Images of Old Hawaiʻi

by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Kūʻīlioloa Heiau

The ancient name for the place was Neneʻu.  It was also known as Māʻalaea.  It’s at Waiʻanae, on the western coast of Oʻahu.

Pōka‘ī Bay (“night of the supreme one,”) named for Chief Pōka‘ī, has been the center of activity for the Waiʻanae Coast since pre-contact days.

Pōka’ī was reputed to have been a voyaging chief of Kahiki (Tahiti) who is credited with bringing the versatile and valuable coconut palm to the Islands.

A great grove of coconuts, Ka Uluniu o Pōkaʻī, lined the back shore of the entire bay and provided shelter and a vast array of materials for the village.

“In very ancient times, when the great Hawaiian chiefs and navigators sailed across the vast Pacific between Hawaiʻi and Kahiki, a legend arose about a voyaging chief named Pōkaʻī. It said that he brought and planted at Waiʻanae the first coconut tree in Hawai`i, from which grew in time a famous grove, Ka Ulu Niu o Pōkaʻī. The grove stretched from the site of the present police station to that of the Sacred Hearts Church…the bay makai of the grove, formerly known as Māʻalaea, eventually took the name of the legendary planter”.  (Shefcheck, Spear)

Prior to contact with the western world the bay was the site of a famous fishing village with double-hulled canoes going in and out of the bay.

The south end of Pōkaʻī Bay is formed by Kaneʻilio Point (Kane’s dog’”,) a pointed peninsula that juts out into the sea. On this finger of land are remains of Kūʻīlioloa Heiau (“The long dog form of Kū”.)

Kūʻīlioloa was a kupua, a demigod, who could assume the form of a man or dog. He was a protector of the navigators.  The names and symbolism related to the heiau incorporate the Hawaiian’s four primary gods: Kū, Kāne, Lono and Kanaloa.

The heiau name, Kūʻīlioloa, incorporates the god Kū; the name of the point, Kaneʻilio, incorporates the god Kāne; one of the major functions of this heiau is for navigation which incorporates the realm of Lono through the clouds and the heavens; and Kūʻīlioloa is also the only heiau in Hawaiʻi that is bordered on three sides by the ocean, which is the domain of Kanaloa.

Kūʻīlioloa is said to have been constructed by Lonokaeho who came to Hawai’i from Raiatea in the Society Islands in the 11th or 12th century.

One of the primary functions of the Heiau was as a training center and lighthouse for all navigation between Hawaiʻi and Tahiti. The location of this site allows specialists in astronomy to study the stars and celestial features.

In 1793, Vancouver described the area as desolate and barren, “From the commencement of the high land to the westward of Opooroah [Puʻuloa] was. . .one barren rocky waste, nearly destitute of verdure, cultivation or inhabitants, with little variation all to the west point of the island…. Nearly in the middle of this side of the Island is the only village we had seen westward of Opooroah… The shore here forms a small sandy bay. On its southern side, between the two high rocky precipices, in a grove of cocoanut and other trees, is situated the village. … The face of the country did not, however, promise an abundant supply.”   (Shefcheck, Spear)

After 1819, when the kapu system was overthrown, Kūʻīlioloa was one of the few heiau which was still used by the community.

Prior to WWII the US government decided to utilize Kaneʻilio point by building a concrete bunker on the site of Kūʻīlioloa.  Later, in the late-1970s, the Waiʻanae community rebuilt the heiau.

The Royal Order of Kamehameha, Moku O Kapuāiwa Chapter has a goal to turn the Heiau back into a training facility for kids and adults to learn about Hawaiian culture while being trained in ocean navigation.

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Hālona Blowhole

As molten lava flows, its surface cools; the lava then flows underground, forming tubes. When the eruption stops, lava drains from the tube, leaving it an open chamber.  Sea caves also can form with openings in the roof.

Near the ocean, this can form a blowhole.  As waves rush toward the rock, the water is compressed as it moves upward, erupting into a spray of water, not unlike a small geyser.

Blowholes are sometimes called “spouting horns” because of the loud roaring noises created by the rushing air and water coming up the chimney.

Hālona Blowhole on Oʻahu’s eastern coastline has a narrow opening, but then it opens up about eight-feet below the surface.  The waves crashing against the shoreline rush through, sending a spout of water and spray up to 30-feet into the air.

