Images of Old Hawaiʻi

by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Kukuionapeha Heiau

Kaimuki, before man, was a site of rocky land, red soil high in iron and largely covered by lava.

Where Kaimuki got its name is not known. However, there are many stories and legends which tell what the name means. One is from a legend that menehune (legendary little people of Hawaiʻi) chose the place to build their ti ovens. Breaking the word down, ‘Ka’ means the, ‘imu’ – roasting-pit or ti-oven, and ‘ki’ – ti. (Kapio)

William Lunalilo ended up with most of the area known as Kaimuki through the Great Māhele (1848.) Lunalilo was born on January 31, 1835 to High Chiefess Miriam ‘Auhea Kekauluohi (Kuhina Nui, or Premier of the Hawaiian Kingdom and niece of Kamehameha I) and High Chief Charles Kanaʻina.

When Kamehameha V died on December 11, 1872 he had not named a successor to the throne. The Islands’ first election to determine who would be King was held – Lunalilo defeated Prince David Kalākaua (the Legislature met, as required by law, in the Courthouse to cast their official ballots of election of the next King. Lunalilo received all thirty-seven votes.)

Lunalilo was the first of the large landholding aliʻi to create a charitable trust for the benefit of his people. He was to reign for one year and twenty-five days, succumbing to pulmonary tuberculosis on February 3, 1874.

His estate included large landholdings on the five major islands, consisting of 33-ahupuaʻa, nine ʻili and more than a dozen home lots. His will, written in 1871, established a perpetual trust under the administration of three trustees to be appointed by the justices of the Hawaiian Supreme Court.

His will instructed his trustees to build a home to accommodate the poor, destitute and infirm people of Hawaiian (aboriginal) blood or extraction, with preference given to older people. The will instructed the Trustees to sell all of the estate’s land to build and maintain the home. (Supreme Court Records)

In 1884, the Kaimuki land was auctioned off. The rocky terrain held little value to its new owner, Dr. Trousseau, who was a “physician to the court of King Kalākaua”. Trousseau ended up giving his land to Senator Paul Isenberg. Theodore Lansing and AV Gear later bought the Kaimuki land (in 1898.) (Lee)

In 1898, Kaimuki was still the barren, rocky and red-dirt land filled with panini, kiawe, and lantana. However, Lansing, a real estate agent, thought it was a great place to build a high class residential district. Initially, sales were slow.

But in 1900, the Chinatown fire forced folks to find places for new homes and businesses – many came to Kaimuki. This eventually led to the construction of the Lēʻahi Hospital (1901.)

Lēʻahi Hospital was once called Honolulu Hospital for the Incurables. The patients were there to die. Most died of tuberculosis which spread to hundreds. The hospital was nicknamed ‘Make house,’ or the house for the dead. (Kapio)

This and other activity in the area destroyed and/or displaced the landscape.

A heiau, Kukuionapeha Heiau (Napeha’s light or beacon) was in the vicinity.

It was in an “Area seaward of 8th and 9th avenues, Ka-imu-ki, Honolulu, that was once a heap of rocks.” (Ulukau) “Kaimuki, at the town side of old signal station. All destroyed.” (Thrum.)

The image shows what is believed to be Kukuionapeha Heiau in Kaimuki (Hawaiʻi State Archives.)

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Protecting a Forest, Preserving a Culture

Envision a child helping to plant a seedling; then, while standing before a 100-year old tree, asking him about what he thought life was like in the islands when that tree was once a seedling.

More importantly, imagine him wonder what life will be like in the islands when his planted seedling turned 100-years old.

This was part of the vision for a forest management plan; let’s look back …

Native koa ecosystems serve as watershed recharge areas while providing recreational opportunities and important wildlife habitat. Koa is considered a vital species for healthy populations of endemic birds and insects. The tree itself has myriad uses in Hawaiian culture and traditions.

In making Hokuleʻa, the Polynesian Voyaging Society (PVS) wanted to use traditional materials (koa wood hulls, lauhala sails, sennit lashing) and traditional tools (adzes, bone gouges, coral files and sharkskin for sanding) in building the canoe.

