Kau | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

April 17, 2024 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Seasons, Months … Times of Year

In Hawaiʻi’s prior subsistence society, the family farming scale was far different from today’s commercial-purpose agriculture. In ancient time, when families farmed for themselves they observed and adapted; products were produced based on need and season.

Hawaiians divided the year into two seasons – Kau (Summer – when it was dry and hot; beginning in May when Makaliʻi (Pleiades) set at sunrise;) and Hoʻoilo (Winter season when it was rainy and chilly; beginning in October.)

The Makahiki celebrated the harvest and Lono, god of fertility and rain. It is similar in timing and purpose to Thanksgiving, Oktoberfest and other harvest celebrations (beginning in late-October or early-November when Makaliʻi is first observed rising above the horizon at sunset, the Makahiki period continued for four months.)

Various areas around the islands had different names for the specific months (some of the same names applied, but they were not always attributed to the same months.) The succession of months begins with ʻIkuwa, the end of summer (Kau) and the beginning of Makahiki (harvest festival.)

As an example, the names of the months in the district of Kāʻu on the Island of Hawaiʻi in their order illustrate the family’s seasonal activities:

ʻIkuwa (October-November)—“Loud voice”: This is the time of thunder in the uplands, wind in the lowlands, and crashing surf along shore.

The season of storm and rain was termed Hoʻoilo, including roughly the period of November through March. It commenced with ʻIkuwa, when Lono’s thunder resounds over uplands and plain.

November is a noisy month with variable strong winds; and with the wind comes the roaring and pounding surf on Kāʻu’s lava-walled shores and small steep beaches.

Welehu (November-December)—The “ashes” (lehu) of fires for cooking and warmth, as the wind swirls about the eating and work areas.

About this time, and continuing through the rainy months until March, there was and is little deep-sea fishing, and inshore fishing depended on those occasions when the sea was not too rough.

Equally, upland work, such as cutting timber, stripping bark for cloth and for fiber, collecting wild foods and hunting birds, was gradually abandoned because of the rains.

It was a time of being inside the respective homesteads: a time for work that could be done under a roof and out of the wind.

Makaliʻi (December-January)—The “little eyes” (makaliʻi) or shoots of yams, arrowroot, turmeric, looking like points or eyes (maka) are showing.

Kaʻelo (January-February)—The (ka) drenching (elo) time, as the rainy season and southerly winds culminate and subside, as northerly winds push in. This is the month when migrating birds are fat and greasy (eloelo).

Kaulua (February-March)—“Two together” (ka (the) lua (double)), i.e., partly cold and partly warm: alternating cool and warm spells. Kaulua also means “of two minds,” “indecisive”: the weather is “undecided,” so people are uncertain whether to go mauka or makai, go out or stay in.

With the ground well-soaked, and with the ending of the heavy rains that wash out the tilled soil on slopes, every household turns in February and March to the planting of their taro, sweet potato, gourds (in the lowlands,) paper mulberry and olona for fiber (on the upper slopes,) yams and arrowroot (in the upland.)

Nana (March-April)—The word means “animation.” Life in plants shows vigor, young mother birds (kinana) are on the move, fledglings (pupua) are trying to get out of nests.

Welo (April-May)—“Vining out” (like a tail, welo): The sweet potatoes, yams, morning glory and other vines are spreading with little shoots, like tails.

During April, gardens are tended; by May plants both domesticated and wild are growing vigorously, and in May quick-growing varieties of sweet potatoes can be eaten, and wild yams and arrowroot are coming to maturity and can also be eaten. They come into their prime in late-May and June.

Ikiʻiki (May-June)—“Warm and sticky,” uncomfortable: Now there is little wind and it is humid.

This moves into the early hot season (Kau.) This is the time when women are working at making bark cloth (kapa) at home. Men are actively hunting in the forest, fishing at sea, busy with their nets, canoes and gear at the hālau (shed) by the sea.

By June, wild foods are abundant in the forest, potatoes plentiful. Inland women-folk migrate to the shore, and there live in caves and shelters.

