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October 5, 2025 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Fire

When you rub two things together, you are creating friction, which makes things heat up. And when things heat up enough, they can catch fire. (Buddhi Rai, Assistant Professor of Physics at UH Maui College)

“The natives produced fire by rubbing two dry sticks, of the hibiscus tiliaceus [hau],” (William Ellis, 1823) Hau sticks, because of their lightness, were used in making kites. “But perhaps the most important use of this soft, light wood was in fire making …”

“… a piece of hau wood laid on the ground was grooved with a pointed stick of hard olomea wood thrust back and forth until the little pile of dust at the end of the groove away from the fire maker smouldered and then was covered with tinder and blown into a flame.”  (Handy, Handy, & Pukui)

“On Kauai Hawaiians have said that there were two varieties of bamboo native to the island, the ‘ohe Hawaii and the ‘ohe Kahiki, as throughout the archipelago. The ‘ohe Hawaii, described on Kauai as green in color with long joints and large leaves, was regarded as too soft for use in house building or for fishing rods …”

“… the long slender internodes were good for making bamboo rattles, called pu‘ili, used in certain hula performances, and for the nose flute (‘ohe-hano-ihu). This type of light bamboo was also used to make’ ohe-puhi-ahi, for blowing on the embers of a fire.” (Handy, Handy, & Pukui)

For millennia, fire was integral to many Indigenous peoples’ way of life. Native Americans, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians used fire to clear areas for crops and travel, to manage the land for specific species of both plants and animals, to hunt game, and for many other important uses. (NPS)

“Before the coming of man, native forest clothed the islands from seashore to timber line as it does today in undisturbed areas of certain other Pacific islands.” (Elwood Zimmerman)

“After the arrival of the Polynesians, … the rapid retreat of the forests began. Fires set by the natives, as is still being done all over the Pacific, made great advances through the lowland and dry-land forests.” (Elwood Zimmerman)

The “forest was cleared by the Polynesian settlers of the valley, with the aid of fire, during the expansion of shifting cultivation … The cumulative effects of forest clearance and habitat modification through the use of fire led to major changes in lowland ecology.” (Patrick Kirch)

“The cumulative effects of shifting agricultural practices (i.e., slash-and-bum or swidden), prevalent among Polynesian and Pacific peoples, probably created and maintained this open grassland mixed with pioneering species and species that tolerate light and regenerate after a fire.” (Holly McEldowney)

“With remarkable consistency, early visitors … describe an open parkland gently sloping to the base of the woods. This open but verdant expanse, broken by widely spaced ‘cottages’ or huts, neatly tended gardens, and small clusters of trees, was comfortingly reminiscent of English or New England countrysides.”  (McEldowney)

“Kalokuokamaile (Hoku o Hawaii, August 8, 1918), a planter of experience on the island of Hawaii, wrote at some length on planting methods … [for weeding large] patches, in ‘setting the patch on fire here are the rules …”

“… weed the borders all around the patch, leaving a wide margin; then burn the patch twice.’ It is not clear whether the two burnings took place at considerable intervals, or not.”  (Handy, Handy, & Pukui)

Early Polynesians traveling and settling in Hawaiʻi brought with them shoots, roots, cuttings and seeds of various plants for food, cordage, medicine, fabric, containers, all of life’s vital needs.

“Canoe crops” (Canoe Plants) is a term to describe the group of plants brought to Hawaiʻi by these early Polynesians.  Domesticated animals, including pigs, dogs and chickens were also introduced.  Kukui was one of these canoe crops.  The kukui has multiple uses, including light, fuel, medicine, dye and ornament.  (Choy)

“When (the Hawaiians) use them in their houses, ten or twelve are strung on the thin stalk of the cocoa-nut leaf, and look like a number of pealed chestnuts on a long skewer.”

“The person who has charge of them lights a nut at one end of the stick, and hold it up, till the oil it contains is consumed, when the flame kindles on the one beneath it, and he breaks off the extinct nut with a short piece of wood, which serves as a pair of snuffers.  Each nut will burn two or three minutes, and, it attended, give a tolerable light.”  (Ellis, 1826)

“Large quantities of kukui, or candle nuts, were hanging up in long strings in different parts of his house. … Sometimes the natives burn them to charcoal, which they pulverize, and use tattooing their skin, painting their canoes, surf-boards, idols or drums; but they are generally used as a substitute for candles or lamps.”

