Hawaiian Traditions | Page 59 | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

April 20, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Loko Nui o Wailupe

In ancient Hawai‘i, fishponds were an integral part of the ahupua‘a. Hawaiians built rock-walled enclosures in near shore waters, to raise fish for their communities and families. It is believed these were first built around the fifteenth century.

The ancient Hawaiian fishpond is a sophisticated land and ocean resource management technique. Utilizing raw materials such as rocks, corals, vines and woods, the Hawaiians created great walls (kuapā) and gates (mākāhā) for these fishponds.

It is reported that there were 488 fishponds statewide, however only about 60 fishponds remain recognizable today.

Thirteen fishponds have been restored statewide, with six ponds currently in use: three on Molokai, one on the island of Hawai‘i and two on O‘ahu.

Reportedly, O‘ahu alone had 97 fishponds, but only six accessible ponds remain today and all are located on the windward side.

In 1848, when King Kamehameha III pronounced the Great Māhele, or land distribution, Hawaiian fishponds were considered private property by landowners and by the Hawaiian government.

This was confirmed in subsequent Court cases that noted “titles to fishponds are recognized to the same extent and in the same manner as rights recognized in fast land.”

Some coastal fishponds are privately owned. Over the years, many of them have been filled and, typically, developed with houses.

Loko Nui o Wailupe, the large fishpond at Wailupe, was simply called “Wailupe fishpond” or “big pond” in Boundary Commission records (it was also referenced as Punakou Pond).

The pond covered an overall area of approximately 41-acres. Its perimeter wall was approximately 2,500 feet long; it had four mākāhā (sluice gates.) The typical section of the wall was approximately 2-feet thick.

It was claimed as Crown land together with the Punakou spring (Punakou spring was formerly on the mauka side of Wailupe fishpond.)

Wailupe Pond is an example of an ancient fishpond that was subsequently filled and developed. It was one of a few historic fishponds that were built on the shore of Maunalua Bay.

Some of the others include Niu, now Niu Peninsula and Kuapā at Hawaii Kai, now Hawaii Kai Marina.

The pond lay within the Wailupe ahupua‘a owned by the Hind family. Apparently, the tsunami of 1946 severely damaged the seaward walls of the pond.

The Hinds then sold the property to Lowell Dillingham (owner of Hawaiian Dredging Company) who lived nearby.

In 1947, Robert Hind, Ltd began developing Wailupe Valley as the residential community of ‘Āina Haina. In 1948, in conjunction with the development of the valley, the Hawaiian Dredging Company, owner of the historic fishpond, converted it into a residential subdivision.

A deep channel (depth of approximately 12 to 20 feet) was dredged around the pond, as well as a channel through the reef to the open ocean) and dredge material filled in the pond, creating what is now Wailupe Peninsula (commonly referred to Wailupe Circle.)

The fishpond was filled with more than half a million cubic yards of coral (the at-grade elevation of the Peninsula is approximately five feet above mean sea level (msl.))

When the boat channel was dredged, a narrow margin of shallow reef (approximately 10 to 20-feet wide) was left to remain between the perimeter seawall and the boat channel.

Times and land uses have changed. What once was a fishpond is now a residential community; Wailupe Pond is an illustration of that.

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Maunalua-(Wailupe)-Aerial-(2448)-1952-portion

Wailupe_Pond-Hind-Clarke_Dairy-(BishopMuseum-CulturalSurveys)-1933

MaunaluaBayCirca1935

Oahu-Population_Centers-Map-1853-(note_relative_population_at_Wailupe)

Diamond_Head_to_Koko_Head-Jackson-Reg1293 (1883)-portion

South_Shore-Barbers_Pt-Diamond_Head-Hawaii_Kai-Kailua-Heeia-Reg1834 (1892)-portion

Wailupe_Pond-Reg2167-tracing-(1903)

Wailupe_Pond-USGS_Map-1934

Map of the island of Maunalua, O’ahu from 1938

April 11, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Nuʻupia Pond

Mōkapu Peninsula was divided into three ahupua‘a – Kailua, Kāne‘ohe and He‘eia – these were extensions of the ahupua‘a across the large basin of Kāne‘ohe Bay.