Ha-Lo-Na is literally saying – See The Foundation Breathe or Look At The Breath Of The Foundation. Ancient Hawaiians may have found it – just like us – to be a marvel and entertaining to watch – and perhaps as stupid as some to challenge it.  (Yardley)

It is one of Oʻahu’s busiest brief stops, for residents and visitors alike.

It gained attention years ago, and a lookout was initially built in the early-1950s; railings were added in 1971.

In 2008, a $1-million renovation project replaced a lower viewing platform that collapsed in 1997, added stainless-steel railings and a sitting area.  An expanded 42-stall parking lot, including two bus spots, was repaved, and an accessible sidewalk was added.

Viewing is not limited to the blowhole; on a clear day, the islands of Molokaʻi, Lānaʻi and Maui can be seen from the lookout (an etched compass of Oʻahu and a map shows the island locations.)

It is not safe to go down to the blow hole.  Numerous signs warn of the hazards of getting too close.   However, that doesn’t seem to stop people from trying (and dying.)

Since 1927, four people have been swept into the blowhole; three men have died in 1969, 1986 and 2002, one man survived in 1967.

Likewise, a list of SCUBA fatalities since 1971 shows that more fatalities occur at Hālona Blow Hole than any other dive site in the state. (shorediving)

The sea cliffs that make this stretch of shoreline so great for diving also preclude any easy exit sites. This, coupled with the strong current, slippery rocks, waves on the ledges and lack of lifeguards makes this coast one of the most hazardous on the island.

Nearby is Hālona Cove (to the right as you look out,) it’s a small pocket of sand that has a history of its own.

It was here, in the 1953 film ‘From Here to Eternity,’ that Deborah Kerr and Burt Lancaster shared the kiss as a wave rolled in.  The location also served as a scene in the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean IV,’ ’50 First Dates’ and Nikki Minaj’s ‘Starships.’

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Honouliuli

The island of Oʻahu is divided into 6 moku (districts), consisting of: ‘Ewa, Kona, Koʻolauloa, Koʻolaupoko, Waialua and Waiʻanae. These moku were further divided into 86 ahupua‘a (land divisions within a moku.)

‘Ewa was divided into 12-ahupua‘a, consisting of (from east to west): Hālawa, ‘Aiea, Kalauao, Waimalu, Waiau, Waimano, Mānana, Waiʻawa, Waipi‘o, Waikele, Hōʻaeʻae and Honouliuli.

‘Ewa was at one time the political center for O‘ahu chiefs. This was probably due to its abundant resources that supported the households of the chiefs, particularly the many fishponds around the lochs of Puʻuloa (“long hill,) better known today as Pearl Harbor. (Cultural Surveys)

Each had fisheries in the harbor, floodplains with irrigated kalo and fishponds, and interior (lower kula valley streams/gulches) and mountain forests.  One of these, Honouliuli, had a large coastal area, including what it is typically referred to as the “ʻEwa Plains.”  (Kirch)

Honouliuli includes lands extending from the mountains, to the watered plains where loʻi kalo (taro pond fields) and loko ia (fishponds) were developed, to the arid plains and rich fisheries on the ocean. Along the ocean-fronted coast of Honouliuli are noted places in lore and ancient life, such as Keahi, Kupaka, Keoneula (Oneula), Kualakai, Kalaeloa and Koʻolina.  (Maly)

Honouliuli (dark bay) includes a wide plain back of Puʻuloa (Pearl Harbor) and Keahi (a point west of Pearl Harbor) where the homeless, friendless ghosts were said to wander about. These were the ghosts of people who were not found by their family ʻaumakua or gods and taken home with them, or had not found the leaping places where they could leap into the nether world.  (Pukui)

In 1793, Captain George Vancouver described this area as desolate and barren:  “From the commencement of the high land to the westward of Opooroah (Puʻuloa – Pearl Harbor) was … one barren rocky waste, nearly destitute of verdure, cultivation or inhabitants, with little variation all to the west point of the island. …”

In 1839, Missionary EO Hall described the area between Pearl Harbor and Kalaeloa as follows: “Passing all the villages (after leaving the Pearl River) at one or two of which we stopped, we crossed the barren desolate plain”.  (Robicheaux)  In the 1880s, these lands were being turned over to cattle grazing and continued through the early-1900s.

Nearby Moku ʻUmeʻume (Ford Island) provided pili grass for house thatching. Ewa’s house builders gathered their pili grass for house thatching here until the time came when foreign shingles were introduced, then thatching was discontinued.

