Images of Old Hawaiʻi

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Ni‘ihau Lei Pūpū

Privately-owned by the Robinsons, with strict limited access, Ni‘ihau is the island that is least known and visited, and as such has the most intrigue (and thus referred to as the Forbidden Isle.)

In 1863, King Kamehameha IV put Ni‘ihau up for sale.  A purchase price of $10,000 was agreed to with buyers James and Francis Sinclair.  But Kamehameha IV died on November 30 before the closing, so Royal Patent No. 2944 shows his brother, Kamehameha V, completed the transaction in 1864.  Ownership was subsequently passed down through the family.

The 70-square-mile island (about half the size of Lāna‘i and twice as large as Kaho‘olawe) is the smallest inhabited island in Hawai‘i with 84 residents (mostly Native Hawaiian) and 35 houses (DBEDT & Census.)

The island lacks basic municipal infrastructure.  There are no paved roads (walking, horseback or bicycle are the only transportation options on Ni‘ihau.)  No water and wastewater systems.  No stores.  No restaurants.  No doctors.  No police.  No fire department.  (Ni‘ihau Cultural Heritage Foundation)

“‘Ni‘ihau shells’ means seashells harvested from the island of Ni‘ihau, its waters, or its beaches. [N]o person shall offer, display, expose for sale, or solicit for sale any product or jewelry item fabricated, processed, or manufactured with seashells …”

“… that is described, labeled, or identified using the term ‘Ni‘ihau’ or ‘Niihau’, either alone or in conjunction with other words, or in a trade or brand name …”

“… unless: (1) One hundred per cent of all shells in the product or jewelry item are Ni‘ihau shells; and (2) The product or jewelry item is fabricated, processed, or manufactured entirely within this State.”  (Hawai‘i Revised Statutes, §486-118.5)

Pu‘uwai village, on the western (leeward) side of the island, is the population center of Ni‘ihau.  On this side of the island are the main beaches where Ni‘ihau shells are collected that make the famous and collectible Ni‘ihau lei pūpū.

The origin of the Ni‘ihau shell lei is lost in antiquity, but it is clear that at the time of Captain James Cook first contact in 1778, shell lei were in existence.

A Ni‘ihau shell lei is in the British Museum and was most likely collected by Cook during one of his several visits to the island of Ni‘ihau.

Although ‘shell ornaments’ described by early visitors were primarily made of seashells, some were also made of land shells which were once common throughout the Islands. In the mid-1800s, hula dancers were described as wearing necklaces of shells as well as flower garlands and feather ornamentation.

There are three different shells primarily used to make Ni‘ihau shell lei: kahelelani, momi and laiki. The color of the shells range from bright pink to pale yellow, and can have various types of markings on them.

Fabricating shell lei was not limited to Ni‘ihau, but it was there that this Hawaiian art flourished, most likely due to the abundance of shells available on the island’s beaches and the scarcity of flowers because of the arid climate.

In 1887, Queen Kapi‘olani had a formal portrait taken in New York on her way to attend Queen Victoria’s Jubilee. In the portrait, she wore a multi-strand lei of ivory-colored Ni‘ihau shells which complemented her formal Victorian dress.

Queen Emma, who showed more appreciation of Hawaiian crafts than any other of the Hawaiian royalty, also wore Ni‘ihau shell lei for formal portraits as well as when she was presented to Her Britannic Majesty.

It should be noted that during this time the shell lei was adapted to Victorian jewelry styles which included adding a clasp, thus elevating the traditional lei to the status of a piece of fine jewelry which was worn with the most elegant Western dress.

It is also interesting to note that later, particularly during the early- and mid-1900s, shell lei were more commonly reserved for occasions when Hawaiian attire was worn.

© 2023 Ho‘okuleana LLC

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Poʻo Kanaka

Traditional translations of poʻo kanaka suggest it means “human head;” however, in this case, it has a regional translation and is used to describe a flower, the pansy (folks thought the flower looked like a man’s head.)

It was also the name given to a man’s home.

