Images of Old Hawaiʻi

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Mokuone

When working for the State meant moving from Waimea on the Big Island back to Oʻahu, we ended up on the windward side (where I grew up as a kid.)
We re-joined Kāneʻohe Yacht Club (when I was a kid, the Club was our backyard and ‘go to’ place.)
Wanting to get a boat, we put our name on the waiting lists for ‘wet’ or ‘dry’ slips.  After a few years, the call came – our name came up for a slip.
They asked me what kind of boat I had; I asked, ‘What kind can I have?’
It turns out, the slip I was assigned could accommodate a boat up to 28-feet (from tip-to-tip.)  I went shopping and found a 27-foot Ericson; more of a cruiser, rather than a racer.
I call it a bathtub in the water; it is definitely not a speed-racer.
Anyway, the boat was called “Ballou Hawaii;” I had to change the name.
However, since the beginning of time, sailors have sworn that there are unlucky boats and the unluckiest boats of all are those who have defied the gods and changed their names.
Fortunately, there are ceremonies that one can use to appease all.
According to legend, each and every vessel is recorded by name in the Ledger of the Deep and is known personally to Poseidon, or Neptune, the god of the sea.
Some people might not know that there is a formal ritual in name-changing a boat; actually, there are several rituals.
If you wish to change the name of your boat, the first thing you must do is to purge its old name from the Ledger of the Deep and from Poseidon’s memory.
It is usual for the renaming ceremony to be conducted immediately following the purging ceremony, although it may be done at any time after the purging ceremony.
I don’t find it coincidental that all naming, purging and renaming ceremonies include ample use of alcohol (fortunately fermented grape juice is an acceptable beverage for these tasks.)
Anyway, rather than smash a perfectly good bottle of wine on the bow, I did incorporate most of rituals’ key parts and splashed a bit of the chardonnay from my glass on the boat and renamed her “Mokuone.”
Mokuone was the name of the family’s first boat when I was a kid.  Its literal translation is “Sand Island” and refers to what people now call the Sand Bar.  (As a kid, we called it Sand Island; the traditional name is Ahu O Laka.)
I even had a special flag made for the boat – kind of cartoonish, but it works for me (an image of it is attached; it’s the top flag.)
I try to get to the boat every weekend.  Sometimes, I would just go down and “fix” stuff; most often, though, I try to go out for a sail.
It’s rigged for easy single-handed sailing (Nelia goes out only occasionally,) so I can raise/lower and control most of the lines and stuff from the cockpit.
I hope the weather and wind are favorable this weekend; I’d like to go for another sail on the Bay.
The image shows Mokuone at her mooring.  I raised the boat’s flag, as well as my own nautical flags.  Today is the 4th anniversary of getting the boat.

