Wakea | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

March 27, 2025 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Nanaʻulu – Ulu

He aina loaʻa i ka moana
I hoea mai loko o ka ale
I ka halehale poi pu a Kanaloa
He Koakea i halelo i ka wai
I lou i ka makau a ka lawaia
A ka lawaia nui o Kapaahu
A ke lawaia nui o Kapuheeuanuu-la
A pae na waa, kau mai
E holo, e ai ia Hawaiʻi he moku
He moku Hawaii

A land that was found in the ocean
That was thrown up from the sea
From the very depths of Kanaloa
The white coral in the watery caves
That was caught on the hook of the fisherman,
The great fisherman of Kapaahu,
The great fisherman, Kapuheeuanuu
The canoes touch the shore, come on board
Go and possess Hawaii, the island
An island is Hawaii
(From the chant of Makuakaumana when Pāʻao’s invites a chief to come and live on Hawaiʻi.)

Papa and Wākea are the ancestors of the Hawaiian people. “Papa” in Hawaiʻi is “a word applied to any flat surface,” especially to those undersea foundation layers from which new lands are said to rise.

This probably relates to the successive generations of mankind born out of the vast waters of the spirit world and identified through their family leaders with the lands which they inhabit.

In the South Seas, Papa is a goddess of earth and the underworld and mother of gods. Wākea is god of light and of the heavens who “opens the door of the sun”. (Beckwith)

“In the genealogy of Wākea it is said that Papa gave birth to these Islands. Another account has it that this group of islands were not begotten, but really made by the hands of Wākea himself.” (Malo)

“Papa gives birth to a gourd, which forms a calabash and its cover. Wākea throws up the cover and it becomes the sky. He throws up the pulp and it becomes the sun; the seeds, and they become the stars …”

“… the white lining of the gourd, and it becomes the moon; the ripe white meat, and it becomes the clouds; the juice he pours over the clouds and it becomes rain. Of the calabash itself Wākea makes the land and the ocean.” (Kamakau)

Hawaiian legends suggest the place to which Hawaiians frequently sailed for centuries was usually Kahiki or Tahiti, the old home of the family of ruling chiefs. (Westerfelt)

Thirteen generations after Papa and Wākea, Kiʻi and his wife Hinakoula appear. Kiʻi was king in the Southern Pacific Islands – at Tahiti, the chief island of the Society group. (Westerfelt) They had two sons, Nanaʻulu and Ulu – they came to the Hawaiian Islands and established a dynasty of high chiefs.

It has been suggested that Ulu remained in the southern islands and that Nanaulu alone found his way to Hawaii; but the frequent use of the name Ulu in the genealogies of the chiefs of the two large islands, Hawaiʻi and Maui, would support the position that the brothers, sailing together, found Hawaiʻi. (Westerfelt)

Eleven generations from Nanaʻulu and Ulu, Nanamaoa, of the southern Ulu line, pioneered the first migratory influx to the Hawaiian Islands. He was a warlike chief who succeeded in establishing his family in power on Hawaiʻi, Maui and Oʻahu. (Sands)

Later on Oʻahu, three major competing districts developed out of earlier small and independent political units. These districts were Kona, Koʻolau (later divided into Koʻolauloa and Koʻolaupoko), and Greater Ewa (the later districts of ʻEwa, Waianae and Waialua.)

About AD 1100, thirteen generations from Nanaʻulu and Ulu came Maweke of the northern Nanaʻulu line. Maweke is one of the main figures in the voyaging era of Hawaiian traditions. With Maweke, the lineage of ancient Polynesia was transformed into a distinctly Hawaiian lineage.

Likewise, about this time on the Island of Hawaiʻi, the island was divided into competing district-sized chiefdoms. In general, there were three centers of power during this period: Waipiʻo Valley in the windward region, Kona in the leeward area and Kohala on the northern end of the Island.

