Hawaii | Page 221 | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

November 13, 2022 by Peter T Young 9 Comments

Hawaiian … Banned?

Simply stated … the Hawaiian language was never banned.

That does not mean, however, that the use of the Hawaiian language did not diminish, nor that Hawaiian language speakers did not decline. But it is not correct to say the Hawaiian language was ever banned or outlawed.

Many Point to a 2022 Resolution as ‘Evidence’ that the Hawaiian Language was Banned

In 2022, the Hawai‘i legislature adopted HCR 130 and “offers this resolution as an apology to the Native Hawaiian people for the effective prohibition in Hawaii schools of the instructional use of ‘Ōlelo Hawaii from 1896 to 1986”.

Like a lot of others, the legislature overlooks some historical facts and historical context, including,

The Resolution states Act 57, Laws of the Republic of Hawaii 1896 “declared an English-only law over Hawaii’s public schools, prohibiting the use of ‘Olelo Hawaii as a medium instruction”.

Like many others, the legislature only referenced one part of the sentence in Act 57; the entire sentence reads, “The English language shall be the medium and basis of instruction in all public and private schools, provided that where it is desired that another language shall be taught in addition to the English language, such instruction may be authorized by the Department, either by its rules, the curriculum of the schools, or by direct order in any particular instance.”

The plain language of the law is clear and unambiguous; and, there is no statement that the Hawaiian language was banned. If a school wanted to teach Hawaiian, it could seek permission from the Department.

An example of non-English language school instruction in the Islands was the formation and upward trend of instruction in the Japanese language schools in Hawai‘i. (These were typically after school instruction.)

This claim of ‘banning the Hawaiian language’ (because of this law or for other theories) ignores what people back then believed and/or preferred.

The legislature overlooked that Kings of the Hawaiian Kingdom wanted English language instruction and the people asked for it. By 1850, English had become the language of business, diplomacy, and, to a considerable extent, of government itself.

The legislature overlooks the downward trend in enrollment and number of Hawaiian language schools that was evident well before the enactment of the law.

In 1854, there were 412-Hawaiian language instruction common schools with a total enrollment of 11,782-pupils; By 1874, the number of common schools declined to 196, with only 5,522-students enrolled (71% of the overall student population.) By 1878, 61% of the students were still enrolled in Hawaiian language schools; by 1882, that figure had dropped to 33%.
In 1895, the year before Act 57 was implemented, there were only 3 Hawaiian language schools with only 59 students – at the same time, there were 184 English language schools with 12,557 students – 99.5% of the students were in English language schools.

According to the Alexander and Atkinson, the reason for such a decline in Hawaiian language schools was,

“the desire of the Hawaiians to have their children taught the English language. Petition after petition is constantly being received by the Board asking to have the Common Schools [i.e., those taught in Hawaiian] changed into English Schools. The result will be then in a very few years more the Common Schools will have ceased to exist.”

The legislature overlooks the existence and expansion of the Hawaiian Language Newspapers in circulation; the numerous Hawaiian language newspapers that existed well beyond Act 57 (1896) confirms the Hawaiian language was not banned.

Between 1834-1948, Hawaiʻi saw the publication of over 100 different Hawaiian language newspapers. Approximately 125,000 pages were published, equating to roughly 1.5 million pages of ‘ike if transferred to A4 typescript.

I agree with the legislature that “due to Act 57, many students were punished for speaking ‘Ōlelo Hawai‘i at school.” Others were punished at home.

However, those were personal family and school decisions, a choice each of them made; that was not the result of a broad ban on the language. And, we need to consider the norms at the time related to Corporal Punishment – back then, many believed that corporal punishment was necessary to the maintenance of proper discipline, and it was common to use Corporal Punishment for disruptive and/or disrespectful behavior.

In reality, then and now, the use of force (by parents on their children and teachers on students) was an allowed and accepted practice of discipline.

Corporal Punishment was allowed under Hawaiian Kingdom law authorized by the King and Privy Council; as noted in Statute Laws of His Majesty Kamehameha III, 1846, Chapter III.

Use of force continues to be allowed under existing Hawai‘i law. Today, in Hawai‘i Revised Statutes (HRS) §703-309 Use of force by persons with special responsibility for care, discipline, or safety of others, the use of force upon or toward the person of another is justifiable.

This discussion is not a defense of nor support for Corporal Punishment; it is presented so readers have the correct historical context.

Simply stated … use of the Hawaiian language was never banned by law and the historical facts prove it. This is further explained in the following.

Early Education Programs in the Islands

When Captain Cook first made contact with the Hawaiian Islands in 1778, Hawaiian was a spoken language but not a written language. Historical accounts were passed down orally, through oli (chants) and mele (songs).

Before the foreigners arrived, Hawaiians had a vocational learning system, where everyone was taught a certain skill by the kahuna. Skills taught included canoe builder, medicine men, genealogists, navigators, farmers, house builders, priests, etc.

The arrival of the first company of American missionaries marked the beginning of Hawaiʻi’s phenomenal rise to literacy. The chiefs became proponents for education and edicts were enacted by the King and the council of chiefs to stimulate the people to reading and writing. The missionaries established schools associated with their missions across the Islands.