With their fishing baskets (hinaʻi), salt and fish baskets, mats and utensils, they catch small fish like manini spawn, collect and store salt that has dried in the pools in black lava depressions by the shore.

Kaʻaona (June-July)—“Pleasantly (ona) rolling along (kaʻa).” The serenely moving puffy clouds (kaʻalewalewa) roll along mountain and horizon. Ona means lure in fishing: figuratively, then, attractive, alluring.

Summer is the time for deep-sea fishing in particular. (In the old days, inshore fishing was restricted during spawning season, from February to late May.)

Hina-ia-ʻeleʻele (July-August)—“Dark (ʻeleʻele) clouds inclining (hina-ia) mountainwards.”

In July, gourds (and, after introduction, melons) ripen on the kula kai. It is increasingly hot and dry. Upland farmers have mulched their taro and potato patches with dried grass and fern.

August is hot, but some dark clouds appear and bring showers; as they fall, the mulch is turned back from plants, then replaced when the rain has soaked in. At the shore in caves, and at home, salt and dried fish and octopus are stored in quantity.

Then come the twin months, September-October, Mahoe-mua (Twin-before) and Mahoe-hope (Twin-behind, or after), with increasing showers and rough seas alternating with fine weather. The wild ground growths in the uplands are dying down; it is time to harvest potatoes before the heavy rains come.

Mahoe-mua (August-September)—“The twin before (first twin).”
Mahoe-hope (September-October)—“The twin behind (second twin).”
These two months, in weather, are as alike as twins. Rains and wind alternate with good weather.

It is time to be industrious at deep-sea fishing on good days, before the winter storms commence. Great pieces of the larger firm-fleshed fishes (bonito, tuna, albacore, swordfish, dolphin) are sun-dried to preserve them till eaten. Sweet potatoes are likewise preserved by cooking and sunning. (Information here is from Handy, Handy & Pukui.)

This is the cycle – to be repeated, year after year. The image shows the district of Kāʻu on the Island of Hawaiʻi.

April 9, 2024 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kahuku Pali

Kahuku is the largest of the 1300 ahupuaʻa (traditional land divisions) in Hawaiʻi. Located in the vast Kaʻū district, the ahupuaʻa of Kahuku originally extended from the summit caldera of Mauna Loa to the sea. (NPS)

The oldest dated feature within Kahuku is from about 1400 AD, though older evidence has been found nearby near Ka Lae (South Point).

Widespread settlement in this dry, volcanic area came later than in most parts of Hawai’i. By the mid-1400s, Ka‘ū (and perhaps Kahuku) had intensively managed agricultural fields in mid-elevation land with adequate rain and soil. Food crops included sugar cane, ʻuala, and maiʻa (bananas). (NPS)

Kahuku pali has two Hawaiian names: Pali o Mamalu, for its mauka (inland) section, and Pali‘okūlani, for its makai (seaward) section. It was formed by a geologic fault. Its average height is 400 ft, but its maximum height, which is equal to the amount of offset (movement) on the fault, is approximately 560 ft.

The origin of the Kahuku pali is still debated. One hypothesis is that the pali is a scissors fault, with zero offset above Highway 11 and increasing amounts of offset toward the south—similar to the way the two cutting surfaces of scissors get farther apart as you move from hinge to tip. On the Kahuku pali, the west side of the fault dropped down relative to the east side.

An alternate hypothesis is that the submarine portion of the pali is the headwall of a catastrophic landslide, with the west side falling away and leaving the mile-high scarp. Both hypotheses have pros and cons, and today, there is no definitive answer as to the origin of the pali. (USGS)

“In the lee of the great cliff (which was caused by a geologic fault) named Pali-o-Mamalu (Cliff-of-Protection) is Wai-o-‘Ahu-kini. The trade winds pass a thousand or more feet above it, which gives it a scorching desert climate in the daytime; but when the sun goes down it cools rapidly and the nights are cool.”

