Images of Old Hawaiʻi

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

ʻAuwai

In pre-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.

Taro can be cultivated by two very different methods. Upland, or dryland, taro is planted in non-flooded areas that are fed by rainfall. Lowland, or wetland, taro is grown in water-saturated fields.

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

Kalo lo‘i systems are typically a set of adjoining terraces that are typically reinforced with stone walls and soil berms. Wetland taro thrives on flooded conditions, and cool, circulating water is optimal for taro growth, thus a system may include one or more ʻauwai (irrigation ditches) to divert water into and out of the planting area.  (McElroy)

Most important in the system of distribution of water for application to the soil were the main ditches diverting the water from natural streams.

Each of these large ʻauwai was authorized and planned by the King or by one or more chiefs or konohiki whose lands were to be watered thereby, the work of excavation being under the direction of the chief providing the largest number of men.  (Perry, Hawaiʻi Supreme Court)

The ʻauwai construction and maintenance formed foundations around which an entire economy, class system, and culture functioned.  The ʻauwai, lo‘i and the taro plant’s mythical and spiritual connections in Hawaiian society influenced individual and social activity within the ahupua‘a.  (Handy, HART)

Taro cultivation affected many aspects of Hawaiian life: the labor required to build and maintain the ʻauwai; the shared water rights; and tributes to the Mō‘ī and to the chiefs (Ali‘i.)  (Handy, HART)

All ʻauwai had a proper name, and were generally called after either the land, or the chief of the land that had furnished the most men, or had mainly been instrumental in the inception, planning and carrying out of the required work. All ʻauwai tapping the main stream were done under the authority of a konohiki of an ahupuaʻa.  (Nakuina, Thrum)

ʻAuwai were generally dug from makai – seaward or below – upwards. The konohiki who had the supervision of the work having previously marked out where it would probably enter the stream, the diggers worked up to that point.

The different representatives in the ahupuaʻa taking part in the work furnished men according to the number of kalo growers on each land.  (The quantity of water awarded to irrigate the loʻi was according to the number of workers and the amount of work put into the building of the ʻauwai.)

Dams that diverted water from the stream were a low loose wall of stones with a few clods here and there, high enough only to raise water sufficiently to flow into the ʻauwai, which should enter it at almost a level. No ʻauwai was permitted to take more water than continued to flow in the stream below the dam (i.e. no more than half.)

Use of the water was regulated by time increments, which varied from a few hours each day for a small kalo patch to two or three days for a kalo plantation. By rotation with others on the ʻauwai, a grower would divert water from the ʻauwai into his kalo. The next, in turn, would draw off water for his allotted period of time.  (KSBE)

The ʻauwai primarily existed to support taro cultivation.   Other crops, such as sweet potatoes, bananas or sugar cane, were regarded as dry land crops dependent on rainfall.  Sugar cane and bananas were almost always planted on loʻi banks (kuauna) to receive moisture seeping through.  (Nakuina, Thrum)

ʻAuwai varied in size and structure depending on the number and size of lo‘i they irrigated. In smaller lo‘i, water could be directed from one terrace into the next below it.

However, larger lo‘i required individual ʻauwai capable of carrying more water. In more complex systems, these might be branches from another ʻauwai, often connected to the same source.  (HART)

An early description of ʻauwai is from explorer Nathaniel Portlock, noting the Kauaʻi ʻauwai in 1787, “This excursion gave me a fresh opportunity of admiring the amazing ingenuity and industry of the natives in laying out the taro and sugar-cane grounds …”

“… the greatest part of which are made up on the banks of the river, with exceeding good causeways made with stones and earth, leading up the valleys to each plantation; the taro beds are in general a quarter of a mile over, dammed in, and they have a place on one part of the bank, that serves as a gateway.”

“When the rains commence, which is in the winter season, the river swells with the torrents from the mountains, and overflowed their taro-beds; and when the rains are over, and the rivers decrease, the dams are stopped up, and the water kept in to nourish the taro and sugar-cane during the dry season …”

“… the water in the beds is generally about one foot and a half, or two feet, over a muddy bottom … the taro also grows frequently as large as a man’s head.”

Another early description of ʻauwai and loʻi is from Otto von Kotzebue, a Russian naval officer who was in the Islands in 1816, “The artificial taro fields, which may justly be called taro lakes, excited my attention. … I have seen whole mountains covered with such fields, through which water gradually flowed; each sluice formed a small cascade which ran … into the next pond, and afforded an extremely picturesque prospect.”

The burden of maintaining the ditches fell upon those whose lands were watered; failure to contribute their due share of service rendering the delinquent hoaʻāina (tenant) subject to temporary suspension or to entire deprivation of their water rights or even to total dispossession of their lands.  (YaleLawJournal)

In some ʻauwai, not all of the water was used; after irrigating a few patches the ditch returned the remainder of the water to the stream.  (YaleLawJournal)

One notable ʻauwai, with water still flowing through it (however, the loʻi kalo is long gone) is in Nuʻuanu.  After damage to the ʻauwai system during the battle of Nuʻuanu, Kamehameha moved to quickly restore the valley’s agriculture production, summoning Kuhoʻoheiheipahu Paki to rebuild the irrigation system.

