Hawaii | Page 529 | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

June 7, 2015 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Chief’s Canoe

Throughout the years of late-prehistory, AD 1400s – 1700s, and through much of the 1800s, the canoe was a principal means of travel in ancient Hawaiʻi. Canoes were used for interisland and inter-village coastal travel.

Most permanent villages initially were near the ocean and at sheltered beaches, which provided access to good fishing grounds, as well as facilitating convenient canoe travel.

As long distance voyaging declined, the need shifted from voyaging canoes to large canoes for chiefly visits and warfare within the Hawaiian Islands, resulting in changes in canoe design.

For these short coastal and inter-island trips, paddling replaced sailing as the dominant power mode. Never certain when hospitality might turn sour, chiefs prudently traveled with bodyguards. On a visit to another chiefdom, they might prepare his food to avoid poisoning.

Their numbers were a silent announcement of his status. At a signal, they could launch a raid, fight a skirmish, or conduct a guarded retreat to the canoe landing. (Kane)

The canoe was used by the chiefs as a means of ostentation and display. On a voyage the alii occupied the raised and sheltered platform in the waist of the canoe which was called the pola, while the paddle-men sat in the spaces fore and aft, their number showing the strength of the king’s following. (Malo)

And for a chief eager to make a quick getaway regardless of wind conditions, his bodyguards could also be put to work as paddlers. No longer need he wait for a favorable wind, or beat upwind to a destination on long tacks. Paddling provided great freedom of mobility, the ability to move canoes in any direction despite calms or adverse winds. (Kane)

Royal Centers were where the aliʻi resided; aliʻi often moved between several residences throughout the year. The Royal Centers were selected for their abundance of resources and recreation opportunities, with good surfing and canoe-landing sites being favored.

The Hawaiian court was mobile within the districts or kingdom the aliʻi controlled. A paramount’s attendants might consist of as many as 700 to 1000-followers made of kahuna and political advisors (including geologists, architects, seers, messengers, executioner, etc;) servants which included craftsmen, guards, stewards; relatives and numerous hangers-on (friends, lovers, etc.)

There was no regular schedule for movement between Royal Centers. In part, periodic moves served to ensure that district chiefs did not remain isolated, or unsupervised long enough to gather support for a revolt.

In addition to personal economic support, the king also required tribute and taxes by which to maintain and display his political power.

Structures associated with the Royal Centers include heiau (religious structures) and sacred areas, house sites for the aliʻi and the entourage of family and kahuna (priests), and activity areas for burial, bathing, games, recreation, and crafts.

Religion and politics were closely interwoven in Hawaiian culture. The Royal Centers reflect this interrelationship with residential sites, heiau and sacred sites present within a defined royal compound.

Puʻuhonua (places of refuge) were often associated with these Royal Centers, reflecting the strong association between puʻuhonua and sites occupied by the high-ranking aliʻi.

A ruling chief moved his court as desired, travelling along the coasts by canoe with his attendants and setting up temporary establishments at certain sites for purposes of business or pleasure.

The canoes “have the bottom for the most part formed of a single piece or log of wood, hollowed out to the thickness of an inch, or an inch and a half, and brought to a point at each end.”

“The sides consist of three boards, each about an inch thick, and neatly fitted and lashed to the bottom part. The extremities, both at head and stern, are a little raised, and both are made sharp, somewhat like a wedge, but they flatten more abruptly, so that the two side-boards join each other side by side for more than a foot.”

“They are rowed by paddles, such as we had generally met with; and some of them have a light triangular sail, like those of the Friendly Islands, extended to a mast and boom. The ropes used for their boats, and the smaller cords for their fishing-tackle, are strong and well made.” (Captain Cook’s Journal)

“This village (at Kealakekua Bay) we found to be the residence of (Kamehameha;) from whence, before the ship was well secured, eleven large canoes put off from the shore with great order, and formed two equal sides of an obtuse triangle.”

