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February 8, 2020 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Cyclomere

The lead line, “Bicycle racing in Honolulu has come to stay,” in the February 8, 1898 issue of the Hawaiian Gazette was more wishful thinking than reality.

Charles Desky opened the track in 1897, and it closed the following year; it was located on the makai side of what we now call Kapiʻolani Boulevard, between Cooke Street and Ward Avenue.

“The Cyclomere track at Honolulu is three laps to the mile, scientifically constructed, and the surface is of decomposed coral, the finish being somewhat similar to merit.”

“Mr. Desky says that the people there are very enthusiastic over cycle racing, and at previous meets held on a poor track and with inferior accommodations for the people the attendance has been immense.” (San Francisco Call, October 14, 1897)

Races were held at night, with illumination from 23 arc lights on poles. A spectator grandstand was 150-feet long by 34-feet wide, 11 tiers of seats and 12 private boxes in front. (Krauss)

“The opening of the new cycle racing track at Honolulu next month has attracted the attention of California riders, and three of the most prominent will leave for there this afternoon on the steamer Moana, accompanied by a trick rider.” (San Francisco Call, October 14, 1897)

“The races at the islands will be conducted under special sanction from the California Associated Cycling Clubs, which was necessary before the racing board would let the men go from here.” (San Francisco Call, October 14, 1897)

“Cyclomere Bicycle Track was opened most auspiciously on Saturday. Although the elements wore an ominous aspect at times, the worst they gave was an occasional sprinkle. Between 800 and 1000 people were in the grand stand in the afternoon, and half as many more in the evening. “

“The circle of arc and incandescent electric lights surrounding the tract, reflected in Cyclomere Lake around which the track is built, made a wonderfully beautiful night scene. (Evening Bulletin, October 25, 1897)

“It had been a hope of mine from the time I started operations in Kewalo that Cyclomere could be kept as a place of resort. There is nothing finer of the kind in any country. The people to a large extent seemed to think the same,” said Charles Desky. (Hawaiian Gazette – April 8, 1898)

Desky initially looked to a hui of five to take a long-term lease on the facility and keep it going. However, a newspaper account in May, 1898 noted there would be no more racing at Cyclomere, so far as the hui of town boys was concerned.

“They are now filling the lake of the Cyclomere Park which comprises about 10 acres and when completed will be laid out in lots, and lies mauka of the Queen street car line. This tract is part of the original Kewalo purchase.”

“Mr. Desky is manager of Bruce Waring & Company, who control the real estate business on the Island. Their offices are located in the Progress block.” (Pacific Commercial, August 13, 1898)

In 1900, the pond that surrounded the racing bicycle track at Cyclomere in the Kewalo area was filled. Desky dumped the banks of the track into the lake, piled more dirt in and set out to sell lots for residences.

Desky saw that as more financially lucrative, particularly since it is became known that the Iron Works was going to that neighborhood.

However, Desky didn’t fare as well with the former Cyclomere site. Facing foreclosure, “Sensational developments have transpired in connection with one of the earliest land operations by Charles Desky in Honolulu.”

After selling 29 lots, it was learned that Desky did not pay the underlying mortgage down from the sale proceeds, saying he needed the money for other purposes. It eventually was cleared up in court.

Selling lots was nothing new for Charles Desky. In 1899 the Pacific Heights road was laid out by Mr. Wall, and sold by Hawaii’s first subdivider, a Mr. Desky. (One historian has called Desky “Hawaii’s first subdivider,” and noted that “Desky pulled several shady land transactions.”)

By 1900, Honolulu had a population of more than 39,000 and was in the midst of a development boom, creating tremendous need for more housing.

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Filed Under: Economy, General Tagged With: Oahu, Kewalo, Cyclomere, Charles Desky, Hawaii

January 6, 2020 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Hawaiian Tuna Packers

In lawaiʻa hi aku (fishing for aku,) “the slapping of the fish against the men’s sides and the arching of the bamboo poles as the aku bent them were like a double rainbow or the crescent shape of the moon of Hoaka.” (Maly)

A special canoe was used that served as a live bait well (malau,) it was joined by a double hulled canoe for the fishers (kaulua;) following the noio birds to the schooling aku, several canoes would form around them and the live bait released – then the lines of the bamboo fishing poles were cast. (Maly)

When the fish took the bait and broke water, the fisherman stood up straight and grasped the pole with both hands. The fish came completely out of the water and slapped against the side of the fisherman, who then shoved the aku forward in the canoe and cast again. (Maly)

In 1899, Gorokichi Nakasugi, a Japanese shipwright, brought a traditional Japanese sailing vessel, called a sampan, to Hawai‘i, and this led to a unique class of vessels and distinctive maritime culture associated with the rise of the commercial fishing industry in Hawai‘i. (Cultural Surveys)

The Japanese technique of catching tuna with pole-and-line and live bait resembled the aku fishing method traditionally used by Hawaiians. The pole-and-line vessels mainly targeted skipjack tuna (aku.)

