














by Peter T Young 1 Comment
by Peter T Young Leave a Comment
Māhā‘ulepū is an ahupua‘a (historic Hawaiian land division) and watershed running from the Hā‘upu mountain range to the shoreline on Kauai’s southeast coast.
The whole coast was populated by native Hawaiians when the first westerner, explorer Captain James Cook, sailed through Kauai waters to land in Waimea in 1778.
Cook’s arrival set the stage for an influx of newcomers from around the world and catalyzed a dramatic transformation of Hawai‘i’s land use and demographics.
By 1850, American entrepreneurs launched large-scale sugar plantations in southeast Kauai. Their efforts heralded the beginning of Hawai‘i’s plantation era, which lasted into the late 20th century.
Kauai’s South Shore coastline features a fascinating hike along the Māhā‘ulepū Heritage Trail, a 4-mile round trip stretching from Keoneloa Bay to Kawailoa Bay.
A range of natural and cultural resources reflect the state’s evolution through the periods of Hawaiian settlement and expansion, Western contact, and plantation life. The following summarizes some of them.
1. Keoneloa Bay – “Long Sand, Long Beach”
This is a long stretch of sandy beach on the far eastern end of the Po‘ipū resort area, fronted by The Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort & Spa and a county park facility.
It is also known as Shipwreck Beach, named for the wreckage an old, wooden fishing boat on the beach back in the 1970s (that has long since disappeared.)
2. Makahuena – “Rough Face” & Makawehi – “Calm Face”
The unusual cliff formations were formed from sand dunes that have been weathered by wind and surf over the centuries. These ancient limestone sea cliffs have been virtually sandblasted by a combination of wind, salt and water.
Today Makawehi point is being undercut by continual wave erosion. The huge blocks of limestone that lie at the base of these cliffs are examples of that erosion.
3. Pā‘ā Dunes – “Fence of Lava Rock” or “Dry and Rocky”
About 8,000 years ago, dunes began forming atop Makawehi as sections of the sandy shoreline accumulated a reddish fossil soil overlay.
The tradewinds blowing from the northeast or mauka (mountain) side of this area have had the most dominant influence determining the shape of the dunes along this section of coast, with kona winds from the southwest having a minor influence.
4. Pinnacles
Sandstone-limestone pinnacles are usually formed by rain-water washing down along vertical fractures in the limestone. Pinnacles can be seen in stark formation to the right of a small bay just before the climb to the golf course.
5. Heiau Ho‘ouluia – “Fishing Temple”
This site is thought to have been a place of worship where fish were offered to the god of the sea, to ensure good fishing.
6. Punahoa – “To Bind or Lash”
Punahoa is composed of a very thick accumulation of coastal sand dunes that formed around 350,000 years ago. They are the oldest sand dunes of this region, carved by the tradewinds which formed all the dunes of this coast.
Along this area are short pieces of pipe anchored into the lava rock to hold fishing poles. This shoreline has been popular for centuries among local fishermen, catching primarily shoreline game fish such as ulua, papio (juvenile ulua) and oio.
7. Makauwahi Sinkhole – “Fear, Break Through”
The Makauwahi Sinkhole is a small portion of the largest limestone cave found in Hawaii. Paleoecological and archaeological excavations of the sediment that has filled the pond in the sinkhole put its age at some 10,000 years, and have revealed at least 45 species of bird life.
More importantly, the findings of this study show how the first humans that inhabited Kauai affected the pre-human natural environment. It is one of only a handful of sites in the world that show such impact.
8. Māhā‘ulepū Beach-“And Falling Together”
Māhā‘ulepū’s name comes from a legendary battle that occurred in the 1300s when Kalaunuio Hua, a Big Island ruler, made an attempt to take over all the Hawaiian islands.
By nightfall, it was evident that Kalaunuio Hua had lost the battle and became a prisoner to Kukona. Thus began the historical distinction of Kauai as an island that was never conquered.
9. Wai‘ōpili Petroglyphs – “Water Against”
In 1887, Kauai resident JK Farley discovered carved drawings or petroglyphs on a rock at Māhā‘ulepū Beach near the mouth of the Wai‘ōpili Stream. The carvings are normally covered by beach sand, but if tides and ocean conditions are right the petroglyphs can occasionally be seen.
North of Māhā‘ulepū Beach is a large petroglyph boulder which contains two cup-like carvings at the top. One of the carvings contains a pecked out groove from the cup and runs along the edge of the boulder.