“The largest canoe being in the angular point, was rowed by eighteen paddles on each side…. (The Chief’s) canoe was advanced a little forward in the procession, to the actions of which the other ten strictly attended, keeping the most exact and regular time with their paddles, and inclining to the right or left agreeably to the directions of the king…”

The Chief “conducted the whole business with a degree of adroitness and uniformity, that manifested a knowledge of such movements and maneuver far beyond what could reasonably have been expected. In this manner he paraded round the vessels, with a slow and solemn motion.” (Captain Vancouver)

Later, “Near sunset, our distinguished guests took leave and returned to the shore on their state vehicle-their double canoe, seated on a light narrow scaffolding which rested on the semi-elliptical timbers by which two large parallel canoes, each neatly carved from a tree, are yoked together, five or six feet apart.”

“Their large canoes are two to three feet in depth, and thirty to fifty in length. The thin sides are raised by the addition of a nicely fitted waist-board. Additional pieces of thin wood, ingeniously carved, are attached at the ends, covering a few feet as a deck turning up some fifteen inches at the extremity, and giving the appearance of greater finish, beauty and utility.”

“The favored passengers on a Hawaiian double canoe sit three or four feet above the surface of the water, while the rowers sit on thwarts in the canoe with their feet below the surface and their faces forward. The steersmen sit in the stern.”

“Their paddles have a round handle from three to four feet long, and a thin blade from twelve to eighteen inches long and eight to twelve wide, and are grasped by one hand at the extreme end, and by the other, near the blade, and are used by main strength.”

“The chiefs, on this occasion, were rowed off with spirit by nine or ten athletic men in each of the coupled canoes, making regular, rapid and effective strokes, all on one side for a while, then, changing at a signal in exact time, all on the other.”

“Each raising his head erect, and lifting one hand high to throw the paddle blade forward beside the canoe, the rowers, dipping their blades, and bowing simultaneously and earnestly, swept their paddles back with naked muscular arms, making the brine boil, and giving great speed to their novel and serviceable sea-craft.” (Hiram Bingham)

The image shows Kalaniʻōpuʻu, Chief of Hawaiʻi, bringing presents to Captain Cook (John Webber.)

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook

Follow Peter T Young on Google+

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn

Follow Peter T Young on Blogger

Kalaniopuu, King of Hawaii, bringing presents to Captain Cook-John_Webber-1779

June 5, 2015 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Kaʻahumanu and the Missionaries

Kaʻahumanu was born about the year 1768, near Hana, Maui. Her siblings include Governor John Adams Kuakini of Hawaiʻi Island, Queen Kalakua Kaheiheimalie (another wife of Kamehameha I) and Governor George Cox Keʻeaumoku II of Maui.

By birth, Kaʻahumanu ranked high among the Hawaiians. Her father was Keʻeaumoku, a distinguished warrior and counselor of Kamehameha the Great. Her mother Namahana was a former wife of the Chief of Maui, and the daughter of Kekaulike (a great Chief of that island.)

Kaʻahumanu was one of the most powerful people in the Islands at the time of the arrival of the missionaries. There were those who were higher by birth, and there were those who were higher by title, but there was probably none who held greater influence.

While her reputation is as a strong supporter of the missionaries and Christianity, in an early description of her, Hiram Bingham noted, “This woman, with all her haughtiness and selfishness”. Others felt the same.

“For a long time she stood aloof from the influence of the missionaries, was haughty, proud, and disdainful in their presence, and frequently passed them without speaking to them.” (Lucy Thurston)

“Kaahumanu too, for many months, was either heedless in regard to Christianity, or scornfully averse to our instructions, and at the same time not a little annoyed by the profligacy of Liholiho and his boon companions.”

“Some were watching to despoil us of our few goods, or to expel us from the islands, and others to nullify our influence by slander and misrepresentations.” (Bingham)

But “the gospel at length took hold of her mind, and through the influence of the Holy Ghost wrought a great and permanent and salutary change in her character.” (Lucy Thurston)

Soon after the first anniversary of their landing at Honolulu on April 19, 1821, Kaʻahumanu, Kalanimoku and Kalakua visited the mission and gave them supplies; this visit became important because during it Kaʻahumanu made her first request for prayer and showed her first interest in the teachings of the missionaries.

