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September 13, 2016 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Oneawa

“Ka ulu koa i kai o Oneawa”
“The koa grove down at Oneawa”

The Island of O‘ahu has six Moku (districts:) Kona, Koʻolaupoko, Koʻolauloa, Waialua, Waiʻanae and ʻEwa. Each Moku is divided into ahupua‘a. For the Moku of Koʻolaupoko, these include (West to East) Kualoa, Hakipuʻu, Waikāne, Waiāhole, Kaʻalaea, Waiheʻe, Kahaluʻu, Heʻeia, Kāneʻohe, Kailua and Waimānalo.

Kailua Ahupua‘a is the largest ahupua‘a of the Moku of Koʻolaupoko and the largest valley on the windward side of O‘ahu. From the Koʻolau ridge line it extends down two descending ridge lines which provide the natural boundaries for the sides of the ahupua‘a.

Some ahupuaʻa were further subdivided into units (still part of the ahupuaʻa) called ʻili. Some of the smallest ahupuaʻa were not subdivided at all, while the larger ones sometimes contained as many as thirty or forty ʻili. Kailua had many, including the ‘ili of Oneawa.

Traditional Hawaiian land use in this area focused on irrigated taro farming, inland fishponds, and coastal and deep water fishing grounds. Kawainui Marsh is the largest body of fresh water in the archipelago and was utilized both for lo‘i and fresh water fishponds.

The sandy soil in Kailua supported peripheral crops such as coconut and banana. Fishing villages were presumably scattered along the shore. It is probable that the occupants of the shoreline ‘ili were socially tied to those of the ‘ili along the marsh or the ridge line in order to exchange the surplus of their respective efforts. (Dye)

The northern boundary of Kailua ahupua‘a, known traditionally as Pu‘u Pāpa‘a, or scorched hill, it was given the name of Oneawa Hills in the 1970s.

A stream runs through Oneawa ‘ili to the sea, providing a natural drainage for the Kawainui marsh. The Kawainui Canal was constructed in 1952 to provide flood control and stability for real estate development. (Dye)

In one related story of the area, the large inland pond of Kawainui is referred to in a legend concerning trees (that had the power to attract fish.) Haumea, a goddess traveling through the area, assisted the daughter of the ruler in childbirth.

In return she was given the tree named Ka-lau-o-ke-kähuli, which bears the exceedingly beautiful flowers Kanikawï and Kanikawä. Haumea eventually sets it down on Maui, where it takes root. When a man comes by and chops it down, a fierce storm arises and washes it to sea.

Months later, a branch washes up at Oneawa in Kailua. The fish follow, rendering Oneawa a place where schools of fish gather. “When this branch (that is, Mākālei) was taken inland of Kailua, the fish of Kawainui Pond followed it inland”.

In another story, Koʻolaupoko was one of the stops in the celebrated journey Pele’s younger sister Hi‘iakaikapolioPele (Hiʻiaka) made from Kïlauea Crater to Kaua‘i, to fetch Pele’s husband and dream lover Lohi‘au.

Hi‘iaka and her human companion Wahineʻōmaʻo (Green-woman) choose the windward route across O‘ahu. The travelers reach Koʻolaupoko apparently in the rainy season, for they complain bitterly of the weather.

Hi‘iaka and Wahineʻōmaʻo visit Kawainui Fishpond, where they catch sight of two beautiful women sitting on the banks of a stream. Hi‘iaka insists they are not real women, but mo‘o. She tested them with a chant and they disappeared, confirming they were moʻo.

From Kailua, Hiʻiaka and Wahine‘ōma‘o headed to Heʻeia. Somewhere en route, Hiʻiaka notices the “koa grove at sea,” a poetical reference to Oneawa’s numerous canoes in the saying “Ka ulu koa i kai o Oneawa, The koa grove down at Oneawa.” (Rose & Kelieger)

Oneawa was a famous fishery off the beach for awa (milkfish) and ʻōʻio (bonefish.) Awa are surface feeders that eat seaweed, while ʻōʻio are bottom feeders that forage in the sand, especially for crabs. (Clark)

Awa (milkfish) raised at Kawainui were considered so tame they were “easily caught.” Like ʻoʻopu, “The fish did not like persons with strong smelling skins (ili awa) and kept away from them. Otherwise they swam right up to a person in the water”.

