Images of Old Hawaiʻi

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Spice Trade

By many accounts, Britain was a quiet agricultural outpost in the Roman empire. The native inhabitants had a well-established growing system that prioritized crops such as broad beans, barley, oats, and wheat. Needless to say, Britons ate a lot of bread and drank a lot of beer.

Their livestock consisted of the usual range of domesticated animals: cattle, sheep, chicken, and pigs. Foraged foods included mushrooms, wild onions, and herbs such as mustard. Those who lived near the coast enjoyed seaweed, fish, and oysters. Rural life and food looked much the same as it does today, with a key exception — lack of spices.

The Romans brought a wealth of spices from all over their empire. The trade along the Spice Road had been good to them, and they introduced pepper, rosemary, thyme, coriander, mint, and garlic to Britons. Some of these herbs were dried and some were in plant form. Those plants that grew well in the Isles still remain a part of British cuisine.  (Cowen)

Many tall tales developed as to the origins of spices, but by the 13th century, travelers like Marco Polo (1254-1324 CE) and missionaries were beginning to improve Europe’s geographical knowledge of the wider world.

India seemed awash with black pepper. Sri Lanka was rich in cinnamon. Sandalwood came from Timor. China and Japan were getting spices like cloves, nutmeg, and mace from India, South East Asia, and the Maluku Islands or the Moluccas in what is today Indonesia – not for nothing were they nicknamed the Spice Islands.

Then, in 1453 came the fall of Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire was conquered by the Ottoman Empire, and so one of the principal land routes for spices into Europe was lost. (Cartwright)

One of the major motivating factors in the European Age of Exploration was the search for direct access to the highly lucrative Eastern spice trade. In the 15th century, spices came to Europe via the Middle East land and sea routes, and spices were in huge demand both for food dishes and for use in medicines.

The problem was how to access this market by sea.

Accordingly, explorers like Christopher Columbus (1451-1506) and Vasco da Gama (c. 1469-1524) were sent to find a maritime route from Europe to Asia.

Columbus (who was looking for a new route to India, China, Japan and the ‘Spice Islands’ of Indonesia to bring back cargoes of silk and spices (ginger turmeric and cinnamon)) never saw the mainland United States, but the first explorations of the continental United States were launched from the Spanish possessions that he helped establish.

To the south, da Gama did round the Cape of Good Hope, sail up the coast of East Africa, and cross the Indian Ocean to reach India.

From 1500 onwards, first Portugal, and then other European powers, attempted to control the spice trade, the ports which marketed spices, and eventually the territories which grew them.  (Cartwright)

On November 28 1520, Ferdinand Magellan entered the “Sea of the South” (which he later named the Pacific) and thereby open up to Spain the possibility of an alternative route between Europe and the spices of the Orient.”  (Lloyd)

Then, almost 50 years after the death of Christopher Columbus, Manila galleons finally fulfilled their dream of sailing west to Asia to benefit from the rich Indian Ocean trade.

“The Spanish Galleons were square rigged ships with high superstructures on their sterns. They were obviously designed for running before the wind or at best sailing on a very ‘broad reach.’”

“Because of their apparently limited ability to ‘beat their way to windward’ (sail against the wind), they had to find trade routes where the prevailing winds and sea currents were favorable.”  (Lloyd)

Starting in 1565, with the Spanish sailor and friar Andrés de Urdaneta, after discovering the Tornaviaje or return route to Mexico through the Pacific Ocean, Spanish galleons sailed the Pacific Ocean between Acapulco in New Spain (now Mexico) and Manila in the Philippine islands.

Once a year, gold and silver were transported west to Manila in exchange spices (pepper, clove and cinnamon), porcelain, ivory, lacquer and elaborate fabrics (silk, velvet, satin), collected from both the Spice Islands (Moluccas, Indonesia) and the Asian Pacific coast, in European markets.

They also carried Chinese handicrafts, Japanese screens, fans, Japanese swords, Persian carpets, Ming dynasties and a myriad of other products. East Asia traded primarily with a silver standard, and the goods were bought mainly with Mexican silver. (Pascual)

The galleons leaving Manila would make their way back to Acapulco in a four-month long journey.  The goods were off-loaded and transported across land to ships on the other Mexican coast at Veracruz, and eventually, sent to European markets and customers eager for these exotic wares.  (GuamPedia)

In 1668 a royal decree required the galleons to stop in Guam in the Mariana Islands on their westward voyage from Acapulco to Manila. This allowed ships to replenish supplies and was the only means for communication between Spain and the Marianas colony.

