Hawaiian Traditions | Page 11 | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

March 16, 2025 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Wahaʻula Heiau

No keia heiau oia ke kapu enaena.
(Concerning this heiau is the burning tabu.)

‘Enaena’ means ‘burning with a red hot rage.’ The heiau was so thoroughly ‘tabu,’ or ‘kapu,’ that the smoke of its fires falling upon any of the people or even upon any one of the chiefs was sufficient cause for punishment by death, with the body as a sacrifice to the gods of the temple. (Westervelt)

Oral traditions trace the origin of Hawaiian luakini temple construction to the high priest Pā’ao, who arrived in the islands in about the thirteenth century. He introduced several changes to Hawaiian religious practices that affected temple construction, priestly ritual, and worship practices.

Prior to his coming, the prayers, sacrifices, and other ceremonial activities that the high chief and his officiating priest performed could be observed by the congregation, who periodically responded as part of the ceremony.

After Pā’ao’s arrival, temple courtyards, which were sometimes built on hillsides to add to their massiveness, were enclosed with high stone walls, preventing the masses from participating as freely in the worship ceremonies.

In addition, new gods; stronger kapu; an independent, hereditary priesthood; wooden temple images; and human sacrifices became established parts of the religious structure. Pā’ao erected the first luakini (Wahaula) at Puna, Hawaiʻi, followed by Moʻokini Heiau at Kohala. These structures signaled a new era in Hawaiian religious practices. (NPS)

On the southeast coast of Hawaiʻi near Kalapana is one of the largest, oldest and best preserved heiau. Its walls are several feet thick and in places ten to twelve feet high. It is divided into rooms or pens, in one of which still lies the huge sacrificial stone upon which victims – sometimes human – were slain before the bodies were placed as offerings. (Westervelt, 1915)

“At our visit to the scene we were shown the small cove, deep down the jagged bluffs of Puna’s coast line, at the southern end of Wahaʻula premises, where the bones of the slain were washed, and to this day is known as Holoinaiwi.” (Thrum, 1904)

This heiau is now called Wahaʻula (red-mouth). In ancient times it was known as Ahaʻula (the red assembly), possibly denoting that at times the priests and their attendants wore red mantles in their processions or during some part of their sacred ceremonies. (Westervelt)

“The Heiau of Wahaʻula is built on an ʻaʻa flow, and the ascent to it is by terraces. Upon the first terrace the female members of the royal family brought their offerings which were taken by the priests. Beyond this first terrace no female was allowed to pass.”

“Two more terraces brings one to the enclosure or temple, in the shape of a quadrangle 132 feet long, by 72 feet wide. A stone wall encloses the temple, 6 feet high and 4 feet wide. The main entrance faces the East, flanked on either side by two smaller entrances. Immediately in front of this entrance stand the remains of the old temple, which was destroyed by the ʻaʻa flow on which the present one stands.”

“Across the southern end extends a stone platform some 3 feet high built in the shape of two semi-circles connected by a straight platform. Between these semi-circles was placed the presiding deity, and on either hand were placed the offerings of fruits, etc., while immediately in front, on a small raised platform were placed the human sacrifices, which were always slain in the main entrance to the heiau.”

“Immediately in front of this altar for human sacrifices, and extending across the enclosure, stood the priests’ house. sacred to them alone. In the rear of this was the royal house, where the members of the royal family assembled during the days devoted to the sacrifices. The rest of the enclosure was paved.” (Thrum)

“Water-worn pebbles were carried from the beach and strewn over the floor, making a smooth place for the naked feet of the temple dwellers to pass without injury from the sharp-edged lava. Rude grass huts built on terraces were the abodes of the priests and high chiefs who visited the places of sacrifice.”

“Elevated, flat-topped piles of stones were built at one end of the temple for the chief idols and the sacrifices placed before them. Simplicity of detail marked every step of temple erection.” (Westervelt)

“(I)in the original enclosure of the heiau of Wahaʻula was a sacred grove, said to contain one or more specimens of every tree growing on the Hawaiian group, a number of which, or their descendants, had survived when he visited the place in 1869. … It was built in the quadrangular or parallelogram form which characterized all the heiaus built under and after the religious regime introduced by Pāʻao.” (Fornander)

Beyond the heiau, on the makai side of the trail, is pointed out the footprint of Niheu, a demi-god, as well as the mark of an arrow which he shot at another demi-god who came to fight him. Further west, makai of the place where the trail turns mauka, is Kamoamoa, where the ranch driving pens are.