by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Cattle In Hawai‘i

With the arrival of Western ships, new plants and animals soon found their way to the Hawaiian Islands.
The simple‐seeming gift of a few cattle given to Kamehameha I by Captain George Vancouver in 1793 made a major impact on the Hawai`i’s economy and ecosystem.
It also spawned a rich tradition of cowboy and ranch culture that is still here today.
Spaniards introduced the first cattle to Veracruz, Mexico in 1521.  Vancouver picked up descendants of these animals from the Spanish mission in Monterey, California when he set off across the Pacific, intending to use them as food and gifts.
Cattle were not the only animals introduced to Hawai`i during this period.  In 1778, Captain Cook left both goats and pigs.
British introduced sheep in the 1790s and they all soon roamed on Mauna Kea and Hualālai.  In 1803, American Richard Cleveland presented horses ‐ a stallion and a mare ‐ to Kamehameha.
When Vancouver landed additional cattle at Kealakekua in 1794, he strongly encouraged Kamehameha to place a 10‐year kapu on them to allow the herd to grow.
In the decades that followed, cattle flourished and turned into a dangerous nuisance.  By 1846, 25,000-wild cattle roamed at will and an additional 10,000-semi‐domesticated cattle lived alongside humans.
A wild bull or cow could weigh 1,200 to 1,500-pounds and had a six‐foot horn spread.  Vast herds destroyed natives’ crops, ate the thatching on houses, and hurt, attacked and sometimes killed people.
Kamehameha III lifted the kapu in 1830 and the hunting of wild cattle was encouraged.  The king hired cattle hunters from overseas to help in the effort; many of these were former convicts from Botany Bay in Australia.
Hunting sometimes ended in inadvertent tragedy.  In 1834, the trampled dead body of Scottish botanist David Douglas, for whom the Douglas Fir tree is named, was discovered in a cattle-trap pit on Mauna Kea.
Hawaiʻi’s wild cattle population needed to be controlled for safety reasons, but the arrival of cattle hunters and Mexican vaquero (“Paniolo”) also happened to coincide with an economic opportunity.
In the early-1830s, trade in sandalwood slowed down as island forests became depleted.  At about the same time, whaling ships hunting in the north Pacific began wintering in Hawaiian waters.
Ships provisioning in Hawaiʻi ports provided a market for salt beef, in addition to hides and tallow.  With the economic push of providing provisions to the whaling fleets, ranching became a commercial enterprise that grew in the islands.
Cattle ranching remains an important export and food industry in Hawai‘i.
The total number of cattle and calves on Hawai‘i’s ranches as of January 1, 2012 was estimated at 140,000-head, roaming nearly 750,000-acres of pasture land.
When living in Waimea, I had a brief experience in “ranching.”
We picked up a day-old dairy bull calf from an Āhualoa dairy; we named him “Freezer Burn.”  We removed the middle seat and transported him back home in our VW van.  (I know; real cowboys don’t name their steers.)
After bottle-feeding him and briefly pasturing him, he ditched the premises and hooked up with part of the Parker Ranch herd.
The image shows them swimming cattle to a transport boat, farther out in the bay.  In addition, I have included some other images of cattle transport using this similar technique in a folder of like name in the Photos section of my Facebook page.

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kamehameha Statue

In the Hawaiian legislature of 1878, Walter Murray Gibson, then a freshman member from Lāhainā, Maui, proposed a monument to the centennial of Hawaii’s “discovery” by Captain James Cook.  The legislature approved and he chaired the monument committee.
Among sites which had been mentioned were Kapiʻolani Park (where the annual Kamehameha Day horse-races were held); Thomas Square (“it needed improvement”); the Kanoa lot at the junction of Merchant and King streets (“too expensive.”)
Most of the legislators favored the front of Aliʻiolani Hale (the present Judiciary Building) and this site was approved.
After Gibson had talked with artists in New York City and Boston; he made an agreement with Thomas R. Gould, a well-known Boston sculptor who used photographs of models and reviewed Hawaiian artifacts in local museums in his design.
‘Boston Evening Transcript’ of September 28, 1878, noted “It has been thought fitting that Boston, which first sent Christian teachers and ships of commerce to the Islands, should have the honor of furnishing this commemorative monument.”
While Gould was a Bostonian, he was studying in Italy, where he designed the statue; ultimately, the statue was cast in bronze in Paris.
This was not a portrait statue, the article went on, but Gould had modeled the features after an engraved portrait of Kamehameha.
At the request of the monument committee, he had modified the features to make the king seem about 45-years old.  The intent was a bronze statue of “heroic size” (about eight-and-a-half-feet tall.)
The stance of the statue, with spear in left hand and right outstretched with open palm, showed the “successful warrior inviting the people … to accept the peace and order he had secured.”
The statue was shipped on August 21, 1880, by the bark ‘GF Haendel,’ and was expected about mid-December.  On February 22, 1881, came word that the Haendel had gone down November 15, 1880, off the Falkland Islands.  All the cargo had been lost.
About the time it was lost, King Kalākaua was on a royal tour of the island of Hawai‘i.  He made a speech in front of the Kohala Post Office.
There, the King was reminded the Kamehameha Statue was destined for Honolulu, yet Kohala, the birthplace of Kamehameha, was overlooked as a place for his statue.  Kohala residents then raised funds and a replica was ordered.
It turns out, however, that the original statue had been recovered and was in fair condition.
The right hand was broken off near the wrist, the spear was broken and the feather cape had a hole in it.  It was taken to a shed at Aliʻiolani Hale to be repaired.
Meanwhile, on January 31, 1883, the replica ordered by Kohala tablets and a forearm for the damaged original statue arrived.
On February 14, 1883, the replica statue was unveiled at Aliʻiolani Hale during the coronation ceremonies for King Kalākaua.
As for the original statue (which had been repaired,) it was dedicated on May 8, 1883 (the anniversary of Kamehameha’s death – 193-years ago, today) and is in Kapaʻau, North Kohala outside Kohala’s community/senior center.
So, the original statue actually ended up in Kohala, where the residents felt it rightfully belonged.
However, that is not the end of the story.
There are now five different statues of Kamehameha:
•                    The first replica stands prominently in front of Aliʻiolani Hale in Honolulu
•                    The initial (repaired) casting of the statue is at Kapaʻau, North Kohala
•                    Another replica is in US  Capitol’s visitor center in Washington DC
•                    Another statue is at the Wailoa River State Recreation Area in Hilo
•                    A statute, created by Herb Kane, is at the Grand Wailea Resort Hotel & Spa on Maui]
The image shows the original (repaired) statue in Kapaʻau in 1908.