Interestingly, these same early missionaries taught their lessons in Hawaiian to the Hawaiians, rather than English. The missionaries learned the Hawaiian language, and then taught the Hawaiians in their language. In part, the mission did not want to create a separate caste and portion of the community as English-speaking Hawaiians.

Kuykendall (Volume 2) helps to explain the formation/operations of the early education programs in the Islands, “[T]he American Protestant missionaries were the most potent driving force in the educational system of the kingdom; natives educated in schools founded and carried on by missionaries and missionary children constituted a great majority of the teachers in the common schools, while many missionary children became teachers in select schools.”

“All the schools in the kingdom could be divided into two main categories: (1) common schools and (2) select schools. The common schools were the free public schools maintained by the government. whose object was ‘to instruct the children of the nation in good morals, and in the rudiments of reading, writing, geography, arithmetic, and of other kindred elementary branches.’”

“They were taught in the Hawaiian language by native Hawaiian teachers and afforded the only educational opportunity available to the great majority of the children of the nation.”

“Select schools, besides being, as the term implied, of better quality than the common schools, had various special objectives: to qualify their students for positions above the level of the common laborer, to teach them the English language, to supply teachers for the public schools, to train girls to be good housewives and mothers. In most of the select schools, English was the medium of instruction and a tuition fee was charged.”

“The Missionaries have been the fathers, the builders and the supporters of education in these Islands”. (Lee, December 2, 1847, Privy Council Minutes)

As time moved forward from the mid-nineteenth-century, to the end of the nineteenth-century, and after many meetings of the Board of Education, vocational education was implemented in to the school system. (Iaukea)

King Kamehameha III also saw the importance of education for all. “Statute for the Regulation of Schools” was adopted on October 15, 1840. Its preamble stated,

“The basis on which the Kingdom rests is wisdom and knowledge.”

“Peace and prosperity cannot prevail in the land, unless the people are taught in letters and in that which constitutes prosperity. If the children are not taught, ignorance must be perpetual, and children of the chiefs cannot prosper, nor any other children”.

The Law People Cite Does Not Ban Hawaiian – No Other Law Banned the Hawaiian Language

Many point to Act 57, Sec. 30 of the 1896 Laws of the Republic of Hawai‘i as the justification for their claim that Hawaiian was banned. That law states:

“The English language shall be the medium and basis of instruction in all public and private schools, provided that where it is desired that another language shall be taught in addition to the English language, such instruction may be authorized by the Department, either by its rules, the curriculum of the schools, or by direct order in any particular instance. Any schools that shall not conform to the provisions of this section shall not be recognized by the Department.”

Some suggest that the law passed by the Provisional Government that required English language instruction was “an intentional effort to strip language and culture from Native Hawaiians and other groups that came here. But it was more harmful to Hawaiians because Hawaiian had been the primary language for centuries.” (Star Advertiser article)

Statements like this ignore the facts. A simple review of the law shows that the language was not banned.

The plain language of the law is clear and unambiguous.

There is no statement in that that the Hawaiian language was banned. While it did say that “English language shall be the medium and basis of instruction,” the very next words in the same sentence of the law says, “provided that where it is desired that another language shall be taught in addition to the English language, such instruction may be authorized by the Department.” So, if a school wanted to teach Hawaiian, it could seek permission from the Department.

Growth in the Japanese Language Schools

In 1898 (well after the law was passed mandating English as the medium and basis for instruction), Rev. Okumura wanted to create educational opportunities for children of Japanese immigrants and requested the Ministry of Education in Japan to help provide Japanese language textbooks.

These textbooks were identical to the ones used in Japan and had been used by many schools. The number of schools expanded to a total of 134 by 1915.

Kings of the Hawaiian Kingdom Wanted English Language Instruction; the People Asked For It

This claim of ‘banning the Hawaiian language’ (because of this law or for other theories) ignores what people back then believed and/or preferred.

English was taught in Select Schools; that program was not funded by the government. As early as 1851, it was noted (Richard Armstrong, Minister of Public Education to the Hawaiian Legislature), that,

“What seems to be most needed now, is provision for the instruction of the interesting and increasing numbers of white and half-caste children in the several white settlements on the Islands; but more especially in Honolulu: and for natives who wish to acquire the English language.” (emphasis added)

Kuykendall (Volume 1) notes that the people wanted their children to be taught in English; in 1853, Armstrong wrote,

“On my tours around the Islands, I have found parents everywhere, even on the remote island of Niihau, most anxious to have their children taught the English language; and the reason they generally gave was a most sound and intelligent one, that without it – they will, by-and-by be nothing, and the white man everything.” (emphasis added)

Interest and motivation for Native Hawaiians to learn English had the attention of Kamehameha III. At the opening of the 1854 legislative session, King Kamehameha III gave the following remarks (in part),

“I have ordered my Minister of Public Instruction to submit to you, at length, the important subject of the education of my people, as the surest means of elevating them in the scale of morals, and of usefulness to themselves and the State.”