Here are two wells with fair water, and also a fine natural arch by the sea. Here are also a few interesting rock carvings. The most easily found of these is about a hundred yards from the paddock extension towards Kalapana, and may be located by following the line of this extension’s makai wall in an easterly direction.

The trail is straight, with a bad grade, but paved, until it has reached well up the bluff, where it passes the Pea house, the last habitation before the Crater Hotel is reached. From Pea’s it is a good eight miles to the Makaopuhi crater. The trail is narrow, passes through splendid forest, and is, though seldom used, quite easily followed. (Kinney, 1913)

“Tradition credits a rebuilding of the temple to Imaikalani, a famous chief of Puna, and Kaʻū, in the time of Keawenui-a-umi, in the sixteenth century. It was repaired again in the time of Kalaniʻōpuʻu, about 1770, and in the time of Kamehameha I, it had its final renovation.” (Thrum)

“This was the last heiau destroyed when the ancient tabus and ceremonial rites were overthrown by the chiefs just before the coming of Christian missionaries. At that time the grass houses of the priests were burned and in these raging flames were thrown the wooden idols back of the altars and the bamboo huts of the soothsayers and the rude images on the walls, with everything combustible which belonged to the ancient order of worship. Only the walls and rough stone floors were left in the temple. (Westervelt)

Kīlauea’s ongoing Puʻu ʻŌʻō eruption started on January 3, 1983 when ground fissures opened up and “curtains of fire” (long thin fountains of molten lava) issued from a 3½-miles long discontinuous fissure system in the remote rainforest of the middle east rift zone of the volcano.

Since then, about 500-acres have been added to the Big Island (that volume of lava could have filled 1.5-million swimming pools. The coastal highway has been closed since 1987, as lava flows covered 8 miles to as great a depth as 80 feet. 214-homes were destroyed.

“The apprehensions uniformly entertained by the natives, of the fearful consequences of Pele’s anger, prevented their paying very frequent visits to the vicinity of her abode; and when, on their inland journeys, they had occasion to approach Kirauea, they were scrupulously attentive to every injunction of her priests, and regarded with a degree of superstitious veneration and awe the appalling spectacle which the crater and its appendages presented.”

“The violations of her sacred abode, and the insults to her power, of which we had been guilty, appeared to them, and to the natives in general, acts of temerity and sacrilege; and, notwithstanding the fact of our being foreigners, we were subsequently threatened with the vengeance of the volcanic deity, under the following circumstances.” (Ellis, 1831)

The Wahaʻula Heiau was threatened three times in 1989 and once in 1990, but the lava flowed only up to the walls before diverting around them, but destroyed the visitor center and related facilities (built by the National Park Service in 1964, was destroyed by lava in June 1989.) However, a subsequent 1997 flow breached the walls and covered the heiau. (star-bulletin)

February 16, 2025 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Pāhonu

Honu neʻe pū ka ʻāina
The land moves like the turtle.
(Land passes slowly but inexorably from owner to heir.)
(Pukui)

From its earliest period of occupation, the Waimānalo Bay region was an extensive agricultural area, featuring taro farms that used the traditional Hawaiian loʻi (pondfield) cultivation system.

Taro was grown in the lowlands, irrigated with water from Waimānalo Stream, as well as on terraced sections that were watered by the small streams and springs flowing out of the Koʻolau Range.

These terraced sections extended for nearly 2-miles in a semicircle at the foot of the mountains around the broad base of the Waimānalo valley. By the 1850s, the area’s fertile soil provided not only taro but also breadfruit, mountain apple, kukui and coconut trees, sweet potatoes and sugar cane. (NPS)

In addition to the agrarian-based economy, several fishing villages dotted the bay’s shoreline. Two of the best-known villages in the area were Kaupō and Kukui. Kaupō was on a small peninsula opposite Mānana Island (Rabbit Island) and just northwest of Makapuʻu Beach Park (where Sea Life Park is located.)

The village may have been depopulated during the early-1800s and probably was repopulated during the early-1850s when a disastrous smallpox epidemic struck Honolulu and Hawaiians settled temporarily in the Waimānalo Bay region to escape its ravages.

