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October 3, 2018 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Puakea

Patrick Kirch has convincingly argued that Polynesians may not have arrived to the Hawaiian Islands until at least AD 1000, but expanded rapidly thereafter. The initial settlement in Hawai‘i is believed to have occurred from the southern Marquesas Islands. (Rechtman)

The earliest date range for permanent settlement in Kohala (AD 1300) was obtained from Koai‘e, a coastal settlement where subsistence primarily derived from marine resources. According to Tomonari-Tuggle, these resources were probably supplemented by small-scale agriculture. (Rechtman)

“(O)ne of the most obvious settlement forms along the leeward coast [of Kohala] is the houselot, a low-walled rectangular compound with an interior house platform” which is likely a historic habitation pattern established in the early nineteenth century.” (Tomonari-Tuggle; Rechtman)

There was also “the massive field system [the Kohala field system] which sweeps across the leeward slopes of Kohala [and] reaches the coast [at the northern end]”. The Kohala field system once stretched from the shore to the inland edge of the mountain forest.

The field system was characterized by low walls oriented cross-slope to block the prevailing winds with mauka/makai trails demarcating the narrow strips of field areas. (Tomonari-Tuggle; Rechtman)

Traditional land use patterns saw a rapid shift after the Māhele in 1848. At this time, land ownership was defined by grants and awards by the king (Kamehameha III) to the chiefs and other retainers.

By 1850, laws were enacted under which commoners could also own land (kuleana) if they could prove that they actually occupied those lands. The Māhele paved the way for land to be sold to foreigners. (Rechtman)

On July 18, 1873, Princess Ruth, granted to Henry Christiansen several parcels of land including in North Kohala. (Kohala Corp v State) He started a sheep ranch, apparently calling it Puakea Ranch.

Christiansen also planted some sugar cane, the milling of which was apparently not too successful with the crude equipment of that time. (Henke)

Dr. James Wight acquired the Puakea Ranch lands about 1875 and continued with the sheep ranch (having a herd of about 7,000 head of the Merino breed).

In about 1886, Wight imported two Maltese jacks at a cost of $1,400 and he was probably one of the first men to breed mules in Hawaii.

Sheep herding suffered due to various factors and cattle were substituted for the sheep in the 1880s; there were few or no sheep left after 1890.

Two Shorthorn bulls were imported from California and bred to the native cattle and Shorthorn blood predominated on Puakea Ranch till 1901, although some Hereford blood was introduced as early as 1889.

During the next twenty years Hereford blood gradually replaced the Shorthorns. At the time, beef had little value and many cattle were sold as work oxen for the cane fields. Wight died in 1905, and the ranch was operated by trustees of his estate. (Henke)

Nearby was Pu‘uhue, a cattle ranch was started about 1880; James Woods then being the owner and manager. Pu‘uhue had 4,000-5,000 cattle at that time, which roamed over much of the Puakea section on a rental arrangement.

At about 1906, Puakea and Pu‘uhue merged into what was called Puakea Ranch. These combined ranches ran from the sea to an elevation of about 4,000 feet and had a total area of about 25,000 acres and about 5,000 Herefords, 350 light horses and 10 Berkshire sows. Good Hereford bulls as well as females were imported from time to time.

Cattle were marketed from two years of age to about five (about 450 to 650 pounds dressed weight). About 500 to 600 were shipped to Honolulu annually (loaded at Kawaihae), with an additional 180 slaughtered on the ranch for consumption in the Kohala district.

In about the 1940s Parker Ranch purchased Puakea Ranch (and later sold portions that were subsequently developed into the Puakea Ranch subdivision, along the Kohala Coast).

OK, that’s the ‘ranch’ side of ‘Puakea’; Puakea Planting Company ran the sugar planting and production.

“There was filed for record at the Registrar’s office today a document transferring one-half interest in the Puakea Planting Co. situated in the Kohala District, owned by Mrs Eliza V Mackenzie, to Howard R. Bryant, for the sum of $16,025.”

“Mrs Mackenzie and Howard R. Dry–Bryant formed the Puakea Planting Company about five years ago, and started the growing of cane on the lands owned by Dr. James Wight. … The cane grown on this property is ground at the Hawi Mill.”