In the modern fleet, with an average length of 75- to 90-feet, these boats were the largest of the sampans. The pole-and-line fleet generally fished within a few miles of the main Hawaiian Islands, because few vessels carried ice and the catch needed to be landed within four to five hours from the time of capture.

The modern fishing method used live bait thrown from a fishing vessel to stimulate a surface school into a feeding frenzy. Fishing was then conducted frantically to take advantage of the limited time the school remains near the boat.

The pole and line were about 10-feet and used a barbless hook with feather skirts which is slapped against the water until a fish strikes. Then the fish is yanked into the vessel in one motion. The fish unhooks when the line is slacked so that the process can be repeated.

On a pole-and-line vessel a fisherman was required to learn how to cast the line, jerk the fish out of the water, catch the tuna under his left arm, snap the barbless hook out, slide the fish into the hold and cast the line back out – all in rapid succession.

The fishery was dependent on having sufficient bait fish, nehu (Hawaiian anchovy;) a lot of the bait fish, came from Kāneʻohe Bay. Dozens of aku boats would set their nets in the Bay’s shallows; the pier at Heʻeia Kea Boat Harbor was homeport for more than 20 of them.

Initially, most sampans docked in Honolulu Harbor. In the 1920s, Kewalo Basin was constructed and by the 1930s was the main berthing area for the sampan fleet and also the site of the tuna cannery, fish auction, shipyard, ice plant, fuel dock and other shore-side facilities.

The Hawaiʻi skipjack tuna fishery originally supplied only the local market for fresh and dried tuna. Then, the Hawaiian Tuna Packers, Ltd. cannery was established (in 1916,) enabling the fishery to expand beyond a relatively small fresh and dried market.

Six sampans made up the cannery’s initial fleet. The fleet grew and before WWII the fishery included up to 26 vessels. Following the war, as new vessels were built, fleet size increased to a maximum of 32 vessels in 1948.

These vessels carried crews of 7-9 fishermen, and frequently worked 6 days a week. It was hard work and the fishing day may begin with catching bait fish at dawn, followed by fishing to dusk.

Historically, the pole-and-line, live bait fishery for skipjack tuna (aku) was the largest commercial fishery in Hawaiʻi. Annual pole-and-line landings of skipjack tuna exceeded 5.5 million lb from 1937 to 1973.

The new and expanding market for canned product allowed the fishery to grow; from 1937 until the early 1980s most of the skipjack tuna landed in Hawaiʻi was canned.

F Walter Macfarlane opened the Macfarlane Tuna Company at Ala Moana and Cooke street. By 1922, after having changed hands a couple times, the company was incorporated by local stockholders as Hawaiian Tuna Packers Ltd.

Around 1928, tuna processing started in Kewalo Basin. Nearby was the Kewalo Shipyard that serviced and repaired the local aku boats. They also had an ice house.

From the beginning, Hawaiian Tuna Packers label was Coral Tuna or Coral Hawaiian Brand Tuna.

By the 1930s, the Honolulu cannery employed 500 and produced nearly ten-million cans of tuna per year. For several years Hawaiian Tuna Packers also operated a smaller cannery in Hilo.

About ninety percent of the output was shipped to the mainland; the remaining ten percent was sold in Hawaiʻi. (The cans for packing the tuna are furnished by the Dole Company.)

Fishing stopped during WWII because the larger sampans were used by the military for patrol duties and the Japanese fishermen were not allowed to go to sea. (Wilson)

With the entry of the United States in the Second World War came the imposition of area and time restrictions on fishing activities in Hawai’i that virtually eliminated offshore harvesting operations. Many fishing boats were requisitioned by the Army or Navy. (Schug)

The tuna cannery was converted into a plant for the assembly of airplane auxiliary fuel tanks and the shipyard was converted to the maintenance of military craft. Hawaiʻi’s fishing industry was forever changed. (Schug)

In 1960, Castle & Cooke bought out Hawaiian Tuna Packers and made it a part of Bumble Bee Seafoods out of the northwest. They operated the cannery until late-1984, when it ultimately closed.