The small fishing village of Kukui was further northwest, along the bay in the Kaiona Beach vicinity near Pāhonu Pond (‘Turtle enclosure’) – a prehistoric walled enclosure where it is said that turtles were kept for the use of Hawaiian chieftains. (NPS)

Before we go there, let’s look at some findings of Dr Marion Kelly where she speaks of three main technological advances resulting in food production intensification in pre-contact Hawai‘i: (a) walled fishponds, (b) terraced pondfields with their irrigation systems and (c) systematic dry-land field cultivation organized by vegetation zones.

The Hawaiian walled fishpond stands as a technological achievement unmatched elsewhere in island Oceania. Hawaiians built rock-walled enclosures in near shore waters, to raise fish for their communities and families. It is believed these were first built around the fifteenth-century.

The general term for a fishpond is loko (pond), or more specifically, loko iʻa (fishpond). Loko iʻa were used for the fattening and storing of fish for food and also as a source for kapu (forbidden) fish.

Samuel Kamakau points out that “one can see that they were built as government projects by chiefs, for it was a very big task to build one, (and) commoners could not have done it (singly, or without co-ordination.)” Chiefs had the power to command a labor force large enough to transport the tons of rock required and to construct such great walls.

The fishponds just described refer to aquaculture to grow fish – they were found throughout the Islands; however, at Waimānalo, Oʻahu, the only remaining aquaculture of green sea turtle known to have been carried out by the early-Hawaiians involved a coastal pond named Pāhonu that was used to maintain turtles until they were ready to be eaten. (NOAA)

The green sea turtle is the principal marine turtle species in the Hawaiian Islands. Common names used in the Hawaiian Archipelago include honu, green turtle and green sea turtle. They are herbivorous, feeding primarily on seagrasses and algae. This diet is thought to give them greenish-colored fat, from which they take their name. (NOAA)

In Hawaiʻi, as throughout Polynesia and other islands in the pacific, sea turtles have always been a traditional part of the local culture and have historically been revered as special and sacred beings. (Luna)

“There was once a chief who was so fond of turtle meat that he ordered a sea wall be built to keep captured turtles from escaping. Every turtle caught by a fisherman was put into this enclosure. No one else was allowed to partake of turtle meat under penalty of death. No one dared to eat turtle as long as the old chief lived.” (Pukui; Maly)

Kikuchi in his “Hawaiian Aquaculture Systems,” notes that “An early visitor to Waikiki area remarked that the ruling chief of Oʻahu, Kahekili, ‘mentioned also some others where he had a quantity of turtle.’”

“… We walked back to Mr. Castle’s house, where we sat on a long bench outside, facing the sea. There Aiona told me the story of Pa-honu, an enclosure for turtles that was once located back of Mrs. Wall’s present home.” (Pukui; Maly)

Pāhonu, the offshore pond (500 feet long, 50 feet wide,) is just south of Kaiona Beach Park fronting the shoreline; a line of stones, submerged at high tide, but visible at low tide, notes its location. (Pukui)

Kaiona Beach Park, a small four-acre park at the south end of Waimānalo Bay, is a popular camping site that has also been used for many years as a community boat anchorage.

In 1998, residents of Waimānalo built a boat ramp in the south end of the park, the only paved ramp in Waimānalo. They also placed a monument to Hawaiian fishers from their community near the ramp. Kaiona means “attractive sea. (Clark)

The beachfront residence named Pāhonu inland of the pond was used from 1980 to 1988 as the base of operations for the popular television series, Magnum PI. A surf site borders a small channel through the reef and is also known as Magnums. (Ulukau) The ‘Magnum’ house has been removed and other houses are it its place.

Next to Pāhonu is Kaʻakaupapa (shallows at the right.) The old saying of this place was, “Papa ke kānaka, papa nā mea a pau”—“Multitudes of people, multitudes of gods, all in multitudes.” (Aiona, Informant, Sept. 14, 1939; Cultural Surveys)

Nearby is the Shriners Club, a private clubhouse that opened on April 20, 1931. Popularly known as Shriners Beach, it is used for a wide variety of events, including wedding receptions, birthday parties and other social gatherings. (Clark)

The green turtle is listed as endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. In 1978, the Hawaiian population of the green turtle was listed as threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act of 1973. NOAA Fisheries and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) have joint jurisdiction for green sea turtles.

State and Federal laws prohibit harassing, harming, killing, or keeping sea turtles in captivity without a permit allowing these activities for research or educational purposes. Divers should be aware that riding turtles is illegal and puts these animals under stress.