The Manila Galleon Trade lasted for 250 years and ended in 1815 with Mexico’s war of independence.  More than 40-Spanish galleons were lost during this 250-year period. (Lloyd)

“‘The voyage from the Philippine islands to America may be call’d the longest, and most dreadful of any in the world; as well because of the vast ocean to be cross’d, being almost the one-half of the terraquous globe, with the wind always a-head; as for the terrible tempests that happen there, one upon the back of the other …”

“… and for the desperate diseases that seize people, in seven or eight months living at sea, sometimes near the line, sometimes cold, sometimes temperate, sometimes hot, which is enough to destroy a man of steel, much more flesh and blood, which at sea had but indifferent food.’” (Dr. Gemilli, Popular Science, 1901)

“The Spanish captains normally made their eastbound Pacific crossings between 31o N and 44o N latitude to insure that they would remain in the zone of the westerly winds. They would want to avoid the ‘horse latitudes’ (around 30o  N) and they would certainly want to remain well north of the northeast trade winds that would  drive their square rigged ships back to the Philippines.”

“This northerly route back to Acapulco would normally keep the galleons at least 1,000 miles north of Hawaii and it would not be surprising if little or no contact with the Hawaiian Island occurred during these difficult eastbound crossings of the North Pacific.”

“The westbound route from Acapulco offers an entirely different set of navigational considerations.  Friar Urdaneta’s route involved sailing down to 13° N latitude (or 14° N) and following that parallel all the way to Guam and on to the San Bernardino Strait in the Philippines.”

“Unknown to the Spanish navigators, the very favorable ocean currents mentioned above would position their ships much further along their westbound course than indicated by using their ship’s mechanical ‘log’ to measure their ship’s speed through the water.”  (Lloyd)

Some suggest the Spaniards came to the Hawaiian Islands a couple of centuries before Cook saw them.

“Old Spanish charts and a 1613 AD Dutch globe suggest that explorers from Spain had sighted Hawaiʻi long before Captain Cook.  When Cook arrived in 1778, galleons laden with silver from the mines of Mexico and South America had been passing south of Hawaiʻi for two centuries on annual round trip voyages of 17,000 miles between Acapulco and Manila.”  (Kane)

“It seems to be almost certain that one Juan Gaetano, a Spanish navigator, saw Hawaii in 1555 AD. A group of islands, the largest of which was called La Mesa, was laid down in the old Spanish charts in the same latitude as the Hawaiian Islands, but 10 degrees too far east.”  (Hawaiʻi Department of Foreign Affairs, 1896)

“There are undoubted proof of the discovery of the Hawaiian Islands by the Spaniard, Juan Gaetano. This is the first known record of the islands among the civilized nations. There are evident references to this group in the legends of the Polynesians in other Pacific islands.”  (Westervelt 1923)

La Perouse noted, when he briefly visited the Islands (1786,) “In the charts, at the foot of this archipelago, might be written: ‘Sandwich Islands, surveyed in 1778 by Captain Cook, who named them, anciently discovered by the Spanish navigators.’”  (La Perouse, Fornander)

“By all the documents that have been examined, it is demonstrated that the discovery dates from the year 1555 and that the discoverer was Juan Gaetano or Gaytan. The principal proof is an old manuscript chart, registered in these archives as anonymous, and in which the Sandwich Islands are laid down under that name, but which also contains a note declaring that he called them Islas de Mesa”.  (Spanish Colonial Office letter to the Governor of the Philippines, The Friend May 1927)

“It is true that no document has been found in which Gaytan himself certifies to this fact, but there exist data which collectively form a series of proofs sufficient for believing it to be so. The principal one is an old manuscript chart … in which the Sandwich Islands are laid down under that name…” (The Friend May 1927)

Gaetano passed through the northern part of the Pacific and discovered large islands which he marked upon a chart as ‘Los Majos.’ The great mountains upon these islands did not rise in sharp peaks, but spread out like a high tableland in the clouds, hence he also called the islands “Isles de Mesa,” the Mesa Islands or the Table Lands. One of the islands was named “The Unfortunate.” Three other smaller islands were called “The Monks.”  (Westervelt 1923)

Fortunately, however, the Spanish made no use of this discovery, thus permitting the Hawaiians to escape the sad fate of the natives of the Ladrones and Carolines under Spanish dominion.  (White 1898)

Juan Gaetano may not have been the first Spaniard, here.  Stories suggest an earlier arrival of shipwrecked Spaniards at Keʻei, Kona Moku (district,) Island of Hawaiʻi.