Pilikaeaea, the chief, brought by Pāʻao from Tahiti to rule Hawaiʻi, first established his reign in Waipiʻo Valley. Through inter-marriage with descendants of the Nanaʻulu or Ulu line of indigenous rulers he established the Pili line of rulers in Waipiʻo, from whom Kamehameha ultimately descended. (McGregor)

Kūkaniloko, the sacred place of birth on the central plateau may have been constructed by the late-AD-1300s. A divine center for Nanaʻulu chiefs, to be born at Kūkaniloko signified legitimacy. It is said that chiefs from other islands often sought greater prestige by marrying those with these strong ancestral lineages.

During the wars of interisland unification in the eighteenth century, the indigenous ruling Nanaʻulu chiefs of Oʻahu were practically exterminated, first by invaders from Maui, then by the warriors of Kamehameha I of Hawaiʻi Island. (Klieger)

The image shows a general genealogical Chart from Papa and Wākea, to Kiʻi, to Nanaʻulu and Ulu, with several names noted. (Emory)

July 18, 2023 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kumuhonua

Papa and Wākea are the Earth Mother and Sky Father of Polynesian religion. According to a widely accepted Hawaiian tradition, they are the first ancestors of the kanaka maoli, standing at the beginning of genealogical time. (Kawaharada)

Kumu-honua, literal meaning: ‘earth beginning’ was the first man of Hawaiian mythology. His wife was called Lalo-honua, ‘earth below’. (Oxford)

The original garden made for mankind by the god Kane contained fruits and animals, all of which were available to Kumu-honua and his wife, except for a sacred tree.

The apples and the bark of this tree were forbidden, but like the biblical pair they broke the law and were expelled. A great white albatross drove them out. In one version of the myth it is a ‘great seabird with a white beak’ that persuaded Lalo-honua to eat the sacred apples of Kane. (Oxford)

The Kumuhonua tradition, according to which Ho‘okumu-ka-honua (Founding of the race), as his name implies, is the original ancestor, is recited on Molokai. Hawaii and Maui genealogists favor the O-puka-honua (Opu‘u-ka-honua) or Budding-of-the-race. Oahu and Kauai follow the Kane-huli-honua (Over-turner of the race) ancestral line. (Beckwith)

The Kumuhonua legend includes the story of the creation, by Kane and his associates, of Kumu-honua and his wife Lalohonua, of their placing in a fertile garden from which they were driven because of disobedience to the laws of Kane (which some say had to do with a “tree”) …

… of the change made in his name to Kane-la‘a-uli as a fallen chief, and of his retreat to Pu‘u-ka-honua after his trouble with Kane. It is impossible to say just what the legend originally implied.

Kamakau speaks of Kane-la‘a-uli as “a noted chief who respected the laws and proposed excellent reforms which he was unable to carry through because of the greed of chiefs and so died.”

Kepelino and Fornander papers make him responsible for the coming of death into the world. Kepelino is writing for the Catholic fathers and interested in interpreting genuine old tradition in the light of Christian teaching.

Kamakau is a journalist, setting things down as he interprets them and unrestrained by foreign criticism and, it would seem, without access to either the Kepelino or Fornander papers. (Beckwith)

“Collating the different narratives thus preserved, I learn that the ancient Hawaiians at one time believed in and worshipped one god, comprising three beings, and respectively called Kane, Ku, and Lono, equal in nature, but distinct in attributes …”

“… the first, however, being considered as the superior of the other two, a primus inter pares; that they formed a triad commonly referred to as Ku-kau-akahi lit. ‘Ku stands alone,’ or ‘the one established,’ and were worshipped jointly under the grand and mysterious name”. (Fornander)

Malo calls Kumuhonua the father, through his wife Ka-mai-eli (The digger), of the root of the land (mole o ka honua), which may be interpreted as the rootstock of the race. On the Kumuhonua genealogy a line of chiefs leads down from Kumuhonua, the first man descended from the gods. (Beckwith)

“These gods existed from eternity, from and before chaos, or, as the Hawaiian term expresses it, ‘mai ka Po mai’ – from the time of night, darkness, chaos.”

