Hawaii | Page 302 | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

March 31, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Seeking A Vision of Hale Hālāwai as Piko of Historic Kailua Village

Over the past few months, I have been helping the Kailua Village Business Improvement District in a process for a Revitalized Vision for Hale Hālāwai.

After some individual and small focus discussions, last week we held two public meetings at Hale Hālāwai to get further input.

Dave Corrigan from Big Island Video News stopped by at one and did some interviews; you may see that here:

Hale Hālāwai translates to meeting house or gathering place.

We are seeking input to develop a community vision. “A revitalized vision of Hale Hālāwai as the piko of Historic Kailua Village will celebrate our heritage, encourage interaction between residents and promote a deeper sense of community.”

Where are we now?

Where are we going?

Where do we want to be?

How do we get there?

Hale Hālāwai has long been a community gathering place, but it had a shaky start …

The people of Kailua-Kona almost lost the only remaining public land fronting the ocean in 1938 when a resolution was passed asking “the land commissioner to consummate an exchange with the Inter-Island Steam Navigation Co., Ltd., by which an area of approximately 39 acres of land at Keauhou belonging to Inter-Island, would be traded to the county for the courthouse tract on the beach next to the Kona Inn.” (Honolulu Star-Bulletin, July 9, 1938)

Effective March 20, 1943, Governor’s Executive Order 1013 set aside the property for the Kona Court House, under the control and management of the Board of Supervisors of the County of Hawai‘i. (EO 1949) Then in the 1950s, “The alert Kona Outdoor Circle has issued a protest and a warning. It protests increased use of the old Kona courthouse site as a parking lot. And it warns that unless action is taken soon, the public may lose access to Kona beaches. There is a connection between the two.” (Honolulu Star Bulletin, March 3, 1956)

The matter was formally resolved when Governor Samuel Wilder King “ended a long controversy over future use of the 3.2-acre waterfront site with a statement at a press conference that the Territory has decided against sale or lease of the grounds.” (Honolulu Advertiser, August 25, 1955)

County Sought Site for Park Purposes

Then, the Hawai‘i County Board of Supervisors, by Resolution 255, dated November 4, 1959, requested that the area be set aside for park and recreational purposes. On May 3, 1961, Governor William F Quinn cancelled Executive Order 1013 and issued Executive Order 1949 and set aside the property “for a public purpose, namely as a Civic Center, under the control and management of the Board of Supervisors of the County of Hawai‘i.” (EO1949)

Initial thoughts for its use noted that the “conversion of the old courthouse site into a cultural center consisting of a library, auditorium and amphitheatre.” (Honolulu Star Bulletin, November 25, 1958) It was initially referred to as the “Kona Cultural Center” (sometimes Kailua Cultural Center). In 1961, the facility was well under construction and groups were already using it, even prior to its completion.

The Naming of “Hale Hālāwai”

The Kona Torch noted that in July 1962, the Kona Outdoor Circle had a “contest for naming the new Kona Cultural Center. Mrs. Grace Napaepae, the naming winner, received $25 for the name, Hale Hālāwai.”

Hale Hālāwai continues to be a community gathering place …

It was sometimes referenced as “Hale Hālāwai, a meeting house next to the Kona Inn” (Honolulu Advertiser, March 20, 1963), as well as “Hale Hālāwai, Kona’s civic center.” (Star Bulletin & Advertiser, April 21, 1963) and “Hale Hālāwai, Kona’s community center.” (Honolulu Advertiser, October 11, 1963)

It became Kona’s gathering place … “we had get-together, you see, down the Hale Hālāwai. So, they pick up the old-timers in [coffee] farming. … Everybody meet at the Hale Hālāwai.” (Katherine ‘Nina’ Kālaiwa‘a, 70, farmer; A Social History of Kona, 1981)

Others note, today, “currently there are only two areas (Hale Hālāwai and Maka‘eo [Old Airport]) in North Kona that can host large family gatherings.” (Malia Kipapa)

In thinking of the Vision for Hale Hālāwai – Think About the Future:

What do you value about Hale Hālāwai that you do not want to see changed?
What changes would you most like to see Hale Hālāwai in the future? (near-term and long-term)
What do you want Hale Hālāwai to be like in 5, 10, 20 years?

