When Cook anchored off Waimea, Kauai, in 1778, he and his officers at once noticed the feather robes and helmets. “‘Kamehameha I is said to have reproved his bird-catchers for taking the life of the birds. “The feathers belong to me, but the birds themselves belong to my heirs,” said the considerate monarch.’” (Emerson, Perez) However, “[i]t is believed that most birds were killed after being plucked”.
“[I]t is believed that native Hawaiian avifauna was affected by several interdependent factors … the extensively documented bird overkill by humans must have played a crucial role in their decline. … Numerous historical sources leave little doubt about the fate of most birds, regardless of the original reason for hunting them.” In the modern age, ‘scientific collectors’ further decimated the Hawaiian forest birds.
Since 1800, five bird species have become extinct in North America; two additional species are presumed extinct and two sub-species have disappeared. Overall, bird extinctions in North America are a rare event. In contrast, in Hawaii, a minimum of 31 bird species have become extinct since 1800 including 10 in the last 50 years. Further, 14 of 24 endemic forest birds are endangered. (NFWF)
Benjamin Franklin’s ‘Examination’
The war and the British government’s attempts to impose taxes on colonists to help cover these expenses resulted in increasing colonial resentment of British attempts to expand imperial authority in the colonies. One of the early taxes to be imposed was the Stamp Act. On February 13, 1766, Benjamin Franklin appeared before the British Parliament’s House of Commons to advocate for a repeal of the Stamp Act of 1765. (Archives) Franklin provided evidence in the form of answers to 174 questions.
The “temper of America towards Great Britain before the year of 1763” was “The best in the world, they have submitted willingly to the government of the Crown, and paid, in all their courts, obedience to acts of parliament.” “They had not only a respect, but an affection, for Great Britain, for its laws, its customs and manners, and even a fondness for its fashions, that greatly increased the commerce.” “They consider themselves as a part of the British empire, & as having one common interest with it; they may be looked on here as foreigners, by they do not consider themselves as such.”
And, in 1763, “it is greatly lessened” which was due to “a concurrence of causes; the restraints lately laid on their trade, by which the bringing of foreign gold and silver into the colonies was prevented; the prohibition of making paper money among themselves; and then demanding a new and heavy tax by stamps; taking away at the same time, trials by juries, and refusing to receive & hear their humble petitions. Their temper in 1766? … “O, very much altered.”
The area of North Kona between Kailua Bay and Keauhou Bay to the south is generally recognized as containing the population core and the most fertile agricultural area of North Kona (Kona Kai ʻOpua “Kona of the distant horizon clouds above the ocean”.) To the north of Kailua Bay, beginning at Honokōhau, is the relatively dry Kekaha district of North Kona, with its barren lava inlands and coastal fishponds (Kekaha-wai-ʻole-nā-Kona (the waterless place of Kona, it’s described as “a dry, sun-baked land.”)
Keahuolū is situated in the transition zone between these two contrasting environmental districts, and is immediately north of Kailua Bay, a center of both political and economic activities since before Western contact. Keahuolū has been translated in a couple ways, “Ke-ahu-o-Lū” (the ahu (or alter) of Lū) and “Keʻohuʻolu” (the refreshing mists) – similar to the neighboring (to the south) Lanihau ahupuaʻa (cool heaven.)
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If you like these posts, please come back again. Posts are typically made daily.
These posts are part of a personal learning experience; I have been searching to learn more about the place I and my family were born, raised, and live (and love) – then, share what I have learned.
Because of my Planning work across the Islands, as well as previously serving as Director of the State Department of Land and Natural Resources, State Historic Preservation Officer and Deputy Managing Director for Hawaiʻi County, I have had the opportunity to see some places and deal with some issues that many others have not had, nor will have, the same opportunity.
So, I am sharing some insights, events and places with others. These informal historic summaries are presented for personal, non-commercial and/or educational purposes. I hope you enjoy them. Thanks, Peter.