“By an act of their will these gods dissipated or broke into pieces the existing, surrounding, all-containing Po, night or chaos, by which act light entered into space. They then created the heavens – three in number – as a place for themselves to dwell in, and the earth to be their footstool, he keehina honua-a-Kane.”

“Next they created the sun, moon, stars, and a host of angels or spirits – i kini akua – to minister to them. Last of all they created man on the model or in the likeness of ‘Kane.’”

“The body of the first man was made of red earth – lepo ula or ala-ea – nd the spittle of the gods – wai-nao – and his had was made of a whitish clay – palolo – which was brought from the four ends of the world by ‘Lono.’”

“When the earth-image of ‘Kane’ was ready, the three gods breathed into its nose and called on it to rise, and it became a living being.”

“Afterwards the first woman was created from one of the ribs – lalo pukaka – of the man while asleep, and these two were the progenitors of all mankind.”

“They are called in the chants and in various legends by a large number of different names, but the most common for the man was Kumu-honua, and for the woman Ke Ola ku honua. Such is the general import of the Kumuhonua legend.” (Fornander)

“I have three different Hawaiian genealogies, going back, with more or less agreement among themselves, to the first created man. One is the genealogy of Kumuhona, connected with the legend frequently referred to.”

“This gives thirteen generations from ‘Kumuhonua,’ the first man, to ‘Nuu’ or “Kahinalii,’ both inclusive, on the line of Laka, the oldest son of ‘Kumuhonua.’” (Fornander)

“The second genealogy is called that of Kumu-uli, and was of greatest authority among the highest chiefs down to the latest times, and it was tabu to teach it to common people.”

“This genealogy counts fourteen generations from Hulihonua, the first man, to ‘Nuu’ or ‘Nana Nuu,’ both inclusive, on the line of ‘Laka,’ the son of the first man.”

“The third genealogy, which, properly speaking, is that of Paao, the high-priest who came with Pili from Tahiti about twenty-five generations ago, and was a reformer of the Hawaiian priesthood, and among whose descendants it has been preserved, counts only twelve generations from ‘Kumuhonua’ to ‘Nuu,’ on the line of ‘Ka-Pili,’ the youngest son.”

“These three genealogies were from ancient times considered as of equal authority and independent of each other, the ‘Kumuhonua’ and ‘Paao’ genealogies obtaining principally among the priests and chiefs on Hawaii”. (Fornander),

“Tradition says that the first man, Kumuhonua, was buried on the top of a high mountain and his descendants were all buried around him until the place was filled.” (Fornander)

May 3, 2014 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Wetland Taro

Wākea and Papa, sky-father and earth-mother, who by the ʻOpūkahonua lineage were half-brother and half-sister, were said to be the parents of islands, Hawaiʻi and Maui (and later Kauaʻi, Niʻihau, Lehua, and Kaʻula – the rest were added later.) According to tradition, their first human offspring was a daughter, Hoʻohōkūkalani (to generate stars in the sky.)

Wākea seduced his daughter, Hoʻohōkūkalani. Their first child was born prematurely; they named him Hāloa-naka (quivering long stalk.) They buried him in the earth and from that spot grew the first kalo (taro) plant. The second child, named Hāloa in honor of his elder brother, was the first Hawaiian Aliʻi Nui and became the ancestor of all the Hawaiian people.

Thus kalo, which was the main staple of the people of old, is also the older brother of the Hawaiian race.

Traditions on the island of Oʻahu provide the names of a dynasty of ruling chiefs including Mā’ilikūkahi, around 1500 (about the time Columbus crossed the Atlantic.) Māʻilikūkahi is said to have enacted a code of laws in which theft from the people by chiefs was forbidden.

