Maui | Page 23 | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

June 1, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kaupō Field System

At the time of initial contact, Hawaiian subsistence economy was dominated by two distinct agricultural ecosystems: (1) irrigated ponds (primarily for taro production) near permanent streams that could feed irrigation canals and (2) extensive tracts of dryland, rain-fed intensive cultivation (focused on the cultivation of sweet potatoes.)

Although irrigated ponds continued after contact, the intensive dryland field systems were abandoned in the early decades of the nineteenth century (probably due to greater labor demands for the dryland systems.)

Until recently, no intensive, dryland rain-fed field systems had been identified on Maui. However, now, there is clear evidence of such a system at Kaupō.

Before getting into the specifics of the field system, let’s recall what was happening in and around Kaupō in late pre-contact times.

Kaupō 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.

After returning from his invasion of Kohala, Kekaulike resided at Kaupō, where he died. The succession of the Maui kingship demonstrated the importance that Kaupō had in the late pre-contact Maui kingdom.

Kaupō is on the south-eastern flanks of Haleakalā, Maui.

The district is dominated by the “Kaupō Gap,” a breach of the southern wall of Haleakalā Crater with a rejuvenation phase of a massive outpouring of lava flows (and one major mudflow) through the Kaupō Gap and down to the sea, creating a vast accretion fan. The Hawaiians called this fan Nā Holokū (“The Cloak.”)

It was this great fan of young lavas with high nutrient content, combined with ideal climate conditions that provided the environmental potential for intensive agricultural production in Kaupō.

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. But this old culture was vanishing due to a combination of economic and climatic circumstances.

Oral traditions state that sweet potatoes were cultivated from sea level up to about 2,000 feet elevation and great quantities of dry taro were planted in the lower forest belt from one end of the district to the other.

Using high-resolution color aerial photographs of Kaupō and then confirming their findings on the ground, archaeologists identified grid patterns over significant parts of the landscape, confirming the existence of a major dryland field system, the first to be identified for Maui Island.

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.

A range of smaller features such as enclosures, shelters and platforms are found within the field system area indicating the presence of a complex social community integrated within the system.

This was truly dryland agriculture, there was no evidence to level terraces as in irrigated pondfield systems (taro lo‘i,) and there was no evidence of water control features or channels; so the conclusion was the system was strictly rainfed.

The most common feature type consists of stacked or core-filled stone-walled enclosures; many of these are rectangular and may be the foundation walls for thatched houses, but a few larger, irregular enclosures may be animal pens.

On Hawai‘i Island, field system complexes are associated with prominent ceremonial structures (heiau) and royal residential centers, such as Mo‘okini Heiau at the northern tip of Kohala, and the royal centers at Kealakekua and Hōnaunau in Kona.

This strong association between field systems and ceremonial architecture is not surprising, given that these intensively cultivated field complexes provided the underpinning of the elite economy.

Like other areas, two heiau at Kaupō stand out for their massive size and labor invested in their construction, Lo‘alo‘a and Kou.

Lo‘alo‘a Heiau is one of the largest on Maui and indeed in the entire archipelago and is associated in Hawaiian traditions with King Kekaulike, who ruled Maui in the early 1700s. Kou Heiau, on a lava promontory jutting into the sea is on the western end of the Kaupō field system.

It is believed that Kaupō with its field system at one time played an important role in the emerging Maui population, particularly in the final century prior to European contact, when it became the seat of the paramount Kekaulike.

The enormous capacity of these field systems enabled the rise of a population center; Lo‘alo‘a and Kou heiau on either side of the Kaupō fields illustrate the inseparable links between agriculture and the religious traditions of ancient Hawai‘i. (Lots here from Kirch.)