From that point on, Kaʻahumanu comes into more constant contact with the mission.

She was later described to have a kindly and generous disposition and usually had as pleasant relations with foreigners who respected her royal rights. She was cautious and slow in deciding – more business-like in here decision-making – but once her mind was made up, she never wavered.

On February 11, 1824, Kaʻahumanu made one of her first public speeches on religious questions, giving “plain, serious, close and faithful advice.”

At a meeting of the chiefs and school teachers, Kaʻahumanu and Kalanimōku declared their determination to “adhere to the instructions of the missionaries, to attend to learning, observe the Sabbath, Worship God, and obey his law, and have all their people instructed.”

She had requested baptism for Keopuolani and Keʻeaumoku when they were dying, but she waited until April, 1824, before requesting the same for herself.

“She was admitted to the church in, 1825, and was baptized by the name of Elizabeth. Soon after her conversion, she made a tour of the Islands; the people were astonished at the change in her, and remarked that it was ‘not Kaahumanu, but Elizabeth.’” (Lucy Thurston)

Of her baptism, Kamakau said: “Kaahumanu was the first fruit of the Kawaiahaʻo church … for she was the first to accept the word of God, and she was the one who led her chiefly relations as the first disciples of God’s church.”

“She became distinguished for her humility, kindness, and the affability of her deportment, regarded the missionaries as her own children, and treated them with the tenderness of maternal love.” (Lucy Thurston)

“Her influence and authority had long been paramount and undisputed with the natives, and was now discreetly used for the benefit of the nation.”

“She visited the whole length and breadth of the Islands, to recommend to her people, attention to schools, and to the doctrines and duties of the word of God, and exerted all her influence to suppress vice, and restrain the evils which threatened the ruin of her nation.” (Lucy Thurston)

Then, in mid-1832, Kaʻahumanu became ill and was taken to her house in Manoa, where a bed of maile and leaves of ginger was prepared. “Her strength failed daily. She was gentle as a lamb, and treated her attendants with great tenderness. She would say to her waiting women, ‘Do sit down; you are very tired; I make you weary.’”

Hiram Bingham’s account of her last hours is, in part, as follows: “On the third instant, Sabbath night, about midnight, Dr. Judd sent down to me to say he thought her dying. I hastened to Manoa and remained there until the fifth …”

“About the last words she used of a religious character were two lines of a hymn designed to express the feelings of a self-condemned penitent coining and submitting to Christ: ‘Here, here am I, O Jesus, oh – Grant me a gracious smile.’

“A little after this she called me to her and as I took her hand, she asked. ‘Is this Bingham?’ I replied. ‘It is I’—She looked upon me & added ‘I am going now’ I replied: ’Ehele pu Jesu me oe, Ehele pomaikai aku.’ ‘May Jesus go with you, go in peace.’ She said no more. Her last conflict was then soon over, – in 10 or 15 minutes she ceased to breathe.”

Her death took place at ten minutes past 3 o’clock on the morning of June 5, 1832, “after an illness of about 3 weeks in which she exhibited her unabated attachment to the Christian teachers and reliance on Christ, her Saviour.”

She was buried at Pohukaina at ʻIolani Place and later transferred to Mauna ‘Ala, the Royal Mausoleum in Nuʻuanu Valley. The image shows Kaʻahumanu. (Herb Kane)

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook

Follow Peter T Young on Google+

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn

Follow Peter T Young on Blogger

June 4, 2015 by Peter T Young 3 Comments

Punaluʻu

Punaluʻu i ke kai kau haʻa a ka malihini
Punaluʻu, where the sea dances for the visitors.

“The coast of Kaoo (Kaʻū) presents a prospect of the most horrid and dreary kind: the whole country appearing to have undergone a total change from the effects of some dreadful convulsion.”