A son of Mā’ilikūkahi was Kalona-nui, who in turn had a son called Kalamakua. Kalamakua is said to have been responsible for developing large taro gardens in what was once a vast area of wet-taro cultivation on Oʻahu: the Waikiki-Kapahulu-Mōʻiliʻili-Mānoa area. The extensive pond fields were irrigated by water drawn from the Mānoa and Pālolo Valley streams and large springs in the area.

Other chiefs mentioned in Oʻahu traditions were associated with organizing activities in more systematic ways than those in times previous to them; one such high chief was Kākuhihewa.

Another great chief of Oʻahu, Kualiʻi, was famous for the kolowalu law: “If a man says, ‘I am hungry for food’ feed (him) with food, lest he hungers and claims his rights by swearing the kolowalu law by his mouth, whereby that food becomes free, so that the owner thereof must observe the law faithfully.”

In pre-contact (prior to Captain Cook) times, kalo played a vital role in Hawaiian culture. It was not only the Hawaiians’ staple food, but the cultivation of kalo was at the very core of Hawaiian culture and identity.

The early Hawaiians probably planted kalo in marshes near the mouths of rivers. Over years of progressive expansion of kalo lo‘i (flooded taro patches) up slopes and along rivers, kalo cultivation in Hawai‘i reached a unique level of engineering and sustainable sophistication.

Hawaiians knew the productive advantages of growing wetland taro and placed the greater effort in this area very early, when required to increase food production capabilities for the rapidly increasing number of people. By the time of Captain Cook’s visits in 1778 and 1779, every large river valley in the islands contained many loʻi (pond fields,) and each was systematically irrigated by means of ditches delivering water to the fields spread throughout the valley.

Usually, water was fed into an irrigation ditch from a stream. A loose-rock dam built across the stream allowed water to flow between and over the top of the rocks to provide for farmers living downstream. The dam functioned to raise the water level just high enough at that point to permit water to flow into the ditch leading to the terraces.

In this way the amount and speed of the water could be controlled. If too much water was found to be flowing into the ditch, a few stones could be removed from the dam, thus lowering the water level and reducing the volume of water entering the ditch.

The speed of the flow of water into the pondfields was controlled by the length and slope of the ditch. By varying the length and grade of the ditch, its builders were able to maintain a constant and low-level gradient over variegated terrain. The flow through the pond fields was controlled by the height of the terraces.

Kalo lo‘i systems are typically a set of adjoining terraces that are typically reinforced with stone walls and soil berms. Wetland taro thrives on flooded conditions, and cool, circulating water is optimal for taro growth, thus a system may include one or more ʻauwai (irrigation ditches) to divert water into and out of the planting area. (McElroy)

The ʻauwai construction and maintenance formed foundations around which an entire economy, class system and culture functioned. The ʻauwai, lo‘i and the taro plant’s mythical and spiritual connections in Hawaiian society influenced individual and social activity within the ahupua‘a. (Handy, HART)

The different representatives in the ahupuaʻa taking part in the work furnished men according to the number of kalo growers on each land. (The quantity of water awarded to irrigate the loʻi was according to the number of workers and the amount of work put into the building of the ʻauwai.)

David Malo explained how a taro garden could keep a large number of people in vegetable food continuously: “Some farmers did not plant a great deal at a time. They would plant a little, and after waiting a few months, they planted more land. So they continued to plant a little at a time during the months suitable for planting. The food did not all ripen at once, and by this plan the supply was kept up for a long time and they had no lack of food.”

On the question of the productivity of wet-land taro versus dry-land taro, some missionaries recorded their experiences and observations in 1847 and 1848. They helped answer the question: What number of people could be fed by one acre of land, of average quality in the district, if cultivated for kalo?

