Some might feel the point of establishing a State Monument at ‘Īao Valley is to call attention to the much-photographed ‘Īao Needle – it was traditionally known as Kūkaemoku (literally ‘broken excreta.’)
The 1,200-foot-tall ‘Īao Needle (“cloud supreme”) is a basaltic core
that remained after the valley’s heavy rainfall washed away the weaker stones
surrounding it.
Rainfall from Pu‘u Kukui, the summit of West Maui – at nearly 5,800-feet
in the back of ‘Īao Valley, has an average annual rainfall of 364-inches per
year.
Of course, this natural feature is interesting and important; but here
are some other pieces of history that make ‘Īao even more important in the
history of Hawai‘i.
First, the distance past.
From the highest peak of Pu‘u Kukui to the shoreline of Kahului Bay,
the ahupua‘a (land division) of Wailuku was a favorite place of Ali‘i and a
ruling center of Maui. ‘Īao Valley is
part of the ahupua‘a.
For centuries, high chiefs and navigators from across the archipelago were
buried in secret, difficult-to-access sites in the valley’s steep walls.
‘Iao Valley became a “hallowed burying place for ancient chiefs” and is
the first place mentioned in the historical legends as a place for the secret
burials of high chiefs.
Because this was sacred ground, commoners were not permitted to enter
the valley, except for the Makahiki festival.
Some suggest the last burial was in 1736, with the burial of King
Kekaulike.
Then, in the late-1780s into 1790, Kamehameha conquered the Island of
Hawai‘i and was pursuing conquest of Maui and eventually sought to conquer the
rest of the archipelago.
At that time, Maui’s King Kahekili and his eldest son and
heir-apparent, Kalanikūpule,
were carrying on war and conquered O‘ahu.
In 1790, Kamehameha travelled to Maui.
Hearing this, Kahekili sent Kalanikūpule back to Maui with a number of chiefs (Kahekili remaining
on O‘ahu to maintain order of his newly conquered kingdom.)
After a battle in Hana, Kamehameha landed at Kahului and then marched
on to Wailuku, where Kalanikūpule
waited for him.
The ensuing battle was one of the hardest contested on Hawaiian record.
The battle started in Wailuku and then
headed up ‘l̄ao Valley – the Maui defenders being continually driven farther up
the valley.
Kamehameha's superiority in the number and use of the newly acquired weapons
and canon (called Lopaka) from the ‘Fair American’ (used for the first time in
battle, with the assistance from John Young and Isaac Davis) finally won the
decisive battle at ‘Īao Valley.
Arguably, the cannon and people who knew how to effectively use it were
the pivotal factors in the battle. Had
the fighting been in the usual style of hand-to-hand combat, the forces would
have likely been equally matched.
The Maui troops were completely annihilated, and it is said that the
corpses of the slain were so many as to choke up the waters of the stream of ‘l̄ao
- one of the names of the battle was "Kepaniwai" (the damming of the
waters.)
Maui Island was conquered and its fighting force was destroyed - Kalanikūpule and some other chiefs escaped
over the mountain at the back of the valley and made their way to O‘ahu (to
later face Kamehameha, again; the next time at the Battle of Nu‘uanu in 1795.)
After the battle at ‘Iao, Kamehameha received Keōpūolani as his wife. Kamehameha left for Moloka‘i to secure it
under his control, before proceeding to O‘ahu.
Then, in 1795, Kamehameha moved on in his conquest of O‘ahu.
‘Iao Valley State Monument is operated under DLNR’s State Parks
system. It is at the end of ‘Iao Valley
Road (Highway 32.) Free parking for
Hawai‘i residents, $5 per car for others (open 7 am to 7 pm.)
The image is a drawing by Edward Baldwin looking across Wailuku toward
‘Iao (the area of the march of Kamehameha against Kalanikūpule.) In addition, I had added other images of ‘Iao
in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook page.
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