Images of Old Hawaiʻi

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kahuna Kuni

“The ancient Hawaiians were a very religious people. Almost every important undertaking was accompanied by prayer. These prayers were addressed to a great number and diversity of gods and covered a wide range of subjects.”

The kahuna has been a tremendous power in this land. Praying to death has long been recognized as a potent agent in swelling the mortality list in the past, and has not yet ceased to act with its blighting influence on people so long subject to its deadly power. (JS Emerson)

“When a person dies under suspicious circumstances, it becomes the duty of one of his family, or a near relative, to consult a ‘kahuna kuni’ to determine the cause of his death.”

“There are five classes of ‘kahuna kuni,’ characterized by the number of pebbles (iliili) used in their incantations. These numbers are 25, 28, 36 and 42 respectively. These iliili are carefully kept by the kahuna wrapped up in a ‘kapa kahuna,’ such as the ‘ouholowai,’ ‘ekahaloa,’ ‘puakai’ and others, in a place of safety where they will not become ceremonially defiled (haumia).”

“Generally they are put in a coconut shell (puniu), or gourd (hokeo), and suspended to the side of the house, for if they were put in a trunk it would defile them for any one to sit on the trunk.”

“The kahuna takes the iliili and kapa out of the hokeo or puniu, which he leaves behind and goes to the house where the sick person or corpse is.”

“He places the iliili on a clean new mat, covers them with the kapa and offers a prayer to Uli, stating the facts of the case and asking Uli to take vengeance on the guilty person who caused the death or sickness of the victim. He then takes something, known as a ‘maunu,’ from the person of the deceased …”

“… a lock of hair, a tooth, a pairing of finger nail, or some vomit or other excreta, positively assuring his client that during one of the following nights, namely ‘Ku-kahi,’ ‘Ku-lua,’ ‘Ku-kolu,’ or ‘Ku-pau,’ that is either the 3d, 4th, 5th or 6th night of the lunar month, when the moon is in the west …”

“… or during one of the following nights, namely: ‘Kaloa-ku-kahi,’ ‘Kaloa-ku-lua’ or ‘Kaloa-pau,’ that is either the 24th, 25th or 26th night of the month, when the moon is in the east, the guilty one would die.

The class of kahunas using 42 pebbles have an advantage over those using a lesser number, from the fact that their iliili cause death on the night known as ‘Kane,’ the 27th of the month; and that of ‘Lono,’ the 28th of the month, in addition to the seven nights mentioned above.

On leaving his client the kahuna takes the ‘maunu,’ secured from the deceased, as already described, and hides it in the water that his victim is to drink, in his food, in his pipe, with his tobacco, or buried in the road where his victim will travel.

This is followed by a ‘pule anaana,’ or prayer, addressed to Uli, Kane, Kanaloa, Pele or Kamohoalii, in which the death of the victim is invoked in a horrible, sometimes in a bloodcurdling fashion.’

It is “a prayer by a ‘kahuna kuni,’ addressed to Pele, who is his ‘aumakua,’ or ancestral god. Its object is to destroy the evil-doer, the rival kahuna, who by his black art has caused the death of a well-known person by whom, it is claimed, no offence justifying such a fate has been committed.”

“‘Slain by a god,’ the prayer says, yet the punishment falls on the kahuna who was the party responsible for inciting the god to commit the murder. This god had no option in the matter. He simply had to obey the command of his master, the kahuna.”

“The ‘kuni’ prayer is only used after the ‘kuni’ fire is lighted which must be made of uhaloa wood. Upon it is thrown some ‘pupu-awa’ and ‘opihi-awa,’ and, inclosed in a wrapping of ki leaves, are put some ‘pupu makaloa,’ ‘kua-paa,’ ‘limu-kala’ and ‘kalolau-loa,’ which are roasted in the fire as a preliminary to the prayer.”

“This ceremony is limited to no particular night. It may even be performed in the daytime. The word ‘Ku,’ to stand, is applied to any dry land where one may stand, and thus becomes an appellation of Pele, who made the dry land.”

“This name for Pele should not be confused with that of Ku, one of the four principal gods.” (All here is from JS Emerson)

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Life in the Islands (1823)

Reverend Charles Samuel Stewart and his wife Harriet Bradford (Tiffany) Stewart were in the 2nd Company of missionaries that arrived at Honolulu April 27, 1823.