“Southerly cyclonic storms sweep in over the low shore, inundating the whole area. That is why there is, and has been, no permanent habitation here.” (Handy, Handy & Pukui)

“(T)he population settled in the two western ahupua‘a of Ka‘ū. Wai-o-‘Ahu-kini (Water of Ahukini) close by, with its spring, pond, and canoe haven, and the best fishing ground in all Hawaii …”

“… was awarded in the ancient land allotment to Pakini, then one of the most verdant of the plains areas of cultivation. Doubtless it was Pakini’s numerous population, which gave its ali‘i power, that was responsible for this award.”

“From the cliff above Wai-o-‘Ahu-kini and from the trail going down can be seen a stagnant pool close to the shore; this was evidently the ‘water’ of ‘Ahu-kini.” (Handy, Handy & Pukui)

Cooks’ journal entry for January 5, 1779; reported his ship had rounded the south point of the island … “On this point stands apritty large village, the inhabitants of which thronged off to the Ship with hogs and women … As we had now got a quantity of salt I purchased no hogs but what were fit, for salting, refuseing all that were under size …”

“… in general they being no other at first, but when they found we took none but the large ones, several went a shore and returned with some, however we could seldom get one about 50 or 60 Ib weight.”

“As to fruit and roots we did not want and it was well we did not for it was very little of either they brought with them, indeed the Country did not seem capable of producing many of either having been destroyed by a Volcano.” (Cook’s Journal)

“Some of the canoes that greeted Cook’s ship may have come not only from the South Point village, but also from those at Wai‘ahukini and Ka‘iliki‘i to the west and Keana and Kaalualu to the east.” (Kelly)

“One of the earliest foreigners to visit Ka‘ū was Archibald Menzies, the surgeon and naturalist on Vancouver’s voyage. Menzies had been in the Hawaiian Islands previously as surgeon on the furtrader Prince of Wales under Captain Colnett in the years 1787 and 1788, but he had not kept a journal of that visit.”

“Vancouver’s ships were in the Islands three times – 1792, 1793, and 1794. “On the 1794 trip Menzies was able to get to the top of Hualālai and of Mauna Loa. His successful ascent of Mauna Loa was on a trail that leads up from Kapāpala.”

“The approach to this trail from Kona, where Vancouver’s ships were anchored, was by canoe to Ka‘iliki‘i, or Wai‘ahukini in Pi‘ikini, Kalli, and then overland on foot to Kapāpala.” (Kelly)

Menzies, on his way to be the first white man to reach the summit of Mauna Loa, climbed the pali … “we left our canoes at Pakini and set out early on the morning of the 10th [of February 1794] to prosecute the remainder of our journey by land.”

“We had not travelled far when we found we had to ascend an elevated steep rugged bank that took its rise at the south point of the island and running along the southern side of Pakini Bay continued its direction inland behind the village.”

“On gaining its summit, which was not an easy task, an extensive tract of the most luxuriant pasture we had yet seen amongst these islands rushed at once upon our sight, extending itself from the south point to a considerable distance inland.”

“It was cropped with fine soft grass reaching up to our knees, and naturally of a thick bottom that would afford excellent feeding for cattle, where herds of them might live at their ease, if it was not for scarcity of fresh water, which we experienced in all the low grounds we had yet visited….”

“Close by us was a fine plantation belonging to Kamehameha, called Kahuku, where our purveyor was particularly ordered to demand supplies for our journey …” (Menzies)

“In the afternoon we resumed our journey and soon after reached the upper plantations, when instead of ascending directly up the mountain as we expected, they led us across these plantations to the north-eastward at a distance of five or six miles from the shore by a narrow winding path which in some places was very rugged and seldom admitted more than one person at a time …”

“… so that we followed one another in a string, and occupied a considerable space in length from the number of our party and the crowds that followed us from village to village through curiosity and flocked to see us, from far and near.”

“This path we found to be the public road leading to the east end of the island, and at small eminences here and there, we met cleared spots for resting on, where the wearied travellers generally sit down to chew sugar cane and admire the surrounding prospect.” (Menzies)

September 18, 2023 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Shirakawa Motel

“A kupua, a spirit came from Kahiki and lived below the Ha‘ao springs. He married a Ka‘u woman, and had a son named Kupa. They killed many people, and hid their bodies among tall weeds by the springs.”

