Hawaii | Page 337 | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

Mission Stations – MissionHouses-Map

Kauai-Mission Stations-Hawaiian Congregational Churches (SCHCC)

Oahu-Mission Stations-Hawaiian Congregational Churches (SCHCC)

Molokai-Mission Stations-Hawaiian Congregational Churches (SCHCC)

Maui-Mission Stations-Hawaiian Congre

Hawaii-Mission Stations-Hawaiian Congregational Churches (SCHCC)

July 28, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Fishponds

In ancient Hawai‘i, fishponds were an integral part of the ahupua‘a. Hawaiians built rock-walled enclosures in near shore waters to raise fish for their communities and families. It is believed these were first built around the fifteenth century.

Only in Hawai’i was there such an intensive effort to utilize practically every body of water, from seashore to upland forests, as a source of food, for either agriculture or aquaculture.

The ancient Hawaiian coastal fishpond is a sophisticated land and ocean resource management technique. Utilizing raw materials such as rocks, corals, vines and woods, the Hawaiians created great walls (kuapā) and gates (mākāhā) for these fishponds.

A fish was kapu to the Hawaiians during its spawning season, to allow a variety of fish to reproduce. Although the chief or commoners were unable to catch fish in the sea at specific time spans, they were available in the fishponds because fishponds were considered a part of the land.

The general term for a fishpond is loko (pond), or more specifically, loko iʻa (fishpond). Loko iʻa were used for the fattening and storing of fish for food and also as a source for kapu (forbidden) fish.

The two major categories of loko were shore ponds and inland ponds. Hawaiians recognized five main types of fishponds and fishtraps. The primary ocean-based ponds were:

loko kuapā – what we consider the typical coastal fishpond, artificially enclosed by an arc-shaped seawall and containing at least one sluice gate (mākāhā)
loko pu‘uone, an isolated shore fishpond containing either brackish or a mixture of brackish and fresh water, formed by development of a barrier beach paralleling the coast, and connected to the ocean by a channel or ditch
loko ‘ume‘iki, a shore pond with numerous lanes leading in and out, was actually a very large fishtrap, whose walls were submerged at high tide, enabling fish to enter, and slightly above sea level at low tide. Fish were not continually raised or stored inside these structures, but were trapped and used immediately after capture.

Two forms of inland ponds were used to store fish, as well:

loko wai, a natural freshwater inland pond
loko i‘a kalo, small inland irrigated taro plot ponds

In ancient times, control of one or more fishponds was a symbol of chiefly status and power. Fishponds after the Great Mahele became private property and part of the adjoining land.

Fishponds are unique in Hawai‘i in that they are considered submerged lands, yet they are real property that can be brought, sold and leased.

The commoner had no absolute right to fish in the ponds, nor in the sector of ocean adjacent to the chief’s land – all of such rights were vested in the chiefs and ultimately in the King.

In 1848, when King Kamehameha III pronounced the Great Māhele, or land distribution, Hawaiian fishponds were considered private property by landowners and by the Hawaiian government.

This was confirmed in subsequent Court cases that noted “titles to fishponds are recognized to the same extent and in the same manner as rights recognized in fast land.”

Because of their location in the coastal zone, Hawaiian fishponds are controlled by a regulatory framework where County, State and Federal agencies each exercise some degree of control over activities associated with the pond.

There is a separate chapter in the State laws (Hawaiʻi Revised Statutes -HRS §183B) that deal with fishponds. Under certain circumstances, reconstruction, restoration, repair, or use of any Hawaiian fishpond are exempt from the requirements of chapter §343 (environmental review laws.)

When I was a kid, there were a couple abandoned and derelict fishponds down the channel near our house on Kāneʻohe Bay, but I never thought of them as ponds. My first real exposure to fishponds was the pond fronting the Nottage’s grandmother’s house on Molokaʻi.

While at DLNR, I remember the fishpond restoration on Maui with Kimokeo Kapahulehua (I still proudly wear the T-shirt from their program “‘Ao‘ao O Na Loko I‘a O Maui – Revitalizing a wall Revitalizing a culture”;) likewise, Colette Machado and Walter Ritte showed me fishponds on Moloka‘i and the work school groups were involved in there.

Koieie-Fishpond-NPS

Paiko-Pond-Life-1937

Old_photograph_of_the_Heʻeia_fishpond-(WC)

Kaneohe,_Oahu,_1880_(PPWD-11-7-039)

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Heeia Pond-paepaeoheeia

Fishpond_in_east_Molokai-(WC)

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July 26, 2019 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Hapa-Haole Music

Traditional Hawaiian music was based upon mele oli and mele hula as performed in the pre-Western-contact era. Mele oli means plain chanting, while mele hula signifies chanting accompanied by hula.

