“From the lofty precipice on the south-east of Waipio, I had an enchanting view of a Hawaiian landscape of singular beauty and grandeur, embracing the varied scenery around, and the deep and charming valley below; the dwelling-place of twelve or fifteen hundred inhabitants …”
“With one hand clinging to little shrubs and strong grass, and with the other thrusting a sharpened staff into the earth to avoid sliding fatally down the steep, I attempted it. Friendly natives of the valley ascended part way to meet and assist me. Their ingenuity readily supplied a vehicle, by uniting bushes and branches of shrubs, and the ki plant for a drag.”
“Taking a seat at their order, on the top of it, I was gradually let down this wall on this basket, by six wakeful and sure-footed natives, two before, two behind, and one on each side.”
“With all their agility, one and another of them occasionally getting too much momentum, would suddenly slide forward a yard or two ahead of the others. We reached the bottom speedily and successfully.” (Bingham)
“Waipio Valley is a deep cleft six miles long reaching back into the rugged Kohala mountains. It is the largest valley in the Hawaiian Islands. It is almost one-half mile deep at the northern end and three-quarters of a mile deep at the [southern] end.” (Honolulu Advertiser, June 24, 1956).
“It had five stores, four restaurants, one hotel, a post office, a rice mill, nine poi factories, four pool halls, and five churches. Also two jails.” (Honolulu Advertiser, June 24, 1956). The majority of these establishments were located in Nāpō‘opo‘o.
Nāpō‘opo‘o (‘the holes’) is located near Hi‘ilawe Falls on the Kukuihaele side of Waipi‘o valley. When Ellis visited the valley in 1823, this area was well populated. In 1870, the Chinese started rice farming in areas which were previously cultivated in taro. (DURP, 2001)
The May 1920 Hawaii Educational Review notes, Waipio School “is not on government land. The land is owned by the Bishop Estate and leased to the Hamakua Ditch Company.”
Samuel ‘Sam’ Makanoenoe Ka’aekuahiwi Sr was Principal of Waipio School 1920-1945 (possibly earlier than 1920). (Waipio: Māno Wai, Appendices)
Samuel Makanoenoe Ka’aekuahiwi Sr was born on June 28, 1882, in Kukuihaele, the son of Peter Pika Ka‘aekuahiwi Sr and Puhene Kahiwa. He married Amoy Akeao Akana Leong on December 31, 1903. They were the parents of at least 5 sons and 10 daughters. (FamilySearch)
“When I was four years old, my mother died. So my sister was keeping me, my older sister and my other sisters. … My father, yeah, he remarried. or only stay together, or what. I don’t know if really he remarried (No, only together.)” (son, Ted Ka‘aekuahiwi; Waipio: Māno Wai)
Sam Ka‘aekuahiwi “came from, actually from Maui. And he went to Maui Boarding School and he came to Hawaii. In the first place, he’s a teacher. … He taught at Kawaihae. That’s his first place he taught. Let’s say, maybe about five years I think.”
“And then he came to Kapulena. He taught over there, I don’t know how many years, but. And then he came down to Waipio. And then he met my mother down at Waipio Valley. Married. Start teaching down Waipio Valley.” (Ted Ka‘aekuahiwi; Waipio: Māno Wai)
“The Waipi‘o School was a two room building, and at its peak may have had about one hundred students. Everything was taught in the English language, through four grades. I remember a succession of teachers, an Englishman with a red face and a moustache, then a Portuguese, then John Kealoha, Solomon Burke (a hapa haole), and Sam Ka‘aekuahiwi.”
“The kids were mostly Hawaiians, followed numerically by Hawaiian-Chinese, Hawaiian-Haole, and Chinese. We were supposed to speak only English on the school premises, but we actually used a pidgin of Hawaiian, English, and Chinese.”
“We used Baldwin Readers, first, second and third. We read about spring, summer, autumn, and winter without the slightest comprehension of the terms. We read of Jack Frost on the pumpkins, when outside were rose apple trees and the tradewinds brought the fragrance of wild ginger flowers into the classrooms.”
“We memorized the alphabet and the multiplication tables. We studied history and learned that George Washington was born in Westmoreland, Virginia – why that stuck in my head I’ll never know. All of us felt sorry for the American Indians and Negroes. We also learned something about Hawaiian history.”
“School hours were from nine to twelve and one to two. … The Chinese kids were the better students, especially in arithmetic, whereas the Hawaiian kids were good in music and singing. The teachers would write out the music in four parts and the kids sang it beautifully.”
“Every Friday afternoon for one hour we would have a work detail, repairing stone walls, dusting erasers—a general cleanup of the school.”
“The only times school was called off was when the valley was badly flooded. … At the high school [in Hilo] I met white kids for the first time.” (Herbert Mock “Akioka” Kāne; transcribed and edited by his son “Herb” Kawainui Kāne; Coffee Times)
In 1939, Waipio Valley had “a 3-room grammar school with one teacher, one principal (Sam Kaaekuahiwi), and 31 students; a Mormon church; two stores.”
“The school sponsors social affairs, dances and hula concerts. No mail delivery in the valley. Old Protestant church in ruins, Roman Catholic church falling apart. Non-Mormon services conducted in people’s homes. 4-H Club sponsors fairs. No electricity but they do have battery-run radios. Approximately 80 voters. Population of Waipio approximately 200.” (Waipio: Māno Wai, Appendices)
“I went to Waipio Valley School. My teacher was Samuel Kaaekuahiwi. He was the roughest teacher that I ever come across for the many years. But he was all right. … Well, when you don’t do your lessons right, you not interested, he pound you on the wall. That’s the kind of life we went through.” (Joseph Batalona, Waipio: Māno Wai)
“Sam Kaaekuahiwi, the last school teacher of Waipi‘o, told me that Kukuihaele Village got its name in ancient times when inhabitants of Waipi‘o could see travelers carrying lights on the pali trail. Kukui refers to kukui nut torches, and haele ‘to go.’” (Herbert Mock “Akioka” Kāne; transcribed and edited by his son “Herb” Kawainui Kāne; Coffee Times)
In 1949, “The 100 residents of Waipio valley, biggest wet-land taro producing area of the territory, still have hopes of getting a road into the valley.”
“But unlike residents of other areas, they have patience, knowing construction of a road from the pali nearly 1,000 feet to the floor of the valley, is preceded by many other proposed county projects with higher priority ratings.”
“Until then, however, they would like more attention shown their trails in the valley. They made their wishes known yesterday to County Chairman James Kealoha, who made a horseback trip around the valley.”
“Mrs Louisa Kanekoa told him the county neglected trimming brush which shoots up over the trails from the rich valley soil. She urged the hiring of Waipio women who, she said, are better workers than the men and would save money for the county.”
“Sam Kaaekuahiwi, former principal of the Waipio school … said the road was not only needed for transporting poi and taro to market but also to make it easier for students to attend school.”
“More than 10 children now must get up around 5 am to make the long hike up the steep incline to the Kukuihaele school, for some trip of more than three miles, he said.”
“On rainy mornings they reach the pali soaked to the skin and make a change in clothing before going to school. A few students live in Kukuihaele during the school year to avoid making the long walk.” (Hawaii Tribune Herald, Nov 5, 1949)
In 1951, Waipio had “a schoolhouse, but no teacher. … There is a phone line from the top to the bottom of the trail into Waipio. Before jeeps enter the trail they call down to see if a mule pack is coming up. Two mule trains go up each day, each with 7-9 mules.” (Waipio: Māno Wai, Appendices) Sam Ka‘aekuahiwi Sr died December 12, 1961.