It was also covered with kiawe trees; it was noted that the kiawe forests there and the Honouliuli region supplied much of the fuel for kitchen fires in Honolulu.

Reported in 1898, a few fishermen and some of their families built shanties by the shore where they lived, fished and traded their catch for taro at ‘Ewa.  Their drinking water was taken from nearby ponds, and it was so brackish that other people could not stand to drink it. (Cameron; Maly)

James Campbell, who arrived in Hawaiʻi in 1850, ended up in Lāhainā and started a sugar plantation there in 1860 (later known as Pioneer Mill.)  He also started to acquire lands in Oʻahu, Maui and the island of Hawaiʻi.

In 1876, he purchased approximately 15,000-acres at Kahuku on the northernmost tip of Oʻahu from HA Widemann and Julius L Richardson. In 1877, he acquired from John Coney 41,000-acres of ranch land at Honouliuli.

Many critics scoffed at the doubtful value of his Honouliuli purchase. But Campbell envisioned supplying the arid area with water and commissioned California well-driller James Ashley to drill a well on his Honouliuli Ranch.

In 1879, Ashley drilled Hawaiʻi’s first artesian well; James Campbell’s vision had made it possible for Hawaiʻi’s people to grow sugar cane on the dry lands of the ʻEwa Plain.

“At 240 feet the water commenced to overflow. The bore was continued to 273 feet, the flow increasing and coming to rise from one-half to two-thirds of an inch crown above the pipe, 7 inches in diameter.  This success was a happy surprise to the community. (There was) a sheet of pure water flowing like a dome of glass from all sides of the well casing, and continuing to flow night and day, without diminution.”  (Congressional Record, 1881)

What they discovered was vast reservoirs of artesian water; the groundwater here is composed of a freshwater lens that generally moves toward the ocean but is impeded by a wedge of caprock that overlies the volcanic rock near the coast.  (Nellist, Bauer)

When the first well came in at Honouliuli the Hawaiians named it “Waianiani” (crystal waters.)  (Nellist) The ʻEwa Plain has been irrigated with ground water since 1890. By 1930, Ewa Plantation had drilled 70 artesian wells to irrigate cane lands; more were drilled later.

It was some years after the first artesian wells were brought in before there was a general understanding of the formation of the coastal caprock and its vital importance in the creation and functioning of the artesian reservoirs.

Discovery of artesian water at Honouliuli was beyond question the most important single contribution to the development of Oʻahu and Honolulu as we know the island and city today.  (Nellist)  (The flow from the well continued for 60-years until it was sealed by the City and County of Honolulu in 1939.)

In 1889, Campbell leased about 40,000-acres of land for fifty years to BF Dillingham (of Oʻahu Railway and Land Co;) after several assignments and sub-leases, about 7,860-acres of Campbell land ended up with Ewa Planation.

By 1923, Ewa Plantation was the first sugar company in the world to raise ten tons of sugar per acre and, by 1933, the plantation produced over 61,000-tons of sugar a year.

Ewa Plantation was considered one of the most prosperous plantations in Hawaiʻi and in 1931 a new 50-year lease was executed, completing the agreement with Oʻahu Railway and Land Company and beginning an association with Campbell Estate.

By 1936, ʻEwa Plantation Company was the first plantation to have a fully mechanized harvesting operation and by 1946 tests were made to convert the hauling of cane from railroads to large trucks.

During WWII, Japanese Americans were put in internment camps in at least eight locations on Hawaiʻi; one of those sites was at Honouliuli Gulch.  The forced removal of these individuals began a nearly four-year odyssey to a series of camps in Hawaiʻi and on the continental United States.

They were put in these camps, not because they had been tried and found guilty of something, but because either they or their parents or ancestors were from Japan and, as such, they were deemed a “threat” to national security.

In 1962, Castle and Cooke purchased majority control of ʻEwa Plantation Company stock and in 1970 ʻEwa Plantation Company merged with Oʻahu Sugar Company in Waipahu (the ʻEwa mill closed in the mid-1970s after the sale; the mill was demolished in 1985.)

Campbell became known by the Hawaiians as “Kimo Ona-Milliona” (James the Millionaire).  Despite his success in sugar, his interests turned to other matters, primarily ranching and real estate.

When James Campbell died on April 21, 1900, the Estate of James Campbell was created as a private trust to administer his assets for the benefit of his heirs (in 2007, the James Campbell Company succeeded the Estate of James Campbell.) The Estate played a pivotal role in Hawaiʻi history, from the growth of sugar plantations to the growing new City of Kapolei.