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  • In the late 1930s, Kewalo Basin was filled with sampan fishermen

Filed Under: Economy, Sailing, Shipping & Shipwrecks Tagged With: Hawaii, Sampan, Kewalo, Kakaako, Hawaiian Tuna Packers, Fishing, Aku

November 19, 2019 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Ke-ahi-a-Kawelo

Ka‘ā (literally translated means, “the rocky area”) is the largest ahupuaʻa on Lānaʻi, and covers almost 19,500-acres of land, the entire north end of the island.

At one time Ka‘ā supported many near-shore settlements, upland agricultural fields, resource collection/workshop areas and ceremonial sites. The residents of Ka‘ā regularly traveled between the coast and uplands, and several named localities in both climatic regions are found in native traditions and historical literature.

Traditional features, including ceremonial sites, burials, trails, residences (both long term and temporary,) salt making sites, agricultural features, lithic workshops, petroglyphs, modified caves, contest fields and sites of undetermined uses are found throughout Ka‘ā.

Native Hawaiian chants and traditions passed down over time speak loudly of the cultural and historical significance of this area.

The honu (turtle) population at Polihua is integral to the account of Pele’s migration to Hawaiʻi, and in the time when ancient Hawaiians lived at Ka‘ā the honu provided important resources for traditional subsistence.

The tradition of the Lānaʻi priest, Kawelo, and a priest of Moloka‘i identified in various accounts as either Lani-kāula or Waha – is of regional importance to the people of Lānaʻi and Moloka‘i.

Kawelo was a famous priest of Lānaʻi, who is remembered in several written accounts, dating back to at least 1868. Information collected by Kenneth Emory from Lānaʻi in 1921-1922, and accounts by other native residents, place prominent sites associated with this legend in the ahupua‘a of Ka‘ā.

In the latter tradition, we see that at Ka‘ā, Lānaʻi, Kawelo kept an altar on which a fire was burned to protect the well-being of the people of his island.

There are several narratives, with varying circumstances and different characters, but each focusses on the central theme of the priest Kawelo burning a fire on an altar in order to protect the well-being of the residents of Lānaʻi.

Kewalo on Lānaʻi and Waha on Molokaʻi challenged each other to keep a fire burning on their respective island longer than the other, and the winner’s island would be rewarded with great abundance.

The Lānaʻi kahuna, Kawelo, used every piece of vegetation in Keahiakawelo to keep his fire burning, which is why this area is so barren today.

In 1873, Walter Murray Gibson published “A Legend of Lanai” in the newspaper “Nu Hou.” Titled “Keahiakawelo” (The fire of Kawelo), in the account there are details on events of the legend and reference to the upland region of Ka‘ā:

“In the district of Kaa, on the western side of Lanai, there are several tumuli of large stones, and some rude contrivance of sacrificial altar, surrounded by a low round enclosure.”

“Here three generations anterior to the reign of Kahekili, who was King of Maui and Lanai, lived the prophet Kawelo, who kept up a constant fire burning day and night upon this altar; and a similar fire responsive to it, was maintained by another prophet Waha, on the opposite side of Molokai.”

“Now Kawelo had a daughter to assist in keeping watch and to feed the sacred fire, and Waha had a son; and it was declared to the people by these prophets, that so long as the fire burned, hogs and dogs would never cease from the land; but should it become extinguished these animals would pass away, and the kanakas would only have fish and sea-weed to eat with their poi. . . “

Gibson described how the boy Nui, of Moloka‘i, and the girl Pepe, of Lānaʻi, came to fall in love, and how on one fateful night, they failed to keep the fires on their respective islands lit – the fire on the “altar of Keahiakawelo” had died. Upon discovering their error, Nui and Pepe fled to Maui, and Kawelo:

“… threw himself headlong from a precipice of the barranca [bluff] of Maunalei. And many natives of Lanai believe to this day, that their native hogs and dogs have passed away, in consequence of the prophecy of Kawelo.”

Keahiakawelo is an otherworldly rock garden at the end of rocky Polihua Road. Located roughly 45-minutes from Lānaʻi City on the northwest side of the island, its landscape is populated with boulders and rock towers.

