Haiku Valley Communications … and Stairway

With World War II underway, the Navy recognized the need to be able to communicate across the Pacific.

A plan was proposed in the early spring of 1942; a group of radio experts determined a superpower radio station with pan-Pacific range might be built provided that the antenna could be raised high enough above the ground.

The greater the power to be radiated, the higher and larger must be the antenna system and the network of ground wires under it.

An Alexanderson Alternator was the sending source; it is a rotating machine invented in 1904 for use as a radio transmitter (as a technology, it was later replaced by vacuum tube transmitters.)

The Navy discovered that, rather than the conventional steel radio tower, the best way to accomplish that was by stringing copper cable between the peaks of two mountains with vertical drops.

The solution was to find a topographic feature that would act like the "unbuildable" tall tower.  Using technology developed pre-World War I, they strategically positioned four Alexanderson Alternators; one was located in Haiku Valley.

Haiku Valley with its horseshoe shape and sheer side-walls filled the prescription perfectly, except for the logistical nightmare of constructing in an all but inaccessible area.

Then stepped forward (and up) two pioneers, Bill Adams and Louis Otto, who in 21-days, climbed the vertical cliffs in Haiku Valley, pounding in iron spikes into the face of the cliff (to be used as supports for a ladder and wooden staircase up the mountain.)

The Navy then installed a lift to haul up materials and strung cables across the valley.  The Alexanderson Alternator radio system, transmitting Morse code across the Pacific, was operational in 3-months.

The equipment at Haiku provided reliable transoceanic radiotelegraph communication and was able to send signals to submarines during World War 2 - while they remained underwater - as far away as Tokyo Bay.

The Navy maintained the Haiku system from 1943 to 1970, when they reconfigured the facility as an OMEGA radio navigation system: it then became part of a network of worldwide OMEGA stations (two US stations (Haiku and North Dakota,) joined by Argentina, Norway, Liberia, France, Japan and Australia.)

When the eight station chain became operational, day to day operations at Haiku were managed by the United States Coast Guard and was used by several airlines flying long range routes over water, as well as by military forces.  The new station could radiate transmissions at a power of 10,000-watts and over an 8,000-mile radius.

The OMEGA antenna system reaches 7,200-feet across Haiku Valley and is 1,250-feet above the ground. The anchors weigh over 180,000-pounds. Unlike the original construction for the Alexanderson Alternator (climbing the cliff,) a helicopter, helium balloons and hot air balloons were used in erecting the anchors and placing the wires.

OMEGA was the first truly-global radio navigation system and had the ability to achieve a four-mile accuracy when fixing a position for aircraft.

Using receiver units, it enabled ships and aircraft to determine their position by receiving very low frequency radio signals transmitted by a network of fixed terrestrial radio beacons. The Haiku OMEGA facility became operational around 1971 and was shut down in 1997.

Initially, the system was to be used for navigating nuclear bombers across the North Pole to Russia.  Later, it was found useful for submarines and aircraft.

With the Global Positioning System (GPS) being declared fully operational, the use of OMEGA had dwindled to a point where continued operation was not economically justified; it ended on September 30, 1997.

Obviously, all of this ultimately leads us to a discussion on the Haiku Ladder, Haiku Stairs – the Stairway to Heaven.

The Stairway is a 3,922-step ladder/stairway ascending the summit of the Koʻolau mountain range.   First built by the Navy in 1942 to access transmission facilities at the top of the ridge, the wooden stairs were replaced in 1955 with ones built of galvanized metal.

In 1997, after the OMEGA facility was abandoned and plans were underway to remove the Stairs, Mayor Harris requested that the Coast Guard transfer the Stairs to the City.  The City then spent $875,000 to repair the Haiku Stairs.

The City had planned to reopen the Haiku Stairs in October 2002. But from 2002 to 2003, the popular hiking attraction became a point of contention with area residents.

They complained that as many as 200-hikers a day were trespassing through their property, parking on their streets, blocking mail delivery and trash pickup and arriving early in the morning, causing dogs to bark and waking residents.

Then, in 2005, Mayor Hannemann tried to transfer the Stairs to DLNR.  I was DLNR Director then.  While I believe the stairs are an excellent climbing (and vertigo) experience, I do not believe its ownership and operation is a state concern.  (It is certainly not a natural trail, that’s the kind of stuff DLNR deals with.)

We recommended that a private entity step forward and manage the stairs – for the City or lease it from them.  We believed that an operator could charge a fee for hikers to climb the stairs and use the revenue for operations and insurance.

The Stairs remain closed.

The image shows the initial (1943) antenna anchor sites where then spanned across Haiku Valley.  (Thanks to David Jessup for images and information on this.)  In addition, I have posted lots of other WWII, OMEGA and Stairway images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook page.

http://www.facebook.com/peter.t.young.hawaii

© 2012 Hoʻokuleana LLC

Lēʻahi – Diamond Head

Lēʻahi, also known as Diamond Head, is a nearly circular crater of approximately two-thirds of a mile in diameter.

Diamond Head is different things to different people: Homes of Hawai‘i’s Kings, Queens and Royal Families were in its shadow; It’s an internationally-recognized visitor industry icon; It’s the backdrop to the famous Waikīkī Beach; It served an integral role in the island military defenses; It is present home and command center for State Civil Defense; It’s an easy walk to the summit for spectacular views of the ocean and coastline and It is a backdrop to a transformation of social, political and religious events.

Lēʻahi, also known as Diamond Head, is a nearly circular crater of approximately two-thirds of a mile in diameter.  Diamond Head was given its name by British sailors who found natural calcite crystals on the slopes of the mountain and mistook them for diamonds.  Hawaiians called the volcanic cone Lēʻahi, Laeʻahi or Lae-ahi.  Translations include: “brow of the ʻahi” and “cape of fire.”

In the legend of Pele and Hi‘iaka, Hi‘iaka is said to have compared Diamond Head to the brow of the ‘ahi: Me he i‘a la ka Lae o Ahi; E kalali au ae nei i ke kai - Like a fish is the Brow-of-the-ahi Resting high above the sea.

Other names for Diamond Head include Point Rose (given to the geologic feature in 1786 by Captain Nathaniel Portlock in honor of the secretary of the British treasury), Diamond Hill and Conical Mountain.

Geologically speaking, Diamond Head is a dormant volcanic tuff cone, with a variable-height rim surrounding the recessed interior area; the eruption of Diamond Head took place well over 150,000-years ago.

The highest point (at 761-feet) on the southwest rim of Diamond Head is known as Lēʻahi Summit (most of the rim is between 400-500-feet.)  The crater is on the southern coastline of Oʻahu, approximately one-and-a-half miles south of the Koʻolau range.

From at least the 15th century, chiefly residences lined the shore of Waikīkī, and cultivated fields spread across the Waikīkī plain to the foot of the crater and inland to the Ko‘olau valleys.  There were several heiau in Waikīkī, of which several were located around Diamond Head.

One of Kamehameha’s main heiau (also suggested as a surfing heiau,) Papaʻenaʻena (also called Lēʻahi Heiau,) was situated at the base of the southern slopes.

Other heiau in the vicinity include Kupalaha Heiau, which may have been connected with Papaʻenaʻena, Pahu-a-Maui Heiau on the crater’s eastern cliffs overlooking the ocean (the site of the present Diamond Head lighthouse), Kapua Heiau near the present Kapi¬ʻolani Park, and Ahi Heiau on the peak of Diamond Head.

In the early years of the 19th century, people tended gardens in the crater and one visitor described finding “an abundance of melons and watermelons growing wild, upon which we feasted”.

In 1831, the botanist, Dr. FJF Meyen, noted the crater contained a small pool of water “which was completely covered with plants”.  (The crater pond was filled-in by military bulldozing; now, there is a seasonally-moist wetland where standing water can occasionally be seen.)

Some have suggested there is little likelihood for archaeological sites of pre-contact Hawaiian or early post-contact origin in the crater.  The archival research suggests that the only Hawaiian activity that might have taken place in the crater was dryland farming (dating to 1822.)

In the Great Māhele division of lands between the king and his high chiefs, Diamond Head, which lies within the ʻili of Kapahulu in the ahupuaʻa of Waikīkī, was awarded to William C. Lunalilo, the future king of Hawaiʻi (1873-1874).

In the early 1860s, Mark Twain commented, “On the seventh day out we saw a dim vast bulk standing up out of the wastes of the Pacific and knew that that spectral promontory was Diamond Head, a piece of this world which I had not seen before for twenty-nine years.  So we were nearing Honolulu, the capital city of the Sandwich Islands - those islands which to me were Paradise; a Paradise which I had been longing all those years to see again.  Not any other thing in the world could have stirred me as the sight of that great rock did.”

In 1884, the Kapahulu portion of Lunalilo’s Māhele award was subdivided by the Lunalilo Estate.  Diamond Head was transferred from the estate to the Hawaiian Government.

The summit of Lēʻahi affords an excellent and unobstructed view of the ocean from Koko Head in the east, to beyond the -ʻEwa Plain to Wai‘anae in the west.  The utility of Diamond Head did not go unnoticed by the U.S. Army.