“When employed for fishing by torchlight, four or five strings are enclosed in the leaves of the pandanus, which not only keeps them together, but adds to the light they give.”  (Ellis, 1826)

Hawaiians cooked with an imu, or ground oven.  Taro “was put [i]n a hole in the ground about 18 inches deep [that was] laid [with] fuel that will burn long enough to heat the cooking stones (pohaku imu) to almost the temperature of red-hot charcoal.”

“On the fuel are laid the cooking stones, which are roundish stream or beach boulders of porous lava that will not explode or crumble under intense heat.  These stones are called ‘eho.”

“When the fire is burned out, the unburned wood and embers are prodded out with a stick and the stones are leveled (ho‘okane‘e or ho‘ohiolo ). Ti or banana leaves, kukaepua‘a grass [itchy crabgrass], ‘ilima ku kule, or seaweed is laid on the hot stones, and on this are placed the unpeeled but washed corms as they come from the patch.”

“Other foods – sweet potatoes, yams, arrowroot, fish, pig, chicken, and so forth, wrapped in ti leaves with or without accompanying greens – may be laid in with the taro. Over the food to be cooked are laid coarsely woven mats and banana and ti leaves to keep in the heat.”

“Sometimes a little water is poured on the food before the covering (ka poi) is laid on, unless the leaf covering on the hot stones will make ample steam.”  (Handy, Handy, & Pukui)

“The main use of ti leaves and the chief purpose for which ti was planted thickly about dwellings was to have at hand plenty of the broad tough leaves used in wrapping food for cooking, for preservation, and for transportation.” (Handy, Handy, & Pukui)

“Depending on size of imu, variety of taro, and size of corms, the steaming may take from two to six hours. Wild taros, the corms of which contain much calcium oxalate crystal, must be steamed long to dissolve the little prickly spikes which are responsible for ‘itch’ (mane‘o) caused in the throat by coarse taros …”

“… mild taros like Lauloa need be cooked only a couple of hours. … Poi making and imu cooking were usually [and always, anciently] the work of men and boys”.”  (Handy, Handy, & Pukui)

Another use of fire was in making a lime to ensnare birds … “The bird lime (kēpau) is made from the sap of the breadfruit. Cut the breadfruit bark and the white sap flows, and when the sap is dry, say in the evening, the sap is hardened. You go and gather the sap. When enough has been gathered, the sap can be made into bird lime.”

“Then you go and gather some raw kukui, removing the shell, you keep its meat. You then go and get the ‘clover’ for making bird lime (‘ihi-ku-kēpau, the Nasturtium sarmentosum), it is a black pā‘ihi, and you mix it with the raw kukui. Then you chew it, and the kukui and pā‘ihi become slimy.”

“This is put into a wauke bark cloth (it is a tough piece), then the juice of the kukui and pā‘ihi are squeezed into the ‘ōpihi (shell), it is the ‘pot’ for cooking the broth over the fire.”

“When it starts to boil, the (‘ulu) gum is cut into small pieces and put in the juice of the kukui and pā‘ihi so it can boil. Then get two coconut mid-ribs or perhaps little sticks to stir this boiling juice. This is how it is done until the juice is cooked and becomes the birdlime. It is then place[d] into the empty ‘ōpihi or a ti leaf, wrapped up in ti leaves.” (Maly)

© 2025 Ho‘okuleana LLC

Filed Under: Hawaiian Traditions Tagged With: Imu, Fire, Hawaii, Kukui

March 21, 2025 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kukui

Early Polynesians traveling and settling in Hawaiʻi brought with them shoots, roots, cuttings and seeds of various plants for food, cordage, medicine, fabric, containers, all of life’s vital needs.

“Canoe crops” (Canoe Plants) is a term to describe the group of plants brought to Hawaiʻi by these early Polynesians.  Domesticated animals, including pigs, dogs and chickens were also introduced.

Kukui was one of these canoe crops.

