Images of Old Hawaiʻi

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Waihī Nui

“Manoa valley ends in what is called ‘the pen.’ It has walls with a trail into Pauoa valley.” (Towse)  “Rocky, wooded ridges enclose it to right and left, and straight ahead is the black, sheer face of Konahuanui.”  (Loomis)

Translated “his large seeds (testicles,)” the name Kōnāhuanui is said to come from a story summarized by T Kelsey: “when a man, probably a giant, chased a woman who escaped into a cave, he tore off his testes and threw them at her”.    (Kawaharada)

Kōnāhuanui is the highest peak in the Koʻolau Mountains and is the northwest corner of the Mānoa Ahupua‘a boundary. It was the home of the gods Kāne and Kanaloa.

It is also home to a moʻo goddess, a large mythic lizard that lives in freshwater pools and streams. Rain clouds gather around its peak, and its Kona side, often ribboned with waterfalls, is the wettest area of Honolulu: here is the source of the waters of Mānoa and Nuʻuanu valleys.

“[T]his cul-de-sac at its makai, or southern, angle, along the stream called ‘Aihualama. The trail into Nu‘uanu opened at its upper left, or northwestern, angle. Here was a good path for a kama‘aina going alone from valley to valley”.  (Loomis)

In an 1882 map of Manoa prepared by Baldwin, there are several waterfalls back in the valley, including, Waiihi-nui (Waihī Nui), Waihii-iki (Waihī Iki), Luaaulaea and Naniuapo.

“[T]he ground rises rapidly for a few rods, to a thicket of hibiscus and eugenia, at the foot of a magnificent mountain, exhibiting from the base to its summit a perpendicular height of a thousand feet – as rich a variety of projecting cliff and wild recess, of dripping rocks and mantling foliage, of graceful creeper, pendant shrub, and splendid flower, as Arcadia itself can boast.” (Stewart)

“On the curve of high cliffs at the mauka boundary of Manoa sheer white splashes of waterfall filled pools hidden from the casual eye in recesses where Kaahumanu herself loved to bathe among cool winds and soft air laden with fragrance of awapuhi and maile.” (Damon)

The water from these falls converge into Manoa Stream. Mānoa Valley formerly supported a large population with scores of lo‘i kalo that were watered by the many freshwater streams. (ASM)

“When we had seen the piece of land appropriated by Kalaimoku or Mr. Pitt to our use, and had given directions to the natives who cultivated the taro on the land, we indulged ourselves with a pleasant bath in a cooling stream that waters the valley, and we returned across a part of the mountain which lies between that place and Honoruru valley.” (Missionaries Chamberlain, Loomis, Blatchely and Bingham; Damon)

“The taro patches that followed the stream bed down the center of the valley were now either vegetable gardens, pasture land, or abandoned. … AIso much of the stream’s water had been diverted for the use of the island’s increasing population. The taro farms that were in the valley from the time the first foreign observer stepped into it were gone for good.” (DeLeon)

“In 1919 the Hawaii Sugar Planters’ Association established an experimental substation in the rear of the valley. Here sugar cane was raised for experimental purposes. Trees from all over the Pacific were also brought to the substation to see how they would adapt to the Hawaiian environment. The substation became Lyon Arboretum, which is part of the University of Hawaii.” (DeLeon)

There is something about falling water that fascinates a human being.

As noted above, here is Waihī Nui (‘trickling water’), Mānoa Falls. It’s in the backyard of Hawai‘i’s largest population and visitor destination. A bus line takes you within walking distance to the trailhead.

It is one of the most popular trail destinations on O‘ahu; Mānoa Falls sees an average of 200,000 visitors annually.  (DLNR)  The Mānoa Falls Trail is part of DLNR’s Na Ala Hele Trail & Access Program.

The video (done by DLNR) shows people down by the falls.  Don’t go there; rather, there is a viewing area contained by a rock wall at the falls – heed all warning and other signs, do not go beyond the rock wall.

The State does not charge a fee to hike this trail. The Mānoa Falls Trail is open seven days a week – sunup to sundown. The parking lot is managed by Paradise Park and is not associated with the management of the state trail.

