Oahu | Page 65 | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

November 16, 2016 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Islands in the Bay

With the Bay as our backyard, we were fortunate kids growing up on Kāneʻohe Bay. Within the body of water were a number of small islands we would boat to, camp at, fish, party, etc.

Mokoliʻi (little lizard)

While Hiʻiaka the goddess (Pele’s younger sister) was returning to meet with Pele, as she approached Kualoa, she came upon a moʻo (lizard, dragon) who tried to stop her.

Hiʻiaka crushed the evil moʻo and left a piece of his tail as a landmark – Mokoliʻi at Kualoa (his body became the foothills below the steep Kualoa cliffs (‘long back’.))

Today, because of the obvious shape of the island, many generally refer to Mokoliʻi Island as “Chinaman’s Hat.” We’d land and camp on the seaward side. Back then, we’d also climb to the top of the island (about 306-feet high.)

Kapapa (shoal island)

As recently as the 1950s, scholars from Bishop Museum conducted modest digs on Kapapa. In addition to the koʻa, their work revealed a canoe house and also unearthed tools, jewelry and human remains (and reportedly a heiau.)

“Kapapa was always an important stopover for fishermen. It was difficult to navigate in the bay of Kane‘ohe, because of the patch reefs. But Kapapa is outside the reefs, and fishermen would always go there to camp and to dry their catch.” (Kawelo; Hollier)

Kapapa Island is located two miles off the shore of Kaneʻohe Bay. The small island is inhabited by many seabirds. These seabirds fledge anywhere from 150 to 300 chicks a year. (Sabado)

“Seabirds are really sensitive to the intensity and frequency of human activities. Adult birds can fly away, but the chicks are stationary in their burrows. The main thing is that having people around affects the nesting birds and the seabirds’ ability to reproduce.” (Misaki; Sabado)

The islet is protected as a sanctuary with access restricted, as well as prohibited activities on the island to permit holders only.

While Kapapa was once used recreationally for fishing and camping (things we frequently did,) visitors are now limited to just fishing, and only around the perimeter of the island in the daytime; the islet is closed to access between sunset and sunrise.

Ahu O Laka (Alter of Laka)

I have heard of three different traditional stories associated with the naming of Ahu O Laka. The first references the sand and links this site to Laka, goddess of the Hula.

The second refers to Chief Laka, born in Haili, Hilo. He reportedly died in Kualoa (some say on the island) and was subsequently buried in ‘Iao Valley (a place reserved for the highest of chiefs.)

The final story suggests that the place served as an ancient dividing line between fishers from the regions of Kualoa and Kailua.

As a kid, we called it ‘Sand Island’ (it went along with the “Island” references we used in the bay, i.e. Coconut Island and Coral Island.) Over time, the common name transitioned to Sand Bar. At low tide it forms into an island, otherwise it is covered with water.

Moku O Loʻe (Loʻe’s Island)

Three brothers, Kahoe, Kahuauli and Pahu, and their sister, Loʻe, were sent from ʻEwa to live in Kāneʻohe. Kahuauli was a farmer at Luluku (in the area of Puʻu Kahuauli).

Kahoe was a farmer near Haiku and Keaʻahala; and Pahu was a fisherman in Pohakea (in the area of Puʻu Pahu). Loʻe lived on Moku o Loʻe (Loʻe’s island). (Jokiel, HIMB)

It came under the ownership of Bishop Estate. In 1933, Chris Holmes, owner of Hawaiian Tuna Packers (later, Coral Tuna) and heir to the Fleischmann yeast fortune, purchased the island for his tuna-packing factory.

Later, Holmes tried to transform Coconut Island into his own private paradise. He enlarged the island, built the ponds, harbors and seawall surrounding the island (it even housed a small zoo for a short time with donkeys, a giraffe, monkeys and a baby elephant.) (HIMB)

He also planted large numbers of coconut palms which gave rise to its popular name, ‘Coconut Island.’