Hawaiians had many uses for the big seeds, which are borne in large quantities – as many as 75-100 pounds annually – by a large tree. The seed shells, black when mature and white earlier, were made into lei and now into costume jewelry and curios.  (CTAHR)

“The multiplicity of its uses to the ancient Hawaiians for light, fuel, medicine, dye and ornament and to the continued value to the people of modern Hawaiʻi, as well as the distinctive beauty of its light green foliage which embellishes many of the slopes of our beloved mountains, causes the kukui tree to be especially treasured by the people of the Fiftieth State of the United States as an arboreal symbol of Hawaiʻi…”  (Territorial Legislature Resolution, May 1, 1959; Hawaii House of Representatives)

From this property of the kukui comes its kaona, its spiritual import. The tree of light has become a symbol of enlightenment, protection, guidance, and peace, and as such its mana (spiritual power) flows through Hawaiian culture and its ceremonies.

The tree is considered to be the kinolau, or form, of Kamapuaʻa, the pig god, the lover of fire goddess Pele (perhaps due to light’s affinity with fire) and so a pig’s head carved from kukui wood is placed on the altar to Lono at the annual Makahiki festival.

It was used to embellish and fortify canoes. Kukui wood was used for the manu, or bird, the removable figurehead of the canoe.  Burn the seed and a fine black soot (pau) was produced that could dye kapa (bark cloth) or paint designs on the canoe prow.

The inner bark provided a red-brown dye for ‘olona cordage, the outer could provide kapa while the gum from the bark strengthened and helped waterproof the kapa.  (Stein)

In ancient times, kukui was woven into the thatched house to confer its blessings, and for modern houses a bundle of thatch mixed with kukui is used in the ceremony.    (Stein)  The kukui has multiple uses, including light, fuel, medicine, dye and ornament.  (Choy)

But of all the uses of the kukui, none is more appropriate than the property that gives it its name, for “kukui” means “light” or “torch,” and its English name is “the candlenut tree” that is the focus of this summary.

“Oil extracted from the seeds was traditionally used by Hawaiians as a preservative for surfboards.  The oil can also be used as a basis for paint or varnish, burned as an illuminant, made into soap, and used for waterproofing paper.”  (CTAHR)

The raw kernels were used to polish wooden bowls. Oiling inside and outside of the bowls made them waterproof so they could last longer. The oil was also put on the runners of the wooden holua sled to make the sled go faster. (DOE)

“The oily kernels are dried and strung on a skewer such as a coconut leaf midrib (lama kū – torch.)  Each nut in the string burns for about 3-minutes and emits a somewhat fragrant smoke.”  (CTAHR)

These same more rigid midribs (of coconut frond – or bamboo) furnished the rods on which it was the task of children to string kukui nut kernels; these were burned as candles (lama).  (Krauss)

“When (the Hawaiians) use them in their houses, ten or twelve are strung on the thin stalk of the cocoa-nut leaf, and look like a number of pealed chesnuts on a long skewer.  The person who has charge of them lights a nut at one end of the stick, and hold it up, till the oil it contains is consumed, when the flame kindles on the one beneath it, and he breaks off the extinct nut with a short piece of wood, which serves as a pair of snuffers.  Each nut will burn two or three minutes, and, it attended, give a tolerable light.”  (Ellis, 1826)

“Large quantities of kukui, or candle nuts, were hanging up in long strings in different parts of his house. … Sometimes the natives burn them to charcoal, which they pulverize, and use tattooing their skin, painting their canoes, surf-boards, idols or drums; but they are generally used as a substitute for candles or lamps.”

“When employed for fishing by torchlight, four or five strings are enclosed in the leaves of the pandanus, which not only keeps them together, but adds to the light they give.”  (Ellis, 1826)

“As the sky darkened, men prowled the shallow waters of lagoons with torches and spears. ‘Candles’ were made by stringing dried nutmeats of the oily kukui nut on thin skewers of bamboo.”

“The top nut was ignited, and as it burned out it ignited the nut below it. For a fishing torch, clusters of these candles were lighted and carried in a bamboo tube (candlenut torch.)”  (HPA)

Reportedly, on March 17, 1930, Territorial Governor Lawrence McCully Judd issued a proclamation declaring the coconut palm or niu (Cocos nucifera) the official tree of the Territory of Hawai’i.  (Choy)

But on May 1, 1959, the 30th Territorial Legislature passed Joint Resolution No. 3, which designated the kukui the official tree.  (Choy)  State law, HRS §5-8, designated the Kukui as the State tree.