He is said to have been the first to introduce the pansy flower in Hawaiʻi and he planted pansies around his house.  (Kimura)

Puapoʻo-kanaka (“The flower-that-looks-like-a-man”) eventually became the favorite of Waimea cowboys, who wore entire leis of pansies strung round their flopping vaquero hats.  (Korn)

The house stood within a level clearing at a spot called Puʻukapu, along the trail leading to the more upland forested area up Mauna Kea known as Manaiole, what we call Mānā, today.

The house, built in the 1830s, was made of rubble-and-mortar construction.  Rocks were formed into walls and plastered over with putty lime mortar (the lime obtained from ground coral.)  Rubble ruins remain of the house site, today.

The home was described as an Irish stone cottage.

It’s not clear what the man’s real name was – some suggest it was initially William Wallace.  An Irishman, he came to Hawaiʻi aboard a whaling ship that landed at Kawaihae (about 1834.)  He left the ship and went up the hill to Waimea, where he settled – there, he took the name Jack Purdy.  (Kimura)

Some suggest Purdy, along with fellow Waimea resident John Palmer Parker, can be considered the first cowboys in Hawaiʻi.  They started out as bullock hunters, selling their salt beef, hides and tallow.

In the early-1830s, trade in sandalwood slowed down as island forests became depleted.  At about the same time, whaling ships hunting in the north Pacific began wintering in Hawaiian waters.

Ships provisioning in Hawaiʻi ports provided a market for salt beef, in addition to hides and tallow.  With the economic push of providing provisions to the whaling fleets, ranching became a commercial enterprise that grew in the islands.

Parker took a more business-like approach and took advantage of the opportunities of the day and established the Parker Ranch in the fledgling livestock industry.  Purdy was a rowdy, living the rugged life, typical of his peers in the early American West.  (Bergin)

A real or tall tale of his exploits (written in 1857) tells how Jack Purdy, mighty bullock hunter and expert guide, together with his employer and hunting companion, Mr. Julius Brenchley, succeeded without firearms – in fact not even equipped with their usual lassos – in capturing a ferocious wild bull and in killing the beast when he failed to extricate himself from a mudhole; and then celebrated their victory with a deserved steak dinner fresh off the carcass.  (Korn)

In 1832, Purdy married into Hawaiian royal lineage when he took Keawe-maʻu-hili (daughter to Kewae-a-heulu and Kaʻakau) as his bride.  Several of his children from that and his second marriage were respected cowboys.   (Bergin)

His grandson, Ikua Purdy, made headlines and national fame, when he won the World’s Steer Roping Championship in Cheyenne, Wyoming – roping, throwing and tying the steer in 56 seconds (on a borrowed horse.)  Ikua had worked at Parker Ranch, he later moved to Maui to ʻUlupalakua Ranch (he died there in 1945.)

Jack Purdy (William Wallace Jack Harry Hale Purdy) died on June 22, 1886, at the age of 86; he is buried near his home, Poʻo Kanaka.

© 2022 Hoʻokuleana LLC

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Amusements

The following is a portion of a letter from William Richards to Charles Wilkes, commander of the United States Exploring Expedition, dated March 15, 1841 in Lahaina.  The letter responds to questions raised by Wilkes.  It comes from editors Marshall Sahlins and Dorothy Barrere.

Richards arrived in Honolulu in April 1823 in the second company of American missionaries and was stationed soon thereafter in Lahaina, home of many of the chiefs. He remained in Lahaina throughout most of his missionary career.

His knowledge of Hawaiian is known to have been excellent—he is responsible for many translations of biblical and other works into Hawaiian—and as the letter to Wilkes documents, he was friend to the famous Hoapili and other chiefs.

In 1838, Richards left the mission to become political counselor to the Monarchy. In 1842 with T. Ha‘alilio he undertook a mission to America and Europe to negotiate recognition of Hawaii’s independence. Richards was commissioned Minister of Public Instruction in 1846. He died in Honolulu in November 1847. All of the following is from that letter:

Their amusements were pretty numerous, and many of them of an athletic kind, though not requiring the severest trials of strength.