In 1906, the US government acquired the 729-acres of Lunalilo’s property from the Hawaiian Government, as well as other adjacent lands (including Black Point), to create Fort Ruger Military Reservation, the easternmost of the coastal defense forts.

From 1963 to 2001, the FAA had its air traffic control facilities in Diamond Head crater, which guided Hawai‘i-bound aircraft from 250 miles outside the Islands to within 20 miles of their intended airport.

Diamond Head State Monument was first officially established under an Executive Order by Hawaiʻi’s Governor Quinn in 1962; nearly 500-acres of land now make up the Monument.

This early designation covered about 145-acres in a horseshoe configuration preserving the famous profile and the south and west exterior slopes from the crater rim down to Diamond Head Road.  Subsequently, Executive Orders have added additional lands to the Monument.

The interior of the crater had been closed to the public from 1906 until 1968.  (Remember the Sunshine Festivals In 1976, DLNR’s Division of State Parks became the agency responsible for the planning and management of the Monument – it is now open every day.

Two major tunnels (Kāhala Tunnel and Kapahulu Tunnel) provide pedestrian and vehicular access into the crater.

Two separate trail systems (interior and exterior) address different needs and purposes.  The exterior trail system has a dual function as a jogging and bicycle path traversing the mauka end of the Monument and along the existing trail on the lower -ʻEwa-makai slopes.  The interior trail system leads to the summit of Lēʻahi (1.6-mile round trip.)

Diamond Head is open daily 6 am to 6 pm, every day of the year including holidays, with entrance Fees of $5.00 per car or $1 per person for pedestrians (the money goes to State Parks.)  Mountain Biking is not allowed on this trail.  No dogs allowed in Diamond Head State Monument.

The image shows Lē‘ahi, Diamonds Head, in a 1928 aerial image.  I have also added other Diamond Head maps and images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook page.

http://www.facebook.com/peter.t.young.hawaii

© 2012 Hoʻokuleana LLC

Rice in Hawaiʻi

Rice production was not a major contributor to Hawaiʻi's economy until the latter half of the nineteenth century.  As whaling declined in importance, greater emphasis was placed on agricultural production, primarily sugar and rice.

It was in 1850 when the Royal Hawaiian Agricultural Society was formed to develop Hawaiʻi’s agricultural resources that rice made its mark in the Hawaiʻi economy. The group purchased land in the Nuʻuanu Valley and rice seed from China and planted in a former taro patch.

At first the Society offered the rice seed to anyone in Hawaiʻi who wanted to plant it. King Kamehameha IV also offered land grants for cultivation of rice.  Because there were no proper milling facilities in Hawaiʻi, it didn’t take off as a viable crop right away.

Then, in 1860, imported rice seed from South Carolina proved very successful and yielded a fair amount of crop.  This, combined with the collapse of the taro industry in 1861-1862 (as the Hawaiian population declined, the demand for taro also declined,) added value to the numerous vacant taro patches and a boom in the rice industry.

From 1860 to the 1920s, Rice was raised in the islands of Hawaiʻi, particularly in Kauaʻi and Oʻahu, because of their abundance of rain.

The Hanalei Valley of Kauaʻi led all other single geographic units in the amount of acreage planted in rice. The valley was one of the first areas converted to this use and continued to produce well into the 1960s.

The Commercial Pacific Advertiser noted on October 3, 1861, “Everybody and his wife (including defunct government employees) are into rice - sugar is nowhere and cotton is no longer king. Taro patches are held at fabulous valuations, and among the thoughtful the query is being propounded, where is our taro to come from?”

During the 1860s and 1870s, the production of rice increased substantially. It was consumed domestically by the burgeoning numbers of Chinese brought to the Islands as agricultural laborers.

In 1862, the first rice mill in the Hawaiian Islands was constructed in Honolulu (prior to that it was sent unhulled and uncleaned to be milled in San Francisco.)  By 1887 over 13 million pounds of rice were exported.

A particularly important stimulus for the increased demand for rice was the Reciprocity Treaty of 1876. This treaty between the United States and the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi granted duty-free status to certain items of trade between the two countries, including rice.

Thomas Thrum wrote in 1877 that Kamehameha V and other landowners had “planted a large tract of land in rice (in Moanalua,) and even went so far as to pull up and destroy large patches of growing taro to plant rice.”

In 1899, Hawaiʻi’s rice production had expanded so that it placed third in production of rice behind Louisiana and South Carolina.

Much of this rice acreage was worked initially by Chinese immigrants, who first arrived as contract laborers in 1852. By 1860 this immigrant population totaled 1,200. Chinese immigration continued at a rapid pace until 1884, when the official census estimated the number of Chinese at 18,254.

In 1882 the US Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act; then, Japanese workers were brought in to take their place. Within only five years the Japanese constituted more than forty-two percent of the plantation work force and one-seventh of the total population.

Ironically, this influx of Japanese immigrants accelerated Hawaiʻi’s decline in rice production. Japanese preferred short grain rice rather than the long grain rice the Chinese were used to eating. So rice began to be imported from California for the Japanese.

California's success would ultimately mean the end of the rice industry in Hawaiʻi. Furthermore, the hand labor techniques of
Hawaiʻi's Chinese and Japanese rice farmers could not compete with California's mechanized production technology.

Additional problems with the rice bird and rice borer, as well as the lack of interest on the part of the younger generation to continue rice farming, eventually meant the end of a once prosperous industry.

Attempts to revive rice production by the Agricultural Extension Service of the University of Hawaiʻi were made in 1906 and 1933, primarily in Hanalei.

As a result the acreage planted in rice on the island rose from 759 acres in 1933 to 1,058 in 1934.  For areas like Hanalei Valley, such efforts, coupled with the valley's general remoteness and absence of competing demands for the land, allowed rice cultivation to continue as a regional activity long after it had been abandoned throughout the rest of Hawaiʻi.

Today, there is no trace of the rice fields in Hawaiʻi. However, Hoʻopulapula Haraguchi Rice Mill museum in Hanalei Valley provides a remnant look at the once prospering agricultural venture.

It was built by the Chinese and purchased by the Haraguchi family in 1924. The Haraguchi family has restored the mill three times; after a fire in 1930, then again after Hurricane Iwa in 1982 and Hurricane Iniki in 1992.

The mill ceased operating in 1960 when Kauaʻi’s rice industry collapsed. A nonprofit organization was formed to preserve and interpret the mill, which has been visited by thousands of school children and adults in the past 29 years.

The third annual Hawaiʻi Rice Festival will be held from 10 am to 5 pm, Saturday, September 29th, 2012 at Ward Centers – a full day of activities is planned including cook-offs, contests, demonstrations and of course, lots of rice dishes to eat.

The image shows Hanalei, Kauaʻi in rice cultivation in 1890.  In addition, I have added other rice-related images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook page.

http://www.facebook.com/peter.t.young.hawaii

© 2012 Hoʻokuleana LLC

Kāneʻohe Bay Airshow - 2012

The Kāneʻohe Bay Airshow at Marine Corps Base Hawaiʻi will take place on September 29-30, 2012 and is free to the public.

Performances in the Air

US Navy Blue Angels

At the end of World War II, the Chief of Naval Operations, Chester W. Nimitz, ordered the formation of a flight demonstration team to keep the public interested in naval Aviation. The Blue Angels performed their first flight demonstration less than a year later in June 1946 at their home base, Naval Air Station (NAS) Jacksonville, Florida.

By the end of the 1940s, the Blue Angels were flying their jet aircraft, the Grumman F9F-2 Panther. In response to the demands placed on Naval Aviation in the Korean Conflict, the team reported to the aircraft carrier USS Princeton as the nucleus of Fighter Squadron 191 (VF-191), "Satan's Kittens," in 1950.  Today the Blue Angels fly the Boeing F/A-18 Hornet.

Fat Albert

Transporting Blue Angels maintenance and support personnel, communication equipment and spare parts is a United States Marine Corps C-130T Hercules nicknamed, “Fat Albert Airlines.” In past Kaneohe Bay Airshows, Fat Albert has demonstrated its jet-assisted takeoff (JATO) capability which enables the plane to takeoff from as little as 1,500 feet of runway, climb at a steep 45-degree angle, and attain an altitude of 1,000 feet within 15 seconds.             

Chuck Aaron

"Malibu" Chuck Aaron is the first and only civilian pilot ever to be licensed to perform helicopter aerobatics in the United States. In fact, he's one of only a handful of pilots permitted to execute the dangerous maneuvers internationally. Chuck is also the first helicopter pilot to be presented with the Art Scholl Showmanship Award, an honor bestowed by the International Council of Air Shows to recognize the world's most outstanding air show performers, and was inducted in 2011 to the prestigious Society of Experimental Test Pilots.

Kirby Chambliss

Kirby Chambliss is noted as one of the best aerobatic pilots in the world. A five-time winner of the U.S. National Aerobatic Championship and a former Men's Freestyle World Champion, he's also fast, world-class fast. Kirby is one of only two American pilots ever to win the Red Bull Air Race World Championship, an international series in which pilots push the envelope by executing aerobatic maneuvers with absolute precision while racing against the clock.

