Hawaii Island | Page 11 | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

July 18, 2024 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Waiwelawela

Paʻu o keahi o Waiwelawela o ka lua e
Aloha na poʻe la o

The pit of Waiwelawela is encircled by fire
Greetings to the people of the upland pit

(From the chant “A popoʻi haki kaikoʻo” – it describes how Pele got established in Puna; it compares the movement of the lava to the movement of water.)

There are indications that the ancient Hawaiians made use of natural hot springs for recreation and therapy. Oral history relates that the ancient chieftain, Kumukahi, frequented hot springs in Puna to relieve his aches and pains. (Woodruff/Takahashi)

“The fame of the waters of the warm springs of the Puna districts has been great during many years. In fact, it is a legend … that when the ailments of the body overcame the aliʻi of old they betook themselves to the spring known as Waiwelawela … and there they were healed of rheumatic affections through bathing, and their systemic ills cured by drinking of the waters.”

“This legend has come down to the Hawaiians of today and even now there is a fame attached to the waters of the springs, which draws to the side of the stream scores of the native residents of nearby districts.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, January 28, 1902)

Waiwelawela “is a warm spring, crescent shaped, and of a vivid ultramarine in color …. The spring, named the Blue Lake, is 90-deg in temperature and 900-feet above the level of the sea. The water is wonderfully clear and, strange to relate, at this elevation, it has a regular rise and fall which is said to correspond to the tide of the ocean.” (Daily Bulletin, August 28, 1882)

The Kapoho Warm Springs was formed when the downthrown block of the Kapoho fault slipped below the water table and exposed the warm waters, probably heated by a magmatic body intruded in 1840. (USGS)

“At present no practical use is made of them, but were there a proper access a small hotel would be built and many invalids would be able to make use of these springs.” (Hawaiian Gazette, September 17, 1889)

“The famous warm spring is to be found near the residence of Mr RA Lyman (Kapoho’s largest landowner) and is one of the finest bathing places on the islands. Natives formerly flocked to the place from all over the islands believing that it was possessed of great healing powers.”

“The water is a pleasant temperature for bathing and is clear as crystal, small objects can be readily distinguished twenty feet below the surface. There is a mineral taste to the water.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, March 22, 1892)

“The railway now goes so close to them that it is believed if a few cottages were built, and attendance provided, many afflicted people would be glad to go there and be healed. Even those who need no physician would find at these springs a place for rest and contemplation, far from the maddening crowd.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, October 12, 1908)

“It is the most marvelously beautiful place in all these beautiful islands. There is not a doubt of it. The pool, at the base of a small peak that is like what Diamond Head would be if that had sugar cane growing to its very summit, lies shaded by a dense growth of ʻōhiʻa and koa and lehua trees and guava bushes, the sun glistening upon it through the leaves of these.”

“The waters, not steaming, but of perceptibly higher temperature than the air, by some strange law of refraction are shot through with dazzling gleams of a blue that is like the blue depths of the sky. Yet the rocks in the pool are not blue. They are of rather reddish cast.” (Mid-Pacific Magazine, 1912)

“The exposed basin where the spring comes to the surface is something like five by six yards, and the water rises from no one knows where and departs no one sees how. The water is warm and is very full of mineral salts.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, January 28, 1902)

“This spot is unquestionably one of the loveliest in all Hawaiʻi, and its charm is typical of Hawaiʻi. It is close against the face of a volcanic cliff. Here there is a shady grotto, and in this grotto a pool almost as it hewed out of the rocks for the bathing place of some giant of the forest.”

“The water is in spots 20-feet deep, but so translucent that it seems much less than 10. It holds many lights and shadows, many hues and colors, varying from the deep indigo blue to a transparent jade-green and in spots a golden brown. There are seats here and the shade is grateful.” (Honolulu Star-bulletin, September 6, 1916)

At Warm Springs, where portions of ‘Bird of Paradise’ (1951) and other motion pictures had been filmed, stone steps led to a spring-fed, naturally heated pool fringed by ferns, cattleya orchids and lau hala trees.

