Place Names | Page 40 | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

December 2, 2023 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Rotten Row

In Rotten Row the poor ships lie –
Pathetic hulks ‘gainst the brazen sky

Drowzing life through on a lazy tide,
At anchor the vanquished vessels ride.

The surf on the reef vents a hideous sneer
At her ocean’s victims resting there

Never again to plough the seas,
Nor flaunt their flags in the bellying breeze.

The good ships come and’ the good ships go
With ne’er a salute for Rotten Row.

But the green weed loves their unkempt sides,
And the sea-worn hither and thither glides.

At night when the moon breaks through the clouds,
It chases ghosts from the feeble shrouds,

Of men who down to great seas did go
With the broken tenants of Rotten Row.
(HM Ayres; Hawaiian Star, Sep 9, 1909)

“Most harbours scattered over the seven seas have a last haven for ships which have passed from the sphere of usefulness. This haven, in the parlance of the sea is called Rotten Row.” (University of Wellington, NZ)

In Honolulu, “Hulks in rotten row are trembling for their bones, the winds whistling through their ancient forms in fierce glee. A few hats lost in the harbor, a few changes in position of wreckage on the reef, is all that the wind can do at present to be held responsible for in the vicinity of the harbor.” (Evening Bulletin, March 1, 1902)

Formerly known as Naval Row “as it was once proudly known”, located Ewa side and near Sumner’s islet across the harbor from the town, “not all of the vessels in rotten row are wrecks, there are some of them in good ripe old age.” (Evening Bulletin, July 19, 1907)

“That portion of the bay that was once known as “rotten row” and which was cleared of all the old hulks some time ago, is again taking on the aspect of former days. The accumulation is growing and being added to every little while.”

“Captain Miller’s yacht, the Lady, is in the neighborhood of 30 years old. The bark Melanchton is nothing but a hulk, and for over 40 summers she breasted the waves. The Mokolu is next in line. Her usefulness is nearly over. The Kaena, the Hover and the James Makee lay in the line with the old Kaimaloa acting as rear guard for the rotten row.” (Evening Bulletin, July 19, 1907)

“At the request of Lieutenant Slattery the army engineering officer who has charge of surveying the harbor for the improvements by the United States government, the various vessels which have been moored In Rotten Row, were taken elsewhere by their owners.”

“The removal of the craft was only temporary as they occupied considerable space that had to be surveyed. Permission has been granted to the owners to take their craft back to the Row.”

“The hulks which are resting on the bottom in Rotten Row will have to be removed before the work of Improving the harbor is undertaken by the United States government.”

“Lieutenant Slattery says he will notify the owners to remove them and In case of failure to do so, the government will remove the hulks and sell the material for whatever price It will bring to pay the expenses of removal.” (Hawaiian Star, June 26, 1905)

December 1, 2023 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Oʻahu ‘Wai’ Ahupuaʻa

Kamapuaʻa had several life forms, including that of a human being and that of a hog. His home was at Kaliuwaʻa, in Kaluanui, Koʻolauloa. ʻOlopana was the king of Oʻahu at this time. (Fornander)

The Hawaiian deity Kamapuaʻa, is a part of the Lono god-force, and possessed many body forms (kinolau), representing both human and various facets of nature. He was born in pig-form to Hina (mother) and Kahiki‘ula (father) at Kaluanui in the Koʻolauloa District of O‘ahu. (Maly)

ʻOlopana, an Oʻahu Chief (and younger brother of Kahikiʻula,) was an adversary of Kamapuaʻa. It was Kamapuaʻa’s custom to go and steal the chickens from ʻOlopana’s lands at Kapaka, at Punaluu, and at Kahana

In one night all the chickens in these different places would be taken. On one of these expeditions, just before daylight while on his way home he met Kawauhelemoa, a supernatural being who had the form of a chicken, who enticed him on until he was discovered by the guards of Olopana.

When ʻOlopana heard that it was Kamapuaʻa that was robbing the hen roosts he sent word to all the people from Kahana to Kaluanui to go after Kamapuaʻa and bring him on their backs to his presence. The people who were sent on this mission numbered about eight hundred.

When they came to Kamapuaʻa, they took him and bound him with ropes, then placed him on a pole and carried him. At Kaluanui, Kamapuaʻa heard about ʻOlopana’s preparations for battle, so he made plans to escape before ʻOlopana and his men arrived.

Kaliuwaʻa is a very high cliff, impossible to climb up or down since there is no trail. The cliff is about two thirds of a mile high. Against this cliff Kamapuaʻa leaned forward and stretched his body to the top to provide a way for his parents, his older brothers, his grandmother, and their servants to escape with all their possessions.

