Kauai | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

July 30, 2025 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Moʻikeha

Eia Hawai‘i, he moku, he kanaka
He kanaka Hawai‘i, e …
O Moʻikeha ka lani nana e noho
Noho kuʻu lani ia Hawai‘i – a …
Moʻikeha, the chief.

Behold Hawai‘i, an island, a man
A man is Hawaiʻi …
Moʻikeha is the chief who will live there
My chief shall dwell in Hawai‘i …
Moʻikeha, the chief.

By the time European explorers entered the Pacific in the 15th century almost all of the habitable islands had been settled for hundreds of years and oral traditions told of explorations, migrations and travels across this immense watery world.

Double-hulled canoes were seaworthy enough to make voyages of over 2,000-miles along the longest sea roads of Polynesia, like the one between Hawai‘i and Tahiti.

And though these canoes had less carrying capacity than the broad-beamed ships of the European explorers, the Polynesian canoes were faster: one of Captain Cook’s crew estimated a canoe could sail “three miles to our two.” (Kawaharada)

The motivations of the voyagers varied. Some left to explore the world or to seek adventure. Others departed to find new land or new resources because of growing populations or prolonged droughts and other ecological disasters in their homelands.

Within the sphere of known islands, others sailed to wage war or seek vengeance, to escape political persecution or unhappy love affairs, to find a wife or visit relatives, or to obtain prized objects, like red feathers, not available at home.

Whatever the motivation for voyaging, the challenge was always the same – the huge, trackless expanses of sun-heated saltwater capable of generating fierce winds and battering waves.

The challenge was met again and again by Pacific island voyagers, long before sailors in other parts of the world ventured beyond the coastlines of continents or inland seas and lakes. (PVS)

Born at Waipi‘o on the island of Hawai‘i, Moʻikeha sailed to Kahiki (Tahiti), the home of his grandfather Maweke, after a disastrous flood. (Cultural Surveys)

Moʻikeha was an aliʻi nui (high chief) from Moa‘ulanuiakea, Tahiti, where he lived with his wife Kapo. They had a child named Laʻamaikahiki.

Moʻikeha became infatuated with Luʻukia, but she created some domestic difficulties; Moʻikeha directed his foster-son Kamahualele to ready a double-hulled canoe to go to Hawaiʻi.

Moʻikeha planned to take his sisters, Makapuʻu and Makaʻaoa, his two younger brothers, Kumukahi and Haʻehaʻe, his priest Moʻokini, and his prominent men (na kanaka koikoi) – navigators (ho‘okele), favorite priests (kahuna punahele) and his lookouts (kiu nana,) who would spy out land.

Early one morning at dawn, at the rise of the navigation star (ka hoku ho‘okelewa‘a; possibly Sirius), Moʻikeha boarded his double-hulled canoe with his fellow voyagers (hoa holo), and left Tahiti.

After the canoe landed at Hilo, Kumukahi and Haʻehaʻe were charmed by the land and told Moʻikeha they wanted to remain there, so Moʻikeha let them off the canoe.

Soon after, Moʻikeha set sail from Hilo, passing along the north coast of Hawai‘i until he arrived at Kohala. Moʻokini and Kaluawilinau wanted to reside at Kohala, so Mōʻīkeha put them ashore there.

He sailed on to the east coast of Maui and landed at Hāna. Honua‘ula wanted to reside there, so he was allowed to remain behind. Moʻikeha sailed on.

Moʻikeha and his people continued on their journey. Arriving at O‘ahu, Mo‘ikeha’s sisters Makapu‘u and Makaaoa said: “We wish to reside here, where we can see the cloud drifts of Tahiti.” So Makapu‘u and Makaaoa were allowed to remain on O‘ahu.

Moʻikeha left O‘ahu and sailed to Kauai, landing at Wailua. The canoe was brought ashore and the travellers got off. Meanwhile the locals were gathering in a crowd to go surf-riding at Ka-makaiwa. Among them were the two daughters of the ali‘i nui of Kauai, Ho‘oipoikamalanai and Hinauʻu.

When the two sisters saw Moʻikeha, they immediately fell in love with him, and they decided to take him for their husband; Moʻikeha was also struck. Their father approved.