“A cloudburst would bring grease from the corpses into the stream of Wai-o-hinu. With a ruse the people caught the boy and his father in a net and burned them in an imu. Some people credit this story for the name Waiohinu or “water shining like oil”. (Wilson Okamoto)

“Quite distinct from the rest of Ka-‘ū is the valley of Wai‘ōhinu, which is flanked in such a way by the mountainside that it escapes the violence (and evaporation power) of both trade and southernly winds, while receiving a generous share of rainfall. This was the locality chosen by the chiefs (ali‘i) for their residence.” (Handy & Pukui)

Wai‘ōhinu was a favored location within Ka‘ū Ahupua‘a by Hawaiian ali‘i (royalty). An upland forest of ‘ōhi‘a lehua, a permanent stream watered from Hā‘ao Springs, moderate rainfall, and a sheltered valley created a comfortable environment with fertile soils. (Wilson Okamoto)

In the 1800s, Wai‘ōhinu was the main village in Ka‘ū District. The nearest port for small vessels was in Ka‘alu‘alu which joined the village by a cart road built in 1852.

In 1857, an Agricultural Society was formed and agricultural pursuits in Wai‘ōhinu were improved; “farming has actually commenced in Kau during the past year. Within this time the first plow has been brought in and the first ground ploughed.”

“There are a dozen houses at Waiohinu, and they have got sound roofs, which is well, because the place is tolerably high upon the mountain side and it rains there pretty much all the time. The name means ‘sparkling water,’ and refers to a beautiful mountain stream there, but they ought to divide up and let it refer to the rain also.”

“A sugar plantation has been started at Waiohinu, and 150 acres planted, a year ago, but the altitude ranges from 1,800 to 2,500 feet above sea level, and it is thought it will take an other year for the cane to mature.” (Mark Twain, 1866)

“From 1859 to 1885, pulu fiber from the Hawaiian tree fern (hāpu‘u) was gathered and sold to American traders. The pulu was typically shipped to California and used to fill pillows and mattresses.

Through the mid-1800s to early 1900s, commercial sugarcane cultivation dominated the Ka‘ū landscape. The need for an increase in field workers let to an influx of contracted laborers from around the world, including China, Portugal, Japan, Korea and the Philippines. In 1850, Native Hawaiians accounted for 97 percent of the population, but only 33 percent by 1899. (Wilson Okamoto)

The Hawaiian Agricultural Company started between the years 1876 and 1880 and became the largest plantation company in Hawai‘i. It was also locally referred to as the Pahala Plantation, as the laborers housing was located in Pāhala. Mills were built in Nā‘ālehu and Pāhala. Wharves were built at Honu‘apo and Punalu‘u to ship out all the Ka‘ū sugar.

In 1900, Wai‘ōhinu became the county seat of Ka‘ū within the territory of the United States. The courthouse, jail, post office and school were all situated in Wai‘ōhinu until the 1930s

Sales people would take the long journey to Wai‘ōhinu to stock plantations and stores and then need a place to spend the night. They found such a place in Wai‘ōhinu.

“The original building, opened in 1926 as a way stop for salesmen, [was later] home to the family of Takumi Shirakawa.” (NY Times) It was a family-operated lodging house.

During WWII, the military took over the hotel. The Shirakawa family then ran a motel of thirteen rooms “amid trees dripping red and yellow hibiscus flowers”. (Wilson-Okamoto)

“The signboard of the Shirakawa Motel is partly hidden in lush greenery, and the motel itself is nearly in the shadow of Mark Twain’s Monkeypod Tree, planted by Twain during visit to the islands in 1866.” (NY Times)

“In a wonderful juxtaposition of then and now, guests who want to call him at his nearby nursery farm just press the button on a portable telephone buzzer in the foyer.

“There was no food service at the Shirakawa [some rooms had kitchenettes]; the nearest grocery and restaurant are two miles down a slight curve of the road to Naalehu, the southernmost town in the United States.” (NY Times)

Later, Pacific Quest, incorporating an outdoor-based, integrated therapy program for teens and young adults, took over the property and had its Ka‘ū facilities in the former Shirakawa Motel. (Pacific Quest left Ka‘ū in 2019.) (Ka‘ū Calendar)

April 11, 2023 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Whose Footprints Are These?