After Chris Holmes passed away in 1944 Coconut Island was used for an Army Rest & Recreation center; later Edwin Pauley bought it and a concept plan was developed to use the island as a millionaire’s playground and exclusive resort, an ultimate “retreat for tired businessmen.”

By the early 1950s Edwin Pauley was approached by the marine biologists at the UH’s fledgling Marine Laboratory to use the island’s boat facilities as a base for their research vessel. (HIMB)

Instead of a millionaire’s playground, the island became a haven for world-class scientists at the Hawaiʻi Institute for Marine Biology (HIMB) (and it was featured in the opening scene of Gilligan’s Island, a 1960s television sitcom.)

Coral Island

The earliest modifications to the natural marine environment of Kane‘ohe Bay were those made by the ancient Hawaiians. The construction of walled fishponds along the shore was perhaps the most obvious innovation.

The development of terraces and a complex irrigation network for the cultivation of taro no doubt had an effect on stream flow, reducing total runoff into the Bay.

Then they started to dredge (records of dredging permits issued by the Army Corps began in 1915.) Almost all of the early permits were for boat landings, piers and wharves, including the 1,200-foot wharf at Kokokahi and the 500-foot wharf at Moku O Loʻe for Hawaiian Tuna Packers (in 1934.)

Although some dredging was involved in the construction of piers and small boat basins, probably the first extensive dredging was done in 1937 when 56,000 cubic yards were dredged “from the coral reef in Kāne‘ohe Bay” by the Mokapu Land Co., Ltd.

The great bulk of all reef material dredged in Kane‘ohe Bay was removed in connection with the construction at Mokapu of the Kaane‘ohe Naval Air Station (now Marine Corps Base Hawai‘I – dredging for the base began on September 27, 1939, and continued throughout World War II.)

Appropriately named because it was formed by stockpiling coral dredge material on a nearby reef, at low tide it was a single island but became two when the tide came in. A small cove was on the lee side of the larger island, this is where we anchored.

‘Coral Island’ is now gone; constant pressure from the tides and waves leveled and lost the island.

Like any other place, use and demeanor here and elsewhere should be courteous and respectful. This does not mean we can’t have a good time while enjoying the Bay, but it does place responsibility on each of us to understand, care about and, ultimately, care for special places in Hawai‘i.

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October 3, 2016 by Peter T Young 3 Comments

Dowsett Tract

Honolulu, by the end of the 19th century, was densely populated. Overcrowding and unsanitary living conditions were of great concern.

In part because of the 1900 plague and the Chinatown fire, residents began moving away from the city and into the surrounding valleys, wanting to escape from the overcrowded city into the quiet and serene rural areas.

With the introduction of the railway, trolley system, and the construction of new roads into the Honolulu area, transportation and accessibility into the city was made easier, thus affording residents with an easier commute.

There was a trolley that traveled from Waikiki into Manoa Valley along Oahu Avenue, and another that traveled along Nu‘uanu Avenue from town into the Nuuanu Valley. The introduction of automobiles, and construction of finished roadways also made travel easier.

Before the construction of the Pali Road, residents living on the windward side of Oahu would travel over the Ko‘olau Mountains by foot, along a treacherous path, to reach Honolulu.

In 1876, improvements were made to the trail to allow horses access to the trail as well. Regardless of these improvements, the trail was still quite dangerous, and took time to travel.

In 1897, plans for the construction of Pali Road were initiated. Engineered by Johnny Wilson and Lou Whitehouse, after its completion, it was considered one of Oahu’s major roadways.

Pali Road, connecting with Nuʻuanu Avenue (the present Pali Highway), officially connected the windward side of the island with downtown Honolulu. The development of this road allowed for greater accessibility into the valley.

In order to support the growing populations in dense areas in Honolulu, reservoirs and sophisticated systems were developed to collect and transport water to these areas.

By 1890, there were already two reservoirs in place in Nuʻuanu Valley, and a third one was under construction. Plans for a fourth reservoir was underway after the 1891 drought, and construction on this reservoir began in 1905.