The region around Keahiakawelo is one of the most significant storied landscapes on Lānaʻi; there are numerous traditions describing how native Hawaiians were able to survive on Lānaʻi, and why, at one time, Lānaʻi was noted for purple colored lehua blossoms.

As the tradition of the area known as Keahiakawelo reveals, the Ka‘ā region of Lānaʻi, with the view plain to the eastern end of Moloka’i and the famed kukui tree grove of Lanikāula and Mokuhoʻoniki, is one of great significance to the history of Lānaʻi and connected by history to the larger Maui group of islands.

The rock towers, spires and formations formed by centuries of erosion are at their most enchanting at dusk. The setting sun casts a warm orange glow on the rocks illuminating them in brilliant reds and purples.

One Island legend says that the rocks and boulders were dropped from the sky by the gods tending their gardens. Another ancient tale explains that the rocks house the spirits of ancient Hawaiian warriors.

And still another legend says that the gods enjoyed creating art, and this spot on the island is where they made their favorite sculptures. They created powerful winds to literally sculpt each rock formation (perhaps explaining why there is no vegetation.)

Science suggests that these formations are the result of thousands of years of erosion that created pinnacles and buttes in one remote canyon area. Just one look, however, and you’ll wonder whether each rock has been placed for some divine purpose.

Today, many refer to this area as “Garden of the Gods.”

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Garden of the Gods

Filed Under: Place Names Tagged With: Hawaii, Lanai, Kewalo, Keahiakewalo, Garden of the Gods

November 2, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Transformation of Ala Moana Coastline

The coastal road from Honolulu Harbor to Waikīkī, formerly called the “Beach Road” and renamed “Ala Moana” in 1899, hugged the shoreline with extensive reefs out into the ocean; mauka of the road were wetlands and aquaculture with fishponds, kalo (taro) and, later, rice.

This stretch of coastline was described by missionary Hiram Bingham, as he stood atop “Punchbowl Hill” looking toward Waikīkī to the south, as the “plain of Honolulu” with its “fishponds and salt making pools along the seashore”. (Bingham)

Another visitor to Honolulu in the 1820s, Capt. Jacobus Boelen, gives similar insight to the possible pre-contact character of the area:  “It would be difficult to say much about Honoruru (Honolulu.) On its southern side is the harbor or the basin of that name.”

“The landlocked side in the northwest consists mostly of tarro (kalo, taro) fields. …  From the north toward the east, where the beach forms the bight of Whytetee (Waikīkī,) the soil around the village is less fertile, or at least not greatly cultivated.” (Cultural Surveys)

At the beginning of the twentieth-century, this stretch of coast makai of Ala Moana Boulevard was the site of the Honolulu garbage dump, which burned almost continually.  The residue from burned rubbish was used to reclaim neighboring wetlands (which later were more commonly referred to as “swamp lands.”)

After the turn of the century and over the next several decades, channels and basins were dredged in the fringing reefs to obtain fill material, for navigation, for small craft harbors and for swimming and sea bathing.

“Nature, situation and human circumstance fix world-wide prominence and importance on certain strategic points in commerce, navigation and defense. Human events have moved slowly, but are becoming intensely accelerated, and it would seem Honolulu is now beginning to fulfil her destiny.” So said Mr. LE Pinkham, President of the Board of Health in 1906.

With his report, he recommended filling in the wetlands from downtown Honolulu to Waikīkī and noted, “To install an adequate sewer system and proper surface drainage … (the area) under consideration, requires to be raised to a grade ranging from five to seven feet above sea level. Neither the hills mauka nor the beach can physically or economically furnish the material.”

Shortly thereafter (1912,) the Sanitary Commission in its report to Governor Frear noted, “The low lands along the sea front of six miles are largely swamps. Wherever profitable they are used for wet agriculture, and the area of wet land has been enlarged until it is difficult now to distinguish between them, nor can the source of water in the swamps be determined except by survey; much of it is water from irrigation. The total area of wet land is 36 per cent, of the land below the foothills.”

Like Pinkham, the Sanitary Commission stated, “It is obvious that all swamps and low lands which may become swamps should be filled or otherwise reclaimed, in order that their ever-present menace to health shall be entirely and finally removed.”  This led to a variety of projects that changed the look, nature and use of the region.