The grounds and a half-mile drive were landscaped with plumeria, thousands of ti plants, crotons and ginger. Picnic tables and barbecue pits dotted a smooth lawn shaded by mango trees. Slim Holt, who leased the property from Lyman, had labored for years to create this beauty, assisted by interested individuals and organizations. (Flanders)

Then, “Something was amiss.” An eruption at Kilauea had ended on December 21, 1959.

“(B)ut the shallow reservoir beneath the summit of Kilauea volcano was gorged with magma, far more than before the eruption started. Rather than removing pressure, the eruption had, for all intents and purposes, created more.”

“The uncertainty ended at 1935 January 13, (1960,) when red glow in the night sky above Kapoho announced the 1960 eruption.” (USGS)

Bulldozers erected a quarter-mile line of dikes designed to prevent the lava from reaching Warm Springs. Despite this effort, toward midnight the flow surmounted the embankments.

Barbecue pits exploded; trees, shrubbery, tables and benches burst into flame. Lava poured down stone steps in a cherry-red stream. Still water, reflecting the infernal scene, disappeared under the flow. The new cinder cone was dubbed Puʻu Laimanu. … Today, buried beneath this primeval landscape, under 50-feet of lava, lays Warm Springs. (Flanders)

“Estimates of damage from the six-day eruption of Kilauea volcano rose into the millions today. State Senator Richard F Lyman estimated damage to his land, blanketed by the lava as $2,000,000.”

“He owns 80-acres of sugar land and the Warm Springs resort area, now buried by the flow on Hawaiʻi Island. Other landowners reported 3,500-acres of farmland destroyed.” (The Spokesman, January 20, 1960)

“Waiwelawela (meaning ‘warm water’) was a warm spring pool near Kapoho which was covered in the 1960 eruption. … It is said by people of the area that Pele covered the springs because people were charging others, namely Hawaiians, for use of the warm springs. In former days these warm springs were available to everyone.” (Pukui; DOE)

May 24, 2024 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Deaths at Huliheʻe

It became a favorite retreat for members of the Hawaiian royal family.

Huliheʻe Palace was constructed in 1838 by foreign seamen using lava rock, coral, koa and ōhi‘a timbers. It was initially the private residence of John Adams Kuakini (brother of Kaʻahumanu.)

Kuakini oversaw the construction of both Mokuaikaua Church and Hulihe‘e Palace and these landmarks once shared a similar architectural style with exposed stone – both are still standing, across the street from each other in Kailua-Kona.

After Kuakini’s death in 1844, the Palace passed to his adopted son, William Pitt Leleiohoku. Leleiohoku died a few months later, leaving Hulihe‘e to his wife, Princess Ruth Luka Ke‘elikōlani.

Princess Ruth also inherited all of the substantial landholdings of the Kamehameha dynasty from her brother, Lot Kapuāiwa; she became the largest landowner in the islands.

She was godmother to Princess Kaʻiulani. At Kaʻiulani’s baptism, Ruth gifted 10-acres of her land in Waikīkī where Kaʻiulani’s father Archibald Cleghorn built the ʻĀinahau Estate.

Kamehameha IV (Ruth’s half-brother, who had visited Huliheʻe as a student at the Royal School) and Queen Emma particularly enjoyed their time vacationing at Huliheʻe, and visited the palace many times with their son, Prince Albert.

Kamehameha IV signed a lease with Princess Ruth for Huliheʻe at $200 per year, with the agreement that additions and repairs made would be deducted from the rental. (Daughters of Hawaiʻi)

The King and Queen purchased the ahupuaʻa of Waiaha; in 1858 they moved to Kona for a 4-month stay. “On Tuesday afternoon last, at half-past 4 o’clock, their Majesties and Suit embarked on board of the schooner Maria, Capt F. Multeno, for Kona, Hawaiʻi …”

“… where they intend to reside for a few months; the dryness of the atmosphere and the salubrity of the climate in that district being unrivalled in the Pacific, and temptingly inviting as a contrast to the damp and chilly air pouring over Honolulu and vicinity, through the gorge of Nuʻuanu valley during the winter season.”

“Their Majesties were accompanied by the Prince of Hawaiʻi, the Princess Victoria, H. Ex. Gov. Kekuanaoa, Mesdames Rooke, Beckley; Dr. Rooke, Messrs. Hopkins, Webster and Nielson.”

