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May 17, 2026 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Lydia Panioikawai Hunt French

“’We are fortunate; blessed be the name of the Lord.’ These were her last words. She did not say anything until the day she left, then she said clearly: Aloha, three times, and her body’s work was done.” (Kuokoa, March 6, 1880)

Let’s look back …

Lydia Panioikawai Hunt French (Panio) was born in Waikele, Ewa, on the 15th of July, 1817. She married her husband, Mr. William French (Mika Palani) in 1836 at Kailua, Hawai‘i. Governor Kuakini was the one who married them.

William French arrived in Hawaiʻi in 1819 and settled in Honolulu. He became a leading trader, providing hides and tallow, and provisioning the whaling ships that called in Honolulu. Financial success during the next decade made French known as “the merchant prince.”

It “was with this husband who she lived in aloha with until death separated them. The two of them had three children—a daughter that is still living, and a mother that is admired along with her husband and four children—and twin sons, one who has died, and one who is living in China.” (Kuokoa, March 6, 1880)

French had property on the Island of Hawaiʻi, with a main headquarters there at Kawaihae, shipping cattle, hides and tallow to Honolulu; he hired John Palmer Parker (later founder of Parker Ranch) as his bookkeeper, cattle hunter and in other capacities. (Wellmon)

When French made claims before the Land Commission regarding one of the properties (identified as “slaughter-house premises” that he bought from Governor Kuakini in 1838,) testimony supporting his claim noted it was “a place for a beautiful house which Mr French would not sell for money. … It was enclosed by a stone wall. There were two natives occupying houses on his land.” (Land Commission Testimony)

The 2.8-acre property is in an area of Waimea known as Pu‘uloa; French built a couple houses on it, the property was bounded by Waikoloa Stream and became Parker’s home while he worked for French. (In addition, in 1840, this is where French built his original home in Waimea. (Bergin))

At Pu‘uloa, Parker ran one of French’s stores, which was nothing more than a thatched hut. Although this store was less grandiose than the other one at Kawaihae, it became the center of the cattle business on the Waimea plain.

French, like other merchants in the Islands at the time, grew concerned about decisions and laws that started to be made that affected their ability to trade. These changes also affected French citizens, especially the French Catholics.

On July 21, 1838, the French minister of the navy dispatched orders to Captain Cyrille-Pierre-Theodore Laplace, who at the time was already en route to the Pacific on a voyage of circumnavigation. Laplace received these orders, along with supporting documents, at Port Jackson, Australia, in March 1839.

The plight of French Catholics in Hawai‘i being distressingly similar to that of French Catholics in Tahiti, these orders read: “… What the English Methodists are doing in Tahiti, American Calvinist missionaries are doing in the Sandwich Islands.”

“They have incited the king of these islands, or rather those who govern in his name, to actions that apply to all foreigners of the Catholic faith – all designated, intentionally, as ‘Frenchmen.’”

“They found themselves prohibited from practicing their religion, then ignominiously banished from the Island … You will exact, if necessary with all the force that you command, complete reparation for the wrongs that they have committed and you will not leave those shores until you have left an indelible impression.”

In addition to the religious persecution, “Our wines, brandies, fabrics, and luxury goods find ready purchasers in Honolulu as well as in Russian, British, and Mexican settlements; but these articles are imported by American merchants (or replaced by substitutes of American manufacture).”

“French wines and brandies are subject to excessively high duties, on the grounds that bringing them into the Sandwich Islands would be harmful to the morals of the native population. American rum, on the other hand, is brought in—whether legally or illegally, I do not know—and consumed in prodigious quantities.” (Laplace; Birkett)

Captain Laplace and his fifty-two-gun frigate L’Artemise arrived in the Hawai‘i in July 1839. Laplace was the first Frenchman to visit the Islands with specific instructions from Paris to enter into official diplomatic relations with the Hawaiian government.

“It was my task to end this prohibition so detrimental to our commercial interests. I succeeded in doing so through a convention with the king of the Islands where he agreed that in the future French wines and brandies would be subject to no more than a 6 percent ad valorem duty when imported under the French flag.”