“There is a growing desire among my native subjects, that their children should acquire a knowledge of the English language, and considering the universality of that language in all the transactions of business, such a desire is very natural.” (emphasis added)

Accordingly, the legislature passed An Act for the Encouragement and Support for English Schools for Hawaiian Youth, July 20, 1854.

At the opening of the 1855 legislative session, King Kamehameha IV gave the following remarks (in part), saying,

“To foster education and widen every channel that leads to knowledge, is one of our most imperative duties. … It is of the highest importance, in my opinion, that education in the English language should become more general, for it is my firm conviction that unless my subjects become educated in this tongue, their hope of intellectual progress, and of meeting the foreigners on terms of equality, is a vain one.” (emphasis added)

At the opening of the 1856 legislative session, King Kamehameha IV gave the following remarks (in part),

“It is particularly gratifying to know that instruction in the English language is prosecuted with so much success among my native subjects. I recommend you to make as liberal a provision for the support of this class of schools as the state of my Treasury will admit.” (emphasis added)

At the opening of the 1860 legislative session, King Kamehameha IV gave the following remarks (in part),

“The all-important subject of Education now occupies the public mind with more than usual interest, and I particularly recommend to your favorable notice the suggestions of the President of the Board of Education, with reference to substituting English for Hawaiian schools, in so far as may be practicable, and also in relation to the granting of Government aid towards independent schools for the education and moral training of females.” (emphasis added)

At the opening of the 1862 legislative session, King Kamehameha IV gave the following remarks (in part),

“The importance of substituting English for Hawaiian schools I have already earnestly recommended, and in again bringing the subject to your attention, I would touch upon a matter which I think of equal importance, and that is in raising the standard of elementary education in the Common Schools.” (emphasis added)

Wist, in A Century of Public Education noted,

“Native youths, and to some extent their parents, saw the economic advantages in a knowledge of English. Kamehameha IV and later monarchs favored the change. Thus gradually there were accumulating numerous forces in favor of the dominance of English.” (emphasis added)

Enrollment Declines in Hawaiian Language Schools

Another issue people overlook was the obvious downward trend in enrollment and number of schools that taught in the Hawaiian language that was evident well before the enactment of the 1896 law.

Al Schutz, in The Voices of Eden, notes that School Attendance records clearly show the downward trend of student enrollment in Hawaiian language schools and the increases in enrollment for English language schools. That trend started well before the 1896 law. The following is a copy of Schutz’s table 16.1 (p. 352)

As noted by Schutz, “The figures in table 16.1 are corroborated by statistics from a different source, an article on the history of education in Hawai’i (Alexander and Atkinson 1888): in 1878, the schools that taught in Hawaiian contained 61.8% of the total school population, but in 1888, only 15.7%.

In the year the law that mandated English as the medium of instruction (1896), the number of Hawaiian language schools had dropped to only 3 schools and 59 students in Hawaiian language schools. In contrast, the year the law was adopted, the number of English language schools had grown to 184 schools and over 12,500 students – 99.5% of the total school enrollment in the year the law was passed was in English language schools.

According to the Alexander and Atkinson, the reason for such a decline in Hawaiian language schools was,

It is very likely that the change to English only in instruction was at least in part a business decision; but nobody suggests that – they fall back to the colonialism and race-based claims.

However, the attendance data is clear, enrollment (and the number of school) in Hawaiian language schools had been in decline for many years and were almost gone at the time the law that mandated English as the medium of instruction was passed.

The Existence and Expansion of the Hawaiian Language Newspapers (1834 – 1948) Confirms the Hawaiian Language Was Not Banned

The proliferation of Hawaiian language newspapers, well after the so-called ‘ban,’ verifies that Hawaiian was not banned and was part of society. Of note, “Between 1834-1948, Hawaiʻi saw the publication of over 100 different Hawaiian language newspapers.” (Lorenzo-Elarco)

The University of Hawai‘i prepared a brief chronicle on the Hawai‘i newspapers,

The first newspaper printed in Hawaii was a student newspaper, Ka Lama Hawaii (The Hawaiian Luminary), produced Feb. 14, 1834 at Lahainaluna on Maui. It was written in Hawaiian, as were many of the early Island newspapers. …

The longest running of these papers was Ke Aloha Aina, begun in 1895 by Joseph and Emma Nawahi. Joseph Nawahi was a journalist – statesman who severed in the first Territorial legislatures. After his death, Emma Nawahi edited the paper through its last issues in 1920.

A summary prepared by J. Hauʻoli Lorenzo-Elarco titled ‘He Hōʻiliʻili Hawaiʻi: A Brief History of Hawaiian Language Newspapers’ confirms the existence and continuation of Hawaiian language newspapers that went well beyond the effective date of the law that many claim ‘banned’ the use of the Hawaiian language.

That summary states,

Between 1834-1948, Hawaiʻi saw the publication of over 100 different Hawaiian language newspapers. Approximately 125,000 pages were published, equating to roughly 1.5 million pages of ‘ike if transferred to A4 typescript.