There is fairly complete evidence that a Spanish vessel was driven ashore on the island of Hawai‘i in 1527, it being one of a squadron of three which sailed from the Mexican coast for the East Indies.  (White 1898)

“A well known Hawaiian tradition relates that in the reign of Keliiokaloa, son of Umi, a foreign vessel was wrecked at Keei, South Kona, Hawaii. According to the tradition, only the captain and his sister reached the shore in safety. From their kneeling on the beach and remaining a long time in that posture, the place was called Kulou (to stoop, to bow,) as it is unto this day.”  (Alexander 1892)

“The natives received them kindly and placed food before them. These strangers intermarried with the Hawaiians, and were the progenitors of certain well known families of chiefs, as for instance, that of Kaikioewa, former Governor of Kauai.“  (Alexander 1892)

Jarves expanded on the story, “In the reign of Kealiiokaloa, son of Umi, thirteen generations of kings before Cook’s arrival, which, according to the previous calculation, would bring it near the year 1620, a vessel, called by the natives Konaliloha, arrived at Pale, Keei, on the south side of Kealakeakua bay, Hawaii.”

“Here, by some accident, she was drawn into the surf, and totally wrecked; the captain, Kukanaloa, and a white woman, said to be his sister, were the only persons who reached the land. As soon as they trod upon the beach, either from fear of the inhabitants, or to return thanks for their safety, they prostrated themselves, and remained in that position for a long time.”

“The spot where this took place, is known at the present day, by the appellation of Kulou, to bow down. The shipwrecked strangers were hospitably received, invited to the dwellings of the natives, and food placed before them.”  (Jarves 1843)

One more thing, the first Hawaiian word written is ‘Hamaite’ – it was spoken to Captain Cook at the time he made contact with the Islands and he wrote it in his journal.

It was made in reference to iron.  Some suggest it refers to Hematite (ferric oxide – a mineral form of iron oxide – that is Hematita in Spanish.)  However, others suggest ‘Hamaite’ is actually a Hawaiian expression of He maita’i – good.  (Schutz)

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Hualalai

When the American Protestant missionaries arrived in the Islands (1820), they sailed from Kawaihae to Kailua-Kona; Bingham wrote, “As we coasted slowly along southward, we had a grand view of Hualalai, the volcanic mountain that rises some eight or nine thousand feet, near the western side of Hawaii, with its terminal crater, its forests, and apparently recent streams of lava.”

In Kona, the “village of thatched huts, though in a dry and sterile spot, is ornamented with cocoanut and Kou trees, which to the eye form a relief. A few miles inland, trees and plantations are numerous; then, still further back, rises the forest-covered Mauna Hualalai, with its lofty terminal crater, now extinct. . .”

Missionary wife, Lucy Thurston noted, “On the mountain Hualalai, just back of Kailua, is a large crater. It is now extinct. But our old people tell us of the time in their childhood, when they were aroused from their midnight slumbers, to see red hot balls hurled into the air from out the crater on this mountain.”

“Torrents of molten lava flowed from crater to coast, extended the shore farther out into the sea, and encrusted the surface of the earth, besides leaving an abundance of large loose scoriae, tossed about in every direction.”

Hualalai (“obstructing the flow” (Parker Dictionary for a crater on the mountain)) is the third youngest and third-most historically active volcano on the Island of Hawai‘i.

Six different vents erupted lava between the late 1700s and 1801, two of which generated lava flows that poured into the sea on the west coast of the island. The Keāhole Airport is built atop the larger flow.  (USGS)

The 1801 flow covered Pā‘aiea pond; “Pā‘aiea was a great pond almost like the ponds of Wainanalii and Kiholo. In the olden days, when the great ruling chiefs were living, and when these fish ponds were full of the riches of Awa, Anae, and Ahole, along with all sorts of fish which swam within.”

“During that time, Konohiki were stationed, and he was the guard of the pond that watched over the pond and all things, as here we are talking about Pā‘aiea Pond which was destroyed by lava and became pahoehoe lava which remains today”.

“In the correct and trues story of this pond, its boundaries began from Kaelehuluhulu on the north and on the south was at the place called Wawaloli, and the distance from one end to the other was 3 miles or more, and that was the length of this pond …”

“… and today within these boundaries, there are a number of pools [lua wai loko] remaining during this time that the writer is speaking before the readers of the Hoku.”  (Hoku o Hawaii, 2/5/1914)

The lava came and destroyed the great fishpond of Pā‘aiea, dried its water and filled and covered it with black rocks.  However, two places were spared.

There remained only that very small portion of the fishpond, close to Ho‘ona (within the Natural Energy Laboratory property at Keāhole Point.)  Also, the area below the old headquarters at Hu‘ehu‘e Ranch was left untouched, and this open space bears the name of Pahinahina to this day.

It is said that because of this event that the lands of Manuahi came to be called Ka-ulu-pulehu (the roasted breadfruit (‘ū is short for ‘ulu,)) and this has been shortened to Ka‘ūpūlehu.

Though Hualalai is not nearly as active as Mauna Loa or Kilauea, recent geologic mapping of the volcano shows that 80 percent of Hualalai’s surface has been covered by lava flows in the past 5,000 years.  (USGS)

In the past few decades, when most of the resorts, homes and commercial buildings were built on the flanks of Hualalai, earthquake activity beneath the volcano has been low.