“As the vessel cast off from the wharf, a royal salute was fired from the battery on Punch-bowl bill, and as she passed H. I. M’s ship Eurdice another Royal salute was fired and yards manned.” (Polynesian, September 18, 1858)

That visit was cut short with the untimely death of Queen Emma’s hānai father, Dr Rooke. “Our late townsman TCB Rooke Esq, died of apoplexy (unconsciousness or incapacity resulting from a cerebral hemorrhage or stroke,) at Kailua, Hawaiiʻ, on Sunday the 28th Nov. ult, at 1 o’clock pm.”

“He was attacked in the first instance at about 6 o’clock in the morning of the time day, when a messenger was instantly despatched for Dr. Herrick of South Kona, who arrived without loss of time and perceived at once that the patient was beyond recovery, and approved entirely of what had been done previous to his coming.” (Polynesian December 11, 1858)

Thomas Charles Byde Rooke, MD, died November 28, 1858, six months after the Prince of Hawaiʻi was born to Kamehameha IV and Queen Emma. (Evening Bulletin, October 7, 1897)

In August 1873, shortly after being elected King, it became apparent that King Lunalilo was ill. At the urging of Princess Ruth and Queen Emma he went to Huliheʻe to recover.

Georges Phillipe Trousseau accompanied the King and stayed with Lunalilo at Huliheʻe Palace, from mid-November to the middle of January 1874. (Though not an official title, Trousseau served as royal physician.)

Lunalilo brought Henry Berger and the Royal Hawaiian Band to the palace throughout Christmas and the New Year to entertain the royalty during the holiday season.

After it became apparent that Lunalilo was not going to recover, and the royal party returned to Honolulu where Lunalilo died on February 3. (Greenwell)

Despite owning Huliheʻe Palace, Princess Ruth Keʻelikōlani chose to live in a large hale pili (traditional grass home) on the same oceanfront property.

For a home in Honolulu, she built Keōua Hale, a large, Victorian-style mansion, and the most expansive residence of the time; it was larger than ʻIolani Palace. (It was situated on what is now Central Middle School.)

Princess Ruth Keʻelikōlani never lived in the palace. She became ill immediately after the house warming and birthday luau. Her doctors recommended that she return to Huliheʻe, where they believed she would more quickly regain her health.

She received medical attention, but did not recover. On May 24, 1883, Keʻelikōlani died at the age of fifty-seven at Haleʻōlelo, her hale pili. Per her will, Huliheʻe Palace went to Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop (who died within a year of inheriting the palace.)

Hulihee_Palace,_before 1884

Hulihee Palace(left)-Mokuaikaua Church(right)

Visit to Hulihee Palace, Kona, Hawaii by Jonah Kuhio Kalanianaole (1871-1922) and party-(HSA)-PP-97-1-012

Hulihee_Palace_with_Princess_Ruth_Keelikolani’s_grass_house,_ca._1885,_by_C._J._Hedemann

Princess Keelikōlani’s hale pili (grass house) in Kailua, Kona, Hawai‘i. ca 1883_Hulihee_Palace-WC

May 23, 2024 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Camp Sague

The Spanish-American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence.

Back then, Spain had interests in the Pacific, particularly in the Guam and Philippines. Although the main issue was Cuban independence, the ten-week war was fought in both the Caribbean and the Pacific.

At the time, there was no assigned garrison in the Islands until August 15, 1898, when the 1st New York Volunteer Infantry regiment and the 3rd Battalion, 2nd US Volunteer Engineers landed in Honolulu for garrison duty. They setup camp (‘Camp McKinley’) at Kapiʻolani Park.

Later (November 8, 1898,) approximately 200-soldiers of the 1st New York sailed from Honolulu to Hilo to inspect sites for a possible permanent military post. (Greguras) The troops landed at Waiākea in Hilo and stayed in a large warehouse for one night.

“The mariners under Christopher Columbus were no more anxious and certainly no happier to set foot on land in 1492 than were the New York Volunteer troops which left Honolulu last Tuesday morning on the Kinau, to feel the terra firma of Hilo under them this morning.”

“To say that the trip over was rough is putting it mild. In fact, judging from the number of men who cast their bread upon the (rough) waters, it could not have been worse. After leaving Diamond Head shoal the Kinau tossed, rolled and pitched so heavily that at times many of the men made frantic efforts to reach life preservers.”