On May 20 1823, Stewart wrote the following, noting some of his observations about life of the maka‘āinana (common people, as he called them) …

“[The] class of the [common people] constitutes at least one hundred and forty-nine thousand of the one hundred and fifty thousand supposed at present to be the population of the group.”

“In external appearance, and manners and habits of life, the kanakas, or common natives, present a strong contrast to the chiefs; and are indeed a wretched people, subject not only to a total blindness of mind and heart, but also to the most abject poverty. …”

“The greatest wealth they can boast consists of a mat on which to sleep, a few folds of kapa to cover them, one calabash for water and another for poe, a rude implement or two for the cultivation of the ground, and the instruments used in their simple manufactures.”

“Kalo, potatoes and salt, with occasionally a fish, constitute their general food, while all else that they grow, or take, and every result of their labor, goes to meet the series of taxes levied by the king and his governors, and their own respective chiefs.”

“The spontaneous production of the islands is very limited; and labor at all times of the year is necessary to the support of life. …”

Kalo “occupies most of the cultivated ground, especially such as is capable of being overflown by water; and the planting, irrigation, and of it, forms the most laborious part of the native farming.”

“The islanders have arrived at great skill in the cultivation of this plant and perhaps their mode of growing it … Next to kalo, the sweet potato is a principal article of cultivation. The yam also is grown; but chiefly at the leeward islands, Kauai and Nihau….”

“ In the cultivation of the ground, the making and care of artificial fish-ponds, a part of the possession of every chief, may be included. These are constructed much in the manner of the kalo plantations; and after the water is let into them, are filled with young fish from the sea, principally the fry of the grey mullet, a fish of which the chiefs are particularly fond. …”

“The building of houses, construction of canoes, making of fishing nets, wooden dishes and bowls, &c. are labors assigned to the men; while the manufacture of cloth in all its processes, and the platting of mats, &c. fall to the department of the women. …”

“The thickness of the different kinds of cloth is various. I have seen females with mantles of it, as thin and transparent as Italian crape; which, at a short distance, it greatly resembled. That generally used for malos and paus, is more compact, like paper.”

“The kiheis of the men and covers for sleeping, are still firmer and thicker, and are composed of several sheets of the former, spread with a gelatinous wash made from the gum of a tree, and then beaten together.”

“There is a kind still superior in text ore , and beauty, worn by the chiefs both for malos and paus; it is made of the best bark, and is as thick as morocco, to which, stamped with the brightest colors, and glazed with a composition having the effect of varnish, it bears a striking resemblance.”

“The kapa moe, or cloth for sleeping, is the largest in size; each sheet, ten of which, fastened together at one end, form a bed-cover, being as large as an ordinary counterpane. …”

“The manufacture, by the females, next in importance to the making of kapa, is that of mats, which form the seats of the islanders in the day and their beds at night.”

“The lounges and beds of the chiefs are generally eight or ten feet square, and consist of many thicknesses of these, from a dozen to thirty and forty, and even a greater number.”

“The materials of which they are made are of two kinds; one, a species of rush, and the other, the leaves of the hala …. Those of the last article are most valuable, as they are much the most durable, and admit of frequent washing, which the rush mats do not.”

“Both kinds are woven or braided by hand, without the aid of frame or instrument; and though often twenty feet square, and even larger, are finished with great evenness of texture and regularity of shape. …”

“Besides being engaged in these manufactures of cloth and mats, the females, especially those attached to the households of the chiefs, spend much time in making articles of ornament; in the braiding of human hair for neck· laces; trimming and arranging feathers for wreaths and kahiles; polishing tortoise shell and the ivory of whale’s teeth, for finger rings, and the handles of feathered staffs, &c. …”

“One of the strongest inducements to labor – that of a right of property – is entirely unknown. Were not this the case, the profit which every farmer might derive from the visit of ships for refreshments, would soon cause the face of the country to assume a new aspect.”

“But this means of emolument is a monopoly of the king and chiefs; and only proves a new source of oppression to the people, by increasing their toil, without adding to their possessions.”

