Makena | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

Keawakapu is the traditional name of the bay fronting Ka‘eo, and is the ‘ili where the historical church (now known as Keawala‘i), is situated. In the present day, the place names, Ka‘eo and Keawakapu are not widely used.

The name Keawakapu is almost unknown in this area. This is because the name “Keawala‘i” for the Hawaiian Church has been generally in use since sometime in the early-1900s. Keawakapu was the traditional name of the ‘ili on which the Church is situated. (Maly)

The traditional name of a neighboring bay, Makena actually in the ahupua‘a of Papa‘anui, is the locality name most familiar. The association of the larger area with the name Makena – formerly only a small locality name in a larger ahupua‘a of the Honua‘ula District – dates back to the late-1840s, when the bay of Makena was made the primary landing and coastal economic center of the region.

From 1800 to the 1840s (in the period prior to the Mähele ‘Äina), the land of Ka‘eo was managed for members of the Kamehameha household and supporting high chiefs by konohiki—lesser chiefs appointed by Kamehameha III and Ulumäheihei Hoapili. (Maly)

Up to the early 1840s, land use, access, and subsistence activities in Ka‘eo remained as it had from ancient times. But by the middle 1840s, land use in Ka‘eo and in neighboring lands, transitioned from traditional subsistence agriculture to business interests, focused on ranching and plantations (the latter occurring in the cooler uplands).

Honua‘ula District was one frequented by droughts and famines. Native residents supported themselves by cultivating in the uplands, and fishing, with some lowlands agriculture when rains fell. They also traded woven goods and other items for kalo from Na Wai ‘Ehä (Waikapü, Wailuku, Wai‘ehu and Waihe‘e.) (Maly)

Also, in the 1830s, just prior to the development of fee-simple property rights in the Hawaiian Kingdom, the land of Ka‘eo was selected as the center for educational and church work in the Honua‘ula District.

The first place of worship and instruction was established at Keawakapu, Ka‘eo, in 1825, as a thatched pili grass structure.

On August 1st and 8th, 1834, Ka Lama Hawai‘i published two letters from John S. Green (Garina), reporting on a visit to the various church stations of East Maui, including Honua‘ula. Green wrote to Lorin Andrews reporting that there were few children at the Honua‘ula Church (Keawakapu), but that he preached to a gathering of nearly 2,000 people, observing the people of the district were very poor. (Maly)

In 1856, the Sunday school raised $70 which was sent to the United States to buy a bell for the church. (The bell arrived in January 1860 and was lifted to the belfry in February 1862.)

The Stone Meeting House at Keawakapu (also called Honua‘ula or Makena Church) was completed in 1858.

The land where the church now stands was purchased in 1864. The minister asked that the property, church and deed be turned over to the mission in Boston, but the members voted to retain the property as their own and elected trustees who had charge of the worship services in the absence of ministers.

Life in Mākena was not easy a hundred years ago and it did not get easier as time went on. First, because the weather pattern for the area changed, the once fertile lands became parched and the small farmers who lived in Mākena were forced to pick up and begin their lives again elsewhere on Maui. Then came the Great Depression, then Second World War.

In 1944, the church known as the Stone House, Honuaʻula, Keawekapu, Makena and Kaʻeo was renamed Keawalaʻi – the name it retains today.

The plight of the church went virtually unnoticed until Kahu Abraham Akaka spearheaded a rededication of the church on May 25, 1952. The church structure was repaired and a new, revitalized spirit came over the small congregation. Membership rose.

When the belfry collapsed in January 1968, the church members decided to build a new one and to do repairs on the interior, including replacement of the windows and doors.

In 1975 the church building was in need of restoration and funds were raised by members and friends and the work undertaken; the old roof was removed and all damaged rafters and trusses were replaced. On May 16, 1976 a worship service was held with the rededication and a lū‘au.

The church has made a commitment to maintain Hawaiian tradition and culture, to incorporate the use of Hawaiian language, music and dance as well as to honor the various traditions and cultures represented in its membership within its ministry of worship and service. Lots of information here is from Kepa Maly and the Keawalaʻi Church website.

The moku (district) of Honuaʻula includes the Southeastern portion of the island of Maui from the coastal bay of Keawakapu (modern day South Kihei area) to the rocky shoreline of Kanaloa point, seven miles south of Keoneʻoʻio (La Perouse) Bay.

The moku of Honuaʻula extends inland to what is now the southeastern face of Haleakala National Park and includes the upland regions of Ulupalakua and Kanaio. It also includes the Island of Kahoʻolawe a few miles away across the ʻAlalakeiki channel (the “rain shadow” of Maui’s Haleakalā, a “cloud bridge” connects Kahoʻolawe to the slopes of Haleakalā.)

The upper areas were in sandalwood and koa forests. Prior to European contact, early Hawaiians farmed sweet potatoes, dry land taro and harvested wood, birds and pigs from these forested areas.

Researchers believe that in the era from AD 1300 to 1800 native forests in southeast Maui areas like Honuaʻula began much lower- around the 2,300 to 2,800 foot elevation. These views are based upon analysis of bird and snail remains, common species represented in studies of Honuaʻula’s neighboring moku (district) of Kahikinui.

The areas below the west and south slopes of Haleakalā (Kula, Honuaʻula, Kahikinui and Kaupo) in old Hawaiian times were typically planted in sweet potato. The leeward flanks of Haleakalā were not as favorable for dry or upland taro. However, some upland taro was grown, up to an altitude of 3,000 feet.