“The American missionaries raged and fumed at me, claiming that I was anti-Christian. They brought down on me all the curses of New and Old World Bible societies, to whom they depicted me as championing drunkenness among their converts …”

“… as if the way in which they were running things allowed these poor people to earn enough to buy Champagne, Bordeaux, or even Cognac brandy. Despite these diatribes, as unjust as they were treacherous, I carried my project to completion.” (Laplace; Birkett)

Here’s a portrayal of Panio by Danielle Zalopany during a presentation at Mission Houses– she gives some background on the family, as well as the ‘Laplace Affair.’
https://youtu.be/cCc8dQk1YmQ

William French died at Kawaihae on November 25, 1851. “Many who have made their fortunes in these Islands have owed their rise in the world to the patronage of Mr French.” (Polynesian, December 6, 1851)

“On the 24th of February past (1880,) Panio left this life, at the home of her daughter in Ka‘akopua, after being in pain for several weeks. In her sickness, her great patience was made clear, along with her unwavering faith in the goodness of the Lord, her Redeemer, and her Savior; and she was there until the victorious hour upon her body.” (Kuokoa, March 6, 1880)

© 2026 Hoʻokuleana LLC

Filed Under: Economy, General, Prominent People Tagged With: William French, John Parker, Catholicism, Lydia Panioikawai Hunt French, Hawaii, Parker Ranch, Kawaihae

May 16, 2026 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Hawaiian Colonization

“The question of colonization in the Hawaiian Islands has, during the last few months, virtually absorbed all smaller issues touching our material welfare, and at present is justly made the leading topic of public thought and newspaper discussion.”

“While colonization has long been talked of, it has never before been put into practical working shape by practical responsible men, in whom the people at home have entire confidence.”

“The status and practicability of the present scheme, backed as it is by our largest capitalists and business men generally, will be a guarantee of the good faith of the promoters and the practical utility of the scheme, which will attract and retain the support of both home and foreign capital.”

“The present colonization scheme is too large an investment to be entirely handled by home capital. It is not only too large for our present population, but it is large enough to satisfy the standard idea of both American and English capitalists.” (Daily Press, December 16, 1885)

Let’s look back …

On August 5, 1885, Honolulu businessman James Campbell offered Benjamin F Dillingham a one-year option to purchase his Kahuku and Honouliuli ranches on Oahu, ‘including no fewer than nine thousand cattle for the sum of $600,000.’

Shortly afterward, Dillingham issued a ‘preliminary prospectus’ for what was to be called the Hawaiian Colonization Land and Trust Company.

The prospectus proposed the formation of a joint stock company to buy and then divide the properties. The lands totaled 63,500-acres in fee, and 52,000-acres of leased land; and 15,000 head of cattle and 260 head of horses. (Forbes)

Dillingham was the chief promoter; others involved were James Campbell (owner of Honouliuli and Kahuku estates;) John Paty of Bishop Bank (primary owners of Kawailoa and Waimea estates; and M Dickson and JG Spencer (part owners of Kawailoa and Waimea ranches.) Those properties made up the bulk of the land in the offering. (Forbes)

“The ‘Preliminary Prospectus of the Hawaiian Colonization Company’ has already attracted a good deal of notice and has been widely, but by no means exhaustively discussed in the columns of every paper in Honolulu.” (Hawaiian Gazette, December 15, 1885)

“The inducements which are offered to settlers under the present scheme that be briefly summed up as follows : There will be a sure market for all products raked ; there are 17,000 acres of fine sugar land in the Honouliuli ranch alone, which includes the 10,000 acres set aside for colonization purposes.”