The original name of the peninsula “Moku-Kapu” was derived from two Hawaiian words: “moku” (island) and “kapu” (sacred or restricted.) “Mokapu” is the contraction of “Moku Kapu” which means “Sacred or Forbidden Island.”

In ancient times, three ponds separated Mōkapu Peninsula from the rest of Kaneohe: Nuʻupia, Halekou and Kalupuhi Fishponds, they date to between 1300-1600 AD.

Prior to Polynesian settlement, the ponds were thought to be either a shallow open channel between Kāneʻohe and Kailua Bays, making Mōkapu an island, or an embayment off Kāneʻohe Bay with Mōkapu connected to Oʻahu by a thin coastal barrier dune.

In either case, the Hawaiian settlers used this shallow open water area by subdividing it into several fishponds and a salt-making area, separated by hand-built coral and rock walls.

The ponds were later subdivided by Chinese fishermen who leased the ponds to raise mullet and milkfish; over the years there were up to 18 ponds.

Some of the old dividing walls still remain their shape, but now there are eight ponds: Nuʻupia Ekahi, Nuʻupia Elua, Nuʻupia Ekolu, Nuʻupia Eha, Halekou, Heleloa, Paʻakai and Kaluapuhi.

Late-19th and early 20th-century cattle grazing over most of the Mōkapu Peninsula contributed to erosion and sedimentation, and creation of extensive mudflats.

The ponds are generally referred as Nuʻupia Ponds and are an important site for native and migratory waterfowl, shorebirds and seabirds.

Night heron, koloa, coots, stilts, moorhen, pacific golden plovers, black noddies, great frigatebirds and a large variety of migratory shorebirds, waterbirds and seabirds all utilize the wetland area. Wedge-tailed Shearwaters use the dune areas adjacent to the wetland.

Under military use since World War II, Nuʻupia Ponds became critical stilt habitat that aided their recovery from near extinction. Habitat loss and hunting throughout Hawai’i reduced stilt numbers to about 200 birds statewide by the early-1940s.

A ban on hunting prior to World War II permitted the partial recovery of the population and a high of 128 stilts was recorded in 1948 at Nuʻupia Ponds. There was also a period in late-1957 and early-1958 when, for unknown reasons, no birds were found.

Stilt populations on Oʻahu, including those at Nuʻupia Ponds, have shown a steady increase coincident with active habitat management since the 1980s. About 10 percent of the approximately 1,500 Hawaiian stilts native to the state are found here.

Red mangrove seeds first entered in the area in the early-1970s through culverts connecting the pond complex to adjoining bays. By 1974, the mangrove trees had become a pest species. Mangroves cover intertidal soft substrate in most of the tropics, but are not native to Hawaiʻi.

Red mangroves were first introduced to Hawaiʻi from Florida in 1902 to mitigate erosion after the destruction of coastal vegetation on the island of Molokai by humans and livestock.

In response to that, the Marines turned a nuisance into a training operation.

The 30-year-long Mud Ops exercise has Marine vehicles plowing a checkerboard mosaic of mud mounds surrounded by protective moats of water, providing cover from predators, controlling invasive plant growth and providing birds better access to nesting and feeding grounds.

Today, the ponds are part of the 482-acre Nuʻupia Ponds Wildlife Management Area within the Marine Corps Base Hawaiʻi.

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This circa 1940 shows Nuupia Ponds and the Naval Air Station at the bottom left. USMC photo.

Mokapu_USGS_Quadrangle-Mokapu-Kailua-1928-(portion)

Mokapu-(Kailua_Side)-UH-Manoa-2444-1952

Mokapu_Peninsula_and_Kaneohe_Bay

Marine-Mud_Ops

Marine_Mud_Ops

April 1, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Pōhaku Kalai a Umi

“The king was over all the people; he was the supreme executive, so long, however, as he did right. His executive duties in the government were to gather the people together in time of war …”

“… to decide all important questions of state, and questions touching the life and death of the common people as well as of the chiefs and his comrades in arms. … It was his duty to consecrate the temples, to oversee the performance of religious rites in the temples (heiau)”. (Malo)

“In the majority of cases Hawaiian heiaus were either walled stone enclosures or open platform structures. They were mostly levelled and stone paved, many being of two to four terraces. All heiaus were without roof covering except as to the several small houses erected within their precincts.”