               

Mike Wiskus

Like many of the show pilots, Mike's passion for aviation started when he was very young. Mike's Dad took him to his first air show at their hometown in Iowa at the age of 10. Thirty two years later, Mike has accumulated more than 24,000 flight hours and has qualified in more than 40 aircraft. Mike keeps a very busy schedule flying for Corporate America as well as keeping a full time air show schedule from April through November.

               

Hank Bruckner

Hank Bruckner was always captivated by aircraft and flying. He became a flight instructor shortly before retiring from the Air Force in 1990, and began instructing, eventually starting his own flight school—Kaimana Aviation—where he currently teaches aerobatics, unusual altitude recoveries, spins and tailwheel transition training.

               

Clint Churchill

Clint’s flying career began 45 years ago while attending college at the University of Arizona. Upon graduating, Clint joined the Tucson Air National Guard. Two years later he completed USAF pilot training as a Distinguished Graduate.  “Sensing the need to keep pulling some Gs,” as Clint puts it, he founded Acroflight, Inc. in 1996 and acquired an Extra 300L which he named Onipa’a (strong, steadfast). Clint has provided aerobatic rides to more than 500 customers and performed 24 air shows at various locations in Hawai’i. He has 4,200 flight hours, including 1,100 hours in the Extra.

               

Alan Miller

The son of a career Navy man, Alan Miller’s life-long passion for aviation began while growing up aboard Barbers Point Naval Air Station in Hawaiʻi.  After two years of anticipation and preparation, Alan and his and crew are pleased to bring his uniquely “local style” two-part performance to Oahu for the very first time during the Kaneohe Bay Airshow in 2012.

               

Jacquie B

When most people turn 50, they figure it’s time to relax and settle into neutral while coasting toward retirement. Not Jacquie B!  When Jacquie turned 50, she launched her solo aerobatic career with her one-of-a-kind Pitts Special biplane.  Nearly ten years later, Jacquie B is still in this game, and her list of performance dates is growing. Moreover, Jacquie is a powerful inspiration to her two million fans who realize that they, too, can accomplish great things later in life.

               

Leap Frogs

The U.S. Navy Parachute Team, "Leap Frogs" will be free falling out of an aircraft 12,500 feet from the ground.  When free falling, jumpers reach speeds of 180 miles per hour as their body straightens, similar to luge racers. Be on the lookout for the following formations: downplanes, sideplanes, dragplanes, diamonds, big stacks, tri-by-sides, and T formations.

               

The Flying Leathernecks

The Flying Leathernecks are a group of skydivers who share the passion for jumping. Their 10,000-ft. jump will be a patriotic exhibit including a large American flag, smoke trailers and starburst effects.

               

Flash Fire Jet Truck

Check out the action as the fire-breathing Flash Fire Jet Truck hits the runway in competition with planes overhead. Will it be wings or wheels that finish first? This act is sure to be a crowd pleaser for all ages, mixing all the fun and entertaining elements of a family friendly circus with a combination of extreme speed and high intensity, fire breathing excitement!

Action on the ground:

Marine Air-Ground Task Force Demonstration

Military Static Displays - Military vehicles and iarcraft

Taste of Oahu Food Booths

Xtreme Fun Children's Carnival Rides

At ALL entry points to the air show flight line, ALL bags will be quickly inspected, and all individuals are subject to search prior to entering the air show flight line.

Please note that large bags and/or backpacks, ice chests and coolers will not be permitted. Small bags, such as purses, fanny packs, and diaper bags (8 1/2 x 11) will be permitted. It is recommended that spectators minimize the number and size of permitted items to reduce the inspection time prior to access into the flight line area.

There will be two entrance lines at each gate. One will be for people carrying bags, or other items to be inspected, and one for those with no inspection items.

Images from the 2010 Airshow are posted in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook page. (All rights reserved by MCCS Hawaii.) 

http://www.facebook.com/peter.t.young.hawaii

© 2012 Hoʻokuleana LLC

Pālama Settlement

Central Union Church dates back to the days of the Seaman’s Bethel Church in 1828.  It was formally founded in 1887 and it moved into its present location in 1924.

In addition to developing new institutions within the church, the congregation made great strides in the field of missionary work in the city of Honolulu, including the beginning of the present Pālama Settlement.

Pālama, then a sleepy neighborhood of neat little cottages and taro patches, was chosen by philanthropist and Central Union members Mr. and Mrs. PC Jones as the site for a new chapel.

On the makai side of King street, opposite Liliha Street, the chapel was dedicated on June 1, 1896, and presented to Central Union by the Joneses, on the condition that the church "maintain public preaching there on Sundays, a weekly prayer meeting, sustain a Sabbath school and also an occasional social for the residents of Pālama, the services to be conducted in the English language."

Located west of Nuʻuanu Stream, near Downtown Honolulu, Pālama was home to mostly working-class Hawaiian families.

Walter F. Dillingham, long active in philanthropic endeavors in Honolulu, once observed of Pālama:
“One must picture Honolulu at the end of the century with its mixture of races, their variety of foods, dress, cultures, customs and living habits.  All this gave Honolulu a character and personality not duplicated in any American city. The business section was composed mainly of low framed buildings with corrugated iron roofs near the water front. Streets were unpaved, horse-drawn vehicles, with the ox-cart was a common sight. Taro patches, duck ponds and even sugar cane grew in the section of Palama. It was in such a section that Palama Chapel was built and which grew to be Palama Settlement.” (HJH)

In 1900, as Honolulu health officials attempted to rid the nearby Chinatown area of bubonic plague, fire destroyed a four-block section. Displaced residents took up residence in newly built tenements in Pālama, changing the physical, social and economic make-up of the community.

The chapel's staff located housing for many of the displaced and took care of the injured and children. It also ministered to the needs of immigrants who moved into the Pālama area soon after arriving in the Islands.

Social worker James Arthur Rath, Sr. and his wife, Ragna Helsher Rath, turned Pālama Chapel into Pālama Settlement (in September 1906,) a chartered, independent, non-sectarian organization receiving contributions from the islands’ elite.

“… they called them ‘settlement houses,’ the philosophy being that the head worker, as they called them, settled in the community. Instead of going in to spend the day working and coming out, they settled in, raised their families there and in that way learned, one, what the people needed; two, gained their confidence so that they could help them fulfill their needs; and then, three, went ahead and designed programs for exactly what the people needed. So they were settlers and therefore they called them settlement houses. Which is what the origin of Pālama Settlement was because my father and my mother settled there and all five of us children were born and raised in our home in the settlement.” (Robert H. Rath, Sr)

The Raths established the territory’s first public nursing department, a day-camp for children with tuberculosis, a pure milk depot, a day nursery, a night school, and low-rent housing.

In 1908, an indoor swimming pool was opened, and a year later, a gymnasium and bowling alley were built above it. Later, outdoors, a playground, tennis court, and basketball court were added.

Also that year, a new Parish House was erected on an adjacent property at Richards Street, to be used for Sunday School classes and midweek meetings

After a territory-wide fund-raising effort, in 1925 Pālama Settlement moved to its present location with nine buildings spread over eight acres of land on Vineyard and Pālama streets.

Over the years, a medical clinic, an outpatient clinic and the Strong-Carter Dental Clinic were established along with annual circuses, athletic competitions, social and community-service clubs, boardinghouses for women and a preschool. Classes and events relating to music, arts, vocations, and athletics were also offered.

World War II and the postwar era brought about widespread changes in Hawai‘i’s social, economic, and political environment. These developments, in turn, led to changes in the way social agencies such as Pālama Settlement addressed community needs.

Observers noted that Pālama Settlement was departing from its original settlement house philosophy by offering programs for fees and catering to a broad cross section of people regardless of where they lived.

The 1960s and 1970s were periods of re-evaluation, adjustment, and growth, with the settlement's programs becoming more people-centered rather than activity-centered, stressing human and community needs as opposed to uncoordinated, departmentalized activities, following the large-scale social and economic programs being implemented nationally.

Civil rights and anti-poverty legislation brought large amounts of federal monies to Pālama Settlement for local programs geared to at-risk youth and community development.

Pālama Settlement - a smaller one due to the widening of Vineyard Boulevard and the construction of the H-1 Freeway - continues to exist as a nonprofit, nongovernmental agency dedicated to helping needy families and at-risk youths.

The image shows Pālama Chapel (centralunionchurch-org) circa 1897-1901.  In addition, I have added other Pālama Settlement images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook page.

http://www.facebook.com/peter.t.young.hawaii

© 2012 Hoʻokuleana LLC

Kalaupapa Field System

Moloka‘i Island can be divided into three ecological regions based on rainfall, exposure to northeast trade winds and landform: (1) the wet, windward valleys of the north shore, (2) the dry, leeward valleys of the south shore, and (3) the arid rocklands of the island’s west end.

The Kalaupapa Peninsula, located at the western end of these valleys, is a unique landform formed by a volcanic rejuvenation centered on the Kauhakō Crater (about 330-thousand years ago,) at the base of the north shore’s cliffs.