Another summary by Joan Hori, Hawaiian Collections curator at Hamilton Library, University of Hawai‘i noted,

Ka Hoku o ka Pakipika (started in September [1861]), edited by David Kalākaua, was followed by Ka Nupepa Kuokoa in October. This latter newspaper was to become the longest lasting Hawaiian language newspaper, published monthly in October, November, and December of 1861, and weekly thereafter until December 29, 1927. In the course of its history it would absorb a number of rival newspapers. According to Helen Chapin the editors of Kuokoa …

John Reinecke writes, ‘The Kuokoa (1861 to 1927) in particular was for the long while a journal of opinion as well as information and afforded an outlet for the literary and didactic ambitions of Hawaiians.’ (Hori, Hamilton Library, UH)

Corporal Punishment

As noted, there are many reports of families not letting children speak Hawaiian – those were personal family decisions, a choice each of them made; that was not the result of a broad ban on the language. Likewise, people report they or their family members were beaten for speaking Hawaiian in school.

The following is not a defense of nor support for Corporal Punishment; it is presented so readers have the correct historical context.

In order to understand his position, we need to look at the historical context of corporal punishment. Why is this important?

It is important because the claims the people were beaten for speaking Hawaiian give the impression that Corporal Punishment at home and in the schools was beyond the norm and was an unacceptable form of discipline.

Calling it out gives the impression that this form of discipline was overly aggressive and punitive, beyond the standard of the day. Doing so gives a false impression of what was the norm/acceptable at the time.

In reality, then and now, the use of force (by parents on their children and teachers on students) was an allowed and accepted practice of discipline.

Corporal Punishment was allowed under Hawaiian Kingdom law authorized by the King and Privy Council; as noted in Statute Laws of His Majesty Kamehameha III, 1846, Chapter III. Of the Public and Private Schools:

“Section XV. It shall be lawful for any licensed teacher in actual employment in any sub-division of any of said districts to administer correctional punishment to the pupils of his school when, in his judgment, necessary, and the teacher so acting shall not be in any way amenable therefor:”

Use of force continues to be allowed under existing Hawai‘i law.

Today, in Hawai‘i Revised Statutes (HRS) §703-309 Use of force by persons with special responsibility for care, discipline, or safety of others. the use of force upon or toward the person of another is justifiable.

That commentary within the Hawai‘i State laws goes on to state,

“The section is substantially in accord with preexisting Hawaii law. Hawaii law permits parents “to chastise [their children] moderately for their good.” Under prior law, any corporal punishment was permitted if reasonable. To the extent that Hawaii case law suggests that the parents have uncontrolled discretion to discipline their children, the Code represents a change.”

“Similarly, teachers have had authority under Hawaii case and statutory law to use force to maintain discipline in the schools. The punishment must have been reasonable, and the teachers’ discretion was considered less extensive than that of parents.”

This was not unique to Hawai‘i.

A 2016 book abstract of Corporal Punishment in U.S. Public Schools: Prevalence, Disparities in Use, and Status in State and Federal Policy by Elizabeth Gershoff and Sarah Font states, “School corporal punishment is currently legal in 19 states, and over 160,000 children in these states are subject to corporal punishment in schools each year.”

There are men alive today (in the Islands and on the continent) who, when students, made their own paddles in shop class – and, when discipline at school was necessary, carried that paddle to the principal’s office for a paddling.

Other stories of Corporal Punishment by Nuns in Catholic Schools, as well as teachers in other schools, are notorious.

This discussion is not a defense of nor support for Corporal Punishment; it is presented so readers have the correct historical context.

(I realize this is already long, but the following link provides additional information showing that the Hawaiian language was not banned:)

Click to access Hawaiian-Language-Was-Never-Banned.pdf

Simply stated … use of the Hawaiian language was never banned.

Hawaiian Alphabet

Pīʻāpā

Act_57-Section_30-Laws_of_the_Republic_of_Hawaii-Passed_by_the_Legislature-1896

Civil Laws-Chapter_10-Dept_of_Public_Instruction-paragraph_123-1897

Act_191-Laws_of_the_Territory_of_Hawaii-Passed_by_the_Legislature-1919

Hawaiian-English Schools Number and Attendance

November 10, 2022 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Hawaiian Pineapple Day

“Pineapple growers in Hawaii during 1914 and 1915 are said to have sold their fruit at an average loss. Those producing this variety of fruit, and particularly those on the island of Maui, have not yet learned what price they will be offered by the canners this year, although there are indications that it will be better than during the past two years.”

“According to a grower in the Haiku district, island of Maui, there is evidence that the pack will not show the increase this year that it has in the past.”

“Many small growers on Oahu have been compelled to dispose of their holdings by practical inability to sell their fruit at all, and a considerable acreage has been allowed, for this reason, to grow up in weeds.”

“On Maui the crop will be short, both for the reason that the independent growers have not been planting heavily, on account of uncertainty as to price, and that the plantings suffered severely from incessant rains. The quality of the season’s pack also may be below the normal.”