The Māhā‘ulepū Heritage Trail is a project of the Po‘ipū Beach Foundation.
Follow Peter T Young on Facebook
Follow Peter T Young on Google+
Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn
Follow Peter T Young on Blogger
by Peter T Young Leave a Comment
If there are sites across the state that are worthy of restoration, Kāneiolouma would be on the short list for most (and probably at the top.)
As noted by Henry Kekahuna in the late-1950s, “No such thing as a real, truly authentic Hawaiian village of ancient type exists anywhere in the Hawaiian Islands today. All attempts to produce anything of the kind have been merely superficial.”
“The island of Kauai should receive the honor of being the very first to produce the only true Hawaiian village of ancient character in the world … Such a project would keep old Hawai‘i, not only in inanimate form as at present, but as living reality.”
The “Po‘ipu Beach Park Mauka Preserve,” covering 11.04 acres, was created by the county in recognition of Kāneiolouma’s archaeological, historical and cultural significance to Kauai.
Kane-i-olo-u-ma translates as Kane-who-drove-and-pushed. Kāne is a principal god and associated with fresh water and it is his relationship with the other gods that brings forth life.
Lono, the god of agriculture, along with Kāne’s help, insures a life cycle and abundance to all animal husbandry and crops. Kanaloa, the god of the sea, also needs Kāne’s help in order to insure a life cycle for the fish. This is significant as these three components are represented at Kāneiolouma.
“The heiau was the principle medium through which all religious activities were manifested, and was therefore the most important representative of religion collectively in ancient Hawai‘i,” said Henry Kekahuna, a surveyor with more than 68 heiau to his credit, and a kahuna of note, in his presentation to the Kauai Historical Society in 1957.
“Such was the fundamental philosophy of the Hawaiians. All principle activities of their lives were necessarily parts of a whole, that whole being perfected in and through the heiau. Not merely was the heiau a place of worship. In the lives of the people, it also functioned as a mighty powerhouse of all spiritual life, human and non-human.”
As noted by Henry Kekahuna in his 1959 mapping of the Kāneiolouma complex, the Kāneiolouma heiau at Po‘ipu had three main sections (religion, agriculture and aquaculture (fish ponds.))
On the East side, there is a large sports arena where Hawaiian games such as forearm wrestling, or uma, wrestling, or hakoko, and deadly grappling, or lua, were carried on.
On the South side, there is a large fishpond where special fish intended only for the ali‘i were raised. The Waiohai spring is the center of this fishpond.
Extensive walled enclosures, alters, numerous bases for temple images, shrines, taro patches, irrigation ditches, a series of large fishponds, house platforms, extensive cooking areas, and terracing throughout make this complex ideal for rehabilitation.
Kāneiolouma is wahi pana, a storied place. It is considered sacred to the Hawaiian culture, as well as an important historic landmark for the residents of Kauai.
Within the complex, an intricate system of walls and terraces trace the architecture of an ancient way of life. Near its center, the complex contains what may be the only intact Makahiki sporting arena in the state.
The amount of monumental Hawaiian architecture represented here has the potential of yielding important information regarding ancient temple religion, agriculture and fishpond management.
The Kāneiolouma and agricultural site complex is part of a huge complex of agricultural and habitation sites ranging from Kōloa town to the coast of Poʻipū and ranging from the Weliweli area westward to Kukui‘ula Bay and the Kōloa Field System.
This site complex offers the only archaeological area that is not on private land. Eventually, this complex may be the only such accessible complex on the entire south shore of the Kōloa District.
Culturally, the heiau and agricultural site area could become a heritage place, a marker for the Native Hawaiians to identify with their prehistory and their ancestry; with clearing, preservation, restoration and maintenance it can serve as an interpretive park.
For more than a decade, Kauai locals have been working on stabilizing the Kāneiolouma complex. In 2009 they founded Hui Mālama O Kāneiolouma, an independent 501(c)3 non-profit organization.
In July 2010 a landmark agreement with the Kauai County Council and Mayor Bernard Carvalho formally granted stewardship of Kāneiolouma Heiau Complex to the Hui under the County’s Adopt-a-Park program.
The agreement acknowledges the role of the Hui in the preservation, protection and enhancement of the complex, and for future development of the complex as an educational center for Kauai residents and the world.
Kāneiolouma is one of the featured Points of Interest on the Holo Holo Kōloa Scenic Byway and is an important part of the Byway’s Corridor Management Plan. We prepared the Byway’s Plan.
Follow Peter T Young on Facebook
Follow Peter T Young on Google+
Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn
Follow Peter T Young on Blogger