Showing posts with label Haleakala. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Haleakala. Show all posts

Friday, January 16, 2015

ABCD


"The New Navy of the United States was launched in the waters of uncertainty."  (New American Navy, Long, 1903)

Following the Civil War, the US Navy rapidly demobilized, and for the next 15 years the fleet was shrinking and becoming technologically obsolete.

A law of 1883 had signaled the end of the old Navy. Repairs were prohibited on wooden warships whenever the cost would exceed 20% of the cost of a new ship of the same size and type.  New construction favored steam while still carrying sails.  In addition, American ships were to be built of American-made steel. Then, naval shipbuilders were introducing a new policy, new ships.

Bids for the new vessels were opened on July 2, 1883. Eight firms participated in the competition. The proposal of John Roach, whose shipyard was at Chester, Penn., was the lowest, and it was accepted.

The unfortunate financial failure of John Roach in 1885 forced the government to take over and complete the first of the new fleet.  (Long, 1903)

"The United States started a squadron of cruisers ... the sole purpose of which, sailing under the euphonious title of 'the Squadron of Evolution,' will be to demonstrate in a peaceable sort of a way to the rest of the world that the United States Government has a navy, or rather the nucleus of a navy." (New York Times, November 19, 1889)

The first four vessels of the "New Navy" came to be known as the ABCD Ships because their names began with the first four letters of the alphabet - Atlanta, Boston, Chicago and Dolphin.

They were also known as the "White Squadron" (named for the group's white-painted hulls.)  Later, other ships were added to the growing, modernizing Navy.

Three years later the Squadron was strengthened by the addition of the cruiser Baltimore and the gunboat Vixen and was ordered to prepare for action by Undersecretary of the Navy Theodore Roosevelt.

There are some Hawaiʻi ties to a couple of the ABCDs - the Atlanta and the Boston.

Named for a city in northwestern Georgia (originally called Terminus and later Marthasville,) the community was renamed Atlanta when it was incorporated as a city in 1847.

The ship was the second to carry the City's name (the first was a gunboat acquired by the Navy in the autumn of 1858 and later renamed Sumpter.)  The new Atlanta was part of the new Navy.

When Queen Kapiʻolani traveled to celebrate the Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee in England in 1887, while on a stop in New York, Commodore Bancroft Gherardi invited the Queen to visit the Brooklyn Navy Yard - he wanted to show off some of the new Navy ships.

Queen Kapiʻolani was able to adjust her schedule and visited the facility on her last day in New York.  "Seldom has the yard looked so well.  The commodore’s residence and the Lyceum building had been profusely decorated by Sailor Douglass with the colors of the two nations."

"Just before the royal party reached the yard a battalion of marines arrived from the Minnesota.  At the same time out came the naval band and discoursed some popular music."

"The masts, spars and rigging of the Atlanta and Boston were then manned, and Commodore Gherardi and staff in full uniform advanced to the wharf to meet their guests, who were taken on board the Atlanta."  (The Day, May 25, 1887)

"The Atlanta had been just put into commission and her majesty was shown how quickly the great guns could be handled. Close alongside was the Boston, her powerful propeller churning the water incident to the breaking in of her."  (Iron Trade Review May 5, 1898)

In a follow-up thank you note (May 30, 1887) from Henry Alpheus Peirce Carter (who coordinated the Queen's state visits) to US Secretary of State Thomas Francis Bayard notes, "Her Majesty Queen Kapiʻolani (requests) you to convey to the honorable Secretaries for War and of the Navy, her grateful thanks for the attentions and honor paid her ... by Commodore Gherardi and officers of the United States Navy at the navy-yard at Brooklyn, on the occasion of her visit".

"... Her Majesty was the recipient of the kindest attentions, both public and private, and she desires that her very sincere acknowledgments may be properly conveyed to those officers of the Army and Navy of the United States stationed (there.)"  (HAP Carter, May 30, 1887)

A later sight of the Boston was not as pleasant.

It happened in the Islands; Captain Wiltse gave the order … “Sir: You will take possession of the Government building, and the American flag will be hoisted over it at 9 am. Very respectfully, GC Wiltse, Captain US Navy, Commanding USS Boston.”

In accordance with that order, the battalion of the Boston landed at Brewers Wharf, in the city of Honolulu, at 5 pm, January 16, 1893.

After the battalion was formed, they marched first to the United States consulate, where Lieut. Draper, with his company, was detached with orders to proceed to the legation and leave half his command in charge of the orderly sergeant, returning with the remainder to the United States consulate, himself, and remain there as a guard until further orders.

The remainder of the battalion then marched down King Street. In passing the palace the battalion, in column of companies, gave a marching salute, trumpeters sounding four ruffles in honor of the royal standard, which was flying there.

At 2:30 pm the next day, a civilian, armed, reported that a policeman had been shot while attempting to stop a wagonload of ammunition which was being conveyed to the old armory where the civilian forces enrolled by the committee of safety were then assembling, and that a large crowd was collecting on Merchant Street.

The battalion was immediately assembled under arms in the yard in rear of the building to await developments. Until nearly 6 o'clock, the men leading the citizens' movement had assumed charge of the Government building without opposition of any kind; the civilian companies under arms had marched in and established a line of sentries about the Government building.

The Boston's battalion was kept in rear of the camp, at their company parades, with arms stacked. About 1 pm, they were notified that a Provisional Government, of which Mr. SB Dole was presiding officer, was in complete possession.  A letter from the United States minister recognized it as the de facto government of the Hawaiian Islands, and the battalion was to consider it as such.