Instead, the hulls were constructed out of plywood, fiberglass, and resin, and the sails were made from canvas; the lashings were done with synthetic cordage. (PVS)

It takes 125 years or more to grow a koa log large enough for a canoe, which generally needs to be 35 to 45 feet long with a diameter of 48 inches or more (voyaging canoes require larger logs.)

That period may be shortened if specific koa logs are identified for canoes now, and forestry prescriptions (e.g. thinning, pruning) are applied to favor the growth of those trees for canoe logs. (DLNR)

Unless committed efforts were made to grow koa for canoe logs on a sustainable basis now, no Hawaiian voyaging canoes would be built in the future using traditional methods (i.e. from a single large log.)

Likewise, racing and smaller style canoes will need to be fabricated from smaller koa logs joined or spliced together.

While I was Chair at DLNR, I remembered how folks could not find appropriately sized/shaped native trees in Hawai‘i to build the Hokule‘a and subsequent voyaging canoes.

Likewise, I knew of the interest canoe clubs and others had for koa racing canoes. Without protection of our koa forests, we may never have the trees for future canoes.

In 2004, we then initiated the formal designation of the Kapapala Koa Canoe Forest Management Area on land set-aside in 1989, near the Volcano National Park, in Kaʻu, on the Big Island. The designated area consists of approximately 1,200-acres of mature koa-ʻohiʻa forest.

The 1,257-acre property extends from the 3,640-foot elevation of Mauna Loa to 5,100 feet. It is next to the state-managed Kapapala and Ka’u Forest Reserves, and is covered with young and old koa trees, although the trees aren’t yet suitable for canoe building.

Here, koa trees grow tall and straight – necessary traits for core material in canoe shaping. It was the first Forest Management Area specifically designated for nurturing and harvesting koa canoe logs.

A broad, multi-faceted focus was envisioned, dealing with cultural & historical, technical forestry (planning, measurements, theory,) applied forestry (plant, weed, thin, prune, harvest) and wood working (canoe building, as well as crafting of excess/scrap material.)

Seven major goals of the project included:

  1. Preserve Hawaiʻi’s unique natural and cultural inheritance for future generations, by fostering knowledge and respect for Hawaii’s native forests, in a way that inspires better care of its natural environment.
  2. Protect threatened tropical forest habitat and promote environmental policies and practices, that address biological sustainability and human well-being, by identifying and integrating relevant traditional Hawaiian natural resource stewardship models with current Western management strategies.
  3. Develop natural resource stewardship models that involve a wide range of constituent groups.
  4. Involve youth through cooperative programs with the Department of Education, University of Hawaiʻi, and other school and education institutions.
  5. Provide wood workers with portions of harvested trees that are not processed as canoe logs.
  6. Involve other constituency groups (i.e. canoe clubs, forest management entities and cultural organizations).
  7. Provide compatible opportunities for public uses such as hunting and recreation.

Protecting trees for canoes is great; but, for me, the plan was not just about trees – we envisioned greater benefit by getting school children into the forests to help with the management and monitoring of its progress – and help them wonder.

At the outset, we envisioned that trees in the forest would be ‘designated’ to schools and canoe clubs across the state, with students and paddlers from each school/club periodically visiting and nurturing their respective tree. Ultimately, the school/club would get a log for a school/club koa canoe.

Likewise, the intent was to make the excess wood available to wood workers, so nothing would be wasted and crafters would have material to work with.

As part of the project implementation, Hawaiʻi Forest Institute worked with the Hawai‘i Forest Industry Association (HFIA,) DLNR’s Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW,) Imi Pono and the Three Mountain Alliance to develop a plan for bringing youth to the Kapapala Canoe Forest for cultural and environmental education.

What is most gratifying about this story is that starting on March 1, 2026, DLNR initiated a Koa Log Application for those who wish to acquire a koa log to build canoes to be used for racing, voyaging, fishing, education, or other traditional and customary practices.