“Two-thirds of the proceeds of anything a native brings to the market, unless by stealth, must be given to his chief; and, not unfrequently, the whole is unhesitatingly taken from him. …”

“Nor is there greater inducement to industry, from motives of immediate personal enjoyment. Any increase of stock, or growth of a plantation, beyond that necessary to meet the usual taxes, is liable to be swept off at any hour; and that, perhaps, without any direct authority from king or chief, but at the caprice of some one in their service. …”

“The poverty of many of the people is such, that they seldom secure a taste of animal food, and live almost exclusively on kalo and salt.  A poor man of this description, by some means obtained the possession of a pig, when too small to make a meal for his family.”

“He secreted it at a distance from his house, and fed it till it had grown to a size sufficient to afford the desired repast. It was then killed, and put into an oven, with the same precaution of secrecy …”

“… but when almost prepared for appetites whetted by long anticipation to an exquisite keenness, a caterer of the royal household unhappily came near, and, attracted to the spot by the savory fumes of the baking pile, deliberately took a seat till the animal was cooked, and then bore off the promised banquet without ceremony or apology!”

“Such is the civil condition of the mass of the nation.”

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Ninika

The Cowardin Classification System is a descriptive method developed by the US Fish & Wildlife Service that categorizes and defines wetlands according to their landscape position and water source.

Within these broad classes fall types of wetlands known by common names, such as marshes, bogs, and swamps. (DLNR, FWS)

Hawaiian bogs occur primarily in montane zones (a mosaic of rainforest and shrublands) as isolated small patches on flat or gently sloping topography in high rainfall areas in cloud forests and other wet forests on all of the high islands between 3,500-5,500 feet elevation.

These bogs also occur in the subalpine zone 7,446 feet elevation on Maui, and as a low-elevation bog at 2,120 feet on Kauai. Soils remain saturated on a shallow to deep layer of peat (0.01-5 m), underlain by an impervious basal clay layer that impedes drainage.

A few sloping bogs occur on steeper terrain were precipitation is extremely high, such as in North Bog in the Wai‘ale‘ale summit region of Kauai, where soils remain saturated despite adequate drainage.

Two bogs are believed to have formed in former small lakes, one along the Wailuku River, Hawai`i (Treeless bog), the other the subalpine bog on East Maui (Flat Top bog). The low-elevation bog on Kauai occurs on shallow, poorly drained acidic peat. (NatureServe Explorer)

Bogs are one of the most distinctive kinds of wetlands. They are characterized by spongy peat deposits, acidic waters and a floor covered by a thick carpet of moss. They are typically treeless areas, surrounded by cloud forest.

Bogs receive all or most of their water from precipitation rather than from runoff, groundwater or streams. As a result, bogs are low in the nutrients needed for plant growth, a condition that is enhanced by peat mosses.

Bogs serve an important ecological function in preventing downstream flooding by absorbing precipitation. (EPA)

Hawaiian bogs are characterized by an extremely dwarfed growth of the species represented in the surrounding forest, and by a number of species practically endemic to the bogs.

Most of the plants are deeply embedded in cushions and hummocks (ground rising above a marsh) of mosses, hepatics, and turf-forming grasses and sedges. The area is saturated with water and there are often channels and pools. (Fosberg & Hosaka)

The more familiar bogs of the islands are those in Alakai swamp, Kauai; Kawela Swamp, Molokai; Puu Kukui, west Maui and northeastern Haleakalā, Maui; Kaala Bog, Kohala Mountains, Hawaii; and in the Koolau Mountains on Oahu. (Fosberg & Hosaka)

These marshes and bogs are found in depressions where rain or groundwater collects. Hawai‘i’s rare montane bogs take millions of years to form. (DLNR)

Ninika (a boggy region in the Laupāhoehoe-Maulua forest) (Maly) is at the seaward end of the Hakala Forest refuge in Honohina. This name was recorded by the surveyor D.H. Hitchcock (1874) based on information from his two informants.

Ku and Kalaualoha (both Boundary Commission witnesses for Piha and Honohina); he says “I found that most of the [coastal] gulches ended at Ninika, and [upland] gulches from mauka ended at swamp.”