The beginning of the trail goes through a shipping container into a big open lush field used as a location for many movies. The trail continues past the field, then crosses over a natural wood footbridge through a grove of Eucalyptus trees.

The 0.8-mile trail (each way) gradually ascends through a rainforest that eventually transitions into bamboo. There is a low-lying rest area on the right of the trail with benches, interpretive sign and tree arch throne.

Continue up ascending gravel terrace steps until you round the corner that reveals the water fall from a distance. On the left you will another rest stop with a bench and interpretive sign. There is one more short section of terrace steps that leads up to a nice flat section of trail that gently takes all the way to small section of cement steps.

Ascend up the steps and now you are at the falls viewing area. On your left is a bench and viewing area is straight ahead. The viewing area is contained by a rock wall.

Signs are posted indicating to not go beyond that point, and of the potential danger of landslide. Do not go beyond the rock wall viewing area, closed area signs or into pool area or to upper pools.  (DLNR)

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Barrage Terraces

In pre-contact (prior to 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.

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, pondfields) up slopes and along rivers, kalo cultivation in Hawai‘i reached a unique level of engineering and sustainable sophistication.

Hawaiians knew the productive advantages of growing wetland taro and placed the greater effort in this area very early, when required to increase food production capabilities for the rapidly increasing number of people.

By the time of Captain Cook’s visits in 1778 and 1779, every large river valley in the islands contained many loʻi (pondfields,) and each was systematically irrigated by means of ditches delivering water to the fields spread throughout the valley.

Usually, water was fed into an irrigation ditch from a stream. A loose-rock dam built across the stream allowed water to flow between and over the top of the rocks to provide for farmers living downstream. The dam functioned to raise the water level just high enough at that point to permit water to flow into the ditch leading to the terraces.

In this way the amount and speed of the water could be controlled. If too much water was found to be flowing into the ditch, a few stones could be removed from the dam, thus lowering the water level and reducing the volume of water entering the ditch.

The speed of the flow of water into the pondfields was controlled by the length and slope of the ditch. By varying the length and grade of the ditch, its builders were able to maintain a constant and low-level gradient over variegated terrain. The flow through the pond fields was controlled by the height of the terraces.

Captain George Vancouver visited Hawai‘i in 1792 and wrote, “Our guides led us to the northward through the village [Waikiki], to an exceedingly well-made causeway, about twelve feet broad, with a ditch on each side.”

“This opened to our view a spacious plain…the major part appeared divided into fields of irregular shape and figure, which were separated from each other by low stone walls, and were in a very high state of cultivation.” (Vancouver)

In 1815, the explorer Kotzebue added to these descriptions by writing about the gardens and the artificial ponds that were scattered throughout the area:

“The luxuriant taro-fields, which might be properly called taro-lake, attracted my attention.  Each of these consisted of about one hundred and sixty square feet, forms a regular square, and walled round with stones, like our basins.”

“This field or tank contained two feet of water, in whose slimy bottom the taro was planted, as it only grows in moist places. Each had two sluices. One to receive, and the other to let out, the water into the next field, whence it was carried farther.” (Kotzebue)

Of the lo‘i types, “More common are stone-faced pondfields constructed either on [alluvial] slopes or alluvial terraces (SB), but not directly in stream channels; this is the dominant pondfield type ….”

“[T]he stone facing is generally a veneer of one-stone or two-stone thickness. Such facings apparently add stability to pondfields on steeper slopes; they may also be a means of removing unwanted loose stone from the soil media.”

[But, they are not the only type of lo‘i.] “These pondfields have been artificially filled, in contrast to the barrage fields which catch stream sediment.” (Kirch)

Stone-walled barrage pondfields “are what Spencer and Hale (1961:8) term ‘narrow channel barrage terraces.’ They were constructed by building a barrage of stones across a narrow stream channel (usually intermittent or with little flow) …”

“… and allowing soil and rock to accumulate behind the stone facing, thus creating a level planting surface which spread and impounded the channel’s waterflow.”  (Kirch)

The barrage was sometimes “in sequential system of terraces … [providing] high level of context for function as an agricultural terrace and/or for water or soil retention or movement”. (Kamakakūokalani)

David Malo explained how a taro garden could keep a large number of people in vegetable food continuously: “Some farmers did not plant a great deal at a time. They would plant a little, and after waiting a few months, they planted more land.”