“There are some five or six thousand acres of land suitable for cane cultivation and it is the intention of the Puakea Planting Co to enlarge as soon as the water reaches the land.”

“The Kohala planters and the Kohala Ditch Company have been dickering for the past row moths regarding terms of which water is to be delivered, but a settlement of all differences has now practically been reached.” (Evening Bulletin, September 10, 1904)

Later, “Articles of incorporation were filed by the Puakea Plantation Co., Ltd., of Kohala, Hawaii. The incorporators with the offices held are as follows: John Hind, president; W. S. May, vice president; H. R. Bryant, treasurer; A. Mason, secretary, and Robert Hall, director. “

“The company has taken over the planting interests of what was heretofore known as the Puakea Planting Company and which are situated on the lands belonging to the estate of James Wight just above Mahukona.”

“The advent of the Kohala ditch has brought out a greater development of these lands and the present corporation will raise in the neighborhood of 4000 tons of sugar annually, after two or three years’ development. “

“The present output of sugar on the planting interests taken over is something about 900 tons. Henry Waterhouse Trust Co., Ltd., organized the company.” (Hawaiian Gazette, May 28, 1907)

The ditch was conceived of by John Hind who, with the financial help of Sam Parker and the irrigation knowledge of JT McCrosson and MM O‘Shaughnessy, formed the Kohala Ditch Company.

They hired Japanese laborers for wages of seventy-five cents to a dollar and a half a day to construct the twenty-one mile long ditch from the headwaters of the Kohala valleys to Puakea Plantation (in upland Kukuipahu Ahupua‘a).

The ditch ran through miles of ridge terrain, valleys, and forty-four tunnels. Seventeen laborers died during the construction of the Kohala Ditch. It carried twenty million gallons of water a day at the outset, with a projected maximum of seventy million gallons a day, to the sugar fields and ranch lands of North Kohala. (Rechtman)

In the 1930s, the Kohala Sugar Company was expanded by the consolidation of smaller plantations under the agency of Castle & Cooke (Puakea, Niuli‘i, Halawa, Hawi and Kohala Sugar). In 1975, Castle & Cooke closed Kohala Sugar. (Wilcox)

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Puakea-GoogleEarth-400
Puakea-GoogleEarth-400
Upolu-West-North_Kohala-USGS-UH-1937-1954
Upolu-West-North_Kohala-USGS-UH-1937-1954
Upolu-West-North_Kohala-USGS-UH-5669-1965
Upolu-West-North_Kohala-USGS-UH-5669-1965
Upolu-West-North_Kohala-USGS-UH-0193-1976
Upolu-West-North_Kohala-USGS-UH-0193-1976
Leeward North Kohala Ahupuaa
Leeward North Kohala Ahupuaa
North Kohala Sugar-late-19th Century-Rechtman
North Kohala Sugar-late-19th Century-Rechtman

Filed Under: Economy, General, Place Names Tagged With: North Kohala, Puakea, Puuhue, Hawaii, Kohala

June 10, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kamehameha Takes A Walk

“The subject of interest which engrossed attention this week, was the question of the location of the second statue of Kamehameha the Conqueror, which we were officially (or rather Royally) informed is designed for Kohala, and very rightly so, as this was his birth-place.”

“At the request of the Governess, who has recently been paying us a visit, a committee was selected to decide upon the site upon which the statue shall be erected upon its arrival.”

“This committee, consisting of twenty-four members, met on the 22d, at the Court-house, in Kapaau, to discuss the question of location. Among the members were the following foreigners: Messrs. Vida, Woods. Chapin, Kenton, Holmes, Atkins, Smith, Sheldon, Ewart, and others who did not put in an appearance.”

“The native members consisted of the Police Magistrate, who acted as chairman, native lawyers, and sugar planters. Various locations were suggested and their claims and advantages warmly advocated.”

“Among others, the respected birth-place of the grand old King, near Kohala Plantation, called Halaula; Hapuu, near Halawa. where he was raised, and his favorite dwelling place, on the bluff near which he stood and marshalled the fleet of war canoes for the expedition which resulted in the final conquest of Maui; and Niulii, at the Eastern end of the District.”

“It was finally decided by an almost unanimous vote, that the statue shall be placed at a point nearly central of the District, on an elevation in the land of Ainakea, near the Government road, and almost equidistant from the Star Mill and that of Kohala Plantation.”

“If placed on a high pedestal it can there be seen front a long distant in every direction.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, March 31, 1883)

Initially, “On the grounds of the Ainakea school, near by, is a statue of the first Kamehameha.” (Anglo-American Magazine, September 1901)

Later, attempts were made to relocate the Kohala statue. “Kaniho presented an amendment providing $500 for the removal of the statue of Kamehameha from its present location in Kohala to the Court house yard. He said the statue was now in a neighborhood where nobody lived and the people of Kohala had petitioned for its removal as they had to deck it with wreaths.”

“Lewis opposed the scheme saying the statue was in a school yard where children could see it and would always be reminded who their great chief was.”

“Chillingworth asked if the statue was not on the birth place of Kamehameha, and replied that It was ten
miles distant.”

“Aylett disputed the statement, saying he was present when the statue was unveiled and it was said at that time that this was Kamehameha’s birth place.”

“Keliinoi moved an amendment to move the statue to Lahaina. Pulaa said the statue had already traveled a good deal; when it was on the way out it fell overboard and when recovered the statue was minus an arm.”

“‘If the money appropriated the statue will be on the move again,’ he said. Both Home Rulers and Republicans voted in favor of the removal.”

“‘The birth place of Kamehameha was in Kohala,’ said Pulaa. ‘I was not there, but my grandmother told me so.’”

“Kealawaa said the statue should not be disturbed. ‘It is not right to remove the statue,’ said he, ‘what is placed there should remain. It is just like this building. It should not be moved.’ Kaniho and Oili talked some more but the interpreter did not consider their remarks worth translating.”

“The motion lost 13 to 12.” (Hawaiian Gazette, July 3, 1903)

A year later, the newspaper noted in a page 1 headline, “Kamehameha To Take A Walk.”

“Kamehameha I’s statue in Kohala is going to be moved, not out of the district but to a position where it may be seen by the visitor.”

“By a relocation of the main road, involving a deep cut through a hill, the statue has been left out of sight of the passing way farer.”

“It is proposed therefore to remove it from its old site in front of the schoolhouse to a position in front of the courthouse.”

“As the statue is Territorial property the Board of Supervisors of Hawaii county asked the permission of the Superintendent of Public Works for Its removal. Mr. Holloway has compiled with the request.”

“The Kohala statue is the original. It was sunk at sea near Cape Horn in the vessel bringing it out from Europe.”

“After a replica, from the sculptor’s mould, had been procured to set up in Honolulu the original was fished out of the depths, brought to the islands and set up in Kohala, amidst the scenes of the great monarch’s earlier military exploits.” (Sunday Advertiser, March 24, 1904)

“To Move Statue Of Kamehameha – Relocation Of Main Road In Kohala Bars Attraction From View Of Visitors. The statue of Kamehameha the Great in Kohala is going to be moved to a position where It can be seen by visitors.”

“By a relocation of the main road the statue is cut off from the observance of wayfarers. The Public Works Department has granted the Hawaii Supervisors the right to move the attraction.” (Hawaiian Star, March 25, 1907)

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Original Kamehameha Statue-Kohala-PCA-Nov_27,_1907
Original Kamehameha Statue-Kohala-PCA-Nov_27,_1907
Kamehameha_statue_Kohala_1908
Kamehameha_statue_Kohala_1908
The original statue of King Kamehameha I, in Kapaʻau
The original statue of King Kamehameha I, in Kapaʻau
Kohala - Kapaau-Ainakea-Reg1704-1706.2-Noting-School-Old Road
Kohala – Kapaau-Ainakea-Reg1704-1706.2-Noting-School-Old Road
Kohala - Kapaau-Ainakea-Reg1704-1706.1-Noting-School-Old Road
Kohala – Kapaau-Ainakea-Reg1704-1706.1-Noting-School-Old Road

Filed Under: Economy, General, Ali'i / Chiefs / Governance Tagged With: North Kohala, Kamehameha Statue, Kapaau, Ainakea, Ainakea School, Hawaii, Kohala

April 11, 2018 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

‘Upolu

In 1779, Captain Cook explored the North Kohala area and noted: “The country, as far as the eye could reach, seemed fruitful and well inhabited … (3 to 4-miles inland, plantations of taro and potatoes and wauke are) neatly set out in rows.”

“The walls that separate them are made of the loose burnt stone, which are got in clearing the ground; and being entirely concealed by sugar-canes planted close on each side, make the most beautiful fences that can be conceived …” (Cook Journal)

“The district of Kohala is the northernmost land area of the island of Hawaii. ‘Upolu Point, its northwesterly projection, fronts boldly out into Alanuihaha Channel toward the southeastern coast of Maui, and is the nearest point of communication between the two islands.”

“To the south, along Hawai‘i’s western coast, lies Kona; to the east the rough coast of Hāmākua District unprotected from the northerly winds and sea.” (Handy & Pukui)

“Kohala was the chiefdom of Kamehameha the Great, and from this feudal seat he gradually extended his power to embrace the whole of the island, eventually, gaining the suzerainty of all the Hawaiian Islands.”

“’Upolu, which is the old name of the valley in Tahiti now called Papeno‘o; likewise the old name of the island of Taha‘a, northwest of Tahiti, and the present name of the chief island of the Samoan group.” (Handy & Pukui)

Oral traditions trace the origin of Hawaiian luakini temple construction to the high priest Pā‘ao, who arrived in the islands in about the thirteenth century. He introduced several changes to Hawaiian religious practices that affected temple construction, priestly ritual, and worship practices.

“Pā‘ao is said to have made his first landfall in the district of Puna, Hawaii, where he landed and built a Heiau (temple) for his god and called it Waha‘ula.”

“From Puna Pā‘ao coasted along the shores of the Hilo and Hāmākua districts, and landed again in the district of Kohala, on a land called Pu‘uepa, near the north-west point of the island, whose name, ‘Lae Upolu,’ was very probably bestowed upon it by Pā‘ao or his immediate descendants in memory of their native land.” (Fornander)

“In this district of Hawaii Pā‘ao finally and permanently settled. Here are shown the place where he lived, the land that he cultivated, and at Pu‘uepa are still the ruins of the Heiau of Mo‘okini, which he built and where he officiated.”

Mo‘okini temple was last active as a war temple for Kamehameha I in the last two decades of the 18th century. It is said to have housed the Kamehameha family war god, Ku-ka-‘ili-moku, and this feathered god transferred to Pu‘ukohola Heiau, in 1791, when Kamehameha built this new war temple to assure his conquest of all the Hawaiian Islands.

According to Stokes, Mo‘okini Heiau was said to have been built from stones brought from Pololu Valley. It was believed that the stones were passed hand-to-hand by men standing in a line spanning the 15-mile distance from the valley.

“About 2,000 feet west of Mo‘okini Heiau and near the ocean is the birthplace of Kamehameha the Great. At the time of his birth, ca. 1753, the site was occupied by one of the thatched housing complexes of Alapa‘i-nui-a-Kauaua, ruling chief of the Island of Hawai’i.”

“The birth itself took place late at night within d one of the large thatched houses reserved for royal women. The named stone Pohaku-hanau-ali‘i may have been his mother’s couch inside the house.”

“Alapa‘i’s housing complex would have included a number of thatched houses as well as the canoe landing ‘harbor’ along the shore. The complex, with ‘harbor’ was called by the place name of Kapakaj, within the larger Hawaiian land division (an ahupua‘a) called Kokoiki.” (NPS)

By the time of contact, numerous coastal villages and extensive dryland agricultural systems were in place in North Kohala. This farming system lasted for several centuries and provided taro and sweet potato (the food staples of the time) to the growing population.

When that ended in the 1800s, it was followed several decades later with the commercial production of sugarcane that lasted for over 100‐years. Sugar production stopped in Kohala in 1975.

On June 25, 1927, an Executive Order set aside nearly 38-acres of the property for an airplane landing field for the US Air Service to be under the management and control of the War Department. In 1933, the Army named it Suiter Field, in honor of 1st Lieutenant Wilbur C Suiter who was killed in action serving in 135th Aero Squadron.

Suiter Field was first licensed in 1928. It was also alternatively referred to as Upolu Point Military Reservation, Upolu Landing Field, Upolu Airplane Landing Field and Upolu Airport.

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Kamehameha Birth Site
Kamehameha Birth Site
Mookini Heiau
Mookini Heiau
Upolu Point Field, Hawaii, February 3, 1929
Upolu Point Field, Hawaii, February 3, 1929
Upolu Point Landing Field-hawaii-gov)-1933
Upolu Point Landing Field-hawaii-gov)-1933
Upolu Airport-(hawaii-gov)-September 20, 1944
Upolu Airport-(hawaii-gov)-September 20, 1944
Upolu Air Field-(hawaii-gov)-August 13, 1945
Upolu Air Field-(hawaii-gov)-August 13, 1945
Upolu Point-(hawaii-gov)-1955
Upolu Point-(hawaii-gov)-1955
Upolu Airport-(hawaii-gov)-May 9, 1973
Upolu Airport-(hawaii-gov)-May 9, 1973
Upolu_Point-(hawaii-gov)-October 24, 1973
Upolu_Point-(hawaii-gov)-October 24, 1973

Filed Under: Ali'i / Chiefs / Governance, Economy, Hawaiian Traditions, Military, Place Names Tagged With: North Kohala, Upolu Airport, Upolu Point, Kamehameha, Upolu, Mookini, Hawaii, Paao, Kohala

June 28, 2017 by Peter T Young 4 Comments

Kiholo Fishpond

Kīholo (lit. the Fishhook) is a place name that may have been selected as a word descriptive of the coastline along that part of the island where the east-west coast meets the north-south coast and forms a bend similar to the angle between the point and the shank of a large fishhook.

There is no confirmation for this theory, except for our knowledge that Hawaiian place names have a strong tendency to be descriptive. (Kelly)

The Hawaiian walled fishpond stands as a technological achievement unmatched elsewhere in island Oceania. Hawaiians built rock-walled enclosures in near shore waters, to raise fish for their communities and families. It is believed these were first built around the fifteenth century.

Samuel M. Kamakau points out that “one can see that they were built as government projects by chiefs, for it was a very big task to build one, (and) commoners could not have done it (singly, or without co-ordination.)”

Chiefs had the power to command a labor force large enough to transport the tons of rock required and to construct such great walls.

It is not known when Hawaiian fishponds began to be constructed, but some fishpond walls have been carbon-dated to the 1400s; in Kona, possibly during the time of ‘Umi.

Kiholo, besides being a place name, was also the name of Kamehameha’s fishpond. Kiholo, besides being the name of Kamehameha’s large fishpond, was also “[a] large hook, formerly made of wood, used to catch the shark and other large fish”. (Kelly)

Kamehameha is said to have ordered the rebuilding of Kiholo pond while he was at Kawaihae, preparing his fleet to attack O‘ahu. Kiholo and other ponds would have supplied food for Kamehameha’s warriors when they sailed off in the great canoe fleet to conquer the chiefs on the Islands of Maui, Molokai and O‘ahu in 1794 and 1795. (Kelly)

Another source identifies 1810 as the year the pond was rebuilt with John Young as the overseer. One note mentions that John Young, Jr. (Keoni Ana) was born at Kiholo while his father was seeing to the rebuilding of Kiholo Pond. In this case, reconstruction
was taking place in preparation for Kamehameha’s return to Hawai‘i Island from O‘ahu. (Ka Hae Hawai‘i, November 1859; Kelly)

The fishpond that once served Kiholo was significant in size. “This village (Kiholo) exhibits another monument of the genius of Tamehameha.”

“A small bay, perhaps half a mile across, runs inland for a considerable distance. From one side to the other of this bay, Tamehameha built a strong stone wall, six feet high in some places, and twenty feet wide, by which he had an excellent fish-pond that is not less than two miles in circumference.”

“There were several arches in the wall, which were guarded by strong stakes driven into the ground so far apart as to admit the water of the sea; yet sufficiently close to prevent the fish from escaping. It was well stocked with fish, and water-fowl were seen swimming on its surface.” (Ellis)

“Aug. 8, 1843. Took the road from Kapalaoa to Kailua on foot. Passed the great fish pond at Kiholo, one of the artificial wonders of Hawaii; an immense work! A prodigious wall run through a portion of the ocean, a channel for the water etc. Half of Hawaii worked on it in the days of Kamehameha.” (Lyons; Maly)

“The fishpond of Kiholo in North Kona, Hawaii, was constantly being threatened by lava flows while Kamehameha was ruler of the kingdom of Hawaii. A flow came down close w the pond of Kiholo; Kamehameha brought a pig and cast it in; the “fires” stopped.”

“The flow had gone down as far as Ka‘upulehu and Mahai‘ula and had almost plunged into the sea. Kamehameha’s bringing of a pig and offering it made the flow stop. There were eyes in the lava to see Kamehameha, and ears to hear his appeals and his words of prayer, and the great blazing lava flow died down.” (Kamakau)

But lava later took the Kiholo fishpond. The 1850s saw several outbreaks of lava from Mauna Loa: in August 1851; in February 1852, when it came within a few hundred yards of Hilo; in August 1855, when it flowed for 16 months; and in January 1859, when it started up again.

Although it began at an elevation of 10,500 feet, the 1859 flow took only eight days to reach the sea, traveling “more than thirty-three miles in a direct line from its source”. The lava continued to flow for about six months at an estimated speed of four to ten miles per hour, destroying the village of Wainānāli‘i and with it, Kiholo Fishpond.

“The flow began to go seaward in the month of February of this year, from the northwest side of Mauna Loa … it turned south to Wailoa, and continued on to the deep sea, smooth lava (pahoehoe) extending into it to about forty chains or more in length. This new point [of land] has been named Lae-Hou.”

“The flow turned on the south side of Wailoa and went to Kiholo where it covered the pond. Then it turned to the west, where a new point is burning now. Lae-Hou is a long point, but this one is shorter. … Kiholo is closed by the lava. It is now only a heap of rocks.” (Eye witness account of flow; Kelly)

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Kiholo-1859 Flow-Lae-Hou-Google Earth
Kiholo-1859 Flow-Lae-Hou-Google Earth

Filed Under: Ali'i / Chiefs / Governance, Hawaiian Traditions, Place Names Tagged With: Kiholo, Kohala, Fishpond, Kamehameha, Hawaii, Hawaii Island

March 19, 2017 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Increased Population – Increased Production

Kohala on the Island of Hawai‘i was likely settled in its windward valleys about A.D. 1100–1200 and along the leeward shoreline between A.D. 1200 and 1400.

Kamakau noted, in early Hawaiʻi “The parents were masters over their own family group … No man was made chief over another.” Essentially, the extended family was the socio, biological, economic and political unit.

Because each ʻohana (family) was served by a parental haku (master, overseer) and each family was self-sufficient and capable of satisfying its own needs, there was no need for a hierarchal structure.

With such a small (but growing) population based on the family unit, society was not so complicated that it needed chiefs to govern or oversee the general population.

Kamakau states that there were no chiefs in the earliest period of settlement but that they came “several hundred years afterward … when men became numerous.”

Ancient household units in Hawai‘i are represented archaeologically by clusters of small stone and earthen structures, including terraces, enclosures, and small semicircular stone shelters.

The mauka field system was likely established between A.D. 1200 and 1400.

Marion Kelly noted dryland field systems were one of the three noted subsistence production intensification techniques initiated by the early Hawaiians (along with walled fishponds and lo‘i kalo (irrigated, terraced pondfields for taro cultivation)).

Farmers found, farmed and intensified production on lands that were poised between being too wet and too dry. Archaeological evidence of intensive cultivation of sweet potato and other dryland crops is extensive, including walls, terraces, mounds and other features.

In the mauka field system, larger residential features are identifiable by constructed terraces with stout stone walls on the upslope (windward) side of these structures, which served as windbreaks and anchored the perishable thatch hale.

Natural bedrock outcrops were also used for habitation and were modified with abutting stone-faced terraces and stacked stone-wall enclosures.

Archaeological evidence indicates a chronology of household expansion (and, by inference, to population growth, as well as increased managerial presence and a desire to produce higher yields) spanning three temporal periods between A.D. 1400 and 1800.

The overall pattern is one of an exponential rate of increase in residential features, with the greatest number of such features existing in temporal period 3 (A.D. 1650–1800), just before European contact.

The pattern of early expansive construction (the phase 1 alignments and trails) indicates that the area was developed over time as farmers established new fields and farmsteads.

During phase 2, additional residential clusters were established, and the ahupua‘a was subdivided with new agricultural alignments inserted predominantly between the new residences and trails.

The lands were progressively subdivided with new trails and alignments (such as phase 3 constructions), as preexisting territorial segments were carved into smaller units.

This chronology fits well with the previously established chronology of agricultural system intensification which shows a pattern of late intensification (marked by increased field alignment construction) after A.D. 1650.

Archaeological evidence of intensive cultivation of sweet potato and other dryland crops is extensive, including walls, terraces, mounds and other features.

The fields throughout the Kohala system were oriented parallel to the elevation contours and the walls (and perhaps kō (sugar cane) planted on them) would have functioned as windbreaks from the trade winds which sweep down the slopes of the Kohala mountains.

Configured in this way, the walls would also have reduced evapotranspiration and – with heavy mulching – retained essential moisture for the crops. This alignment of fields also conserved water by retaining and dispersing surface run-off and inhibited wind erosion and soil creep.

The main development of the Kohala field system took place AD 1450-1800. By the late-1600s the lateral expansion of the field system had been reached, and by AD 1800 the system was highly intensified.

The process of intensification involved shortened fallow periods, and agricultural plots divided into successively smaller units.

The archaeological map of the Kohala field system depicts over 5,400-segments of rock alignments and walls with a total length of nearly 500-miles.

The fields begin near the north tip of the island very close to the coast. The western margin extends southward at an increasing distance from the coast, with the eastern margin at a higher elevation and also an increasing distance from the coast.

From north to south the field system is more than 12-miles in length. At its maximum, it is more than 2.5-miles in width.

Scientists speculate that this farming did not just support the local population, but was also used by Kamehameha to feed the thousands of warriors under his command in his conquest of uniting the islands under a single rule.

Based on experimental plantings, if only half of the Kohala Field System was in production in one year, it could be producing between 20,000 to 120,000-tons of sweet potato in one crop.

Archaeologists conclude that the higher frequency of residences within the core area of the field system, as well as the initial expansion of field system trails and alignments that demarcate major land divisions, suggests that this process was managed from the outset.

On the basis of ethnohistoric documents from the 18th and 19th centuries, they note that such management was performed by elites, who were required to generate surplus at the level of the ahupua‘a.

Population growth, coupled with increased management and tribute requirements, supported the increasingly hierarchical sociopolitical system of archaic states that emerged in Hawai‘i ca. A.D. 1600–1800

The system was abandoned shortly after European contact in the early- or mid-19th century. (Lots of information here is from Field and Kirch.)

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Kohala Field System_photo
Kohala Field System_photo
Kohala Field System-photo-Vitousek
Kohala Field System-photo-Vitousek
Kohala Field System_photo-Vitousek
Kohala Field System_photo-Vitousek
Kohala Field System-walls-trails-map-Vitousek
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Kohala Field System-location-map-Vitousek
Kohala Field System-location-map-Vitousek
Kohala Field System_location-map
Field_System_Map
Field_System_Map
North_Kohala-(SOEST)
North_Kohala-(SOEST)

Filed Under: Hawaiian Traditions, Place Names, Ali'i / Chiefs / Governance Tagged With: Hawaii, Kohala, Kohala Field System

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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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