Kalaualoha testified that from its upper point of origin “Nauhi gulch only runs a short distance into woods and there spreads out all around;” for the Honohina testimony, he states that the coastal “Nanue gulch ends at Ninika.” Kapou (witness for Hakalau Nui) also mentions Ninika: “I have heard that Kaiwiki reaches to the Ninika.”  (Tuggle)

The Waikaumalo/Piha boundary runs “up gulch to Ninika to where Puuohua ends and Mauluanui bounds it to the mountain. Bird catchers from these two lands used to catch in common … Ninika is at mauka end of Puuohua, Kumuohia is on Piha.” (Hawaiian Place Names)

When we think of Hakalau Forest Refuge, we typically think and see native ohia and koa forest and lots of forest birds. However, below where people go, but still within the Refuge, is a somewhat different story. As described by Myra Tomonari-Tuggle in a report she did for the Refuge:

“The wet ‘Ôhi‘a zone covers essentially the entire seaward half of the refuge and is characterized by a forest dominated by ‘Ôhi‘a trees. … The groundcover is primarily ferns.”

“This low elevation area is cut by numerous streams and gullies and the ground surface is often bog-like, described by Stine as:”

“At the lowest elevation of the [Refuge] is the bog – ohia dieback community. This unit is actually a mosaic of open bog, matted fern and native shrub communities, and open to scattered wet ohia forest with many standing dead or partially defoliated trees.”

“The forest dieback in this area is believed to be a result of the poor rooting conditions found in this extremely wet habitat … The wet open boggy areas are dominated by introduced grass and sedge species with scattered native shrubs.” (Stine)

“Soil samples from the bog in the southern half of the refuge suggest that the bog may range from 8 to more than 12 feet deep; these samples were collected from six sites ranging in elevation from 4,405 to 5,040 feet asl.”

“A 19th century map of Honohina, one of the traditional Hawaiian land units within the refuge, gives the name ‘Ninika Swamp’ to this lower elevation bog.”

“This zone corresponds to the lower range of McEldowney’s montane rainforest zone, which she describes as an area largely used as a source of specialized forest resources such as a forest birds for feathers and dry or mesic hardwood species for crafts or construction.”

“Historically, the bog at the seaward edge of the refuge was called Ninika Swamp; it is probable that this swamp extends at this elevation across all of the ahupua‘a in the refuge.”

“A multitude of stream channels enter from the upper slopes, dissipate in the bog, then exit as new channels to the lower coastal slopes.”  (Tomonari-Tuggle)

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Before the Marine Base

O‘ahu used to be nearly twice as big as it is now.  (Thompson) The Island consists of two major shield volcanoes: Waiʻanae and Koʻolau; the eroded remnants of which are the Waiʻanae Range and the Koʻolau Range.

Koʻolau volcano started as a seamount above the Hawaiian hotspot around 4-million years ago. It broke sea level some time prior to 2.9-million years ago.

About 2-million years ago, much of the northeast flank of Koʻolau volcano was sheared off and material was swept onto the ocean floor (named the Nuʻuanu Avalanche) – one of the largest landslides on Earth.

The Pali is the remaining edge of the giant basin, or caldera, formed by the volcano. At its base are the towns of Kāne’ohe, Kailua and Waimānalo – beyond that, open ocean. The other half of the caldera, an area the size of Brooklyn, tore away and tumbled into the ocean.  (Sullivan)

Mōkapu Peninsula (where Marine Corps Base Hawai‘i is situated) is evidence of subsequent secondary volcanic eruptions that formed Ulupaʻu Crater (the large hill on the Kailua side of the peninsula,) Pu‘u Hawaiiloa (the central hill that originally had the base control tower, now has radar (‘the hill’,)) Pyramid Rock and the nearby Moku Manu (Bird Island.)

Coral reefs and marine terraces were formed at different elevations due to the changing sea levels over time.  There are some broad lowland areas in the lower reaches of deeply alluvial valleys. (Moberly)

Mōkapu Peninsula is part of two ahupua’a in the district of Ko‘olaupoko: He‘eia and Kāne‘ohe. He‘eia ahupua’a encompasses the western third of the peninsula (called the ‘iii of Mōkapu) and extended inland; Kāne‘ohe ahupua‘a is on the eastern two-thirds of the peninsula.

Hawaiians lived on Mōkapu Peninsula for at least 500 to 800 years before Western Contact. Farmers cultivated dryland crops like sweet potato for food, and gourds for household utensils.

They tended groves of hala (pandanus) trees for the lauhala (leaves) to weave into mats and baskets, and wauke plants for kapa (paperbark cloth). The highly prized wetland taro might have been grown in the marshy area at the center of the peninsula.