In 1929, however, an intense swarm of earthquakes lasting more than a month was most likely caused by magma rising to near the surface. For these reasons, Hualalai is considered a potentially dangerous volcano that is likely to erupt again in the next 100 years.  (USGS)

A Pālama Nui kāua
Wai māpuna kau i ka maka ka ‘ōpua
Hualalai huewai kuahiwi

You and I stand together on the Foundation of Profound Enlightenment
Where the spring water is borne upon the clouds
Mount Hualalai, a mountain water-gourd

(from Nā‘ū Pālama Nui – ”Hualalai, huewai kuahiwi” is a traditional saying honoring Hualalai’s role in sponging the atmosphere of moisture to fill the aquifers.) (Tangarō, UH-HCC)

With respect to groundwater, an interesting conclusion, based on isotopic data for the high level water, shows that most of the groundwater recharge under Hualalai is coming from recharge at significantly higher elevations than the local rainfall in the mid-elevations of Hualalai (at nearly 3,000 year average age of the water in the high level aquifer).

In other words, not much of the “local” rainfall in the vicinity of the high level wells is actually getting into the high level aquifer. (as noted by Don Thomas, research faculty of the Hawai‘i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology at UH and Director of the Center for the Study of Active Volcanoes at the UH‐Hilo campus.)

The only alternative that can explain the isotopic and age data for the high level aquifer, with significant amounts of local recharge entering it, is that substantially larger amounts of much older recharge to the high level aquifers is coming into the Hualalai water system from the adjacent regions in the Saddle and from Mauna Loa.  (Don Thomas)

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Ahupua‘a – Maybe It’s Also A People Management System

Most writers romanticize the “ahupua‘a system” solely in the context of ecology and resource management – there is minimal (almost no) discussion that the sociological aspect of the separation and distribution of people may have also played a part in the ahupua‘a.

“(I)n the earliest times all the people were alii … it was only after the lapse of several generations that a division was made into commoners and chiefs” (Malo)

Kamakau noted, in early Hawaiʻi “The parents were masters over their own family group … No man was made chief over another.” Essentially, the extended family was the socio, biological, economic and political unit.

“In very ancient times, the lands were not divided and an island was left without divisions such as kalana, ʻokana, ahupuaʻa, and ʻili, but in the time when the lands became filled with people, the lands were divided, with the proper names for this place and that place so that they could be known.” (Kamakau)

As the population increased and wants and needs increased in variety and complexity (and it became too difficult to satisfy them with finite resources,) the need for chiefly rule became apparent.

The arrival of Pā‘ao from Tahiti in about the thirteenth century resulted in the establishment (or, at least expanded upon) a religious and political code in old Hawai`i, collectively called the kapu system.

Pā‘ao reportedly initiated a lineage of kings, starting with Pili Ka‘aiea (the 1st “Aliʻi ʻAimoku” for the Big Island – the first ruler (sometimes called the “king”) of the island.)

“The common people were called the maka‘ainana, literally ‘on-the-land [folk] .’ According to native genealogical history, they were of the same stock as the ali‘i but without claim to noble status or rank. This was because no strict rules governed their unions, as in the case of the nobility, with respect to genealogical equality or precedence.”

“They were the planters, the fishermen, and the craftsmen. Whether they were planters or fishers, they were tenants, not freeholders. As long as they were loyal to the ali‘i on whose land they dwelt, their land holdings, homesites, and fishing rights were secure.”

“Theirs was the right, if they pleased, to leave their home district or island and settle elsewhere under another chief.” (Pukui and Handy)

Life in the ahupua‘a was not idyllic … “The condition of the common people was that of subjection to the chiefs, compelled to do their heavy tasks, burdened and oppressed, some even to death. The life of the people was one of patient endurance, of yielding to the chiefs to purchase their favor.  The plain man (kanaka) must not complain.”

“If the people were slack in doing the chief’s work they were expelled from their lands, or even put to death. For such reasons as this and because of the oppressive exactions made upon them, the people held the chiefs in great dread and looked upon them as gods.”

“Only a small portion of the kings and chiefs ruled with kindness; the large majority simply lorded it over the people.”

“It was from the common people, however, that the chiefs received their food and their apparel for men and women, also their houses and many other things. When the chiefs went forth to war some of the commoners also went out to fight on the same side with them.”

“It was the makaainanas also who did all the work on the land; yet all they produced from the soil belonged to the chiefs; and the power to expel a man from the land and rob him of his possessions lay with the chief.”  (Malo)

As populations grew, so did potential for rivalry amongst family and Chiefs.