Archaeological and carbon-dating evidence indicate that the initial settlement and presence of people on the Kalaupapa ("the flat plain") peninsula on the Island of Molokaʻi was between 800 and 1200.

Next to the peninsula is a distinctly-different, wet ecological zone with sediment soils distributed at the bottoms of the short Waihānau and Wai‘ale‘ia Valleys, the large Waikolu Valley and along the base of the cliffs.

Based on archaeological studies, the northern portion of the peninsula has “two main types of agricultural complexes … alignments with enclosures around them, and alignments without enclosures”.  The density of plots within the later type suggested “possible intensification of an earlier field system”.

Identified as the Kalaupapa Field System, there is a grid of rain-fed plots, defined by low stone field walls built, in part, to shelter sweet potatoes and other crops from trade winds, that cover the Kalaupapa Peninsula.

It appears that the field system was a secondary area of settlement and agricultural development, with the wetter valley and sediment soil being the preferred areas.

Like other windward areas, wind erosion is a problem.  To address this, long, narrow linear plots (defined by low field walls,) are packed densely together in locations exposed to the northeast trade winds.  In addition, plots were in swales between boulder outcrops.

Initial theories suggested the entire field system was primarily the result of a historic boom in the production of potatoes for “gold rush” markets in California.

Recent work by various teams of archaeologists, which included surveys in different ecological zones - specifically, the peninsula and several valleys - revealed a well-preserved archaeological landscape across the region.

Instead of enclosed fields associated with the more recent historic era, archaeologists found dense rows of unenclosed alignments and substantial house sites quite unlike the temporary shelters found in other Hawaiian field systems.

The findings suggest that early agricultural development in the area started well before the "gold rush" exports and was first concentrated in valleys (with permanent streams) and, perhaps more significantly, that most of the Kalaupapa Field System was likely to have been built before European contact.

Although limited cultivation in dryland environments may have begun as early as 1200 and continued through the 13th century, widespread burning across the Kalaupapa Peninsula, which archaeologists suggest signals of the beginning of the Kalaupapa Field System, does not commence until 1450-1550.

It appears that not only is there a correlation between rich, geologically young soils and Hawaiian dryland intensive agricultural systems, but also the creation of these large-scale systems around 1400 appears to have been nearly simultaneous in both windward and leeward districts.

Then, between 1650 and 1795, there were increases in the peninsula population, indicated by house sites, rock shelters, an animal enclosure, a possible shrine and a site interpreted as a men’s house (mua.)

In terms of agriculture, there is good evidence that people continued to actively cultivate the entire area throughout this period.

Following the abandonment of the field system at the end of the 18th century, settlement shifted to small house sites spread along the coast and local roadways.

The introduction of cattle in 1830 caused the construction of large, architecturally-distinct walls to protect fields and yards from roving animals.

In 1849, portions of the fields were reactivated and intensified to supply potatoes and other crops to California’s “gold rush” markets.

The Kingdom of Hawaiʻi instituted in 1865 a near century-long program of segregation and isolation of patients with Hansen’s Disease (leprosy) and patients were banished to the isolated peninsula of Kalaupapa, displacing resident families.

The image is an aerial view of the Kalaupapa peninsula area – the parallel walls are easily evident in the image.  Information and images here are from work and publications from Mark D. McCoy, PhD, Assistant Professor, Anthropology at San Jose State University.  In addition, I have added other images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook page.

http://www.facebook.com/peter.t.young.hawaii

© 2012 Hoʻokuleana LLC

Hale Nauā Society

The Hale Nauā (also known as Ualo Malie (Malo)) was a secret royal society established on September 24, 1886 when King Kalākaua obtained a charter for it from the Privy Council.

William D. Alexander writes, that it was formed “not without difficulty, on account of the suspicion that was felt in regard to its character and objects.  According to its constitution it was founded forty quadrillions of years after the founding of the world, and twenty-four thousand seven hundred and fifty years from Lailai, the first woman.” The bylaws are loosely based on Masonic bylaws. (Forbes)

Alexander writes, “So far as the secret proceedings and objects of the society have transpired, it appears to have been indirectly to serve as a political machine.”  At the time the organization was also known as the “Ball and Twine Society”.  (Forbes)

According to its constitution, the society was “the revival of Ancient Sciences of Hawaii in combination with the promotion and advancement of Modern Sciences, Art, Literature, and Philanthropy.”  (Daws)

It was Kalākaua’s idea, and its membership was limited to men with Hawaiian blood – the King served as president.  (Daws)

The original hale nauā scrutinized the genealogical qualifications of those who claimed relationship to the chiefs, as Hawaiian historian David Malo described in a short passage of Moʻolelo Hawaiʻi.

The doings at the house were conducted in the following manner. When the king had entered the house and taken his seat, in the midst of a large assembly of people including many skilled genealogists, two guards were posted outside at the gate of the pa. (The guards were called kaikuono.)  (Malo)

If the genealogists who were sitting with the king recognized a suitable relationship to exist between the ancestry of the candidate and that of the king he was approved of.  (Malo)

Mary Kawena Pukui and Nathaniel B. Emerson refer to nauā or nauwe as the challenge addressed to those applying for admission.

Malo notes that "Nauā?" was the word of challenge which was addressed to everyone who presented himself for admission to this society; the meaning of which it being a question, Whence are you? What is your ancestry?   Genealogists and historians investigated claims back to the tenth generation of ancestry.  (Malo)

Kalākaua’s Hale Nauā had much broader objectives than those of the original hale nauā. While seeking to revive many elements of Hawaiian culture that were slipping away, the king also promoted the advancement of modern sciences, art and literature. (HJH)

The members of Kalākaua’s Hale Nauā undertook relatively uncontroversial activities such as wearing feather capes and cloaks of the Aliʻi (chiefs), sponsoring displays of Hawaiian artifacts at international exhibitions in Melbourne and Paris, and promoting the production of fine tapa, woodwork and shellwork.  (HJH)

Officers, guards and watchmen supervised the comings and goings of aspirants to assure the smooth functioning of the group. However, the founding members of Kalākaua’s Hale Nauā interpreted the name of the organization in two ways: initially as the "House of Wisdom" and later as the "Temple of Science" during the 1886-1891 period.  (HJH)

According to Thrum, Kalākaua, through his “Nauā Society” built the Kamauakapu Heiau in Kapahulu on the slopes on Diamond Head.  It measures approximately 11 x 15.8 feet in size and was constructed in 1888.

The new society was criticized widely among the largely haole planter-business-missionary alliance for this "new departure in Hawaiian politics," Kalākaua continued this policy while also delving deeper into Hawaiian culture.  (HJH)

During the 1880s, the population of Hawaiians continued to decline (from more than 44,000 to 34,000) as new immigrants from China, Japan and Portugal relocated to the kingdom.

It was a time of political and social turbulence in the Hawaiian kingdom.  From the early 1880s, Kalākaua sought to increase the number of native Hawaiians in government positions, hoping to reverse the domination by foreigners that began a half-century earlier.

The image shows Hawaiian Exhibits from the Hale Nauā Society exhibited in Sydney October, 1888.  In addition, there are a couple other images related to Hale Nauā Society in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook page.

http://www.facebook.com/peter.t.young.hawaii

© 2012 Hoʻokuleana LLC

American Whaling Ship Parker

Mokupāpapa literally means flat island, and the name was given to Kure Atoll by officials of the Hawaiian Kingdom in the 19th century.

At the time, Kure was known in the kingdom as Ocean Island, but Hawaiian Kingdom officials indicated that Kure was “known to ancient Hawaiians, named by them Moku Pāpapa and recognized as part of the Hawaiian Domain.”

Unlike all other islands and atolls in the NWHI chain (Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument,) Kure Atoll is the only land area owned by the state of Hawaiʻi – all of the other Northwestern Islands are owned by the US government.

Before the mid-19th century, Kure Atoll was visited by several ships and given new names each time. Many crews were stranded on Kure Atoll after being shipwrecked on the surrounding reefs and had to survive on the local seals, turtles and birds. Because of these incidents King Kalākaua sent Colonel JH Boyd as his Special Commissioner to Kure.

On September 20, 1886, Boyd took possession of the island, then-called Moku Papapa, for the Hawaiian government. The King ordered that a crude house be built on the island, with tanks for holding water and provisions for any other unfortunates who might be cast away there.

On September 24th 1842, the New Bedford whaler “Parker” was one of those earlier shipwrecks lost at Kure Atoll, during a fierce storm.

The seas crashed through the cabin windows at 2:00 am, and immediately the vessel went onto the reef. The ship had struck on the north side of the atoll and became a complete wreck in under an hour, very few provisions (1 peck of beans, 15 pounds of salted meat) being hastily salvaged by the unlucky survivors.

Cutaway masts and some of the floating spars were fashioned into a crude raft. It took the exhausted crew eight days to drift and guide the raft to the island on the southeastern side of the atoll.

There, some of the ship remains of the wrecked British whaler Gledstanes (lost in 1837) provided firewood and building materials. The Gledstanes’ dog, having gone wild during his years of isolation, provided some variety in the crew's diet of seabirds and seals.