“So they continued to plant a little at a time during the months suitable for planting. The food did not all ripen at once, and by this plan the supply was kept up for a long time and they had no lack of food.”  (Malo)

An acre of irrigated pondfields produced as much as five times the amount of taro as an acre of dryland cultivation. Over a period of several years, irrigated pondfields could be as much as 10 or 15 times more productive than unirrigated taro gardens, as dryland gardens need to lie fallow for greater lengths of time than irrigated gardens.

Rev. Armstrong suggested that there would be ‘food enough for ten persons’ on an acre of average taro land in Honolulu, that is, subsistence for ten persons.

“With proper management, kalo (taro) land needs no rest. So the natives tell me. Let the water be kept constantly upon it and the weeds cleared out and that is all that is needed. The kalo plants, however, must be changed every crop. It requires about a year to bring a crop of kalo to maturity.”  (Armstrong)

Rev. Johnson of Hanalei, Kauai, a noted wetland taro-producing valley, suggested that 25 people subsist on an acre of good taro land.

Writing from his experiences on the well-watered windward side of Oʻahu, Rev. Parker wrote: “An acre of kalo land would furnish food for from twenty to thirty persons, if properly taken care of. It will produce crops for a great many years in succession, without lying fallow any time.”

Rev. Bishop, writing from ʻEwa District on Oʻahu, suggested that 15-20 people could be fed from an acre of taro: “Good kalo land, irrigated by water, improves by cultivation. It only requires time enough between crops to rot the weeds, which serve as manure.”

Rev. Emerson lived and worked in Waialua District on Oʻahu where several large rivers and numerous springs watered the land.  He wrote: “Twenty persons, I think can be fed on an acre of good kalo land.”

“The land can generally be cultivated perpetually, if it has two or three months between each crop, in which to decompose the weeds which might grow during the time the kalo was ripening.”

“I have a large kalo patch that has not been left to rest one month at a time for fifteen years, and yet it produces as largely as fifteen years since. I presume the same parch was cultivated centuries before I knew it. It requires one year for kalo to come to maturity.” (Bishop)

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Ka Houpo o Kāne

E ui aku ana au ia oe,
Aia i hea ka Wai a Kane?
Aia i lalo, i ka honua, i ka Wai hu,
I ka wai kau a Kane me Kanaloa
He waipuna, he wai e inu,
He wai e mana, he wai e ola,
E ola no, ea!

One question I ask of you:
Where flows the water of Kane?
Deep in the ground, in the gushing spring,
In the ducts of Kane and Loa,
A well-spring of water, to quaff,
A water of magic power-
The water of Life!
Life! O give us this life!
(Emerson; Unwritten Literature of Hawaii)

Precipitation includes rain, snow, and fog drip. Evapotranspiration is the water that is either evaporated directly into the atmosphere or that which is used by plants and transpired back into the atmosphere. Runoff is the component that contributes to streamflow.

Groundwater recharge is the component of precipitation that percolates into the subsurface and is not lost to the atmosphere via evapotranspiration.  (Intera)

Fresh water travels down into the earth through a process called percolation. On the Hawaiian Islands, water first percolates through soil, if present, then through porous volcanic rock to the water table within the lava. (BWS)

During the volcanic eruptions that created the Hawaiian Islands, molten rock beneath the surface flowed up from the center of the volcanoes; dikes formed when magma stopped flowing to the surface, then cooled over time to form dense, nonporous rock.

Fresh water percolating down between the dikes compartment becomes trapped between the nearly impenetrable walls of the dikes. The water can only escape when its level rises and overflows the walls of the dike, or when great internal pressure causes leakage. Sometimes a freshwater spring will form above ground when such water spews from a dike. (BWS)

Sometimes percolating water becomes trapped when it meets layers of fine volcanic ash or clay-like soil that occur between the remnants of Hawaii’s ancient underground lava flows.  This perched water can no longer seep downward, so it collects and moves sideways, sometimes appearing as a spring (BWS)

“Ka-houpo-o-Kāne (literally, The-bosom-of Kāne), is the sacred region of Mauna Kea (between the 10,000 – 11,000 foot elevation), in which are found the springs fed by Ka-wai-hū-a-Kāne; by a rivulet from Waiau to the head of Pōhakuloa Gulch.” (“Houpokāne is mistakenly written Hopukani on most maps dated after 1900.”) (Maly)

Ka Houpo o Kāne represents the springs of the island of Hawaii. (Vredenburg)  “The area identified as Ka-houpo-o-Kāne is situated below Waiau, on the southwestern slopes of Mauna Kea, in the land of Ka‘ohe.”