“In order to stimulate planting the canning companies are advancing money to homesteaders and others. This has not been reported for several years. It is done on Oahu, and on Maui the Haiku Fruit & Packing Co. is also helping to finance small growers.”

“A homesteader in the Kuiaha tract has undertaken to plant 50 acres, and has been allowed an advance of $100 per acre for the property. Everything to interest planting has been done. However, the output for the Maui pack for the next two or three years is estimated to be smaller than in the past.”

“The price paid the growers on Maui last season was $11.25 per ton for first-class fruit, which low rate accounts for the indifference of growers in relation to extending their acreage. The new price will be announced in May.”

“The price of canned fruit has advanced some during the year and this may benefit the growers. The total pineapple pack for all the islands in 1915 was 2,175,000 cases.”

“The large pineapple canneries, such as the Hawaiian Pineapple Co., Thomas Pineapple Co., Libby, McNeil & Libby, Haiku Fruit & Packing Co., and others which have large acreages of their own, independent of individual growers, had a large pineapple tonnage at their direct command throughout the year.”

“The Hawaiian Pineapple Packers’ Association, of Honolulu, entered into two extensive advertising campaigns in 1915. One was a grocery-window display of Hawaiian-canned pineapples in practically every State on the American mainland …”

“… while “Hawaiian Pineapple Day” … called for the preparation of special Hawaiian pineapple menus in American hotels from the Atlantic to the Pacific.” (Commerce Reports)

“[T]he growers in Hawaii realized that they were not helping themselves by trying to promote individual brands. Instead, they decided to focus on promoting the Hawaiian pineapple over other foreign suppliers to increase America’s awareness of the product and through that, demand.” (Calabretta)

It had an inauspicious start … they proposed November 23, 1915 as ‘Hawaiian Pineapple Day,’ but mainland wholesalers said that was too close to Thanksgiving and retailers didn’t want to give up display space.

“Turkeys, cranberries, roast suckling pigs with apples in their mouths, and other Thanksgiving dainties will fill the windows of the mainland grocers Thanksgiving week, and Pineapple Day would be bound to suffer in the comparison.”

“The advice of the wholesale grocers, however, once given, was controlling. After comparatively little consideration, the joint committee decided that it could not afford to go counter to the judgment of its most valued aids, and took action accordingly.”

So, Hawaiian Pineapple Day was changed and celebrated November 10, 1915. “On that day the Hawaiian Pineapple will be elevated to royal honors and proclaimed the King of Fruits.”

“We will place on the tables of the President of the United States, the Governors of States and Mayors large mainland cities, delicious bowls of sliced pineapples.”

“We believe that no menu, on Wednesday, November 10, 1915, will be complete unless its array of includes many dishes composed of the juicy Hawaiian pineapple. Last year practically every large hotel and cafe in the United States, and every railroad dining car and steamship dining saloon headed their menus ‘Hawaiian Pineapple Day,’ in red letters.”

“Grocers windows from Boston to San Francisco presented Hawaiian pineapples to the gaze of the passing public. We ask you to join with us in this celebration, by jotting down the date now, and thus help us show the world that the ‘Paradise of the Pacific’ has a new industry designed to satisfy mankind’s ‘sweet tooth.’” (California Grocers Advocate)

‘Hawaiian Pineapple Day’ was at the Panama Pacific Exposition, held in San Francisco in November 1915, complete with Hawaiian leis for visitors with a pineapple hangtag naming the time and place.

The exposition was widely advertised. Canned pineapple was placed before President Wilson and the State Governors on that day, and hotels and cafes throughout the United States featured Hawaiian pineapple. (Canning Trade)

In San Francisco the day was observed in an impressive manner, the event culminating in a celebration on the grounds of the Panama-Pacific Exposition that the San Francisco Chronicle believed was by far the most impressive of the events designed to promote a food product.”

An immense crowd was attracted and 5,000 cans of pineapples were given away to visitors at the Palace of Horticulture. (San Francisco Chronicle)

The association was so helpful, we take it for granted in ads today. Similar to how California was portrayed as a wealthy, luxurious paradise, Dole capitalized on Hawaii’s tropical flair and mystery tenfold.

Hawaii was incredibly exotic and fantastic to mainland Americans who had only read of such a place in books. Pineapples represented “the flavor of aloha” as stated on Dole’s website. (Calabretta)

The statistical results of the [Hawaiian Pineapple Day] campaign have been compiled by the Hawaii Promotion Committee and the Hawaiian Pineapple Packers’ Association, indicating that it was satisfactory.” (American Food Journal)]

The association not only helped increase sales, but also let Hawaiian growers command a higher price, even today. Many pineapples are grown and sold cheaper in Taiwan, but America’s trust has already been placed in the Dole Corporation and its Hawaiian fruits. (Calabretta)

November 9, 2022 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Mānoa

Mānoa translates as “wide or vast” and is descriptive of the wide valley that makes up the inland portion of this ahupuaʻa.

Mānoa has been a well-populated place. The existence of heiau and trails leading to/from Honolulu indicate it was an important and frequently traversed land.