When ʻOlopana and his men arrived at Kaluanui, Kamapuaʻa wasn’t there. ʻOlopana then searched for him , finally ending up in Waiʻanae where ʻOlopana and his men settled.

However, he still couldn’t capture Kamapuaʻa because he didn’t have a kahuna (priest) to direct his efforts. Lonoawohi (aka Lonoawohi) was ʻOlopana’s kahuna when ʻOlopana became king of O’ahu; however, Lonoawohi had been removed from office, bound with ropes, imprisoned, and sentenced to death for a transgression against the chief.

To replace Lonoawohi, ʻOlopana summoned the kahuna Malae from Kauai. Malae told ʻOlopana, to overcome his opponent, he should all the pigs, ʻawa, chickens, fish, men, and bananas you can; take these and lay them before Kamapuaʻa as offerings. These offerings will enfeeble him, and his strength will be gone.”

ʻOlopana carried out Malae’s instructions and laid the offerings before Kamapuaʻa – Kamapuaʻa became weak and feeble. The men then seized Kamapuaʻa and dragged him to Pahoa in Waiʻanae, where Lonoawohi was bound and fastened to a post. ʻOlopana intended to sacrifice him with Kamapuaʻa.

Lonoawohi knew that if Kamapuaʻa was killed, he, too, would be killed, so he directed his sons to go and speak to the men: “You two, go to the men and tell them, ‘E! The king said not to cut the pig open. Take him as he is to the sacrificial altar. It will take several days to reach ‘ʻOlopana’s place; if you kill the pig now, he will surely decay, and the king’s sacrifice will be spoiled.”

“The pig must not be dragged on the ground, either, for his skin will get bruised and damaged. The pig must be carried on poles. When you get tired, put the hog on the ground and rest.”

The men carefully carried Kamapuaʻa to ʻOlopana’s place and put him in the heiau.

That night Lonoawohi slept at the post to which he was tied, his sons with him, while the guards kept watch around the house; and Kamapuaʻa slept in the heiau, also under guard.

Late that night Lonoawohi prayed, and at the close of his prayer, the ropes which held him fell from his body and he rose and walked out of the house, where he found the guards all asleep. When he arrived at the place where Kamapuaʻa was being held, he found the guards asleep.

Lonoawohi then placed his hand at the nostrils of Kamapuaʻa and discovered he was still alive and breathing. Lonoawohi said: “Alive! I thought you might be dead, but I see that you’re not. These bones will live!”

After a while he again said to Kamapuaʻa: “E! The wai lands of Oʻahu are mine.”

The meaning of the request was this: Lonoawohi wanted all the lands containing the word “wai,” such as, Waiʻanae, Waialua and so on.

Lonoawohi knew, through his great powers, that ʻOlopana would be killed, and that Kamapuaʻa would conquer and possess the island of Oʻahu. This was the reason he made this request.

After this exchange between Lonoawohi and Kamapuaʻa, the kahuna returned to his place and sat down. For the rest of the night, he prayed to his god because at dawn he was to be placed on the sacrificial altar with Kamapuaʻa.

In the morning ʻOlopana and the priest Malae began the ceremonies performed before a human sacrifice was offered. The two went and climbed onto the terrace (ʻanuʻu) of the sacrificial stand (lele) and prayed; before the prayer ended, Kamapuaʻa rose above them and opened his eyes.

When Malae and ʻOlopana saw Kamapuaʻa standing above them, they froze with fear and awe. Kamapuaʻa prayed and invoked his many bodies and all his gods. At the close of the prayer the heiau was surrounded by the gods and pigs. Kamapuaʻa then called out to the priest Lonoawohi .

Then, Lonoawohi appeared and raised a kapa banner to mark off an area of kapu; those who entered this area would be saved from death. After this, the slaughter began and the only one who survived Kamapuaʻa’s wrath was Makaliʻi. This was how Kamapuaʻa killed ʻOlopana and conquered Oʻahu. (KCC)

When Kamapuaʻa started to divide the land, one of the notable aspects of the tradition of Kamapuaʻa is that, Lonoawohi, his priest, asked for and received the lands whose names begin with the word “wai” (i.e. Waikiki, Waianae, Waiawa, Wailupe, etc.) Thus, the priests of the Lono class received the “wai” lands. (Maly) This gave a monopoly of well-watered lands on Oʻahu. (Landgraf)

Kamapuaʻa missed his parents, so he transformed to a fish and traveled to Molokai; he convinced his parents to return to O‘ahu. Satisfied that his parents were home, Kamapuaʻa turned into his fish body for a final journey to Kahiki, the ancestral homeland. (Dye) Later, the lands were redistributed. (Landgraf)

In Hawai‘i and essentially in all cultures – water meant life and growth. In Hawai‘i – “Wai” – fresh water – is a life force – it meant abundance and wealth and was a consistent theme in native traditions, practices, land use and historical accounts.