Kila, Moʻikeha’s favorite of three sons by the Kauai chiefess Ho‘oipoikamalanai, was born at Kapaʻa and was said to be the most handsome man on the island. It was Kila who was sent by his father back to Kahiki to slay his old enemies and retrieve a foster son, the high chief La‘amaikahiki.

Moʻikeha settled at Kapaʻa Kauai as ruling chief of the island. Upon his death, Kila, his son, became ruling chief of Kauai. (McGregor) After Moʻikeha’s death, his corpse was taken to the cliffs of Haʻena where it was deposited.

After returning to Tahiti, then sailing again to Hawaiʻi, Laʻamaikahiki set sail again, going up the Kona coast of Hawaiʻi Island. It was on this visit that Laʻamaikahiki introduced hula dancing, accompanied by the drum, to Hawaiʻi. (Bentley)

“To Kauai from far-off Kahiki came Laʻa to see his father Moʻikeha. With him came the first drum ever seen in these islands. La’amaikahiki landed at a small canoe landing called Ahukini, a little south of Hanamaulu bay and the present ahukini landing. His drum was taken to the heiau of Ka Lae o Ka Manu at Wailua.” (Hula Historical Perspectives)

Laʻamaikahiki lived on Kauai for a while. Then he moved to Kahikinui on Maui (the place was named for Laʻamaikahiki’s homeland, in honor of him.) As the place was too windy, however, Laʻamaikahiki left for the west coast of the island of Kahoʻolawe, where he lived until he finally returned to Tahiti.

Because Laʻamaikahiki lived on Kahoʻolawe and set sail for home from that island, the ocean to the west of Kahoʻolawe is called Kealaikahiki, “The Road to Tahiti.”

Laʻamaikahiki took his brother Kila and the bones of their father to Tahiti with him. The bones were to be deposited in the mountain of Kapaahu, Tahiti. Laʻamaikahiki and Kila also lived there until their death. Little more was heard about these two brothers. (Lots of information here is from PVS, Cultural Surveys and Fornander.)

Moikeha_the_Voyaging_King-(HerbKane)

June 24, 2025 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kauai’s South Shore

“The history of Koloa is in many ways Hawai‘i’s history in microcosm.” (Wilcox) The focus of interest is the region‘s history and the role this area played in helping to shape Hawaiʻi‘s socio-economic past, present and future.

The South Shore of the island of Kauai has many scenic, natural and recreational qualities that travelers may experience and enjoy. Along the coastal area of Poʻipu there are popular beaches for swimming, surfing, snorkeling, scuba or sunset watching.

You enter the historic Old Koloa Town and Poʻipu Beach, Kauai’s premier resort destination, through a tree-formed tunnel. The native Hawaiian history, archaeology and culture can be seen throughout the area and are the foundation of the historic events that followed.

Scattered throughout the area are remnants of pre-contact ancient Hawaiʻi life in the forms of heiau (Hawaiian temples) the Koloa Field System (agricultural) and culturally-significant natural geologic features in the forms of peaks, hills, streams, caves, bays and coastal features.

The native Hawaiians along the Koloa shore were the first to see the white man in Hawaiʻi. It was in 1778, along Kauai’s South Shore, that Captain James Cook first traveled, landed and made “contact”, introducing Hawaiʻi to the rest of the world. His arrival was the beginning of multiple changes in Hawai‘i’s socio-economic framework.

Koloa Landing at Hanakaʻape Bay (the Kingdom’s first Royal Port of Entry) became the favored and major port of call on the island – because of the ability to maneuver in and out of the anchorage – whatever the wind direction, and the region had ample water and food crops to provision the ships. This led to a series of economic activities that shaped the history of the islands.

One of the first exports from Hawaiʻi was sandalwood trees that grew throughout the islands; exported primarily to China. Sandalwood was a desirable cash crop in Hawaiʻi because it could be harvested year round and did not have to be irrigated or cultivated.

Starting in 1790, trade in Hawaiian sandalwood became an important export item. As trade and shipping brought Hawaiʻi into contact with a wider world, it also enabled the acquisition of Western goods, including arms and ammunition, by the Hawaiian leaders.

However, by 1830, the trade in sandalwood had completely collapsed for two reasons: Hawaiian forests were exhausted and sandalwood from other areas drove down the price in China which made the Hawaiian trade unprofitable.