Rev. Armstrong suggested that there would be ‘food enough for ten persons’ on an acre of average taro land in Honolulu, that is, subsistence for ten persons. “With proper management, kalo (taro) land needs no rest. So the natives tell me. Let the water be kept constantly upon it and the weeds cleared out and that is all that is needed. The kalo plants, however, must be changed every crop. It requires about a year to bring a crop of kalo to maturity.” (Armstrong)

Rev. Johnson of Hanalei, Kauaʻi, a noted wetland taro-producing valley, suggested that 25 people subsist on an acre of good taro land.

Writing from his experiences on the well-watered windward side of Oʻahu, Rev. Parker wrote: “An acre of kalo land would furnish food for from twenty to thirty persons, if properly taken care of. It will produce crops for a great many years in succession, without lying fallow any time.”

Rev. Bishop, writing from ʻEwa District on Oʻahu, suggested that 15-20 people could be fed from an acre of taro: “Good kalo land, irrigated by water, improves by cultivation. It only requires time enough between crops to rot the weeds, which serve as manure.”

Rev. Emerson lived and worked in Waialua District on Oʻahu where several large rivers and numerous springs watered the land.

He wrote: “Twenty persons, I think can be fed on an acre of good kalo land. The land can generally be cultivated perpetually, if it has two or three months between each crop, in which to decompose the weeds which might grow during the time the kalo was ripening.”

“I have a large kalo patch that has not been left to rest one month at a time for fifteen years, and yet it produces as largely as fifteen years since. I presume the same parch was cultivated centuries before I knew it. It requires one year for kalo to come to maturity.”

In 6 to 12-months, depending upon plant variety along with soil and water conditions, the taro is generally ready to harvest. Each parent tuber produces from two to 15 ʻohā, side tubers of corms, up to 6 inches in diameter.

The Hawaiian concept of family, ‘ohana, is derived from the word ‘ohā (Fig., offspring, youngsters,) the axillary shoots of kalo that sprout from the main corm, the makua (parent.) Huli, cut from the tops of mauka and ‘ohā are then used for replanting to regenerate the cycle of kalo production.

Taro or Kalo has been a traditional form of food sustenance and nutrition, particularly in ancient Hawaiian culture. Reportedly, it is the world’s fourteenth most-consumed vegetable. All parts of the plant are eaten, including poi, table taro (the cooked corm,) taro chips and luau leaf.

The foregoing information (primarily from Marion Kelly and Lilikalā Kameʻeleihiwa (with some help from some others to fill some gaps)) helps answer some of the When, Why, Where and How Much questions related to wetland taro farming.

The 22nd Annual East Maui Taro Festival is being held May 3-4, 2014.

The image shows kalo (Markell.) In addition, I have included more related images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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April 20, 2013 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kalo (Taro)

Hawaiian traditions describe the birth of the islands and the life that exists on them in terms of genealogical accounts.

All natural forms of the environment are believed to be embodiments of gods and deities. From godly forces the Hawaiian Islands are born of Wākea (the expanse of the sky‐father) and Papahānaumoku (Papa who gave birth to the islands).

Wākea and Papa are credited for being the parents of the first man, Hāloa, the ancestor of all people. Commoners and aliʻi were all descended from the same ancestors, Wākea (sky father) and Papa (earth mother.)

It is from this genealogical line that Hawaiians address the environment and it forms the basis of the Hawaiian system of land use.

“The first born son of Wākea was of premature birth (keiki alualu) and was given the name Hāloa-naka. The little thing died, however, and its body was buried in the ground at one end of the house. After a while from the child’s body shot up a taro plant, the leaf of which was named lau-kapa-lili, quivering leaf; but the stem was given the name Hāloa. After that another child was born to them, whom they called Hāloa, from the stalk of the taro. He is the progenitor of all the peoples of earth.” (Malo)

“The first Hāloa, born to Wākea and Ho‘ohokukalani, became the taro plant. His younger brother, also named Haloa, became the ancestor of the people. In this way, taro was the elder brother and man the younger–both being children of the same parents.”