The dream of assuring future koa logs for canoes is becoming reality through partnerships with DLNR and others. The needs for future koa canoe logs are being filled, DOE and children across the state can also participate in these activities, and a healthy forest will be protected.

It worked! Yay!

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Hōkūle‘a Was An Official US Bicentennial Project

“[D]uring this Bicentennial Year, each of our States is planning events with which to commemorate our country’s beginning.”

“As each observance differs from the other, they serve to emphasize the diverse cultural backgrounds that combine to form that anomalous national, the American.”

“In my State of Hawaii, where no one culture or ethnic group constitutes a majority, the peoples of Asia and the Pacific have combined with those of European background to form that special kind of person, the Hawaiian American.”

“It is therefore fitting that a Hawaiian bicentennial event should commemorate the beginning of our State’s history.”

“I refer to the voyage this year – voyage plans to begin sometime during April-May of Hokule‘a, a 60-foot double hulled canoe that will sail from Hawaii to Tahiti, using only the ancient navigational aids of wind, wave, star, and bird. …”

“Hokule’a is sponsored by the Polynesian Voyaging Society. This is a nonprofit group, formed in our State of Hawaii for the sole purpose of proving that more than 1,000 years ago, the Polynesian ancestors of today’s Hawaiians deliberately chose to sail across unknown waters to find new land.”

“Mr. Speaker, I think my colleagues will agree with me that this is a most exciting Bicentennial event. It will not only prove – and disprove – many scientific theories regarding Polynesian navigation, but will also perpetuate the spirit of ’76 as displayed by those American – and Polynesians – who dared to challenge the unknown.” (Spark Matsunaga, US House of Representatives, Feb 26, 1977)

“Intended as Hawaii’s contribution to the 1976 U.S. Bicentennial, Hōkūle‘a was built as a replica of the vessels used by Polynesians, using illustrations made by European explorers of the canoes they encountered in the 18th century.” (American Indian Magazine)

“Our project has been chosen to be part of the State of Hawaii’s Bicentennial celebration and is receiving $7,000 seed money from the Commission 1974.  This includes $2,000 from funds raised locally by the Commission and $5,000 from the Federal Bicentennial Fund.” (Proposal for an Experimental Voyage between Hawaii and Tahiti)

“The Hokule’a is a 60‐foot sailing canoe constructed as the official 1976 Bicentennial project of the State of Hawaii.” (NY Times) “The canoe first become internationally famous when it sailed from the Hawaiian Islands to the Society Islands in 1976 as an official part of Hawaii’s celebration of the United States’ Bicentennial. …”

“[T]he project was the result of many minds and many hands from throughout the community. The result of all that energy was the most outstanding of all Bicentennial projects undertaken in the United States during 1976.” (Gordon Piianaina. Implications of Hokule‘a)

“The canoe itself was built of modern materials”. (American Indian Magazine) In making Hōkūle‘a, the Polynesian Voyaging Society (PVS) wanted to use traditional materials (koa wood hulls, lauhala sails, sennit lashing) and traditional tools (adzes, bone gouges, coral files and sharkskin for sanding) in building the canoe.

Instead, the hulls were constructed out of plywood, fiberglass, and resin, and the sails were made from canvas; the lashings were done with synthetic cordage.  (PVS)

“She was a ‘performance replica,’ designed to perform like an ancient vessel and intended for one historic voyage: to sail to Tahiti using traditional navigation.” (American Indian Magazine)

“In 1976, Hōkūle‘a proved her mettle by sailing 2,400 miles across empty ocean to Tahiti, guided by traditional Micronesian navigator Pius ‘Mau’ Piailug.” (American Indian Magazine) “[T]he canoe had originally been built just for that voyage”. (Sail Magazine)

“The original crew consisted of Piailug as the navigator; Captain Kawika Kapahulehua; Clifford Ah Mow; Milton ‘Shorty’ Bertelmann; Ben R. Finney; Charles Tommy Holmes; Sam Kalalau; Boogie Kalama; Buffalo Keaulana; John Kruse; Douglas ‘Dukie’ Kuahulu; David Henry Lewis; Dave Lyman III; Billy Richards; and Rodo Tuku Williams.” (Sail Magazine)