The castaways spent a hard eight months fighting for survival on the low island at the atoll. 120 Laysan albatross took flight with inscribed wooden tallies fixed to their legs in an attempt to alert rescuers.

More than 7,000 seabirds were killed for food and some 60 seals. Finally, the Captain and a few others were finally picked up from Ocean (Green) Island on April 16, 1843 by the ship James Stewart.

The rest of the crew remained on the island until May 2, when they were rescued by the New Bedford whaler Nassau and taken to Honolulu.

The physical remains of the ship fill in more details of the story. A team of maritime archaeologists first visited the site in 2002.

In 2006, a team of maritime archaeologists completed a mapping survey of the shipwreck site. Anchors, anchor chain, hull sheathing, copper fasteners, hawse pipes, windlass, rigging hardware, wire rope, bricks and other material are distributed in a line over 100 meters in length.

The team also discovered a trail of bricks and broken try pot shards (cauldrons used to render the whale oil from the blubber) in a small pass through the reef crest.

The survey outside the reef crest found almost no artifacts at all. It's possible that the extremely violent storm and seas brought the vessel entirely into the shallow back reef area, hundreds of yards from the reef pass, where she grounded at a heading of 135 degrees magnetic. Deck features were washed over the side as the ship first entered the lagoon.

The lagoon site is relatively shallow, 8-18 feet of water. The bottom type is patch coral reef, coralline substrate and rubble and sand areas.

But is this wreck site really the whaler Parker?

The types of artifacts correspond to a mid-19th century whaler, and the site location is consistent with the historical report, but there is no conclusive piece of evidence as yet, so the identification as the Parker remains preliminary.

Site survey work in 2005 involved the removal of a few diagnostic artifacts (with oversight by the appropriate management agencies). These were conserved at the Heritage Resources Conservation Lab, California State University, Chico.

In 2008, a team returned to the site to document the site with high definition video, and also to recover a ship's bell for conservation, education and outreach. The ship's bell became part of an exhibit at the Monument's Mokupāpapa Discovery Center, "Lost on a Reef".

The image shows a diver and the anchor from the Parker; information and images from NOAA.  In addition, I put other images and maps in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook page.

http://www.facebook.com/peter.t.young.hawaii

© 2012 Hoʻokuleana LLC

Kūkaniloko Birthstones

The Kūkaniloko Birthstones site is one of the most significant cultural sites on O‘ahu.  This significance was recognized in the listing of the site on the National and Hawai'i Registers of Historic Places.

Kūkaniloko means “to anchor the cry from within.”

The 5-acre site was acquired by the State of Hawaiʻi in 1992 and placed under the jurisdiction of State Parks to preserve and interpret this important historic site.

Kūkaniloko was one of two places in Hawai‘i specifically designated for the birth of high-ranking children; the other site was Holoholokū at Wailua on Kaua'i.

These royal birthing sites maintained the antiquity and purity of the chiefly lineages on O‘ahu and Kaua‘i.  It is said that chiefs from Hawai‘i Island and Maui often sought greater prestige by marrying those with these strong ancestral lineages.

The site is marked by 180 stones covering an area of about ½-acre.  Many of these stones have surface depressions and fluted edges with a coating of red dirt.  These surfaces are probably a combination of natural weathering and human craftsmanship over many generations.

Today, they appear as very smooth, round, "sit-spots" in the rocks, with no signs of tools or human workmanship; only their uniform symmetry and design would indicate human craftsmanship.

One can immediately visualize the use of these stone "sit-spots" in childbirth, for many of them have natural backrests behind the depressions, which would have given firm support to a straining mother-to-be.  It is small wonder that these birthstones would have been revered and reserved for childbirth for chiefesses.

With assistance from her attendants, the chiefess would lean against the stone and follow the prescribed regulations for birthing (liloe kapu).

Beginning with the birth of Kapawa, Kūkaniloko became recognized as the royal birthsite on O'ahu.  Based on genealogical records, the dates of Kapawa’s birth range from A.D. 1100 to A.D. 1400, but the date could be earlier.

A child born in the presence of the chiefs was called “he ali‘i” (a chief), “he akua” (a god), “he wela” (a blaze of heat).  The births of at least 4 renown chiefs of O‘ahu are recorded at Kūkaniloko – La‘a (ca. 1420,) Mā‘ilikūkahi (ca. 1520,) Kalanimanuia (ca. 1600) and Kākuhihewa (ca. 1640).

The reign of these chiefs was marked by good deeds, peace and prosperity.

This place was so highly viewed that, even in later times, Kamehameha I, in 1797, previous to the birth of his son and successor, Liholiho (Kamehameha II,) made arrangements to have his birth take place at Kūkaniloko; but the illness of Queen Keōpūolani prevented that (Liholiho was born in Hilo.)

Major trails crossed the island and intersected near Kūkaniloko.  The Waialua Trail ran from Waialua through Wahiawā to ‘Ewa.  The Kolekole Trail from Wai‘anae crossed the Wai‘anae Range and joined the Waialua Trail near Kūkaniloko.

To the south of the birthstones is the Wai‘anae Mountain Range with prominent peaks such as Kaʻala and a dip known as Kolekole.  According to oral tradition, these features create an image of a pregnant woman known as "wahine hāpai.”

From Kūkaniloko, the setting of the sun at peaks (pu‘u) along the Waiʻanae Range could be observed and used as a calendar.  Some of the stones at Kūkaniloko may have been used as reference points to observe the sun setting behind, Mt. Ka‘ala at the equinox.

Likewise, it is believed that alignments and marking on the stones illustrate navigational directions.  (Today, September 22, 2012) is the Autumnal Equinox; from Kūkaniloko, the setting sun is aligned with Mt. Kaʻala.)

Wahiawā is translated as place of rumbling.  It is said that Wahiawā is where thunderstorms, the voices of the ancestral gods, welcomed an offspring of divine rank.  Being the center of O‘ahu, Kūkaniloko is also symbolic of the piko (navel, as well as center) and thus, birth.

The site is managed and maintained through a partnership between DLNR-State Parks, the Hawaiian Civic Club of Wahiawā and the Friends of Kūkaniloko.  Additional support for interpretive efforts at the site has been provided by the Wahiawā Hospital Association and the Wahiawā Community and Business Association.

The Kūkaniloko birthstones are located next to a dusty (or muddy) plantation road and are partially surrounded by former pineapple fields.  The turn-off from Kamehameha Highway just north of the town of Wahiawā, at the Whitmore Village intersection (bridge repair in Wahiawa is making traffic in the area a challenge.)

The image shows Kūkaniloko; I have added other images related to Kūkaniloko in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook page.

http://www.facebook.com/peter.t.young.hawaii

© 2012 Hoʻokuleana LLC

Kamehameha V Cottage

Prince Lot Kapuāiwa, who later became Kamehameha V, owned a cottage in an area now known as Moanalua Gardens next to a kalo patch, a fishpond and Chinese Hall.  Moanalua Gardens is a 24-acre privately-owned public park in Honolulu, Hawaii.

The cottage, built during the 1850s, is a single-story wooden structure laid out in Hawaiian style with a Victorian motif.

The building is comprised of three separate units: a cooking and eating unit; a living and sleeping unit; and an entertaining pavilion (this third unit is a post-Kamehameha V addition). The units are all attached to each other by a series of roofed lanai.

The exterior wall of the center building is made of clapboard whereas that of the dining and kitchen hall is made of board and batten.

The exterior trim is of Victorian Gingerbread (the cresting), accenting each of the different roof styles of the units (gable, simple shed, hip, and domelike roofs). The single unifying factor of the roof in the overall building is the consistent use of wooden shingles.

The original cottage (the center unit) was very simple with minimal ornamentation. The revival of hula performances may have had some influence on the construction as the original cottage had a lanai that completely surrounded the building where hula could have been performed for invited guests.

In 1856, Prince Lot built the kitchen and dining unit as a separate building using tongue-and-groove material with vertical molded battens over the joints.

Lot Kapuāiwa, four years older than his brother Kamehameha IV, ascended to the throne at his brother’s death in 1863.  Like his brother, he ruled for nine years (1863 to 1872.)

In 1864, when it appeared that a new constitution could not be agreed upon, he declared that the Constitution of 1852 be replaced by one he had written himself.

Kamehameha V (Lot) founded the Royal Order of Kamehameha I on April 11, 1865, in commemoration of his grandfather Kamehameha the Great.

The stated purpose of the order was "to cultivate and develop, among our subjects, the feelings of honor and loyalty to our dynasty and its institutions and ... to confer honorary distinctions upon such of our subjects and foreigners as have rendered,  or may hereafter render to our dynasty and people, important services."

Known as "the bachelor king," Lot Kamehameha did not name a successor, which led to the invoking of the constitutional provision for electing kings of Hawai`i.

Under the Kingdom's 1864 constitution, if the king did not appoint a successor, a new king would be elected by the legislature from the eligible Hawaiian royals still alive. William Charles Lunalilo and David Kalākaua were the candidates; Lunalilo was the more popular of the two.