On January 19 new quarters were provided for the battalion at the unoccupied house on King street, the property of Mr. CR Bishop.  That home was formerly the home of Abner Pākī and his wife Laura Kōnia (Kamehameha III's niece.)  Their child, Bernice Pauahi Pākī and hānai daughter, Liliʻu (later Queen Liliʻuokalani) were raised as sisters.  The battalion of the Boston named this former home of the Queen Camp Boston.

A proclamation from Minister Stevens establishing a protectorate over the Hawaiian Islands in the name of the United States, pending negotiations with the Hawaiian Commissioners at Washington, was read.

At 9 am, the United States ensign was hoisted over the building, the battalion and civilian forces presenting arms.  The Hawaiian flag, hoisted on the pole in the grounds, received the same salute.  (Lots of information from the Report of the Committee on Foreign Relations.)

The image shows the ABCD ships, the Squadron of Evolution.  In addition, I have added others similar images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Liliʻuokalani, Her Early Years


She was born September 2, 1838 and named Lydia Liliʻu Loloku Walania Wewehi Kamakaʻeha.   (The following is a summary of some of her early years – as told by her.)

At that time, children often were named in commemoration of an event.  Kuhina Nui Kīnaʻu had developed an eye infection at the time of Liliʻu's birth.  She gave the child the names Liliʻu (smarting,) Loloku (tearful,) Walania (a burning pain) and Kamakaʻeha (sore eyes.)

“My father's name was (Caesar Kaluaiku) Kapaʻakea, and my mother was (Analeʻa) Keohokālole; the latter was one of the fifteen counsellors of the king, Kamehameha III, who in 1840 gave the first written constitution to the Hawaiian people.”

“My great-grandfather, Keaweaheulu, the founder of the dynasty of the Kamehamehas, and Keōua, father of Kamehameha I, were own cousins (he was also brother of Mrs Bishop's ancestress, Hākau,) and my great-grandaunt was the celebrated Queen Kapiʻolani, one of the first converts to Christianity.”

“As was then customary with the Hawaiian chiefs, my father was surrounded by hundreds of his own people, all of whom looked to him, and never in vain, for sustenance. He lived in a large grass house surrounded by smaller ones, which were the homes of those the most closely connected with his service.”

“But I was destined to grow up away from the house of my parents. Immediately after my birth I was wrapped in the finest soft tapa cloth, and taken to the house of another chief, by whom I was adopted.”

In her youth she was called "Lydia" or "Liliʻu." (She was also known as Lydia Kamakaʻeha Pākī, with the chosen royal name of Liliʻuokalani, and her married name was Lydia K Dominis.)  As was the custom, she was hānai (adopted) to Abner Pākī and his wife Laura Kōnia (granddaughter of Kamehameha I.)

“…their only daughter, Bernice Pauahi (born December 19, 1831,) afterwards Mrs Charles R Bishop, was therefore my foster-sister. … I knew no other father or mother than my foster-parents, no other sister than Bernice.”    The two girls developed a close, loving relationship.

“(W)hen I met my own parents, it was with perhaps more of interest, yet always with the demeanor I would have shown to any strangers who noticed me.”

“My own father and mother had other children, ten in all, the most of them being adopted into other chiefs’ families; and although I knew that these were my own brothers and sisters, yet we met throughout my younger life as though we had not known our common parentage. This was, and indeed is, in accordance with Hawaiian customs.”

Liliʻu and Bernice lived on the property called Haleʻākala, in the house that Pākī built on King Street.  It was the 'Pink House,' made from coral (the house was named ʻAikupika (Egypt.))  (It is not clear where the ʻAikupika name came from.)

“At the age of four years I was sent to what was then known as the Royal School, because its pupils were exclusively persons whose claims to the throne were acknowledged. It was founded and conducted by Mr Amos S Cooke, who was assisted by his wife. It was a boarding-school, the pupils being allowed to return to their homes during vacation time, as well as for an occasional Sunday during the term.”

“Several of the pupils who were at school with me have subsequently become known in Hawaiian history.  There were four children of Kīnaʻu, daughter of Kamehameha I, the highest in rank of any of the women chiefs of her day; these were Moses, Lot (afterwards Kamehameha V,) Liholiho (afterwards Kamehameha IV) and Victoria”.

“Next came Lunalilo, who followed Kamehameha V as king. Then came Bernice Pauahi, who married Hon Charles R Bishop. Our family was represented by Kaliokalani, Kalākaua, and myself, two of the three destined to ascend the throne.”

“From the year 1848 the Royal School began to decline in influence; and within two or three years from that time it was discontinued, the Cooke family entering business with the Castles, forming a mercantile establishment still in existence.”

“From the school of Mr and Mrs Cooke I was sent to that of Rev Mr Beckwith, also one of the American missionaries. This was a day-school, and with it I was better satisfied than with a boarding-school.”

“I was a studious girl; and the acquisition of knowledge has been a passion with me during my whole life, one which has not lost its charm to the present day.  In this respect I was quite different from my sister Bernice.”

“She was one of the most beautiful girls I ever saw; the vision of her loveliness at that time can never be effaced from remembrance; like a striking picture once seen, it is stamped upon memory's page forever.”

“She married in her eighteenth year. She was betrothed to Prince Lot, a grandchild of Kamehameha the Great; but when Mr Charles R Bishop pressed his suit, my sister smiled on him, and they were married.  It was a happy marriage.”

