Hawaii | Page 63 | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

October 9, 2024 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Harry Irwin

“Every last one of us has felt in one way or another the impact of the personality of Harry Irwin. He learned out of the crucible of hard tough law practice … and was quick to praise and not slow to condemnation when he felt it was deserved.”

“He had the courage to wade into the political bull ring and take on the biggest … if he felt the cause was right, he was battling to the finish.” (Martin Pence, HTH)

“At the request of the House Committee on Territories Chair Charles F Curry, the two territorial proposals were revised and resubmitted as one piece of legislation, House Resolution 12683. Territorial Attorney General Harry S Irwin drafted the new legislation for Kūhiō to introduce.”

“Attorney General Irwin designed what would be called the ‘Kuhio Bill’ … [after some opposition] As to the issue of reconciliation, Kūhiō recognized: ‘It is a fact, though, that the constitution granted by Kamehameha III recognized that the common people had the same interest in the lands of the kingdom as the king and the chiefs.’” (Andrade)

“In July 1921, the United States Congress enacted and President Warren G Harding signed into law the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act of 1920, establishing a land trust of approximately 203,500 acres of former Crown and Government Lands to provide homestead leases at a nominal fee for native Hawaiians, those individuals of fifty percent or more Hawaiian blood.” (Andrade) (Irwin prepared much of the original Hawaiian Homes Commission Act.)

Irwin was born in born at Shelburne, Nova Scotia, Canada on December 21, 1874. He was the son of Robert Gore and Isabelle (Archer) Irwin. He was educated in grammar, high and normal schools of Nova Scotia and studied law at Boston University Law School and Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, earning a law degree in 1898.

It is interesting that Irwin and Kūhiō were in South Africa during the Boer War. Irwin “served with Canadian forces in the Boer War in South Africa at the turn of the century.” (SB July 2, 1957)

Irwin was a volunteer with “Strathcona’s Horse” from 1899-1901, being discharged as sergeant. (Siddall) Lord Strathcona and Mount Royal, the Canadian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, raised a regiment at his own expense for service in the British Army in South Africa. The unit was known as Strathcona’s Horse. (Canadian War Museum)

“The Boers were Dutch farmers of the Orange Free State in southern Africa. Incensed over British farmers moving into their land, the Boers declared war against Britain. … The British Empire, not to be trifled with, rushed half a million troops into the area. The Boers, never more than a few thousand in number, fought back using guerilla tactics.” (Star Bulletin, May 26, 1981)

After Kūhiō married Kahanu on October 8, 1896 they left Hawai‘i on a self-imposed exile. (DHHL) Kūhiō and Kahanu “remained away two years, during which time they visited many interesting places” (Hawaiian Star, May 28, 1904), “vowing never to return to a Hawai‘i that appeared inhospitable to Hawaiians.” (Star Bulletin, March 26, 1996)

“They went to South Africa [where the] Prince was given an opportunity of enjoying some big game hunting. (Hawaiian Star, May 28, 1904) “[T]he prince was anxious to see some of the fighting. But the authorities always managed to keep him away from the scene of the skirmish although they saw bullets flying from a distance.” (Star Bulletin, February 20, 1932)

“[D]uring the Boer war … Prince Kūhiō had some exciting experiences with the British in their engagements with the Boer forces. The prince was on a train that was attacked by the Boers. He met the late Cecil Rhodes and was entertained by Sir J. Somers Vine.” (Hawaiian Star, May 28, 1904)

Kūhiō returned to the Islands and got into politics. Irwin “came to the Islands in 1901. He taught at several Big Island schools, and was principal of Honokaa School in 1904, the same year he started practicing law.” (SB, July 2, 1957)

In 1906, Irwin became an American citizen. (Hawaii Herald, July 12, 1906). “[Irwin] married the former Ruth Guard in 1908, and was appointed [First District Magistrate, Honolulu, 1917-1918], deputy attorney general in 1918, and served as attorney general from 1919 to 1922.” (SB, July 2, 1957)

After government service, Irwin practiced law. According to fellow attorney (later US District Judge, Martin Pence) stated, “I used to say my business was the Woolworth Five and Ten – meaning it was of the ordinary people with low income, you see.”

“The plantations had Carlsmith, Carlsmith who represented all of the big companies, who represented all of the banks and so on. They had Harry Irwin and Tiny Smith. They were the two other haoles and I was the other haole.” (Martin Pence)

When my grandparents, John Alexander (Jack) Young and Alloe Louise Marr, were married on September 20, 1911 at Hilo, Harry Irwin (First District Magistrate, Honolulu, 1917-1918 and territorial Attorney General) was Jack’s best man and Florence Shipman (daughter of WH Shipman who later married Roy Blackshear) was bridesmaid.