With the area’s water system development, it supported the lifestyles of those living in the valley area. This area was one of the first on O‘ahu to be developed as a residential subdivision. It was called the Dowsett Tract.

The Dowsett Tract was named after the family that once owned the land. James Isaac Dowsett was born to Samuel James Dowsett (born in Rochester, Kent, England 1794 – lost at sea in 1834) and Mary Bishop Dowsett (Rochester, Kent, England; 1808 – 1860) in Honolulu, December 15, 1829.

Samuel and Mary married in Australia. A ship captain, Samuel did shipping business in Australia and was into whaling. Samuel first arrived in Hawaiʻi in 1822 when he was first officer of the “Mermaid,” accompanying the “Prince Regent,” a gift-ship from King George IV of England to King Kamehameha I, promised to the King by George Vancouver.

Samuel returned with his wife on July 17, 1828, arriving on the brig Wellington; they set up their home in Hawaiʻi at that time. Samuel and Mary had 4 children, James, Samuel Henry, Elizabeth Jane and Deborah Melville. James Isaac Dowsett was the first non-missionary white child to be born in Hawai‘i.

With his father’s disappearance, James Dowsett started working from the young age of twelve, and had a strong work ethic that would help him become a successful businessman.

He was active in the whaling and lumber industry, owned a fleet of boats that operated between the islands, and had extensive ranching investments. In his youth, Dowsett was a playmate of Kamehameha IV, Kamehameha V and Lunalilo.

Dowsett married Annie Green Ragsdale of Honolulu, and together they had thirteen children. “He was a quick thinker and an excellent reasoner and while not a talkative man was always willing to supply any information from his great storehouse that might be useful to another or that might interest an inquirer.”

“He knew the town, the people and the country. He never left the Islands but once in his whole life and then four days in San Francisco was enough of life in foreign parts. He was a perfect encyclopedia of history and biography not only of Honolulu and Oahu, but of the entire group.”

“The common suggestion to one in search of obscure historical data was to go to Mr. Dowsett and he never failed. He could always supply day and date and all required details.” (Hawaiian Gazette, June 17, 1898)

Dowsett took on Chung Kun Ai as his protégé, allowing Ai to use a portion of his warehouse, and Ai started importing cigars, tea, peanut oil, shoe nails and other items. Ai and others later started City Mill, a rice milling and lumber importing business in Chinatown, Honolulu. The City Mill building on Nimitz was dedicated to Dowsett.

“Dowsett saw the grass hut replaced by the stone business block and the taro patch filled up for mansion site. He saw the little paths become fine streets and the broad and barren plains thickly populated districts. He saw the life of a nation change. … Through all this he was a close observer and always on the side of what was right and just.” (Hawaiian Gazette, June 17, 1898)

Dowsett died on June 14, 1898; “news of the death of Mr. Dowsett had been sent all over the Island and the Hawaiians in large numbers joined the throng of haoles calling to pay respects and offer consolation.”

“The older Hawaiians could not restrain themselves at all and gave vent to floods of tears and to strange wailings. They were overpowered and overcome by the thought that no more would they have the friendly greeting, the certain and reliable advice or the material assistance of the one who had been their reliance at all times and upon all occasions for so many years.” (Hawaiian Gazette, June 17, 1898)

After his death in 1899, James Dowsett’s heirs formed The Dowsett Company, Ltd. to help manage his extensive Hawaii property, including Dowsett Tract.

The Dowsett Tract was 273 acres of land in Nuʻuanu Valley. On October 4, 1912, the Dowsett Company subdivided the property into two lots (A and B). In June of 1916 – September 1916, the property was subdivided into 57 lots.

The Niniko ʻauwai runs through the development, providing fresh drinking water for virtually every land parcel contained within the triangular portion of land bounded by Nuʻuanu Avenue, Dowsett Avenue and Alika Avenue. Dowsett Avenue and Ragsdale Place in Dowsett Tract and Highlands in Nuʻuanu are named after James and Annie.