“Seven thousand acres of this tract forms an alluvial plain lying along the seashore; abundant water can be obtained, by sinking artesian wells, as has already been practically illustrated, the 7,000 acres, one half of which nowhere lies more than 35 feet above the sea level …”

“… cheap and practical dams, as have already been constructed on the Kawailoa ranch, can be thrown across the gulches of the foothills of the Waianae mountains, which will drain immense watersheds into perpetual reservoirs, and will do away with the possibility of droughts …”

“… the land will be offered to responsible cultivators in lots of from 5 to 500 acres, for sugar cane cultivation ; it is proposed that the cane shall be raised upon shares, as set forth in the Colonization Company’s circulars ; the cane land will yield an average of from five to seven tons to the acre.”

“The Company proposes to furnish the land and give small cultivators five-eighths of the profit, which, at a low estimate for five-acre lots of cane land, will net the cultivator $1,500 per year, after all deductions are made and expenses paid. This amount is the practical result of the figures given by practical sugar men.” (Daily Press, December 16, 1885)

“The company proposes to build the mills, furnish the water supply and build tramways for transporting the cane and sugar. For this work the Company will lay out at least $300,000.”

“This will put the scheme in working order and will give the cultivator immediate returns upon his labor without the outlay of capital. It is a scheme for the development of Hawaii and the up-building of the labor interests.”

“The scheme, however, is not confined to sugar raising, and those colonists who prefer can take up land for stock raising in lots of 200 to 1,000 acres, or even more. The land could be either bought or leased.” (Daily Press, December 16, 1885)

“‘The Hawaiian Colonization, Land and Trust Company,’ and a preliminary prospectus issued, which has been given enormous circulation through the newspapers, the Planters’ Monthly, and detached pamphlets by the thousand.”

“These efforts to present the scheme to the public at home and abroad have already yielded good promise of ultimate success. Letters of enquiry have crossed continents and oceans to reach the promoters.”

“Friends and agents of the kingdom in foreign lands arc encouraging the project, and looking about them for capital to start it, and for settlers to occupy the available territory and build up the nation.”

“Applications in large number have already been received for apportionments of land. That all these gratifying results should have been obtained within so short a period speaks well for the intelligent devotion of the gentlemen who have assumed the undertaking”. (Daily Bulletin, January 2, 1886)

While, initially, things went well, eventually the project ‘fell flat.’ (Forbes) While Dillingham couldn’t raise the money to buy the Campbell property, he eventually leased the land for 50-years. Dillingham realized that to be successful, he needed reliable transportation.

Dillingham formed O‘ahu Railway and Land Company (OR&L,) a narrow gauge rail, whose economic being was founded on the belief that O‘ahu would soon host a major sugar industry.

Ultimately OR&L sublet land, partnered on several sugar operations and/or hauled cane from Ewa Plantation Company, Honolulu Sugar Company in ‘Aiea, O‘ahu Sugar in Waipahu, Waianae Sugar Company, Waialua Agriculture Company and Kahuku Plantation Company, as well as pineapples for Dole.

© 2026 Hoʻokuleana LLC

Filed Under: Economy, General, Prominent People Tagged With: Oahu Sugar, the Hawaiian Colonization Land and Trust Company, Benjamin Franklin Dillingham, Hawaii, Honouliuli, James Campbell, Oahu Railway and Land Company, Honolulu Sugar Company, Ewa Plantation, Waialua Agricultural Co

May 15, 2026 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Winne Units

OK, this one brings back some memories …

“These halls, this learning environment, launched the academic careers of tens of thousands of Punahou students.” (Punahou President Jim Scott – speaking at an event at the Mary Persis Winne Elementary Units)

The Mary Persis Winne Elementary Units, built between 1950 and 1955, were designed by the renowned architect Vladimir Ossipoff.

Ossipoff was a prominent architect in the Islands, working between the 1930s and 1990s. He was recognized locally, nationally and internationally for his designs. He is best known for his contribution to the development of the Hawaiian Modern movement.

This style is characterized by the work of architects who “subscribed to the general modernity of the International Style while attempting to integrate the cultural and topographical character of the (Hawaiian) region.” (Sakamoto)

This very frequently included an attempt to integrate the interior of buildings with the outdoors, and minimizing the dividing line between the building and the site.