The first efforts were concentrated at Kakaʻako – it was then more generally referred to as “Kewalo.”  The Kewalo Reclamation District included the area bounded by South Street, King Street, Ward Avenue and Ala Moana Boulevard.

In 1899, the first traditional Japanese sailing vessel, called a sampan, came to Hawai‘i.  The Japanese technique of catching tuna with pole-and-line and live bait resembled the aku fishing method traditionally used by Hawaiians.  The pole-and-line vessels mainly targeted skipjack tuna (aku.)

Initially, most sampans docked in Honolulu Harbor. In the 1920s, Kewalo Basin was constructed and by the 1930s was the main berthing area for the sampan fleet and also the site of the tuna cannery, fish auction, shipyard, ice plant, fuel dock and other shore-side facilities.

Later in the 1920s, a channel parallel to the coast was dredged through the coral reef to connect Kewalo Basin and Ala Wai Boat Harbor, so boats could travel between the two.  Part of the dredge material helped to reclaim swampland on the ʻEwa end of Waikīki that was filled in with dredged coral.

The City and County of Honolulu started cleaning up the Ala Moana area in 1931. Using funds from President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal Project a city park was created – filling in the swamp and garbage dump with coral rubble, topping it with sand. President Roosevelt participated in the dedication of the new 76-acre “Moana Park” in 1934 (it was later renamed Ala Moana Park in 1947.)

In 1944 the Territorial Department of Public Works proposed that an airport for private flying be created by a combined coral dredging and fill project on the reef between downtown Honolulu and the Waikīkī section of the city.  A Master Plan for Ala Moana Airport was approved by the federal agencies as part of the 1947 National Airport Plan. The runway was to be located makai of Ala Moana Park on the fringing reef and consist of a single runway 3,000 feet by 75 feet.

In the mid-1950s, reef rubble was dredged to fill in the old navigation channel (between Kewalo and the Ala Wai); it was topped with sand brought from Keawaʻula Beach (Yokohama Beach (locally known as ‘Pray for Sex’)) in Waianae.  At the same time, a new swimming channel was dredged parallel to the new beach, extending about 400-feet offshore.

In 1958, a 20-page booklet was sent to Congress to encourage them to turn back Ala Moana Reef to the Territory of Hawaiʻi for the construction of a “Magic Island.”  Local businessmen and firms paid half the cost and the Territory paid half, through the Economic Planning & Coordination Authority.   (Honolulu Record, February 13, 1958)

The booklet put forth the argument that “Tourist development is our most important immediate potential for economic expansion,” and displays pictures of the crowded Waikīkī area to show the lack of room for expansion.  Then it directs the reader’s attention to land that can be reclaimed from the sea by utilizing reefs, especially the 300-acre area of Ala Moana reef.  (Honolulu Record, February 13, 1958)

With statehood (1959,) some considered the makai-most portion of filled-in area of Kakaʻako peninsula for the location for a new State capitol.  They settled on the present location, mauka of ʻIolani Palace.

In the early 1960s, substantial changes were made from the more extensive original plan for the Ala Moana reef; rather than multiple islands for several resort hotels built on the reef flat off of Ala Moana Park, a 30-acre peninsula, with “inner” and “outer” beaches for protected swimming, was constructed adjoining the Ala Wai Small Boat Harbor and Ala Wai Canal outlet.

The Magic Island peninsula was converted into a public park. In 1972 the State officially renamed Magic Island to ‘Āina Moana, or “land [from the] sea,” to recognize that the park is made from dredged coral fill. The peninsula was turned over the city in a land exchange and is formally known as the ‘Āina Moana Section of Ala Moana Beach Park, but local residents still call it Magic Island.

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Filed Under: Economy, Place Names Tagged With: Aina Moana, Hawaii, Kewalo, Kakaako, Ala Wai, Ala Moana

October 27, 2019 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Kewalo

The modern urban district of Kaka‘ako is comprised primarily of the ‘ili (land section) of Kaʻākaukukui, Kukuluāeʻo and Kewalo, all part of the ahupua‘a of Honolulu.

A typical ahupuaʻa (what we generally refer to as watersheds, today) was a long strip of land, narrow at its mountain summit top and becoming wider as it ran down a valley into the sea to the outer edge of the reef. If there was no reef then the sea boundary would be about one and a half miles from the shore.

Some ahupuaʻa were 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, each named with its own individual title and carefully marked out as to boundary.