“In two instances, both of which were on the island of Oahu, at Waialua and at Honolulu, heiaus were described as having been of stick fence construction.”

“And there were also sacred places of more than local fame to which pilgrimages were made and sacrificial offerings placed on outcropping rocks on a level plain”. (Thrum)

“Umi is reported to have been a very religious king, according to the ideas of his time, for he enriched the priests, and is said to have built a number of Heiaus; though in the latter case tradition often assigns the first erection of a Heiau to a chief, when in reality he only rebuilt or repaired an ancient one on the same site.” (Fornander)

ʻUmi-a-Līloa (ʻUmi) from Waipiʻo, son of Līloa, defeated Kona chief Ehunuikaimalino and united the island of Hawai‘i. He then moved his Royal Center from Waipi‘o to Kona.

“Umi-a-Liloa was a devout king, and … (he) had two principal occupations which he undertook to do with his own hands: they are farming and fishing.”

“He built large taro patches in Waipio, and he tilled the soil in all places where he resided, and when in Kona that was his great occupation; he was noted as the husbandman king. … All the chiefs of his government were noted in cultivating the land and in fishing, and other important works which would make them independent.” (Fornander)

“It is presumed that Umi’s life passed tranquilly after his removal from Waipio; at least no wars, convulsions, or stirring events have been recorded.”

“In making his tours around the island, Umi erected several Heiaus, distinguished from the generality of Heiaus by the employment of hewn stones.” (Fornander)

“He employed workmen from all quarters to hew stones which were to serve, some say, to construct a sepulchral vault, or, according to others, a magnificent palace.” (Thrum)

“A number of hewn stones of this period – at least tradition, by calling them the Pōhaku Kalai a Umi (‘the hewn stones of Umi’), does so imply …”

“… were found scattered about the Kona coast of Hawaii, especially in the neighbourhood of Kailua, and, after the arrival of the missionaries (1820), furnished splendid material wherewith to build the first Christian church at Kailua.” (Fornander)

“(T)he stones were admirably cut. In our day the Calvanistic missionaries have employed them in building the great church at Kailua, without there being any necessity for cutting them anew.”

“It is natural to suppose that for cutting these hard and very large stones, they used tools different from those of Hawaiian origin.”

“Iron must have been known in the time of Umi, and its presence would be explained by wrecks of ships which the ocean currents might have drifted ashore.”

“It is certain that it was known long before the arrival of Captain Cook, as is also shown by a passage from an old romance: ‘O luna, o lalo, kai, o uka, o ka hao pae, ko ke lii’ (‘What is above, below the sea, the mountain, and the iron that drifts ashore, belong to the king.’)” (Thrum)

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Umi stones

Bayside_view_of_Hulihee_Palace,_prior_to_1884-portion-Umi stones in corners

Umi stones in corners of Mokuaikaua Church

Umi stones in Mokuaikaua Church

Umi stones

Pa_o_Umi-where_Umi_is_said_to_have_landed_at_Kailua-(the_little_girl_at_left_is_my_mother-next_to_her_my_grandmother)-1928

March 30, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

‘Upena Poepoe

“Ua akamai kekahi poe kanaka Hawaii I ka lawaia, no ia mea, ua kapa ia lakou, he poe lawaia. O ka makau kekahi mea e lawaia ai. O ka ‘upena kekahi, a o ka hinai kekahi.”

“Some of the people of Hawaii were very knowledgeable about fishing, and they were called fisher-people. The hook was one thing used in fishing. The net was another, and the basket trap, another.” (WE Kealaka‘i, Ka Hae Hawaii, 1861; Maly)

“Not one kind of net only was known here in Hawai‘i in ancient times, there were many, large ones and small ones, according to the kind of fish desired to catch, such was the net.”

“These are some of them: Akule net, Opelu net, Weke net, Malolo net, Uhu net, Amaama net. Koki net and Papa was another kind of net, and so on.” (Hoku O Hawaii, 1912; HawaiiAlive)

“Fishermen, or those skilled in the art of catching fish, were called poe lawaiʻa. Fishing was associated with religious ceremonies, or idolatrous worship. The heiaus or altars, at which fishermen performed their religious ceremonies, were of a class different from all others.”