A favorite amusement of the chiefs was sliding down hill on a long narrow slead, upon which they prostratrated themselves, and then having the slead ballanced on the edge of a very steep hill they started it with the foot and were precipitated down the hill with immense velocity often to a distance of half or even a whole mile.

Thus they went from the top of Diamond Hill far out upon the plane of Honolulu, and at other places to a much greater distance.

Rolling a smooth round stone was another favorite amusement and one which tended to strengthen the arms more than any other with which I have been acquainted.

On ground where the descent was scarcely perceptable I have seen the stone rolled a hundred and thirty rods.

Throwing the spear and various other exercises with it was also an amusement as well as a military exercise. With this weapon they were very expert.

Playing on the surf board has always been and continues to be a very favorite amusement. As you have doubtless seen this, I need not describe the process.

The dance was an amusement which was practiced perhaps to a greater extent than any other. There was a great variety of dances. Some of them consisted mainly in the recital of songs accompanied with much action as was calculated to give them force. Other seemed to consist mainly in action.

Sometimes a single girl was the actress, again, a large number united. Their motions were anything but graceful. Their motions were regulated by music, which consisted of a kind of drumming on various hollow vessels, as calabashes, tubs, and a kind of drum made by drawing a piece of shark skin over a short piece of a hollow log. . . .

Every variety of song was rehearsed and acted on these occasions, from the most sentimental to the most lascivious, and the action always echoed to the sense.

Sometimes a single voice rehearsed the song—sometimes a number chanted in unison.

The first summer I spent in Lahaina scarcely a night passed in which I did not hear the noise of these assemblies, and they were uniformly scenes of lewdness and vice.

But the most numerous class of all their amusements was their games of chance.

Of these they were specially fond. These games were peculiar to themselves. The one most practiced by the chiefs was that of placing several bunches of kapas in a row, and then one man took a stone and hid it under one of the tapas. His antagonist guessed the place of the stone, and the one who was oftenest right won the game.

They never played at games of chance without a wager, nor indeed at any game of skill. The wager seemed to constitute the charm of most of their amusements. It was an accompanyment of their down hill slides – their play in the surf – their plays with the spear their rolling the stone – their flying the kite &c. . . .

They gambled away their property of every kind – their clothes – their food – the crops upon their land – the lands themselves – their wives – their husbands – their daughters, and even the very bones of their arms and legs.

At present cards is a common amusement and it is accompanied with its usual evils.

© 2022 Ho‘okuleana LLC

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kalalea Heiau

Ka Lae is the site of one of the earliest Hawaiian settlements, and it has one of the longest archaeological records on the islands (included in the complex is the earliest recorded occupation site.)  (NPS)  Ka Lae (Lit., the point, commonly called South Point) on the Island of Hawaiʻi is the southernmost point in the fifty states.

Kaʻū is poetically known as “Kaʻū kua makani” (Kaʻū with windy back.) (Soehren)  An offshore stone at South Point is called Pokakuokeau (stone of the current) referring to the meeting of the different ocean currents that come together here.  (k12-hi-us)

Nā kai haele lua o Kalae, ʻO Kāwili lāua ʻo Halaʻea
The two sea currents of Kalae – Kāwili and Halaʻea

The Halaʻea current (named after a chief,) comes from the east to Kalae and sweeps out to sea. The Kāwili (Hit-and-twist) comes from the west and flows out alongside the Halaʻea. Woe betide anyone caught between.  (Keala Pono)

Here at the point is a heiau, Kalalea Heiau, located in the ahupuaʻa of Kamāʻoa.  In 1906, Stokes, in describing the heiau, said, “This heiau was … 43 by 35 ft., with platforms outside … adjoining its western wall ….”  The heiau complex has a small terraced platform paved with ʻiliʻili (small, smooth pebbles.) When Stokes visited the heiau, an informant told him that the heiau was Kamehameha’s and was very sacred.