“The ground is every where covered with cinders and intersected in many places with black streaks, which seem to mark the course of a lava that has flowed, not many ages, back, from the mountain Roa [Mauna Loa] to the shore.”

“The southern promontory looks like the mere dregs of a volcano. The projecting headland is composed of broken and craggy rocks, piled irregularly on one another, and terminating in sharp points.” (King Captain Cook’s Journal. 1779)

Henry ʻŌpūkahaʻia was born around 1792 in the area between Punaluʻu and Nīnole. At the age of 16, after his parents had been killed, he boarded a sailing ship anchored in Kealakekua Bay and sailed to the continent. “Memoirs of Henry Obookiah” (the spelling of his name prior to establishment of the formal Hawaiian alphabet, based on its sound) was published.

ʻŌpūkahaʻia, inspired by many young men with proven sincerity and religious fervor of the missionary movement, had wanted to spread the word of Christianity back home in Hawaiʻi; his book, a compilation of his writing, inspired the Pioneer Company of missionaries to sail to Hawaiʻi (October 23, 1819.)

In June 1823, William Ellis joined American Missionaries Asa Thurston, Artemas Bishop and Joseph Goodrich on a tour of the island of Hawaiʻi to investigate suitable sites for mission stations.

Coming from Waiʻōhinu, Ellis noted, “The country appeared more thickly inhabited, than that over which we had travelled in the morning. The villages along the sea-shore were near together, and some of them extensive.”

The following is his perspective on the area at ‘Punaruu’ (Punaluʻu.) “(W)e came to Punaruu, where the people of that and the next village, Wailau, collected together in a large house, and were addressed by one of the company, on the nature and attributes of the true God.”

“We generally preferred speaking to the people in the open air, as we then had more hearers, than when we addressed them in a house. But in the middle of the day, we usually found it too hot to stand so long in the sun. The services, which we held in the morning and evening, were -always out of doors.”

“We now left the road by the sea-side, and directed our course towards the mountains. Our path lay over a rich yellow looking soil of decomposed lava, or over a fine vegetable mould, in which we occasionally saw a few masses of lava partially decomposed.”

“There was but little cultivation, though the ground appeared well adapted to the growth of any of the produce of the islands. After walking up a gentle ascent, about eight miles, we came to a solitary hamlet, called Makaʻaka, containing four or five houses in which three or four families were residing.” (Ellis, 1823)

During the 1830s, Protestant missionaries from Kona and Hilo would make occasional visits into Kaʻū but a permanent missionary presence would not be installed until the early-1840s when Catholic and Protestant missions were established in the district.

In 1842, the Protestant minister John Paris settled in Waiʻōhinu where he founded a church and school. In 1843, Rev. Paris reported that a stone meeting house (church) had been built at Punaluʻu and that the school’s average attendance there was 140. (Paris preached three Sundays each month at Waiʻōhinu and one Sunday at Punaluʻu.) Cultural Surveys)

Chester H Lyman in 1846, coming south from Volcano through the ʻōhiʻa forest of tree ferns and below Kilauea, passed through Kapapala, where he encountered dwellings and canoe-making sheds, the first such to be seen on descending the mountain.

He was impressed with the green hills, the moist state of the soil, the “several horses with cattle and goats” feeding near the chief’s house; and “the fires of Kilauea which shone up magnificently on the clouds like the light of a conflagration at evening.

Punaluʻu village he found “romantically situated on the beach, shut in in part by a rough lava stream.” Continuing along the shore, he passed the black-pebble beach of Nīnole and found “a succession of small villages” whose inhabitants were “extensively engaged in fishing.” (Handy)

While cattle and goats were the focus of commercial agriculture in the region in the 1850s, wheat growing was attempted in Kaʻū; but it proved difficult to co-ordinate the size of the wheat crop with the requirements of the flour mills. The business did not become a permanent one. (Kuykendall)

Life in Kaʻū during the 1860s was disrupted and devastated by the forces of nature. In March of 1868 began a sequence of major earthquakes and eruptions of Mauna Loa, a prelude to an earthquake in early April that precipitated an “earthquake and the tidal wave destroying the villages from Punaluʻu to Kaʻaluʻalu (north-east of South Point.”) (Handy)

Then, sugar changed the regional landscape. Alexander Hutchinson established the Hutchinson Sugar Company (1868) and Hawaiian Agricultural Company, was established in Pāhala (1876,) the latter used Punaluʻu as its port.