“There were many different methods of fishing: with nets; with hook and line; with the pa, or troll-hook; with the leho, or cowry; with the hina’i, or basket; the method called ko’i; and with the hand thrust into holes in the rocks.” (Malo)

“The olona and the hopue were plants from whose bark were made lines and fishing nets and a great many other things. … Cordage and rope of all sorts (na kaula), were articles of great value, serviceable in all sorts of work.”

“Fishing nets (‘upena) and fishing lines (aho) were valued possessions. One kind was the papa-waha, which had a broad mouth; another was the aei (net with small meshes to take the opelu) ; the kawaa net (twenty to thirty fathoms long and four to eight deep, for deep sea fishing) ; the kuu net (a long net, operated by two canoes) ; and many other varieties.”

“Net-makers (poe ka-‘upena) and those who made fishing-lines (hilo-aho) were esteemed as pursuing a useful occupation. The mechanics who hewed and fashioned the tapa log, on which was beaten out tapa for sheets, girdles and loincloths for men and women were a class highly esteemed.” (Malo)

“Cordage and rope of all sorts (na kaula), were articles of great value, serviceable in all sorts of work. Of kaula there were many kinds. The bark of the hau tree was used for making lines or cables with which to haul canoes down from the mountains as well as for other purposes.”

“Cord (aha) made from cocoanut fiber was used in sewing and binding together the parts of a canoe and in rigging it as well as for other purposes. Olona fibre was braided into (a four- or six-strand cord called) lino, besides being made into many other things. There were many other kinds of rope (kaula).” (Maly)

“… Our ancestors said “Mai uhauha” (Don’t be greedy)! Because the ocean is our ice box. You take what you need for today, you come back tomorrow. There is still some for tomorrow, or the next day, or the day after and next week. So, take what you need just for the day.”

“But sometimes, when you throw the net, you get more fish in the net, you think of your neighbors, share with them, help them.” (Kāwika Kapahulehua; Maly)

“The cast net (or, throw net – ‘upena poepoe, also ‘upena kiloi) is a comparatively recent introduction in the islands, having been brought in by the Japanese about ten years ago, so it is reported, although this is somewhat doubtful.” (Cobb, 1903)

“The Japanese, like most immigrants, were contracted to work on Hawai’i’s sugar cane plantations. When their plantation contracts expired many Japanese who had previously been skilled commercial fishermen in the coastal areas of Wakayama, Shizuoka, and Yamaguchi Prefectures remained in Hawai’i and turned to the sea for a living.” (Schug)

“Some local Japanese fishermen coined their own slang for throw nets, calling them nageami, a term derived from nageru, ‘to throw,’ and ami, or ‘net,’ while Hawaiians called them ‘upena ho‘olei, ‘nets are thrown like a lei.’ A poetic description of the nets’ circular shape in flight.” (Clark)

“The early Japanese fishermen used throw nets and poles. The fashioned throw nets like they had used in Japan ands introduced throw-net fishing to Hawai‘i.” (Clark)

“‘In spite of the fact that it is one of the most photographed of all Hawaiian fishing techniques, throw net fishing is not a native sport. It was brought from Japan about 1890 and quickly adopted by the Hawaiians because of its effectiveness along Ilsnad Shores.’” (MacKellar; Clark)

“Fishermen in Japan call throw-net fishing toami, which literally means ‘to cast a net’”. (Clark) “The to-ami or throw-net is used over every pool, as nearly every boy in Japan learns to throw it, and we got our first lesson in the art.”

“The net is generally circular, of a diameter of about twelve feet; the outer edge has leaden weights attached to it all round, at distances of eighteen inches to two feet. These sinkers are made of different shapes, according to the nature of the ground over which they are to be used.” (Dickson, 1889)

“Unlike the fishermen in the United States, the Japanese hold no part of the net in the mouth, but manipulate it entirely with the hands. About two-thirds of the outer edge is gathered up and the net is thrown with a sort of twirling motion, which causes it to open wide before it touches the water.”

“The leads draw the outer edges down very rapidly, and as they come together at the bottom the fish are inclosed in a sort of bag.”