October 8, 2024 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Last House on the Beach

“In the latter post-contact period (ca. post 1850), the area [along Waikiki Beach] has been used for private residences: in the early portion of this period it was the domain of the royal family and the high ali‘i.”

“Foreign born businessmen and the children of missionaries began to acquire property along the beach in the late nineteenth century. They built large beach houses, which were used on weekends and holidays. The Young, Wilder, and Macfarlane families had house lots within and adjacent to the project area by 1897.”

Alexander Young was born in Blackburn, Scotland, December 14, 1833, the son of Robert and Agnes Young. His father was a contractor. When young, he apprenticed in a mechanical engineering and machinist department.

One of his first jobs included sailing around the Horn in 1860 to Vancouver Island with a shipload of machinery and a contract to build and operate a large sawmill at Alberni.

He left Vancouver Island for the distant “Sandwich Islands,” arriving in Honolulu February 5, 1865; he then formed a partnership with William Lidgate to operate a foundry and machine shop at Hilo, Hawaiʻi, continuing in this business for four years.

Moving to Honolulu, Young bought the interest of Thomas Hughes in the Honolulu Iron Works and continued in this business for 32 years. On his retirement from the iron works he invested in sugar plantation enterprises. He became president of the Waiakea Mill Co.

During the monarchy he served in the House of Nobles, 1889, was a member of the advisory council under the provisional Government and was a Minister of the Interior in President Dole’s cabinet.

With the new century he started a new career, when in 1900 he started construction of the Alexander Young Hotel, fronting Bishop Street and extending the full block between King and Hotel streets in downtown Honolulu. The 192-room building was completed in 1903.

In 1905, Young acquired the Moana Hotel and later the Royal Hawaiian Hotel (the ‘old’ Royal Hawaiian in downtown Honolulu that was later (1917) purchased for the Army and Navy YMCA.)

The Honolulu businessman whose downtown hotel that bore his name helped him became known as the father of the hotel industry in Hawaiʻi.

“Even before the Waikīkī coast became a tourist attraction, rich haole businessmen built their own beach houses along the shore. West of the Seaside were three houses, according to the recollections of Elizabeth Kinau Wilder, who grew up in their Waikīkī home in the 1910s. She recalled:”

“‘A narrow driveway, which faced the length of our front yard, led to the Youngs. Mr. Young didn’t have enough room for his carriage to turn around, so S.G. [Samuel Gardner Wilder, Elizabeth’s grandfather] let him use some of his property as a friendly gesture, never dreaming that he would never get it back! And when the Macfarlanes’ house was found to be fifteen feet on our land, S.G gave it to him rather than have the house torn down!’”

A 1914 Fire Insurance map, shows to the west of the Seaside dining room (with a semicircular rotunda), the “Seaside Hotel Rooms” partially over the water, which is the old Hawaiian Annex. Adjacent to this is a series of bathhouses and then a large family residence (labeled with a “D” for dwelling).

“This house is identified in several historic photographs as the ‘Bertha Young’ house. Bertha was a playmate of Elizabeth Wilder, who remembers many pleasant days spent at the adjacent Seaside Hotel.”

“During the 1920s, the Waikīkī landscape would be transformed when the construction of the Ala Wai Drainage Canal, begun in 1921 and completed in 1928, resulted in the draining and filling in of the remaining ponds and irrigated fields of Waikīkī.”

“The muliwai or lagoonal backwater of ‘Āpuakēhau Stream that reached the sea between the present Royal Hawaiian and Moana Hotels was filled in between 1919 and 1927. The filling in of ‘Āpuakēhau Stream and the excavating of the Ala Wai canal were elements of a plan to urbanize Waikīkī and the surrounding districts:”

“‘The [Honolulu city] planning commission began by submitting street layout plans for a Waikīkī reclamation district. In January 1922 a Waikīkī improvement commission resubmitted these plans to the board of supervisors, which, in turn, approved them a year later.’”

“The Royal Hawaiian Hotel was formally opened on February 1, 1927 and with a maximum height of 150 feet was the tallest privately owned building in the Territory at that time.” (Cultural Surveys).