The district was one frequented by droughts and famines. Hawaiians supported themselves by cultivating in the uplands, and fishing, with some lowlands agriculture when rains fell. They also traded woven goods and other items for kalo from Na Wai ʻEhā (Waikapū, Wailuku, Waiʻehu and Waiheʻe.) (Maly)

Archaeologists have proposed that early Polynesian settlement voyages between Kahiki (the ancestral homelands of the Hawaiian gods and people) – Kahikinui, the district neighboring Honua‘ula to the south, is named because from afar on the ocean, it resembled a larger form of Kahiki, the ancestral homeland. (Maly)

Honuaʻula (literally, Red-land or earth) is comprised of twenty traditional ahupuaʻa. Honuaʻula was a legal-judicial district throughout the nineteen century. In modern times, Honuaʻula has been joined with portions of the traditional moku of Kula, Hamakuapoko and Hamakualoa to form Maui County’s Makawao land management district. (de Naie)

The Honuaʻula lands are tied to the legend of the great voyaging chief, Moʻikeha, who sailed to Kahiki (Tahiti) after the devastation of his homelands in Waipiʻo Valley on the island of Hawaiʻi. One of Moʻikeha’s voyaging companions, a chief named Honuaʻula, is said to have given the Maui district its name when he asked to be put ashore there. (Fornander)

“Where the wind dies upon the kula (plains) is the sub-region of Makena and Kula, where the mists are seen creeping along the plain. This is a land famous with the Chiefs from the distant past.” (From the tale of Ka-miki, Maly, de Naie)

Because of its proximity to Hawaiʻi Island, favorable wind conditions, long coastline with sandy beaches and several sheltered bays, it is likely that the Honuaʻula district received voyagers from these early excursions. Perhaps this is why it was described in the ancient (AD 1200-1300) name chant of Ka-miki as being “a land famous with the Chiefs from the distant past.“

“In ancient times, the land was covered with people. From the summits of the mountains to the shore are to be found the remains of their cultivated fields and the sites of their houses.” (Kamakau, de Naie)

Honuaʻula’s earliest history is tied to the importance of Puʻu Olaʻi (“Red Hill” and “Miller’s Hill”.) Puʻu Olaʻi has its origin in the legendary battle between the volcano goddess Pele and the local moʻo (supernatural lizard) goddess Puʻuoinaina.

Puʻu Olaʻi, a 360-foot cinder cone forms a point and separates Oneloa “Makena” Beach from Oneuli “Black Sand” Beach. A portion of Puʻu Olaʻi further divides Makena Beach into ‘Big Beach’ and ‘Little Beach.’

Honuaʻula is also home to a number of traditional Hawaiian fishponds, most adapted from natural wetlands along the shore. Three of these are shown in old maps in the Honuaʻula, and several more were shown just to the south of Puʻu Olaʻi.

Based upon this cultural view, the earliest population levels of Honuaʻula would have been linked to availability of food from the sea and the land and fresh water resources, as well as the influence of spiritual forces and familial ties.

The presence of trade resources such as dried sea salt, volcanic glass and canoe building materials as well as safe landing areas and favorable currents would all be part of the mix of conditions to determine the extent of population.

In 1789, Simon Metcalf (captaining the Eleanora) and his son Thomas Metcalf (captaining the Fair American) were traders; their plan was to meet and spend winter in the Hawaiian Islands. After a confrontation with a local chief on Hawaiʻi Island, Simon Metcalf then sailed to Maui and anchored the Eleanora off shore, probably at Makena Bay.

Someone stole one of Metcalfe’s small boats and killed a watchman. Captain Metcalfe fired his cannons into the village, and captured a few Hawaiians who told him the boat was taken by people from the village of Olowalu.

He sailed to Olowalu but found that boat had been broken up, enraged, Metcalfe indicated he wanted to trade with them; instead, he opened fire, about one hundred Hawaiians were killed, and many others wounded. Hawaiians referred to the slaughter as Kalolopahu, or spilled brains; it is also called the Olowalu Massacre.

From 1800 to the 1840s (in the period prior to the Māhele ʻĀina), the land here was managed for members of the Kamehameha household and supporting high chiefs by konohiki—lesser chiefs appointed by Kamehameha III and Ulumäheihei Hoapili. (Maly)

Up to the early 1840s, land use, access, and subsistence activities remained as it had from ancient times. But by the middle 1840s, land use transitioned from traditional subsistence agriculture to business interests, focused on ranching and plantations (the latter occurring in the cooler uplands).

Modern agricultural began on the slopes of Haleakalā in 1845 when Linton L Torbert, an active member of the Royal Hawaiian Agricultural Society, farmed potatoes and corn, primarily to supply island merchant ships and California’s ’gold rush’ era. He later planted sugar. (The 2,300-acres had first been leased from King Kamehameha III in 1841.)

On January 23, 1856, “Kapena Ki” (Captain James Makee) purchased at auction Torbert’s plantation. He sold his Nuʻuanu residence. (He was active in Oʻahu business and, later, was the Kapiʻolani Park Association’s first president (they even named the large island in the Park’s waterways after him.))

The Stone Meeting House at Keawakapu (also called Honuaʻula or Makena Church) was completed in 1858. In 1944, the church known as the Stone House, Honuaʻula, Keawekapu, Makena and Kaʻeo was renamed Keawalaʻi – the name it retains today. (Lots of information here from ‘Project Kaʻeo’ (de Naie, Donham) and He Mo‘olelo ‘Āina No Ka‘eo (Maly))