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Oahu_Country_Club-from_Alewa-(GaryWild)-1919-Dowsett Tract

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Nuuanu Valley, Honolulu, Hawaii, circa 1900

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Nuuanu_Valley-Aviation Day formation over Oahu-(hawaii-gov)-December 17, 1934

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September 24, 2016 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Marconi Wireless

Until 1840 any immediate communication between human beings was limited to the range of the eye or the ear. In nations such as France, Russia and Great Britain, fire signal towers stretched the length of the country to serve as early warning systems.

During the nineteenth century scientists and inventors came to better understand electricity’s ability to transmit sound, and with this understanding came such inventions as the telegraph by Samuel Morse in 1840, the telephone by Alexander Graham Bell in 1875, and the phonograph by Thomas Alva Edison in 1877.

In addition to these new wonders came such scientific advances as James Clerk Maxwell’s 1865 theory, which postulated electromagnetic waves existed and moved at a uniform speed, but varied in length and frequency.

In 1888, Heinrich Hertz proved this theory by demonstrating that electricity could bridge a gap from one coil to produce a current in another. These all laid the groundwork for humanity’s delving into the possibility of wireless communication.

Then came Guglielmo Marconi (who was born at Bologna, Italy on April 25, 1874.) In 1895, he began laboratory experiments at his father’s country estate where he succeeded in sending wireless signals over a distance of one and a half miles.

In 1900, he took out his famous patent No. 7777 for “tuned or syntonic telegraphy” and, on an historic day in December 1901, determined to prove that wireless waves were not affected by the curvature of the Earth.

He used his system for transmitting the first wireless signals across the Atlantic between Poldhu, Cornwall, and St. John’s, Newfoundland, a distance of 2,100 miles. (Nobel Prize)

In the Islands, “Telegraph communication seems likely soon to be in operation between our islands. Marconi has successfully sent telegrams across the British channel without wire.”

“An invisible electric ray is flashed from lofty mast, directed to receiver thirty miles away, which records it. So Hawai‘i will not need an inter-island cable. Rain, fog and darkness do not obstruct the ray.” (The Friend, May 1, 1899)

Then interisland wireless came; “Just about the latest wonder accomplished by science is telegraphing without wires, communicating between far distant and mutually invisible points by means of the ether which is believed to exist as a sort of cement holding the molecules of the atmosphere together.”

“Today Hawaiians will be given their first opportunity of witnessing the workings of this marvel the marvel by which a young Italian boy named Marconi astonished the world a few years ago.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, June 16, 1900)

Then, the American Marconi Company began establishing global coverage with long distance, paired sending and receiving stations not only in England, France and the United States, but also Spain, Italy, Egypt, India, and Argentina.

Hawaii was viewed as a bridge facilitating wireless communication between California, Hawaii and Japan as well as Australia; he planned facilities at Koko Head and Kahuku. At the time of Kahuku’s opening, it was the largest wireless telegraph station in the world in terms of capacity and power.

Everything in the plant was in duplicate, the one system backing up the other, so there was no reason to have to shut down operations because of a need to undertake repairs. (NPS) “Quite a large staff is housed in the Marconi Hotel, some operators and some engineers.” (Marconi Service News)

“Besides being included in the great chain of wireless stations which are to be erected by the Marconi Company, Hawai‘i has been favored with being selected as the site for the largest wireless station in the world.”