“Hokulea’s first voyage away from Hawaii on May 1, 1976 took her to Tahiti and back – two crews and 52 days at sea. What initially began as a scientific experiment to prove that Polynesians navigated the Pacific, and a nod to the United States bicentennial, ended up being a cultural revitalization in the art of canoe voyaging and navigation.” (Hawai‘i Magazine)

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“Ka ʻaina a Kane-huna-moku”

Hawaiians recognize a Floating Island, or an Illusory Land which they call “Ka aina a Kane-huna-moku,” (the land of island-hiding-Kane.)

This appears at times on the ocean fertile green slopes with valleys and streams, and uplands towering up into a cloud-capped summit. Some now living claim to have seen it, and one man at least is said to have visited it and lived there for years.

How this came about was somewhat as follows:
There was once a chief called Keawe-ahu who lived in Kona, Hawaii, who by his exacting disposition and harshness with which he treated his people, won their everlasting hatred.

But the more they complained the more vigorous and exacting became his treatment, until his people made up their minds that they couldn’t stand it any longer and began to cast about for some way to get rid of him.

On a suitable occasion the chief Keawe-ahu was invited to go out fishing, and on his acceptance the old fisherman and his assistant manned the canoe, taking care to hide at either end of the canoe under the little deck and the fishing gear, a couple of extra paddles.

They went far out, trying their luck at various places, but always assured that it would be better farther out. At length when they were so far out that the land was misty and dim in the distance, at a preconcerted signal the two fishermen giving the canoe a vigorous spurt which shot it forward, let the paddles slip from their hands.

The impetus of the canoe left the paddles away behind. Of course the thing to do was to jump overboard and secure them, but this the fishermen were unwilling to do. One claimed that he had a bad cold, the other had rheumatism. Perhaps Keawe-ahu would do it

Keawe-ahu was an excellent swimmer; suspecting nothing, he plunged in without a word. No sooner was he out of the canoe than the fishermen whisked out the hidden paddles and pulled away, never even pausing to look back until they had reached the shore.

When Keawe-ahu realized what had happened, he turned over on his back, ceased swimming and closed his eyes to think. There was a moment of lost consciousness, and when he opened his eyes there before him was a strange, unfamiliar, beautiful land, with fertile green slopes and smiling valleys and limped flowing streams.

He swam to it; landing, he saw near at hand a banana-leaf hut under a big kukui tree, in front of which sat a beautiful maiden. It was at once evident to him that she was a Menehune.

She asked who he was? “I am Kanakao-Kai,” the Man of the Sea, he replied. ”And who are you?” “I am the maiden Ana-like, we live here alone, the three of us together, my father, my mother and I.”

He then inquired more at length concerning the land. He found that it was inhabited by a race of Menehune who lived on the natural fruits of the earth uncooked as they plucked them. Taro and sweet potatoes grew in abundance but were untouched by the people because of the lack of means to cook them.

Keawe-ahu set himself assiduously to two things; winning the favor of the maiden Ana-like, by personal attention and service, and winning the favor of the old folks and people generally by showing them how to make fire, cook food, etc. He succeeded at both.

So Keawe-ahu and Ana-like were married according to such simple custom as was common among the Menehune, and again there was a cooked food ahaʻaina, more generous and wonderful than before.

In due time there came to the new home a son, whom they named Na Maka o ke Ahi – the light of the fireside – equally dear to both the mother and the father.

The years flew by – the son grew up to be like his father and seemed to be drifting away from his mother. Sometimes it seemed as though the father encouraged this; he himself had drifted away from the tenderness of his early affection. In truth he had grown weary of the narrow life and the limited interests.

Keawe-ahu had kept all this to himself, but the keen eyes of his wife had not been blind to the change that had come over him, and suspected the cause of it. She surmised that if the chance of escape ever offered itself he would take advantage of it.

But what about the boy? Would he leave him behind?