The property was transferred to Bernice Pauahi Bishop, the last of the Kamehameha line.  She willed (in 1884) the ahupua‘a (land division) of Moanalua to Samuel Mills Damon.

In the 1900s, Damon renovated the cottage and used it as a residence.  In 1961, lattice work around the building was added, and around 1972-1973, a new shingled roof was installed.

The building has been situated at three different Moanalua sites since its original construction. It was moved to its present location in 1960.

A non-profit organization founded in 1970, Moanalua Gardens Foundation (MGF) works toward preserving and perpetuating the native culture, environment, and people of Hawai‘i through education, celebration and stewardship of Kamananui Valley and Moanalua Gardens.  (Lots of information here came from them.)

The MGF sponsors the Prince Lot Hula Festival (this year was the 35th annual that attracted 10,000 people.)  It is the largest non-competitive hula event in Hawai‘i, and honors Prince Lot Kapuāiwa who helped to revive the hula by staging pāʻina (parties) at his summer home in Moanalua.

For safety reasons, the cottage is off limits.  In addition to this image here (older, but undated,) I have included other images of Kamehameha V’s Summer Cottage at Moanalua Gardens and other images of Kamehameha V in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook page.

http://www.facebook.com/peter.t.young.hawaii

© 2012 Hoʻokuleana LLC

Wailuku Civic Center Historic District

The Wailuku Civic Center Historic District is comprised of several buildings (recognized on the State and National Registers of Historic Places) that generally front on South High Street and constitute the core of governmental structures in Wailuku, the Maui County seat.

Following annexation, the Territorial government passed the County Act in 1905, establishing county governments on the four largest islands in the Hawaiʻi chain.

The act named Wailuku the County seat of Maui, although a number of people were advocating that Lāhainā, the former capital of the Hawaiian Kingdom, be accorded this right.

The citizens of east and central Maui, who comprised three quarters of the island's population, reasonably argued that with the growth and dominance of sugar production on the island, Wailuku had replaced Lāhainā as Maui's center of wealth, business and population.

Wailuku originally was a Hawaiian settlement.  In 1832, a mission was established there under the leadership of Jonathan S. Green.

Very little development occurred, however, until after the Wailuku Sugar Company commenced its operations in 1862.  This led to the growth and eventual prosperity of the town.

Following the naming of Wailuku as Maui's County seat, the first substantial government building erected in the town was the district courthouse.

The county government remained housed in leased commercial space, a small wooden office building and the community hall, until 1925 when the current Police Station was built to accommodate the demand for adequate office space.

The construction of this building was hailed by the local press as, "another step in the establishment of an attractive civic center," and the writer looked forward to the day when, "all the civic needs will be appropriately housed in one center."

The construction of the public library in 1928 was another step in reaching this desired goal, and the Territory's decision to purchase a corner of the property owned by Kaʻahumanu Church for the construction of the Territorial Office Building in 1930, assured the civic center.

The buildings within the district house State and County government offices, courts, and the public library, and serve as a hub of governmental activity for the island of Maui.

Built within a twenty-four year period, the historic structures represent the architectural aspirations of their time, employing the popular Beaux Arts revival, Mediterranean revival and Hawaiian styles.

These buildings are all of masonry construction and of one or two stories in height, which is in keeping with the scale of most of the city.

The oldest of the buildings is the County Courthouse, erected in 1907. Designed by Honolulu architect H. L. Kerr, it is a Beaux Arts inspired building constructed of cast hollow concrete block which mimetically perpetuates dressed stone.

Next to, and set back from, the Courthouse is the County Office Building, a nine-story building constructed in 1972.

Standing on the other side of the County Office Building is The Police Station.  Built in 1925, this reinforced concrete building was designed in a simple Mediterranean style by Maui architect William D’Esmond.

Across South High Street on either corner of the intersection with Aupuni Street stand the Wailuku Library (completed in 1928) and the former Territorial Building (completed in 1931, it now houses the State's judiciary.)  Both of these Mediterranean revival/Hawaiian style buildings were designed by CW Dickey.

Other sites in the vicinity, but not part of the formal “Historic District” include Halekiʻi - Pihana Heiau, Kaʻahumanu Church and Hale Ho‘ike‘ike/Old Bailey House.

Haleki‘i and Pihana Heiau are the most accessible of the remaining pre-contact Hawaiian structures of religious and historical importance in the Wailuku-Kahului area; they are located along the west side of Iao Stream.

Traditional history credits the menehune with the construction of both heiau in a single night; other accounts say they were built under the rule of Kahekili.

In 1832, Queen Kaahumanu visited a religious service by Jonathan Smith Green, and later requested that a more permanent church structure be named for her; ultimately, Reverend Edward Bailey fulfilled her request in 1876 when the current structure was built.

Hale Ho‘ike‘ike, the Old Bailey House, is a combination of four structures built between 1835 and 1850.  Originally built as a parsonage for the ministers of the Wailuku Church, it’s now operated by the Maui Historical Society as a museum.

The image shows building within the Wailuku Civic Center Historic District-Top row, left to right-Courthouse, Old Police Station; Bottom row, left to right-Wailuku Library, Territorial Building.

In addition, other images of these and other historic buildings/sites in the vicinity are in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook page.

http://www.facebook.com/peter.t.young.hawaii

© 2012 Hoʻokuleana LLC

Japanese Internment

During World War II, Japanese Americans were incarcerated in at least eight locations on Hawaiʻi.

These sites that include Honouliuli Gulch, Sand Island, and the U.S. Immigration Station on Oahu, the Kilauea Military Camp on the Big Island, Haiku Camp and Wailuku County Jail on Maui, and the Kalaheo Stockade and Waialua County Jail on Kauaʻi.

The forced removal of these individuals began a nearly four-year odyssey to a series of camps in Hawaiʻi and on the continental United States.

They were put in these camps, not because they had been tried and found guilty of something, but because either they or their parents or ancestors were from Japan and, as such, they were deemed a "threat" to national security.

In all, between 1,200 and 1,400 local Japanese were interned, along with about 1,000 family members.  The number of Japanese in Hawai‘i who were detained was small relative to the total Japanese population here, less than 1%.

By contrast, Executive Order 9066, signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on February 19, 1942, authorized the mass exclusion and detention of all Japanese Americans living in the West Coast states, resulting in the eventual incarceration of 120,000 people.

The detainees were never formally charged and granted only token hearings.  Many of the detainees’ sons served with distinction in the US armed forces, including the legendary 100th Battalion, 442nd Regimental Combat Team and Military Intelligence Service.

During the war, there was a Hawaii Defense Act, Order No. 5 that stated “all aliens were forbidden from possessing weapons, firearms, explosives short-wave radio receiving sets, transmitting sets, cameras, or maps of any United States military or naval installation.”

They could not travel by air, change residence or occupation or move without written permission from the provost marshal.

On December 8, 1941, the first detention camp was set up on Sand Island.  Several factors made Sand Island a logical place for establishment of the first detention camp.  Geographically, it was an island immediately adjacent to the city of Honolulu in the Honolulu Harbor.

The Territorial Quarantine Hospital had been located on Sand Island and it had housing, food prep and administrative facilities.

Within one week of the attack on Pearl Harbor, the FBI detained 370 Japanese, 98 German and 14 Italians.  Almost all of the Japanese detainees were men; of the European detainees, many were women.  The European and Japanese internees were segregated.

The first POW of the war (Ensign Kazuo Sakamaki, of the captured Japanese submarine that beached at Waimanalo) was also interned at Sand Island.

Each compound operated its own mess and maintained its own sanitary and internal administrations.  The detainees supplied their own recreational activities, such as softball and volleyball games.  Each compound had its own spokesman.

While most of the internees were residents of Oʻahu, there were Japanese detained on the Neighbor Islands.

On Kaua‘i internees were crowded into the county jail.  According to Gwen Allen (Hawaii War Years), the December 12, 1941 issue of the Kaua‘i newspaper reported that “the men are building double decker bunks.”  On the Big Island, detainees were interned at Kilauea Military Camp at Volcano.

Restrictions at each were different.  On Kaua‘i, after two days of war, a newspaper announcement invited families to call on detainees any day between 1 pm and 3 pm and they were allowed to take clean laundry and simple Japanese food.

On Maui, each detainee was given a questionnaire asking if they had any animals that needed feeding and other care, and if so, where can they be found.  On the Big Island, there was no public visiting until February 14, 1942.

For some O‘ahu internees, they began their detention at the Immigration Station at Fort Armstrong and were then moved to Sand Island.  Internees at Sand Island lived in tents until wooden barracks were built.  “Until books and other materials were allowed, the internees passed the time by smoothing sea shells for necklaces by rolling them on the concrete floors.”

In March 1942, Sand Island closed.  Some detainees were sent to Honouliuli Internment camp.

Because arrests and detentions continued through the war, the community remained on edge, fearful as to who might be next.  Japanese culture became equated with Japanese political affiliation, and Japanese language clothing and customs suddenly disappeared.

Though some detainees were released after a short imprisonment, the majority were detained for the duration of the war, with most eventually transferred to camps on the continental United States, for a period approaching four years.

Most eventually returned to Hawai‘i after the war.