Just as the ‘divide and rule’ (or, divide and conquer) strategy to create physical divisions among the subjects to prevent alliances that could challenge the ruler helped rulers across the globe centuries prior, it s plausible that was also part of the motivation in dividing the Hawai‘i lands and dispersing the people.

As chiefdoms developed, the simple pecking order of titles and status likely evolved into a more complex and stratified structure.  The actual number of chiefs was few, but their retainers attached to the courts (advisors, konohiki, priests, warriors, etc) were many.

In addition to the expanded demand to provide food for the courts, commoners were also obliged to make new lines of products for the chiefs – feather cloaks, capes, helmets, images and ornaments.

Likewise, as challenges were made between chiefly realms, warfare and the resultant demand for services in combat increased.  “Maka‘āinana … certainly did march with chiefly retinues on some occasions. The degree to which maka‘āinana were mobilised varied according to the nature of the undertaking, or the seriousness of the threat posed.”

“Kamakau relates that, when an O‘ahu army invaded Moloka‘i in the mid-part of the 18th century, it was not until the fifth day of fighting that every able-bodied man within range of the battlefield came out of his house to fight.”

“Maka‘āinana levies were almost certainly more useful defending their own localities than bolstering forces invading other polities or other islands for logistical reasons. Practice varied.” (D’Archy)

When you look at it (without the influence of the repeated/glamorized descriptors, i.e., it’s all (and only) about resource protection) you can see that the ahupua‘a may also be about sociology (not just ecology).

Yes … because the population was distributed around each of the islands and not concentrated into villages, impacts to the resources are minimized. However, because of the dispersal of people, that also meant potential opponents had a harder time organizing dispersed people against you.

It was not always a peaceful time.  Island rulers, Aliʻi or Mōʻī, typically ascended to power through familial succession and warfare. In those wars, Hawaiians were killing Hawaiians; sometimes the rivalries pitted members of the same family against each other.

Going back to Pi‘ilani (generally, about the time Columbus was sailing across the Atlantic) … Pi‘ilani died at Lāhainā and the kingdom of Maui passed to his son, Lono-a-Piʻilani. Pi‘ilani had directed that the kingdom go to Lono, and that Kiha-a-Piʻilani (Lono’s brother) serve under him. In the early years of Lono-a-Piʻilani’s reign all was well; that changed.

Lono-a-Piʻilani became angry, because he felt Kiha-a-Piʻilani was trying to seize the kingdom for himself.  Lono sought to kill Kiha; so Kiha fled in secret to Molokaʻi and later to Lānaʻi. When Kiha, with chiefs, warriors and a fleet of war canoes, made their way to attack Lono; Lono trembled with fear of death, and died. (Kamakau)

The same happened when Liloa from Waipio died; Liloa named his son Hakau as heir to his kingdom, Umi, Liloa’s other son was given the Hawaiian god of war Kūkaʻilimoku.  The brothers didn’t get along and Umi killed Hakau and took control of the kingdom.

Fast forward to Kamehameha’s time, sibling (and cousin) rivalries continued … Following Kalaniʻōpuʻu’s death in 1782, the kingship was inherited by his son Kīwalaʻō; Kamehameha (Kīwalaʻō’s cousin) was given Kūkaʻilimoku.

Dissatisfied with subsequent redistricting of the lands by district chiefs, civil war ensued between Kīwalaʻō’s forces and the various chiefs under the leadership of his cousin Kamehameha.

In the first major skirmish, in the battle of Mokuʻōhai (a fight between Kamehameha and Kiwalaʻo in July, 1782 at Keʻei, south of Kealakekua Bay on the Island of Hawaiʻi,) Kiwalaʻo was killed by Kamehameha’s forces.

With the death of his cousin Kiwalaʻo, the victory made Kamehameha chief of the districts of Kona, Kohala and Hāmākua, while Keōua, the brother of Kiwalaʻo, held Kaʻū and Puna, and Keawemauhili declared himself independent of both in Hilo.  (Kalākaua)  Keōua was later killed by Kamehameha Chiefs.

“It is supposed that some six thousand of the followers of this chieftain (Kamehameha,) and twice that number of his opposers, fell in battle during his career, and by famine and distress occasioned by his wars and devastations from 1780 to 1796.” 

“However, the greatest loss of life according to early writers was not from the battles, but from the starvation of the vanquished and consequential sickness due to destruction of food sources and supplies – a recognized part of Hawaiian warfare.”  (Bingham)

And, shortly after Kamehameha’s death … King Kamehameha II (Liholiho) declared an end to the kapu system.  Kekuaokalani, Liholiho’s cousin, opposed the abolition of the kapu system and assumed the responsibility of leading those who opposed its abolition. These included priests, members of his court and the traditional territorial chiefs of the middle rank.