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook

Follow Peter T Young on Google+

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn

Follow Peter T Young on Blogger

Naholoku Fan at Kaupo Gap-(Kirch)

Kaupo_Dryland_Field_System

Kaupo-Gap-(WC-Forest_&_Kim_Starr)

Image-of-Enbankments-at-Pauku-Kirch

Kaupo-Gap_(upper)-(WC-Forest_&_Kim_Starr)

GIS Map of Linear Features-(Kirch)

Kaupo_Gap-(upper)-(WC-Forest_&_Kim_Starr)

Map of Features and Soil Age-(Kirch)

Kaupo_Gap_(WC-Forest_&_Kim_Starr)

Photo of Naholoku Fan at Kaupo Gap-(Kirch)

Kou Heiau-(Kirch)

Loaloa Heiau-(Kirch)

Illustrative Cross Sections-(Kirch)

Historic_Mokus_of_Maui_Map_(Kaupo)

Map of Islands noting Majory Dryland Field Systems-(Kirch)

May 31, 2019 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Puʻu Kukui

Maui is the second largest of the Hawaiian Islands, and covers about 730 square miles. Maui consists of two separate volcanoes with a combining isthmus between the two.

The Mauna Kahālāwai (West Maui Mountain) is probably the older of the two; Haleakala (East Maui) was last active about 1790, whereas activity on West Maui is wholly pre-historic.

“…West Maui has many sharp peaks and ridges, which are divided by deep valleys, and which in descending towards the sea open out and form sloping plains on the north and south sides of considerable extent.” (Wilkes, US Exploring Expedition of 1840-1841)

West Maui has played an important role in the history of Maui and the neighboring islands of Moloka‘i, Lānaʻi and Kahoʻolawe, with West Maui serving as the Royal Center, selected for its abundance of resources and recreation opportunities, with good surfing and canoe-landing sites being favored.

Probably there is no portion of our Valley Isle, around which gathers so much historic value as West Maui. It was the former capital and favorite residence of kings and chiefs.

After serving for centuries as home to ruling chiefs, West Maui was selected by Kamehameha III and his chiefs to be the seat of government; here the first Hawaiian constitution was drafted and the first legislature was convened.

On its eastern side, from the highest peak of Pu‘u Kukui to the shoreline of Kahului Bay, the ahupua‘a (land division) of Wailuku was a favorite place of Ali‘i and a ruling center of Maui.

‘Īao Valley is part of the ahupua‘a. For centuries, high chiefs and navigators from across the archipelago were buried in secret, difficult-to-access sites in the valley’s steep walls.

The Pu‘u Kukui Watershed Preserve (Pu‘u Kukui Preserve) was established in 1988 to protect watershed forests and associated native plants and animals.

A subsidiary of Maui Land & Pineapple, Inc. (ML&P) owns the property and began management programs in August 1988, under a management agreement with The Nature Conservancy of Hawai‘i.

The Pu‘u Kukui Preserve stretches from about 480 feet elevation at Honokōhau Stream to the Pu‘u Kukui summit – the highest point on Mauna Kahālāwai (West Maui) at 5,788 feet elevation. It lies between the Kahakuloa and Honokowai sections of the state’s West Maui Natural Area Reserve.

These three areas, together with the 1,264 acre Kapunakea Preserve (managed by The Nature Conservancy of Hawai‘i), form 13,000 acres of contiguous forests that are protected by the programs of state and private natural area managers.

The Pu‘u Kukui Preserve encompasses a very large area, much of which is remote and extremely rugged. Access to the Preserve is restricted by ML&P.

This policy is intended to minimize trampling of fragile soils and rare plants, prevent the spread of weeds by hikers, and protect public safety.

At over 8,600-acres, the Pu`u Kukui Preserve is the largest privately-owned nature preserve in the state.

The rain forests, shrub lands and bogs of the Pu‘u Kukui Preserve serve as a significant water source for West Maui residents and industries.

It is the summit of Mauna Kahālāwai and the West Maui mountainside that form a backdrop to Kapalua Resort, Kā‘anapali Resort and broader West Maui community. It is home to plant and animal species that exist nowhere else in Hawai‘i, let alone the rest of the world.

It’s also one of the wettest spots on earth (average yearly rainfall at the rain gage since 1928 is about 364 inches;) Pu‘u Kukui is a natural watershed on most of the West Maui community rely for water.

Conservation measures expanded in 1998, when the property was included in the West Maui Mountains Watershed Partnership.