What about the existing site & facilities? Keep them? Change them (to what?) Make it all open space?

What about the existing programs and uses: Keep them? Change them (to what?) Add more (what?)

If you have ideas, we want your input. Please e-mail me at PeterYoung@Hookuleana.com

March 31, 2019 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Wailau

“The glimpses of Molokai which one obtains from a steamer’s deck while passing to Honolulu from San Francisco or in passing to and from Maui (along its south shore,) give the impression that the island is bleak, mountainous and desolate.”

“Skirting its (north) shores on the Hālawa, Wailua and Pelekunu sides on Wilder’s fine steamer Likelike, gives a far different picture. For miles sheer precipices rise from the sea and tower 1,500 feet into the air.”

“Now and then, and sometimes in groups, beautiful waterfalls are seen on the face of the cliff, now falling in clear view for a couple of hundred feet, now hidden under denses masses of foliage, only to reappear further down, another silvery link in the watery thread which ends In a splash and scintillating mist in the breakers below.” (Hawaiian Gazette, March 31, 1905)

“Early the next morning, with a pleasant breeze from the NE, we stood over towards the east point of Mororoi (Molokai.) … we sailed to the westward … In this the land rises rather abruptly from the sea, towards the lofty mountains in the center of the east part of Morotoi …”

“… and though the acclivity was great, yet the face of the country, diversified by eminences and vallies, bore a verdant and fertile appearance. It seemed to be well inhabited, in a high state of cultivation, and presented not only a rich but a romantic prospect.” (Captain George Vancouver, March 19, 1793)

The windward valleys developed into areas of intensive irrigated taro cultivation and seasonal migrations took place to stock up on fish and precious salt for the rest of the year. Kalaupapa was well known for its bountiful ʻuala (sweet potato) crops and its fine-grained, white salt which was preferred over that from the salt ponds of Kawela and Kaunakakai. (Strazar)

The large windward valleys – Pelekunu, Wailau and Halawa – and Papalaua, along with all of Kalaupapa comprise the old Hawaiian Koʻolau Moku (district) of Molokai.

Wailau Valley (“many waters” – the largest along the coast) on Molokai’s North Shore has some interesting history.

The sea cliffs that surround Wailau on the island’s north shore were formed by the ‘Wailau Slide,’ in which a portion of the volcano collapsed into the ocean, leaving a swath of debris strewn across the ocean floor.

The sea cliffs represent the scar left by the collapse and Wailau and the other windward valleys were cut into the scar after the slide.

The Kalaupapa Peninsula, in north central Molokai, was formed later by volcanic rejuvenation.

Molokai’s North Shore Cliffs were designated a National Natural Landmark in December 1972. The Landmark includes 27,100 acres located along 17 miles of the northeast coast between Hālawa and Kalaupapa.

Four major valleys span the coastline, from Hālawa (at the east end of the island of Molokai) westward toward Kalaupapa: from east to west they are Pāpalaua, Wailau, Pelekunu and Waikolu.

This area is accessible by boat and trails into the valleys; there are no roads through North Shore Molokai.

Wailau is made up of a smaller broad valley on the east and a deeper valley on the west, with two major streams flowing down through them – Kahawai‘iki Stream and Wailau Stream.

The Wailau stream, which runs the entire length of the valley, is said to have received its name “because it began in many brooks that flowed from the palis on every side.”

Wailau was a major area of taro production from the pre-contact era until the 1930s, when the valley was abandoned due to a combination of factors, including flooding and unfavorable economic conditions.

A series of intact lo‘i, or taro terraces, forms an agricultural system distributed across almost the entire valley.

There are extensive terraces in the seaward lowlands and back in the lower valleys of streams. Approximately 80 acres were planted in taro. The banks of the numerous taro patches in the lowlands can still be seen from the air.