After attempts to settle peacefully, the two powerful cousins engaged at the final battle of Kuamoʻo Liholiho had more men, more weapons and more wealth to ensure his victory. He sent his prime minister, Kalanimōku, to defeat his cousin.  Kekauaokalani was killed, as was his wife Manono and his forces were routed.

Dividing the Land

“According to Hawaiian traditions, the system of ahupua‘a divisions was created by rulers who unified or centralized governance of their respective islands, such as Ma‘ilikukahi on O‘ahu and ‘Umi on Hawai‘i Island.” (Gonschor and Beamer)

On Maui, Kalaihaʻōhia, a kahuna (priest, expert,) is credited with the division of Maui Island into districts (moku) and sub-districts, during the time of the aliʻi Kakaʻalaneo at the end of the 15th century or the beginning of the 16th century.  (McGerty)

“The people of old gave names for the island’s different parts through their observing until their ideas became clear and precise, there are two names used on an island, moku is a name, ‘aina is another name, lands that were separated by the sea were called moku, lands where people resided were called moku.”

“The island (moku that is surrounded by water) is the main division, like, Hawai‘i, Maui and the rest of the island chain. (Islands) were divided up into sections inside of the island, called moku o loko, like such places as Kona on Hawai‘i island, and Hana on Maui island, and such divisions on these islands.”

“There sections were further divided into subdivision called ‘okana, or kalana; a poko is a subdivision of a ‘okana. These sections were further divided into smaller divisions called Ahupua’a, and sections smaller than an Ahupua‘a were called ‘ili ‘aina.”

“Divisions smaller than ‘ili ‘aina were mo‘o ‘aina and pauku ‘aina, and smaller than a pauku ‘aina was a kihapai, at this section the smaller divisions would be multiple Ko‘ele, Hakuone, and kuakua.” (Malo)

“An ali‘i nui (high chief) ruled the mokupuni. He appointed an ali‘i ‘ai moku (lower chief) to rule each moku. The ali‘i ‘ai moku chose a chief of lesser rank, an ali‘i ‘ai ahupua‘a, to rule the ahupua‘a. Often the ali‘i ‘ai ahupua‘a was not a resident of the ahupua‘a when selected and the title was not hereditary.”

“Sometimes the ali‘i ‘ai ahupua‘a also served as the konohiki (headman) and ran the day-to-day operations of the ahupua‘a.  The konohiki managed land use, assisted by luna who were experts in different specialties.” (Kamehameha Schools Press)

The ahupua‘a narrative doesn’t match reality … Look at ahupua‘a mapping and you will see that the ‘watershed’ ‘from the mountain to the sea’ divisions are really anomalies and not the norm for the ahupua‘a in the islands.

“One of the most persistent myths in popular narratives is the idea that ahupua‘a are usually stream drainages bounded by watersheds.  Equating ahupua‘a to watersheds is problematic … Furthermore, empirical evidence clearly shows that most ahupua‘a do not correspond to a watershed.” (Gonschor and Beamer)

“Even if applying the most liberal interpretation of the concept, only 98 ahupua‘a (5.4%) can be regarded as bounded by watersheds.  Of these there are none on Hawai‘i Island, 15 on Maui, i.e. 2.4% of Maui’s total of 636 ahupua‘a, and 8 of a total of 85 (9.4%) on Moloka‘i.”

“Only O‘ahu with 46 out of a 100 total ahupua‘a (46.0%) and Kaua‘i with 28 out of 82 (34.1%) have significant percentages of watershed-ahupua‘a.  The vast majority of ahupua‘a throughout the islands, are regularly shaped (mauka to makai) but not watershed-bounded.”  (Gonschor and Beamer)

“We caution … against generalizing the theory of economic self-sufficiency as well. Some, if a relatively small percentage, of the ahupua‘a could clearly not sustain themselves economically but would need to trade with neighboring ahupua‘a, for example, for fish and other marine materials in the landlocked ahupua‘a, and for agricultural products and possibly even fresh water in some of the smaller-sized ahupua‘a in leeward areas.” (Gonschor and Beamer)

So, maybe it’s not all about ecology; maybe sociology played a role, as well.

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Nearshore Fisheries

“It will be seen that fisheries are governed here by principles recognized by the common law. There are common fisheries, commons of fisheries, and several fisheries; but owing to the peculiar conditions that have existed here the two latter classes of fisheries exist here to a much larger extent than in other English-speaking countries.”

“Rights of fishery here are, as at common law, subject to rights of navigation. They are subject also to statutory regulation.” (Report of Committee on Fisheries, September 7, 1898; Maly)

“Probably the most peculiar feature of the Hawaiian fisheries is the well-developed principle of the private ownership of the fishes found in the open sea and bays to within a certain prescribed distance from shore.” (Preliminary Report On An Investigation Of The Fishes And Fisheries Of The Hawaiian Islands, 1901; Maly)

“For generations following initial settlement, communities were clustered along the watered, windward (ko‘olau) shores of the Hawaiian Islands. Along the ko‘olau shores, streams flowed and rainfall was abundant, and agricultural production became established.”