“Miss Anna Rose, who was a passenger on board the steamer won the hearts of all the boys by her kindly interest and solicitation in their welfare. She cheered and comforted the sick, brought them little delicacies and in diverse other ways did she make herself the most popular person on board.”

“In appreciation of her service the band serenaded Miss Rose a number of times. She was also voted unanimously the queen of the First New York Volunteers.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, November 14, 1898)

A highlight of their visit was a hike to Kilauea volcano. “The march to the Volcano was begun at noon on Monday last. There was a heavy downfall of rain, but the boys kept up their spirits.”

“A halt for lunch was made eight miles from Hilo, and camp for the night was then made at Kilohana at 3:30 o’clock in the afternoon. Shelter for the night was found in Mr Lee’s barn and in the church.”

“The march next day was resumed, at 10 o’clock. A halt was made at Mountain View hotel, where Mr Hambly entertained the boys at lunch. All the way the boys were the recipients of hospitality and greetings. Mrs. Trowbridge served sandwiches as the troops marched passed her house.”

“Tuesday night was spent at Wailiʻili the home of Mr. Hitchcock. Eight miles beyond, the Volcano house was reached, and here hot lunch was served by Mr. Waldron, and a mile and a half beyond shelter tents were pitched and the men went into camp.”

“The Volcano house has been thrown open to the boys during their stay and the band has given several concerts. Friday morning the entire command went, to the Volcano.” (Hawaiian Star, November 21, 1898)

The camp which the soldiers established at the Volcano was named Major Sague Camp. (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, November 21, 1898) Sague of the 1st New York was in command of the detachment. The troops were in this camp for only three days, returning to Honolulu on December 5th.

A November 24, 1898 letter from a member of Company I of the 1st N.Y. indicates the camp was near the crater of the volcano, about two miles from the Volcano House “in a large (koa) grove with lots of dead wood on the ground.” (Stenzel)

Back in Hilo, “A very interesting affair was the raising of the flag at Riverside Park, formerly known as Reed’s Island, on Thursday. Mr. Pratt had arranged the matter almost extemporaneously, which made the whole occasion perhaps more enjoyable than if it had been a formal and long prearranged ceremony.”

“The commanding officers of this portion of the 1st New York Volunteers, kindly asented to give a military air to the flag raising by the presence of the troops and regimental band, while Queen Anna graciously consented to hoist the American emblem.”

“The troops marched up Waiānuenue street about 2:30, seized the ravine which bounds that side of Reed’s Island without opposition and scaled the opposite cliffs, preceeded by the Queen who proved her physical powers again. The flag was hoisted to the music of the ‘Star Spangled Banner’.”

“A large crowd of townspeople viewed the ceremonies from the Island and from the opposite banks. The day was one of the most perfect which even Hilo affords the occasion was one of great interest to the Hiloites.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, November 15, 1898)

Another important event was the Thanksgiving luau; “the New York soldiers at Hilo were given a big Thanksgiving luau by Mr and Mrs CC Kennedy at the big sugar plantation in Waiakea.”

“The tables were arranged in the big sugar room of the mill, which had been elaborately decorated with palms, flowers and flags. Instead of table cloths the food stuffs, prepared, cooked and served in Hawaiian style, were placed upon ti leaves, which literally covered the tables.”

“The services of all the young ladles in the city were engaged to wait on the soldiers, while to the married ladles fell the responsibility of arranging the tables for the feast.”

“At each plate – wooden – was a handsomely printed souvenir menu of what comprised the feast. The delicacies placed before the boys to eat, as printed on the menu, were: fish, from the Waiākea ponds; Taro; Pig, wrapped in ti leaves; Sweet Potatoes; Breadfruit; Beef, wrapped in ti leaves; Turkey, Kukui nuts, Rolls, Taro Pudding, Hawaiian Pudding, Mince Pie, Fruits, Soda Water, Lemonade, Coffee, Poi and Cigars.”

“When all had eaten until they could eat no more the tables were cleared away, the floor prepared for dancing and this was the order of the afternoon. For the dancing the military band furnished the music, while the music for the evening dance, in the same place, was furnished by the Wela Ka Hao orchestra.”