“The god Kāne is believed to be foremost of the Hawaiian gods, and is credited with creation, procreation, light, waters of life, abundance, and many other attributes.”

“A land being likened to the chest of Kāne, can imply that the land was cherished and blessed by the god Kāne. … SN Hale‘ole’s tradition of Lā‘ie-i-ka-wai (In Kū ‘Oko‘a 1862-1863), records that “Kahoupokane” was one of three companions of Poli‘ahu. The other two companions were Lilinoe and Waiau.”

“The area identified as Ka-houpo-o-Kāne is situated below Waiau, on the southwestern slopes of Mauna Kea, in the land of Ka‘ohe.” (Maly)

“One of the primary attributes of Kāne are the wai ola (life giving waters), sacred springs and water sources made by Kāne around the islands, to provide for the welfare of the people and the land). Interestingly, at Kahoupo-o-Kāne are found the waters of Pōhakuloa, Hopukani, and Waihū (also known by the name “Ka-wai-hū-a-Kāne”).   (Maly)

“A spring on the southern side of the mountain, called ‘Wai Hu,’ is believed by the natives to be connected with [Lake Waiau].” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, Sep 14, 1892)

“The few small springs on the glaciated peak of Mauna Kea in Hawaii are fed by ground water perched on and in glacial drift deposits. Their presence is note-worthy because of the light they throw on geologic history and on hydrologic principles rather than for the amount of water produced.”

“Springs in Hawaii fall into two chief categories: (1) high-level springs fed by ground-water bodies perched on or confined by intrusive bodies, ash beds, or modem or ancient soils and (2) basal springs fed from a great body of ground water which is kept in hydrostatic balance with sea water at a few feet above sea-level.” (Wentworth & Powers)

“Conditions on Mauna Kea favor rapid percolation of most rain and meltwater from the winter snow. Toward higher elevations rock-weathering becomes progressively more physical in type.”

“The largest springs on Mauna Kea are found at several points in the Waihu branch of Pohakuloa Valley, on the southwest slope between 8,900 and 10,400 feet.”

“The upper part of the Waihu springs area forms, in summer, a notably green little valley with many small patches of lush grass quite in contrast to the almost complete barrenness of the surrounding terrane, which is above timber line.”

“In the area to the east and up the slope from the springs are numerous small heaps of pre-European stone adz workings.  Certain lava caves contain evidence of habitation, suggesting that the springs were frequented by adz workers.”

“In addition to these larger springs there are some dozens of smaller seeps where trickling water or greener vegetation shows the emergence of small amounts of ground water.” (Wentworth & Powers)

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by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Kōnane

Lawe ʻili keokeo, paʻani, ka ʻeleʻele
Removing the whites is playing with the blacks

It starts with a papamū, a generally rectangular flat stone whose surface is marked with shallow pits in regular order and of considerable number.  Later more mobile boards were used.

The center of the board was called piko (navel) and frequently marked with an inset human molar; sometimes every position had an inset tooth (or a chicken or human bone.) The row along the borders of the board was termed kakaʻi.  (Ernst)

“They have a game somewhat resembling draughts (checkers,) but more complicated.  It is played upon a board about twenty-two inches by fourteen, painted black, with white spots, on which the men are placed; these consist of black and white pebbles, eighteen upon each side, and the game is won by the capture of the adversaries pieces.”

“Tamaahmaah (Kamehameha) excels at this game. I have seen him sit for hours playing with his chiefs, giving an occasional smile, but without uttering a word. I could not play, but William Moxely, who understood it well, told me that he had seen none who could beat the king.”  (Campbell)

Captain James Cook also noted Konane in his journal.  “It is very remarkable, that the people of these islands are great gamblers. They have a game very much like our draughts; but, if one may judge from the number of squares, it is much more intricate.”