“The ko‘olau region also offered sheltered bays from which deep sea fisheries could be easily accessed, and near shore fisheries—enriched by nutrients carried in the fresh water—could be maintained in fishponds and coastal fisheries.”

“It was around these bays that clusters of houses where families lived, could be found. In these early times, the residents generally engaged in subsistence practices in the forms of agriculture and fishing.”  (Maly)

The “proprietors of land are entitled to the privilege of fishing upon their own shores as far as the tallest man in the island can wade at low water, and they may exercise that right at all seasons …”

“… but beyond that the sea is tabooed, except at two periods in the year, of six weeks each, during which unlimited fishing is allowed; at these times it is the general employment of the natives, and they cure enough to serve them through the tabooed season.” (Campbell)

“By the Law respecting fisheries, Kamehameha III distributed the fishing grounds and resources between himself, the chiefs and the people of the land. The law granted fisheries from near shore, to those of the deep ocean beyond the sight of land to the common people in general.”

“He also specifically, noted that fisheries on coral reefs fronting various lands were for the landlords (konohiki) and the people who lived on their given lands (ahupua‘a) under the konohiki.” (Maly)

Kamehameha III codified the nearshore fishing rights as: “I. Of free fishing grounds. (No ka noa ana o ke kai): His majesty the King hereby takes the fishing grounds from those who now possess them, from Hawaii to Kauai, and gives one portion of them to the common people, another portion to the land-lords, and a portion he reserves to himself.”

“These are the fishing grounds which his Majesty the King takes and gives to the people; the fishing grounds without the coral reef. viz. the Kilohee grounds, the Luhee ground, the Malolo ground, together with the ocean beyond.”

“But the fishing grounds from the coral reefs to the sea beach are for the landlords, and for the tenants of their several lands, but not for others.”

“But if that species of fish which the landlord selects as his own personal portion, should go onto the grounds which are given to the common people, then that species of fish and that only is taboo.”

“If the squid, then the squid only; or if some other species of fish, that only and not the squid. And thus it shall be in all places all over the islands; if the squid, that only; and if in some other place it be another fish, then that only and not the squid.” (Of free and prohibited fishing grounds, 1839-1841; Maly)

“It was not, however, until 1848 that land tenure was put upon a solid legal basis by the division of the lands between the King, the chiefs, and the tenants, investing the titles in each.”

“Each island was divided into “moku,” or districts. The subdivisions of a “moku” were “ahupuaa,” which is really a unit of land in the islands. The “ahupuaas” are generally long, narrow strips, running from the mountain to the sea, include mountain, the plateau, the shore, and for a certain distance out to sea.”

“The distance into the sea was to the reef, if there was one; if not, to one geographical mile from shore. The owner of this portion of the sea naturally had the right to control it, so far as the fishing was concerned, the same as he did his land.”

“When he placed a tabu on it, branches of the hau tree were planted it all along the shore. The people seeing this token of the tabu respected it.”

“With the removal of the hau branches, indicating that the tabu was lifted, the people fished as they desired, subject only to the tabu days of the priest or alii, when no canoes were allowed to go out upon the water.” (Preliminary Report On An Investigation Of The Fishes And Fisheries Of The Hawaiian Islands, 1901; Maly)

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

The Battle of Hōkūʻula

Prominent features rising above the town of Waimea on the Big Island are the puʻu (cinder cones) in the surrounding pasture.  The South Kohala community made special note of these physical features in the Community Development Plan noting, “the Puʻu define the special landscape ‘sense of place’ of Waimea.”

One of these, Hōkūʻula (red star,) played a prominent role in battles between warring leadership from the islands of Maui and Hawaiʻi.  This story dates back to about the mid-1600s.

To put this timeframe in global perspective, around this time: the Ming Dynasty in China ended and the Manchus came into power and established the Qing dynasty; the Taj Mahal was completed in India: British restored the monarchy and Charles II was crowned king of England; and the Massachusetts Bay colony was forming after the recent landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock.

In the islands, Lonoikamakahiki (Lono) was the Mōʻi (Chief) of Hawai‘i.  He was a descendant of Pili (a high chief from Tahiti from the 13th century.  Lono was grandson of ʻUmi (and great grandson of Līloa.))