They say Wailau also has high terracing of valley sides comparable to that on the Napali coast of Kaua‘i.

The cliffs just beyond Pāpalaua Valley are home to Kahiwa Falls, the longest waterfall in the state (over 1,700-feet.) (Lots of the information and images come from reports by Windy K McElroy.)

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook

Follow Peter T Young on Google+

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn

Follow Peter T Young on Blogger

Wailau (Windy K McElroy)

Wailau

Wailau (Windy K McElroy)

March 30, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

‘Upena Poepoe

“Ua akamai kekahi poe kanaka Hawaii I ka lawaia, no ia mea, ua kapa ia lakou, he poe lawaia. O ka makau kekahi mea e lawaia ai. O ka ‘upena kekahi, a o ka hinai kekahi.”

“Some of the people of Hawaii were very knowledgeable about fishing, and they were called fisher-people. The hook was one thing used in fishing. The net was another, and the basket trap, another.” (WE Kealaka‘i, Ka Hae Hawaii, 1861; Maly)

“Not one kind of net only was known here in Hawai‘i in ancient times, there were many, large ones and small ones, according to the kind of fish desired to catch, such was the net.”

“These are some of them: Akule net, Opelu net, Weke net, Malolo net, Uhu net, Amaama net. Koki net and Papa was another kind of net, and so on.” (Hoku O Hawaii, 1912; HawaiiAlive)

“Fishermen, or those skilled in the art of catching fish, were called poe lawaiʻa. Fishing was associated with religious ceremonies, or idolatrous worship. The heiaus or altars, at which fishermen performed their religious ceremonies, were of a class different from all others.”

“There were many different methods of fishing: with nets; with hook and line; with the pa, or troll-hook; with the leho, or cowry; with the hina’i, or basket; the method called ko’i; and with the hand thrust into holes in the rocks.” (Malo)

“The olona and the hopue were plants from whose bark were made lines and fishing nets and a great many other things. … Cordage and rope of all sorts (na kaula), were articles of great value, serviceable in all sorts of work.”

“Fishing nets (‘upena) and fishing lines (aho) were valued possessions. One kind was the papa-waha, which had a broad mouth; another was the aei (net with small meshes to take the opelu) ; the kawaa net (twenty to thirty fathoms long and four to eight deep, for deep sea fishing) ; the kuu net (a long net, operated by two canoes) ; and many other varieties.”

“Net-makers (poe ka-‘upena) and those who made fishing-lines (hilo-aho) were esteemed as pursuing a useful occupation. The mechanics who hewed and fashioned the tapa log, on which was beaten out tapa for sheets, girdles and loincloths for men and women were a class highly esteemed.” (Malo)

“Cordage and rope of all sorts (na kaula), were articles of great value, serviceable in all sorts of work. Of kaula there were many kinds. The bark of the hau tree was used for making lines or cables with which to haul canoes down from the mountains as well as for other purposes.”

“Cord (aha) made from cocoanut fiber was used in sewing and binding together the parts of a canoe and in rigging it as well as for other purposes. Olona fibre was braided into (a four- or six-strand cord called) lino, besides being made into many other things. There were many other kinds of rope (kaula).” (Maly)

“… Our ancestors said “Mai uhauha” (Don’t be greedy)! Because the ocean is our ice box. You take what you need for today, you come back tomorrow. There is still some for tomorrow, or the next day, or the day after and next week. So, take what you need just for the day.”