Mōkapu people fished in the protected waters of Kāne‘ohe Bay, in Kailua Bay, and in the deep ocean to the north; and took advantage of the rich shore resources.

There were at least two small villages on the peninsula, as well as scattered houses along the coastline. With walls up to six feet wide, the massive fishponds of Mōkapu are an indication of political significance since only chiefs could command the labor to build such monuments. They were being used from as early as the 15th or 16th centuries.

British Captain James Cook made landfall in Hawai‘i in 1778, the first documented Western contact with the islands. He was followed in short order by European and American explorers and traders.

In the first decades after Western Contact, Honolulu was the focus of interactions between Hawaiians and foreigners. On remote Mōkapu Peninsula, separated from urban Honolulu by the high, sheer Pali, life continued in the cycle of subsistence farming.

Mōkapu, and Kāne‘ohe, in general, were far from the attentions of foreigners. It was not until the US Exploring Expedition of 1840-1841 that Kāne‘ohe Bay and its environs were documented in detail.

Under King Kamehameha III, the most important event in the reformation of the land system in Hawai‘i was the separation of the rights of the King, the Chiefs and the Konohiki (land agents) through the Great Mahele in 1848.

The King retained all of his private lands as his individual property; one third of the remaining land was to be for the Hawaiian Government; one third for the Chiefs and Konohiki; and one third to be set aside for the tenants, the actual cultivators of the soil.

Paki (father of Bernice Pauahi Bishop) received the ahupua‘a of He‘eia, including the ‘ili of Mōkapu. Kamehameha III kept the ‘ili of Kuwa‘ahohe in the center of the peninsula, as well as Halekou and Kaluapūhi ponds; Kalama, his wife, received most of the ahupua‘a of Kāne‘ohe including Nu‘upia Fishpond.

Following Paki’s death in 1855, the Sumner brothers, John and William, bought the ‘Ili of Mōkapu.  In 1885, John Sumner became sole owner when his brother died. In 1892, John left Mōkapu in a trust to his nephew, Robert Wyllie Davis (the son of Sumner’s younger sister Maria).

In the first half of the 20th century, truck farms and commercial plantings replaced the traditional subsistence gardens on almost all of the tillable land of the peninsula, including inside Ulupa‘u Crater.

Watermelon thrived in the hot and sunny, loamy soil of the peninsula – papaya, sweet potato, Irish potato, pumpkins, squash, and sweet corn were also grown.   The Japanese farming community was about where the MCBH runway is today .

One of the earliest commercial efforts was Albert van Clief and Addie Gear’s cotton plantation. “Strange as it may seem our cotton pickers are Hawaiian. … We have three Hawaiian women and one Hawaiian man and a Korean couple.” (Hawaiian Gazette, Dec 10. 1910)  But hard times for the Gears quickly followed.

Chinatown was the primary market for the Mōkapu farmers.  The Maui News of June 21, 1918, reported that Mōkapu farmer N. Ewasaki won second place for “Best ten-pound any white variety” of Irish potatoes at the annual Maui County.

As early as 1890, Joseph Paul Mendonça and his partner Christel Bolte had been leasing the former Kāne‘ohe Ahupua‘a lands of Queen Kalama. A journal entry on June 1, 1893, noted “We commenced today doing business under the name of Kāneʻohe Ranch”.

They started with the herd with imported Angus cattle, purchased from James I Dowsett, one of the founders of the ranching industry in Hawai‘i. Horses, sheep, and goats rounded out the livestock assets.

Then, Mendonça was ready for a change; the Ranch ledger entry for December 31, 1899 stated, “Joe Mendonça is ‘pau ke aloha’ with Kaneohe, he wants to sell out or do something, he does not exactly know what ….” (MCBH) By 1905, James B.Castle was a shareholder in the Ranch.

In 1917, Castle’s son, Harold KL Castle, purchased the ranch. Harold Castle and his family spent weekends at their beach home on the ocean side of the high Heleloa Dune.

Kāne‘ohe Ranch was the main cattle operation (on the eastern portion of the peninsula); Robert Davis and later Arthur H. Rice, Sr., had their own smaller herds in the former ‘ili of Mōkapu. Scattered wild lands were covered in kiawe, hau, and haole koa trees, and lantana and feral tomatoes were rampant.