Occasionally, the ahupuaʻa was divided into ʻili lele (“jumping strips”.) The ʻili lele often consisted of several distinct pieces of land at different climatic zones that gave the benefit of the ahupuaʻa land use to the ʻili owner: the shore, open kula lands, wetland kalo land and forested sections.

Like adjoining makai lands of Kaʻākaukukui and Kukuluāe’o, Kewalo, is an ʻili lele. It was awarded to Kamakeʻe Piʻikoi, wife of Jonah Piʻikoi (grandparents of Prince Kūhiō;) the award was shared between husband and wife. The lower land section extended from Kawaiahaʻo Church to Sheridan Street down to the shoreline.

The ʻIli Lele of Kewalo had a lower coastal area adjoining Waikīkī and below the Plain (Kulaokahu‘a) (270+ acres,) a portion makai of Pūowaina (Punchbowl) (50-acres, about one-half of Pūowaina,) a portion in Nuʻuanu (about 8-acres) and kalo loʻi in Pauoa Valley (about 1-acre.)

The makai portion of the Kewalo region was described by missionary Hiram Bingham, as he stood atop “Punchbowl Hill” looking toward Waikīkī to the south, as the “plain of Honolulu” with its “fishponds and salt making pools along the seashore”. (Bingham)

Another visitor to Honolulu in the 1820s, Capt. Jacobus Boelen, gives similar insight to the possible pre-contact character of the Kewalo area:

“It would be difficult to say much about Honoruru (honolulu.) On its southern side is the harbor or the basin of that name. The landlocked side in the northwest consists mostly of tarro (kalo, taro) fields. …”

“From the north toward the east, where the beach forms the bight of Whytetee (Waikīkī,) the soil around the village is less fertile, or at least not greatly cultivated.” (Cultural Surveys)

The undeveloped natural condition of the Kewalo area once consisted of low-lying marshes, tidal flats, fish ponds, reef and limited areas of dry land.

However, during pre-contact times, Hawaiians used it for salt making and farming of fishponds along with some limited wetland taro agriculture, and this supported habitation sites clustered around the mauka (inland) boundary up to King Street.

The salt marshes were excellent places to gather pili grass for the thatching of houses, which may have led to the area’s name: Kaka‘ako (prepare the thatching.)

Beginning in the late-nineteenth century, these low-lying areas were filled in and then developed, which permanently changed the area into its present fully-urbanized character. (Cultural Surveys)

The Kaka‘ako area has been heavily modified over the last 150 years due to historic filling for land reclamation. During the first half of the twentieth century, the marshlands, kalo and rice fields, and reefs were filled to accommodate the expanding urbanization of Honolulu.

The original foot path at the edge of the former coastline has been transformed through time to a horse path, buggy and cart path, and finally to the widened Ala Moana Boulevard.

It continued to be outside Waikīkī and Honolulu during the post-Contact era and served as a place of the dying and the dead, of isolation and quarantine (leper, smallpox, cholera and bubonic patients,) of trash (the city’s dump) and wastelands, and the poor and the immigrant (Japanese, Chinese, Filipino and Portuguese.)

Kewalo literally means “the calling (as an echo).” Outcasts (kauwā) intended for sacrifice were drowned in a pond here as the first step in a sacrificial ritual known as Kānāwai Kaihehe‘e or Ke-kai-he‘ehe‘e, which translates as “sea sliding along,” suggesting that the victims were slid under the sea. (Cultural Surveys)

The priest holding the victim’s head under water would say to her or him on any signs of struggling, “Moe malie i ke kai o ko haku.” “Lie still in the waters of your superiors.” From this it was called Kawailumalumai, “Drowning waters.” (Cultural Surveys)

Today, Kewalo and the district of Kakaʻako are an important link between Honolulu and Waikīkī and are undergoing tremendous commercial and residential redevelopment and is well on its way as a vibrant place to live, work, play and learn, within easy distance between the two commercial centers.

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Filed Under: Economy, Ali'i / Chiefs / Governance, Place Names Tagged With: Kakaako, Kewalo

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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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Hoʻokuleana LLC

Hoʻokuleana LLC is a Planning and Consulting firm assisting property owners with Land Use Planning efforts, including Environmental Review, Entitlement Process, Permitting, Community Outreach, etc. We are uniquely positioned to assist you in a variety of needs.

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