“But sometimes, when you throw the net, you get more fish in the net, you think of your neighbors, share with them, help them.” (Kāwika Kapahulehua; Maly)

“The cast net (or, throw net – ‘upena poepoe, also ‘upena kiloi) is a comparatively recent introduction in the islands, having been brought in by the Japanese about ten years ago, so it is reported, although this is somewhat doubtful.” (Cobb, 1903)

“The Japanese, like most immigrants, were contracted to work on Hawai’i’s sugar cane plantations. When their plantation contracts expired many Japanese who had previously been skilled commercial fishermen in the coastal areas of Wakayama, Shizuoka, and Yamaguchi Prefectures remained in Hawai’i and turned to the sea for a living.” (Schug)

“Some local Japanese fishermen coined their own slang for throw nets, calling them nageami, a term derived from nageru, ‘to throw,’ and ami, or ‘net,’ while Hawaiians called them ‘upena ho‘olei, ‘nets are thrown like a lei.’ A poetic description of the nets’ circular shape in flight.” (Clark)

“The early Japanese fishermen used throw nets and poles. The fashioned throw nets like they had used in Japan ands introduced throw-net fishing to Hawai‘i.” (Clark)

“‘In spite of the fact that it is one of the most photographed of all Hawaiian fishing techniques, throw net fishing is not a native sport. It was brought from Japan about 1890 and quickly adopted by the Hawaiians because of its effectiveness along Ilsnad Shores.’” (MacKellar; Clark)

“Fishermen in Japan call throw-net fishing toami, which literally means ‘to cast a net’”. (Clark) “The to-ami or throw-net is used over every pool, as nearly every boy in Japan learns to throw it, and we got our first lesson in the art.”

“The net is generally circular, of a diameter of about twelve feet; the outer edge has leaden weights attached to it all round, at distances of eighteen inches to two feet. These sinkers are made of different shapes, according to the nature of the ground over which they are to be used.” (Dickson, 1889)

“Unlike the fishermen in the United States, the Japanese hold no part of the net in the mouth, but manipulate it entirely with the hands. About two-thirds of the outer edge is gathered up and the net is thrown with a sort of twirling motion, which causes it to open wide before it touches the water.”

“The leads draw the outer edges down very rapidly, and as they come together at the bottom the fish are inclosed in a sort of bag.”

“The net is then hauled in by means of a rope attached to its center, the weight of the leads causing them to hang close together, thus preventing the fish from falling out as the net is hauled in. The fish are shaken out of the net by merely lifting the lead line on one side.” (Cobb, 1903

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook

Follow Peter T Young on Google+

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn

Follow Peter T Young on Blogger

shorefishing-throw net

ThrowNet

Throwing net at Keauhou Bay 1915

Throw_net-DMY

Fisherman in malo with throw net-UH-1940

Fisheman-Throw_net-Kealakekua-1919

14-3-9-19 throw net-ksbe

14-3-9-17 =throw-net=williams studio -ksbe- 1882-1922

14-3-9-15 =throw net-lahaina-ksbe-1914

14-3-9-2 =maui fisherman taken at paia beach-ksbe-c1912

Throwing net

‘Hawaiian_Fisherman’,_woodblock_print_by_Charles_W._Bartlett,_1919

‘Fishing_in_Hawaii’,_hand_colored_etching_by_Charles_W._Bartlett,_c._1923-27

‘Hawaiian_Fisherman’,_watercolor_on_paper_by_Charles_W._Bartlett-1917

Throw-net-Bowden

March 29, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Moku‘ume‘ume

Moku‘ume‘ume (meaning “island of strife”) is a small island located in Pearl Harbor on the Island of O’ahu. It is entirely surrounded by water deep enough to accommodate deep draft ocean-going vessels.

The island measures about 1.4 miles long and 0.70 miles wide in a roughly elliptical shape. It has a land area of approximately 500 acres.

Don Francisco de Paula Marin, took possession of the island around 1810. He raised sheep, hogs, goats and rabbits on the island to supply his profitable ship provisioning business.

In 1885, Dr. Seth Porter Ford (namesake for the present reference to the island) took ownership and possession of the island. He sold it in 1891.

Ford Island is roughly translated as “Poka Ailana” in Hawaiian and some native Hawaiians did refer to the island by that name.

In 1899, the O‘ahu Sugar Company leased Ford Island and planted about 300-acres of sugarcane on the island. Docks were built on the island and on Waipi‘o Peninsula to facilitate transfer of cane harvests by barge on the way to the mill at Waipahu.