In 2006, President Bush signed the Camp Preservation Bill (HR 1492), which authorized $38 million in funding for the preservation of former World War II confinement sites.  In part, the intent is that the Honouliuli site become a public historical park where the Hawai‘i internees story can be shared with future generations.

The fact that the internment did happen here in the Hawaiʻi are something to never forget.  Much of the information and images here is from documents attributed to the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai‘i.  I have also added other images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook page.

http://www.facebook.com/peter.t.young.hawaii

© 2012 Hoʻokuleana LLC

Ikua Purdy

The gift of a few cattle, given to Kamehameha I by Captain George Vancouver in 1793, spawned a rich tradition of cowboy and ranch culture that is still here, today.

With a kapu against killing the cattle, by 1830, wild bullocks posed a serious and dangerous threat to humans. Spurred also by the growing business of reprovisioning visiting ships with fresh meat and vegetables, Kamehameha III and Kaʻahumanu saw the wisdom of bringing in experienced cowboys.

They hired Spanish-Mexican vaquero (cowboys) from California to hunt bullocks and train Hawaiians to rope and handle cattle. The cowboys spoke Spanish - "Espanol" which turned into "paniolo" according to one explanation of the term.

The Hawaiian cowboy, nicknamed "paniolo," played an important role in the economic and cultural development of Hawaiʻi and helped to establish the islands as a major cattle exporter to California, the Americas and the Pacific Rim for over a century.

Some might not realize that Hawaiʻi's working paniolo preceded the emergence of the American cowboy in the American West.

After winning the Revolutionary war (1781), American settlers started to pour into the "west;" by 1788, the first permanent American settlement in the Northwest Territory was in Ohio.

In 1800, the western frontier extended to the Mississippi River, which bisects the continental United States north-to-south from just west of the Great Lakes to the delta near New Orleans.

Then, in 1803, President Thomas Jefferson's Louisiana Purchase doubled the size of the nation.

The Battle of the Alamo was in 1836; later that year, Texas became independent, the Mexicans left, leaving their cattle behind. Texan farmers claimed the cattle and set up their own ranches.

It wasn't until the 1840s that the wagon trains really started travelling to the far west.  Then, with the US victory in the Mexican-American war and gold soon found in California, the rush to the West was on.

The cattle trade in the American West was at its peak from 1867 until the early-1880s.

And, when in cattle country, you can expect rodeos.

Headlines in Island and Wyoming newspapers in August of 1908 announced rodeo history.

Twelve thousand spectators, a huge number for those days, watched Ikua Purdy, Eben “Rawhide Ben” Low, and Archie Kaaua from Hawaiʻi carry off top awards at the world-famous Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo (the "granddaddy" of rodeo.).

Unlike today’s calf-roping, riders lassoed powerful, full-grown steers.

The Cheyenne paper reported that the performances of the dashing Hawaiians, in their vaquero-style clothing and flower-covered, “took the breath of the American cowboys.”

Under drizzling skies, Purdy won the World’s Steer Roping Championship—roping, throwing and tying the steer in 56 seconds. Kaaua and Low took third and sixth place.

They each accomplished these feats on borrowed horses.

Purdy worked at Parker Ranch prior traveling to Cheyenne, Wyoming; his victory demonstrated the exceptional skills of the paniolo to mainland cowboys who long regarded rodeo and roping as their own domain.

On arriving home, the men were met at dockside by thousands of cheering fans and also honored by parades and other festivities on Maui and Hawai‘i.

Waimea-born Purdy moved to Ulupalakua, Maui and resumed his work as a paniolo until his death in 1945. He did not return to the mainland to defend his title, in fact he never left Hawaii's shores again. But his victory and legend live on in Hawaiʻi and the annals of rodeo history.

In 1999, Ikua Purdy was voted into the National Cowboy Museum, Rodeo Hall of Fame. That same year he was the first inductee to the Paniolo Hall of Fame established by the Oʻahu Cattlemen's Association.

In 2003, a large bronze statue of Purdy roping a steer was placed in Waimea town on the Big Island, erected by the Paniolo Preservation Society.   In October 2007, Purdy was inducted into the Cheyenne Frontier Days Hall of Fame.

I have also added other images related to Ikua Purdy in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook page.

http://www.facebook.com/peter.t.young.hawaii

© 2012 Hoʻokuleana LLC

Hō‘ea Agricultural Park Master Plan Wins Sustainability Award

We are proud and honored that the American Planning Association – Hawaiʻi Chapter awarded Hoʻokuleana LLC with the “Innovation in Sustaining Places” for our preparation of the Master Plan for the Hō‘ea Agricultural Park.

In issuing the award, "The APA Awards Jury felt the plan incorporates innovative concepts in agricultural park planning, especially in terms of the layout and design of the facility which includes the reuse of resources and farming best practices. They found the plan transferable to other facilities in the County."

"The careful, systematic review of relevant state and local policies as well as plans for the area helps to facilitate implementation of this innovative project."

"The inclusion of specific management strategies and actions to support the project mission and goals also helps to increase project success. The research on Hawaiian values as well as coverage of topics such as permaculture, public health and local economic development makes this plan comprehensive, ambitious and worthy of recognition."

This is the third year in a row that we received an APA-Hawaiʻi award.  Last year we received the “Environment – Preservation” award for the Corridor Management Plan for the Scenic Byway on Aliʻi Drive in Kona and the year before we received the “Environment – Preservation” award for the ʻĀina Mauna Legacy Program forest and habitat restoration.

Hō‘ea Ag Park is a proposed private agricultural park situated at ʻUpolu Point in North Kohala on the island of Hawaiʻi.  The core of the agricultural park is 450‐acres of actively farmed fee simple privately‐owned property.

In addition to the conventional land use layout, we included specific management and operational recommendations in the Master Plan. These were made to help assure that food will be the focus, goals/commitments are being addressed and tenants are on track to fulfill the mission and vision.

In a sense, the Ag Park management philosophy views the overall Agricultural Park more like an integrated farm, rather than an assemblage of independent, individual farms.

The context in which the Master Plan was prepared, particularly in relation to the overall Agricultural Park management strategy, addresses strong and recurring themes of Tradition, Sustainability, Integrated Holistic Approach, Long‐term Timeframe, Cooperation and Collaboration, Diversity of Foods and Economic Viability – melding Hawaiian traditional wisdom with modern sustainability concepts.

Rather than the typical Agricultural Park where Park management passively collects the rent, our recommendations suggest Hō‘ea management is actively involved, making sure goals/commitments are being addressed and tenants/collaborators are on track to fulfill the Park’s mission and vision.  These include:

• Identify needs, seek farmers/operators to fill those needs
• Provide support facilities (water, storage, processing, marketing, distribution, etc)
• Make capital investments – cost recovery can be made through amortization of costs into lease rents
• Prepare farmers for Best Farming Practices – set operational and production standards, adhering to resource protection measures
• Grow a set of new farmers ‐ support education programs (all aspects of farming and crop innovation, etc; but not just farming, include economics, business planning, financing, etc)
• Conduct research and development, adapt and change
• Be actively engaged in marketing, on behalf of the agricultural park, in general, and the respective individual farm operations/products
• Integrate sustainable agriculture, natural/cultural resource stewardship and public education
• Lead, but learn from others
• Be more than just an agricultural park, be a destination, incubator of ideas and model for others to follow

The vision of the Hō`ea Agricultural Park is the development and management of the agricultural park as a diversified, collaborative, sustainable system that provides land access and farming opportunities for multiple small farmers whose production, marketing and education activities support local food availability, that is economically viable, environmentally sound and provides value for all participants – the North Kohala community, farmers and Hawai`i County residents.

More specifically, the following highlight some of the recommendations in the Master Plan that focus on successful and sustainable (economically, socially and environmentally) practices within the Agricultural Park (these enhance revenue opportunities, as well as reduce the cost of operation – in all cases, seeking multiple benefits from each action:)

• Focus is on Farming, and Food specifically, not ornamental or other agricultural uses
• Diversity of Food (Grown and produced in the Agricultural Park)
• On‐Park Farm Stand (Selling products grown/produced in the Agricultural Park)
• On‐Park Farm Cafe (Preparing and selling products grown/produced in the Agricultural Park)
• Marketing Coordinated by the Agricultural Park – replacing wholesaler (this provides cost savings and benefits that are passed on to the farmer and allows farmer to focus on farming)
• Diverse Marketing Strategies (Farm‐to programs, subscriptions, local outlets, neighboring resorts, etc)
• Waste Reuse (Waste from one farm fills a need on another (green waste; fish/animal feed components, etc); aquaponics using nutrient rich fish water to produce vegetable crops)
• Pasture‐Raised cattle, pig and chicken (Feed supplemented from range)
• Water Reuse (Aquaponics to maximize production with minimal water; taro lo‘i water flows into irrigation system)
• Slaughter/Processing (Value added, cost savings passed on to the farmer)
• No Single‐family Homes on Farms (Focus is on farming and growing food for the community, not housing or homesteads)
• Worker Housing Facility (Assist farmers by providing on‐Park worker housing, with cost recovery to the Agricultural Park)
• Slaughter Facilities (Keeping investment at appropriate scale and provides flexibility for use by others)
• Agricultural Park Investment in Infrastructure (Reduces farmer investment at entry level, cost recovery to Agricultural Park built into lease rent payments)
• Agricultural Park Investment in Shared Equipment (Seek maximum utilization of equipment; allow small farmer to use (for a fee) rather than purchase)
• Best Farming Practices (Protects and enhances the soil; prevents run‐off out of Agricultural Park)
• Soil Replenishment (Through Composting/Beneficial, Effective and Indigenous Microorganisms)
• Renewable Energy Sources (Multiple sources of electrical power through hydroelectric, solar and wind)
• Adaptive Reuse of Sugar Plantation Infrastructure (Road systems, water systems, etc)
• Windbreaks Protect the Land (but also add to the food output - sugar, bamboo shoots, etc – forming a linear orchard, linear pasture)
• Outreach, Research and Education (Farmers can learn the latest opportunities, the community is included in the educational programs, etc)

Ultimately, this is demonstrated by fulfilling the goal of: Food from Kohala for Kohala.