Subsequently, mele hula kuʻi – chant and dance style with western influences – developed in the late-19th and early 20th centuries from mele hula. These three forms served as the foundations of authentic Hawaiian music.

In 1879 in Hawaiʻi, Portuguese musicians (Madeira Islanders) played on “strange instruments, which are a kind of cross between a guitar and a banjo, but which produce very sweet music” (this Madeiran guitar, the machete, was destined to become the Hawaiian ʻukulele.) (Hawaiian Gazette – September 3, 1879)

In about 1889, Joseph Kekuku began sliding a piece of steel across the strings of a guitar, thus inventing steel guitar (kika kila); at about the same time, traditional Hawaiian music with English lyrics became popular.

All of this helped set the foundational sound for a new music in Hawaiʻi.

From about 1895 to 1915, Hawaiian music dance bands became in demand more and more. These were typically string quintets. Ragtime music influenced the music, and English words were commonly used in the lyrics.

This type of Hawaiian music, influenced by popular music and with lyrics being a combination of English and Hawaiian (or wholly English), is called hapa haole (literally: half white) music.

In 1903, Albert “Sonny” Cunha composed “My Waikīkī Mermaid,” arguably the first popular hapa haole song; two years later he wrote “Honolulu Tom Boy,” which became immensely popular. (The earliest known hapa haole song, “Eating of the Poi”, was published in Ka Buke o na Leo Mele Hawaii…o na Home Hawaii in Honolulu in 1888.)

Sonny Cunha was also known as a talented pianist who incorporated the piano into a Hawaiian orchestra for the first time. As a composer, pianist and orchestra leader, Cunha attracted many audiences – residents and visitors alike – with his new type of music; although pure Hawaiian songs still retained their popularity among kamaʻaina residents.

The new style and tempo of Cunha’s music came to exert an enormous influence on another musician, Johnny Nobel (later called the ‘Hawaiian Jazz King;’) in 1918 Noble joined Cunha’s band on drums and xylophones, and thus embraced the new style of music. Nobel also learned composition from Cunha and began to compose in the new style of Hawaiian music.

Noble’s first rise to fame came as the leader of a major hotel orchestra, at the Moana Hotel. He felt that jazz and Hawaiian music blended beautifully and immediately began to shape the sound of the orchestra. With no brass in the orchestra, the mellow sound they produced became the standard of the time.

As a composer and arranger, Noble really became a great composer of hapa haole tunes including, “My Little Grass Shack”, “King Kamehameha” and “Hula Blues.” He was responsible for ‘jazzing up’ and making popular the traditional “Hawaiian War Chant” song.

In 1935, Noble became the first Hawaiian composer inducted into The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers.

The hapa-haole sound was a “new wave” in the Hawaiian music scene. The new sound undeniably met the tastes and attitudes of the audience in Waikīkī in the first half of the twentieth century.

The lyrics usually expressed attractive images of Waikīkī – sand, surf, palm trees and hula girls. The new style of Hawaiian music responded to the transformation of the American pop music scene. From 1900 to 1915, it was based upon simple ragtime rhythms and sometimes upon waltz-like melodies.

The hapa-haole sound adopted jazz and blues from 1916 to the 1930s and then it incorporated the big-band sounds from the 1940s to the 1950s, rock ‘n roll in the 1950s and surf-style in the 1960s.

As time went by, the sound became less and less Hawaiian, despite its lyrics referring to Hawaiʻi.

At the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco, hapa-haole songs were featured in the Hawaii exhibits. The Hawaiian songs accompanied by ukulele fascinated the audience and triggered a Hawaiian boom on the mainland.

By 1916, there were hundreds of Hapa Haole (half “foreign”) tunes written. That same year, reportedly more Hawaiian records were sold on the mainland than any other type of music. And they came in all the popular styles of the day: in ragtime, blues, jazz, foxtrot and waltz tempos, as “shimmy” dances and–even–in traditional hula tempos, but jazzed up a bit.

In 1935, a radio program began, broadcasting live from the Banyan Court of the Moana Hotel on the beach at Waikīkī, and radios nationwide tuned in to hear “Hawaii Calls.” Not only did nearly every island entertainer cut his or her teeth on the program, many went on to become well known.