Ten years later another informant told Stokes the following: “(This is the) history of the heiau of Kalalea at Kalae, and of Kūʻula, Wahinehele and ʻAiʻai. Kūʻula (a male) married Wahine (a female) and they had a son ʻAiʻai.”

“They left Kahiki and came to these islands, settling on Kauaʻi. ʻAiʻai left his parents on Kauai and went on a sightseeing tour to the islands of Oʻahu, Molokai, Maui and Hawaii.”

“When he reached Kalae, he looked around and saw that it was a fine country, and a nice place to live in and well supplied with fish. He returned to Kauai and brought his parents back with him, and they all lived at Kalae.  While his parents were living at Kalae, ʻAiʻai set out for Kahiki and brought back many people, — kilokilo (seers,) kuhikuhipuuone (architects who made plans in the sand) and ai puʻupuʻu (stewards).”

“He also brought back many different kinds of food, such as breadfruit, bananas, awa, cocoanuts, sugar cane, sweet potatoes, kalo, papaya, hapuʻu and pala (both edible ferns) and other foods in great quantity.”

“And when ʻAiʻai saw that the food and the men were ready, he gave commands to all the Menehune and the erection of the heiau went on until the walls were completed.”

“It was named Kalalea, which name still stands today.”  Today, people reference Kalalea as a fishing heiau. There were stones that represent the fishing gods Kūʻula and ʻAiʻai.

On the main platform is a stone called Kumaiea (female), but also attributed to Kāne, and on the smaller platform just mauka is another upright stone called kanemakua (male), associated with the god Kanaloa.

Standing twelve feet to the north of the heiau are two more stones, the northerly one called ʻAiʻai, the son or Kūʻula.  Within the heiau, beside the mauka wall, is a rock called Kūʻula, the god of fishermen.  (k12-hi-us)

In 1953 Emory obtained the following information from Mary Kawena Pukui: “One must not wear red on the beaches at Kalae where Kalalea Heiau is located. Women never went inside the heiau. The kūʻula of this heiau is a shark. It is a heiau hoʻoulu (to increase) opelu (mackerel), malolo (flying fish), and ahi (tuna).”

Directly seaward of Kalalea Heiau is a rough ledge of lava, with low cliffs dropping into the ocean.  About eighty holes (like cleats) are carved into the lava to moor canoes (either for positioning over fishing grounds or to tie-up to shore.)  (Kirch)  While many have suggested the heiau is fishing related, it appears to also have links to navigation.

Immediately behind the heiau is a modern navigational beacon.  First proposed in 1883, a lens-lantern supported by a 34-foot wooden mast was ready for display on March 5, 1906.  Its light, visible for nine miles, was produced by incandescent oil vapor.

After several modifications and improvements, the present 32-foot concrete pole was built in 1972. The automated, battery powered light is charged by solar panels.

In at least the 1940s and early-1950s, the military had a landing facility, Morse Field, in this area.  There was limited infrastructure; the planes landed/took off on the grassy runway.

At a lecture at Hawaiian Mission Houses, I heard another series of stories related to Kalalea Heiau, told by John Laimana (a descendent of the area, whose family has direct association with the heiau;) while similar to much of the other explanations, he expands upon the navigational aspects of the heiau to Kahiki (Tahiti) and Rapanui (Easter Island.)

John says the heiau is actually the smaller of the structures there, makai of the larger, stonewalled rectangle (the larger he says is a fishers’ shelter.)  More importantly, he notes that the heiau structure aligns east and west – and one wall aligns with magnetic north.

Equally more important, he looks beyond the heiau structure and also looks at the larger surrounding perimeter wall structure.  Careful review of that shows the two walls are in precise, straight alignment.

OK, here’s another overlooked feature … extending the alignment of the walls, thousands of miles across the ocean lead you to Maupiti (in French Polynesia, near Tahiti) and Rapanui (Easter Island, Chile.)