“At this time I was still living with Pākī and Kōnia, and the house now standing and known as the Arlington Hotel was being erected by the chief for his residence. It was completed in 1851, and occupied by Paki until 1855, when he died.”

“Then my sister and her husband moved to that residence, which still remained my home. It was there that the years of my girlhood were passed, after school-days were over, and the pleasant company we often had in that house will never cease to give interest to the spot.”

The comments in quotes are from Liliʻuokalani from her book “Hawaiʻi’s Story by Hawaiʻi’s Queen, Liliʻuokalani.”

Fast forward … on the afternoon of January 16, 1893, 162 sailors and Marines aboard the USS Boston in Honolulu Harbor came ashore.  The home that Liliʻuokalani was raised in (later known as Arlington Hotel) served as the headquarters for the USS Boston's landing force (Camp Boston) at the time of the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy, January 17, 1893.

The image shows Lydia Paki in her youth.  I 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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Friday, August 1, 2014

Island Summits


He ‘Ohu Ke Aloha; ‘A‘ohe Kuahiwi Kau ‘Ole
Love is like mist; there is no mountaintop that it does not settle upon

“… as the sun shining in his strength dissipated the clouds, we had a more impressive view of the stupendous pyramidal Mauna Kea, having a base of some thirty miles, and a height of nearly three miles.  Its several terminal peaks rise so near each other, as scarcely to be distinguished at a distance.”

“These, resting on the shoulders of this vast Atlas of the Pacific, prove their great elevation by having their bases environed with ice, and their summits covered with snow, in this tropical region, and heighten the grandeur and beauty of the scene, by exhibiting in miniature, a northern winter, in contrast with the perpetual summer of the temperate and torrid zones below the snow and ice.”

“The shores along this coast appeared very bold, rising almost perpendicularly, several hundred feet, being furrowed with many ravines and streams. From these bluffs, the country rises gradually, for a few miles, presenting a grassy appearance, with a sprinkling of trees and shrubs.”

“Then, midway from the sea to the summit of the mountain, appeared a dark forest, principally of the koa and ʻōhia, forming a sort of belt, some ten miles in breadth-the temperate zone of the mountain.”  (Bingham at first sight of the Islands, 1820)

And when you think about high elevation places in the Hawaiian islands, of course you have to talk about that basic dichotomy between the lower elevation places where people live.

And in old times, the lower elevations would have been called the Wao Kanaka. Wao being a word that means “zone” and “Kanaka” being a person. So the Wao Kanaka is a zone in which people belong.

When you rise above that zone, you enter into a realm in which all of the living things there are not there because of human activity. They flourish as the result of the activity of the gods, or the Akua. And so that zone is called the Wao Akua. And the transition from Wao Kanaka to Wao Akua is not taken lightly.  (Gon)

The Islands’ peaks are considered the piko (summit or center of the land) and are considered sacred.  The places upon which clouds nestle are considered wao akua, the realm of the gods.  Clouds cover the actions of the gods while they walk the earth. The higher the piko, the closer to heaven, and the greater the success of prayers. (Maly)

Let’s look at Hawaiʻi’s peaks, the highest point on each Island as we move down the Island chain.

Niʻihau – Pānīʻau (1,281-feet)

Ni‘ihau was formed from a single shield volcano approximately 4.89-million years ago, making it slightly younger in age than Kaua‘i. It is approximately 70-square miles or 44,800-acres.  It’s about 17-miles west of Kauaʻi.

Pānīʻau, the island’s highest point, is 1,281-feet; approximately 78% of the island is below 500-feet in elevation.   Located inside Kauai’s rain shadow, Ni‘ihau receives only about 20 to 40-inches of rain per year.  Ni‘ihau has no perennial streams.  (DLNR)

Kaua‘i – Kawaikini (5,243-feet)

Geologically, Kauaʻi is the oldest of the main inhabited islands in the chain. It is also the northwestern-most island, with Oʻahu separated by the Kaʻieʻie Channel, which is about 70-miles long. In centuries past, Kauaʻi’s isolation from the other islands kept it safe from outside invasion and unwarranted conflict.

Near the summit (Kawaikini) is Waiʻaleʻale; in 1920 it passed Cherrapunji, a village in the Khasi hills of India, as the wettest spot on Earth (recording a yearly average of 476-inches of rain.)

Oʻahu – Kaʻala (4,025-feet)

The Waiʻanae Mountains, formed by volcanic eruptions nearly four-million years ago, have seen centuries of wind and rain, cutting huge valleys and sharp ridges into the extinct volcano.  Mount Kaʻala, the highest peak on the island of Oʻahu, rises to 4,025-feet.

Today, only a small remnant of the mountain's original flat summit remains, surrounded by cliffs and narrow ridges. It’s often hidden by clouds.

Molokaʻi – Kamakou (4,961-feet)

The island was formed by two volcanoes, East and West, emerging about 1.5-2-million years ago.  The cliffs on the north-eastern part of the island are the result of subsidence and the “Wailua Slump” (a giant submarine landslide – about 25-miles long that tumbled about 120-miles offshore – about 1.4-million years ago.)

Kamakou is part of the extinct East Molokaʻi shield volcano, which comprises the east side of the island.   It and much of the surrounding area is part of the East Maui Watershed partnership and the Kamakou Preserve.  A boardwalk covers part of the rainforest and bog to protect the hundreds of native plants, birds, insects and other species there.

Lānaʻi – Lānaʻihale (3,337-feet)

The island of Lānaʻi was made by a single shield volcano between 1- and 1.5-million years ago, forming a classic example of a Hawaiian shield volcano with a gently sloping profile.  (SOEST)  The island of Lānaʻi is about 13-miles long and 13-miles wide; with an overall land area of approximately 90,000-acres, it is the sixth largest of the eight major Hawaiian Islands.