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by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Hui Kawaihau

When Kalākaua ascended to the throne in 1874, he named his youngest brother, William P Leleiōhoku, the heir apparent.

Leleiōhoku was educated at Saint Alban’s College (forerunner to ʻIolani School.)  An accomplished musician, he founded several choral societies. One of them was called Hui Kawaihau.

The Hui Kawaihau name was based on a nickname for an American missionary woman in town who preferred iced water (‘Kawaihau’) over some of the alcoholic libations the others were enjoying.

Leleiōhoku composed several songs, including, Adios Ke Aloha, Aloha No Wau I Ko Maka, Nani Wali Līhuʻe, Moani Ke Ala, Ke Kaʻupu, He Inoa No Kaʻiulani (a different song from the one with the same name by Liliʻuokalani), Nani Waipiʻo, Hole Waimea (this one was co-written with his singing club.)

He also wrote Kaua I Ka Huahuaʻi (Johnny Noble adapted most of the melody and kept most of the same lyrics of this one, and changed the spelling of the title, for his 1926 song Hawaiian War Chant (Taua I Ta Huahuaʻi.))

The Hui Kawaihau choral group had about fifteen members; it was more social than business.  When Leleiōhoku died in 1877, King Kalākaua reorganized the Hui into a business group.

Among the twelve hui charter organizers were some well-known names, including King Kalākaua; Governor Dominis, the King’s brother-in-law; Colonel George W. Macfarlane; Captain James Makee; Col. Curtis P. ʻIaukea; Governor John M. Kapena of the Island of Oahu; J. S. Walker and C. H. Judd; and Koakanu, a high chief of Kōloa, on Kauaʻi.

Their first order of business was to sign on more members and contract for the cultivation of sugar cane on land in Kapaʻa, on Kauaʻi.

The twelve organizers signed up thirty-two resident members.  About the first of August, 1877, the members of the Hui – over twenty men, with about the same number of women and children – set out from Honolulu, on the steamer “Kilauea,” on the voyage to their new home on Kauaʻi.

At the time, the districts of Hanalei and Līhuʻe shared a common boundary.  Kawaihau was set apart by the King, who gave that name to the property lying between the Wailua River and Moloaʻa Valley.  A bill was introduced into the legislature and the eastern end of Hanalei District was cut out and Kawaihau became the fifth district on the island of Kauaʻi.

About the time the Hui was started, Captain James Makee obtained a concession from the King to build a sugar mill at Kapaʻa and establish a plantation there.  He was the first manager of the Plantation, and had agreed with Kalākaua to grind in his mill all the cane grown by the Hui.

The contract with the Makee Sugar Company (under which each members of the Hui who came to Kauaʻi had signed separately with the plantation) required each of them to plant two hundred and forty acres of cane the first year, and they were to receive, in payment for their cane, two-fifths of the returns from the sale of the sugar obtained from it.

Each planter was required to plow his own portion of the tract and to buy his own seed-cane for planting.  A portion of the seed cane came from the neighboring Līhuʻe Plantation, ten miles to the south, and the balance they brought from Lāhainā.

Upon Makee’s death in 1878, his son-in-law, Col. ZS Spalding took over management of the new sugar venture.  Spalding also started the neighboring Keālia Sugar Plantation.  In the 1880s, Spalding built the “Valley House,” a Victorian-style wooden mansion, one of the finest on the island.

From 1877 to 1881, Hui Kawaihau was one of the leading entities on the eastern side of the Island of Kauaʻi, growing sugar at Kapahi, on the plateau lands above Kapaʻa.

As part of the infrastructure of the new plantation, the Makee Landing was built in Kapaʻa during the early years of the Makee Sugar Plantation.   Today, in place of the old Makee Landing, a breakwater is located on the north side of Mōʻīkeha Canal.

The Hui members all worked their share of the plantation – cultivating, irrigating and weeding the sugar cane under their supervision.  But they were all new to the business of growing cane – being mostly city men from Honolulu – all clerks and office men, etc.

The first crop was quite successful, netting the Hui over $17,000, from which was deducted the expense paid by the King for the Hui’s transportation to Kauaʻi, and the preliminary operations there – about $5000, which left enough to pay the members nearly $500 apiece, after paying the expenses.

In spite of the successful opening of the enterprise, it soon encountered dark days.  For nearly four years, troubles were increasing.

Colonel Spalding advised them to sell out to the Plantation, and thus end all their troubles; but they would not agree.