“Returning to camp the men were loud in their praises for Mr and Mrs Kennedy and all the good people who assisted In trying to make the Thanksgiving day feast a most pleasant event.” (Hawaiian Gazette, November 29, 1898)

In the end, Sague, in expressing his appreciation on behalf of all soldiers, noted, “Hilo is all right. When we were in San Francisco the boys had a continual round of feeding.”

“Let me say on behalf of this detachment of the First New York Volunteers that since passing out of the Golden Gate, Hilo is the only place where they have felt at home. It is the only place they have been where cordiality has been expressed by word and deed.”

“The boys will remember it and in the 600 to 800 letters which leave the camp and go to the relatives and friends in the Empire State the praises of Hilo and Hilo people will be sung. On behalf of the boys who are here let me thank you all for your generous treatment.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, November 21, 1898)

Following the war, Sague returned home to Poughkeepsie, NY and in 1906 was elected Mayor of the city, “whose administration has stimulated Poughkeepsie to the attitude of a wide awake American city.” (Vassar Miscellany, February 1, 1912)

On April 5, 1905, Major John K Sague Camp, United Spanish War Veterans, was organized in Poughkeepsie; Sague served as its first commander. (Poughkeepsie New Yorker, July 7, 1941) (Greguras)

May 9, 2024 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Manono

Manono was born on Maui in the 1780s; her father was Kekuamanoha, and her mother was Kalola-a-Kumukoʻa, a wife of Kamehameha. Through her father, she was a granddaughter of Kekaulike, the Mōʻi (King) of Maui.

From her mother’s side, she was the great-granddaughter of King Keawe of Hawaiʻi. Her half-siblings from her father’s first marriage were Kalanimōkū, Boki and Wahinepio. She was cousin of Kaʻahumanu, Kalākua Kaheiheimālie, Keʻeaumoku II and Kuakini (Governor of Hawaiʻi.)

At the time of Cook’s arrival (1778-1779) (while the Colonists were battling the British on the continent,) the Hawaiian Islands were divided into four kingdoms: (1) the island of Hawaiʻi under the rule of Kalaniʻōpuʻu, who also had possession of the Hāna district of east Maui; (2) Maui (except the Hāna district,) Molokaʻi, Lānaʻi and Kahoʻolawe, ruled by Kahekili; (3) Oʻahu, under the rule of Kahahana; and at (4) Kauaʻi and Niʻihau, Kamakahelei was ruler.

Separate Kingdoms ruled separate parts of the Islands. However, conquest was in the air and battles and negotiations for power and control were going on.

When Keōua, the father of Kamehameha, died, he commended his son to the care of Kalaniʻōpuʻu, who received him, and treated him as his own child. (Dibble) Following Kalaniʻōpuʻu’s death in 1782, the kingship was inherited by his son Kīwalaʻō; Kamehameha (Kīwalaʻō’s cousin) was given guardianship of the Hawaiian god of war, Kūkaʻilimoku.

Dissatisfied with subsequent redistricting of the lands by district chiefs, civil war ensued between Kīwalaʻō’s forces and the various chiefs under the leadership of his cousin Kamehameha.

In the first major skirmish, the battle of Mokuʻōhai (a fight between Kamehameha and Kiwalaʻo in July, 1782 at Keʻei, south of Kealakekua Bay on the Island of Hawaiʻi,) Kiwalaʻo was killed. With the death of his cousin Kiwalaʻo, the victory made Kamehameha chief of the districts of Kona, Kohala and Hāmākua, while Keōua, the brother of Kiwalaʻo, held Kaʻū and Puna, and Keawemauhili declared himself independent of both in Hilo. (Kalākaua)

Kamehameha, through the assistance of the Kona “Uncles” (Keʻeaumoku, Keaweaheulu, Kameʻeiamoku & Kamanawa (the latter two ended up on the Islands’ coat of arms;)) succeeded, after a struggle of more than ten years, in securing the supreme authority over that island (and later, the entire Hawaiian Islands chain.)

Prior to his death on May 8, 1819, Kamehameha decreed that that his son, Liholiho, would succeed him in power; he also decreed that his nephew, Kekuaokalani, have control of the war god Kūkaʻilimoku (a similar scenario to Kalaniʻōpuʻu and Kiwalaʻo/Kamehameha.)