The sea off Oneawa (Milkfish sand) – also the name of the ridge between Kāne’ohe and Kailua, as well as a land division – was “famous for the quality and quantities of the ʻōʻio, which are found in immense schools in the adjoining water; it was formerly a favorite residence of the Old Oahu chiefs”. (Rose & Kelieger)

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Oahu_Fisheries-DAGS2482-4-Kaneohe_Bay_Section-1913-Oneawa and Oneawa Fishery noted
Oahu_Fisheries-DAGS2482-4-Kaneohe_Bay_Section-1913-Oneawa and Oneawa Fishery noted
Kailua-Bishop-Reg1434_(1888)-Oneawa noted
Kailua-Bishop-Reg1434_(1888)-Oneawa noted
Kailua-Wall-Reg2049_(1899)-Oneawa noted
Kailua-Wall-Reg2049_(1899)-Oneawa noted
Awa Milkfish
Awa Milkfish
Awa Milkfish
Awa Milkfish
Oio Bonefish
Oio Bonefish
Oio Bonefish
Oio Bonefish

Filed Under: Hawaiian Traditions, Place Names Tagged With: Oahu, Kailua, Oneawa Channel, Oneawa, Hawaii

July 23, 2016 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kōnāhuanui

The Hawaiian Islands were formed as the Pacific Plate moved westward over a geologic hot spot. Oʻahu is dominated by two large shield volcanoes, Waiʻanae and Koʻolau. Koʻolau volcano started as a seamount above the Hawaiian hotspot around 4-million years ago. It broke sea level some time prior to 2.9-million years ago.

About 2-million years ago, much of the northeast flank of Koʻolau volcano was sheared off and material was swept more than 140-miles north of O‘ahu and Molokai onto the ocean floor (named the Nuʻuanu Avalanche) – one of the largest landslides on Earth. Ko‘olau’s eroded remnants make up the Koʻolau Mountain Range.

Mountains are one of ‘āina’s most enduring bodies, not as easily leveled as hills or forests; Kōnāhuanui (among others on the Koʻolau capture rain clouds coming in on the trade winds, and silvery shimmering steams of water tumbling down their pali have come to symbolize the sky father Wākea bringing new life to the earth mother Papa. (Kawaharada)

Ku luna ‘o Kōnāhuanui i ka luku wale e, “Mountainous Kōnāhuanui reveals the onslaught” is the tallest on Koʻolau; Kōnāhuanui is actually two peaks (3,150 feet and 3,105 feet.) It forms the northwest corner of the Mānoa Ahupua‘a boundary.

Kōnāhuanui plays a part in the ‘Punahou’ story told by Emma M. Nakuina, a tradition of the creation of Punahou Spring by a moʻo god named Kakea.

The main characters in ‘Punahou’ are twin rain spirits: a boy named Kauawa‘ahila (a rain of Nuʻuanu and Mānoa) and his sister Kauaki‘owao (a rain and fog carried on a cool mountain breeze.)

The twins were abused and neglected by an evil stepmother named Hawea while their father Kaha‘akea was away on Hawai‘i Island. The siblings fled from their home near Mount Kaʻala, the highest peak on O’ahu (4,020 ft) to Kōnāhuanui above Manoa.

The affinity of the twins for mountain peaks suggests their rain cloud forms and also their moʻo ancestry; their flight from Kaʻala to Kōnāhuanui depicts the movement of rain clouds associated with cold fronts which sweep over the islands from west to east during the rainy season of Ho‘oilo (October to April).

Pursued by their mean-spirited stepmother, the twins fled from Kōnāhuanui to the head of Mānoa Valley. Like a cold north wind behind a passing front, Hawea followed her stepchildren to the head of the valley, so the twins went down the valley to Kukao‘o Hill; then to the rocky hill behind Punahou School.

The movement of the twins down the valley represents the path of the rains called Kauawa‘ahila and Kauaki‘owao sweeping from the wet uplands toward the dry plains. Each stop is drier than the last, with less food.

At Kukao‘o hill, the twins planted and ate sweet potatoes, a dry-land crop, not as prized as the wetland taro of the upper valley. At the rocky hill near the mouth of the valley, they lived on leaves, flowers, and fruits and on ‘grasshoppers and sometimes wild fowl.’ The rocky hill marks a rain boundary: it may be pouring rain in the upper valley, while it is sunny and dry below the hill. (Kawaharada)

Translated “his large seeds (testicles,)” the name Kōnāhuanui is said to come from a story summarized by T Kelsey: “when a man, probably a giant, chased a woman who escaped into a cave, he tore off his testes and threw them at her”. (Kawaharada)

Kōnāhuanui is the highest peak in the Koʻolau Mountains and is the northwest corner of the Mānoa Ahupua‘a boundary. It was the home of the gods Kāne and Kanaloa.