In 1954, Ossipoff told the Star Bulletin, “Modern facilities comparable to contemporary Mainland school construction can be built for considerably less in Hawai‘i.” He was referring to the construction of the Winne Units.

Back then cost of construction averaged $15 per square foot nationally, the first phase of the Winne Units was built for $8.27 per square foot. In the article, Ossipoff credited the lack of heating and insulation as factors in the lower costs. (Leong, Punahou)

But, there were other cost savings.

According to Shaver F. “Jack” Stubbart who was a teacher of Mechanical Drawing, Industrial Arts (1948-1965) and the Superintendent of Buildings and Grounds (1965-1982), the Navy offered, and Punahou accepted, surplus heart redwood water tanks that were milled for use in the construction. (Gartley, Punahou74)

The first of three building phases originally contained Damon Library, with its own working fireplace that children could gather around for storytelling, replicating the fireside tales of centuries past. Then-Junior School Principal Donald Reber called it the “living room of the school.”

Reber and his faculty worked closely with Ossipoff to create a complex of elementary school buildings that departed sharply from the idea of the traditional school building (with its self-contained, enclosed environment where seats and desks were often fixed to the floor.)

Two design principles, “unity with the outdoors” and “adaptability to progress,” shaped what the elementary school became: a place that felt safe, where it was hard to say where the classroom stopped and the rest of the world began.

The first phase of this new elementary school inspired a new term: it wasn’t a building or a hall, but a “unit” – the Mary Persis Winne Elementary Units, a name that eventually extended to include the entire complex.

Phases two and three followed, incorporating improvements suggested by the faculty who had taught in the first wings (such as bug-proof lunchbox storage.)

The Winne Units housed 25-classrooms in 9-single story wings that radiate from the main entrance that accommodated 625 students (K through 5.) The units are structure by steel-pipe columns and steel I-beams. (Support facilities/offices were included.) (Sakamoto)

The office became a daily gathering place for teachers in the days before there were phones and computers in every classroom, and the intercom system meant that not only could every classroom hear a speaker in the office, but the office could hear what was going on in the classrooms.

Each class had reversible blackboards, its own lanai with a wall of sliding doors and its own garden. (Lanais were used as classroom extensions for messy or outdoor work, where students practiced art on easels.)

Born in 1876 in Carson City, Nevada, Miss Mary Persis Winne had ties to Punahou as the granddaughter of Reverend Asa and Lucy Goodale Thurston.

The Thurstons were in the Pioneer Company of American Protestant missionaries to the Hawaiian Islands, arriving in Kailua-Kona on the Thaddeus in 1820.

Winne came to Punahou as a second grade teacher in 1898, and rose to become the principal of the then newly formed Punahou Elementary School in 1918.

The Winnes lived in the old Mcintosh house on Nuʻuanu near Judd Street. Miss Jane Winne has charge of the chorus singing at Punahou, and Mr. James Winne is with Alexander & Baldwin. (HMCS, 1917)

Miss Winne was the first Punahou faculty member to serve 25 years. By the time she retired in 1941 she had served generations of Punahou students for 42 years.

“At no time did I ever see her overlook the emotional, spiritual or academic needs of individual children. She embraced the best in modern philosophies and practices, giving freely of herself ….”

“Hours meant nothing to her when dealing with both parents and children. In return she received the greatest loyalty from people of all ages or races that I have ever witnessed.”

During her tenure Miss Winne was instrumental in introducing the best of new educational methods. Of particular interest was the implementation of new practices for teaching children to read and write.

Miss Anna Gillingham and Miss Bessie Stillman, recognized experts from New York, were brought to the school to train teachers and provide remedial tutoring to students. It was from these efforts that pioneering contributions were made in the treatment of dyslexia.

Punahou replaced the Winne Units with new facilities for grades 2-5. (Lots of information here is from Punahou, Leong and Gartley.)