His devotion to the lad and his constant and almost exclusive monopoly of him convinced her that the father would never leave him behind. He would either forego his chance of escape or take the boy with him.

At first, naturally and instinctively, she steeled herself against the loss of her son; she would herself carry him off and go into hiding with him. Yet when she came to think of it more carefully she saw how futile this was, Keawe-ahu would certainly find them.

And then too did she want to ruin the boy’s future for the sake of her own enjoyment of him?

He would be better off with his father. On his father’s estates he would be a prince; a prince and a hero in that large and wonderful life that she had heard of. Gradually she became reconciled; if the father went and took the lad, it would break her heart, but it was better so.

Nor was the prospect of their departure so utterly remote. This wonderful floating island was constantly shifting, mostly it drifted in shoreless seas, but sometimes it came within sight of land and several times in earlier years Keawe-ahu had seen the familiar shores of Hawaii; then he didn’t want to leave, now he did.

Any day the chance might come again. And one day, sure enough it did come.

In the early morning at daylight, there they were close to off the coast of Kona. It was the impulse of a moment to seize the lad, throw him across his shoulders, run down the slope and leap into the warm ocean.

It was a long hard swim, but was he not a master swimmer, and had he not, secretly, been training for just this kind of feat? However that may be, they reached the shore safely, though very much exhausted. (This summary is entirely from Legend of the Floating Island, A Kauai version narrated by Mrs S Polani, of Kapaʻa, by JM Lydgate; Thrum.)

It appears that Kane-huna-moku has been seen in many places within the Hawaiian Islands and beyond, which suggests that many instances of coastal submergence in these islands may have been enshrined in oral traditions, sometimes by modifying existing stories.

For example, the occasional reappearances of Kane-huna-moku in Hawaiʻi may be the outcome of a mirage or the appearance of a pumice mat, combined with a perceived need to reinforce some element of tradition. (Nunn; Heggen)

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Poʻolua

Poʻolua is literally broken down as Poʻo (head) and lua (two) and refers to a child who has two fathers (the child is sired by other than the husband, but he is accepted by both the husband and the sire.)

A child said to be poʻolua, “that is, a child of two fathers, was considered a great honor by chiefs of that period.” (Luomala)

Kamehameha has been referred to as poʻolua (shared, two-headed) son of Keōua and Kahekili by his mother Kekuʻiapoiwa.  (VanDyke)

Kamakau references Kamehameha was born at Kokoiki in Kohala.  His father was Keōua, younger brother of Kalaniʻōpuʻu, and his mother was Kekuʻiapoiwa, daughter of Kekela and Haʻae, both of whom belonged to families of chiefs.

Kamakau explains that it was the custom from ancient times among the chiefs of Hawaiʻi for the chief of one island to give a child to the chief of another island. This is the reason why Kahekili has often been called the father of Kamehameha, for chiefs of Hawaii and Maui were closely related.  (Kamakau)

Kamehameha, who had always thought that Chief Keōua of the island of Hawaiʻi was his natural father until a few years after he conquered all the islands but Kauaʻi.  Dibble notes that when Keōua, the father of Kamehameha, died, he commended his son to the care of Kalaniʻōpuʻu, who received him, and treated him as his own child.

Per Kamakau’s account, in 1802, Kamehameha, on hearing that Chief Kameʻeiamoku was dying at Lāhainā, went to him.  Kameʻeiamoku had attended Kamehameha since his boyhood and was one of his four Kona Uncles who had engineered his rise to power and made him king.  Kameʻeiamoku (on his deathbed) said to Kamehameha, “I have something to tell you: Kahekili was your father, you were not Keōua’s son. Here are the tokens that you are the son of Kahekili.”  (Kamakau)

Kamehameha responded, “Strange that you should live all this time and only when dying tell me that I am Kahekili’s son! Had you told me this before, my brothers need not have died; they could have ruled Maui while I ruled Hawaii.”    (Kamakau)

Kameʻeiamoku answered, “That is not a good thought; had they lived there would have been constant warfare between you, but with you alone as ruler the country is at peace.”    (Kamakau)