With the coming of World War I, the US War Department was concerned about the defenses of the large and growing U.S. Navy establishment at Pearl Harbor. Ford Island was selected as a site for land-based guns to defend the harbor.

In 1916, the War Department acquired two small parcels of land on Ford Island to be used as casements for two batteries of six-inch rifled guns. One of the sites, on the northeast corner of the island, was named Battery Adair (or First Lt. Henry Adair, 10th US Cavalry, who died in Mexico in 1916.)

The sites were completed in mid-1917 and were the first presence of military on Ford Island. The batteries were used by the U.S. Army until 1925 by which time they were deactivated and the guns removed.

In 1917, the War Department negotiated the purchase of the island. The O’ahu Sugar Company surrendered its leasehold and the War Department finalized the sale in late-1917 and established the first independent Army air station in Hawai‘i.

In 1919, the new station was officially designated “Luke Field.” The station was named for World War I ace Frank Luke, a U.S. Army fighter pilot who was killed in action over the Western Front.

Luke Field developed into a sizeable base. However, with growing Navy use, in 1935, it was apparent that the island was becoming too crowded for joint Army and Navy operations so a deal was made.

The Army would take possession of the Navy’s field near Sunnyvale, California and in return it would give North Island in San Diego and Ford Island to the Navy.

In 1937, the Army purchased land to construct a new air base that would become Hickam Field.

By 1940 the move of Luke Field’s personnel and buildings to Hickam Field was complete and the Army’s presence on Ford Island had ended. Ford Island was now the exclusive property of the U.S. Navy.

Ford Island played an important role in the attack on Pearl Harbor because the bulk of the U.S. Pacific Fleet was anchored near the island.

The swift, surprise attack by hundreds of Japanese airplanes came in two waves. The first began at 7:55 a.m. and the second ended two hours later.

Two thousand, four hundred and three soldiers, sailors, marines and civilians were killed during the Pearl Harbor attack. Eighteen ships were sunk or seriously damaged. Aircraft were scattered in pieces next to burning hangars on Ford Island’s airfield.

World War II was the busiest time for Ford Island. At least one squadron of flying boats was stationed there, as were numerous other types of Navy aircraft. The runway grew until it covered the entire center of the island. Hangars and auxiliary buildings filled almost all available space.

With the advent of earth satellites and improvements in range and speed of modern aircraft after the war, it wasn’t necessary to have a large Navy air base near Pearl Harbor and Ford Island Naval Air Station became obsolete.

In 1962, the Navy officially deactivated Ford Island as an air base; it is also a National Historic Landmark.

The island is home for a growing number of military residents, with expanded military housing on the island. Likewise, the Pacific Aviation Museum, Battleship Missouri Memorial, monuments for other battle ships and other Pearl Harbor Historic Sites are nearby.

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook

Follow Peter T Young on Google+

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn

Follow Peter T Young on Blogger

Ford_Island_in_1925

Keystone_PK-1_in_water-1932

Martin GMB_Luke Field-1918

NAS_Ford_Island_Pearl_Harbor_late_1930s

YFD-2_arriving_Pearl_Harbor_Oct_1940

Luke Field on Ford Island with DH-4 and JN-4/6 aircraft lined up. At lower left are aircraft packing crates. Round spot on field is compass rose.

Ford_Island_aerial_Pearl_Harbor_Nov_1941

Attack_on_Pearl_Harbor_Japanese_planes_view-1941

Ford_Island-1914

Map of Mokumeume (Ford Island) compiled from maps dated 1873 – 1915

March 28, 2019 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Laniākea

Reverend Asa and Lucy Thurston were in the Pioneer company of American Protestant Missionaries to the Hawaiian Islands, arriving in Kailua-Kona on the Thaddeus in 1820.

They made their home in Kailua Village, in a home the Hawaiians named Laniākea. Thurston received Laniākea, a 5.26 acre homestead parcel as a gift from Governor Kuakini.