The West Maui Mountains Watershed Partnership, like other Hawai‘i Watershed partnerships is a voluntary alliances of public and private landowners committed to the common value of protecting large areas of forested watersheds for water recharge and conservation values.

This partnership coordinates conservation efforts of the private and public landholding entities of Mauna Kahalawai (West Maui mountains), allowing for management of natural systems regardless of property boundaries.

The preserve is home to at least 36 species of rare plants, three native forest birds, and at least seven species of rare native tree snails. It stretches from the 480 foot elevation at Honokōhau Stream to the 5,788 foot elevation at the Pu‘u Kukui Summit.

The rain forest and the shrub lands of the area serve as a significant water source for both West Maui residents and industries alike.

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook

Follow Peter T Young on Google+

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn

Follow Peter T Young on Blogger

14-05-21-HC-PKW-Snail-Hunt-to-Summit-3

May 18, 2019 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

‘Īao

Some might feel the point of establishing a State Monument at ‘Īao Valley is to call attention to the much-photographed ‘Īao Needle – it was traditionally known as Kūkaemoku (literally ‘broken excreta.’)

The 1,200-foot-tall ‘Īao Needle (“cloud supreme”) is a basaltic core that remained after the valley’s heavy rainfall washed away the weaker stones surrounding it.

Actually, what people see is a bump on a side-ridge on the right-side of ʻIao Valley with a large protrusion that sticks up on top; it looks like a ‘needle’ of rock, but really isn’t (it’s part of the ridge).

Rainfall from Pu‘u Kukui, the summit of West Maui – at nearly 5,800-feet in the back of ‘Īao Valley, has an average annual rainfall of 364-inches per year.

Of course, this natural feature is interesting and important; but here are some other pieces of history that make ‘Īao even more important in the history of Hawai‘i.

First, the distance past.

From the highest peak of Pu‘u Kukui to the shoreline of Kahului Bay, the ahupua‘a (land division) of Wailuku was a favorite place of Ali‘i and a ruling center of Maui. ‘Īao Valley is part of the ahupua‘a.

For centuries, high chiefs and navigators from across the archipelago were buried in secret, difficult-to-access sites in the valley’s steep walls.

‘Iao Valley became a “hallowed burying place for ancient chiefs” and is the first place mentioned in the historical legends as a place for the secret burials of high chiefs. (Thrum)

Because this was sacred ground, commoners were not permitted to enter the valley, except for the Makahiki festival.

Some suggest the last burial was in 1736, with the burial of King Kekaulike.

Then, in the late-1780s into 1790, Kamehameha conquered the Island of Hawai‘i and was pursuing conquest of Maui and eventually sought conquer the rest of the archipelago.

At that time, Maui’s King Kahekili and his eldest son and heir-apparent, Kalanikūpule, were carrying on war and conquered O‘ahu.

In 1790, Kamehameha travelled to Maui. Hearing this, Kahekili sent Kalanikūpule back to Maui with a number of chiefs (Kahekili remaining on O‘ahu to maintain order of his newly conquered kingdom.)

After a battle in Hana, Kamehameha landed at Kahului and then marched on to Wailuku, where Kalanikūpule waited for him.

The ensuing battle was one of the hardest contested on Hawaiian record. The battle started in Wailuku and then headed up ‘l̄ao Valley – the Maui defenders being continually driven farther up the valley.

Kamehameha’s superiority in the number and use of the newly acquired weapons and canon (called Lopaka) from the ‘Fair American’ (used for the first time in battle, with the assistance from John Young and Isaac Davis) finally won the decisive battle at ‘Īao Valley.

Arguably, the cannon and people who knew how to effectively use it were the pivotal factors in the battle. Had the fighting been in the usual style of hand-to-hand combat, the forces would have likely been equally matched.

The Maui troops were completely annihilated, and it is said that the corpses of the slain were so many as to choke up the waters of the stream of ‘l̄ao – one of the names of the battle was “Kepaniwai” (the damming of the waters.)