(Lots of information here is from Fornander, Westervelt, KCC and Maly; the image is a collage of a wooden carving of the demi-god Kamapuaʻa – at Bailey House Museum.)

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook

Follow Peter T Young on Google+

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn

Follow Peter T Young on Blogger

A collage of a wooden carving of the demi-god Kampua’a – at Bailey House Museum

November 25, 2023 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Sweet Potato Getting to Hawai‘i

Tracing the history of agricultural products is one way scientists track the migration of people during times when no written records were left behind to offer clues. (Yirda; PHYS)

On his voyages across the Pacific, Captain James Cook encountered geographically disparate Polynesian societies, including those living on Easter Island, Hawai‘i and the north island of New Zealand. These far-flung communities cultivated a common crop, sweet potato. (Denham; NCBI)

Researchers later sampled specimens brought back by early explorers (including Cook.) They found that the DNA evidence indicated that the sweet potato had migrated to Polynesia long before European explorers had made their way to that part of the world. (Yirda; PHYS)

Peruvians first domesticated the sweet potato around 8,000-years ago. And though the crop spread from there, the means by which it traveled have always remained contentious.

One possibility was that Polynesian sailors first brought it home from across the ocean: The oldest carbonized sweet potato evidence in the Pacific hails back to about 1,000 AD – 500-years before Columbus sailed to the Americas.

The Polynesian word for sweet potato resembles the central Andes’ Quechua people’s word for the vegetable. (SmithsonianMag) Polynesian word for sweet potato ‘kuumala’ resembles ‘kumara,’ or ‘cumal,’ the words for the vegetable in Quechua, a language spoken by Andean natives. (NPS)

By analyzing the DNA of 1,245 sweet potato varieties from Asia and the Americas, researchers have found genetic evidence that proves the root vegetable made it to Polynesia from the Andes.

DNA studies did not just look at potatoes, research suggests Polynesians from Easter Island and natives of South America met and mingled before 1500 AD, 3-centuries after Polynesians settled the island also known as Rapa Nui. In the genomes of 27 living Rapa Nui islanders, the team found dashes of European and Native American genetic patterns.

But did Polynesians land on South American beaches, or did Native Americans sail into the Pacific to reach Rapa Nui? (Lawler; ScienceMag) Or, did its seeds possibly hitch a ride on seaweed or natural raft, or gotten lodged in the wing of a bird? (NPR)

“Our studies strongly suggest that Native Americans most probably arrived (on Rapa Nui) shortly after the Polynesians (got there.)” (Erik Thorsby; ScienceMag)

But many scientists say that Pacific currents and Polynesian mastery of the waves make it more likely that the Polynesians were the voyagers. They may have sailed to South America, swapped goods for sweet potatoes and other novelties—and returned to their island with South American women. (Lawler; ScienceMag)

“There’s a lot of evidence accumulating … that the Polynesians made landfall in South America. We think they had sophisticated, double-hulled canoes – like very large catamarans – which could carry 80 or more people and be out to sea for months.” (Kirch; NPR)

But Polynesians didn’t just grab the potatoes and head home. There are clues that they may have introduced chickens to the continent while they were at it.

“(T)here is this baffling evidence that there were chickens in western Peru before Columbus.” (Mann; NPR) Chicken bones – unknown in the Americas before 1500 AD have been excavated on a Chilean beach, which some believe predate Columbus. (NPR)

The researchers found strong evidence that “supports the so-called tripartite hypothesis, which argues that the sweet potato was introduced to Polynesia three times: first through premodern contact between Polynesia and South America, then by Spanish traders sailing west from Mexico, and Portuguese traders coming east from the Caribbean.”

“The Spanish and Portuguese varieties ended up in the western Pacific, while the older South American variety dominated in the east”. (SmithsonianMag)

It is believed the sweet potato then made three independent trips to Southeast Asia. The Polynesians probably introduced it in 1100 AD. While the Spanish and Portuguese brought other varieties from the Americas around 1500. (NPR)

“I’m delighted to see the (tripartite) hypothesis now further confirmed by these recent results.” (Kirch; Nature) Such studies of how humans moved plants and animals, Kirch says, show what the late pioneering ethnobotanist Edgar Anderson called “man’s transported landscapes.”