© 2026 Hoʻokuleana LLC

Filed Under: Prominent People, Schools Tagged With: Vladimir Ossipoff, Mary Persis Winne, Hawaii, Punahou, Asa Thurston, Lucy Thurston

May 14, 2026 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

ʻAwa

“ʻAwa was the food of the gods, just as poi was to the Hawaiians. No religious ceremony was complete without the ʻawa.”  (Pukui, Maly)

E hanai ʻawa a ikaika ka makani.
Feed with ʻawa so that the spirit may gain strength.
(One offers ʻawa and prayers to the dead so that their spirit may grow strong and be a source of help to the family.)

Outside of water and drinking coconut, no other drink was known.  ʻAwa was “a sacred drink of importance in many phases of Hawaiian life. …”

“Its effect is to relax mind and body and it was used by farmer and fisherman for this purpose. Medicinal Kahunas (learned men) had many uses for it. It was essential on occasions of hospitality and feasting, and as a drink of pleasure for the chiefs.”  (Titcomb)

ʻAwa is a canoe crop, one of the plants brought by the earliest Polynesian voyagers arriving in Hawaiʻi. It is a member of the pepper family.  In other parts of the Pacific it is known as Kava or Kava Kava.  It is a shrub growing about four to eight feet high.

There are several native traditions regarding the origin of ʻawa in Hawaiʻi. Perhaps the most significant narratives describe ʻawa as having been brought to Hawaiʻi from Kahiki (the ancestral homelands) by the akua (gods) Kāne and Kanaloa.

These two akua Kāne, a Hawaiian god and ancestor of the chiefs and commoners, a god of sunlight, fresh water, verdant growth, and forests; and Kanaloa, a god of the ocean, marine life, healing, and a companion of Kāne – planted ʻawa at various localities throughout the islands.

In places where no water could be found with which to prepare the ʻawa, Kāne even caused water to appear, thus forming many springs and streams in the islands.  (Maly)

In the discovery of Hawaiʻi by Hawaii-loa, ʻawa is noted in the find, “One time when they (Hawaii-Loa and his company) had thus been long out on the ocean, Makaliʻi, the principal navigator, said to Hawaii-Loa: ‘Let us steer the vessel in the direction of Iao, the Eastern Star, the discoverer of land …’

‘There is land to the eastward, and here is a red star … to guide us … So they steered straight onward and arrived at the easternmost island … They went ashore and found the country fertile and pleasant, filled withʻ awa, coconut trees … and Hawaii-Loa, the chief, called that land after his own name … (Fornander)

It is valued as an intoxicating drink and as a medicine. ʻAwa is also a sedative, used as a sacred plant for prayer, as well as appreciated for pleasure, especially in the south Pacific islands. It assists in opening communication channels with others and with the elements.

The drink is made from the root, which is woody, slightly spongy, toughish and roughly gnarled.  The root was scraped and washed, then reduced to small pieces.  It was then ready to chew (mama) and mix with water to make a cold water infusion. In later days, chewing was replaced by grinding or pounding.  (Titcomb)

It is prepared by pulverizing the root in a mortar; if it is the dry article of commerce it is kept sufficiently moist to prevent its scattering and forming dust. When well pulverized, water is mixed with the mash to bring it to a proper dilution, when it is strained.  (Emerson)

The favorite ʻawa strainer of the Hawaiians is made of the stem of the ahu-awa plant. The stem is split up and the fiber separated from the pulp by being combed between two sticks.  It is then taken up from the bowl and the dripping liquor wrung out of it.

The bits of ʻawa root which were caught in it are shaken out and it is again used as a strainer, this time being formed into a kind of funnel, something like a bird’s nest, through which the awa drink is poured into the separate cups of those who are to partake.  (Emerson)

An 1899 article on Molokai Archaeology in the Evening Bulletin notes, “At Pakaikai is found a large stone lying by the bank of the stream, in which are dug four holes each eight inches in diameter and six inches deep.  They are finely polished inside. The holes dug in this large stone are claimed to have been used as awa cups (apu awa) for Kamehameha-ai-luau (a descendant of Kamehameha the Great.)”