On October 23, 1819, the first group of missionaries from the northeastern United States set sail on the Thaddeus for the Sandwich Islands (now known as Hawai‘i.) There were seven couples sent by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions to convert the Hawaiians to Christianity.

With them were four Hawaiian youths who had been students at the Foreign Mission School, including Prince Humehume (son of Kauai’s King Kaumuali‘i.) In modern times, three churches on Poʻipu Road all trace their roots to the same Christian denomination – Congregational.

Hawai‘i’s whaling era began in 1819 and replaced the sandalwood trade. At that time, whale oil was used for heating, lamps and in industrial machinery; whale bone was used in corsets, skirt hoops, umbrellas and buggy whips.

Whalers, seeking water and food supplies, called at Koloa Landing, the Island’s foremost port. Koloa was a center for agriculture and, as such, became the center of activity for Kauai. The whaling industry was the mainstay of the islands’ economy for about 40 years.

Sugar gradually replaced sandalwood and whaling in the mid-19th century and became the principal industry in the islands. The early Polynesian settlers to Hawaiʻi brought sugar cane with them and demonstrated that it could be grown successfully.

In 1835, the first commercially-viable sugar plantation was started in Hawaiʻi at Koloa. Other plantations soon followed. Sugar was the dominant economic force in Hawaiʻi for over a century. Several sites found in this area highlight the historic past of the sugar economy.

Koloa Plantation was the birthplace of the Hawaiian sugar industry. By 1883, more than 50 plantations were producing sugar on five islands.

However, during this growth, a shortage of laborers to work in the growing sugar plantations became a challenge; the only answer was imported labor. It is not likely anyone then foresaw the impact this would have on the cultural and social structure of the islands.

Starting in the 1850s, when the Hawaiian Legislature passed “An Act for the Governance of Masters and Servants,” labor shortages were eased by bringing in contract workers from Asia, Europe and North America.

There were three big waves of workforce immigration: Chinese (1850,) Japanese (1885) and Filipinos (1905.) Several smaller, but substantial, migrations also occurred: Portuguese (1877,) Norwegians (1880,) Germans (1881,) Puerto Ricans (1900,) Koreans (1902) and Spanish (1907.)

Sugar changed the social fabric of Hawai‘i. Of the nearly 385,000 workers that came, many thousands stayed to become a part of Hawai‘i’s unique ethnic mix. Hawai‘i continues to be one of the most culturally-diverse and racially-integrated places on the planet.

Old Koloa Town grew up around the Plantation industry. Plantation workers not only labored, lived and shopped on the plantation, they also received medical care. Koloa’s buildings housed plantation stores, services and churches for these people, including Kauai’s first hotel.

When Hawaiʻi became a US territory, at the turn of the century, it drew adventuresome cruise ship travelers in a tourism boom. Hotels blossomed.

1959 brought two significant actions that shaped the present day economic make-up of Hawai‘i, Statehood and jet-liner service between the mainland United States and Honolulu. These two events helped guide and expand the fledgling visitor industry.

Tourism is the activity most responsible for Hawaiʻi’s recent economic status and standard of living. Koloa-Poʻipu hosts an organized, supportive Poʻipu Beach Resort Association that organizes and promotes destination marketing and promotion of visitor accommodations/activities on behalf of its membership.

Poʻipu Beach coastal roads have visitor accommodations including hotels, condominium and vacation rental homes. The Visitor Industry remains the primary economic influence in the islands.

We prepared a corridor management plan for the Holo Holo Koloa Scenic Byway. We were honored and proud when the Plan received the Community-Based Planning Award from the American Planning Association‐Hawaiʻi Chapter and a Historic Preservation Commendation from Historic Hawaiʻi Foundation.

