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March 15, 2023 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Ka Iwi

The winds will turn before you and find you,
You’ll be overwhelmed, O deaf aliʻi,
The winds will gather,
The naʻenaʻe leaves will bend,
You’ll be swept ashore at Awāwamalu.
Caught in the fishing net of the head fisherman,
Your thigh bone and upper-arm bone
Will be made into fishhooks,
To catch the paoʻo and the ʻopakapaka,
Your flesh will be without bones,
The black crab, the shearwater will eat your remains,
The life from the parents will be broken off.
Here I am, the ʻaumakua kanaka,
Listen to my life-giving words,
Keawenuiaʻumi, come ashore, a storm is coming,
When you sailed yesterday, it was calm.
(Excerpt from The Wind Gourd of Laʻamaomao – (hawaii-edu))

Wāwāmalu or Awāwamalu (“Shady Gulch or Valley” – referenced above,) was on the Waimānalo side of the Ka Iwi Coastline, (known today as “Sandy Beach.”)  Corpses of fisherman and sailors who drowned in the Kaiwi channel were swept ashore by the currents there and at other spots along the southeast coast of Oʻahu, like Hanauma Bay.  (Ka Poʻe Kahiko 76; hawaii-edu)

The meanings of the two core words are: ka (the) and iwi (bone.) This is the literal meaning of the word iwi, but we can be sure that there is also a deeper meaning, for bones of ancestors were very sacred; it was in the bones that mana (supernatural power) was believed to have been stored and that it remained in the bones even after death.  (Marion Kelly)

This coastline is called Ka Iwi; it fronts Ka Iwi Channel.  It may have been named for the bones of lost travelers who failed to make the crossing between Molokai and Oʻahu.

Others suggest it may be because the raw, wild, volcanic landscape of the area, rising from the sea, reminded the ancients of the exposed bones of the earth.

The ancient Hawaiians paddled the channel waters in their canoes for food, recreation, trade, communication and military purposes. The rich history of the islands is full of accounts of mythical demigods and real-life heroes testing their skills on the oceans. Control of Hawaiʻi’s channel waterways was an important part of Hawaiian society. This importance is reflected today in modern Hawaiʻi’s claim to state ownership of interisland waters (Hawaiʻi State Constitution, Article XV).  (NOAA)

Control of the interisland waterways was an extension of domination of the land by the aliʻi. The “nature of the dominion exercised over a channel lying between two portions of a multi-island unit was based on Polynesian rather than Western concepts.” The Polynesians view the surrounding waters as part of the land. Control of the ocean by Hawaiians was implicit in the control of the islands themselves.  (NOAA)

Kaiwi is known for the Kualau or Kuakualau – the strong wind and the rain out in the ocean.  It is customary for it to blow in the evening and in the morning but sometimes blow at all times.  “Where are you, O Kualau, Your rain goes about at sea.” (McGregor)

Wind speeds decrease in the lee of each island; whereas winds in the channel increase in strength. The area out in the channel is subject to heavy, gusty trade winds.

These winds had an effect on the waters in the channel; “… the ship turned toward Lae-o-ka-laau.  As we went on the Kualau breeze of Kaiwi blew wildly, and many people were bent over with seasickness”.  (Ku Okoa, 1922; Maly)

In Hawaiian tradition, Lāʻau Point on Molokai represents a point of no return. For those traveling by canoe from Oʻahu to Molokai across the Kaiwi Channel, once Lāʻau Point is sighted, there is no turning back to Oʻahu.

More commonly known today as the Molokai Channel, the Kaiwi Channel separates the islands of Molokai and Oʻahu; it has the reputation as one of the world’s most treacherous bodies of water.

The channel is about the length of a marathon (26.2-miles) but it’s a body of water; annually, swimmers, paddlers and others seek to cross its span as an individual achievement, or the glory of participating/winning a race.

In 1939, William K Pai is reportedly the first person to swim the Kaiwi Channel, from ʻIlio Point on Molokai to the Blowhole near Oʻahu’s Sandy Beach (because he first paddled a little offshore before swimming, it was ‘uncertified.’)  Since then, several others have tried and succeeded.