“While situated in the middle of the Pacific ocean, isolated, as it were, from the rest of the world except for a single cable and a wireless station only capable of working at night …”

“… Hawai‘i will be able to throw off this isolation with the coming of the Marconi system, get into a more complete touch with the rest of the world, and be drawn into closer relations with the country of which it is a territory.” (Star Bulletin, April 19, 1913)

The transoceanic stations were officially opened on September 24, 1914, approximately two months after the start of World War I in Europe. (NPS)

The first message (from Governor Lucius Pinkham to President Woodrow Wilson) read, “With time and distance annihilated and space subdued through wireless triumphs and impulse …”

“… the Territory of Hawai‘i conveys its greetings, profound respect and sympathy to Woodrow Wilson, president of the United States, as he so earnestly seeks the blessings of peace and good will for all men and all nations. (Star Bulletin, September 24, 1914)

President responded with a short, “May God bring the nation together in thought and purpose and lasting peace.” (NPS)

“Today marks a new era in transpacific and world-communication for the people of Hawai‘i. With the opening of two great wifeless stations on Oahu by the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company of America ‘’

“… Uncle Sam’s midpacific territory is brought closer and is bound closer than ever to her sister commonwealth of the mainland.” (Star Bulletin to Associated Press, September 24, 1914)

The Marconi Wireless Telegraph Station at Kahuku includes four buildings: the power house/operating building, hotel, administration building, and manager’s cottage.

With the end of WWI, Radio Corporation of America (RCA) took over the facility; then, preparations and defense facilities, in anticipation of WWII, started popping up on the island.

The north-Oʻahu facility was under the overall command of the Hawaiian Air Force (HAF) headquartered at Hickam, Oʻahu. The HAF was activated on October 28, 1940, as the first air force outside the Continental US. (Bennett)

On November 25, 1941, Army Engineers took over the RCA facility and started constructing an Army Air Base in and around it. (They also constructed two other North Shore airfields at Kawaihāpai (Mokuleʻia/Dillingham) and Haleiwa.)

The old Marconi/RCA administration building was converted into air base headquarters and Commanding Officer’s quarters. The RCA buildings, with the exception of the powerhouse/operating building, were also used by the air field.

The hotel became the base headquarters, the administration building housed base operations, and the manager’s house became the commanding officer’s quarters.

The usual theater of operations support buildings were constructed (i.e., control tower, barracks for enlisted men, officer’s quarters, mess halls, chapel, dispensaries, cold storage, two fire stations, paint shop, Post Exchange, radio station, telephone exchange, etc.)

The April 1, 1946 tsunami devastated the Kahuku Air Base, destroying numerous buildings and covering the runways with debris. Following this tidal wave, military air operations ceased at Kahuku and sometime between June 12, 1946 and March 1947 the lands were returned to Campbell Estate.

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Kahuku Marconi

Marconi Wireless

Marconi Wireless-Power house

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September 16, 2016 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Battery 405

The windward region of Koʻolaupoko has long been considered the ‘bread basket’ of Oʻahu and highly favored with well-watered agricultural lands and verdant fishing grounds. (Sinoto)

Based on the oral traditions and legendary accounts, the Kaneʻohe Bay region was favored as a rich and productive agricultural, as well as marine resources area during the prehistoric period.

Dry land cultivation of such crops as sweet potato, yams, and breadfruit; wetland cultivation of taro; and aquaculture in the coastal fishponds and in the estuarine areas were practiced along with fishing in the near shore, lagoon and deep ocean zones. (Sinoto)

Mokapu ‘to separate by imposing a taboo’ is derived from the combination of two words, Mo is short for Moku (‘district or island’ and kapu ‘sacred, no trespassing, or keep out.’ If you entered a kapu district, you were killed.

Mokapu was named this because this is where King Kamehameha met with chiefs. The name of the meeting place was named ‘the sacred land of Kamehameha.’ (ksbe)

Mahinui, named for a legendary hero (translates as ‘great champion’ (Pukui) was known as a “regular place of rest for the travelers, called oioina by the ancients”. (Hoku Hawai‘i, 1925; Cultural Surveys)

The US military first established a presence on the Mokapu peninsula in 1918 when President Woodrow Wilson signed an executive order establishing Fort Kuwaʻaohe Military Reservation on 322-acres on the northeast side of Mokapu.