“At the very summit of the island, which is generally shrouded in mist, we came upon what Gibson (an early (1861) Mormon missionary to the islands) called his lake - a little shallow pond, about the size of a dining table.  In the driest times there was always water here, and one of the regular summer duties of the Chinese cook was to take a pack mule and a couple of kegs and go up to the lake for water.”  (Lydgate, Thrum)

Maui – Haleakalā (10,023-feet)

Haleakalā was thought to have been known to the ancient Hawaiians by any one of five names: “Haleakalā,” “Haleokalā,” “Heleakalā,” “Aheleakalā” and “Halekalā.” (Hawaiʻi National Park Superintendent Monthly Report, December 1939)

Haleakalā is best known in stories related of the demi-god Māui; he is best known for his tricks and supernatural powers. In Hawaiʻi, he is best known for snaring the sun, lifting the sky, discovering the secrets of fire, fishing up the islands and so forth.  (Fredericksen)

Kahoʻolawe – Lua Makika (1,477-feet)

Kahoʻolawe is the smallest of the eight Main Hawaiian Islands, 11-miles long and 7-miles wide (approximately 28,800-acres;) it is seven miles southwest of Maui.  The highest point on Kahoʻolawe is the crater of Lua Makika at the summit of Puʻu Moaulanui, which is about 1,477 feet above sea level.

Located in the “rain shadow” of Maui’s Haleakalā, rainfall has been in short supply on Kahoʻolawe.  However, nineteenth century forestry reports mentioned a “dense forest” at the top of Kahoʻolawe.  Historically, a “cloud bridge” connected the island to the slopes of Haleakalā.  The Naulu winds brought the Naulu rains that are associated with Kahoʻolawe (a heavy mist and shower of fine rain that would cover the island.)

Hawaiʻi – Mauna Kea (13,796-feet)

Nani Wale ʻO Mauna Kea, Kuahiwi Kūhaʻo I Ka Mālie (Beautiful is Mauna Kea, standing alone in the calm) expresses the feeling that Mauna Kea is a source of awe and inspiration for the Hawaiian people. The mountain is a respected elder, a spiritual connection to one’s gods.   (Maly)

A significant pattern archaeologists note in their investigations is the virtual absence of archaeological sites at the very top of the mountain. McCoy states that the “top of the mountain was clearly a sacred precinct that must, moreover, have been under a kapu and accessible to only the highest chiefs or priests.”  (Maly)

ʻĀina mauna, or mountain lands, reflects a term used affectionately by elder Hawaiians to describe the upper regions of all mountain lands surrounding and including Mauna Kea.  (Maly)

The image shows the Islands’ Summits (Google Earth.)  In addition, I have added some other images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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Tuesday, July 29, 2014

ʻOheʻo


Although the canoe was a principal means of travel in ancient Hawaiʻi, extensive cross-country trail networks enabled gathering, harvesting other necessities for survival.

Famed for his energy and intelligence, King Piʻilani and his son Kiha constructed the legendary Alaloa or long trail known as the King’s Highway.

It was built about the time Christopher Columbus was crossing the Atlantic, before there were roads in Hawaiʻi.  Back then, they were trails and Piʻilani was ruler of Maui.

According to oral tradition, Piʻilani unified the entire island of Maui, bringing together under one rule the formerly-competing eastern (Hāna) and western (Wailuku) multi-district kingdoms of the Island.   Piʻilani ruled in peace and prosperity.

Four to six feet wide and 138-miles long, this rock-paved path facilitated both peace and war.  It simplified local and regional travel and communication, and allowed the chief’s messengers to quickly get from one part of the island to another.  The trail was used for the annual harvest festival of Makahiki and to collect taxes, promote production, enforce order and move armies.

The southeastern section of the island of Maui, comprising the districts of Hāna, Kīpahulu, Kaupo and Kahikinui, was at one time a Royal Center and central point of kingly and priestly power – Piʻilani ruled from here (he built Hale O Piʻilani – near Hāna.)  This section of the island was also prominent in the later reign of Kekaulike.

Royal Centers were where the aliʻi resided; aliʻi often moved between several residences throughout the year. The Royal Centers were selected for their abundance of resources and recreation opportunities, with good surfing and canoe-landing sites being favored.

Long before the first Europeans arrived on Maui, Kīpahulu was prized by the Hawaiian aliʻi for its fertile land and abundant ocean.  The first written description of the region was made by La Pérouse in 1786 while sailing along the southeast coast of Maui in search of a place to drop anchor:

“I coasted along its shore at a distance of a league (three miles) …. The aspect of the island of Mowee was delightful.  We beheld water falling in cascades from the mountains,  and running in streams to the sea,  after having watered the habitations of the natives,  which  are  so numerous  that a  space of  three or four leagues (9 – 12 miles, about the distance from Hāna to Kaupō) may be  taken for  a single village.” (La Pérouse, 1786; Bushnell)

“But all the huts are on the seacoast, and the mountains are so near, that the habitable part of the island appeared to be less than half a league in depth.  The trees which crowned the mountains, and the verdure of the banana plants that surrounded the habitations, produced inexpressible charms to our senses…”

“… but the sea beat upon the coast with the utmost violence, and kept us in the situation of Tantalus, desiring and devouring with our eyes what it was impossible for us to attain … After passing Kaupō no more waterfalls are seen, and villages are fewer.” (La Pérouse, 1786; Bushnell)

With the development of the whaling industry on the island in 1880s the southeastern Maui population started to decline as people moved to main whaling ports, such as Lāhainā.  In the early-1900s, one of the regular ports of call for the Inter-Island Steam Navigation Company was here at Kīpahulu. Steamships provided passenger service around Maui and between the islands.