The railroad from Punaluʻu to the village of Keaiwa (where the Pāhala Sugar Mill was located) was reported in June 1878 to be “the first railroad in these islands”. Railroads continued to operate in Kaʻū until the 1940s but the Pāhala – Punaluʻu railroad was discontinued in 1929. (Cultural Surveys)

Starting in the late-1800s, to get people and goods around the Islands, folks would catch steamer ships; competitors Wilder Steamship Co (1872) and Inter-Island Steam Navigation Co (1883) ran different routes, rather than engage in head to head competition.

For Inter-Island’s routes, vessels left Honolulu stopping at Lāhainā and Māʻalaea Bay on Maui and then proceeding directly to Kailua-Kona.

From Kailua, the steamer went south stopping at the Kona ports of Nāpoʻopoʻo on Kealakekua Bay, Hoʻokena, Hoʻopuloa, rounding South Point, touching at the Kaʻū port of Honuʻapo and finally arriving at Punaluʻu, Kaʻū, the terminus of the route. (From Punaluʻu, five mile railroad took passengers to Pāhala and then coaches hauled the visitors to the volcano from the Kaʻū side.)

The Punaluʻu Harbor and Landing served the communities of Punaluʻu and Nīnole and the sugar plantation at Pāhala and was considered the “port town for the district in 1880.” (Orr) By the mid-1880s Punaluʻu had storehouses, a restaurant, a store, and numerous homes constructed of lumber. (Cultural Surveys)

C Brewer & Company acquired the sugar interests in the Pāhala to Nīnole-Punaluʻu area that were merged into Kaʻū Sugar (the last harvest was in 1996;) Brewer also went into macadamia nuts and other ventures.

Between 1969-1972, at Nīnole and Punaluʻu, C Brewer Properties, Ltd developed the Sea Mountain 18-hole golf course community, which included the Colony I condominium project, Kalana I single-family residential subdivision, the Aspen Institute Center for Humanistic Studies, the Black Sands Restaurant and the Kaʻū Center for History and Culture.

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook

Follow Peter T Young on Google+

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn

Follow Peter T Young on Blogger

Punaluu village, Hawaii-S00084-1880

Punalu‘u Landing c. 1880 showing portion of village-CS

Punaluu, Hawaii Island-PP-30-6-018-ca_1890

Punaluu landing, Hawaii Island-PP-30-6-002

Punaluu landing, Hawaii Island-PP-30-6-001-1915

Punalu‘u Landing from Punalu‘unui Heiau (‘sacrificial stone’ in foreground)

Portion of 1931 Coastal Chart showing closeup of Punalu‘u Town-CS

Ninole Pond-1954-1972-Kelly-Cultural Surveys

Fern Forest Road to the volcano from Punaluu, Hawaii Island-PP-28-13-008

Andrews Chart of Punalu‘u Roadstead c. 1880s showing restaurant, store and store-CS

Punaluu_Ahupuaa-DAGS_2402-1875

May 24, 2015 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Waikiki

Waikiki was once a vast marshland whose boundaries encompassed more than 2,000-acres (as compared to its present 500-acres we call Waikiki, today.)

Originally, the ahupuaʻa of Waikiki included all the valleys “from the west side of Makiki valley away to the east side of Wailupe”.

The name Waikiki (which means “spouting waters”) was well adapted to the character of the swampy land of ancient Waikiki, where water from the upland valleys would gush forth from underground.

The early Hawaiian settlers gradually transformed the marsh into hundreds of taro fields, fish ponds and gardens. Waikiki was once one of the most productive agricultural areas in old Hawai‘i.