Geologic evidence suggests that the modern caldera of Kīlauea formed shortly before 1500 AD. Repeated small collapses may have affected parts of the caldera floor, possibly as late as 1790. For over 300-400 years, the caldera was below the water table.

Kilauea can be an explosive volcano; several phreatic eruptions have occurred in the past 1,200 years. (Phreatic eruptions, also called phreatic explosions, occur when magma heats ground or surface water.)

The extreme temperature of the magma (from 932 to 2,138 °F) causes near-instantaneous evaporation to steam, resulting in an explosion of steam, water, ash and rock – the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens was a phreatic eruption.

The 1924 eruption at Halemaʻumaʻu documents and illustrates the explosive nature of Kilauea. However, the 1924 explosions were small by geologic standards and by the standards of some past Kilauea explosions.

The hazards of larger explosions, such as those that took place multiple times between about AD 1500 and 1790, are far worse than those associated with the 1924 series. (USGS)

There were explosions in 1790, the most lethal known eruption of any volcano in the present United States. The 1790 explosions, however, simply culminated (or at least occurred near the end of) a 300-year period of frequent explosions, some quite powerful. (USGS)

Keonehelelei is the name given by Hawaiians to the explosive eruption of Kilauea in 1790. It is probably so named “the falling sands” because the eruption involved an explosion of hot gas, ash and sand that rained down across the Kaʻu Desert. The character of the eruption was likely distinct enough to warrant a special name. (Moniz-Nakamura)

At the time, Kaʻū Chief Keōuakūʻahuʻula (Keōua) was the only remaining rival of Kamehameha the Great for control of the Island of Hawaiʻi; Keōua ruled half of Hāmākua and all of Puna and Kaʻū Districts. They were passing through the Kilauea area at the time of the eruption. The 1790 explosion led to the death of one-third of the warrior party of Keōua. (Moniz-Nakamura)

Camped in Hilo, Keōua learned of an invasion of his home district of Kaʻū by warriors of Kamehameha. To reach Kaʻū from Hilo, Keōua had a choice of two routes one was the usually traveled coastal route, at sea level, but it was longer, hot, shadeless and without potable water for long distances. (NPS)

The other route was shorter, but passed over the summit and through the lee of Kilauea volcano, an area sacred to, and the home of, the Hawaiian volcano goddess Pele. Keōua chose the volcano route, perhaps because it was shorter and quicker, with water available frequently. (NPS)

In 1919, Ruy Finch, a geologist at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory discovered human footprints fossilized in the Kaʻū desert ash. Soon, this area of the desert became known as “Footprints.”

Barefoot walkers left thousands of footprints in wet volcanic ash within a few miles southwest of Kīlauea’s summit.

Many historians and Hawaiians believe the footprints were made by Keōua and his warriors. Keōua was known to be in the area at the time, and previous thought suggested this part of the desert did not have pre-contact use, so it was narrowed down to them.

Scientists later investigated – one approach was to look deeper at the evidence.

Forensic studies indicate that the length of a human foot is about 15% of an individual’s height. A man’s foot may be slightly more that 15%, a woman’s slightly less, but it is possible to estimate the height to a couple of inches. (USGS)

They measured 405-footprints to determine how tall the walkers were. The average calculated height is only 4-feet 11-inches, and few footprints were made by people 5-feet 9-inches or more tall. Early Europeans described Hawaiian warriors as tall; one missionary estimated an average height of 5-feet 10-inches. Many now believe that most of the footprints were made by women and children, not by men, much less warriors. (USGS)

Meanwhile, Keōua’s party was camped on the upwind side of Kīlauea’s summit – perhaps on Steaming Flat – waiting for Pele’s anger to subside. They saw the sky clear after the ash eruption and began walking southwestward between today’s Volcano Observatory and Nāmakanipaio. (USGS)

Suddenly, the most powerful part of the eruption began, developing a high column and sending surges at hurricane velocities across the path of the doomed group. Later, survivors and rescuers made no footprints in the once wet ash, which had dried. (USGS)