February 5, 2025 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Ana Huna

Native Hawaiians believe ʻiwi (the bones) to be the primary physical embodiment of a person. Following death, ʻiwi are considered sacred, for within the bones reside the person’s mana (spiritual essence.) Mana was greatly valued, and native Hawaiians spent their lives maintaining and enhancing their mana. (Halealoha Ayau)

For native Hawaiians, it was important for the bones of a deceased person to complete their journey and return to the ground to impart their mana.

From island to island, community to community and family to family, there were many different ways to prepare bodies for burial. Each method was appropriate for the individual and his or her status. Burial locations were one of the most secretive traditions in a culture over a thousand years old. (DLNR)

Sometimes the bones of the dead were dug up out of the burial grounds to be used for arrows for rat shooting and for fishhooks, and the bones and bodies of the newly buried were dug up for food and bait for sharks.

For this reason, surviving family members sought places of concealment for the bones of their grandparents, parents, children, chiefs and relatives. They searched for deep pits (lua meki) in the mountains, and for hiding pits (lua huna) and hiding caves (ana huna) along the deep ravines and sheer cliffs frequented by koa‘e birds. (Kamakau; Kumu Pono)

For some, including the high aliʻi, often their ʻiwi were placed in secret burial caves (ana huna.)

A few of the notable areas burial areas with secret burial caves include, ʻIao Valley, Pohukaina, Pali Kapu o Keōua and the reported cave burial of Kahekili and Kamehameha at Kaloko.

ʻIao Valley (Maui)

For centuries, high chiefs and navigators from across the archipelago were buried in secret, difficult-to-access sites in the steep valley walls of ʻIao on Maui.

‘Iao Valley became a “hallowed burying place for ancient chiefs” and is the first place mentioned in the historical legends as a place for the secret burials of high chiefs.

Because this was sacred ground, commoners were not permitted to enter the valley, except for the Makahiki festival. Some suggest the last burial was in 1736, with the burial of King Kekaulike.

Pohukaina (Oʻahu)

“There is only one famous hiding cave, ana huna on Oʻahu. It is Pohukaina… This is a burial cave for chiefs, and much wealth was hidden away there with the chiefs of old … Within this cave are pools of water, streams, creeks, and decorations by the hand of man (hana kinohinohiʻia), and in some places there is level land.” (Kamakau)

Pohukaina involves an underground burial cave system that connects with various places around O‘ahu and is most notable as the royal burial cave at Kualoa. The opening in the Honolulu area is in the vicinity of the Kauikeaouli (Kamehameha III) residence (the grounds of ʻIolani Palace,) where also many of the notable chiefs resided. (Kamakau; Kumu Pono)

The opening on the windward side on Kalaeoka‘o‘io faces toward Ka‘a‘awa is believed to be in the pali of Kanehoalani, between Kualoa and Ka‘a‘awa, and the second opening is at the spring Ka‘ahu‘ula-punawai.

On the Kona side of the island the cave had three other openings, one at Hailikulamanu – near the lower side of the cave of Koleana in Moanalua—another in Kalihi, and another in Pu‘iwa. There was an opening at Waipahu, in Ewa, and another at Kahuku in Ko‘olauloa.

The mountain peak of Konahuanui was the highest point of the ridgepole of this burial cave “house,” which sloped down toward Kahuku. Many stories tell of people going into it with kukui-nut torches in Kona and coming out at Kahuku. (Kamakau; Kumu Pono)

Pali Kapu O Keōua (Kealakekua, Hawaiʻi Island)

Keōua (father of Kamehameha I) and Kalaniʻōpuʻu (aka Kaleiopuʻu & Kalaiopuʻu) were half-brothers, sons of Peleioholani. During the illness of Keōua, at his residence in Hilo, a messenger was sent to Kaʻū to notify Kalaniʻōpuʻu of his brother’s illness; he immediately started for Hilo.

Keōua said to Kalaniʻōpuʻu, “Brother, I cannot live long, for our uncle Alapaʻinui has an evil disposition and is praying me to death. My only request to you is to take my young son Kamehameha and keep him with you, for some day he will become famous and will add luster to our lineage; do not neglect him.”

Kalaniʻōpuʻu sent for their kahuna; as soon as the kahuna saw Keōua he advised Kalaniʻōpuʻu to return home, as it was impossible for his brother to live. (He died shortly thereafter; his remains were transported to Kona.)