Click to access Kauai-South_Shore_Background_Summary.pdf

South_Shore-Aerial Image – Ed Gross

Aerial view of Lawai Beach, Kauai-(HSA)-PPWD-10-6-007-1929

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Hanakaape_Bay-Koloa_Landing-Ships-1898

Lawai_Beach-1935

Spouting_Horn-Puhi

Mahaulepu

KoloaLanding

Kaneiolouma-aerial

Wakauwahi_Cave

Maka’uwahi_Cave-(Sacred_Caves)

Old Koloa Town

NTBG

Koloa-Sugar-Monument

Koloa_Mill-DMY-1880-1890

Koloa_Plantation_Camp-StateArchives

June 5, 2025 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Hermit of Kalalau

“People may think I am a fool but I have found real happiness and, above all real peace of mind.” (Wheatley)

Bernard Gamaliel Wheatley was born the son of a shopkeeper in St Thomas, Virgin Islands, October 14, 1919, son of Osorio Solario Wheatley and Anna (Fleury) Wheatley. (Ancestry and Soboleski)

Wheatley received a medical degree from Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tenn., and held a medical post with the Army, from which he was discharged in 1946. Wheatley practiced medicine for a short time in Sweden. (TenBruggencate) Dr. John Eriksson, who was his superior, says: “He was a good surgeon and a nice man.” (Ebony)

“There is evidence to indicate that both in medical school and in later practice the doctor showed brilliance and an unusual capacity for work. He was also successful.” (Krauss)

Then, “‘He became,’ one of his friends say, ‘a religious fanatic.’ This transition was not accomplished without a mental upheaval. Dr. Wheatley disappeared three times. The last time he was found naked in a Stockholm park.”

“The doctor-turned-mystic is critical of his former colleagues. ‘Shooting people with penicillin,’ he says, ‘is no better way of curing disease than shooting hydrogen missiles is a means of curing war.’ His rejection of medicine, he says, was hastened by a heart attack he suffered in 1951 in Sweden.”

“‘I became struck,’ he continues, ‘with the similarity between psychosomatic medicine and the teachings of Christ – how closely hate and fear and anxiety are related to heart disease, high blood pressure, peptic ulcer, diabetes mellitus.’”

“‘Finally, I made up my mind to go directly to the cause of disease instead of treating the symptoms. In a moment of lucidity, I saw all the way to the fact that man could overcome death and could control his health by living a life of love.’” (Ebony)

“He was treated for a nervous breakdown. In 1953, he went to Paris, where his brother, a pianist, lives. He wandered around Europe for a while and then came to America.”

“He turned up unexpectedly at the homes of several of his classmates. They were shocked by his appearance and the sudden change in his personality. It was like meeting a completely different man, one doctor says. He walked from New York to California.”

“In Chicago, he was a guest in the home of the Reverend William J Faulkner, who was dean of chapel when Wheatley was a student at Fisk University. He told Faulkner that he wanted to found a center for the propagation of his philosophy. Faulkner replied in a lighthearted vein that Hollywood would be just the place for the center. Both men laughed.” (Ebony)

“A few months later, Wheatley turned up in Hawaii. He worked for a while as a dessert maker in a restaurant. He quit this job. ‘I found,’ he says, ‘that at the end of the day I had spent so much energy arguing with the waitresses that I had none left for creative thinking.’”

“When a man who knows Wheatley heard this explanation, he said; ‘That sounds typical of him. He was probably telling them what stupid, narrow lives they lead and they were telling him he was crazy. And probably, they were all right, in a way.’”

“Wheatley’s last job was at the Central YMCA in Honolulu. He was desk clerk. He quit this job because he didn’t think it was right to charge poor people for rooms.” (Ebony)

“[I]n April, 1957, Dr. Wheatley turned his back on the world and went into Kalalau Valley. ‘My guess,’ a friend of his says, ‘is that these experiences are what finally drove him out of the world and into Kalalau. To a man of his sensitivity, I should think an arrest and appearance in court with attendant publicity would be a sort of final stamp of social disapproval in his mind.’” (Ebony)

Wheatley became known as the Hermit of Kalalau.

“The Hermit of Kalalau is a lean but powerfully built man of 40 years, His jaw and upper lip are covered with short, curling black whiskers. He was barefoot and dressed in a pair of tan swimming trunks and a spotlessly clean T-shirt.”

“He spoke with excellent articulation and with great poise, searching for just the right word, as if he were giving a lecture out there on the trackless beach. … Then then the Hermit helped us carry our gear across the sunlit sand into his ‘guest cave,’ a small cavern beside the one in which he lives under a majestic black cliff.” (Krauss)

“In front of his cave, about 30 feet wide and 12 feet deep and eight feet high in the rear, were a series of neat, geometrical patterns ln the sand. Otherwise the sand was undisturbed.”