In 1921, the Territory of Hawai‘i established a game farm on Mōkapu Peninsula. The farm contained about 350-acres, which included Halekou and Kaluapūhi fishponds.  As a part of the farm program, the Territory also initiated a reforestation program at Mōkapu in which about 5,000 trees had been planted by the end of 1930, and about 2,000 coconuts in 1932.

The tract of land that Mōkapu Game Farm was developed on was described in 1929 as “an arid waste, barren, silent, almost desolate” (Honolulu Star Bulletin Oct. 31, 1929). At the end of 1930, 185 acres of the land had to be fenced to protect it from “wandering stock” (Hawaii, Terr., Bd. Comm. Ag. & For. 1931:118) (Maly)

The Mōkapu Game Farm raised and released many types of game birds, including: Pheasants (the primary bird raised and released); California quail, Gambel’s quail, and Japanese quail; Chukars; Guinea fowl; Ducks; and others. The birds were raised and released to benefit hunters and to increase agricultural yield by preying on plantation pests.

Folks at the Game Farm apparently also raised Japanese oysters in the nearby mud flats by the old Wilson Pier, used by the Territorial Game Farm that was situated near the location of the present H-3 interchange. (George Davis; Maly)

In the 1920s, the peninsula was a private holding with no access to the general public, and there were few permanent residents. Wally Davis and the Date family lived at Davis Point in southwestern Mōkapu. Some Japanese farmers had homes on the peninsula, but many lived in Kailua or Kāne‘ohe and came to the peninsula only to work their fields.

Dr. George Straub and members of the Kawainui Shooting Club were periodic visitors to their places along the Kailua Bay frontage. The supervisor of the Territorial Game Farm had a residence at Halekou Fishpond.

The ‘ili of Mōkapu became the “Fisherman’s Paradise” with development of the Mōkapu Tract Subdivision – “A private sea fishery is an appurtenant to the land, in which lot owners are given the privilege of fishing for personal.”

Beach lots were offered for sale from $1,000 and up; and second tier lots with rights of way to the beach for $500 and up.  “Put on the market in 1932, Mōkapu has met with exceptional success.”  (Maly)

In 1934, a radio facility was built by Pan American Airways on the crest of He‘eia Dune, roughly between Pyramid Rock and the north end of the present Runway 4/22. It was used as a link for Pan Am trans-Pacific flights, that started in 1935.

In 1918, through Executive Order 2900, President Woodrow Wilson designated 322 acres in the central portion of Mōkapu Peninsula as the Army’s Kuwa‘ahohe Military Reservation. Deactivated at the end of World War I, the reservation was leased for ranching until 1939, when it was reactivated as Fort Kuwa‘aohe.

In December 1940, Fort Kuwa‘aohe was renamed Fort Hase, in honor of Major General William F Hase, who served as Chief of Staff of the Army’s Hawaiian Department from April 1934 to January 1935. It served as headquarters of the Harbor Defenses of Kāne‘ohe Bay.

On the western side of the peninsula, Naval Air Station (NAS) Kāne‘ohe was established in 1939; a base for squadrons of seaplanes to support the Pearl Harbor fleet was developed.

The work included dredge and fill operations that added 280 acres to the Kāne‘ohe Bay side of the peninsula, as well as filled low-lying areas for runway and hangar construction.

The great bulk of all reef material dredged in Kāne‘ohe Bay was removed in connection with the construction at Mōkapu of the Kāne‘ohe Naval Air Station (now Marine Corps Base Hawai‘i) between 1939 and 1945.

Dredging for the base began on September 27, 1939, and continued throughout World War II.  A bulkhead was constructed on the west side of Mōkapu Peninsula, and initial dredged material from the adjacent reef flat was used as fill behind it.

In November 1939, the patch reefs in the seaplane take-off area in the main Bay basin were dredged to 10-feet (later most were taken down to 30-feet.)

Other early dredging was just off the northwest tip of the peninsula, near the site of the “landing mat” (runway.)  It appears that a fairly reliable total of dredged material is 15,193,000 cubic yards.