From ancient times, Waikiki has been a popular surfing spot. This is one of the reasons why the chiefs of old make their homes and headquarters in Waikiki for hundreds of years.

Waikiki, by the time of the arrival of Europeans in the Hawaiian Islands during the late eighteenth century, had long been a center of population Royal Center on O‘ahu. Kamehameha’s decision to reside there after taking control of O‘ahu by defeating the island’s chief, Kalanikūpule.

However, drainage problems started to develop in Waikiki from the late-nineteenth century because of urbanization, when roads were built and expanded in the area (thereby blocking runoff) and when a drainage system for land from Punchbowl to Makiki diverted surface water to Waikiki.

The dredging of the Ala Wai Canal (which became a demarcation of what we call Waikiki today) and the filling of the Waikiki wetlands spurred a building boom in the district. Hundreds of residential lots were created; then, many of the properties were consolidated into resort use.

Waikiki is now most often defined as the area bounded on the north and west by the Ala Wai canal from Kapahulu Avenue to the Ocean (including the Ala Wai Boat Harbor), on the east by Kapahulu Avenue and on the south by the ocean shoreline.

Today, tourism is the largest single source of private capital into Hawai‘i. Tourism is Hawaiʻi’s biggest generator of jobs among the major economic sectors. Tourism contributes over $1-billion of total state tax revenue.

Oʻahu has roughly 50 percent of the State’s visitor unit inventory, the vast majority of them in Waikiki (nearly 78,000-units statewide; nearly 32,000-units in Waikiki.)

It has a dense collection of independent hotels, condominiums, time-shares, restaurants and nightclubs, shopping complexes, etc and attracts and accommodates a range of types of visitor, from high-spending to the budget-conscious.

On any given day, there are as many as 127,000-people in Waikiki, making it a sizeable city by any account. This population includes 20,000-residents, 32,000-workers and 75,000-visitors.

While the city government provides the general public services and infrastructure for this city within a city, many businesses and residents also contribute to its betterment through various resort and visitor-related associations.

The visitor industry is more than hotels, visitor attractions and airlines. A successful tourism industry requires the collaboration of businesses, government and others, all working together toward common goals that contribute to the greater good.

Today, Waikiki is the primary visitor destination, and hotel and resort area not just for Oʻahu, but also for all of Hawaiʻi. It is a gathering place for residents and visitors from around the world.

Famous for its beaches, every room is just two or three blocks away from the beach and surf. But there’s more to Waikiki than just the beach. Nearby (walkable) attractions of Waikiki include the Honolulu Zoo and the Waikiki Aquarium, and for the adventuresome, Lēʻahi (Diamond Head) is a short walk that leads to a trail offering panoramic views of Waikiki.

In addition, Waikiki is within a half hour of a variety of Oʻahu attractions, including Pearl Harbor, ʻIolani Palace, the Nuʻuanu Pali Lookout and Hanauma Bay.

While Waikiki is considered “built-out,” recent revitalization activities, including multi-million dollars of expenditures for a new sidewalk promenade with landscaping and fountains and numerous other improvements, have added freshness and convenience to the Waikiki experience.

One of Waikiki’s new and signature attractions is the tradition of torch-lighting ceremonies that occurs most evenings throughout Waikiki.

Likewise, a recent sand replenishment project expanded the beach in the core of Waikiki. Other landscaping and sidewalk improvements added convenience and safety, while also enhancing a rejuvenated feel.

Long been cultivated in the minds of worldwide visitors as a destination of exotic allure and Aloha spirit, Waikiki is a unique mix of ancient tradition, history, beautiful land, breathtaking seascapes and a blend of strong cultures—the backdrop that has framed the world-renowned beach as one of the premier tourist destinations on the planet.

More of an experience than a destination, Waikiki provides residents and visitors with a unique experience found only on its shores, to take and keep with them wherever they are. Waikiki is poised to stand the test of time as one of the most iconic beach locations in the world.

We prepared a corridor management plan for the Waikiki – Kauhale O Hoʻokipa Scenic Byway for the Native Hawaiian Hospitality Association. We were honored and proud when the Scenic Byway received a Historic Preservation Commendation from Historic Hawaiʻi Foundation.