“‘These are my paths,’ the Hermit explained. ‘May I ask you to use them? You see, there is great beauty in the land with the sun or moonlight upon it. Footprints destroy it. And I’ve found that, of all the requirements for survival, beauty is the most important.’” (Krauss)

“Then he took us on a tour of his valley. We started with his own cave. It reminded me very much of the cell of a monk. The immaculate sand floor is terraced in two levels. On the first terrace the Hermit has, on one side of the cave, his tiny fireplace, which is a grill set neatly upon four stones. He must use it only occasionally because there was only a trace of ash.”

“Above the fireplace, on the top terrace in a niche in the lava rock, the Hermit keeps his silverware and cooking utensils. He has about four spoons, as many forks and a few knives. Also three cups and saucers and as many jelly glasses.”

“Everything was neatly arranged on the rocks and on a wooden board. ‘I try to keep some degree or nicety and orderliness,’ the Hermit explained. “I always set my table (a wooden box) correctly with silverware at meals even though I’m having only taro. One can judge character by the way a man acts m the wilderness.’” (Kraus)

“Little by little I pieced together the strange story of survival that began in April, 1957. ‘I had seen the valley from the lookout in January of that year,’ the Hermit said, ‘and felt attracted to it. In April I hiked in for the first time.’”

“’Had you ever been on the trail?’ ‘No. All I had with me was a lunch. I didn’t even have matches. It took me two days to get into the valley. I lost the trail and had to hull my way through the lantana. My clothes were pretty badly torn.’”

“‘The first time I stayed for 23 days. Then I became constipated because of the guava seeds. The pain was pretty bad for about five days. Finally I flagged down a passing sampan and the crew took me to Lihue Hospital.’ Five weeks later the Hermit was back in his valley, armed with a mess kit this time, and a change of clothing.”

Why was he there … “What he is trying to do, he said, is live according to what he believes with no compromise. Apparently, the only place he has found this is possible ls in remote Kalalau Valley.”

“‘On the outside I constantly feel limitation around me,’ he said. ‘The instinctive reaction to a new situation is fear. There is so much that is negative in the world so many people to say, ‘That’s impossible.’ Here in the valley I feel no fear or limitation. That doesn’t mean I think I can fly. But I feel that l can always do what I have to do. Some wisdom must come from taking chances.”

“‘I’ve found,’ he said, ‘that very few people want to hear what I have to say. I can accomplish more by talking to the occasional person who is interested and understands. Try not to judge others. There is no way of knowing which of us will finally be most important in the scheme of things.’”

“When hippies came to Kalalau in the late-1960s with their hallucinogens and lifestyles at odds with his own, he finally left his once solitary home. A good friend of his said that he had dedicated his life to God, and Kalalau had been his test. By surviving there alone for so long, he had proven that God had taken care of him.” (Soboleski)

“I think a person should be improving all the time. Then, on a certain day, you know that you have achieved enough change in yourself to belong in another place on a certain day. That is what happened to me. … I have stayed at the YMCA several times. Other times I stay with friends.” (Kraus)

“’I’ve never really been a hermit I used to leave the valley fairly frequently when friends needed me. I often played tennis or bridge with them. I’m primarily a thinker. I came to the valley to evaluate things.’ … He says he is never going back to the practice of medicine.” (Knaefler)

“One of his chief criticisms of you and I is that we don’t DO the things we say we believe. … He puts little stock in philosophers because ‘they don’t act on their philosophies; they don’t participate in the universe.” (Krauss)

“Dr. Bernard Wheatiey died on Kauai at 72 on December 3, 1991, and his ashes were scattered in Kalalau Valley.” (Soboleski)

May 20, 2025 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Atooi

How do you pronounce Atooi … and Kauai?

The legend of Hawai‘i Loa notes his many fishing excursions which would go on for months, sometimes the whole year. On one voyage he found the Islands; he first saw Kauai, but he kept on sailing and found O‘ahu and then the islands of the Maui group.

Then, seeing the mountains of Hawai‘i, he kept on until he reached that island. There he lived and gave the Island his name. The other islands from Maui to Kauai were named for his children and for some who sailed with him: Maui was the eldest, O‘ahu younger and Kauai the youngest. (Kepelino)

Pukui suggests that many important names are so ancient that no translation at all is possible. These include the names of the inhabited Hawaiian Islands (except for Lanaʻi (conquest day.))

