the subdivisions in cookie-cutter residential/agricultural lots across a grid, with very little space for other uses (such as parks, open space, government services, regional roads … the list goes on and on.)

Likewise, most subdivision lots are accessed by private, unpaved roads. The streets generally lack sidewalks and lighting, and do not meet current County standards in terms of pavement width, vertical geometrics, drainage and other design parameters.

There are only two main roads to move the people in the district in and out – one (Route 130 – Keaau-Pahoa Road) goes into Pahoa to Kalapana; the other (Route 11 – Volcano Highway) serves the lots up in the Volcano area.  (Lots of information here from the Puna Community Development Plan.)

I was saddened when the news broadcast the first house lost to the ongoing lava flow – a home of a friend and former student from Parker School.

I have been debating about posting on Puna – but decided that as the lava flows there, we should reflect on its history, but also be sensitive to and respectful of the trauma facing many of the families there – they are going through situations many of us will never have to face.

The image shows the Wilkes 1840-1841 map of Puna.  In addition, I have added others similar images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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