“They were chiseled with stone implements by the ancients during the stone age of Hawaiʻi nei, a task which no native of the present generation will dare undertake.  Nearby is another hole dug in another rock and much larger and deeper than the four. This last one is said to be the kānoa ʻawa (or kā ʻawa, large bowl in which ʻawa is mixed and strained,) or place where awa is cleaned and purified, fit to drink.”

The beverage is not attractive to the eye. If dried ʻawa is used, the liquid is greyish, if green ʻawa is used it is greenish. The liquid is never clear in spite of straining. In Hawaiʻi it was a fairly thick liquid, this being preferred to “the dishwater drunk in the south” according to an old saying remembered by Kinney. Ellis termed it “like thick calcareous water.”  (Titcomb)

The ʻawa-drinking house was like a chief’s house, there must be no gaiety, no talking, no jollity, lest one vomit. The candlenut torch was the only thing one desired – one or two torches would produce warmth – then there was a sound in the ear like the chirping of land shells and of fiddles that teased the ear pleasantly, or like the roaring of the strong wind that changed to stillness. Such was the custom of the planter; he would sleep till morning and the pains and soreness would be gone.  (Kamakau, Titcomb)

Their general drink is water or the milk of the coconut, but all the chiefs use the ʻawa, and some of them to excess, as was very evident from their skins, which were rough and parched as can well be conceived, and their eyes red and inflamed.  (Kotzebue, Titcomb)

There is a deep cultural-historical relationship between the Hawaiians and ʻawa. The poʻe kahiko (ancient people) identified many varieties, cultivation techniques, values and uses of the ʻawa.  (Maly)

I have had ʻawa once, it was part of an ʻawa ceremony we participated in to commemorate the signing of the Kaʻawaloa Curator Agreement between DLNR and the Royal Order of Kamehameha I.  (It was a moving experience; I was proud and honored to be there.  The descendant families, members of the Order and others sat on one side; I sat by myself (representing the State) on the other side.)

The image shows the Kaʻawaloa ʻawa ceremony.

© 2026 Hoʻokuleana LLC

Filed Under: Hawaiian Traditions Tagged With: Hawaii, Canoe Crop, Royal Order of Kamehameha, Kaawaloa, Awa

May 12, 2026 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kalapueo

The Kaupō flow, a feature of Ko‘olau volcano south of Waimanalo, is the product of a “dry” rejuvenation-stage eruption along the Koko Rift, some 50,000 to 100,000 years ago (estimates vary).

The area around the vent is now even more evident because it has become a preferred launching point for parasailers, and their foot traffic has trompled all the vegetation.

Kaupō means to land a canoe at night. Makapu‘u means bulging eyes (literally, eyes like hills), and refers either to an image in a cave nearby, or to a woman who longed for her home in Kahiki (Tahiti) and said she was able to see it from here. (UH Manoa Geology & Geophysics Dept-Southeast Oahu and Kawainui Field Trip-2004)

The Kaupō flow formed Kalapueo.  “Kalapueo (the area where the coastal flats narrow and the cliffs draw near to the shore [Kalapueo means owl proclamation (owls called on others here to battle)]); Kukui (the former fishing village on the east side of Pāhonu) …”

“… Muliwai‘ōlena (the drainage basin the enters the sea near the vicinity of the present-day Waimānalo Beach Park); Waimānalo (the area fed by the stream which forms Pūhā) — all locations on the shore of Waimānalo Ahupua‘a, were fortified and that battles were fought.” (Maly)

“Kauai legends say that the sound of the drum of the owl-king was so penetrating that it could be heard across all the channels by the owls on the different islands. In one day the owls of Hawaii, Lanai, Maui and Molokai had gathered at Kalapueo (a place east of Diamond Head).”