It was where their parents came on their way to and from the east from above and from the right (mai kahiki a mai ka hiwamai), meaning it was the starting and resting point of the gods since the formation of the islands. (Cultural Surveys)

It is home to a moʻo goddess, a large mythic lizard that lives in freshwater pools and streams. Rain clouds gather around its peak, and its Kona side, often ribboned with waterfalls, is the wettest area of Honolulu: here is the source of the waters of Manoa and Nuʻuanu valleys.

On the Ko‘olaupoko side, below Konahuanui, is a stream called Kahuaiki (the small seed,) one of three streams said to be wives of the god Kāne (the other two are Hi‘ilaniwai and Māmalahoa).

The three join together as one, Kamo‘oali‘i (the royal mo‘o), which brings life-giving water to the fields and plains of Kāne’ohe before entering the bay near Waikalua fishpond. Huanui, big seed, and huaiki, small seed, both speak to the fertility of the land.

To the northwest of Konahuanui is Lanihuli (swirling heavens,) a name suggesting rain clouds moving in the wind around the peak; northwest of Lanihuli is Kahuauli, the dark seed. Uli may refer to the dark rain clouds, their shadows on the land below, and the dark green vegetation along the summit and below it. (Kawaharada)

“There is only one famous hiding cave, ana huna on Oʻahu. It is Pohukaina… This is a burial cave for chiefs, and much wealth was hidden away there with the chiefs of old … Within this cave are pools of water, streams, creeks, and decorations by the hand of man (hana kinohinohiʻia), and in some places there is level land.” (Kamakau)

Pohukaina involves an underground burial cave system that connects with various places around O‘ahu and is most notable as the royal burial cave at Kualoa. The opening in the Honolulu area is in the vicinity of the Kauikeaouli (Kamehameha III) residence (the grounds of ʻIolani Palace,) where also many of the notable chiefs resided. (Kamakau; Kumu Pono)

The opening on the windward side on Kalaeoka‘o‘io faces toward Ka‘a‘awa is believed to be in the pali of Kanehoalani, between Kualoa and Ka‘a‘awa, and the second opening is at the spring Ka‘ahu‘ula-punawai.

On the Kona side of the island the cave had three other openings, one at Hailikulamanu – near the lower side of the cave of Koleana in Moanalua—another in Kalihi, and another in Pu‘iwa. There was an opening at Waipahu, in Ewa, and another at Kahuku in Ko‘olauloa.

The mountain peak of Kōnāhuanui was the highest point of the ridgepole of this burial cave “house,” which sloped down toward Kahuku. Many stories tell of people going into it with kukui-nut torches in Kona and coming out at Kahuku. (Kamakau; Kumu Pono)

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Nuuanu Pali-PP-60-2-043
Nuuanu Pali-PP-60-2-019-00001
Nuuanu Pali-PP-60-2-019-00001
Konahuanui-other peaks-ExplorationHawaii
Konahuanui-other peaks-ExplorationHawaii
Konahuanui-marciel
Konahuanui-marciel
Konahuanui-USGS-marker
Konahuanui-USGS-marker

Filed Under: Hawaiian Traditions, Place Names, General Tagged With: Hawaii, Kailua, Koolaupoko, Pohukaina, Manoa, Konahuanui

November 20, 2015 by Peter T Young 6 Comments

Kainalu Plane Crash

2nd Lt William Wright and Kainalu Elementary School student Steven Schmitz were killed at 8:30 pm, November 20, 1961, when a “Skyhawk” attack bomber crashed in Kailua.

Two marine jet bombers collided over a residential area and one of them crashed into a home, killing the pilot and the 8 year old boy (son of Coast Guard Commander Frank C Schmitz.)

The planes were returning from a run at the target island (Kahoʻolawe). One plane made it back and landed safely with vertical stabilizer and rudder damage, the other plane went down.

In reconstructing the pieces of the plane in a base hangar, it was evident that Lt. Wright survived the initial impact and could have ejected, but chose to stay with his airplane and tried to dead stick it over the town and into Kailua Bay. Unfortunately, it wasn’t successful despite the heroic efforts of Lt. Wright. (Norm Spilleth)

A military crash crew reported it was unable to approach the plane for an hour after the crash. The jet hit the house squarely after parts of it fell near the Kainalu Elementary School.

Mrs. Robert Craig, principal of the school, said she heard the jets fly over during the PTA meeting (held that night,) then a loud explosion. She said a fence near the school was set afire and she saw the nearby home in a huge sheet of flame. (Chicago Tribune, November 21, 1961)

The matter was the subject of a public presentation by Dr Paul Brennan at a Kainalu Elementary School PTA meeting.