The army was responsible for the seacoast defense of Naval Air Station Kaneohe Bay, commissioned in 1939 on the Mokapu Peninsula. Permanent seacoast batteries were needed for long-term defense, while temporary defenses were necessary until the permanent defenses could be funded and constructed. (Bennett)

The Army stayed there until August 1940 when the Navy decided to acquire all of Mokapu Peninsula to expand Naval Air Station Kaneʻohe; it included a sea plane base, it began building in September 1939 and commissioned on February 15, 1941.

Between 1939 and 1943, large sections of Kāneʻohe Bay were dredged for the dual purposes of deepening the channel for a sea plane runway and extending the western coastline of the peninsula with 280-acres of coral fill.

On Sunday morning, December 7, 1941, two waves of Japanese Imperial Navy aircraft bombed and strafed Kaneʻohe Naval Air Station, several minutes before Pearl Harbor was attacked.

The bulk of the Harbor Defense facilities were equipped and deployed for a naval attack or amphibious landing; their defenses against an air attack failed to keep up with the magnitude of the aerial assault on December 7, 1941. (Williford)

Following the attack, to defend the military facility at Mokapu, a number of gun batteries were built. On June 14, 1942, authorization was given for installation of coast artillery armament for the defense of the Kaneohe Bay Air Station.

The battery site, and most others built on Oʻahu during World War II, was chosen for its field of fire coverage and ease and economy of construction. Preliminary reconnaissance of potential locations was made by the Corps of Engineers Design Division and the Hawaiian Seacoast Artillery Command. (Bennett)

In 1944, with two 8-inch guns, Battery 405 was built on the northeast lower slope of Puʻu Papaʻa, about 145- feet above sea level. The 542-foot peak is at the north terminus of the Oneawa Hills, on the dividing line between Kailua and Kaneʻohe.

Two tunnels were excavated into the hillside; each tunnel measured about 210-feet long by 10-feet wide, with 12-foot crowns, arched ceilings, and slab sidewalls. The walls and floors were concrete. The tunnels converged somewhat as they penetrated the hillside. (Bennett)

The guns were mounted in the open with no protection from bombardment, besides camouflage. The powder magazines, shell rooms, plotting room and support facilities were tunneled into the hillside.

The 8-inch guns did not have armored shields, leaving them and their crews vulnerable to enemy surface attack and even more to air attack. A metal lath structure resembling a farmhouse rooftop affixed to the carriage traversed with the guns, but only provided minimal camouflage. *Bennett)

Command and control functions were centered in the battery commander’s station above the gun emplacements, about the 300-foot elevation of Puʻu Papaʻa.

A single-story rectangular reinforced-concrete building dug into the ground was equipped with three narrow horizontal observation slots on the front and both side walls, with dropdown outside-hinged steel shutters. (Bennett)

Following the war (August 27, 1946,) Battery 405 was named Battery DeMerritt, after Robert E DeMerritt, a Colonel with the Coast Artillery Corps during World War II (he died in the “Line of Duty” of a non-battle related incident on July 25, 1942.)

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BCN 405-Metal lath camouflage resembled a rooftop-Bennett

8-inch Mark VI M3A2 Gun and M1 Carriage, USA TM 9-442-1

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8-inch MkVIM3A2 #2 Gun at BCN-405. USAMH

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Fort Hase from the southwest rim of Ulupau Head. Arrow points to BCN 405-Bennett

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September 13, 2016 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Oneawa

“Ka ulu koa i kai o Oneawa”
“The koa grove down at Oneawa”

The Island of O‘ahu has six Moku (districts:) Kona, Koʻolaupoko, Koʻolauloa, Waialua, Waiʻanae and ʻEwa. Each Moku is divided into ahupua‘a. For the Moku of Koʻolaupoko, these include (West to East) Kualoa, Hakipuʻu, Waikāne, Waiāhole, Kaʻalaea, Waiheʻe, Kahaluʻu, Heʻeia, Kāneʻohe, Kailua and Waimānalo.