“The owls of Koolau and Kahikiku, Oahu, gathered together in Kanoniakapueo (a place in Nuuanu Valley). The owls of Kauai and Niihau gathered in the place toward the sunset — Pueohulu-nui (near Moanalua).” (Westervelt)

“There lived a man named Kapoi, at Kahehuna, in Honolulu, who went one day to Kewalo to get some thatching for his house. On his way back he found some owl’s eggs, which he gathered together and brought home with him … [the owl said] ‘Give me my eggs.’  Kapoi then told the owl to come and take them.”

“The owl, having got the eggs, told Kapoi to build up a heiau, or temple, and instructed him to make an altar and call the temple by the name of Manua. Kapoi built the temple as directed ; set kapu days for its dedication, and placed the customary sacrifice on the altar.”

“News spread to the hearing of Kakuihewa, who was then King of Oahu, living at the time at Waikiki, that a certain man had kapued certain days for his heiau, and had already dedicated it.”

“This King had made a law that whoever among his people should erect a heiau and kapu the same before the King had his temple kapued, that man should pay the penalty of death. Kapoi was thereupon seized, by the King’s orders, and led to the heiau of Kupalaha, at Waikiki.”

“That same day, the owl that had told Kapoi to erect a temple gathered all the owls from Lanai, Maui, Molokai, and Hawaii to one place at Kalapueo.”

“All those from the Koolau districts were assembled at Kanoniakapueo, and those from Kauai and Niihau at Pueohulunui, near Moanalua.”

“It was decided by the King that Kapoi should be put to death on the day of Kane. When that day came, at daybreak the owls left their places of rendezvous and covered the whole sky over Honolulu; and as the King’s servants seized Kapoi to put him to death, the owls flew at them, pecking them with their beaks and scratching them with their claws.”

“Then and there was fought the battle between Kakuihewa’s people and the owls.  At last the owls conquered, and Kapoi was released, the King acknowledging that his Akua (god) was a powerful one. From that time the owl has been recognized as one of the many deities venerated by the Hawaiian people.” (Thrum)

Later, “At the death of Ka-hekili in 1793 Ka-‘eo-ku-lani became ruling chief of Maui, Molokai, and Lanai. Ki‘ikiki‘ and Kai-‘awa were his counselors, and they had chiefs and governors under them.”

“He ruled a little over a year and showed kindness to the common people, but at the end of that time he grew homesick for his friends on Kauai and set out with his chiefs and warriors to return to his own people, stopping at Molokai to enjoy its fat fish and kukui-nut relish.”

“Now Ka-lani-ku-pule and his younger brother Koa-la u-kani, heard that Ka-‘eo-ku-lani was returning to Kauai. Not knowing what his plans might be they made preparations for war, digging trenches and throwing up earthworks at Kukui, Kalapueo, and Waimanalo [on Oahu].”

“At Kukui a severe battle was fought in which one of the favorites, a war leader of Ka-lani-kupule, was shot by Mare Amara at the stream of Muliwaiolena as he stood with a feather cloak about his shoulders directing the battle with his hand.”

“Two days and two nights Ka-‘eo-ku-lani lay out at sea, then Ka-lani-ku-pule called off the fighting and the two had a friendly meeting at Kalapawai in Kailua, Ko’olaupoko. It was a day of mingled joy and weeping-joy for the ending of war, weeping for the dead in battle and also for the death of Ka-hekili.”  (Kamakau, Ruling Chiefs)

© 2026 Ho‘okuleana LLC

Filed Under: Place Names Tagged With: Koolau Volcano, Pueo, Owl, Hawaii, Waimanalo, Sea Life Park, Kalapueo, Kaupo Flow

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Images of Old Hawaiʻi

People, places, and events in Hawaiʻi’s past come alive through text and media in “Images of Old Hawaiʻi.” These posts are informal historic summaries presented for personal, non-commercial, and educational purposes.

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Hoʻokuleana LLC

Hoʻokuleana LLC is a Planning and Consulting firm assisting property owners with Land Use Planning efforts, including Environmental Review, Entitlement Process, Permitting, Community Outreach, etc. We are uniquely positioned to assist you in a variety of needs.

Info@Hookuleana.com

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