Per Pukui, it is impossible to explain the meaning of Kauai, which some have explained as originally Kau-ʻai (food season.) But use of glottal stops seems not to have occurred in the history of the Hawaiian language. Instead, the glottal stop, replacing ‘k’ is one of the most stable of the Hawaiian consonants. (Pukui)

Because Hawaiian was a spoken language, when writing first came with the first Westerners, spelling of words was based on how the writer heard the words. Writers hear words differently, so spelling of the same word was not always the same – each writer wrote what he heard from his perspective.

“To one unacquainted with the language it would be impossible to distinguish the words in a spoken sentence, for in the mouth of a native, a sentence appeared like an ancient Hebrew or Greek manuscript – all one word …. There are … abrupt separations or short and sudden breaks between two vowels in the same word.”

“Those who attempted to write the names of places and persons in the islands, had materially failed, even in the most plain and common. No foreigner or native, at the islands, could illustrate or explain the peculiarities and intricacies of the language … we found the dialect in use by foreigners often materially misled us … it required time to detect and unlearn errors.” (Bingham)

Dr Pila Wilson notes, “(There) is a sort of ‘oral literature’ that traditionally occurs among Hawaiian speakers speaking Hawaiian with other Hawaiian speakers. In this oral literature, a person uses a place name to make a point or connect to some story. In that type of pronunciation, the person changes the conversational pronunciation of the place name to sound like a combination of differently pronounced words similar to the component sounds of the name.”

“Different people produce different oral literature pronunciations and different interpretations of oral literature pronunciations. The same person can also come up with different pronunciations and interpretations depending on the point that they are trying to make using the place name. Two people can engage in playful banter creating different forms of this sort of ‘oral literature.’” (Wilson)

However, “there is no way that the pronunciation of certain rare words and proper names in old documents can be guessed accurately. The pronunciation of a number of these terms has become lost forever because of the deficiencies of the old twelve-letter alphabet.” (Wilson)

“The letter’ ‘k’ has some variety in its pronunciation. The people of the Island of Hawaii formerly had a sound now represented by the letter k which sound was a guttural, or rather perhaps, the sound was formed at the root of the tongue. The people of Kauai, on the other hand, had a sound of the same signification, but pronounced it near the tip of the tongue resembles the sound of ‘t.’” (Andrews, 1854)

Given that, can we decipher from some early writing how Kauai was pronounced (based on what the writers heard and wrote (in their context and perspective?))

Cook’s Journal, the first writing of the Hawaiian words, generally notes the Island of Kauai as ‘Atooi;’ however, the journal notes the islands “are called by the natives (in reference to Kauai;) Atooi, Atowi, or Towi, and sometimes Kowi.”

This leads us to the long (and ongoing) discussion of how to pronounce (and write) the name of the northern-most Island of the main Hawaiian Islands.

If ‘Atooi’ is the correct expression of the name of the Island, how do you pronounce ‘Atooi?’

It might be helpful to answer that if we look to how Cook spelled the other Island names: Oreehoua (Lehua,) Tahoora (Kaʻula,) Oneeheow (Niʻihau,) Atooi (Kauai,) Woahoo (Oʻahu,) Morotoi or Morokoi (Molokai,) Mowee (Maui) and Owhyhee (Hawaiʻi.)

Given how Cook spelled other Island names, it appears the Island name of ‘Atooi’ (Kauai) sounded like ‘ahh too eye.’ (Jacintho)

However, some suggest the island name ended with the ‘ee’ sound. Wilson notes, “In normal conversation in Hawaiian, I have never heard any first language speaker of Hawaiian pronounce the word other than what would be represented in contemporary Hawaiian writing as ‘Kauaʻi’. That is, there was always an ʻokina before the last ‘i’ and no where else. “

However, it seems logical that if Cook heard the Kauai Island name ending with the ‘ee’ sound, he would likely have used the double ‘e’ in spelling its name, just as he did with Oneeheow (Niʻihau,) Mowee (Maui) and Owhyhee (Hawaiʻi.)