Historical specimens will be crucial to explaining these patterns. The sweet potatoes collected by Captain Cook’s voyage, for example, “provided time-controlled data” that show “the importance of continuing to curate such specimens in the world’s museums”. (Nature)

As widely used as it is now, the sweet potato could play an even bigger role in feeding people across the world: climate change may help the roots grow even bigger. (SmithsonianMag)

He ʻuala ka ʻai hoʻola koke i ka wi.
The sweet potato is the food that ends famine quickly. (ʻŌlelo Noʻeau from Pukui)

3 Independent introductions of sweet potato-NPS

November 19, 2023 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Connections

“There has never been any agreement, as to the origin of this isolated island people, or the reasons why this type is only found scattered over all the solitary islands in the eastern part of the Pacific.” (Thor Heyerdahl)

Solomon Lehuanui Kalaniomaiheuila was the son of Peleioholani (uncle to the Kings Kamehameha IV and Kamehameha V) and Piikeakaluaonalani (mother.) For many, Peleioholani was considered an important Hawaiian antiquarian and the final word in Hawaiian genealogy, especially of the chiefs and royal families.

He wrote of the Hawaiian history. One of Peleioholani’s theories notes, “The ancestors of the Hawaiian race came not from the islands the South Pacific – for the immigrants from that direction were late arrivals there – but from the northern direction (welau lani,) that is, from the land of Kalonakikeke, now known as Alaska.”

Others have noted connections between people in the Pacific and other parts of the world.

The idea of a trans-Pacific crossing has had its proponents within scholarly archaeology. Heyerdahl’s (1950) Kon-Tiki experiment demonstrated that such a crossing (from Peru to Raroia) was possible. But simply because such an experiment is possible does not mean that it happened. (Boulanger)

Meggers et al. reported on what they interpreted as similarities between ceramics of the Valdivia culture of coastal Ecuador and the middle Jomon culture of western Japan. Yet, concerted archaeological research over the past 200 years has failed to provide any substantial material evidence for a trans-Pacific origin for any Native American culture.

Some suggest the sweet potato is proof of connection … On his voyages across the Pacific, Captain James Cook encountered geographically disparate Polynesian societies, including those living on Easter Island, Hawai‘i and the north island of New Zealand. These far-flung communities cultivated a common crop, sweet potato. (Denham; NCBI)

Peruvians first domesticated the sweet potato around 8,000-years ago. And though the crop spread from there, the means by which it traveled have always remained contentious.

“Our studies strongly suggest that Native Americans most probably arrived (on Rapa Nui) shortly after the Polynesians (got there.)” (Erik Thorsby; ScienceMag)

“The Spanish and Portuguese varieties ended up in the western Pacific, while the older South American variety dominated in the east”. (SmithsonianMag)

Peter Marsh makes several Canadian connections to Pacific Islands, noting, that archaeological and cultural evidence suggests that there is a strong connection between Coastal Canada and Polynesia. Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands) is an archipelago off the coast of British Columbia, Canada.

Marsh notes that both the Polynesians and Haida people worked in stone in the same manner, designs of implements were almost identical. The use of pottery was completely absent in both cultures. The design and way of manufacture of the following artifacts bear a striking resemblance:

Tahitian and Haida stone pounders are almost identical.
Stone bowls found in Kauai and stone bowls found in the Bella Coola valley from a pre-existing culture are very similar.
Maori and NW Coastal Indian war clubs both have the gaping angry mouth motif on the handle.
Tattooing tool kit design indicates Polynesian kit derived from Haida tattooing implements.
Fish hook design is almost identical
Fish hook pendants are also identical
Petroglyphs are similar
Spiritual carvings such as the Tiki are amazingly similar in both cultures.
Large totem poles with figures stacked on top of one another with their tongues sticking out are common in both Maori and Haida cultures.
Haida and Marquesan carvings have similar shaped eyes and mouths.
Carvings around building entrances where the legs form an archway.
The practice of inlaying of Paua shell into the eyes of figures is a style used in both cultures.
Maori war canoes are similar in design to Kwakuitl canoes.
The use of calabashes instead of pottery for carrying water is common to both cultures.
The use of hot rocks to steam and widen canoes, is practiced by both Maori and Kwakuitl.
Earth ovens are used by both cultures
The unique practice of rubbing noses as a way of greeting is used in both Maori and some tribes in the Canadian NW. This suggests definite cultural and spiritual connection.
The use of the glottal stop in speech is similar e.g.; Hawai‘i and Haida Gwai‘i.