Kīpahulu Landing also provided a way for growers and ranchers to ship their goods to markets. (Today the land where Kīpahulu Landing existed is private but protected with a conservation easement, overseen by the Maui Coastal Land Trust (now part of the Hawaiian Islands Land Trust.))

The Hāna Sugar Plantation, formed in 1864, gradually increased production by expanding cane plantings toward Kīpahulu Valley.  (Cusick)

However, shortly after World War II, Paul I Fagan, an entrepreneur from San Francisco, bought the Hāna Sugar Co, formed a ranch and started tourism on this part of Maui.

It had been only 20-years since Hāna was linked to the outside world by a rough dirt road, and it would be almost two decades more before it was paved.

In 1946, Fagan built a small six-room inn, called Kaʻuiki Inn (it was later expanding and is now the Travaasa Hotel Hana.) Fagan’s guests consisted of his friends as well as sportswriters, one of which gave Hana the current name of “Heavenly Hana.”  (Maui College)

Near here was ʻOheʻo; here was a succession of several waterfalls tumbling from one pool into another and so on up the gulch.  (One interpretation of the name Oheo is “moving origin” – suggesting all pools as one (Yardley.))

In order to entertain guests and promote tourism in East Maui, employees at Fagan’s Inn crafted a legend that these pools had been reserved exclusively for Hawaiian Royalty and, therefore, were considered a sacred site.  (Cusick)

Billed as Hawaiʻi’s “Seven Sacred Pools” to attract tourists, ʻOheʻo Gulch actually has a series of 24 bowls that carry water down the slopes of 10,023-foot Mount Haleakalā to the sea.  (NY Times)

Then in the 1960s, Kīpahulu residents Charles Lindbergh and Sam Pryor, and philanthropist Laurance Rockefeller, concerned that public use of this area may be lost, worked to protect it.  Through their efforts, Kīpahulu Valley and ʻOheʻo Gulch became the Kīpahulu District of Haleakala National Park on January 10, 1969.  (NPS)

This part of the Park is located about 15-minutes past Hāna town, near mile marker 42 on the Hāna Highway (Road to Hana) after it turns into Highway 31.   Attractions include the ʻOheʻo Pools, a car-accessible campground and several maintained trails, such as the four-mile Pipiwai Loop Trail to Waimoku waterfall.

The image shows some of the ʻOheʻo pools.  In addition, I have added some other images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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Friday, February 7, 2014

Poʻokela Church


The ship Parthian, Captained by Richard D Blinn, sailed from Boston November 3, 1827 and after 148-days at sea, arrived at Honolulu March 30, 1828. On board were 16-missionaries in the Third Company to the Islands.  Among them were Jonathan Smith Green (December 20, 1796 – January 5, 1878) and his wife Theodosia Arnold Green (April 33, 1792 – October 5, 1859.)

The Greens were assigned to Lāhainā on the island of Maui until 1831, then Hilo for one year.  In 1833, they moved to Wailuku, back on Maui, and built one of the first permanent houses there.  The house is now known as the Bailey House, a two-story lava stone structure with 20” thick walls and a high-pitched roof covered with wood shingles.

In 1828, Green was part of a small group of non-Hawaiians to first climb Haleakalā (with Lorrin Andrews and physician Dr. Gerrit P Judd.) They were followed by a US Navy expedition led by Commander Charles Wilkes in 1841, and later, others. Significant public interest was generated by written accounts of these visits that determined that Haleakalā would eventually become a destination for tourism.  (NPS)

Over the years Green served in various roles and supported and helped construct several schools and churches.

The present Kaʻahumanu Church is actually the fourth place of worship for the Wailuku congregation. The original congregation, under the leadership of the Green, was first forced to hold their meetings in a shed.

During its first year, Queen Kaʻahumanu, the Kuhina Nui of the Kingdom and convert to Christianity, visited the congregation and asked that when the congregation built an actual church, it be named for her.  The congregation’s small shed meeting house soon proved too small as the service held there attracted as many as 3,000 worshippers. In 1834, a larger meeting house with a thatched roof was erected by the congregation.

The Central Female Seminary (Wailuku Female Seminary - the first female school begun by the missionaries) opened July 6, 1837, under Green, with six girls, which increased to an average of 30-students. Subsequently, this school moved to Makawao.

Green experimented with growing wheat in Wailuku in 1854.  “Had I engaged in the business of wheat raising with the sole or even chief view of making money, I should not be a little mortified, but greatly so, with my want of success, for I have, thus far, failed to clear any thing.”

“My chief object, however, was to introduce the grain into the country, and persuade in people to cultivate it. In this I have succeeded, and I am more than content.”  (JS Green, The New England Farmer, March 8, 1855)

First known as Makawao Foreign Church and Congregation, Makawao Union Church received a charter from the Hawaiian government in 1861, although Green had been holding services in his Makawao home from 1857.

On February 7, 1843, Green moved to Makawao and helped the Hawaiians in the Makawao area form the first self-supporting church in Hawaiʻi at Poʻokela (foremost, best, superior, prime, outstanding.)

He continued to serve as the pastor of Poʻokela Church, as well as the Makawao Union Church which was started to meet the needs of the English speaking, foreign community around Makawao.