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Honolulu Zoo Children’s Discovery Forest

The Hawaiʻi Forest Industry Association (HFIA), Hawaiʻi Forest Institute (HFI) and community partners are planning the Honolulu Zoo Children’s Discovery Forest, which will be created at the Honolulu Zoo in Waikīkī on Oʻahu.
The project site is near the zoo entrance and adjacent to the future site of a Native Hawaiian Village. The Discovery Forest will be a representation of natural systems, creating a scene of Hawai’i before the arrival of humans.
The exhibit will be designed to demonstrate culturally significant Hawaiian plant species, the significance of place, and the kuleana of mālama ʻāina (responsibility to care for the land) by integrating traditional Hawaiian forest ecosystems, forest stewardship opportunities, and innovative land-based education for residents and visitors.
The Discovery Forest will reconnect urban visitors with the Hawaiian forest through three demonstration zones: strand vegetation, dryland mesic forest species, and Polynesian-introduced species and cultivars.
The Discovery Forest will be a place that serves as an ongoing outdoor educational setting in which visitors will learn about the importance of the sustainability of native and Polynesian plantings within a framework of Hawaiian cultural values.
The vision is one in which the vast cultural, natural and historical attributes of Hawaii’s endemic and indigenous coastal flora and geology is shared, demonstrating the bond that must be formed between people and ‘āina if both are to thrive.
HFIA was recently awarded a Hawai’i Tourism Authority (HTA) Natural Resources Program grant, administered by the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement (CNHA), for the Discovery Forest.
Other project partners include Paepae o Heʻeia, Conservation Council of Hawaiʻi, Scenic Hawaii, Inc., Mānoa Heritage Center, Kualoa-Heʻeia Ecumenical Youth Project (KEY Project), Polynesian Voyaging Society and O’ahu Resource Conservation & Development Council.
“We extend our mahalo to community partners, HTA and the CNHA for recognizing the importance of helping visitors, island students and kamaʻaina expand their appreciation for Hawaiʻi’s forest ecosystems,” said HFIA Executive Director Heather Simmons.
“Through the Honolulu Zoo Discovery Forest, we have an opportunity to promote forest awareness and significance to thousands of people.”
I am proud and honored to serve on the Board of Directors of the Hawai‘i Forest Institute.

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kāne‘ohe Bay – UH SOEST Image

 This image accompanies the story of dredging in Kāne‘ohe Bay.
The attached image generally shows Kāne‘ohe Bay as it is today.
The Marine Base is at the bottom/right, the “Ship Channel” runs from there, all the way to the top of the image, past Mokoli‘i (Chinaman’s Hat) across from the Kualoa Park.
Zoom in and you can follow the channel from the Base, weaves through the Bay, to the entrance/exit at Mokoli‘i.
Notice the patch reefs with discernible straight edges … that’s the result of the dredging operations.
               
Likewise, you can see areas that have clear cuts in reefs that look submerged (almost like shadows between untouched reefs and deeper water) – these were the areas dredged to lesser depths.
(Here’s a link to download a high resolution of the UH SOEST Kaneohe Bay Poster: