Kona Field System | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

November 30, 2024 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Plain of Numbering

At about the same time of Christopher Columbus crossing the Atlantic to America (he was looking for an alternate trade route to the East Indies,) exciting stuff was happening here in the Hawaiian Islands.

The political governance and land management system by Aliʻi-ai-moku, was expanding and developing after two centuries since its inception, and there was a wake of progress taking place on our shores.

It was a natural progression, which began with three brothers as the first Aliʻi-ai-moku in the 12th century; Kumuhonua on Oʻahu, Olopana on Hawaiʻi, and Moikeha on Kauai, as grandsons of Maweke. (Yardley)

When they arrived from Tahiti with their new system, their first cousins were already serving as High Chiefs – “Laʻakona, High Chief of ʻEwa; Nuakea, Queen Consort of Molokai; Mōʻī, kaula (prophet) of Molokai; and Hinakaimauliawa, High Chiefess of Koʻolau.” (Beckwith, Yardley)

Then, in the time of Columbus, the new Aliʻi-ai-moku were: Māʻilikūkahi on Oʻahu, Piʻilani on Maui, ʻUmi-a-Līloa on Hawaiʻi and Kukona on Kauai.

ʻUmi-a-Līloa (ʻUmi) from Waipiʻo, son of Līloa, defeated Kona chief Ehunuikaimalino and united the island of Hawai‘i. He then moved his Royal Center from Waipi‘o to Kona.

At about the time of ʻUmi, a significant new form of agriculture was developed in Kona; he is credited with starting it. Today, archaeologists call the unique method of farming in this area the “Kona Field System.”

The Kona Field System was planted in long, narrow fields that ran across the contours, along the slopes of Mauna Loa and Hualālai. As rainfall increases rapidly as you go up the side of Hualālai, the long fields allowed farmers to plant different crops according to the rainfall gradients.

In lower elevations all the way to the shore, informal clearings, mounds and terraces were used to plant sweet potatoes; and on the forest fringe above the walled fields there were clearings, mounds and terraces which were primarily planted in bananas.

This intensive agricultural activity changed farming and agricultural production on the western side of Hawai’i Island; the Kona field system was quite large, extending from Kailua to south of Honaunau

In the lower reaches of the tillable land, at elevations about 500-feet to 1,000-feet above sea level, a grove of breadfruit half mile wide and 20 miles long grew. Sweet potatoes grew among the breadfruit. Above the breadfruit grove, at elevations where the rainfall reached 60-70 inches or more, were fields of dry land taro.

The Kona Field System was described as “the most monumental work of the ancient Hawaiians.” The challenge of farming in Kona is to produce a flourishing agricultural economy in an area subject to frequent droughts, with no lakes or streams for irrigation.

The field system was not the only contribution of ʻUmi.

The history of data processing in Hawaii covers almost five centuries, from the legendary census of King ʻUmi (c. 1500) to the present time.

It embraces at least five forms of technology: pre-contact manual methods, post-contact manual methods (including the abacus and slide rule,) the adding machine and desk calculator, punched-card equipment and the modern computer. (Schmitt)

No statistical record of pre-contact population still exists, unless you look at the legendary census of ʻUmi. ʻUmi’s census, taken at the beginning of the 16th century, was an early example of data processing.

For this census, each inhabitant of the Island of Hawaiʻi was instructed to come to a place called the “Plain of Numbering” to put a rock on the pile representing his own district. The result, still visible today, was a three-dimensional graphic portrayal of population size and distribution.

ʻUmi collected all the people of Hawaiʻi at a small plain between the cones on the inner side of Hualālai. Two small hills are said to have been the seats of the king and queen, with their retainers, while the census was being taken

Later all the people went down on the plain, where each deposited a stone, the strongest the largest, making huge stone-pile memorials around the heiau, one for each district and on the sides toward the districts. (Baker)

Here are some early accounts getting there. “… after a day’s travel they reached the site of the ancient temple … These ruins lie equally distant from three mountains, Mauna Kea, Mauna Loa and Hualālai. This temple is said to be built by ʻUmi ….” (Wilkes, 1841)

“Up the long slope of Hualālai we ascended to Kaʻalapuali, following the old Judd trail through fields of green cane, through grass lands, through primeval forests, over fallen monarchs, finally out on that semi-arid upland which lies between Hualālai and Mauna Loa. Here we turned up the slope of Hualālai, climbing through a forest cover of ʻōhiʻa lehua and sandalwood carpeted with golden-eyed daisies – another picture of Hawaii, never to be forgotten.”

“Farther up the Judd trail, we came to that unique “Plain of Numbering”, where King ʻUmi built his heiau over four centuries ago and called his people together from all the Island of Hawaiʻi. There is a romantic glamor hanging around those heaps of rocks which numbered the people who gathered at Ahu a ʻUmi that will remain as a fond memory throughout eternity.” (Thrum, 1924)

“… we unexpectedly fell upon an ancient temple of the Hawaiian gods, built in a dreary wilderness, far from the habitations of men. … (it) is a square, 100 feet on a side. Its walls, built of the fragments of ancient lava, were eight feet high, and four feet thick. … Around the principal structure, and at the distance of ten to twenty feet, there were eight pyramids, about twelve feet in diameter, and twelve to fifteen in height.” (Hiram Bingham, 1830)

The piles (pyramids, as Bingham called them) showed the relative size of the population of the districts. “Kona is the most populous of the six great divisions of Hawaiʻi.” (Kohala is next.) (Lots of information here from Baker, Schmitt and Thrum.)

August 6, 2024 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Hoʻokena

Hoʻokena i ka laʻi …
Hoʻolu ʻia no Hoʻokena
Ho`oheno ana i ka mana`o
Na kupa o ka `aina
Hoʻolu i ka maka o ka malihini

Hoʻokena in the calm …
Truly pleasant is Hoʻokena
Cherished in the thoughts of the
Residents of the land
Pleasant in the sight of the visitor
(Lot Kauwe)

“Hoʻokena is its name. … On the immediate foreshore, under a low cliff, there stood some score of houses, trellised and verandaed in green and white; the whole surrounded and shaded by a grove of coco palms and fruit trees, springing (as by a miracle) from the bare lava.”

“In front, the population of the neighborhood were gathered for the weekly incident, the passage of the steamer, sixty to eighty strong and attended by a disproportionate allowance of horses, mules, and donkeys ….” (Robert Louis Stevenson; Travels in Hawaiʻi) Let’s step back.

In the traditional Hawaiian time, Kona people were supported with dry-land agricultural fields known today as the Kona Field System. A prominent element of the system is the network of kuaiwi, low and long piles of stone that create a net-like pattern over the landscape. There are four main zones to the Kona Field System were: kula, kaluʻulu, ʻāpaʻa and ʻamaʻu.

The kula is from the coast to approximately the 500 -foot elevation; this land was used to cultivate ʻuala (sweet potato,) gourd and wauke. In later times, cabbage, wauke melons, onions, oranges, tobacco, beans, coffee, corn, cotton, pineapple, Irish potatoes, and pumpkin were added to the cultivated foodstuffs. Habitation was concentrated in villages along the shoreline in this zone.

The kaluʻulu, or seaward slope, is between 500 and 1,000-feet above sea level; ʻulu (breadfruit) and mountain apple were grown in addition to ʻuala, gourds and wauke in this zone. Habitation was in lighter densities than the shoreline.

The ʻāpaʻa, or upland slope, approximately 1,000 to 2,500-feet above sea level, found cultivation of kalo (taro,) ʻuala, kī (ti) and sugarcane. Cabbage, melons, onions, oranges, tobacco, beans, coffee, corn, cotton, pineapple, Irish potatoes and pumpkin were grown in later times. Small habitation areas were scattered.

The ʻamaʻu, or upland forest, from 2,500 to 4,000-foot elevation was planted with bananas and plantains. Forest resources, such as wood for canoes and feathers from birds, were also an essential part of the resource extraction for this zone. Temporary shelters were present to support visits to and through this area. Movement up and down the system was facilitated by well-worn trails. (Wolforth)

Along the coast was an alaloa. Alaloa were long trails that formed primary routes of travel between communities, royal centers, religious sites and resources. Initially single-file footpaths, the trail followed the contours of coast. Over the years they were widened, straightened and curbstones were added.

In the vicinity of Hoʻokena, the ‘1871 Trail’ (the year noted the time of widening of the trail) was the main transportation artery for coastal travel from Hoʻokena to Nāpoʻopoʻo. It was often referred to as a “2-horse trail,”) wide enough for two horses to pass. In 1918, the trail section north of Hōnaunau was improved for wheeled traffic; however, the section south to Hoʻokena was never modified for motorized vehicles. (NPS)

Transportation changed (a lot) when the steam ships came and serviced the Islands. The first steamer to visit the Hawaiian Islands was the Hudson’s Bay Company’s ‘Beaver;’ it was en route to Fort Vancouver, entering the Honolulu Harbor on February 4, 1836. (It sailed here; her paddle wheels were added when it reached the Columbia River.)

The earliest vessel actually to steam into Island waters was the HBM Cormorant that arrived at Honolulu from Callao on May 22, 1846. “This is the first steamer ever arrived here, and the natives were in a state of great excitement,” reported CS Lyman. “She came up very slowly, with little motion of the wheels and little smoke visible.” (Schmitt)

First, government ships then private interests provided inter and intra-island transportation. Competitors Wilder Steamship Co (1872) and Inter-Island Steam Navigation Co (1883) ran different routes, rather than engage in head to head competition.

On Hawaiʻi Island, Mahukona, Kawaihae and Hilo were the Island’s major ports; Inter-Island served Kona ports. From Kailua, the steamer went south stopping at the Kona ports of Nāpoʻopoʻo, Hoʻokena, Hoʻopuloa, rounding South Point, touching at the Kaʻū port of Honuʻapo and finally arriving at Punaluʻu, Kaʻū, the terminus of the route.

A royal visitor noted her trip to Hoʻokena in the early-1880s, “… our steamer proceeded to Hoʻokena … there were special causes for my resolution that this district should not be passed by. It was at that time distinctively Hawaiian.”

“The pure native race had maintained its position there better than in most localities. There had been no introduction of the Chinese amongst the people, nor had any other race of foreigners come to live near their homes. The Hawaiian families had married with Hawaiians, settling side by side with those of their own blood.”

“Thus it was that only on Hawaii, and in no other part of the group of islands, could there be found a district so thickly populated, where the population was so strictly of my own people, as this to which I was now a visitor.” (Liliʻuokalani)

A landing was built at Hoʻokena to accommodate the ships. “The Hoʻokena landing consists of a rock pier off shore … the sea washing between it and the mainland.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, March 7, 1902) Recommended improvements were made, “Purser Conkling of the steamer Mauna Loa reports that work on the warehouse and landing at Hoʻokena will soon be commenced by the contractors.” (Hawaiian Star, April 24, 1903)

The landing was named Kupa Landing in honor of Henry Cooper (Kupa,) road supervisor of the District of South Kona from 1871 to 1880. Hoʻokena Village grew into a major sea port for Kona.

By the 1890s, Chinese immigrants moved in. Licenses issued included those for cake peddling, selling food and merchandise, running a retail store, butchering pork and operating two restaurants and a hotel. (Kona Historical Society)

On a trip Governor Carter made to the ‘Konas’ (North and South,) “a petition on behalf of the people of Hoʻokena asking the Governor to provide lands for them …. The petition also requested the government to establish a pineapple cannery for the farmers in the district who were growing that fruit.”

“The Governor replied at length, saying that he could not buy lands for them because of the lack of revenue. He believed that the conditions for the growing of pineapples were more favorable in Kona than anywhere else, but said that the government could not establish a cannery, although with private capital it would be a success.”

“’I don’t believe the government should go into any other business,’ said Mr. Carter; ‘it has troubles enough of its own now, in taking care of the schools, the public works, the police and the courts.’” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, February 22, 1904)

By 1929, the wharf was receiving freight only twice a month, so the stores and post office had closed. (KHS) The village’s economic importance began to diminish; the introduction of automobiles and trucks made steamship landings at Hoʻokena less common and many residents moved away from the remote village to be closer to the highway. (KUPA)

By the mid-1930s, high surf had demolished Kupa Landing; cattle continued to be shipped out of Hoʻokena up until the early 1940s. (Nā Peʻa) The steamships left and so did most of the people. Relocating closer to the highway, people all but left the once important shore of Hoʻokena. Few people remained and few live in Hoʻokena today. (UH DURP)

In 2007, Friends of Hoʻokena Beach Park an outgrowth of Kamaʻāina United to Protect the ʻĀina (KUPA), signed an agreement with the County to transfer management oversight of the park at Hoʻokena to FOHBP. They have hired community members to maintain the park and provide park security via the “Aloha Patrol.”

The Hoʻokena Beach Park sits at the northern end of Kauhakō Bay.

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October 13, 2023 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

ʻUala

Many cultures in Hawaiʻi have their own names for sweet potato. Kamote is the Tagalog name, and in Aotearoa (New Zealand) they are widely farmed and are called kumara.

In Hawaiʻi, ʻuala is also called ʻuwala. The ʻuala is the second in importance to kalo (taro) as a staple starch food in old Hawaiʻi.

He ʻuala ka ʻai hoʻola koke i ka wi.
The sweet potato is the food that ends famine quickly
(ʻŌlelo Noʻeau from Pukui)

It is in the Morning Glory family and grows easy and it grows fast – within 4-5 months of planting (as opposed to nine to eighteen months for taro), ʻuala is cultivated for their enlarged primary roots called “tubers” (the primary food from the ʻuala,) while leaves can also be eaten.

Tubers were also used as bait for fishing; Vines were used to make an under cushion for lauhala mats in houses; and Fermented ʻuala “beer” (ʻuala ʻawaʻawa) brewed, but it is unclear if this is a pre-contact practice. (Bishop Museum)

It is said ʻUala, sweet potato, was a canoe crop (believed to be brought to Hawaiʻi by the Polynesians, who brought with them shoots, roots, cuttings and seeds of various plants for food, cordage, medicine, fabric, containers, all of life’s vital needs.)

Tracing the history of agricultural products is one way scientists track the migration of people during times when no written records were left behind to offer clues. (Yirda; PHYS)

On his voyages across the Pacific, Captain James Cook encountered geographically disparate Polynesian societies, including those living on Easter Island, Hawai‘i and the north island of New Zealand. These far-flung communities cultivated a common crop, sweet potato. (Denham; NCBI)

Researchers later sampled specimens brought back by early explorers (including Cook.) They found that the DNA evidence indicated that the sweet potato had migrated to Polynesia long before European explorers had made their way to that part of the world. (Yirda; PHYS)

Peruvians first domesticated the sweet potato around 8,000-years ago. And though the crop spread from there, the means by which it traveled have always remained contentious.

One possibility was that Polynesian sailors first brought it home from across the ocean: The oldest carbonized sweet potato evidence in the Pacific hails back to about 1,000 AD – 500-years before Columbus sailed to the Americas.

It is known as the 2nd staple for the Hawaiians. It is said to have been cultivated in Hawaiʻi since about AD 1000. The tubers are consumed after cooking primarily in an imu. Other plant parts were used as animal feed. (UH-KCC)

It’s been called a super food – the average sweet potato weighs 6.5 ounces (about 3/4 cup) and contains 180 calories. It supplies 14 percent of your daily carbohydrate requirement (good carbs) and 26 percent of your daily fiber needs. It is an excellent source of vitamins A and C, potassium, calcium and folate. (Miyasaka)

Purple-fleshed or orange-fleshed varieties are rich in beta carotene and have more anti-oxidants than blueberries. In addition, all sweet potatoes have a low glycemic index. This index is a measure of how quickly foods are broken down into sugars in the human body and converted to body fat. (Miyasaka)

The sweet potato plant grows in dry places. You can find it in low and high areas up to 5,000 feet in elevation. It can also be found in damp valleys although it doesn’t need a lot of water like taro does.

Farming of ʻuala on a large scale was involved the systematic cultivation of dryland crops in their appropriate vegetation zones as exemplified by the Field Systems in Kona, Kohala, Kaupō and Kalaupapa (Kaʻū reportedly also has a field system.)

Cultivation of the soil “was generally divided into small fields, about fifteen rods square fenced with low stone walls, built with fragments of lava gathered from the surface of the enclosures. These fields were planted with bananas, sweet potatoes, mountain taro, paper mulberry plants, melons, and sugar-cane, which flourished luxuriantly in every direction.” (Reverend William Ellis)

Farmers found, farmed and intensified production on lands that were 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 Kona, the field system was quite large, extending from Kailua to south of Honaunau. In lower elevations all the way to the shore, informal clearings, mounds and terraces were used to plant sweet potatoes; and on the forest fringe above the walled fields there were clearings, mounds and terraces. Sweet potatoes grew among the breadfruit.

In Kohala, the fields 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.

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.

At Kaupō, on the slopes of Haleakalā, the field system is associated in Hawaiian oral traditions with Kekaulike, a famous Maui king (ali‘i nui) who on genealogical estimates is dated to approximately the early eighteenth century.

Kekaulike made Kaupō his residential seat, and assembled his army at Mokulau, preparing for a war of conquest against his rivals on Hawai‘i Island.

Given its use as a Royal Center for Island Ali‘i, there was a definite need for sufficient crop production. Fortunately, the area has an ideal combination of soils, elevation and rainfall making it also a predictable environment for an intensive dryland field system to feed the people.

Historic records note that this region was identified as “the greatest continuous dry planting area in the Hawaiian islands,” both in ancient times and well into the 1930s.

The field system a closely spaced grid of east-west embankments and small field plots bisected at right angles by longer north-south trending walls; it covered an area of 3,000 to nearly 4,000-acres and could have supported a population of 8,000-10,000 people.

At Kalaupapa peninsula, archaeological and carbon-dating evidence indicate that the initial settlement and presence of people on the Kalaupapa (“the flat plain”) peninsula on the Island of Molokaʻi was before 1200.

There is a grid of rain-fed plots, defined by low stone field walls built, in part, to shelter sweet potatoes and other crops from trade winds, that cover the Kalaupapa Peninsula. It appears that the field system was a secondary area of settlement and agricultural development, with the wetter valley and sediment soil being the preferred areas.

Instead of enclosed fields associated with the more recent historic era, archaeologists found dense rows of unenclosed alignments and substantial house sites quite unlike the temporary shelters found in other Hawaiian field systems.

At Kōloa, Kauai, another unique feature was found; the early Hawaiians constructed sophisticated irrigation systems tapping off of Waikomo Stream for growing their crops.

Beginning possibly as early as 1450, the Kōloa Field System was planned and built on the shallow lava soils to the east and west of Waikomo Stream. It is characterized as a network of fields of both irrigated and dryland crops, built mainly upon one stream system. Waikomo Stream was adapted into an inverted tree model with smaller branches leading off larger branches.

This agricultural system which at its peak covered over 1,000 acres extends from the present Kōloa town to the shoreline and includes a complex of wet and dryland agricultural fields and associated habitation sites.

Commercial sweet potato cultivation in the islands began in 1849. In 1919, sweet potato was considered tenth in value among agricultural crops in Hawai’i when grown as an emergency crop during the war years. (Lots of information from Vitousek, Kirch, McCoy and Hammatt)

August 2, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Hōlualoa Royal Center

In the centuries prior to 1778, seven large and densely-populated Royal Centers were located along the shoreline between Kailua and Hōnaunau on the Island of Hawai‘i.

The compounds were areas selected by the ali‘i for their residences; ali‘i often moved between several residences throughout the year. The Royal Centers were selected for their abundance of resources and recreation opportunities, with good surfing and canoe-landing sites being favored.

Chiefly residences are known to have changed over time and an ali‘i would expand or modify a residential complex to meet his or her needs and desires.

Traditional histories record the lands at Hōlualoa as a chiefly residence and Royal Center.

Three major occupation sequences have been identified based on the association with various ali’i: AD 1300 (Keolonāhihi), AD 1600 (Keakamahana and Keākealaniwahine) and AD 1780 (Kamehameha I) – it appears very likely that the Hōlualoa Royal Center grew and changed over time.

Hōlualoa offered a wealth of agricultural products from the Kona Field system, offshore marine resources and the surf site off Kamoa Point in Hōlualoa Bay.

The Hōlualoa Royal Center was split into two archaeological complexes, Kamoa Point/Keolonāhihi Complex and Keākealaniwahine Residential Complex.

The Hōlualoa Royal Center contained a total of several heiau structures that were constructed and dedicated for a range of religious functions that are representative of Hawaiian cultural traditions and practices.

The functions of these heiau include surfing (Hale ‘A‘ama), warrior training (Kanekaheilani Heiau), medicine and healing (Hualani Heiau), fertility (Mo‘ipe Heiau) and preparation of ali‘i for burial (Burial Heiau and Haleokekupa).

Oral traditions suggest that the Hōlualoa Royal Center was constructed as early as A.D. 1300 by the Chiefess Keolonāhihi and her husband, Aka.

Keolonāhihi was either the daughter or niece of Pā‘ao. Pā‘ao brought the Kū religion, along with a highly stratified social system, to Hawai‘i from Tahiti, circa AD 1300.

These sites included the women’s features (Keolonāhihi Heiau, Hale Pe‘a and Palama), the sports heiau (Kanekaheilani) and the grandstand at Kamoa Point to view the surfing and canoeing events in Hōlualoa Bay.

Keākealaniwahine’s Residence, the 16-acre mauka parcel with its 28 recorded archaeological sites – this complex contains many religious sites, including three heiau.

Much of the site’s history relates to the occupation of the Royal Center by Chiefess Keakamahana and her daughter, Chiefess Keākealaniwahine, in the 17th Century. These two women were the highest-ranking Ali‘i of their dynastic line and generation – traditional histories suggest they expanded the compound mauka.

The residence of Keakamahana and Keākealaniwahine is believed to be the large walled enclosure on the mauka side of Ali‘i Drive.

Later, Kamehameha lived with his mother Kekuiapoiwa II and his guardians, Keaka and Luluka, at Pu‘u in Hōlualoa during the rule of Kalani‘ōpu’u.

At Hōlualoa, Kamehameha learned to excel in board and canoe surfing (circa 1760s to early 1770s.) “Lyman’s” at Hōlualoa Bay remains a popular surf spot, today.

Later, Kalani‘ōpu’u took Kamehameha to Ka‘u and there is no evidence that Kamehameha maintained a residence at Hōlualoa during his reign.

Kamehameha used the Keolonāhihi complex for religious purposes; after his rise to power, he stored his war god, Kūkaʻilimoku, at Hale O Kaili in the Hōlualoa Royal Center.

While I was at DLNR, we submitted nomination (and received) designation of the Hōlualoa Historic District and expanded the site through the purchase of an adjoining property.

In addition, we were involved in discussions that ultimately led to the BLNR approval of a Curator Agreement for the Keolonāhihi Complex with the Betty Kanuha Foundation.

The Hōlualoa Royal Center was one of the important Points of Interest in the Royal Footsteps Along the Kona Coast Scenic Byway Corridor Management Plan that we prepared.

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Coastal frontage at Keohonahihi (Andy Bohlander)

Clearing of invasive kiawe trees at Keolonahihi (Andy Bohlander)

Ruins of perimeter wall at Hōlualoa Royal Center

Holualoa-Keolonahihi-coastal wall formation

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March 8, 2019 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

‘Umi in Kona

Pa o ʻUmi is the small point of land in Kailua Bay between Kamakahonu (King Kamehameha Hotel) and Huliheʻe Palace, near the middle of the Kailua Seawall in Kona on the Big Island.

It marks the location of the Royal Center of the ruler ʻUmi-a-Līloa (ʻUmi) (ca. AD 1490-1525) and where famed King ʻUmi landed when he first came to Kailua by canoe from his ancestral court at Waipiʻo.

On this point of rock, King ʻUmi ordered his attendant to dry his treasured feather cloak (ʻahuʻula) (so this promontory is sometimes referred to as Ka Lae o ʻAhuʻula.)

Over the years of widening Aliʻi Drive and adding on to the seawall, this point has been almost completely covered.

ʻUmi from Waipiʻo, son of Līloa, defeated Kona chief Ehunuikaimalino and united the island of Hawai‘i. He then moved his Royal Center from Waipi‘o to Kailua.

ʻUmi’s residence was near the place called Pa-o-ʻUmi.

At about the time of ʻUmi, a significant new form of agriculture was developed in Kona; he is credited with starting this in Kona.

Today, archaeologists call the unique method of farming in this area the “Kona Field System.”

In the lower reaches of the tillable land, at elevations about 500-feet to 1,000-feet above sea level, a grove of breadfruit half mile wide and 20 miles long grew.

Sweet potatoes grew among the breadfruit. Above the breadfruit grove, at elevations where the rainfall reached 60-70 inches or more, were fields of dry land taro.

The field system took up all the tillable land and cropping cycles were frequent. Agriculture supported the thriving and growing population of Kona.

The Kona Field System (identified as Site: 10-27-6601 and including multiple locations) was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on January 28, 1977.

When it was nominated to the National Register, the Kona Field System was described as “the most monumental work of the ancient Hawaiians.”

The challenge of farming in Kona is to produce a flourishing agricultural economy in an area subject to frequent droughts, with no lakes or streams for irrigation.

The Kona Field System was planted in long, narrow fields that ran across the contours, along the slopes of Mauna Loa and Hualālai.

As rainfall increases rapidly as you go up the side of Hualālai, the long fields allowed farmers to plant different crops according to the rainfall gradients.

This traditional farming system disappeared by the mid-19th century and now coffee farms cover much of the land that once comprised the Kona Field System (we now call this mauka region the “Coffee Belt.”)

The photo shows Pa o ‘Umi, taken in 1928 from the area of the Kailua Pier – Huliheʻe Palace and Mokuaikaua Church in background. The little girl sitting on the left is my mother; the woman sitting in the middle (wearing a hat) is my grandmother.

Pa O ‘Umi was included as a Point of Interest in the Royal Footsteps Along The Kona Coast Scenic Byway. We prepared the Corridor Management Plan for the scenic byway for the Kailua Village BID.

We are honored that the project was awarded the 2011 “Environment / Preservation” award from the American Planning Association – Hawaii Chapter; “Historic Preservation Commendation” from the Historic Hawaiʻi Foundation and the 2011 “Pualu Award for Culture & Heritage” from the Kona-Kohala Chamber of Commerce.

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