“Because our chiefs were of the senior line, they were referred to in respect and affection as “kalo kanu o ka aina” (The taro grown in the homeland) by the junior branches of the family.”(Handy-Pukui)

In pre-Captain Cook times, taro played a vital role in Hawaiian culture. It was not only the Hawaiians’ staple food but the cultivation of kalo was at the very core of Hawaiian culture and identity.

The Hawaiian concept of family, ‘ohana, is derived from the word ‘ohā (Fig., offspring, youngsters,) the axillary shoots of kalo that sprout from the main corm, the makua (parent.) Huli, cut from the tops of mauka, and ‘ohā are then used for replanting to regenerate the cycle of kalo production.

Kalo lo‘i systems are typically a set of adjoining terraces that are typically reinforced with stone walls and soil berms. Wetland taro thrives on flooded conditions, and cool, circulating water is optimal for taro growth, thus a system may include one or more irrigation ditches, or ‘auwai, to divert water into and out of the planting area. (McElroy)

In 6 to 12 months, depending upon plant variety along with soil and water conditions, the taro is generally ready to harvest. Each parent tuber produces from two to 15 ʻohā, side tubers of corms, up to 6 inches in diameter.

Kalo patches are variously named on the basis of size, shape, planting method and other factors. Mo‘o ai are narrow strips of planted kalo, much longer than they are wide. Mo‘o kaupapa lo‘i are long rows of lo‘i or wet kalo patches. Other types of wet planting mounds include pu‘epu‘e hou and kipi or kipikipi. Of the wetland methods, lo‘i was most frequently occurring form.

Kalo starch is one of the most nutritious, easily digested food. Kalo corms are high in carbohydrate in the form of starch and low in fat and protein, similar to many other root crops.

The starch is 98.8 percent digestible, a quality attributed to its granule size, which is a tenth that of potato, making it ideal for people with digestive difficulties.

The corm is an excellent source of potassium (higher than banana), carbohydrate for energy and fiber. When eaten regularly, kalo corm provides a good source of calcium and iron. Kalo leaves (lū‘au leaves) are eaten as a vegetable.

The staple of the ancient Hawaiian people, poi, is a gentle food, hypoallergenic, gluten free and easily digestible. It has saved the lives of babies who have been allergic to everything else. Poi is just about for everyone – from the health-challenged to the super-fit endurance athlete. (Bishop Museum)

Kalo, like other plants in its family, is considered poisonous when raw because its tissues contain an acrid component; thorough steaming or boiling eliminates this and allows it to be eaten.

It is estimated that at the peak of kalo production, areas under its cultivation covered more than 20,000-acres (about 31 square miles) over six islands.

Since the early to mid-1800s, kalo cultivation and the demand for kalo has markedly declined, and many of the ceremonial, medicinal and upland kalo cultivars became neglected and were lost.

In the last 200 years, Waipi‘o has experienced many changes: new ownership of the land, assimilation of other ethnic groups into the indigenous Hawaiian population and the shift from subsistence taro farming to market production. (UH)

In 1900, it was estimated that about 1,280 acres were being used for kalo production. By 1907, rice had become a major crop, occupying about 10,000 acres.

At that time, Chinese farmers were growing about half the kalo crop and milling 80 percent of the poi. By 1937, the major kalo growers were Japanese.

With the outbreak of World War II in 1941, demand for kalo declined and production dropped to 920 acres. Today, less than 400 acres of kalo are planted.

The 21st Annual East Maui Taro Festival will be held in Hana, Maui, 9 am – 5 pm, April 20-21, 2013, Hana Ballpark – Hauoli Road & Uakea Street. Hawaiian entertainment & Hula, 20 Food Booths, 50 Arts & Crafts Booths, an Info Tent for non-profits, an Ag Tent & Farmers Market and hands-on Cultural demos such as poi-pounding, kapa cloth making, creating Hawaiian musical instruments, lauhala weaving. Family-friendly and no admission charge.

The image shows a couple of men pounding poi. (Lots of information here from CTAHR.) In addition, I have added some other related images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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