A number of non-Hawaiian continental musicians exploited the marketable commodity. Songs like “Yacka Hula Hicky Dula” and “Oh How She Could Yacki Hacki Wicki Wacki Woo” reflected the Hawaiian vogue, but did not represent the hapa-haole sounds in the true sense.

In Waikīkī, composers and musicians carefully blended Hawaiian music with jazz and blues, and attached the music to the Waikīkī landscape.

Hapa Haole Music Festival (PAI_Foundation)

Alfred Apaka and his Hawaii Village Sernaders. Tapa room late 1950’s >>> Property of The Honolulu Advertiser

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Wahine_Division-Hapa_Haole-Music_Festival-(PAI_Foundation)

July 25, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Simon Metcalfe

Simon Metcalfe (sometimes spelled Metcalf) (1735-1794) was an American fur trader. He traded furs from the Pacific Northwest for goods from China.

Reportedly, Simon Metcalfe was the first American captain to take sea otters on the Northwest Coast and the first American to trade those skins in China.

Traders used Hawai‘i as a trading and provisioning site; they would take on food and water from Hawai‘i on their way across the Pacific.

Metcalf was, by all accounts, a snappish, irritable, harsh individual, who believed in strong and immediate punishment for infractions of his rules.

Two actions by Simon Metcalfe at the end of the 1700s set in motion a series of events that, without which, the history of Hawai‘i could have been very, very different.

In 1789, Simon Metcalf (captaining the Eleanora) and his son Thomas Metcalf (also a trader, captaining the Fair American); their plan was to meet and spend winter in the Hawaiian Islands.

Because of some infraction, Metcalf mistreated and insulted Kame‘eiamoku (some reports say Metcalfe had Kame‘eiamoku flogged – by the way, Kame‘eiamoku is one of the twins embossed on the Royal Coat of Arms.)

Metcalf then sailed to the neighboring island of Maui to trade along the coast (and ultimately initiated the Olowalu Massacre.)

Kame‘eiamoku vowed revenge on whatever American ship next came his way; the next one happened to be the Fair American. He overpowered the ship and turned it (and its weapons) and its only survivor, Isaac Davis, over to Kamehameha.

Unaware of the events and fate of the Fair American, the Eleanora returned from Maui and arrived at the Big Island; Captain Simon Metcalf sent his boatswain, John Young, ashore to see the country.

That evening, as Young attempted to return to his ship, Kamehameha’s forces detained him (Kamehameha had placed a kapu on anyone going on the ship.) Young was captured and Metcalf, unaware, was puzzled why Young did not return.

Metcalf waited two days for Young to return; finally, sensing danger or becoming frustrated, Metcalf departed and set sail for China (abandoning Young,) not knowing that his son had been killed not far away.

It’s not clear what happened right after Metcalfe left Hawai‘i in 1790.

It was reported, however, that, in 1794, after apparently friendly trading with the Haida natives in Canada, he and his ship were captured (there was only one survivor.)

Looking back at Metcalfe’s two significant events of 1790, it makes you wonder, what would Hawai‘i’s history be like after 1790 if (1) Metcalfe hadn’t insulted Kame‘eiamoku, who later sought revenge and (2) John Young had not gone ashore on their return from Maui.

As it turns out, Kamehameha befriended Young and Davis, who became respected translators and his close and trusted advisors. Their skill in gunnery, as well as the cannon and other weapons from the Fair American, helped Kamehameha win many battles.

With these two men and the weapons, Kamehameha’s military was successful in his eventual conquest and unification of the Hawaiian Islands; first to Maui in 1790 and then O‘ahu in 1795. (Art by Herb Kane.)

Attack_on_the_Fair_American-(HerbKane)

Battle_of_the_Red-Mouthed_Gun-(HerbKane)

Kamehameha_Aboard_Fair_American-(HerbKane)

Simon_Metcalfe_Letter_Concerning_John_Young-03-22-1790

July 24, 2019 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Coral Construction

Hawaiian architecture evolved over time, starting with Hawaiians use of natural resources, to influences from all of the various visitors to Hawaiʻi.

Soon after missionary arrival, builders began to incorporate coral blocks from Hawaiʻi’s reefs, with the coral serving as a substitute for bricks the American and Europeans used in their homeland.

Here are a few examples of existing or remnants remaining today of the early use of coral blocks in building construction.

Chamberlain House

Nearby at what is now the Mission Houses Historic Site and Archives, the Chamberlain House (Ka Hale Kamalani) was built in 1831 from materials procured locally: coral blocks cut from reefs offshore and lumber salvaged from ships.

Designed by the mission’s quartermaster, Levi Chamberlain, to hold supplies as well as people, it had two stories, an attic, and a cellar. The windows are larger, more numerous, and shuttered against the sun. The building now serves as the main exhibition hall for the Museum.

Lāhainā Fort Ruins

The reconstructed remains of one old Lāhainā Fort wall still stand at this old lockup. This fort overlooked one of the canals of Lāhainā, now a paved street, and was built to protect the town after unruly sailors who fired a canon at Rev. Richard’s house.

The fort was built in 1831-1832 in which to incarcerate rowdy sailors and others who disobeyed the law. The fort was used mostly as a prison. It was torn down in the 1850s to supply stones for the construction of Hale Paʻahao – the prison on Prison Street.

Kawaiahaʻo Church

Down the street, Congregational missionaries had earlier begun (1836) the construction of Kawaiahaʻo Church. The “Stone Church,” as it came to be known, is in fact not built of stone, but of giant slabs of coral hewn from ocean reefs.

These slabs had to be quarried from under water; each weighed more than 1,000 pounds. Natives dove 10 to 20 feet to hand-chisel these pieces from the reef, then raised them to the surface, loaded some 14,000 of the slabs into canoes and ferried them to shore.

Following five years of construction, The Stone Church was ready for dedication ceremonies on July 21, 1842. King Kamehameha III, who contributed generously to the fund to build the church, attended the service.

Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace

Catholic missionaries broke ground for the new church to be built on July 9, 1840. It coincided with the Feast of Our Lady of Peace, patroness of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary religious institute of which the missionaries were members

The cornerstone was officially laid in a ceremony on August 6 of that year. Construction continued after groundbreaking with devoted Native Hawaiian volunteers harvesting blocks of coral from the shores of Ala Moana, Kakaʻako and Waikīkī. On August 14, 1843, the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace was consecrated and dedicated.

Print House

Also at Mission Houses, in 1841, a covered porch and balcony were added to the frame house, and an extra bedroom was built next door out of coral blocks. Both additions show further adaptation to an indoor-outdoor lifestyle appropriate to the climate.

The extra coral building later became the mission’s Print House (Ka Hale Paʻi) and now serves as a museum exhibit to show how the missionaries and native Hawaiians worked together to produce the first materials printed in the Hawaiian language.

ʻIolani Palace Barracks

Originally completed in 1871, and looking like a medieval castle, 4000-coral blocks were stacked with parapets and towers to make Halekoa, the ʻIolani Barracks (with its open courtyard surrounded by rooms once used by the guards as a mess hall, kitchen, dispensary, berth room, and lockup.)

The Barracks was originally located on what are now the grounds of the Hawaiʻi State Capitol, mauka of the Palace. After being dismantled block by block, ʻIolani Barracks was moved and reconstructed at its present location in 1965.

Fort Kekuanohu (Fort at Honolulu)

Back in Honolulu, in 1815, Kamehameha I granted Russian representatives permission to build a storehouse near Honolulu Harbor. Instead, they began building a fort and raised the Russian flag. When Kamehameha discovered this, the Russians were removed.

The fort had 340-by-300-foot long, 12-foot high and 20-foot thick walls made of coral. Its original purpose was to protect Honolulu by keeping enemy or otherwise undesirable ships out. But, it was also used to keep things in (it also served as a prison.)

The fort’s massive 12-foot walls were torn apart and the fort dismantled in 1857 and used to fill the harbor to accommodate an expanding downtown.

Honolulu Harbor – Esplanade – Harbor Expansion

As Honolulu developed and grew, lots of changes happened, including along its waterfront. What is now known as Queen Street was actually the water’s edge.

Then, from 1856 to 1860, the work of filling in the land to create an area known as the “Esplanade” or “Ainahou,” and building up a water-front and dredging the harbor to a depth from 20 to 25-feet took place.

Following the demolition of Fort Kekuanohu (Fort Honolulu) in 1857; its walls became the 2,000-foot retaining wall used to extend the land out onto the shallow reef in the harbor.

The remaining fort materials were used as fill to create what came to be known as the Esplanade (it’s where Aloha Tower and surrounding land now stand – evidence of the coral blocks from the old Fort can still be seen at Pier 12, ʻEwa of the Aloha Tower cruise ship pier.)

Hawaiʻi law (§171-58.5 HRS) now prohibits the mining or taking of sand, dead coral or coral rubble, rocks, soil or other marine deposits seaward from the shoreline, except for non-commercial uses in volumes that do not exceed 1-gallon per person per day, or to allow replenishment or protection of public shoreline area and government maintenance of stream mouths and shoreline.