Then, archaeologists looked for other evidence to help identify who the footprints may have belonged to. Contrary to general thought that the area was not used by the Hawaiians, archaeological investigations discovered structures, trails and historic artifacts in the area. (Moniz-Nakamura)

Most of the features were along the edge of the Keʻāmoku lava flow. Several of the trails converge south of the flow, suggesting a major transportation network. The structures are likely temporary, used as people were traversing through the desert on their way to/from Kaʻū and Hilo. (Moniz-Nakamura)

The sheer number of temporary shelters along the Keʻāmoku flow, as well as the trail systems and quarry sites, strongly suggest that this area was frequently used by Hawaiians travelling to and through the area – before and after the 1790 eruption. (Moniz-Nakamura)

If the footprints aren’t Keōua’s warriors, then how did one-third of his warriors die?

Several suggestions have been made: suffocation due to ash; lava, stones, ash and other volcanic material; or strong winds produced by the eruption, asphyxiation and burning killed them. (Moniz-Nakamura)

A more recent suggestion is that a “hot base surge, composed primarily of superheated steam … (traveling at) hurricane velocity” was the cause of death. The wind velocity prevented the people from running away; they probably huddled together, then “hot gases seared their lungs.” (Moniz-Nakamura)

Some now suggest that, if these observations and ideas are correct, the footprints were made in 1790, but not by members of Keōua’s group. (USGS)

A reconstruction of events suggests that wet ash, containing small pellets, fell early in the eruption, blown southwestward into areas where family groups, mainly women and children, were chipping glass from old pāhoehoe. They probably sought shelter while the ash was falling. Once the air cleared, they slogged across the muddy ash, leaving footprints in the 1-inch thick deposit. (USGS)

On August 1, 1916, President Woodrow Wilson signed the country’s 13th national park into existence – Hawaiʻi National Park. At first, the park consisted of only the summits of Kilauea and Mauna Loa on Hawaiʻi and Haleakalā on Maui.

Eventually, Kilauea Caldera was added to the park, followed by the forests of Mauna Loa, the Kaʻū Desert, the rain forest of Olaʻa and the Kalapana archaeological area of the Puna/Kaʻū Historic District.

In 1961, Hawaiʻi National Park’s units were separated and re-designated as Haleakalā National Park and Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.) (Lots of good information here is from USGS, NPS and Jade Moniz-Nakamura.)

December 1, 2022 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kalalea Heiau

Ka Lae is the site of one of the earliest Hawaiian settlements, and it has one of the longest archaeological records on the islands (included in the complex is the earliest recorded occupation site.) (NPS) Ka Lae (Lit., the point, commonly called South Point) on the Island of Hawaiʻi is the southernmost point in the fifty states.

Kaʻū is poetically known as “Kaʻū kua makani” (Kaʻū with windy back.) (Soehren) An offshore stone at South Point is called Pokakuokeau (stone of the current) referring to the meeting of the different ocean currents that come together here. (k12-hi-us)

Nā kai haele lua o Kalae, ʻO Kāwili lāua ʻo Halaʻea
The two sea currents of Kalae – Kāwili and Halaʻea

The Halaʻea current (named after a chief,) comes from the east to Kalae and sweeps out to sea. The Kāwili (Hit-and-twist) comes from the west and flows out alongside the Halaʻea. Woe betide anyone caught between. (Keala Pono)

Here at the point is a heiau, Kalalea Heiau, located in the ahupuaʻa of Kamāʻoa. In 1906, Stokes, in describing the heiau, said, “This heiau was … 43 by 35 ft., with platforms outside … adjoining its western wall ….” The heiau complex has a small terraced platform paved with ʻiliʻili (small, smooth pebbles.) When Stokes visited the heiau, an informant told him that the heiau was Kamehameha’s and was very sacred.

Ten years later another informant told Stokes the following: “(This is the) history of the heiau of Kalalea at Kalae, and of Kūʻula, Wahinehele and ʻAiʻai. Kūʻula (a male) married Wahine (a female) and they had a son ʻAiʻai.”