“Lono-i-ka-makahiki was a son of Keawe-nui-a-Umi, and was chief of Ka-u and Puna. He was sole ruler over those two districts on Hawaii. He was married to a chiefess, named Ka-iki-lani-kohe-paniʻo, who was descended from Laea-nui-kau-manamana. To them were born sons, Keawe-Hanau-i-ka-walu and Ka-ʻihi-kapu-mahana.”   (Kamakau)

Through marriage and victories over other chiefs, Lonoikamakahiki became the ruler of the Island of Hawaiʻi.  “During Lono’s reign, when he tended to the affairs of his kingdom, the chiefs and commoners lived in peace.”  (Kamakau)

Lono visited the Mōʻi of the various islands, including Kamalālāwalu, ruling chief of Maui.  “Lono-i-ka-makahiki sought the good will of these chiefs when he came to meet and associate with them in a friendly manner. There were to be no wars between one chief and another.”  (Kamakau)

Kamalālāwalu (Kama) met him and welcomed him royally.  The chiefly host and guest spent much time in surfing, a sport that was enjoyed by all.  Lono was lavishly entertained by Kamalālāwalu.

Not long after Lono’s departure and return to Hawai‘i, however, Kamalālāwalu, driven by ambition, decided to invade and conquer the nation of Island of Hawai‘i.  He sent spies to survey the opposition; they reported there were few men in the Kohala region.

When Kamalālāwalu heard the report of his spies, he was eager to stir his warriors to make war on Hawaiʻi.  Most of the prophets and seers supported the chief’s desire and gave dogs as their omen of victory [said that clouds taking the form of dogs foretold victory]. The dogs were a sign of fierceness, and so would the chief fiercely attack the enemy and gain the victory with great slaughter of the foe.

Part of the prophets and seers came to the chief with prophecies denying his victory, and urging him not to go to fight against Hawaiʻi.  When Lanikāula, a high priest from Moloka‘i, warned Kamalālāwalu of the dangers of an assault, an irate Kamalālāwalu replied “when I return, I will burn you alive.” (Fornander)

Kamalālāwalu’s fleet landed in Puakō and met no opposition. Lono’s oldest brother, Kanaloakuaʻana, was in residence Waimea at the time, and, upon hearing of the invasion, marched toward Puakō with what forces he had at hand. A battle ensued at Kauna‘oa (near the present-day Mauna Kea Resort), and Kanaloakuaʻana’s forces were defeated, with Kanaloakuaʻana himself being taken prisoner and eventually killed.

After this initial success, Kamalālāwalu and his Maui warriors marched boldly inland and took up a position above Waimea on top of the puʻu called Hōkūʻula and awaited Lono’s forces.

During the night, Lono’s warriors from Kona arrived and occupied a position near Puʻupā (the large cinder cone makai of the Waimea-Kohala Airport.) His warriors from Kaʻū (led by its high chief and Lono’s half-brother, Pupuakea) and Puna were stationed from the pu‘u called Holoholoku (the large cinder cone out in the plains below Mauna Kea,) those from Hilo and Hāmākua were stationed near Mahiki, and those from Kohala were stationed on the slopes of Momoualoa.

That morning, from his position atop Hōkūʻula, Kamalālāwalu could see that the lowlands were literally covered with the countless warriors of Lono, and realized that he was outnumbered. For three days the armies skirmished, with the actions of the Maui warriors being dominated by Kamalālāwalu’s nephew and chief, Makakuikalani.

“Short and long spears were flung, and death took its toll on both sides. The Maui men who were used to slinging shiny, water-worn stones grabbed up the stones of Puʻoaʻoaka. A cloud of dust rose to the sky and twisted about like smoke, but the lava rocks were light, and few of the Hawaii men were killed by them.”  (Kamakau)

“The warriors of Maui were put to flight, and the retreat to Kawaihae was long. [Yet] there were many who did reach Kawaihae, but because of a lack of canoes, only a few escaped with their lives. Most of the chiefs and warriors from Maui were destroyed.”  (Kamakau)

While Kamakau notes Kamalālāwalu died on the grassy plain of Puakō, other tradition suggests that after Lonoikamakahiki defeated Kamalālāwalu at Hōkūʻula, he brought the vanquished king of Maui to Keʻekū Heiau in Kahaluʻu and offered him as a sacrifice.

The spirits of Kamalālāwalu’s grieving dogs, Kauakahiʻokaʻoka (a white dog) and Kapapako (a black dog,) are said to continue to guard this site.  Outside the entrance to the heiau and towards the southwest are a number of petroglyphs on the pāhoehoe.  One of them is said to represent Kamalālāwalu.

So ended the first of the major wars between the nations of Maui and Hawai‘i, and a turning point in the history of Hawai‘i.

(Puʻu Hōkūʻula is sometimes referred as “”Buster Brown.”  Apparently, while training at Camp Tarawa in Waimea, Marines named it Buster Brown Hill after the former section manager for Parker Ranch, who lived just below the hill.)

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