As noted by Rev. Sereno Edwards Bishop, in his book “Reminiscences Of Old Hawaii” (1916:) “In the early (1830s,) Kailua was a large native village, of about 4,000 inhabitants rather closely packed along one hundred rods of shore, and averaging twenty rods inland.”

“It had been the chief residence of King Kamehameha, who in 1819 died there in a rudely built stone house whose walls are probably still standing on the west shore of the little bay. Nearby stood a better stone house occupied by the doughty Governor Kuakini.”

“All other buildings in Kailua were thatched, until Rev. Artemas Bishop built his two-story stone dwelling in 1831 and Rev. Asa Thurston in 1833 built his wooden two-story house at Laniakea, a quarter of a mile inland.”

“Most of the native huts were thatched with the stiff pili grass. The better ones were thatched with lau-hala (pandanus leaf) or with la-i.”

The following are excerpts from letters Lucy Thurston during her time in Hawaii, from “Life and Times of Mrs. Lucy G. Thurston” (1882;) her own words best describe the property (including its cave and pond:)

“Back of the village on that arid slope, a third of a mile from the shore, was an unoccupied, eligible site for a house and grounds. There we set about making such a home as circumstances would allow, and as the double responsibilities required, of molding heathen society, and of forming the characters of our children.”

“Five acres were enclosed with a stone wall three feet wide and six feet high, with simply the front gate for entrance. A large thatched house was erected. Space was allowed for a yard twenty-five feet in breadth. Two close partition walls were built six feet high, running from the outer wall each side of the front gate, close up against the side of the house, each side of the front door.”

“At the back side of the house is a hall which leads both from the dining room and study to a door, the only entrance into a retired yard of three acres. There stands another thatched house, built after the custom of the country. The frame is tied together with the very strong bark of a certain tree.”

“Then from the ridge-pole to the ground, the frame is entirely covered with long slender poles, tied within a few inches of each other, over which the long lauhala leaves are laid, leaving the two ends to hang down on the outside.”

“That house is the home of our children. There is our family sitting room, eighteen feet square, and there are our sleeping apartments. And inasmuch as I often wish to invite my native friends to that sitting room, we enclosed the further bed room in a yard sixty feet square, with a wall six feet high, coming up close to the house on both sides.”

“In our kitchen yard, directly opposite and within a few feet of each other, are the two mouths of a large cave of volcanic formation.”

“The larger opening gives us the novelty of a subterraneous walk one-fourth of a mile toward the sea, where we reach a pond of brackish water. Some of the rooms of this cave are quite spacious. The natives made it a place of concealment in times of war.”

“The smaller mouth of the cave leads into a low cave which extends three miles up the mountain, where there is an opening, and when obliged to hide in the lower cave, the natives stole through the upper one to procure their food.”

“The name of the cave is Laniakea, signifying the broad heavens. As it is enclosed in our premises, the natives were quick to give the name to our establishment, so that it has become universally known as Laniākea.”

“Thatched houses are not durable, therefore, in the course of years, we had a succession of dwellings, but this was the general arrangement. In the 12th year of the Mission, a two-storied wooden house was erected in the children’s yard, and the wall for their special enclosure removed, as the times no longer required such an accommodation.”

Hawaii Register of Historic Places, September 24, 2005 notes: Laniākea: the Asa and Lucy Thurston House site is significant for its associations with Asa and Lucy Thurston and their profound involvement with the Protestant Missionary movement in Hawaii from 1820 to 1861.

With the permission of Liholiho (Kamehameha II), the missionaries built a grass house for worship in 1823 and, later, a large thatched meeting house.

Missionary Asa Thurston directed the construction of the present Mokuʻaikaua Church, then the largest building in Kailua. Its massive size indicates the large Hawaiian population living in or near Kailua at that time.

The image shows my Grandparents and my Mother in the Laniākea house ruins (in 1928) – (Great grandson and Great-great grand-daughter of Hiram Bingham, leader of missionaries to Hawai‘i, who came to Hawai‘i with Asa Thurston)

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook

Follow Peter T Young on Google+

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn

Follow Peter T Young on Blogger