“At the Ewa end of the Royal was the Bertha Young property. Bertha Young was part of the family who started the Young Hotel. Bertha Young’s place fronted on the ocean right next to the Royal.” (Fred Hemmings Sr. OCC)

The Bertha Young home survived the demolition of the Seaside Hotel in the 1920s and the construction of the Royal Hawaiian Hotel in 1927. (Cultural Surveys) “Miss Young attended Punahou School and was graduated from Oakland High School in California. … During World War II, Miss Young worked with the Red Cross.” (SB, June 12, 1963)

Bertha Young, “who refused to surrender to the concrete jungle of Waikiki,” (SB June 12, 1963) died June 11, 1963. “[S]he lived in the last privately owned beachfront home in Waikiki.” (SB, June 13, 1963)

She built the house in 1927, designed by Dickey & Wood, for $13,400. (SB, Nav 12, 1927) “She lived for more than 50 years on the property given to her by her mother, Ruth.” (SB, June 12, 1963)

The Bertha Young property was sold in 1963 for $600,000 to the Von Hamm-Young Company. (SB, Aug 20, 1963) Her sister was Bernie Von Hamm and brother-in-law was Conrad C Von Hamm.

On February 26, 1969, “a bulldozer jazzed up with the flower leis dug the first spade of earth … for the Sheraton-Waikiki in an era full of memories for many kamaainas.” (SB, Feb 27, 1969)

October 6, 2024 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

“… no one could have been nearer to instant death …”

Then-Princess Liliʻuokalani was on a tour around Oʻahu. “I was accompanied by my sister, the Princess Likelike, who had with her the little child-princess Kaʻiulani, and that infant’s governess, Miss Barnes; Mr. JH Boyd was of the number of our attendants.”

“After a generous lunch at Waimanalo, on the estate of Mr. Cummins, we left for Maunawili, the country-place of Mr. and Mrs. Boyd”. (On a prior trip to that house, Liliʻuokalani was inspired to write ‘Aloha ʻOe;’ when leaving, she witnessed a particularly affectionate farewell between a gentleman and a young.)

This trip, on October 6, 1881, was different.

“We were descending the steep side of a hill, (in some unaccountable manner the reins of one of the horses became entangled in the bit of another) and the result was that the driver had no longer control of the animals.”

“Consequently the carriage came down the hill with such velocity that I was thrown violently out, and landed between two rocks; but fortunately there was a bit of marshy ground where I struck.”

“(T)he vehicle was overturned, falling upon the Princess who had been previously thrown out and furthermore, the royal lady was precipitated down a steep embankment a distance of about 50 yards. When the rest of the party joined the suffering lady, she was speechless for some length of time.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, October 8, 1881)

“Certainly no one could have been nearer to instant death.” (Liliʻuokalani)

“At first it was thought my back was broken by my fall; for when I endeavored to rise after recovering from the first shock, it was impossible to do so, nor could I change in any way my position until assisted by my followers”.

“Even then, when depending upon their strength of arm as they tried to raise me, the least exertion or motion gave me the greatest pain.”

“It was a matter of immediate wonder that my life had been spared.” (Liliʻuokalani)

“This had been witnessed from the homestead of our hosts; and Mr. Cummins, arriving on the scene almost immediately, sent for a stretcher, which was sent at once from the residence of Mrs. Boyd. On this I was placed, and the litter raised upon the shoulders of four men; thus was I carried all the way to Waimanalo.”

“Mr. Cummins, having preceded the sad procession, met us at the foot of the hill with a wagon.” (Liliʻuokalani) “Cummings, who was aware that the steamer Waimanalo, then anchored about four miles distant, was about to start for Honolulu. He dispatched a messenger to delay her.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, October 8, 1881)

“When all had been made ready, the word was given to proceed, and the procession started. To me it was a solemn moment, one which can never be forgotten, (the throngs of people watched in) respectful silence broken only by their smothered sobs or subdued weeping, and with it all the steady, measured tread of the soldiers who were drawing the wagon on which I had been laid by my devoted friends.”

“(U)nder the kind care of Mr. Cummins and Mrs. Kaae, the wagon was driven to the wharf, where the little steamer Waimanalo, belonging to Mr. Cummins, awaited me. All that tenderest care and kindest heart could suggest was done to make me comfortable by my kind hosts; and the cavalcade of retainers, with which I had come out so gayly, followed in demure silence.” (Liliʻuokalani)

“My return, thus to my people and my family from the very border of death left an impression upon me which is too sacred for any description.” (Liliʻuokalani)

“My physician, Dr. Webb … made a careful examination of my condition, and was relieved to find that the injuries to my back were no more serious than a very severe wrench and strain.”