At a young age Manono fell in love with and married Kekuaokalani, the young kahu (priest) of Kūkaʻilimoku from the island of Hawai’i. The couple lived in the mountains on the island of Maui tending to their taro patches and raised their four children. (Cupchoy)

Following the death of Kamehameha I in 1819, King Kamehameha II (Liholiho) declared an end to the kapu system. “An extraordinary event marked the period of Liholiho’s rule, in the breaking down of the ancient tabus, the doing away with the power of the kahunas to declare tabus and to offer sacrifices, and the abolition of the tabu which forbade eating with women (ʻAi Noa, or free eating.)” (Kamakau)

The people were divided about keeping the traditional social structure or abandoning it. Kekuaokalani, Liholiho’s cousin, opposed the abolition of the kapu system and assumed the responsibility of leading those who opposed its abolition. These included priests, members of his court and the traditional territorial chiefs of the middle rank.

Kekuaokalani demanded that Liholiho withdraw his edict on abolition of the kapu system. (If the kapu fell, the war god would lose its potency.) (Daws) Kamehameha II refused.

After attempts to settle peacefully, “Friendly means have failed; it is for you to act now,” and Keōpūolani then ordered Kalanimōkū to prepare for war on Kekuaokalani. Arms and ammunition were given out that evening to everyone who was trained in warfare, and feather capes and helmets distributed. (Kamakau)

The two powerful cousins engaged at the final Hawaiian battle of Kuamoʻo – a battle for tradition versus the modern.

In December 1819, just seven months after the death of Kamehameha I, opposing heirs met in battle on the lava fields south of Keauhou Bay. Liholiho had more men, more weapons and more wealth to ensure his victory. He sent his prime minister, Kalanimōku, to defeat his cousin.

Kekuaokalani marched up the Kona Coast from Kaʻawaloa and met his enemies at Lekeleke, just south of Keauhou. The first encounter went in favor of Kekuaokalani. At Lekeleke, the king’s army suffered a temporary defeat.

Regrouping his warriors, Kalanimōkū fought back and trapped the rebels farther south along the shore in the ahupuaʻa of Kuamoʻo. (Kona Historical Society)

“No characters in Hawaiian history stand forth with a sadder prominence, or add a richer tint to the vanishing chivalry of the race, than Kekuaokalani and his courageous and devoted wife, Manono, the last defenders in arms of the Hawaiian gods.” (Kalākaua)

“Kekuaokalani is referred to by tradition as one of the most imposing chiefs of his day. He was more than six and a half feet in height, perfect in form, handsome in feature and noble in bearing. Brave, sagacious and magnetic, he possessed the requirements of a successful military leader”. (Kalākaua)

Kekuaokalani, having earlier received a wound, fainted and fell and, unable to stand, “sat on a fragment of lava, and twice loaded and fired a musket on the advancing party. He now received a ball in his left breast, and, immediately covering his face with his feathered cloak”. (Ellis)

“In the midst of these scenes of blood the eye rests with relief upon numerous episodes of love, friendship and self-sacrifice touching with a softening color the ruddy canvas of the past.” (Kalākaua)

“Manono, during the day, fought by his side, with steady and dauntless courage.” (Ellis)

“He finally fell with a musket-ball through his heart. With a wild scream of despair Manono sprang to his assistance”. (Kalākaua)

“But the words had scarcely escaped from her lips, when she received a ball in the left temple – fell upon the lifeless body of her husband, and expired.” (Ellis)

“Thus died the last great defenders of the Hawaiian gods. They died as nobly as they had lived, and were buried together where they fell on the field of Kuamoʻo.” (Kalākaua)

“It is painful to contemplate the death of Kekuaokalani, of Manono a wife who seems to have been unusually affectionate, and of the many friends and adherents who fought with acknowledged steadfastness and courage and fell on the field of battle.” (Dibble)

“Manono is said to have been an interesting woman, and she certainly gave evidence of attachment and affection. … Not even the horrors of savage fight could prevent her from following the fortune and sharing the dangers of her husband.” (Dibble)

It is said that Kalanimōkū left the body of Kekuaokalani on the lava rocks after this battle instead of having it buried according to his rank of a chief because Kekuaokalani’s ancestor, Alapaʻi-Nui-a–Kaʻu-au-a had drowned Kalanimōkū’s ancestor, Kauhi-ai-moku-a-kama, at Puhele, Kaupo district, Maui. (Kamakau)

Kekuaokalani’s feathered cloak was taken as a battle prize of Kamehameha II. The cloak became one of the three feathered cloaks that legitimized Liholiho’s claim to power.

After the death of Kamehameha II, the cloak did not have the same symbolic power to his brother, Kamehameha III, and it was given to Captain John H Aulick of the American Navy in 1841. His descendants gave it to the Smithsonian Institution in 1869. (Smithsonian)

The image ‘Kekuaokalani and Manono Battle at Kuamoʻo Dec. 1819’ by Brook Kapukuniahi Parker was the inspiration for this summary.

March 1, 2024 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Puʻuhonua O Hōnaunau

“The ancient system consisted in the many tabus, restrictions or prohibitions, by which the high chiefs contrived, to throw about their persons a kind of sacredness, and to instil into the minds of the people a superstitious awe and peculiar dread.”

“If the shadow of a common man fell on a chief, it was death; if he put on a kapa or a malo of a chief, it was death; if he went into the chief’s yard, it was death; if he wore the chief’s consecrated mat, it was death; if he went upon the house of the chief, it was death.”

“If a man stood on those occasions when he should prostrate himself, (such as) when the king’s bathing water… (was) carried along, it was death. If a man walked in the shade of the house of a chief with his head besmeared with clay, or with a wreath around it, or with his head wet… it was death.”

“There were many other offenses of the people which were made capital by the chiefs, who magnified and exalted themselves over their subjects.” (Dibble)

The social rules for interaction with gods and members of the chiefly class were legion, and death by human sacrifice was the default punishment in many cases. (Shoenfelder)

Puʻuhonua were locations which, through the power of the gods and the generosity of the chiefs, afforded unconditional absolution to those who broke taboos, disobeyed rulers, or committed other crimes. (Schoenfelder)

Ethno-historical literature, and available physical, cultural, and locational data, note at least 57-sites across the Islands. Puʻuhonua tended to occur in areas of high population and/or in areas frequented by chiefs. (Schoenfelder)

These range from enclosed compounds such as Hōnaunau, to platforms (Halulu on Lānaʻi), to fortified mountain-tops (Kawela on Molokaʻi), to unmodified natural features (Kūkaniloko on Oʻahu) and to entire inhabited land sections, as at Lāhainā on Maui. (Schoenfelder)

Recognized as one of the significant puʻuhonua, and one that is well preserved and presented for the rest of us to understand was Puʻuhonua O Hōnaunau on the Kona coast on the Island of Hawaiʻi.

The Place of Refuge, termed the ‘City of Refuge’ by Rev. William Ellis in 1823, with its adjoining chiefly residences. Beyond the boundaries of the “Palace Grounds”, around the head of Hōnaunau Bay, lived the chiefly retainers and the commoners. South of the Place of Refuge were scattered settlements along the coast and inland under the cliffs of Keanaee. (NPS)

“The Puhonua at Hōnaunau is a very capacious one, capable of containing a vast multitude of people. In time of war, the females, children, and old people of the neighbouring districts, were generally left within it, while the men went to battle. Here they awaited in safety the issue of the conflict, and were secure against surprise and destruction in the event of a defeat.” (Ellis, 1823)

“These Puhonuas were the Hawaiian ‘Cities of Refuge,” and afforded an inviolable sanctuary to the guilty fugitive, who, when flying from the avenging spear, was so favoured as to enter their precincts.” (Ellis, 1823)

“Hither the manslayer, the man who had broken a taboo, or failed in the observance of its rigid requirements, the thief, and even the murderer, fled from his incensed pursuers, and was secure. To whomsoever he belonged, and from whatever part he came, he was equally certain of admittance, though liable to be pursued even to the gates of the enclosure.” (Ellis, 1823)

“Happily for him, those gates were perpetually open. Whenever war was proclaimed, and during the period of actual hostilities, a white flag was unfurled on the top of a tall spear, on the outside, at each end of the enclosure, and until’ the conclusion of peace, waved the symbal of hope to those, who, vanquished in fight, might flee thither for protection.”

“To the spot, on which this banner was unfurled, the victorious warrior might chase his routed foes. But here he must himself fall back. Beyond it he must not advance one step, on pain of forfeiting his life.”

“The priests and their adherents – would immediately put to death anyone, who should have the temerity to follow, or molest those, who were once within the pale of the pahu tabu, and, and as they expressed it, under the shade, or skreening protection, of the spirit of Keave, the tutelar deity of the place.” (Ellis, 1823)

A structure there, Hale-O-Keawe was erected around 1650 to serve as a temple mausoleum for the ruling chiefs of Kona. It served as the major temple for the “Place of Refuge” until 1819, when the religious laws (kapu) were abandoned.

“The appearance of the house was good. Its posts and rafters were of kauila wood, and it was said that this kind of timber was found in the upland of Napu’u. It was well built, with crossed stems of dried ti leaves, for that was the kind of thatching used.”

“The appearance inside and outside of the house was good to look at. The compact bundles of bones (pukuʻi iwi) that were deified (hoʻokuaʻia) were in a row there in the house, beginning with Keawe’s near the right side of the door by which one went in and out, and going to the spot opposite the door (kuʻono).” (John Papa ʻĪʻi)

“It is a compact building, 24 feet by 16, constructed with the most durable timber, and thatched with ti leaves, standing on a bed of lava, which runs out a considerable distance into the sea. It is surrounded by a strong fence, or paling, leaving an area in the front and at each end, about twenty-four feet wide, paved with smooth fragments of lava laid down with considerable skill.”

“Several rudely carved male and female images of wood were placed on the outside of the enclosure; some on low pedestals, under the shade of an adjacent tree; others on high posts, on the jutting rocks that hung over the edge of the water.” (Ellis, 1823)

“The zeal of Kaʻahumanu led her as early as 1829 to visit the Hale O Keawe at Honaunau, a cemetery associated with dark superstitions, and surrounded with horrid wooden images of former generations. The regent visited the place not to mingle her adorations with her early contemporaries and predecessors to the relics of departed mortals, but for the purpose of removing the bones of twenty-four deified kings and princes of the Hawaiian race….” (Bingham)

“… when she saw it ought to be done, she determined it should be done: and in company with Mr. Ruggles and Kapiolani, she went to the sacred deposit, and caused the bones to be placed in large coffins and entombed in a cave in the precipice at the head of Kealakekua Bay.” (Bingham)

The puʻuhonua was deeded to Miriam Kekāuluohi, a granddaughter of Kamehameha I, in the Māhele of 1848, and it was inherited, upon her death, by Levi Haʻalelea, her second husband. In 1866, the property was auctioned by Ha‘alelea’s estate to Charles Kana‘ina, the father of William Charles Lunalilo.

Kana‘ina, however, did not pay the $5,000 bid, and Charles Reed Bishop stepped in to purchase Ha‘alelea’s land for that same amount on April 1, 1867. In 1891, six years after Pauahi’s death, Bishop deeded the land to the trustees of the Bishop Estate who leased it to one of their members, SM Damon.

Damon was responsible for the 1902 restoration work on the Great Wall and the stone platforms of two heiau, Hale O Keawe and ‘Ale‘ale‘a. The County of Hawai‘i took over Damon’s lease in 1921. That lease expired in 1961 when the then County Park was acquired by the US National Park Service. (deSilva)

Originally established in 1955 as City of Refuge National Historical Park, Puʻuhonua O Hōnaunau National Historical Park was renamed on November 10, 1978.

Further reconstruction consisted of four terraces and a passage between the southern end of the platform and the northern end of the Great Wall. In 1966-67 Edmund J Ladd directed the excavation and re-stabilization of the Hale o Keawe platform. Ladd’s excavations in addition to historical accounts indicated that the platform did not originally have multiple tiers; therefore, the 1967 work restored the platform to its more authentic form that joins the Great Wall on its south side.

After the platform was restored, the thatched hale, wooden palisade, and kiʻi were also rebuilt on the site. Since the time of Ladd’s initial reconstruction, the Hale o Keawe structure and carved wooden kiʻi have been replaced on two occasions with the most recent efforts being completed in 2004. (NPS)