John Papa ʻI’i wrote of the many trails leading into and throughout Honolulu and the surrounding areas. A trail led out of town at the south side of the coconut grove of Honuakaha and went on to Kalia. From Kalia it ran eastward along the borders of the fish ponds and met the trail from lower Waikīkī. The trail went above the stream to Puʻu o Mānoa.

The evidence of numerous agricultural terraces indicates an abundant food source, probably to support a fairly large population. Its inclusion in many legends and tales also suggests Mānoa Ahupua’a was a significant and well-loved area.

One legend explains Mānoa misty rain, the weeping in grief by a mother, Kuahine, for the death of her beautiful daughter Kahalaopuna (“Ka Ua Kuahine O Mānoa” (the Kuahine rain of Mānoa.))

Mānoa Valley was a favored spot of the Ali‘i, including Kamehameha I, Chief Boki (Governor of O‘ahu), Ka‘ahumanu, Ha‘alilio (an advisor to King Kamehameha III), Princess Victoria, Kana‘ina (father of King Lunalilo), Lunalilo, Ke‘elikōlani (half sister of Kamehameha IV) and Queen Lili‘uokalani.

Mānoa was given to the Maui chief Kame‘eiamoku by Kamehameha I after his conquest of O‘ahu. After Kame‘eiamoku death, the land was inherited by his son Ulumāheihie (or Hoapili), who became the governor of Maui during the reigns of Kamehameha II and Kamehameha III.

Liliha, the daughter of Hoapili, inherited the lands in 1811 and brought them with her to her marriage with the high chief Boki, governor of O‘ahu.

In early times Mānoa Valley was socially divided into “Mānoa-Aliʻi” or “royal Mānoa” on the west, and “Mānoa-Kanaka” or “commoners’ (makaʻāinana) Mānoa” on the east.

An imaginary line was said to have been drawn from Puʻu O Mānoa (Rocky Hill) to Pali Luahine. The Ali‘i lived on the high, cooler western (left) slopes; the commoners lived on the warmer eastern (right) slopes and on the valley floor where they farmed.

Mānoa is watered by five streams that merge into the lower Mānoa Stream: ‘Aihualama (lit. eat the fruit of the lama tree), Waihī (lit. trickling water), Nāniu‘apo (lit. the grasped coconuts), Lua‘alaea (lit. pit [of] red earth) and Waiakeakua (lit. water provided by a god). (Cultural Surveys)

In 1792, Captain George Vancouver described Mānoa Valley on a hike from Waikīkī in search of drinking water: “We found the land in a high state of cultivation, mostly under immediate crops of taro; and abounding with a variety of wild fowl chiefly of the duck kind …”

“The sides of the hills, which were in some distance, seemed rocky and barren; the intermediate vallies, which were all inhabited, produced some large trees and made a pleasing appearance. The plains, however, if we may judge from the labour bestowed on their cultivation, seem to afford the principal proportion of the different vegetable productions …” (Edinburgh Gazetteer)

One century later, before it was urbanized, Mānoa Valley was described by Thrum (1892:) “Manoa is both broad and low, with towering hills on both sides that join the forest clad mountain range at the head, whose summits are often hid in cloud land, gathering moisture there from to feed the springs in the various recesses …”

“… that in turn supply the streams winding through the valley, or watering the vast fields of growing taro, to which industry the valley is devoted. The higher portions and foot hills also give pasturage to the stock of more than one dairy enterprise.”

Handy (in his book Hawaiian Planter) writes that in ancient days, all of the level land in upper Mānoa was developed into taro flats and was well-watered, level land that was better adapted to terracing than neighboring Nuʻuanu. The entire floor of Mānoa Valley was a “checkerboard of taro patches.”

Oahu’s first sugar plantation was established here in 1825, by an Englishman named John Wilkinson. Wilkinson died in 1826, the mill for the sugar was moved to Honolulu.

The plantation was sold and new owners wanted to turn it into a distillery. When Ka‘ahumanu heard of this, she was outraged and made Boki give them to Hiram Bingham and his wife as a base for mission work (and later, Punahou School.)

The well-watered, fertile and relatively level lands of Mānoa Valley supported extensive wet taro cultivation well into the twentieth century. Handy and Handy estimated that in 1931 “there were still about 100 terraces in which wet taro was planted, although these represented less than a tenth of the area that was once planted by Hawaiians.” (Cultural Surveys)

In the early part of the nineteenth century, the Japanese began to move in to the upper valley to start truck farms, growing strawberries, vegetables, such as Japanese dryland taro, Japanese burdock, radishes, sweet potatoes, lettuce, carrots, soy beans and flowers to sell to the Honolulu markets.

“Though the valley is under almost complete cultivation of taro, largely by Chinese companies, an effort was made by them in 1882 to divert it to the growth of rice, but after two years struggle with high winds, cold rains and myriads of rice birds it was abandoned.” (Thrum, 1892)

Today, Mānoa is primarily a residential community in Honolulu’s Primary Urban Center. It is home to over 20,000 permanent residents and University of Hawaiʻi-Manoa (with a student body population of around 20,000) (and several other schools, businesses, etc.)