Maui Island was conquered and its fighting force was destroyed – Kalanikūpule and some other chiefs escaped over the mountain at the back of the valley and made their way to O‘ahu (to later face Kamehameha, again; the next time at the Battle of Nu‘uanu in 1795.)

After the battle at ‘Iao, Kamehameha received Keōpūolani as his wife. Kamehameha left for Moloka‘i to secure it under his control, before proceeding to O‘ahu.

Then, in 1795, Kamehameha moved on in his conquest of O‘ahu.

Today, ‘Iao Valley State Monument is operated under DLNR’s State Parks system. It is at the end of ‘Iao Valley Road (Highway 32.) Free parking for Hawai‘i residents, $5 per car for others (open 7 am to 7 pm.)

A paved walking trail provides a scenic viewpoint of Kuka’emoku; a short paved loop trail meanders through an ethnobotanical garden adjacent to ‘Iao stream.

“‘lao stands without rival, as the loveliest spot in these tropical isles placed in the midsummer sea, or as Mark Twain has lovingly called it, ‘The loveliest fleet of islands that lie anchored in any Ocean’ …”

“… for seek throughout the four corners of the lands of the Kamehamehas, you will never find a place with such incomparable environment of lofty peaks, giant lehua trees, with blossoms of rosy hues glistening in the glare of the noonday sun, and deep canyons through which the mighty waters run down, as here in lao.” (Field)

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook

Follow Peter T Young on Google+

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn

Follow Peter T Young on Blogger

Iao Valley from Wailuku-1900s

Kukaemoku-(mknbr)

Iao-Stream

Iao_Valley_forest_trail

Iao_Stream

Iao_Needle

Iao_Needle and Profile

May 13, 2019 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Baldwin House

Dwight Baldwin was born on September 29, 1798 to Seth Baldwin (1775 –1832,) (a framer) and Rhoda Hull Baldwin in Durham, Connecticut, and moved to Durham, New York, in 1804. His father, He was the second of 12 children. (Baldwin Genealogy)

He was employed with his father on the farm, enjoying the benefits of the common school, and generally in winter of a select school, till the age of sixteen. In the fall of 1814, he commenced the study of Latin, with a view to prepare for College.

The last of his teachers being a graduate of Williams College, he was induced to enter at Williams, where he spent two years; and then he left Williams and entered Yale College, where he graduated in September, 1821.

By the recommendation of President Day, the next two years he was employed as Principal of the Academy in Kingston, Ulster County, NY. A third year was spent in teaching a select school in Catskill, Greene county. He then devoted himself to the study of medicine, at the same time teaching a select school in Durham, NY.

Then, he got caught in the religious fervor; about the first of March, 1826, he found relief in believing in an Almighty Redeemer, a hope which has never forsaken him. Religion became the all-absorbing subject of his thought by day and by night. (Baldwin Genealogy)

He soon came to the decision to join a mission, and September 3, of that year, he united with the Congregational Church in Durham, NY, and soon after he entered the Theological Seminary at Auburn, where he spent three years, offering his services into the American Board of Boston for a Foreign Mission … and they were accepted.

He did not have time to await official recognition of his medical degree so at direction of the Prudential Committee he took his diploma as Master of Science. He was ordained at Utica, NY on October 6, 1830.

He was introduced by a friend to Charlotte Fowler, daughter of Deacon Solomon Fowler of North Branford, Connecticut, and a few weeks later was married to her on December 3, 1830. Twenty-five days later they set sail with the Fourth Company of missionaries to Hawaiʻi on the ship ‘New England;’ he arrived at Honolulu, June 7, 1831. (Baldwin)

They ended up in Maui. Construction on the coral-and-rock Baldwin House began in 1834 and was completed in 1835; it’s the oldest house in Lāhainā.

The thick walls were made of coral and stone. The structure was sturdy consisting of hand-hewn timbers. In 1840, a bedroom and study was added, and in 1849, an entire second story was completed.

The faithful restoration of the Baldwin Home by the Lāhainā Restoration Foundation is based on careful documentary and archeological research.