Kahekili’s age is not accurately known, but as by all native accounts he was the reputed father of Kamehameha I.  (Fornander)

“Kamehameha was the reputed son of Keōua otherwise called Kalanikupuapaikalaninui, a younger half-brother of Kalaniopuʻu, king of Hawaiʻi. It is said, however, that Kamehameha was the real son of Kahekili, king of Maui and that Kahekili gave him the name of his brother which was Kamehameha.”   (Dibble)

Kalākaua notes, “To this record of the tangled relationships of the chiefly families of the group at that period may be added … that Kahekili, the mōʻi of Maui, was the real father of Kamehameha; and in proof of the latter the acts and admissions of Kahekili are cited.”

When Kamehameha prepared an invasion in east Maui, Kahekili sent his younger brother, Alapaʻi, with the following orders: “Go, and bestow our kingdom upon our son; and if he will receive it, well; but if he does not recognize me as his father and will not respect the gift, but insists upon war; then, tell him that both he and his soldiers shall die in their youth, before the going down of the sun.”  (Dibble)

“If, indeed he shall listen to my request, then, say to him, ‘Wait, till the black tapa, shall cover me and my funeral rites shall be performed, then, come and receive his kingdom, without the peril of war,’ – for indeed, he is my son, and from me he received his name Kamehameha after that of my elder brother.” (Dibble)  Receiving the message, Kamehameha delayed his invasion.

Some say that Kekuʻiapoiwa had a liaison with Kahekili (ruler of Maui) and from this union was born Kamehameha.  Though Kahekili was thought to be his biological father, he was raised by his parents (and was considered the son of Kekuʻiapoiwa and Keōua.)

After Kahekili died, Fornander had an interesting perspective related to the relationships of the parties.  Fornander notes, “Kameʻeiamoku and his twin-brother Kamanawa secretly took Kahekili’s body away and hid it in one of the caves at Kaloko in North Kona, Hawaii.”

Kameʻeiamoku and Kamanawa were the children of Kekaulike of Maui, and thus half-brothers of Kahekili.  The twins (Kameʻeiamoku and Kamanawa) were Chiefs from the Kohala and North Kona districts and were uncles of and his counselors in the wars to unite the islands.

This relationship receives further confirmation from the native legends when they relate that, on learning the birth of Kamehameha, Kahekili sent these two sons of his father Kekaulike to Hawaiʻi to be and act as “Kahus” to Kamehameha.  (Fornander)

“In no other way can the otherwise singular fact be explained that two of Kamehameha’s oldest and most prominent and trusted councilor chiefs, during a time of what may be called suspended hostilities, should have repaired from Hawaii to Oahu for the purpose of securing and safely hiding (Huna-kele) the bones of Kamehameha’s political rival; nor the otherwise equally inexplicable fact that they should have been permitted by Kalanikūpule, Kahekili’s son and successor, to carry their design into effect.”  (Fornander)

Under the social system of the old regime, and of time-hallowed custom, Kamehameha would have had no power to prevent those chiefs from executing their pious errand, and Kalanikūpule would have had no motive to mistrust their honesty when resigning to them his father’s remains; and a breach of trust on their part would have consigned them to an infamy of which Hawaiian history had no precedent, and so deep, that the Hawaiian language would not have had a word detestable enough wherewith to express it.  (Fornander)

“He was the reputed and accepted son of Keōua, the half-brother of Kalaniʻōpuʻu, although it was believed by many that his real father was Kahekili, mōʻi of Maui. But, however this may have been, he was of royal blood, and was destined to become not only the king of Hawaiʻi, but the conqueror and sovereign of the group. This chief was Kamehameha.”  (Kalākaua)

Kamehameha, through the assistance of the Kona “Uncles” (Keʻeaumoku, Keaweaheulu, Kameʻeiamoku & Kamanawa (the latter two ended up on the Island’s coat of arms;)) succeeded, after a struggle of more than ten years, in securing to himself the supreme authority over that island (and later, the entire Hawaiian Islands chain.)

The image shows Kamehameha (drawn by Choris in 1816.)  

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