For an expanded discussion on Mānoa, click the link:

https://imagesofoldhawaii.com/wp-content/uploads/Manoa-Valley.pdf

November 7, 2022 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kukuiokāne

Heiau drum of Kukuiokāne deeply resounds,
unites the gathering of beloved ones.
Kumukumu’s kapu violated,

Kumukumu is near the head of Wailele stream, which joins Kamo‘oali‘i stream and flows into Kāne‘ohe Bay near Waikalua fishpond. The kukui tree is a form of the god Kamapua‘a, the pig god, and the chant calls on his boars to form a protective barrier around the heiau and the sacred trees:

Kāne’s boars surrounding the kukui grove.
Return again, and yet again, its sacredness to the earth,
living kapu of Kukuiokāne.

Beneath Keahiakahoe, the second-highest peak in the Ko‘olau range was the site of Kukuiokāne. (Kawaharada) Keahiakahoe is the name of the mountain which stands at the back of the ahupua‘a of Kaneohe.

It is a land of low hills and valleys, watered by spring-fed streams, and crowded with farms of taro sweet potatoes, sugar cane, pandanus, wauke, bananas and coconut palms. (Akaka)

“There was a farmer that lived in Ha‘ikū Valley and his name was Kahoe. The legend about Keahiakahoe has to do with his imu pit where he cooked his sweet potatoes. Keahiakahoe means ‘the fire of Kahoe.’ And the fire could be seen from the ocean side.”

“So the mountain top that is named for him, Ke Ahi a Kahoe, where the transmitter station was. The tallest part over He‘eia is that peak Keahiakahoe.” (Mahealani; Pacific Worlds)

Kukuiokāne heiau is a temple ruin of unknown antiquity. Probably, it was originally built at some time during the period A.D. 1400-1500, when the political control of the island of O‘ahu was unified under famous chiefs such as Kakuhihewa, Olopana, Kamapua‘a and Kalamakua. (This was a period in Hawaiian history where a number of large temples were built). (Akaka)

Kukuiokāne, light of Kāne, was once the largest and most important heiau of the region. The heiau was dedicated to Kāne, the god of life-giving water and farming.

Kāne was the leading god among the many gods of our ancestors, and Kāne was worshipped as the god of procreation and as the ancestor of both chiefs and commoners. (Akaka)

Kāne gives his name not just to the heiau, but to the ahupua‘a itself, Kāne‘ohe: ‘ohe, or bamboo, is one of his forms. (Landgraf & Hamasaki)

Thrum reported in 1915 that Kukuiokāne was “being destroyed” to plant pineapples fields. McAllister visited the area in 1933 and noted that the heiau was gone, but that “the ploughed-up remains indicate heavy walls and several terraces.”

In 1988, archaeologist Earl Neller reported that while probing for sites in the path of the freeway, he had found the site of the heiau. However, the following year, after further excavation, the Bishop Museum declared that the site identified by Neller represented dry land agricultural terraces, not a heiau. Work on the freeway continued. Neller was replaced.

In 1991, Bishop Museum’s archaeological project director Scott Williams concluded that the site identified by Neller and three adjoining sites formed an agricultural complex that included Kukuiokāne.

A place name and the flora around this site speak of the presence of Kāne and his heiau. A nearby site on the pali of Keahiakahoe is named Papua‘a a Kāne, the pig enclosures of Kāne, where the god is said to have kept his prized pigs. Beneath it is a grove of kukui trees, the rich, oily nuts providing food for the pigs. (Landgraf & Hamasaki)

Because of the destruction of this heiau by Libby, McNeill & Libby Company, a disease attacked their pineapples and the undertaking was a failure, according to the old Hawaiians of the district.

The structure was said to be very large and if the many stones, some several feet in thickness, scattered throughout the area are any indication of the extent and importance of the former heiau, the native conception is quite justified. The ploughed-up remains indicate heavy walls and several terraces. It is impossible to obtain dimensions. (Kumupono)

Kukuiokane heiau was directly in the path of H-3 (the sixteen-mile freeway runs between the Joint Base Pearl Harbor–Hickam (formerly Pearl Harbor Naval Base) in Pu‘uloa, and the Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Kaneohe Bay on Mōkapu Peninsula, tunneling through the Ko‘olau Mountains from Hālawa Valley to Ha‘ikū Valley).

November 5, 2022 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kahana

Forever I shall sing the praises
Of Kahana’s beauty unsurpassed
The fragrance of beauteous mountains
By the zephyrs to thee is wafted
(Written for Mary Foster and her country home at Kahana)

The island of Oʻahu is divided into 6 moku (districts), consisting of: ‘Ewa, Kona, Koʻolauloa, Koʻolaupoko, Waialua and Waiʻanae. These moku were further divided into 86 ahupua‘a (land divisions within the moku.)

Kahana (Lit., the work, cutting or turning point;) approximately 5,250-acres, is one of the 32 ahupua‘a that make up the moku of Koʻolauloa on the windward and north shore side of the island. It extends from the top of the Koʻolau mountain (at approximate the 2,700-foot elevation) down to the ocean.