He preached two sermons and conducted Bible studies on Sundays; gave a public lecture on Wednesdays; and held monthly prayer meetings, one for the conversion of the world, one for schools, one for seamen and one for the enslaved.  (Poʻokela Church)

Green’s first wife died October 5, 1859 and on September 5, 1861 he married Asaneth Spring.  In 1878, at the age of 82, Jonathan Green died.  Asenath Green, and daughters Laura and Mary, continued to advise the church.

Mrs Green applied to the Hawaiian Evangelical Associate (HEA) for assistance and ministers were obtained for a time.  From 1885 to 1889, the reverend John Kalama pastored the church.  The following years saw a transition from Hawaiian to English-speaking services.

In 1904, Poʻokela Independent Church gave up its independence and merged with the HEA.  Shortly thereafter, the church fell into disrepair.

“No services have been held at Poʻokela Church during the last five months on account of the dilapidated condition of the roof, part of which was blown away by the storm. Fortunately through the assistance of Maui's generous friend and the Hawaiian Board, the building was repaired, and once more historic Poʻokela is looking fresh and comfortable, and ready for religious services. These began Sunday, May 5th, with a good old rally meeting.”  (Hawaiian Evangelical Association, 1907)

“The repairs of the historic Poʻokela Church (‘which was fast tumbling to ruins,’) so dear to many former students of the present Maunaolu Seminary, and so closely associated with the life and work of the splendid missionary family, the Greens, are now begun in earnest.”  (The Friend, March 1, 1907)

“The wood of which the ceiling is made is sweet scented and not found in these islands or in the states, and is supposed to have been imported from China about the time that Father Green built this church.”  (Maui News, March 2, 1907)

During WWII, church buildings were converted to classrooms for the primary grades of Makawao School (the US Army took over the school for a military hospital.)  “Aunty” Kalama provided the vision and energy to keep things moving.

Following the war, a reopening of the church took place.  With the changing demographics of the region, the church evolved into a multi-ethnic church.

In 1999, a concrete floor was installed in the church (at a Christmas Eve service, a person’s foot went through the old wooden floor (the carpet saving him from going all the way through.))

A century after its last roof repair, the church needed reroofing, again.  Built without nails, each peg had to be removed individually from the hand-hewn beams in the repair process. The church congregation raised a large tent to accommodate our meetings as well as Sunday services for members and visitors. (2009-2010)  (Lots of information here from Poʻokela Church.)

The image shows Poʻokela Church.  In addition, I have added other images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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Friday, October 25, 2013

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)


After a decade of national prosperity in the Roaring Twenties, Americans faced a national crisis after the Crash of 1929. The Great Depression saw an unemployment rate of more than twenty-five percent in the early 1930s.  (pbs)

As a means to make work, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) succeeded the Emergency Conservation Work agency, which started in 1933. In 1939, the CCC became part of the Federal Security Agency. It was eliminated in 1943. (UH Mānoa)

The purpose of the CCC and its predecessors was to provide employment in forestry and conservation work.  It “brought together two wasted resources, the young men and the land, in an effort to save both.”  (NPS)

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a program developed by Franklin D Roosevelt’s New Deal (1933) at the end of the Great Depression. During FDR’s inaugural address to Congress in 1933, he told the lawmakers in his first message on Unemployment Relief: “I propose to create a Civilian Conservation Corps, to be used in simple work, not interfering with normal employment, and confining itself to forestry, the prevention of soil erosion, flood control and similar projects.”

From FDR’s inauguration on March 4, 1933, to the induction of the first CCC enrollee, only 37 days had elapsed.  The goals of the CCC according to the law were: “1) To provide employment (plus vocational training) and 2) To conserve and develop ‘the natural resources of the United States.’”

By the end of the third year, there were 2,158-CCC camps in the nation and 1,600,000-men had participated in the program.  (NPS)

Although the Civilian Conservation Corps began on the US mainland in 1933, “it was not until one year later, [on] April 1, 1934, that the first units of this Corps began work here in Hawai`i under the direction of the Territorial Division of Forestry”. The Civilian Conservation Corps was defined by nine Corps regions.  The Territories of Alaska and Hawaiʻi were part of the Ninth Corps Area.  (NPS)

The goal of the CCC was to provide young men with jobs during a time when many were unemployed, times were hard, and starvation was a concern.  (NPS)

It was estimated that 8 to 10 percent of Hawaiʻi’s young men were enrolled by the Civilian Conservation Corps during its tenure from 1934 to 1942. There were CCC camps on Oʻahu, Maui, Kauaʻi, the island of Hawaiʻi and Molokaʻi. (Honolulu Star-Bulletin, NPS)

Each CCC enrollee was paid $30 a month and was provided with food, clothing, shelter and free medical care (Honolulu Star-Bulletin, September 18, 1942). Of that amount, $25 dollars a month was automatically deducted and sent home to their families.  (NPS)

There were five primary CCC camps built in Hawaiʻi (the CCC Compound at Kokeʻe State Park, the most intact today; what is now a YMCA camp at Keʻanae on Maui; a research facility on the Big Island; Hawaiian Homes Property with only two buildings remaining on the Big Island; and part of Schofield Barracks in Wahiawa on Oʻahu.)  Other temporary campgrounds were spotted in work areas around the Islands.