By 1881, four years after the favorable opening of the Hui’s plantation efforts, the members, disheartened and discouraged, had all drifted away, their property and leasehold rights, etc., passing into the hands of Colonel Spalding, the successor of Captain Makee as the head and principal owner of the Makee Sugar Company.

The Hui Kawaihau of Kauaʻi had passed into history.

In 1933, the Līhuʻe Plantation Co. purchased all of the outstanding Makee Sugar Co. stock and in the next year the mill was dismantled and combined with the Līhuʻe factory.  (Lots of information here from “The Hui Kawaihau” by Charles S Dole and The Friend, April, 1920.)

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Placial vs Spatial

In modern land description, the context is ‘spatial’ – we tend to reference things by their location, area and use – 123 Main Street, 10,000-square feet, residential.

Look at any map, GPS orientation or recall how you describe a place, etc, it’s all about space and location; you learn where you are and the physical context of it.

In old Hawaiʻi, it was the nature of ‘place’ that shaped the practical, cultural and spiritual view of the Hawaiian people.

In Hawaiian culture, natural and cultural resources are one and the same.  Traditions describe the formation (literally the birth) of the Hawaiian Islands and the presence of life on, and around them, in the context of genealogical accounts.

All forms of the natural environment, from the skies and mountain peaks, to the watered valleys and lava plains, and to the shore line and ocean depths are believed to be embodiments of Hawaiian gods and deities.  (Maly)

“The ancients gave names to the natural features of the land according to their ideas of fitness. … There were many names used by the ancients to designate appropriately the varieties of rain peculiar to each part of the island coast; the people of each region naming the varieties of rain as they deemed fitting. … The ancients also had names for the different winds.”  (Malo)

Hawaiians named taro patches, rocks, trees, canoe landings, resting places in the forests and the tiniest spots where miraculous events are believed to have taken place.  (hawaii-edu)  There were names for everything, and multiple names for many.

Place names are often descriptive of: (1) the terrain, (2) an event in history, (3) the kind of resources a particular place was noted for or (4) the kind of land use which occurred in the area so named. Sometimes an earlier resident of a given land area was also commemorated by place names.  (Maly)

“Cultural Attachment” embodies the tangible and intangible values of a culture – how a people identify with, and personify the environment around them.

It is the intimate relationship (developed over generations of experiences) that people of a particular culture feel for the sites, features, phenomena and natural resources etc, that surround them – their sense of place. This attachment is deeply rooted in the beliefs, practices, cultural evolution and identity of a people.  (Kent)

In ancient Hawai‘i, most of the common people were farmers, a few were fishermen.  Access to resources was tied to residency and earned as a result of taking responsibility to steward the environment and supply the needs of aliʻi.  Tenants cultivated smaller crops for family consumption, to supply the needs of chiefs and provide tributes.

In this subsistence society, the family farming scale was far different from commercial-purpose agriculture.  In ancient time, when families farmed for themselves, they adapted; products were produced based on need.  The families were disbursed around the Islands.  An orderly delineation became needed.

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.  (Beamer, Duarte)

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.”

What is commonly referred to as the “ahupuaʻa system” is a result of the firm establishment of palena (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, this 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.

When the Hawaiians lived on the land as farmers and gatherers they became intimately acquainted with and named countless features and places.

Hawaiian customs and practices demonstrate the belief that all portions of the land and environment are related; the place names given to them tell us that areas are of cultural importance.  (Maly)

This Placial versus Spatial context reflects the relationship of the people to the land.

“Sense of place is about the feeling that emanates from a place as a combination of the physical environment and the social construct of people activity (or absence of) that produces the feeling of a place.  …  People seek out Hawaiʻi because of the expectation of what its sense of place will be when they get there.”  (Apo)

“Sense of place helps to define the relationships we have as hosts and guests, as well as how we treat one another and our surroundings.”  (Taum)

“In the Hawaiian mind, a sense-of-place was inseparably linked with self-identity and self-esteem.  To have roots in a place meant to have roots in the soil of permanence and continuity.”

“Almost every significant activity of his life was fixed to a place.”

“No genealogical chant was possible without the mention of personal geography; no myth could be conceived without reference to a place of some kind; no family could have any standing in the community unless it had a place; no place of significance, even the smallest, went without a name; and no history could have been made or preserved without reference, directly or indirectly, to a place.”

“So, place had enormous meaning for Hawaiians of old.”   (Kanahele)

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