The ahupuaʻa of Kahana, like all land in Hawai`i prior to the Great Māhele of 1848, belonged to the King. It is estimated that a population of 600 – 1,000 people lived here at the time of the arrival of Captain Cook (1778,) and about 200 at the time of the Māhele.

Much of the lower marshland surrounding the river was planted with taro; the higher dryland area leading to the ridges on both sides of the river was planted with trees, sugar cane, banana and sweet potato. Groves of bamboo, ti leaves, kukui and hala trees at various locations indicate significant areas of ancient dwelling places. (Kaʻanaʻana)

Ane Keohokālole, mother of King Kalākaua and Queen Liliʻuokalani received the bulk of the ahupuaʻa of Kahana at the Māhele; several kuleana awards to makaʻāinana (commoners) were scattered in the valley, as well as land for a school and roads.

Keohokālole received 5,050-acres, and the kuleana awards totaled less than 200-acres (the kuleana lands included the house lots and taro loʻi of the makaʻāinana.) The remainder of the ahupuaʻa included undeveloped uplands.

In 1856, Keohokālole and her husband Kapaʻakea created an asset pool, a type of trust. As trustee, Keohokālole later sold Kahana (May 1857) to AhSing (also known as Apakana,) a Chinese merchant. (LRB)

These lands later passed through the hands of a few other Chinese merchants before being bought by a land hui composed of Hawaiian members of the Church of Jesus Chris Latter Day Saints, called the Ka Hui Kuʻai i ka ʻĀina ʻo Kahana in 1874. The hui had 95 members; most members getting one share, and a few receiving multiple shares. (LRB)

The hui movement was not isolated to Kahana, it was throughout the Islands. They were formed as an attempt to retain or reestablish part of the old system that predated private ownership granted through the Māhele. (Stauffer)

Here, each shareholder had his or her own house lot and taro loʻi, but all had an undivided interest in the pasture and uplands, and in the freshwater rights, ocean fishing rights and Huilua fishpond.

Each member was allowed an equal share in the akule that were caught, and could have up to six animals running freely on the land (additional animals would be paid at a quarter per year.) (LRB)

When the call came in the late-1880s for Mormons to gather at Salt Lake City, many from Kahana wanted to leave for Utah with other Hawaiian Mormons; at least a third of the founders of the Hawaiian Mormon Iosepa (Joseph) Colony in Utah were from Kahana. (Stauffer)

Then, Mary Foster (daughter of James Robinson and wife of Thomas Foster – an initial organizer of the Inter-Island Steam Navigation Company, that later became Hawaiian Airlines) became involved in purchasing interests in land in Kahana.

This was the beginning a “bitter economic and legal struggle” with Kāneʻohe Ranch for control of the valley. An out of court settlement was reached in 1901 in which Mary Foster bought out the Ranch’s interest, giving her a controlling interest in Kahana.

With added acquisitions, by 1920, she eventually owned 97% of the valley. Mrs. Foster died in 1930, and Kahana passed to her estate and was held in trust for her heirs.

When World War II broke out, the military moved the Japanese families out, and in 1942 the US Army Corps of Engineers erected a jungle warfare training center in the valley.

In 1955, the Robinson Agency, acting as the agent for the Foster Estate, contracted with a planner for feasibility studies on Kahana. The report recommended making an authentic South Sea island resort village – an inn with 20 rooms, creating a small lake in the valley, and a nine-hole golf course. Nothing happened as a result of this plan.

A study on usage of the valley as a public park was done, but no action was taken. Also in 1962, a private foundation presented a plan to create a scientific botanical garden.

In 1965, John J. Hulten (real estate appraiser and State Senator) prepared a report for DLNR noting that Kahana was ideally suited to be a regional park, offering seashore water sports, mountain camping, and salt and freshwater fishing, and a tropical botanical garden. “Properly developed it will be a major attraction with 1,000,000 visits annually.”

The “proper development” he had in mind included 600 “developable acres” for camping, fishing, hiking, horseback riding, and swimming, and foresaw over 1,000 camping sites plus cabins, restaurant, and shops.

He said that a hotel and other commercial buildings could be developed, and wanted the creation of a 50 acre lake. All of this development would be assisted by a botanical garden and a mauka road from Likelike Highway to Kahana.

In 1965, the State condemned the property for park purposes with a $5,000,000 price, paid in five annual installments (which included some federal funds.) By 1969, the State owned Kahana free and clear.

A 1987 law authorized DLNR to issue long term residential leases to individuals who had been living on the lands and provided authorization for a residential subdivision in Kahana Valley. In 1993, the Department entered into 65 year leases covering 31 residential properties – in lieu of rent payments, the lessees are required to contribute at least twenty-five hours of service each month.

A later law (2008) created the Living Park Planning Council, placed within the DLNR for administrative purposes. The purpose of the Council was to create a master plan and advise the Department of matters pertaining to the park.

Kahana Valley State Park was renamed the Ahupuaʻa ʻo Kahana State Park in November 2000. Kahana is the second-largest state park in the state park system (Na Pali Coast State Park is larger, at 6,175 acres.)