“They left Kahiki and came to these islands, settling on Kauaʻi. ʻAiʻai left his parents on Kauai and went on a sightseeing tour to the islands of Oʻahu, Molokai, Maui and Hawaii.”

“When he reached Kalae, he looked around and saw that it was a fine country, and a nice place to live in and well supplied with fish. He returned to Kauai and brought his parents back with him, and they all lived at Kalae. While his parents were living at Kalae, ʻAiʻai set out for Kahiki and brought back many people, — kilokilo (seers,) kuhikuhipuuone (architects who made plans in the sand) and ai puʻupuʻu (stewards).”

“He also brought back many different kinds of food, such as breadfruit, bananas, awa, cocoanuts, sugar cane, sweet potatoes, kalo, papaya, hapuʻu and pala (both edible ferns) and other foods in great quantity.”

“And when ʻAiʻai saw that the food and the men were ready, he gave commands to all the Menehune and the erection of the heiau went on until the walls were completed.”

“It was named Kalalea, which name still stands today.” Today, people reference Kalalea as a fishing heiau. There were stones that represent the fishing gods Kūʻula and ʻAiʻai.

On the main platform is a stone called Kumaiea (female), but also attributed to Kāne, and on the smaller platform just mauka is another upright stone called kanemakua (male), associated with the god Kanaloa.

Standing twelve feet to the north of the heiau are two more stones, the northerly one called ʻAiʻai, the son or Kūʻula. Within the heiau, beside the mauka wall, is a rock called Kūʻula, the god of fishermen. (k12-hi-us)

In 1953 Emory obtained the following information from Mary Kawena Pukui: “One must not wear red on the beaches at Kalae where Kalalea Heiau is located. Women never went inside the heiau. The kūʻula of this heiau is a shark. It is a heiau hoʻoulu (to increase) opelu (mackerel), malolo (flying fish), and ahi (tuna).”

Directly seaward of Kalalea Heiau is a rough ledge of lava, with low cliffs dropping into the ocean. About eighty holes (like cleats) are carved into the lava to moor canoes (either for positioning over fishing grounds or to tie-up to shore.) (Kirch) While many have suggested the heiau is fishing related, it appears to also have links to navigation.

Immediately behind the heiau is a modern navigational beacon. First proposed in 1883, a lens-lantern supported by a 34-foot wooden mast was ready for display on March 5, 1906. Its light, visible for nine miles, was produced by incandescent oil vapor.

After several modifications and improvements, the present 32-foot concrete pole was built in 1972. The automated, battery powered light is charged by solar panels.

In at least the 1940s and early-1950s, the military had a landing facility, Morse Field, in this area. There was limited infrastructure; the planes landed/took off on the grassy runway.

At a lecture at Hawaiian Mission Houses, I heard another series of stories related to Kalalea Heiau, told by John Laimana (a descendent of the area, whose family has direct association with the heiau;) while similar to much of the other explanations, he expands upon the navigational aspects of the heiau to Kahiki (Tahiti) and Rapanui (Easter Island.)

John says the heiau is actually the smaller of the structures there, makai of the larger, stonewalled rectangle (the larger he says is a fishers’ shelter.) More importantly, he notes that the heiau structure aligns east and west – and one wall aligns with magnetic north.

Equally more important, he looks beyond the heiau structure and also looks at the larger surrounding perimeter wall structure. Careful review of that shows the two walls are in precise, straight alignment.

OK, here’s another overlooked feature … extending the alignment of the walls, thousands of miles across the ocean lead you to Maupiti (in French Polynesia, near Tahiti) and Rapanui (Easter Island, Chile.)

In Hawaiian, Panana means compass, especially a mariner’s compass. Panana are also referred to “sighting walls.” The alignment of the walls (within the heiau and the perimeter walls,) may have been used for navigational purposes.

Oh, one more thing … Kaʻū is an ancient name with similar derivations in Samoa (Taʻū) and Mortlock (Marqueen) Islands (Takuu; an atoll at Papua New Guinea.) (Pukui) (This heiau may have links across the extent of the South Pacific.)