Vancouver used a similar, though different spelling to Kauai – Attowai. He notes, “I was induced to give up the idea of obtaining a supply (of water) by their means (from folks on Oʻahu,) and to proceed immediately to Attowai; where I was assured we should have that necessary article completely within our own reach and power.” (Vancouver, 1792)

Likewise, Hiram Bingham notes the Island name in his explanation of his understanding of the Hawaiian language and notes the “Old” way to spell the name as “Attooi;” his suggested “Corrected in English” for the name as “Cowʻ-eyeʻ” and the “New” spelling as “Kauʻ aiʻ”.

“Atooi in Cook’s Voyages, Atowai in Vancouver’s, and Atoui in one of his contemporaries, is also a compound of two words”. (Ellis, 1831) Proper names, although often composed of more than one word, are treated as single units.

‘O, and sometimes ʻA, beginning a word are markers to note proper name subjects (persons, places or certain special things.) They are vocatives (addressing the person or place you are talking about or to) – i.e. Atooi means ‘this is (or, ‘it is’) Tooi’ – so it is a proper word and the Island name is ‘Tooi.’ (Johnson)

Here are some other early writings that note the various spelling of the Island of Kauai. You will note the similarity of the ‘eye’ sound of the final syllable in the Island’s name.

SS Hill, in writing ‘Travels in the Sandwich and Society Islands’ in 1856 notes another spelling (but a similar sound) of the Island name – ‘Kawai.’ “The most remarkable of the islands, and those which we shall visit, are Waohoo or Oahu, Owyhee or Hawaii, and Mowhee or Maui. The next in importance is Kawai.”

Others note Atooi, but also associate ‘Kawai’ as the name for the Island (these primarily come from associated writing during the Cook voyages.)

“The entire group consists of eight inhabited islands … the large island of Hawaii (formerly written ‘Owhyhee’) … The other chief islands are Woahu, or Oʻahu, on which is situated the town of Honolulu …; Maui, where is the town and port of Lahaina; Kawai (or Atooi), the most northerly; Molokai; Lanai; Nihau; and Kahoolawe.” (Angas, Polynesia, A Popular Description, 1866)

Low in ‘Captain Cook’s Three Voyages Round the World,’ 1880; references in ‘The Third and Last Voyage of Captain Cook,’ 1886; and Denton in “The Far West Coast,’ 1924 used a similar “Kawai or Atooi.”

Another spelling for the Island is found on some older maps (1850s.) Samuel Augustus Mitchell and Sarah S Cornell noted on several maps the Island name as ‘Kauhai.’

What seems to also be consistent is the lack of a glottal stop in the last syllable in most of these writings – this is represented by an ʻokina (what Bingham referred to as a “short and sudden break between two vowels”.) Many suggest the Island’s name should not have an ʻokina. (Jacintho)

Later, lifelong resident and writer of the Island’s history, Frederick B Wichman (including ‘Ancient Place-names and Their Stories’) describes how he heard the Island’s name growing up there.

“As a child I frequently heard the name pronounced to rhyme with ‘cow eye’ and sometimes pronounced in three soft syllables ‘kau a i,’ but never with the explosive glotteral heard today that makes Kauai rhyme with Hawaiʻi.” (Wichman)

I suspect the Kauai – Kauaʻi discussion will continue.

Wainiha Taro Farmer_Kawai-Wehrheim

Captain Cook’s last voyage-the map of Hawaii from Cook’s posthumous ‘A voyage to the Pacific Ocean’ (London, 1784)

Pacific_Ocean_Including_Oceania-Samuel_Augustus_Mitchell-1853-portion-noting-‘Kauhai’

Oceania-Sarah_S_Cornell-1864-portion-noting-‘Kauhai’

Pacific_Ocean-Samuel_Augustus_Mitchell-1857-portion-noting-‘Kauhai’

April 24, 2025 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Olopua

Athens was named for goddess Athena after she disputed Poseidon’s claim (he plunged his trident into the ground and unleashed a salt water spring to symbolize his power as god of the sea.) Athena planted an olive tree, saying that it represented peace and prosperity.

Zeus intervened and asked the other gods and goddesses to settle the matter by deciding who had given them the better gift. All of the gods voted for Poseidon and the goddesses for Athena, but as Zeus abstained, the women’s votes outnumbered the men’s by one, and Athena won.

Today, the olive branch continues as a symbol of peace and prosperity.