Kailua Ahupua‘a is the largest ahupua‘a of the Moku of Koʻolaupoko and the largest valley on the windward side of O‘ahu. From the Koʻolau ridge line it extends down two descending ridge lines which provide the natural boundaries for the sides of the ahupua‘a.

Some ahupuaʻa were further subdivided into units (still part of the ahupuaʻa) called ʻili. Some of the smallest ahupuaʻa were not subdivided at all, while the larger ones sometimes contained as many as thirty or forty ʻili. Kailua had many, including the ‘ili of Oneawa.

Traditional Hawaiian land use in this area focused on irrigated taro farming, inland fishponds, and coastal and deep water fishing grounds. Kawainui Marsh is the largest body of fresh water in the archipelago and was utilized both for lo‘i and fresh water fishponds.

The sandy soil in Kailua supported peripheral crops such as coconut and banana. Fishing villages were presumably scattered along the shore. It is probable that the occupants of the shoreline ‘ili were socially tied to those of the ‘ili along the marsh or the ridge line in order to exchange the surplus of their respective efforts. (Dye)

The northern boundary of Kailua ahupua‘a, known traditionally as Pu‘u Pāpa‘a, or scorched hill, it was given the name of Oneawa Hills in the 1970s.

A stream runs through Oneawa ‘ili to the sea, providing a natural drainage for the Kawainui marsh. The Kawainui Canal was constructed in 1952 to provide flood control and stability for real estate development. (Dye)

In one related story of the area, the large inland pond of Kawainui is referred to in a legend concerning trees (that had the power to attract fish.) Haumea, a goddess traveling through the area, assisted the daughter of the ruler in childbirth.

In return she was given the tree named Ka-lau-o-ke-kähuli, which bears the exceedingly beautiful flowers Kanikawï and Kanikawä. Haumea eventually sets it down on Maui, where it takes root. When a man comes by and chops it down, a fierce storm arises and washes it to sea.

Months later, a branch washes up at Oneawa in Kailua. The fish follow, rendering Oneawa a place where schools of fish gather. “When this branch (that is, Mākālei) was taken inland of Kailua, the fish of Kawainui Pond followed it inland”.

In another story, Koʻolaupoko was one of the stops in the celebrated journey Pele’s younger sister Hi‘iakaikapolioPele (Hiʻiaka) made from Kïlauea Crater to Kaua‘i, to fetch Pele’s husband and dream lover Lohi‘au.

Hi‘iaka and her human companion Wahineʻōmaʻo (Green-woman) choose the windward route across O‘ahu. The travelers reach Koʻolaupoko apparently in the rainy season, for they complain bitterly of the weather.

Hi‘iaka and Wahineʻōmaʻo visit Kawainui Fishpond, where they catch sight of two beautiful women sitting on the banks of a stream. Hi‘iaka insists they are not real women, but mo‘o. She tested them with a chant and they disappeared, confirming they were moʻo.

From Kailua, Hiʻiaka and Wahine‘ōma‘o headed to Heʻeia. Somewhere en route, Hiʻiaka notices the “koa grove at sea,” a poetical reference to Oneawa’s numerous canoes in the saying “Ka ulu koa i kai o Oneawa, The koa grove down at Oneawa.” (Rose & Kelieger)

Oneawa was a famous fishery off the beach for awa (milkfish) and ʻōʻio (bonefish.) Awa are surface feeders that eat seaweed, while ʻōʻio are bottom feeders that forage in the sand, especially for crabs. (Clark)

Awa (milkfish) raised at Kawainui were considered so tame they were “easily caught.” Like ʻoʻopu, “The fish did not like persons with strong smelling skins (ili awa) and kept away from them. Otherwise they swam right up to a person in the water”.

The sea off Oneawa (Milkfish sand) – also the name of the ridge between Kāne’ohe and Kailua, as well as a land division – was “famous for the quality and quantities of the ʻōʻio, which are found in immense schools in the adjoining water; it was formerly a favorite residence of the Old Oahu chiefs”. (Rose & Kelieger)

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