It is part of the Lāhainā National Historical American Buildings Survey. It was deeded to the Lāhainā Restoration Foundation by the HP Baldwin Estate in 1967. It can never be sold and will remain in the Public Domain in perpetuity.

The home itself, the household furniture, the aged photographs and artifacts, the displays and library present a picture of the missionary who was both a physician and a constructive community force.

His educational background coupled with many natural abilities guided him to be helpful in the establishment of a system of just and democratic laws and most importantly the education of the Hawaiian people who learned much besides religion.

They were taught reading and writing in Hawaiian and English trained in agriculture and mechanics, studied the practical arts in the high school above Lāhainā; and finally learned to understand constitutional government, diplomacy and finance.

As a practicing physician, Rev. Baldwin treated and helped save the people of Maui, Molokai and Lāna‘i.

A series of epidemics swept through the Hawaiian Islands, whooping cough and measles, soon after followed by waves of dysentery and influenza; then, in 1853, a terrible smallpox epidemic.

Although precise counts are not known, there were thousands of smallpox deaths on O‘ahu; Baldwin is credited with keeping the toll to only a few hundred on Maui.

Dwight Baldwin was patriarch of a family that founded some of the largest businesses in the islands. His son, Henry Perrine Baldwin (1842–1911) and Samuel Thomas Alexander (1836–1904; also son of a missionary) met in Lāhainā, Maui.

They grew up together, became close friends and went on to develop a sugar-growing partnership that spanned generations and left an indelible mark on Hawai‘i – Alexander & Baldwin (one of Hawai‘i’s Big Five companies.)

In addition, sons Henry Perrine Baldwin and David Dwight Baldwin laid the foundation for what is now known as Maui Land & Pineapple Company, Inc in the late 1800s through the acquisition of land and formation of associated companies.

In 1870 Dwight and Charlotte moved to Honolulu as their health deteriorated and lived with their daughter Harriet (called “Hattie”). Charlotte died October 2, 1873, and Dwight died on January 3, 1886; they are buried at the Kawaiahaʻo Church cemetery.

Lāhainā Restoration Foundation oversees and maintains 11 major historic structures in Lāhainā and provides tours of the Baldwin House. Hours of Operation: Open Daily from 10 am – 4 pm ($5 Kama‘āina admission); Candlelit Tours Fridays 6 pm – 8:30 pm ($6 Kama‘āina admission)

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook

Follow Peter T Young on Google+

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn

Follow Peter T Young on Blogger

Baldwin-House (Lahaina Restoration Foundation)

Dwight Baldwin (1798–1886) was a physician and missionary on Maui

Baldwin House during reconstruction of 1966

Baldwin House-LOC-058628pv

Baldwin House-LOC-058629pv

Baldwin House-LOC-058632pv

Maui-Lahaina-Baldwin-House

Maui-Lahaina-Baldwin_House

Maui-Lahaina-Baldwin-House

Baldwin_House (Lahaina Restoration Foundation)

May 10, 2019 by Peter T Young 8 Comments

Maunaʻolu Seminary

Back in the beginning of the 19th-century, it was believed that women should be educated to understand domestic economy, because they were to play the major role in educating the young, primarily in their homes, and later as school teachers (as the school population grew and there was a shortage of teachers).

Gender segregated schools were established. The seminary’s primary task was professional preparation: the male seminary prepared men for the ministry; the female seminary took as its earnest job the training of women for teaching and motherhood. (Horowitz, Beyer)

Although schools for upper-class women were in existence prior to the 19th-century, the female seminary for middle-class women became the prevailing type of institution from 1820 until after the Civil War.

The most prominent female seminaries on the continent were Troy Seminary (1821,) Hartford Seminary (1823,) Ipswich Seminary (1828,) Mount Holyoke Seminary (1837) and Oxford Seminary (1839.)

In the Islands, the first female seminary students were adult Hawaiian women. Patricia Grimshaw states: “… that (s)oon after their arrival in Hawai’i in 1820, and over the next three decades, New England missionary women embarked on an ambitious plan to transform Hawaiian girls and women to notions of femininity upheld by their culture.”