“At the end of three weeks I was not yet able to raise myself, or even sit up in my bed; so finally it was the opinion of my medical advisers that I should make a great effort and persevere in spite of the pain, lest I should become bedridden.”

“These instructions were followed out with a result which proved the wisdom of the course recommended; for I was soon able to ride about in my buggy, still weak, but improving slowly.”

“But the process of recovery was very gradual, and only successful by the most constant care and great patience of my attendants. These were divided into watches of three hours each, and three persons were always at my bedside.”

“To one of these was assigned the duty of waving the kahili … to another that of using the fan for my comfort, both of these being women; while to the third, a male attendant, belonged the duty of doing any necessary errands, and of making my female attendants comfortable in whatever way their needs might require.”

“Whenever I was lifted, or even turned, it was done by the strong yet tender hands of six men, three on each side. Had these been nurses trained by years of experience to manage the sick they could not have proceeded with more skill and gentleness; so quietly and gradually was my position changed that I could scarcely perceive the movements, which were such as to give me the least pain.”

“All classes of adherents had been represented in the watchers about my bedside. … Most of these gentlemen were accompanied by their wives as assistants in their kind offices. Princess Ruth and my sister, the Princess Likelike, were daily visitors.” (Liliʻuokalani) The image shows then-Princess Liliʻuokalani.

Crown_Princess_Liliuokalani-1870s-1880s

October 5, 2024 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Pūlaholaho

In former times, the area we now call downtown Honolulu was not called Honolulu; instead, each land section had its own name. (A map in the album notes many of the different areas and their respective place names. )

‘Kou’ was later used to describe the district roughly encompassing the present day area from Nuʻuanu to Alakea Streets and from Hotel to Queen Streets Street (Queen Street was, then, only a pathway along the water’s edge.)

The harbor was known as Kuloloia. It was entered by the first foreigner, Captain William Brown of the English ship Butterworth, in 1794. He named the harbor “Fair Haven.” The name Honolulu (meaning “sheltered bay” – with numerous variations in spelling) soon came into use.

Kamehameha I, who had been living at Waikīkī since 1804, moved his court here in 1809. His immediate court consisted of high-ranking chiefs and their retainers.

In 1815, Kamehameha I granted Russian representatives permission to build a storehouse near Honolulu Harbor. Instead, directed by the German adventurer Georg Schaffer (1779-1836,) they began building a fort and raised the Russian flag. When Kamehameha learned of this, he sent several chiefs to remove the Russians.

The partially built blockhouse was finished by Hawaiians; they mounted guns protected the fort. Its original purpose was to protect Honolulu by keeping enemy or otherwise undesirable ships out.

By 1830, the fort had 40 guns mounted on the parapets; it was called Fort Kekuanohu (literally, ‘the back of the scorpion fish,’ as in ‘thorny back,’) because of the rising guns on the walls. (Fort Street is so named, because of the fort on the waterfront.)

One of the areas nearby was called Pūlaholaho (it is down near the old waterfront, ʻEwa side of where the fort was. (In today’s perspective, it runs from Merchant, Nuʻuanu, Queen Streets and up through the breezeway of the Harbor Court project (this used to be the location of Kaʻahumanu Street.)

April 25, 1825, Richard Charlton arrived in the Islands to serve as the first British consul. A former sea captain and trader, he was already familiar with the islands of the Pacific and had promoted them in England for their commercial potential (he worked for the East India Company in the Pacific as early as 1821.)

Charlton had been in London during Kamehameha II’s visit in 1824 and secured an introduction to the king and his entourage. By the time he arrived in Hawai‘i in 1825, instructions had already arrived from Kamehameha II that Charlton was to be allowed to build a house, or houses, any place he wished and should be made comfortable. This apparently was due to favors Charlton had done for the royal party. (Hawaiʻi State Archives)

Charlton didn’t play well with others. A report by Thrum noted, “July 13th (1827) – Last evening the English consul, in conversation with Boki told him he would cut Kaahumanu’s head off and all the residents were ready to join in it. Guards were ordered out in all parts of the village. Mr. Charlton may be ready to take up arms against the chief but few, if any, I believe would follow or join with him.” (Thrum)

In spite of that, Charlton did receive land for his home and for Consular offices. The records suggest that the land under the present Washington Place premises were part of a grant from the chiefs to Charlton in 1825-26 to provide a permanent location for a British Consulate. (HABS)

(Charlton later sold that property to Captain John Dominis (December 26, 1840,) who later built Washington Place. … By the way, Beretania Street was so named because of the British Consulate there.)