On arriving at Kailua great preparations were being made for the mourning ceremonies. Wailing, removing the teeth, shaving the head, etc, took place. After these ceremonies Kalaniʻōpuʻu headed for Kaʻawaloa to await the remains of his brother Keōua from Hilo.

On their arrival they were deposited in a cave three-fourths of the way up the pali, whence it was called “Ka Pali Kapu O Keōua (at Kealakekua Bay.”) (Diary of George Hueu Davis, the Son of Isaac Davis; Henriques)

Later, in 1829, Kapiʻolani “and Kaʻahumanu removed the bones of (Kapiʻolani’s) father, and more than a score of other deified kings and princes of the Hawaiian race, from their sacred deposit, – may be the “House of Keave” at Honounou, – placing them out of the way, in one of the caves high in the precipice at the head of the bay where she resided.” (Anderson, 1864)

(A little side note on Pali Kapu O Keōua … while I was at DLNR, the 2006 Kohala earthquakes exposed a previously unknown burial cave on the side of the Kealakekua cliff. Because we had concerns about keeping the cave secret, I asked FEMA to document this new cave in a separate, non-public report, aside from the general (public) earthquake damage report. They agreed; the cave was subsequently sealed.)

Kaloko (Kona, Hawaiʻi Island)

An early traditional reference to the area in the late eighteenth century mentions the burial of Kahekili, the ruler of Maui, in a hidden cave at Kaloko. However, the most significant burial ceremony traditionally reported to have taken place there is that of Kamehameha, although there is no firm proof of this. (NPS)

Following his death, Kamehameha’s bones were supposedly transported by canoe from Kailua to Kaloko, where the bearers of the royal remains met the man in charge of the secret burial cave, and together they placed the bones in the same depository used for Kahekili.

“Kaloko (pond) is another famous burial area; it is in Kekaha, Hawaii. (In a cave that opens into the side of the pond) were laid Kahekili, the ruler of Maui, his sister Kalola, and her daughter, Kekuʻiapoiwa Liliha, the grandmother of Kamehameha III. … This is the burial cave, ana huna, where Kameʻeiamoku and Hoapili hid the bones of Kamehameha I so that they would never be found.” (Kamakau; NPS)

In 1887 King Kalākaua designated a man named Kapalu, who had guided him to a burial cave at Kaloko in which he supposedly beheld Kamehameha’s bones, as overseer and keeper of the “Royal Burial Ground” at Kaloko.

A year later Kalākaua wrote that he ordered Kapalu to retrieve the bones, which the king took to Honolulu and deposited in the Royal Mausoleum in Nuʻuanu Valley. (Barrère; NPS) (Questions remain as to where Kamehameha was buried.)

January 27, 2025 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

ʻAuwai

In pre-Captain Cook times, kalo (taro) played a vital role in Hawaiian culture. It was not only the Hawaiians’ staple food but the cultivation of kalo was at the very core of Hawaiian culture and identity.

Taro can be cultivated by two very different methods. Upland, or dryland, taro is planted in non-flooded areas that are fed by rainfall. Lowland, or wetland, taro is grown in water-saturated fields.

The early Hawaiians probably planted kalo in marshes near the mouths of rivers. Over years of progressive expansion of kalo lo‘i (flooded taro patches) up slopes and along rivers, kalo cultivation in Hawai‘i reached a unique level of engineering and sustainable sophistication.

Kalo lo‘i systems are typically a set of adjoining terraces that are typically reinforced with stone walls and soil berms. Wetland taro thrives on flooded conditions, and cool, circulating water is optimal for taro growth, thus a system may include one or more ʻauwai (irrigation ditches) to divert water into and out of the planting area. (McElroy)

Most important in the system of distribution of water for application to the soil were the main ditches diverting the water from natural streams.