“The plan and design of the Female Seminary is to take a class of young females into a boarding school—away in a measure from the contaminating influence of heathen society, to train them to habits of industry, neatness, and order …”

“… to instruct them in employments suited to their sex, to cultivate the minds, to improve their manners and to instill the principles of our holy religion – to fit them to be suitable companions for the scholars of the Mission Seminary and examples of propriety among the females of the Sandwich Islands.” (Dibble)

In 1835, at the general meeting of the Mission, a resolution was passed to promote boarding schools for Hawaiians; several male boarding schools and two female boarding schools were begun (Wailuku Female Seminary on the island of Maui and the Hilo Girls Boarding School on the island of Hawai’I; others followed.)

The last of the female seminaries that was begun by the missionaries was initially called the Makawao Family School. Reverend Claudius B. Andrews and his wife, Anne Seward Gilson Andrews, began it in 1861 in a location above Makawao Village on the island of Maui.

Maunaʻolu Seminary is an out-growth of the “East Maui Female Seminary.” It first sprang into existence, through the earnest desire of the Andrews for a school for Hawaiian girls, where they might he educated in the atmosphere of a Christian home, and so be equipped for their future life work.

Mr. Andrews purchased a piece of land called “Maluhia,” selecting a site about 2,000-feet on the slopes of Haleakalā.

It was here that Mr. and Mrs. Andrews with their family first conceived the idea of a “Home School” for Hawaiian girls, as Mr. Andrews said, “Where the girls are to be taught as my own daughters”.

It was not so much the idea of book knowledge as that in the early years of the child-life they would be given the essential elements of true character building, looking to future development of Hawaiian womanhood.

A year after the school began, Mrs. Andrews died.

Throughout the next seven years, Reverend Andrews received help from a variety of people, and attendance grew to 70 students. But then, in 1869, the school building burned; the school was temporarily closed, but reopened in 1871.

Reverend Andrews, along with his second wife, Samantha Andrews, were in charge of operating the school. (The second Mrs. Andrews was a sister of his first wife.)

Miss Helen E. Carpenter was engaged as an assistant teacher. Both Samantha Andrews and Helen Carpenter were graduates of Mount Holyoke Seminary. In 1874, the latter was appointed principal.

Throughout the following years, the curriculum included the usual academic courses in reading, mathematics, literature, history, language (all instruction was in English), geography, spelling, civics and the Bible. The industrial departments included sewing, domestic arts and culinary.

During the last two decades of the 19th century, the school was nicknamed the Mount Holyoke Seminary of the Hawaiian Islands due to the connection of its instructors with that American seminary and the large number of Hawaiian Islands ministers’ daughters in attendance.

Additions to the buildings and aid from both the Government and the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) led to the enrollment climbing to 100 students.

At the end of the century, all the female seminaries in Hawai‘i began to lose students to the newly-founded Kamehameha School for Girls.

This latter school was established in 1894; it was not technically a seminary or founded by missionaries, but all the girls enrolled were Hawaiian, and its curriculum was very similar to what was used at the missionary-sponsored seminaries.

After a second fire in 1898, Maunaʻolu Seminary moved into temporary quarters in the buildings of the old Haleakala government boy’s school, also above Makawao.

In 1900 Maunaʻolu was rebuilt in a place closer to Pā‘ia on land known as Pu‘u Makani (windy hill). This was brought about by the generosity of the honored trustee, Mr. Henry P. Baldwin.

Maunaʻolu Seminary continued to exist through the 1920s, offering a high school diploma to their graduates. Its last commencement was in June 1942.

The school was used for the military hospital during World War II. Reopened in 1950 as a coeducational junior college run by the Hawaiian Evangelical Association of Congregational Christian Churches, Maunaʻolu Community College offered the last two years of high school and the first two years of college.

A four-year college curriculum was developed in 1969, but the college had difficulty attracting students.

In 1971, Maunaʻolu College was acquired by United States International University, and later by the County of Maui. The college is no longer in existence.

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook

Follow Peter T Young on Google+

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn

Follow Peter T Young on Blogger