The following link will take you to a video of the presentation; it is followed by a forum discussion by some of the eye witnesses to the event.

The presentation by Brennan and following discussion by the eyewitnesses gives a broad perspective of what happened.

(I had been a 2nd grade student at Kainalu Elementary the year before – Nelia has been a Kainalu 5th grade teacher for the past 10+ years.) The image shows the sad headline.

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Kainalu_Crash-Honolulu Advertiser, November 21, 1961
Kainalu_Crash-Honolulu Advertiser, November 21, 1961
Kainalu_Crash-Kingsport News, TN, November 22, 1961
Kainalu_Crash-Kingsport News, TN, November 22, 1961
Kainalu_Crash-Long Beach, CA Press-Telegram, November 21, 1961
Kainalu_Crash-Long Beach, CA Press-Telegram, November 21, 1961
Kainalu_Crash-Evening Times, MD, November 21, 1961
Kainalu_Crash-Evening Times, MD, November 21, 1961

Filed Under: General, Military, Schools Tagged With: Hawaii, Oahu, Kailua, Kainalu, Marine Corps Base Hawaii, MCBH

October 26, 2014 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kailua – Historical Summary

Kainalu Elementary (my alma mater, grades K-2) recently held a community session where Dr Paul Brennan spoke of the history of Kailua, Oʻahu.

I taped the presentation and posted it on YouTube – Click HERE to seen the video.

He includes several old photos and maps to help tell the Kailua story.

Filed Under: Place Names Tagged With: Hawaii, Oahu, Kailua, Kainalu

March 14, 2012 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Mokulua Islands, Lanikai

Mokulua (meaning, “the two islands”) are two islets off the windward coast of O‘ahu.
They are also commonly known as “The Mokes” or the “Twin Islands.” They are about a mile off Lanikai.
The larger island is also known as Moku Nui, Big Moke and Two Humps (13-acre land area.)
The smaller island is also known as Moku Iki, Baby Moke and One Hump (9-acre land area.)
The Mokulua islands are part of the summit caldera of the Ko‘olau shield volcano that slid into the ocean in one or a series of massive landslides more than a million years ago.
In what scientists call the Nu‘uanu Debris Avalanche, a landslide sheared off a third of O‘ahu and swept material more than 140 miles north of O’ahu and Moloka’i.
These old offshore islets (as well as many others off O‘ahu and around the Neighbor Islands) form the Hawai‘i State Seabird Sanctuary, created to protect the thousands of seabirds who seek refuge in and around the main Hawaiian Islands.
The sanctuary, administered by DLNR’s Division of Forestry and Wildlife, exists to protect not only seabirds but also endangered native coastal vegetation.
Mokulua are primary nesting sites for ‘Ua‘u kani (Wedge-tailed Shearwater) and ‘Ou (Bulwer’s Petrel.)
The Wedge-tailed Shearwater is a dusky brown bird with white breast feathers, long and thin wings, a hooked bill and a wedge-shaped tail.
The wailing sound made by these birds at their burrows at night inspired the Hawaiian name, which means “calling or moaning petrel.”
The Bulwer’s Petrel has long pointed wings, a long pointed tail, a black bill and pale short legs.  Adult males and females are overall sooty-brown, with a pale bar across the proximal half of upper wings.
Access is restricted to areas below the high water mark, around the perimeter of the island to minimize disturbance to the birds.
You cannot go onto the island without a special permit; access is restricted to daylight hours, between sunrise and sunset.
Overnight camping, alcohol and dogs are prohibited on the Mokulua Islands
The sandy beach at Moku Nui is a destination for thousands of (resident and visitor) kayakers, surfers, and boaters every year.
Multiple commercial operations cater to the Mokulua-bound kayakers and provide equipment rental and guided eco-tours.
Because of growing public use and associated concern for water safety, last summer the city quietly set-up an undercover state-of-the-art camera surveillance system.  The city installed the camera on the smaller island.
The camera faced its sister island and monitored what was going on using a wireless satellite connection to transmit video back to the lifeguard headquarters.  Having monitored the situation, the City removed the camera to use at another undisclosed location.

Filed Under: Place Names Tagged With: Mokes, Hawaii, Kailua, Lanikai, Mokulua, Mokulua Islands

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Images of Old Hawaiʻi

People, places, and events in Hawaiʻi’s past come alive through text and media in “Images of Old Hawaiʻi.” These posts are informal historic summaries presented for personal, non-commercial, and educational purposes.

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