“(I)n three days, (Paki) rallied several hundred men to construct the tremendous Nuʻuanu irrigation system which supplies the numerous pondfields (from Luakaha, near Kaniakapūpū to around what is now Judd Street) …this irrigation system is known even today as the Paki ʻauwai.” (Hawaiʻi Legislature)

Among other loʻi along its course, Paki ʻAuwai served the loʻi kalo of Queen Emma at Hānaiakamālama (the Queen’s Summer Palace.)

The image shows a portion of the rock-lined Paki ʻAuwai in Nuʻuanu (just below Kaniakapūpū (you take the same trail to see each.))

© 2025 Hoʻokuleana LLC

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Canoe Crops

He keiki aloha nā mea kanu
Beloved children are the plants
(ʻŌlelo Noʻeau 684)

In the recent past, significant advances in radiocarbon dating and the targeted re-dating of key Eastern Polynesian and Hawaiian sites has strongly supported a “short chronology” model of Eastern Polynesian settlement.

It is suggested that initial Polynesian discovery and colonization of the Hawaiian Islands occurred between approximately AD 1000 and 1200.  (Kirch)

These early Polynesians brought with them shoots, roots, cuttings and seeds of various plants for food, cordage, medicine, fabric, containers, all of life’s vital needs.

“Canoe crops” (Canoe Plants) is a term to describe the group of plants brought to Hawaiʻi by these early Polynesians.

It is believed that these settlers, and the settlers that followed them, introduced a variety of plant species – the canoe crops.  The following list notes the Hawaiian name and (common names;) origin; how it’s grown and uses for some of these various plants.

1. Ko (Sugar Cane) India; Upper-stalk cutting; Food, Medicine, Religion, etc.

2. ʻOhe (Bamboo) Pacific Islands; Root; Knives, Kapa stamps, etc.

3. Niu (Coconut Palm) South Pacific; Sprouted coconut; Food, Cordage, etc.

4. ʻApe (Elephant Ear) Tropical Asia and Oceania; Tuber; Food in times of famine, etc.

5. Kalo (Taro) Tropical Asia; Tuber; Main food plant: Hawaiian-Polynesian “Staff of Life”

6. Ki (Ti Plant) Tropical Asia and Australia; Stem cuttings; Food, Medicine, etc.

7. Pia (Polynesian Arrowroot) Malay Archipelago; Tuber; Food, Medicine, etc.

8. Uhi (Yam) Asia; Tuber; Food, most important kind of yam

9. Hoi (Air Potato) Tropical Asia; Tuber; Food during famine

10. Piʻa (Five-Leafed Yam) Tropical Asia, Pacific; Tuber; Food during famine. etc

11. Maiʻa (Banana) Cultigen (Obscure Origin); Suckers; Food and its preparation

12. ʻOlena (Turmeric) Tropical Asia; Root; Dye, Purification, etc

13. ‘Awapuhi (Wild Ginger) India; Root; Scenting, Medicine, etc

14. ʻAwa (Kava) Pacific Islands; Sprouting stem; Relaxing beverage, etc

15. ʻUlu (Breadfruit) Pacific Islands, probably Guam; Root sprouts; Food, Craft, etc

16. Wauke (Paper Mulberry) East Asia; Root sprouts; Make kapa and clothing

17. Paʻihi (Bitter Cress) Polynesia; Transplant small plant; Food, Medicine

18. Auhuhu (Fish Poison Plant) Tropical South Asia and Pacific; Seed; Fish poison, etc

19. Kukui (Candlenut Tree) Asia, Pacific Islands; Seed or seedling transplant; Lighting, Food, Craft, etc

20. Hau (Hibiscus) Tropical Pacific and Old World; Stem cutting; To make fire, canoes, medicine, fertilizer, etc

21. Milo (Portia Tree) Coasts of Eastern Tropics; Seed; To make calabashes, etc

22. Kamani (Alexandrian Laurel) Tropical Asia and Pacific; Seed; Calabashes, Lei, etc

23. ʻŌhiʻa ʻAi (Mountain Apple) Tropical Asia, Oceania; Seed or seedling transplant; Food, Craft, etc

24. ʻUala (Sweet Potato) Tropical America; Slips or stem cuttings; Food: vegetable from leaves, starch from tubers

25. Kou  Africa to Polynesia; Seed; Best wood for calabashes

26. Noni (Indian Mulberry) Asia, Australia, and Pacific Islands; Root sprout, Seed; Medicine, etc

27. Ipu (Bottle Gourd) Tropical Asia or Africa; Seed; Containers for food storage, musical instruments, etc

(The listing is from Polynesian Seafaring Heritage; Dr Harold St John and Kuaika Jendrusch.  Domesticated animals, including pigs, dogs and chickens were also introduced.)

© 2025 Hoʻokuleana LLC

 

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kahuna Kuni

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

© 2025 Ho‘okuleana LLC

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Life in the Islands (1823)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

© 2025 Ho‘okuleana LLC

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Ninika

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

© 2025 Ho‘okuleana LLC