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August 4, 2023 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Kōloa Heritage Trail

The Kōloa District is the name of a modern political-judicial district encompassing the south shore of Kauai.
 
In ancient times, the Kōloa District was part of a larger district called Kona.  The Kōloa Heritage Trail travels through four ahupuaʻa. From east to west, they are: Māhāʻulepu, Paʻa, Weliweli and Kōloa.
 
Poʻipū is part of the Kōloa ahupua’a.  One meaning of the name Poʻipū is crashing, as in waves crashing.
 
The Kōloa Heritage Trail is a 10-mile walk, bike ride or drive which includes 14 stops and monuments describing the significance of the location.
 
1. Spouting Horn Park
Spouting Horn Park was called puhi, or blowhole, by early Hawaiians.  Legends tell of a huge mo‘o, or lizard, caught in this puhi, which was formed when waves eroded softer, underlying rock and wore through the harder top rock.  Water rushing into the hole is forced through the narrow opening and shoots skyward.
 
2. Prince Kūhiō Birthplace & Park
Prince Jonah Kūhiō Kalaniana‘ole was born in Kōloa in a grass hut near this beach to Princess Kinoike Kekaulike and High Chief David Kahalepouli Pi‘ikoi.  He became a delegate to U.S. Congress after Hawai`i became a Territory in 1900, serving for 19 years.  He worked tirelessly on behalf of the Hawaiian people.
 
3. Hanakaʻape Bay & Kōloa Landing
Once, Kōloa Landing was the third largest whaling port in all of Hawai`i and the only port of entry for foreign goods.  The Sugar industry increased its use until 1912, when better facilities became available elsewhere.  Goods and people were transferred by hand and small boat to ships in Hanaka‘ape Bay.
 
4. Pa‘u a Laka – Moir Gardens
What began as a hobby garden by the Kōloa Plantation Manager’s wife became celebrated as one of the world’s best of its kind.  Numerous cactus planted in the 1930s thrived in the arid, rocky soil here.  Many escaped to surrounding areas to become naturalized over time.  You’ll also find water lily-filled lava rock ponds, koi and a variety of orchid and cactus species.
 
5. Kihahouna Heiau
The walled heiau (temple) that once stood here was 130 feet by 90 feet; dedicated to Kane, a major god of Hawaii; Hulukoki, a bird god; and Ku-hai-moana and Ka-moho-alii, two shark gods.  Three hala-lihilihi-ula trees situated on the outside of the naupaka hedge mark the heiau perimeter.
 
6. Po‘ipū Beach Park
Abundant, easy-to-view marine life in calm waters is a major attraction at Po‘ipū Beach.  The endangered native Hawaiian Monk seal and threatened Green sea turtle are frequent visitors.  From November through May, the endangered Humpback whale appears.  Ancient Hawaiians fished and played here and harvested salt in dug-out evaporating pans nearby.
 
7. Keoneloa Bay
Between 200 and 600 A.D., early visitors arrived at Keoneloa Bay, meaning long sand, likely from the Marquesas Islands.  They used the area as a temporary fishing camp, leaving behind stone-age tools, remnants of heiau, or temples, and ahu, or altars.  They prayed to Kane‘aukai, an important fishing god.
 
8. Makawehi & Pa‘a Dunes
The lithified sand dunes of Makawehi, calm face, and Pa‘a, hard rock, yield fossilized plant roots, bird bones, crab claws and other treasures.  Prior to extensive wave erosion, this prominent limestone ridge extended across Keoneloa Bay.  During March through November, water birds visit and sea birds nest and roost in the dunes.
 
9. Pu‘uwanawana Volcanic Cone
More than 5 million years ago, a hotspot in the earth spewed lava upward to form the volcanic mountain island of Kaua‘i. Nearby Ha‘upu Ridge and Mountain contain some of the oldest geologic formations.  Look for the youngest volcanic cones such as Pu‘uwanawana, within view.  Weathered volcanic material produced rich agricultural plains.
 
 10. Hapa Road (Hapa Trail)
Lava rock walls near Hapa Road signify Hawaiian habitation ca. 1200 AD, while the road dates to the late 1800s.  Nearby tracks once held trains hauling cane to Kōloa Plantation for milling.  Hapa Road served as a supply and emergency evacuation route during World War II, and at various times a foot- and bicycle path.
 
 11. Kōloa Jodo Mission
Buddhist temples provided Japanese immigrants a place to worship, study their language, learn martial arts and participate in social events.  This Jodo Mission used a specialist in temple architecture from Japan to build the large temple’s interior.  Hand-painted, wooden ceiling tiles were a gift from the Japanese artist who rendered them.
 
12. Sugar Monument
Ancient Polynesians were the first to bring sugar cane to Hawai’i.  Starting with its first cane seeding in 1835, Kōloa Plantation was the first in Hawai’i to successfully mill cane commercially for export.  It set the precedent for free housing and medical benefits for its immigrant employees from China, Japan, East and West Germany, Portugal and the Philippines.
 
13. Yamamoto Store & Kōloa Hotel
Built at the turn of the 20th century, The Yamamoto Building functioned at various times as a plantation camp store and general store with service station.  Behind it, the Kōloa Hotel offered rooms to traveling salesmen and actors.  The o-furo, or hot tub, provided a relaxing soak to guests.
 
14. Kōloa Missionary Church
Kōloa Missionary Church sanctuary is part of a homestead once owned by Dr. James W. Smith, a medical missionary.  In 1842, he began a practice of over 40 years, later becoming an ordained minister at The Church at Kōloa.  His grandson, Dr. Alfred Herbert Waterhouse, added a clinic to the homestead in 1933.
 
The Poʻipū Beach Resort Association and its Po‘ipū Beach Foundation are the major sponsors of the trail map and brochures.
 
All of these sites are Points of Interest in the Holo Holo Kōloa Scenic Byway; we worked with the Kōloa and Poʻipū communities and prepared the Corridor Management Plan for their Scenic Byway.
 
© 2023 Ho‘okuleana LLC
 

Filed Under: General, Buildings, Place Names Tagged With: Poipu, Koloa Heritage Trail, Hawaii, Koloa, Holo Holo Koloa Scenic Byway

May 15, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Māhā‘ulepū Heritage Trail

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.

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Māhā‘ulepū Village as drawn by Hiram Bingham-1824
Māhā‘ulepū Village as drawn by Hiram Bingham-1824
1-Keoneloa Bay
1-Keoneloa Bay
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7-Makauwahi Sinkhole
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8-Mahaulepu Beach
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9-Waiopli Petroglyphs
Mahaulepu_Heritage_Trail-Map
Mahaulepu_Heritage_Trail-Map

Filed Under: General, Place Names, Economy Tagged With: Hawaii, Kauai, Mahaulepu Heritage Trail, Poipu

April 21, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kāneiolouma

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.

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Filed Under: Hawaiian Traditions, Place Names Tagged With: Kauai, Kekahuna, Holo Holo Koloa Scenic Byway, Poipu, Kaneiolouma, Hawaii

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People, places, and events in Hawaiʻi’s past come alive through text and media in “Images of Old Hawaiʻi.” These posts are informal historic summaries presented for personal, non-commercial, and educational purposes.

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