“The net is then hauled in by means of a rope attached to its center, the weight of the leads causing them to hang close together, thus preventing the fish from falling out as the net is hauled in. The fish are shaken out of the net by merely lifting the lead line on one side.” (Cobb, 1903

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shorefishing-throw net

ThrowNet

Throwing net at Keauhou Bay 1915

Throw_net-DMY

Fisherman in malo with throw net-UH-1940

Fisheman-Throw_net-Kealakekua-1919

14-3-9-19 throw net-ksbe

14-3-9-17 =throw-net=williams studio -ksbe- 1882-1922

14-3-9-15 =throw net-lahaina-ksbe-1914

14-3-9-2 =maui fisherman taken at paia beach-ksbe-c1912

Throwing net

‘Hawaiian_Fisherman’,_woodblock_print_by_Charles_W._Bartlett,_1919

‘Fishing_in_Hawaii’,_hand_colored_etching_by_Charles_W._Bartlett,_c._1923-27

‘Hawaiian_Fisherman’,_watercolor_on_paper_by_Charles_W._Bartlett-1917

Throw-net-Bowden

March 20, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Hanapepe Salt Ponds

Native Hawaiians used pa‘akai (sea salt or, literally, “to solidify the sea”) to season and preserve food, for religious and ceremonial purposes, and as medicine.

Preserving food like i‘a (fish) and he‘e (octopus) was essential not just for storage on land, but also to provide nourishment during ocean voyages.

In Hawai‘i, sea salt can be collected from rocky shoreline pools, were it occurs as a result of natural solar evaporation. Native Hawaiians also harvested sea salt on a larger scale through the use of man-made shallow clay ponds.

The Hanapepe Salt Pond area has been used since ancient times for the production of salt for food seasoning and preservation.

Every summer, the families of this region gather to build their “pans” to prepare salt for the next year. The earthen pans impart a distinct red hue and flavor to the salt.

Pa‘akai from the Hanapepe Salt Ponds is created by accessing underground saltwater from a deep ancient source through wells and transferring the saltwater to shallow pools called wai kū, then into salt pans that are shaped carefully with clay from the area.

The farms near Hanapepe are one of only two remaining major areas in the Islands where natural sea salt is still harvested; the other spot is on the Big Island at Pu‘uhonua o Honaunau.

But the unique red salt, called ‘alaea salt, is produced only on Kaua‘i.

This type of salt-making is unique and authentic, and harvested traditional Hawaiian sea salt mixed with ‘alaea, a form of red dirt from Wailua, is used for traditional Hawaiian ceremonies to cleanse, purify and bless, as well as healing rituals for medicinal purposes.

It was a crucial commodity for Hawai‘i’s early post-contact economy; visiting ships, especially the whaling ships, needed the salt for food preservation.

Today, the Hanapepe fields operate under that concept of communal stewardship; the salt may be given or traded, but not sold.

The harvest season is in the height of summer, when the waves are calm and rain scarce.

The first task in making salt is to work on maintaining the salt beds, smoothing wet mud over the walls of the beds, filling cracks and reinforcing the structure of these holding beds; this can take up to a week.

The punawai (feed water wells) are cleaned of leaves and debris, so that only the purest sea water enters the rectangular holding tanks called wai kū, literally “water standing.”

The brine is left in the wai kū to evaporate, which can take up to ten days depending on the afternoon rains.

When the water in the wai kū turns frothy white and crystals form on its surface, the harvester gently pours it into the lo‘i.

For several weeks, a rotation of new water, sunshine and evaporation continues until a slushy layer of snow-white salt forms.

The salt is harvested by slowly and carefully raking the large, flat crystalline flakes of salt from the base of the bed, and transferring them to a basket.

The salt is then dipped in buckets of fresh water to rinse off the mud, and remove rocks, chunks of dirt and other debris.

With each immersion into the water, the salt flakes change shape, beginning to resemble large grains of what one would recognize as table salt. The salt is drained and left to dry in the sun for four to six weeks.

Depending on conditions, a family may complete three harvests in a season, yielding as much as 200 pounds of salt. Like wine, time is generous to salt; it mellows and gains character as it ages (older salt is smoother.)

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