Each of these large ʻauwai was authorized and planned by the King or by one or more chiefs or konohiki whose lands were to be watered thereby, the work of excavation being under the direction of the chief providing the largest number of men. (Perry, Hawaiʻi Supreme Court)

The ʻauwai construction and maintenance formed foundations around which an entire economy, class system, and culture functioned. The ʻauwai, lo‘i and the taro plant’s mythical and spiritual connections in Hawaiian society influenced individual and social activity within the ahupua‘a. (Handy, HART)

Taro cultivation affected many aspects of Hawaiian life: the labor required to build and maintain the ʻauwai; the shared water rights; and tributes to the Mō‘ī and to the chiefs (Ali‘i.) (Handy, HART)

All ʻauwai had a proper name, and were generally called after either the land, or the chief of the land that had furnished the most men, or had mainly been instrumental in the inception, planning and carrying out of the required work. All ʻauwai tapping the main stream were done under the authority of a konohiki of an ahupuaʻa. (Nakuina, Thrum)

ʻAuwai were generally dug from makai – seaward or below – upwards. The konohiki who had the supervision of the work having previously marked out where it would probably enter the stream, the diggers worked up to that point.

The different representatives in the ahupuaʻa taking part in the work furnished men according to the number of kalo growers on each land. (The quantity of water awarded to irrigate the loʻi was according to the number of workers and the amount of work put into the building of the ʻauwai.)

Dams that diverted water from the stream were a low loose wall of stones with a few clods here and there, high enough only to raise water sufficiently to flow into the ʻauwai, which should enter it at almost a level. No ʻauwai was permitted to take more water than continued to flow in the stream below the dam (i.e. no more than half.)

Use of the water was regulated by time increments, which varied from a few hours each day for a small kalo patch to two or three days for a kalo plantation. By rotation with others on the ʻauwai, a grower would divert water from the ʻauwai into his kalo. The next, in turn, would draw off water for his allotted period of time. (KSBE)

The ʻauwai primarily existed to support taro cultivation. Other crops, such as sweet potatoes, bananas or sugar cane, were regarded as dry land crops dependent on rainfall. Sugar cane and bananas were almost always planted on loʻi banks (kuauna) to receive moisture seeping through. (Nakuina, Thrum)

ʻAuwai varied in size and structure depending on the number and size of lo‘i they irrigated. In smaller lo‘i, water could be directed from one terrace into the next below it.

However, larger lo‘i required individual ʻauwai capable of carrying more water. In more complex systems, these might be branches from another ʻauwai, often connected to the same source. (HART)

An early description of ʻauwai is from explorer Nathaniel Portlock, noting the Kauaʻi ʻauwai in 1787, “This excursion gave me a fresh opportunity of admiring the amazing ingenuity and industry of the natives in laying out the taro and sugar-cane grounds …”

“… the greatest part of which are made up on the banks of the river, with exceeding good causeways made with stones and earth, leading up the valleys to each plantation; the taro beds are in general a quarter of a mile over, dammed in, and they have a place on one part of the bank, that serves as a gateway.”

“When the rains commence, which is in the winter season, the river swells with the torrents from the mountains, and overflowed their taro-beds; and when the rains are over, and the rivers decrease, the dams are stopped up, and the water kept in to nourish the taro and sugar-cane during the dry season …”

“… the water in the beds is generally about one foot and a half, or two feet, over a muddy bottom … the taro also grows frequently as large as a man’s head.”

Another early description of ʻauwai and loʻi is from Otto von Kotzebue, a Russian naval officer who was in the Islands in 1816, “The artificial taro fields, which may justly be called taro lakes, excited my attention. … I have seen whole mountains covered with such fields, through which water gradually flowed; each sluice formed a small cascade which ran … into the next pond, and afforded an extremely picturesque prospect.”

The burden of maintaining the ditches fell upon those whose lands were watered; failure to contribute their due share of service rendering the delinquent hoaʻāina (tenant) subject to temporary suspension or to entire deprivation of their water rights or even to total dispossession of their lands. (YaleLawJournal)

In some ʻauwai, not all of the water was used; after irrigating a few patches the ditch returned the remainder of the water to the stream. (YaleLawJournal)

One notable ʻauwai, with water still flowing through it (however, the loʻi kalo is long gone) is in Nuʻuanu. After damage to the ʻauwai system during the battle of Nuʻuanu, Kamehameha moved to quickly restore the valley’s agriculture production, summoning Kuhoʻoheiheipahu Paki to rebuild the irrigation system.

“(I)n three days, (Paki) rallied several hundred men to construct the tremendous Nuʻuanu irrigation system which supplies the numerous pondfields (from Luakaha, near Kaniakapūpū to around what is now Judd Street) …this irrigation system is known even today as the Paki ʻauwai.” (Hawaiʻi Legislature)

Among other loʻi along its course, Paki ʻAuwai served the loʻi kalo of Queen Emma at Hānaiakamālama (the Queen’s Summer Palace.)