In Hawaiian, Panana means compass, especially a mariner’s compass.  Panana are also referred to “sighting walls.”  The alignment of the walls (within the heiau and the perimeter walls,) may have been used for navigational purposes.

Oh, one more thing … Kaʻū is an ancient name with similar derivations in Samoa (Taʻū) and Mortlock (Marqueen) Islands (Takuu; an atoll at Papua New Guinea.)  (Pukui)  (This heiau may have links across the extent of the South Pacific.)

© 2022 Hoʻokuleana LLC

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kapu – The Hawaiian Religious, Political and Social Structure

Pā‘ao (CA 1300,) from Kahiki (Tahiti,) is reported to have introduced (or significantly expanded) a religious and political code in old Hawai‘i, collectively called the kapu system.
 
This forbid many things and demanded many more, with many infractions being punishable by death. 
 
Anything connected with the gods and their worship was considered sacred, such as idols, heiau and priests.  Because chiefs were believed to be descendants of the gods, many kapu related to chiefs and their personal possessions.
 
Certain objects were also kapu, and to be avoided, either because they were sacred or because they were defiling.  Seasons and places could also be declared kapu.
 
Certain religious kapu were permanent and unchangeable, relating to customary rites, observances, ceremonies and methods of worship, and to the maintenance of the gods and their priests.
 
They were familiar and understood by all, having been practiced from childhood.  Civil kapu were more capricious, erratic and often temporary, depending on the whims of the chiefs and priests.
 
The Hawaiian kapu can be grouped into three categories.  The first evolved from the basic precepts of the Hawaiian religion and affected all individuals, but were considered by foreign observers to be especially oppressive and burdensome to women.
 
One of the most fundamental of this type of prohibition forbade men and women from eating together and also prohibited women from eating most of the foods offered as ritual sacrifices to the gods (for example, it was kapu for women to eat pork or bananas.)
 
A second category of kapu were those relating to the inherited rank of the nobility and were binding on all those equal to or below them in status.
 
This system, a “sanctioned avoidance” behavior conforming to specific rules and prohibitions, prescribed the type of daily interactions among and between the classes, between the people and their gods, and between the people and nature.
 
By compelling avoidance between persons of extreme rank difference, it reinforced class divisions by protecting mana (spiritual power) from contamination while at the same time preventing the mana from harming others.
 
These kapu posed enormous difficulties for the high Ali‘i because it restricted their behavior and activities to some degree.
 
Because these kapu prohibited the highest-ranking chiefs from easily walking around during the day, some of them traveled in disguise to protect the people and themselves from the difficulties presented by this custom.
 
The third category were edicts issued randomly that were binding on all subjects and included such acts as the placing of kapu on certain preferred surfing, fishing or bathing spots for a chief’s exclusive use. 
 
In addition, the chiefs proclaimed certain kapu seasons as conservation measures to regulate land use and safeguard resources.
 
These had the same force as other kapu, but pertained to the gathering or catching of scarce foodstuffs, such as particular fruits and species of fish; to water usage; and to farming practices.  These kapu were designed to protect resources from overuse.
 
While the social order defined very strict societal rules, exoneration was possible if one could reach a pu‘uhonua (place of refuge) and be cleansed, as well as cleared by a kahuna (priest).
 
The pu‘uhonua was especially important in times of war as a refuge for women and children, as well as warriors from the defeated side.
 
This intricate system that supported Hawai‘i’s social and political structure directed every activity of Hawaiian life, from birth through death, until its overthrow by King Kamehameha II (Liholiho).
 
Shortly after the death of Kamehameha I in 1819, King Kamehameha II (Liholiho) declared an end to the kapu system.  In a dramatic and highly symbolic event, Kamehameha II ate and drank with women, thereby breaking the important eating kapu.
 
This changed the course of the civilization and ended the kapu system), effectively weakened belief in the power of the gods and the inevitability of divine punishment for those who opposed them.
 
The end of the kapu system by Liholiho (Kamehameha II) happened before the arrival of the missionaries; it made way for the transformation to Christianity and westernization.