(Do the Math … Let’s say the common dump truck load is 10 cubic yards … that’s a million and a half truckloads of dredge material.)  The runway was about half complete at the time of the Japanese attack on December 7, 1941. (Lots here is from Tomonari-Tuggle & Arakaki)

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ʻAlekoko Fishpond (Menehune Fishpond)

ʻAla ke kai o ka ʻanae.
Fragrant is the soup of a big mullet.
(A prosperous person attracts others. (ʻŌlelo Noʻeau))

‘Anae (ʻamaʻama – mullet) and awa (milk fish) were popular fish raised in Hawaiian walled fishponds.  The cultivation of fish took place in Hawaiian agricultural pondfields, as well as in specialized fresh and brackish water fishponds.

Ponds were built to catch and hold fish; the ponds grew algae that fed the fish.  A natural food chain can be expected to produce a ratio of 10:1 in terms of the conversion of one link by another (10,000-kg of algae make 1,000-kg of tiny crustaceans, which in turn make 100-kg of small fish.  (Kelly)

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

These fishponds were symbols of chiefly status and power, and usually under the direct control of aliʻi or konohiki. The fish from these ponds often went to feed chiefly households. (Handy)

One significant fishpond on the southeast side of Kauaʻi is known as ʻAlekoko Fishpond (one of the rarest and most significant cultural and archaeological sites on Kauaʻi.)

Just outside Līhuʻe and Nāwiliwili Harbor on the Hulēʻia River, a Scenic Overlook is located just off of Hulemalu Road, about ½-mile from the entrance to the Nāwiliwili small boat harbor.

The fishpond is located in the Hulēʻia National Wildlife Refuge, 238-acres of river valley that is a habitat for thirty-one species of birds, including endangered Hawaiian birds: aeʻo (Hawaiian stilt,) ʻalae keʻokeʻo (Hawaiian coot,) ʻalae ʻula (Hawaiian moorhen,) nēnē (Hawaiian goose) and koloa maoli (Hawaiian duck.)

Although you can see the fishpond and the refuge from the road, the area is not open to the public. Small boats, kayaks, jet skis, windsurfers and water-skiers use the river.

ʻAlekoko Fishpond is located near the mouth of the Hulēʻia River, in the ahupuaʻa of Niumalu; it was formed by walling off a large bend in the river; the stone-faced, dirt wall is over 900-yards long.

The dirt wall is 5-feet above the water level, 4-feet wide on top and the dirt slants out on both sides. The facing wall begins with a single row of stones and then becomes double-thickness as it gets further out into the river and the current.

The stones also become larger until the double layer is 2-feet thick. The stone facing on the outside is five feet high in most places and is quite perpendicular. The stones are very carefully fitted together; the stone facing runs for about two-thirds of the total length of the wall. (NPS)

“That pond, of course, is monumental, monumental stone work.  To me this is the ultimate fishpond.  What makes it kind of special here on Kauaʻi is the way the stones are fitted.” (David Burney, paleoecologist; star-bulletin)

Ancient Hawaiians often used lava rock to build walls, but they typically shaped them to fit together instead of cutting them into blocks.  “Hawaiians didn’t typically cut rock to build something, (as they did at ʻAlekoko).” (Michael Graves, US archaeology professor; star-bulletin)

The pond did not just hold fish.  In the 1800s, two of the three gaps in the levee were filled in and the pond was used by rice farmers.

In the 1940s, after a tidal wave, the wall was repaired by the man who had the lease at the time. He put bags of cement in the weak spots and now longish “rocks” are visible where the bags deteriorated and the cement hardened.

According to legend, Chief ʻAlekoko asked the Menehune to build two ponds – one for him and one for his sister Hāhālua.  (Menehune, while small in size, were the mythical masters of stone work and engineering; they agreed to build the ponds – with one stipulation: neither should look out of their houses on the night of construction.)

Hāhālua, content with the idea of being able to eat fish from her own pond, did not look; however, her brother could not stand the temptation and he peered out.  Immediately, the Menehune stopped work and washed their bleeding hands in the water – hence the name of the pond, ʻAlekoko (bloody ripples.)

Built by the Menehune, it is also known as Menehune Fishpond.

“Today the lush vegetation on the wall and banks of the pond and the calm blue waters of the Hulēʻia River combine to make Menehune Fishpond an impressive sight, an ideal picture of Polynesia.”

“It is an important historical reminder of the past and a contemporary source of pride for the people of Kauaʻi.”  It was added to the National Register in 1973.  (NPS)  (Unfortunately, it has also been overgrown with invasive plants and silt has filled parts of the pond.)

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