Their projects were numerous and included road and building construction, erosion control, masonry, firefighting, trail maintenance, vegetation and insect control among many others. One of the main goals of the CCC was to renew the nation’s decimated forests, so lots of tree planting went on.  (NPS)

Within Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park (then known as Hawaiʻi National Park,) as well as many other parks and forests, much of the work that the CCC did is still evident and still in use. From the research offices to the hiking trails, the CCC laid the foundations for much of the infrastructure and roads that we see and use today in the Park.  (NPS)

The old Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Camp in Kokeʻe State Park on Kauaʻi is a complex of eleven wood frame buildings surrounding an open grassed quadrangle. These buildings were constructed in 1935 and are sheltered on three sides by koa/ʻōhia forest.  (Hui O Laka/Kōkeʻe Museum use and operate within these structures, today.)  The CCC at Kokeʻe provided forest management, building trails, roads and fences, as well as planting over a million trees on Kauaʻi.

In 1934, the CCC took over the Keʻanae prison camp (initially built to house prisoners who worked at building the Hāna Highway.)  CCC assembled men from other parts of Maui and other islands to plant thousands of eucalyptus and other introduced trees throughout the Hāna coast.  (McGregor)  Eventually, in 1949, the camp was acquired by the YMCA. Part of the land area continues to be used as a roadway base yard.

The CCC took over the Territorial foresters’ camp at Keanakolu (on the side of Mauna Kea, near Humuʻula on the Big Island) and expanded it into a field camp.  The camp consisted of a bunkhouse that housed as many as 40 teenage boys, a mess hall, foreman’s quarters, and other service buildings. Another foreman’s quarters was added next to the koa cabin.  (Mills)

Major duties included maintenance of trails, developing the Mana/Keanakolu wagon road into an auto road (placing cobble stones to form a single-lane road,) construction of fences to keep cattle and sheep out of the forest, and the planting of a variety of forest and fruit trees. In all, over 20-varieties of pear, 25-varieties of plum and 60-varieties of apple were planted.  (Mills)  By the 1940s, the CCC camp at Keanakolu was converted into a field station for territorial rangers and is now used by DLNR.

From April 1934 until May 13, 1941, the CCC operated a “side camp” in the Haleakalā Section of the Hawaiʻi National Park; CCC participants were housed in tents and moved to where the work areas were.  (NPS)

Major park improvements through the CCC program on Haleakalā included the construction of the approximately 11-mile Haleakalā Road, Haleakalā Observation Station, two Comfort Stations (public toilets) and the Checking Station and Office at the park entrance.  Several trail projects were completed within the Park.  (NPS)

The image shows the Kokeʻe CCC camp in the 1930s (NPS.)  In addition I have added other images related to the property in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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Monday, July 1, 2013

Haleakalā


On the morning of November 26, 1778, Captain James Cook awoke to the sight of the northern coast of Maui. “Next morning there lay the land, the island of Maui, with its ‘elevated saddle hill’ - the extinct 10,000 foot volcano Haleakala - rising to its summit above the clouds, and descending gently towards the deep ravines and falling waters of that steep rocky coast, where the trade wind hurled other waters into perpetual surf.” This was the first documented sighting of the island. (Fredericksen)

Haleakalā was thought to have been known to the ancient Hawaiians by any one of five names: “Haleakalā,” “Haleokalā,” “Heleakalā,” “Aheleakalā” and “Halekalā.” (Hawaiʻi National Park Superintendent Monthly Report, December 1939)

Historian Abraham Fornander wrote that “Halekalā” was a misnomer and that the ancient name for the crater was “Aheleakalā,” which meant “rays of the sun,” and…th[o]se which the demigod Māui snared and broke off to retard the sun in its daily course so that his mother might be able to dry her kapas. Fornander further noted that Lemuel KN Papa, Jr., insisted that the correct name was Alehelā “on account of Māui’s snaring the rays of the sun.” (Fredericksen)

“Of course Haleakalā is the sacred home of our Sun, and the ancient Path to Calling the Sum as depicted in its ancient name: Ala Hea Ka La. Why is this critical to our survival? The Sun’s energy is the source of all life, and governs our most basic rhythm of day and night. Ancient cultures have venerated its being, and we as a human race follow its course without thought and are insignificant in respect of its power. However, our Native Hawaiian Culture praises its existence, until this very day the sun is praised for its cycle.”  (Maxwell, Fredericksen)

Haleakalā is best known in stories related of the demi-god Māui; he is best known for his tricks and supernatural powers. In Hawaiʻi, he is best known for snaring the sun, lifting the sky, discovering the secrets of fire, fishing up the islands and so forth.  (Fredericksen)

In addition to Māui, Haleakalā stories recall Pele who fled the Big Island and while in exile, Pele stopped for a brief time on Maui, where she dug a pit with her pāoa (divining rod) and started a fire. Haleakala is such a huge pit that she found it difficult to keep the fire going to keep warm.