November 17, 2023 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Roughing It

“Early in 1866, George Barnes invited [Mark Twain] to resign [his] reportership on his paper, the San Francisco Morning Call, and for some months thereafter, [he] was without money or work; then [he] had a pleasant turn of fortune.”

“The proprietors of the Sacramento Union, a great and influential daily journal, sent [Twain] to the Sandwich Islands to write four letters a month at twenty dollars a piece.”

He also wrote books about some of his travels (that included a visit to Hawai‘i) … one such, Roughing It. Here are some of his first impressions of Honolulu – from that series, as well as his other writing.

“This book is merely a personal narrative, and not a pretentious history or a philosophical dissertation. It is a record of several years of variegated vagabondizing, and its object is rather to help the resting reader while away an idle hour than afflict him with metaphysics, or goad him with science.”

“Still, there is information in the volume; information concerning an interesting episode in the history of the Far West, about which no books have been written by persons who were on the ground in person, and saw the happenings of the time with their own eyes.” …

“On the seventh day out we saw a dim vast bulk standing up out of the wastes of the Pacific and knew that that spectral promontory was Diamond Head”.

“So we were nearing Honolulu, the capital city of the Sandwich Islands – those islands which to me were Paradise; a Paradise which I had been longing all those years to see again. Not any other thing in the world could have stirred me as the sight of that great rock did.”

“On a certain bright morning the Islands hove in sight, lying low on the lonely sea, and everybody climbed to the upper deck to look. After two thousand miles of watery solitude the vision was a welcome one.”

“As we approached, the imposing promontory of Diamond Head rose up out of the ocean its rugged front softened by the hazy distance, and presently the details of the land began to make themselves manifest …”

“… first the line of beach; then the plumed coacoanut trees of the tropics; then cabins of the natives; then the white town of Honolulu, said to contain between twelve and fifteen thousand inhabitants spread over a dead level; with streets from twenty to thirty feet wide, solid and level as a floor, most of them straight as a line and few as crooked as a corkscrew.”

“The further I traveled through the town the better I liked it.”

“Every step revealed a new contrast–disclosed something I was unaccustomed to. In place of the grand mud-colored brown fronts of San Francisco, I saw dwellings built of straw, adobies, and cream-colored pebble-and-shell-conglomerated coral, cut into oblong blocks and laid in cement ….”

“… also a great number of neat white cottages, with green window-shutters; in place of front yards like billiard-tables with iron fences around them, I saw these homes surrounded by ample yards, thickly clad with green grass, and shaded by tall trees, through whose dense foliage the sun could scarcely penetrate …”

“… in place of the customary geranium, calla lily, etc., languishing in dust and general debility, I saw luxurious banks and thickets of flowers, fresh as a meadow after a rain, and glowing with the richest dyes …”

“… in place of the dingy horrors of San Francisco’s pleasure grove, the “Willows,” I saw huge-bodied, wide-spreading forest trees, with strange names and stranger appearance –trees that cast a shadow like a thunder-cloud, and were able to stand alone without being tied to green poles …”

“… in place of gold fish, wiggling around in glass globes, assuming countless shades and degrees of distortion through the magnifying and diminishing qualities of their transparent prison houses, I saw cats …

“… Tom-cats, Mary Ann cats, long-tailed cats, bob-tailed cats, blind cats, one-eyed cats, wall-eyed cats, cross-eyed cats, gray cats, black cats, white cats, yellow cats, striped cats, spotted cats, tame cats, wild cats, singed cats, individual cats, groups of cats, platoons of cats, companies of cats, regiments of cats, armies of cats, multitudes of cats, millions of cats, and all of them sleek, fat, lazy and sound asleep.”

“I looked on a multitude of people, some white, in white coats, vests, pantaloons, even white cloth shoes, made snowy with chalk duly laid on every morning …”

“… but the majority of the people were almost as dark as negroes–women with comely features, fine black eyes, rounded forms, inclining to the voluptuous, clad in a single bright red or white garment that fell free and unconfined from shoulder to heel …”

“… long black hair falling loose, gypsy hats, encircled with wreaths of natural flowers of a brilliant carmine tint; plenty of dark men in various costumes, and some with nothing on but a battered stove-pipe hat tilted on the nose, and a very scant breech-clout; –certain smoke-dried children were clothed in nothing but sunshine –a very neat fitting and picturesque apparel indeed.” (Twain)

Like they get to a lot of people, the Islands struck a chord with Clemens.

“I was there for four or five months, and returned to find myself about the best known man on the Pacific Coast.” (Twain) Popular pieces, some credit the series with turning Twain into a journalistic star.