On October 12, 1952, three Koa outrigger canoes launched from Molokai’s west side; nearly nine hours later, Kukui O Lanikaula landed on the beach at Waikīkī in front of the Moana Hotel. Thus began the world’s most prestigious outrigger canoe race, the Molokaʻi Hoe.  Two years later, the women’s Na Wahine O Ke Kai, Molokai to Oʻahu Canoe Race, was inaugurated.

We are reminded of the hazards and risks crossing Kaiwi Channel, when on March 16, 1978, Hokuleʻa left Ala Wai Harbor in Honolulu on a voyage to Tahiti.  According to the Coast Guard report, the canoe left O‘ahu in 30-knot trade winds, with clear skies, 6-8 foot seas from the NNE, and 8-10 foot swells from the NE.  (PVS)

“Swells were high, but the canoe had ridden out such seas before. However, this time it was heavily laden with food and supplies for a month’s journey. The added weight put unusual stress on the canoe, making it difficult to handle.”

“Turning off-wind eased the strain but it also caused the sea to wash in over the gunwales, filling the starboard compartments and depressing the lee hull. Winds pushing on the sails rotated the lighter windward hull around the submerged lee hull, now dead in the water.”

“Five hours after leaving Ala Wai Harbor, Hokule‘a was upside-down in the sea between O‘ahu and Molokai.”  (Will Kyselka, An Ocean in Mind; PVS)

“All that night (sixteen crew members) clung to the hulls of the stricken vessel, huddling to protect themselves as best they could from wind and wave. Daylight came. Airplanes flew overhead but no one saw Hokuleʻa. …. Most alarming, though, was the fact that the canoe was drifting away from airline routes, decreasing its chance of being spotted.”  (Will Kyselka, An Ocean in Mind; PVS)

“Eddie Aikau wanted to go for help.”

“An expert waterman, he had saved the lives of many swimmers in trouble in the powerful surf of Waimea Bay on the north shore of O‘ahu. … Eddie would go alone.”

“The crew, clinging to the overturned hulls, watch(ed) in silence as he rode the waves into a fate not unknown to many of the people of old who sailed toward distant lands.”  (Will Kyselka, An Ocean in Mind; PVS)

In the early morning of March 18, 1978, the Coast Guard arrived to assist the Hokuleʻa; later that day, they sighted Aikau’s surfboard.  Eddie was never seen again.

© 2022 Hoʻokuleana LLC

Filed Under: General, Place Names Tagged With: Eddie Aikau, Hawaii, Oahu, Molokai, Kaiwi Channel, Kaiwi, Hokulea, Hanauma Bay, Hanauma

October 17, 2019 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Staying Connected

In our present wonderful world of wireless – and connectivity to the internet, etc – we sometimes forget the relative ‘remoteness’ Hawaiʻi has with the rest of civilization.

Hawaiʻi is the world’s most-isolated populated-place. In round numbers, we are 5,000 miles Washington DC, New York, Florida, Australia, Philippines, Hong Kong & the North Pole; 4,000 miles from Chicago, Tokyo, New Zealand & Guam and 2,500 miles from Los Angeles, all other West Coast cities, Samoa, Alaska & Mexico.

While, today, technology keeps us constantly and instantly in touch and aware of world events, the same was not true in the past. Prior to the beginning of the 20th century, you had at least a one-week time lag in receiving “news” (that arrived via ships.)

This mattered and put Hawaiʻi at a significant disadvantage, especially when you consider the level of literacy in the Islands.

In Hawaiʻi, the literacy rate of the adult Hawaiian population moved from near zero in 1820 to a conservative estimate of 91% – and perhaps as high as 95% – by 1834.

The Kingdom of Hawaiʻi was one of the most literate nations on earth. By 1832, the literacy rate of Hawaiians had surpassed that of Americans on the continent, which at the time was 78% (and did not exceed the 90% level until 1902.) Overall European literacy rates in 1850 had not risen much above 50%. (Laimana)

This significant number of readers resulted in a thriving Hawaiian press (with different publications printed in Hawaiian and English – and other languages.)

But without faster worldwide communications to the Islands, Hawaiʻi was deprived of staying current with world events.