The image shows a portion of the rock-lined Paki ʻAuwai in Nuʻuanu (just below Kaniakapūpū (you take the same trail to see each.))

January 18, 2025 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Canoe Crops

He keiki aloha nā mea kanu
Beloved children are the plants
(ʻŌlelo Noʻeau 684)

In the recent past, significant advances in radiocarbon dating and the targeted re-dating of key Eastern Polynesian and Hawaiian sites has strongly supported a “short chronology” model of Eastern Polynesian settlement.

It is suggested that initial Polynesian discovery and colonization of the Hawaiian Islands occurred between approximately AD 1000 and 1200. (Kirch)

These early Polynesians brought with them shoots, roots, cuttings and seeds of various plants for food, cordage, medicine, fabric, containers, all of life’s vital needs.

“Canoe crops” (Canoe Plants) is a term to describe the group of plants brought to Hawaiʻi by these early Polynesians.

It is believed that these settlers, and the settlers that followed them, introduced a variety of plant species – the canoe crops. The following list notes the Hawaiian name and (common names;) origin; how it’s grown and uses for some of these various plants.

1. Ko (Sugar Cane) India; Upper-stalk cutting; Food, Medicine, Religion, etc.

2. ʻOhe (Bamboo) Pacific Islands; Root; Knives, Kapa stamps, etc.

3. Niu (Coconut Palm) South Pacific; Sprouted coconut; Food, Cordage, etc.

4. ʻApe (Elephant Ear) Tropical Asia and Oceania; Tuber; Food in times of famine, etc.

5. Kalo (Taro) Tropical Asia; Tuber; Main food plant: Hawaiian-Polynesian “Staff of Life”

6. Ki (Ti Plant) Tropical Asia and Australia; Stem cuttings; Food, Medicine, etc.

7. Pia (Polynesian Arrowroot) Malay Archipelago; Tuber; Food, Medicine, etc.

8. Uhi (Yam) Asia; Tuber; Food, most important kind of yam

9. Hoi (Air Potato) Tropical Asia; Tuber; Food during famine

10. Piʻa (Five-Leafed Yam) Tropical Asia, Pacific; Tuber; Food during famine. etc

11. Maiʻa (Banana) Cultigen (Obscure Origin); Suckers; Food and its preparation

12. ʻOlena (Turmeric) Tropical Asia; Root; Dye, Purification, etc

13. ‘Awapuhi (Wild Ginger) India; Root; Scenting, Medicine, etc

14. ʻAwa (Kava) Pacific Islands; Sprouting stem; Relaxing beverage, etc

15. ʻUlu (Breadfruit) Pacific Islands, probably Guam; Root sprouts; Food, Craft, etc

16. Wauke (Paper Mulberry) East Asia; Root sprouts; Make kapa and clothing

17. Paʻihi (Bitter Cress) Polynesia; Transplant small plant; Food, Medicine

18. Auhuhu (Fish Poison Plant) Tropical South Asia and Pacific; Seed; Fish poison, etc

19. Kukui (Candlenut Tree) Asia, Pacific Islands; Seed or seedling transplant; Lighting, Food, Craft, etc

20. Hau (Hibiscus) Tropical Pacific and Old World; Stem cutting; To make fire, canoes, medicine, fertilizer, etc

21. Milo (Portia Tree) Coasts of Eastern Tropics; Seed; To make calabashes, etc

22. Kamani (Alexandrian Laurel) Tropical Asia and Pacific; Seed; Calabashes, Lei, etc

23. ʻŌhiʻa ʻAi (Mountain Apple) Tropical Asia, Oceania; Seed or seedling transplant; Food, Craft, etc

24. ʻUala (Sweet Potato) Tropical America; Slips or stem cuttings; Food: vegetable from leaves, starch from tubers

25. Kou Africa to Polynesia; Seed; Best wood for calabashes

26. Noni (Indian Mulberry) Asia, Australia, and Pacific Islands; Root sprout, Seed; Medicine, etc

27. Ipu (Bottle Gourd) Tropical Asia or Africa; Seed; Containers for food storage, musical instruments, etc

(The listing is from Polynesian Seafaring Heritage; Dr Harold St John and Kuaika Jendrusch. Domesticated animals, including pigs, dogs and chickens were also introduced.)