More information on Hoʻokuleana LLC can be found at www.Hookuleana.com.

If you feel inclined, you may also “Like” us on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hookuleana-LLC/106303469479281

La Pietra

Papaʻenaʻena heiau was situated on the side of Lēʻahi, Diamond Head.  It was referred to by early writers as "Lēʻahi heiau."

Papaʻenaʻena was reportedly built by Maui King Kahekili to commemorate his conquest of Oʻahu.   This heiau was destroyed in about 1856 and its stones were carted off to Waikīkī for use as rock walls and driveways.

During the Mahele this site was given by the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi to the future King Lunalilo.  After the king's death this site was sold to James Campbell, in 1883.  Later, Walter F. Dillingham bought the land from Campbell.

In 1910, Walter Dillingham married Louise Gaylord.  Bucking the current trend of wealthy families living in Mānoa, Mr. Dillingham chose to build his new bride a home on a dry and - at the time - remote area on the slopes of Diamond Head.

With the help of famed Chicago architect, David Adler, they built a home similar to the Villa La Pietra they admired in Tuscany while on their honeymoon.

Three elements compose the central structure.  One is facing the northward toward the Koʻolau range, one westward to the Waianae range, and one southward to the sea.

All three face inward on a flagged courtyard surrounded by a pillared arcade.  In the center of the courtyard is an Italianate fountain, which was used to cool the building when the breeze swept through the structure.

The building is a composite of villa, as noted by Grace Tower Warren, Island Hostess: An Italian Villa in Hawaii, Paradise of the Pacific, Vol. 63:
"Many people have had the idea that La Pietra is a copy of my aunt's villa in Florence of the same name, the one In which Mr. Dillingham and I were married, but such is not the case", said Mrs. Dillingham.

"It is a composite of several of the beautiful villas in Florence to which my aunt, Mrs. Acton, took me, The facade facing the Waianae Mountains and the town is copied from the Villa Cambreia, The facade facing the Koolau Mountains is a replica of the de Medici villa in Florence. Our architect was David Adler, and he beautifully combined and coordinated the designs and ideas we loved..."

Mr. Dillingham and Adler did not work together in person.  At the time Adler was designing another residence in New York.  So Mr. Dillingham sent Mr. Adler detailed measurements and contour maps of the site, and photographs showing the setting in which the villa would stand.

With that, La Pietra – meaning The Gem or The Rock – was born.

The Dillingham home was completed in 1922 and included 5 bedrooms, a swimming pool, a formal dining room, horse stables, servants' quarters, tennis courts, and a game/pool table room.

Architecturally, the home is described as "An extensive two-story "Italian villa" in an imposing terraced setting overlooking Kapiʻolani Park, Waikiki Bay and Honolulu; an example of the "Mediterranean Revival" period which had some popularity in Honolulu, as on the mainland."

For the next 40 years, La Pietra was a social center for Honolulu’s wealthy and famous, with visitors to the estate including Franklin D. Roosevelt and Walt Disney.

Upon Mr. Dillingham's death in 1963, Punahou School gained ownership of La Pietra and used it for faculty housing; the property was eventually sold to the newly formed Hawaii School for Girls in 1969.

With its start at Central Union Church, Hawaii School for Girls then renamed and relocated to La Pietra - Hawaii School for Girls, which consisted of nine founding teachers, 210 girls and Head of School, Joseph Pynchon.

Over the years, various enhancements were made to the campus. A six classroom building named in honor of Mrs. Cooke was dedicated in January 1977. The athletic complex, completed in 1987, was named in honor of Mrs. Anthony in 2008. Bachman Science Center was built in 1997. Most recently, the school renovated its library to create Hawaii’s first all-digital school library.

La Pietra - Hawaii School for Girls is an independent, college preparatory school for girls.  In addition to this image, I had added others of La Pietra in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook page.

http://www.facebook.com/peter.t.young.hawaii

© 2012 Hoʻokuleana LLC

Umu (also known as ‘Imu’)

In 1846, Article V of the “Statute Laws of His Majesty Kamehameha III” was published. The law defined the responsibilities and rights the konohiki and people had to the wide range of fishing grounds and resources.  It codified the prior traditional and customary fishing practices.

The law also addressed the practice of designating kapu or restrictions on the taking of fish, tribute of fish paid to the King and identified specific types of fisheries from the freshwater and pond fisheries to those on the high seas under the jurisdiction of the Kingdom.

Section II of the law stated, "The fishing grounds from the reefs, and where there happen to be no reefs from the distance of one geographical mile seaward to the beach at low water mark, shall in law be considered the private property of the landlords whose lands, by ancient regulation, belong to the same".

Therefore, a typical ahupuaʻa (what we generally refer to as watersheds, today) was a long strip of land, narrow at its mountain summit top and becoming wider as it ran down a valley into the sea to the outer edge of the reef.  If there was no reef then the sea boundary would extend into the deep water.

While Hawaiʻi has some fantastic reefs, there are areas where there are no reefs (i.e. sandy bottom or muliwai (estuaries and river mouths where flowing freshwater prevented coral growth.))

So, how can a konohiki and the tenants of an ahupuaʻa that does not have a reef fronting the land fish for reef fish?

Like today, in many cases, the ancient Hawaiians built artificial reefs.  They were called umu (or imu.)

In Hawaiʻi, as well as other areas of Polynesia, rock shelters were constructed that provided protections and sources of food for reef fish.

Large and small stones were piled into walls with an underwater chamber.  Algal growth on the rocks provided them a source of food.  Small fish attracted larger fish.  Openings in the rock piles allowed small fish to hide.

These rock piles acted like naturally-occurring rock outcrops and coral reef habitats.   They provided protection from predators and a food supply for reef fish.

"Such shelters were quite common in the islands.  On Oʻahu, evidence of their existence has been found in Kāneʻohe Bay and around Kahaluʻu and Waiʻāhole."  (Kanahele)

"Besides providing stability and some protection from predators, these shelters also helped to regulate fish growth and potentially increase fish stocks by serving as artificial homes for fish to congregate and reproduce."  (Kikiloi)

Some of the prominent fish species that inhabited these shelters were squirrelfish (u‘u), unicornfish (kala), surgeonfish (manini), goatfish (moano), greater amberjack (kahala), parrotfish (uhu) and eels (puhi).  (Kikiloi)

"These were the predecessors of present-day attempts to attract fish to Waikīkī and other places with artificial reefs."  (Kanahele)

The Territory of Hawai`i began looking into the possibility of installing artificial shelters in areas of sparse natural habitat.  Back in 1957, the proposed purpose of these shelters was to increase and enhance opportunities for fishermen.

In 1961, the State's first artificial reef was created at Maunalua Bay, off Kahala, Oʻahu (74 acres). Then, in 1963, two more artificial reefs were created off Keawakapu, Maui (54 acres) and Waianae, Oʻahu (141 acres).

A fourth artificial reef was created in 1972 off Kualoa, O`ahu (1,727 acres). The Ewa Deepwater artificial reef (31 acres) was built in 1986.

Unlike the other four reefs, which were deployed at depths of 50-100 feet, the Ewa reef was sunk in 50-70 fathoms (300-420 feet) of water for "new" bottomfish habitat.

Initially, car bodies were the primary material used to construct artificial reefs.  Then, from 1964-1985, concrete pipes were mainly used to build these reefs.  In addition, several barges and minesweeper vessels were sunk.

From 1985-1991 the program used concrete and tire modules as the main artificial reef components. Other items used included derelict concrete material, barges, and even large truck tires.

From 1991 to the present, materials deployed have mainly been concrete "Z-modules" (4-feet by 8-feet, with 1-foot high "legs" on end of opposing sides.) Other components include barges, derelict concrete material and several small vessels.

The image shows a layout and depiction of the Hawaiian Imu - Umu (from Kekuewa Kikiloi.)  In addition, I have added other images of artificial reefs in Hawaiʻi in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook page.

http://www.facebook.com/peter.t.young.hawaii

© 2012 Hoʻokuleana LLC