© 2025 Hoʻokuleana LLC

 

Filed Under: Hawaiian Traditions, Economy, General Tagged With: Hawaii, Kukui, Canoe Crop

November 21, 2019 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

ʻIolani Palace Trees

ʻIolani Palace Grounds make up eleven acres of land in the core of downtown Honolulu.

After the arrival of American Protestant missionaries in 1820, high-ranking chiefs began to occupy the area. In 1825, a small mausoleum was built on the grounds to house the remains of King Kamehameha II and Queen Kamāmalu.

In 1845, King Kamehameha III moved his court from Lāhainā and a large home on the site with as many as twenty smaller structures served as Hawai’i’s royal palace.

During the reign of King Kalākaua the grounds were expanded to their present size.

In 1882, the new ʻIolani Palace was built and this served as the state residence of Hawaiʻi’s last ruling monarchs. Wide carriage ways were added to create an oval drive entirely around the Palace.

Previously, an 8-foot tall coral block wall with wooden gates divided the palace grounds from the outside world. The lowering of the perimeter walls to 42-inches in 1889 and the installation of iron fencing and gates in 1891, represented the final alterations to the grounds during the Monarchy era.

There are several notable trees on the grounds. The Indian Banyan tree is the most prominent and evident tree on the mauka side of the Palace grounds. The tree was a gift from Indian Royalty to King Kalākaua. Reportedly, Queen Kapiʻolani planted the tree there.

Cuttings from the tree were planted at each end of Kailua Bay in Kona. Queen Kapiʻolani was said to have planted the tree at Huliheʻe Palace in the late 1800s.

The King Kamehameha Hotel tree was transplanted a few years later after not thriving at the Maguire home on Huʻehuʻe Ranch.

Noticeable throughout the property are Royal Palms. In 1850, the first Royal Palm seeds were brought to Hawaiʻi from the West Indies by Dr. GP Judd.

On the ʻEwa-makai portion of the grounds, there is a Rainbow Shower tree; since 1959 the Rainbow Shower has been the official tree of the City of Honolulu.

On July 24, 1934, Franklin Delano Roosevelt became the first sitting president to visit Hawaiʻi. On his visit to ʻIolani Palace, initial plans were for the president to plant a memorial Kamani tree.

A Kamani sapling was ordered from the nursery; however, mistakenly, the sapling delivered just before the ceremony began turned out to be a Kukui. (The Kukui tree is the Hawaiʻi state tree.)

Roosevelt’s tree is identified by a plaque, placed in 1959, which reads: “President Franklin D. Roosevelt planted this kukui tree July 28, 1934.” It was later considered the “lucky kukui tree” and was credited by some with Roosevelt’s good fortunes in the 1936, 1940 and 1944 elections.

A handful of Monkeypod trees are found on the Palace grounds. In 1847, businessman Peter Brinsmade brought two Monkeypod seeds with him from his passage through Panama on the way here.

One seedling was planted in downtown Honolulu (presumably not on the Palace grounds,) and the other in Kōloa on Kauaʻi. These two trees are thought to be the progenitors of all the Monkeypod trees in the state.

The Huliheʻe Palace has a wardrobe furniture piece commissioned by King Kalākaua on display in one of its bedrooms. It is constructed of koa and trimmed with darker kou.

It is suggested that it may have served as the Kingdom’s entry in the Paris International Exhibition of 1889. The Exhibition catalog described the entry as “1 Koa Wardrobe, made for His Majesty the King from Koa trees grown in ʻIolani Palace Grounds.” (However, some argue that koa is not acclimated to grow in the conditions at the Palace grounds.)

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Iolani Palace Grounds - Trees - Explanation - Map
Iolani Palace Grounds - Map
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Iolani Palace - Monkeypod Tree
Iolani Palace - Banyan
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Wardrobe commissioned by King Kalākaua made of koa & trimmed with darker kou-made from Koa grown at Iolani Palace (huliheepalace-net)

Filed Under: General, Ali'i / Chiefs / Governance, Buildings Tagged With: Kapiolani, Iolani Palace, Kukui, Koa, Royal Palm, Shower Tree, Banyan, Monkeypod, Hawaii, Kalakaua

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