“The board is about two feet long, and is divided into two hundred and thirty-eight squares, of which there are fourteen in a row, and they make use of black and white pebbles, which they move from square to square.”  (Cook)

Kōnane boards do not follow any established pattern in size and range from 6×6 boards to well over 14×14 boards.  (Some suggest even larger boards are used.)

To begin the game, the first player (black) must remove one of their pieces, either the center piece, one laterally next to it or one at a corner. The second player (white) now removes a piece of their own, adjacent to the space created by black’s first move.

Then, the players take turns making moves.  A player moves a stone of his color by jumping it over a horizontally or vertically (not diagonally) adjacent stone of the opposite color, into an empty space. Stones so jumped are captured, and removed from play.  Thereafter players take turns making moves on the board.

A stone may make multiple successive jumps in a single move, as long as they are in a straight line; no turns are allowed within a single move. The winner of the game is the last player able to make a move.

Kōnane figures in the saga of Lonoikamakahiki, a great chief credited with creating the first kahili and instituting the Makahiki games.

In a fit of jealous rage over rumors that she had been unfaithful, he killed his wife during a game of kōnane by beating her over the head with the heavy board. Later learning of her steadfastness, he was crazed with grief, but eventually nursed back to health by a faithful retainer.  (Yuen)

King Kalākaua and his Queen Kapiʻolani were experts at kōnane, and it is well known that the goddess Pele did not refuse to play the game with the demigod Kamapuaʻa.  (Brigham)

An alternative name for kōnane was mū, and for the board, papamū. Brigham notes that mū was the name of the official who captured men for sacrifice or for judicial punishment and suggests this name was adopted for the game.  (Ernst)

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Nine Traditions That Emphasized Chiefly Rank

In 1920, Martha Beckwith became the first person to hold a chair in Folklore at any college or university in the country. The Folklore Foundation, established at Vassar, was an unprecedented institution and became a center of research in the almost entirely new field of folk culture.  (Vassar)

“Position in old Hawaiʻi, both social and political, depended in the first instance upon rank, and rank upon blood descent-hence the importance of genealogy as proof of high ancestry.”

“Grades of rank were distinguished and divine honors paid to those chiefs alone who could show such an accumulation of inherited sacredness as to class with the gods among men. Since a child inherited from both parents, he might claim higher rank than either one.”  (Beckwith)

There were nine traditions that emphasized chiefly rank:

  1. a family genealogy tracing back to the gods through one of the two sons of Ki‘i, Ulu and Nanaʻulu, and by as many branches (lala) as family relationship could be stretched to cover
  2. a name chant, composed at birth or given in afterlife, glorifying the family history not only of persons concerned but also of places made sacred by particular events or association
  3. signs in the heavens by which ʻaumakua of the day recognized their offspring on earth
  4. a special place set aside as sacred to the birth of high-ranking chiefs (i.e. Kūkaniloko)
  5. the sacred cord (aha) stretched at the entrance of a chief’s dwelling, under which all of lower rank must pass but which fell “of itself” before the approach of anyone of equal or higher position
  6. wealth, especially in lands, labor and specialized objects such as foods, ornaments, colors belonging to ranking chiefs alone
  7. the power of the kapu, which gave the ranking chief immense personal privilege, although the ruling chief might have actually more power over lands and wealth (before certain captive chiefesses of Maui of incredible sanctity, according to Kamakau, Kamehameha himself was of lower rank)
  8. the right to officiate in the heiau as both chief and priest 
  9. at death, the final deification of the bones and their laying away in a sacred and secret place difficult of access (one of the most important such place in ancient times being the ʻĪao valley on the island of Maui)

Rank depended primarily upon blood; but of great importance was the conduct of life by which one could, by carelessness in preserving the kapu and in making proper marriages, lose caste and prerogatives under the severe discipline of the Aha-ali‘i (Council of Chiefs,) or could, through a royal marriage, raise the rank of one’s descendants upon the family line.

The image, ‘Aha Ula’ by Brook Parker, represents the chiefly rank.  Information here is primarily from Beckwith, Mookini and Yardley.

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