That changed in 1902, when the first submarine cable across the Pacific was completed (landing in Waikīkī at Sans Souci Beach) linking the US mainland to Hawaiʻi, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Fiji (1902) and Guam to the Philippines in 1903. (The first Atlantic submarine cable, connecting Europe with the USA, was completed in 1866.)

The first telegraph message carried on the system was sent from Hawaiʻi and received by President Teddy Roosevelt on January 2, 1903 (that day was declared “Cable Day in Hawaiʻi.”)

On January 3, 1903, the first news dispatches were sent over the Pacific cable to Hawaiʻi by the Associated Press.

On the afternoon of July 4, 1903, Honolulu was connected to the Pacific cable from Midway Island, which extended east to the Philippines and China. On that day, the Pacific cable commenced full operation between Asia and Washington, DC.

In 1956, a 200-foot wide channel was dynamited through the center of Hanauma Bay to accommodate the first telephone cable (AT&T,) stretching from San Francisco to Hawaiʻi. The cable provided the first direct operator dialing between Hawaiʻi and the mainland.

There were two cables, one for each direction of transmission; to maintain transmission, underwater repeaters (or speech amplifiers) were spliced into the cables at intervals of 38 nautical miles. (The two cables were needed because the repeaters worked in only one direction.)

The final splice was made in the first of these cables on August 2, 1957 and the laying of the second cable was completed a couple months later. It remained in service until 1989.

The first trans-Pacific submarine cable system, TPC-1 (Trans Pacific Cable 1), was put into service on June 19, 1964. It’s a submarine coaxial cable linked Japan, Guam, Hawaiʻi and mainland USA via Hawaiʻi, with a small capacity of only 128 telephone circuits (it was withdrawn from service in 1990.)

After that, more transpacific submarine cable systems were built.

Even with all the satellite and mobile communication options we have today, there are 7 major transpacific submarine communication cables landing in Hawaii, distributed at 5 cable landing stations.

Three of Hawaiʻi’s five Cable Landing Stations for the various trans-Pacific and interisland cables are on Oʻahu and two are on the Big Island: Mākaha, Kahe, Keawaʻula and two at Spencer Beach Park (near Kawaihae on the Big Island.)

Mākaha Cable Landing Station is located at Mākaha Beach along the Waianae coast of the Island of Oʻahu is home to the first trans-Pacific cable that was landed at Mākaha Beach in 1964. The Mākaha CLS is now the cable landing station for Japan-US CN and other interisland cables, as well as retired trans-pacific cables.

Kahe Point Cable Landing Site lies within Kahe Point Beach Park, along the southwest coast of the Island of Oʻahu. The Kahe Point Cable Landing Station is now the cable landing station for the Southern Cross and other interisland cables.

Keawaʻula Cable Landing Station (built in 1985) is located at Keawaʻula within the Kaʻena State Park at the beach commonly known as Yokohama, which has been served as a landing site since 1963.

There are two stations at Spencer Beach on the northwest coast of the Big Island of Hawaiʻi. The landing site is within the Samuel M Spencer Beach Park. This is also the terminal station for the Honotua (serving French Polynesia) and other inter-island submarine cables.

With these cable connections, as well as satellite communications, today, Hawaiʻi stays linked to and up-to-date with the rest of the world.

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© 2019 Hoʻokuleana LLC

Hanauma_Bay-Blasting_for_Telephone_Cable-1956
Transpacific_Cable__TPC-1__on_Japan_Shoreline_1964
Hanauma Bay Cable
Laying the shore end of the first telephone cable to Japan in Makaha, Hawaii-(AT&T)-1964
submarine-telephone-cable-and-diver--hanauma-bay-1973-bill-owen
Undersea Cable on Ocean Floor
Loading the HAW-1 Cable linking Point Arena, California with Hanauma Bay-1957
California-Hawaii-undersea_telephone_cable-1957
Hawaii-Japan-Cable-1964
Communication between San Francisco and O'ahu, people on the Hawai'i end received their first message-(honoluluadvertiser)-1903
Global communications Map 2002
Makaha_Landing_Station-Map
Submarine Cable Map 2012
Submarine Cable Map 2012-zoom
Telegraph_cables-1901

Filed Under: Economy Tagged With: Hawaii, Hanauma, Makaha, San Souci, Trans-Pacific Cable, Keaweula, Spencer Beach

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