Hawaiʻi has an endemic olive, the Olopua (it is found only in Hawaiʻi.) It belongs to the Oleaceae or Olive family which include olives, as well as forsythia, ash, privet, jasmine and pīkake.

The early Hawaiians had a number of uses for the very durable hard wood. Though it was difficult to work with and they fashioned spears (ihe,) digging sticks (ʻōʻō,) adze handles (ʻau koʻi,) daggers for warfare (pāhoa) and rasps for making fish hooks.

The strong wood was also used for posts, rafters and thatching posts or purlins in house (hale) construction. It was a preferred firewood, as it burned with a hot flame even when green.

Olives were also imported to Hawaiʻi – for its leaf tea, fruit and oil. Don Francisco de Paula Marin (known to the Hawaiian as “Manini”) was a Spaniard who arrived in the Hawaiian Islands in 1793 or 1794 (at about the age of 20.)

Marin was known for his interest in plant collecting and brought in a wide variety of new plants to Hawai‘i. His gardens were filled with trees, vines and shrubs – including olives.

Another early olive importer was another Kamehameha ally, Captain Alexander Adams (he arrived in Hawaiʻi in 1811;) among other crop plants, he brought olives from California.

Later, attempts were made (and/or encouraged) to expand Hawaiʻi’s agricultural diversity.

“We welcome His Honor Judge Jones back from his trip to Oliva Wainiha, Kauai, whither he went last week to plant olive trees and grape vines on his plantation.”

“We are glad to know that our people are taking a lively interest in the matter of introducing fruits from abroad, and that a spirit of enterprise has taken hold which, if persevered in, will in due time bring forth good results. Every man should remember that ‘he who causes one more blade of grass to grow is a benefactor,’ and has not lived in vain.” (Hawaiian Gazette, March 19, 1879)

“We noticed in our last Issue that a number of olive trees in fine condition had been imported by Mr. Bush. We have since learned that they were imported by Mr. Bush for Judge Jones, who has started a new Industry at Wainiha, Kauai.”

“He has a vineyard of 10,000 assorted vines and several hundred olive trees now growing and in a flourishing condition. We understand that be intends to add yearly to the number of his olives and vines, and for that purpose the late importation was made.” (Pacific Commercial, March 6, 1880)

Then a newspaper article raised an interesting perspective, “In Southern California at the present time there are 2,500,000 olive trees, and the product of these trees is in ever increasing demand. The trees yield to the owner from three to seven dollars each, according to age.”

“The California pickled olive is gaining in favor in the East and is competing strongly with the olives from the Mediterranean seaboard, the fruit from the Pacific Slope being of finer quality. If Southern California can raise olives, undoubtedly the Hawaiian islands can.” (Hawaiian Star, March 11, 1898)

Some took on the challenge, “Some years ago olives were grown up on this Island and shown to be a practical success. The trees were sturdy although not scientifically grown and bore fruit that an expert from Greece stated to be superior to any grown in Ionia.”

“’The trees were first planted by Judge Jones,’ said John Emmeluth this morning ‘and afterwards came into my hands. The growing of olives seems to be satisfactory and easy enough in these islands but in this instance were not properly looked after in the Initiatory stages of their growth.’” (Hawaiian Star, December 16, 1901)

“From my observation it takes about twelve years for the trees to bear, a long time for the small farmer to wait for his profits, but It must be remembered that the trees can be cultivated as a subsidiary Issue for the first few years and that they will grow on the rocky uplands that could not be cleared and used for ordinary crops.”

“The greatest trouble we experienced and on which among other causes finally stopped the growing of olives was the destruction of the fruit by the birds, the trees flowered readily and if, as soon as the olive showed in fruitage, I covered the branch with netting and kept off the depredations of the birds, the fruit yield was most satisfactory.”

“I don’t think it was the mynahs that did the damage but rather the small rice birds that roosted in the branches over night and made their breakfasts on my young olives in the morning. I imagine that they have similar troubles elsewhere and have found means of counteracting the difficulty. I think that there is little doubt but what the olive could he grown here successfully and profitably.” (Hawaiian Star, December 16, 1901)

Reportedly, Eben Parker Low planted olive trees around his hometown of Waimea on the Island of Hawaiʻi around 1895.