Charlton claimed this and other lands as his personal property. He also claimed land down by the waterfront. There was no disagreement over a small parcel, Wailele, but the larger adjoining parcel he claimed (Pūlaholaho) had been occupied since 1826 by retainers and heirs of Kaʻahumanu.

In making his claim for Pūlaholaho, Charlton showed a 299-lease dated October 5, 1826 issued to him by Kalanimōku. That claim, made in 1840, however, was made after Kalanimōku and Kaʻahumanu had died.

Following Charlton’s presentation of his claim to rights of the entire land section of Pūlaholaho, Kamehameha III sought a means of providing security for the native residents on the land, and claimed that Pūlaholaho belonged to the crown. (Maly)

In rejecting Charlton’s claim, Kamehameha III cited the fact that Kalanimōku did not have the authority to grant the lease. At the time the lease was made, Kaʻahumanu was Kuhina Nui, and only she and the king could make such grants. The land was Kaʻahumanu’s in the first place, and Kalanimōku certainly could not give it away. (Hawaiʻi State Archives) The dispute dragged on for years.

This, and other grievances purported by Charlton and the British community in Hawai‘i, led to the landing of George Paulet on February 11, 1843 “for the purpose of affording protection to British subjects, as likewise to support the position of Her Britannic Majesty’s representative here”.

Following this, King Kamehameha III ceded the Islands and Paulet took control. After five months of British rule, Queen Victoria, on learning the injustice done, immediately sent Rear Admiral Richard Darton Thomas to the islands to restore sovereignty to its rightful rulers.

On July 31, 1843 the Hawaiian flag was raised. The ceremony was held in area known as Kulaokahuʻa; the site of the ceremony was turned into a park, Thomas Square.

On November 26, 1845, legal title to Charlton’s land claim was secured and was sold to British businessman, Robert C Janion (of Starkey, Janion and Co – that company later became Theo H. Davies & Co and one of Hawaiʻi’s ‘Big 5.’) (Liber 3:221; Maly) Charlton stayed in Honolulu until February 19, 1846, when he left Hawai’i for the last time.

Pūlaholaho was subdivided and Janion auctioned off the properties in 1846. Captain Heinrich (Henry) Hackfeld opened a store on one of them in October 1849. His company, H Hackfeld & Co, later became American Factors, Amfac, another Hawaiʻi ‘Big 5’ company.

A lasting legacy is the Melchers Building, the oldest commercial building in Honolulu, erected in 1854, at 51 Merchant Street, built for the retail firm of Melchers and Reiner. Its original coral stone walls are no longer visible on most sides, under its layers of stucco and paint (check the makai side of the building to see the coral blocks.)

October 4, 2024 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kahikinui

Ku ka moku i Kahiki; o Kahiki nui ka moku
i olelo ia ilaila i poohina ai ka makani.

The district that resembles Kahiki, is to Kahiki-nui, the district which is said to be made silvery by the winds (descriptive of the winds bearing salty sea-spray from the ocean.) (Ka Hoku o Hawaii, March 11, 1915; Maly)

Archaeologists and historians describe the inhabiting of these islands in the context of settlement which resulted from voyages taken in canoes, across the open ocean. Some believe the first Polynesians to arrive at Hawaii came ashore at Kahikinui.

They have proposed that early Polynesian settlement happened with voyages between Kahiki (Tahiti – the ancestral homelands of the Hawaiian gods and people) and Hawai‘i, with long distance voyages occurring fairly regularly through at least the thirteenth century.

It has been generally reported that the land-sources of the early Hawaiian population – the Hawaiian “Kahiki” – were the Marquesas and Society Islands. The moku (district) of Kahikinui is named because from afar on the ocean, it resembles a larger form of Kahiki, the ancestral homeland. (Maly)

Some suggest place names illustrate the historical ties between Kahikinui (Great Tahiti) and the islands of Tahiti. Some believed there were navigational ties between the two places and that they had ancestral ties to Tahiti.

Other place names in Kahikinui include: Manawainui (The big water/river) for a big gulch where a lot of water is generated there during heavy rain; Kanaloa for a place where Kanaloa may have landed: Manamana which refers to spiritual powers: and Mahamenui which refers to Mahame trees, a hard wood, and probably prolific through the area at one time.