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook

Follow Peter T Young on Google+

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn

Follow Peter T Young on Blogger

Charles_Kauha-the_background-1890

Surfing illustration, LE Edgeworth

Duke Paoa Kahanamoku with his surfboard-(WC)-c. 1910-1915

Kaiulani_with_peacocks_and_friends

Waikiki_and_Helumoa_Coconut-(from_Ewa_end_of_Helumoa)-1870

Waikiki-Kalia_to_Moana-1920

Royal_Hawaiian_Hotel-Moana_Hotel-Aerial-1930

Kamehameha V’s summer residence at Helumoa also known as The Royal Grove.

From_McCully_to_Daimond_Head-over_taro_fields-1940

Diamond_Head-Surfers-1900

Camp_McKinley_Kapiolani_Park-1898

ʻApuakehau_Stream,(WC)_ca._1890

‘Diamond_Head_from_Waikiki’,_oil_on_canvas_painting_by_Enoch_Wood_Perry,_Jr.,_c._1865

Ala Wai Dredging-HSA

Waikiki_Historic_Trail-interpretive sign

Waikiki-Kauhale_O-Hookipa-Points_of_Interest-Map

Ala_Wai_Boulevard-WC

Kapiolani_Bandstand-(droidx)

Waikiki_at_dusk-WC

Waikiki_Ahupuaa

May 22, 2015 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Gideon Laʻanui

“There were born to Nuhi and Kaohele first a daughter and then a son, the girl being named Kekaikuihala and the boy Laʻanui. Kamehameha, although fierce and cruel in war, was disposed to be conciliatory toward those he conquered, aiming to make amends in a measure for the wrongs he inflicted and to establish friendly relations with families to which he had brought misfortune.”

“He extended a welcoming hand and opened his heart to many, men and women alike, who flocked to his hospitable court. Alliances in this way were created, and one by one new homes spread over the lately deserted countryside once more, through the influence of which contentment was made to rule supreme in the land.”

“Among the visitors to the royal court was (Namahana) Kekuwai-Piʻia, who had just become a widow, coming as a guest of her sister, Queen Kaʻahumanu. Laʻanui was a boy growing to maturity.”

“The king had not forgotten the great wish of his heart, coveting possession of Waimea and hoping to gain it, if not in battle, through a matrimonial alliance. His failure to accomplish this end through Kaohele was a sting to the old warrior’s pride, and now he chose a new agent of his ambition by inviting Laʻanui to the court.”

“The invitation was gladly accepted and the visit lasted for months. Kamehameha was loath to have Laʻanui depart while he was slyly intriguing with Kaʻahumanu to negotiate a marriage between Piʻia and Laʻanui.”

“Piʻia is described as being a person heavily built and not prepossessing in appearance like her sisters Kaahumanu and Kaheiheimalie. When at last the proposition was put squarely to Laʻanui, that it was the united wish of the king and queen that the marriage should take place, for a moment he was dejected.”

“To wed a woman very many years his senior was not the desire of his heart. Yet realizing that it might be perilous to go contrary to the express desire of the powerful monarch he quietly consented ‘to take the bitter pill.’” (Pratt)

“The couple took up their residence at Waialua, permanently, upon one of the divisions of land which Piʻia had received as her portion out of her father’s large estate.”

“Soon afterward the old conqueror’s death occurred, upon which Kaʻahumanu became regent of the whole group. The first party of missionaries had just arrived. Piʻia and Laʻanui, together with Queen Kaahumanu and several other chiefly persons, were among the first converts to Christianity.” (Pratt)

Laʻanui and Piʻia were one of the first couples to be married by Hiram Bingham.

Laʻanui was also part of “a number of serious men … willing to be known as seekers of the great salvation, and as, in some sense, pledged to one another to abstain from immoralities and to follow the teachings of the Word of God, united in an association for prayer and improvement similar to that formed by the females a month earlier.”

“Among its earliest and leading members were Kalanimoku, Laanui, Kalaikoa, Kealiiahonui, Hoaai, Kupalu, and Kaomi, whose father was a resident Tahitian, John Ii, Kaaia, Punihaole, and others.” (Bingham)

Then, “More than a hundred at Honolulu station offered themselves as candidates for baptism. Amongst these, Kaahumanu, Kalanimoku, Kalkua, Namahana, Laanui, Kapiolani, Kapule, Kaiu, Kealiiahonui, and Richard Kalaaiaulu …”

“… in the early part of June, while the chiefs and missionaries were generally assembled at Honolulu, being permitted, came before the congregation and the only organized church then in the island, and made a statement of their religious views, and their desire to join themselves to the Lord’s people, and to walk in his covenant.” (Bingham)

“Before the close of the fifth year of the mission, Kapule and her husband and her former husband’s son, Keliiahonui, and Kaahumanu, all gave evidence of being disciples of Christ. The two latter separated, as by Christian rules it was not lawful for a son to have his father’s wife.”

“The four made a public profession of their faith in Christ together, and as first fruits, were baptised, with Opiʻia, Laʻanui and Richard Karaaiaulu. Kaʻahumanu ever after lived a single life, adorned her profession, and died as she had lived, a Christian, after several years of useful exertion as a Christian ruler.” (Missionary Herald)

Laʻanui “was an interesting young chief of the third rank, well featured, and a little above the middling stature.” (Bingham)

“I could not refrain from tears to see the happy meeting of this interesting pair, after their separation for so lamentable a cause. His protection and restoration they both now piously ascribed to the care of Jehovah – the Christian’s God.”

“After a few expressions of mutual joy and congratulation, and a few words as to the state of affairs at Kauai, at Namahana’s suggestion, with which her husband signified his concurrence, we sang a hymn of praise, and united in thanksgiving to the King of nations for his timely and gracious aid to those who acknowledge his authority and love his Word.” (Bingham)

“Laʻanui, by his correct behavior for more than five years, has given us much satisfaction. He is a good assistant in the work of translation; we consult him and others of his standing, with more advantage than any of the youth who have been instructed in foreign school.” (Bingham)

An early convert to Christianity, “Laʻanui was the paramount chief of the Waialua division from 1828 to his death in 1849, as well as the particular ‘lord’ (hakuʻāina) of Kawailoa, the district (ahupuaʻa) corresponding to the Anahulu River valley.” (Kirch)

On June 5, 1832, Laʻanui, Piʻia, former Queen Kaʻahumanu and a couple others “came before the congregation (of Kawaiahaʻo Church) and the only organized church then in the island, and made a statement of their religious views, and their desire to join themselves to the Lord’s people, and to walk in his covenant.” (Bingham)

On July 24, 1832, Rev John and Ursula Emerson arrived in Waialua. They were greeted by Laʻanui in his canoe. In the fall of 1832 the first church in Waialua was dedicated and began with sixteen members.

The first “Hale pule,”— a large thatched building which would seat 1,000 persons on the floor of mats or rushes, was located near where the Haleiwa Hotel now stands, a. few rods from Laʻanui’s residence.”

“Laʻanui was very friendly and thoughtful and offered Father the choice of several spots for his residence, and he selected a location near some beautiful springs called Ka “Waipuolo”, where a small grass thatched house was soon erected.”

“Among the converts of the great Revival year of the mission in 1838, was Hewahewa, the great Kahuna of the time of Kamehameha, who advised Kaʻahumanu and Liholiho to abolish the Kapu. He lived in the valley of Waimea, a faithful, consistent follower of the new light.” (The Friend, March 1, 1914)

Over 2,000 natives attended the dedication of the hale pili (grass house.) This hale pili stood on the corner of Kamehameha Highway and Haleiwa road where the Haleʻiwa Hotel once stood and now Haleʻiwa Joe’s. (Liliuokalani Church)

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook

Follow Peter T Young on Google+

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn

Follow Peter T Young on Blogger