Some believe that along Kahikinui were given names that referred to Hawaiʻiloa, an ancient navigator. These included fishing koʻa, and astronomical and navigational sites on the mountain. (Matsuoka)

There are eight named subdivisions within Kahikinui (ahupuaʻa and/or ʻili;) from west to east, these named land units are: Auwahi, Lualaʻilua, Alena, Kāpapa, Nakaohu, Nakaaha, Mahamenui, and Manawainui. Most maps indicate that the eastern boundary of Kahikinui was Wai‘ōpai Gulch. (Pacific Legacy) However, today, most of these get joined together into a single reference to Kahikinui.

The first written description of the region was made by La Pérouse in 1786 while sailing along the southeast coast of Maui in search of a place to drop anchor:

“I coasted along its shore at a distance of a league (three miles) …. The aspect of the island of Mowee was delightful (Hāna to Kaupō.) We beheld water falling in cascades from the mountains, and running in streams to the sea, after having watered the habitations of the natives, which are so numerous that a space of three or four leagues (9 – 12 miles) may be taken for a single village.” (La Pérouse, 1786; Bushnell)

“… the sea beat upon the coast with the utmost violence, and kept us in the situation of Tantalus, desiring and devouring with our eyes what it was impossible for us to attain … After passing Kaupō no more waterfalls are seen, and villages are fewer.” (La Pérouse, 1786; Bushnell)

Then, as they passed Kahikinui, “We saw no more waterfalls, the trees were fairly sparsely planted along the plain, and the villages, consisting only of 10 or 12 huts, were quite distant from each other.”

“Every moment made us regret the country which we were leaving behind, and we only found shelter when we were faced with a frightful shore, where the lava had once run down as waterfalls do today in the other part of the island.” (La Pérouse, 1786; Kirch)

Handy observed that, “In … Kahikinui, the forest zone was much lower and rain more abundant before the introduction of cattle. The usual forest zone plants were cultivated in the lower upland above the inhabited area.”

Kahikinui was arid along the coast but well-forested above the cloud line. Fishing was good along its rugged shores. Hawaiians lived in isolated communities on the broken lava, scattered from one end of the district to the other close to the sea or slightly
inland, wherever potable water was found in a brackish well or a submarine spring offshore.

The Hawaiians of Kahikinui developed garden holes also, but their primary cultivation area was upland, just below the forest zone and where the rainfall was plentiful. There, they developed upland plots or dry taro and other edible plants. (Handy; Matsuoka)

“From…Kahikinui … the sweet potato was the staple food for a considerable population, supplemented with dry taro grown in the low forest zones. This is the greatest continuous dry planting area in the Hawaiian islands.” (Handy; Maly)

“The district was populated largely by makaʻāinana, common folk, who were derided by officials of the nineteenth-century Hawaiian Kingdom as ‘ili ulaula, “red skins,” a reference to their sunburned bodies, reflecting long hours of toil in the sweet potato patches.” (Kirch)

The ocean off Kahikinui is a wealth of marine resources that remain available for education, traditional practices, subsistence lifestyles and recreation. As its name implies Kahikinui means big Tahiti and points to ancestral directions and paths to ancestral places over the ocean. It is an important wayfinding place for places beyond the island chain. (DHHL)

“The fishermen along the coasts of Kahikinui and Honua’ula used to exchange their fish for sweet potatoes and taro grown by those living up on the kula; Hawaiian tradition gives ample evidence that the population of this now almost depopulated country was considerable…” (Handy; Maly)

As time went on, due to climate change, ranching, goats and other animals had caused the dry-land forest to recede far in-land. The Southside on Maui has now turned to mostly dust, cinder, invasive trees, cattle and a population of about less than a hundred people. Only 5% of the dry-land forest is left in the state, which can be found only on Maui and the Big Island. (KUPU)

Kahikinui is “most remote and undeveloped region;” it constituted an entire moku, an ancient political district, which had never suffered from the effects of Westernized ‘development’ … lacking in freshwater or rich soils, Kahikinui was spared the effects of sugarcane or pineapple plantations”. (Kirch)

Kahikinui is 7 miles long and 6 miles wide and ranges in elevation from sea level to 10,000-feet. Its slope at the 3,000-foot level in the forest reserve was greater than 20%, and between 10% to 20% closer to the shoreline. The land section contains several Puʻu (cinder cones.) (Matsuoka)

In 2012, the Auwahi Wind project (in the westernmost ahupua‘a of Kahikinui) installed an 8-turbine, 21-MW wind farm, with battery storage.