Sometime later the two sisters (Pele and  Namakaeha) engaged in a fierce battle, and Pele was weakened – her body torn to pieces and scattered along the coast into huge mounds of broken lava at the base of Haleakalā, on the east side, near Hāna.  This place is now known as “Na Iwi o Pele”—the bones of Pele.  (Fornander)

Another deity connected with Haleakala is Poliʻahu—the snow goddess and another rival of Pele. Her younger sister is Lilinoe - goddess of the mists. She is sometimes referred to as the goddess of Haleakalā. She was able to check the eruptions that could break forth in old cinder cones on the floor of the crater.   Her presence is noted in heavy mists that shroud the mountain.  (Fredericksen)

The slopes of Haleakalā had originally been covered with forests but had been logged out for sandalwood for the China Trade (1788–1838), then for koa, ʻōhia and other indigenous trees for uses ranging from railroad ties to firewood. The lands were then utilized to grow sugar cane and vegetable crops, or were left as pastureland and served as the locations of a number of small plantation or ranch settlements. (NPS)

“Platforms related to traditional Hawaiian ceremony [were] predominantly found along the crater floor and at high promontory locations. Caves [were] often found on the crater rim. Temporary shelters built against rock outcrops or boulders [were] found scattered along the crater rim and within the crater, but [were] concentrated on the leeward sides of cinder cones such as Pakaoa‘o. Cairns or ahu [were] scattered over Haleakalā.”  (Hammatt, NPS)

The first visit to Haleakalā by non-Hawaiians occurred in August 1828 when missionaries Lorrin Andrews and Jonathan Green, along with Dr. Gerrit P. Judd, physician, visited the crater. They were followed by a US Navy expedition led by Commander Charles Wilkes in 1841, and later, others. Significant public interest was generated by written accounts of these visits that determined that Haleakalā would eventually become a destination for tourism.  (NPS)

Homesteading on the slopes of Haleakalā as well as other public lands in Hawai`i had been encouraged by the Territorial Government in 1910. This prompted a “rush for homesteads,” applications which were filed and adjudicated by a land court in Honolulu, including one petition by an unidentified applicant who attempted to acquire the entire “floor of Haleakalā Crater”
(Maui News, 8 August 1910)  (NPS)

The largest tracts were held by ranches, among them: Grove Ranch (Kaonoulu Ranch), owned by the Baldwins and later sold to Senator Harold W. Rice; Kaupo Ranch, owned by Dwight Baldwin; Ulupalakua Ranch, owned by J.I. Dowsett and then J.H. Raymond, then was purchased by the Baldwins; and Haleakalā Ranch, owned by Harry A. and Frank F. Baldwin and managed by S.A. Baldwin.  (NPS)

Until 1935, the primary means of getting to Haleakalā was on horseback, and this continued to be the case for the first three decades of the twentieth century. As late as 1932, the Inter-Island Steamship Company and the Maui Chamber arranged trips on horseback to Haleakalā Crater.  (NPS)

Thomas Vint described the trip by horseback that he made in 1930: “The trip is now made from the town of Wailuk[u] which contains the principle hotel on the island of Maui that caters to tourist travel …The combined auto and horse back trip to the 10,000-foot summit may be made from noon to noon from Wailuku, spending the night at the top. Trips into the crater are made from the rim rest house as a base.”  Vint concluded that “another rest house at the far end of the crater is needed. To see the crater properly, one should camp overnight, making a two-day trip from the present rest house.” (NPS)

Haleakalā Road (now known as Haleakalā Highway) was finally completed on November 29, 1935, and the number of visitors increased substantially, reaching 16,300 within a year. In 1938, the numbers decreased slightly to 14,156 because of a maritime and shipping strike, but continued to rise in the following years until reaching 29,935 in 1940.  (NPS)

The increase in visitors was “greatly in excess of expectations…compared with the few hundreds who visited the crater before construction of the Haleakalā [R]oad (Hawaii National Park Superintendent Annual Report 1935, NPS)

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) began in 1937, succeeding the Emergency Conservation Work agency, which started in 1933. In 1939, the CCC became part of the Federal Security Agency. It was eliminated in 1943. (UH Mānoa)  From April 1934 until May 13, 1941, the CCC operated a “side camp” in the Haleakalā Section of the Hawaiʻi National Park; CCC participants were housed in tents and moved to where the work areas were.  (NPS)

Major park improvements through the CCC program on Haleakalā included the construction of the approximately 11-mile Haleakalā Road, Haleakalā Observation Station, two Comfort Stations (public toilets) and the Checking Station and Office at the park entrance.  Several trail projects were completed within the Park.  (NPS)

On August 1, 1916, President Woodrow Wilson signed the country’s 13th national park into existence – Hawaiʻi National Park.  At first, the park consisted of only the summits of Kīlauea and Mauna Loa on Hawaiʻi and Haleakalā on Maui. Eventually, Kilauea Caldera was added to the park, followed by the forests of Mauna Loa, the Kaʻū Desert, the rain forest of Olaʻa, and the Kalapana archaeological area of the Puna/Kaʻū Historic District.

On, July 1, 1961, Hawaiʻi National Park’s units were separated and re-designated as Haleakalā National Park and Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park.

The image shows Haleakalā.  In addition I have added other images related to the property in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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Saturday, April 13, 2013

Pākī Sisters



High Chief Abner Pākī and his wife High Chiefess Laura Kōnia (Kamehameha III's niece) had one child, a daughter, Bernice Pauahi Pākī (born December 19, 1831.)

High Chief Caesar Kapaʻakea and his wife High Chiefess Analeʻa Keohokālole had three children, a daughter was Lydia Liliʻu Kamakaʻeha (born September 2, 1838.)

As was the custom, Liliʻu was hānai (adopted) to the Pākīs, who reared her with their birth daughter, Pauahi. The two girls developed a close, loving relationship.

They lived on the property called Haleʻākala, in the house that Pākī built on King Street.  It was the 'Pink House,' made from coral (the house was name ʻAikupika (Egypt.))  It later became the Arlington Hotel.

The two-story coral house was built by Pākī himself, from the original grass hut complex of the same name at the same site; he financed the construction through the sale of Mākaha Valley (ʻAikupika would later become the primary residence of his daughter Bernice Pauahi and her husband.)

The girls attended the Chief’s Children’s School, a boarding school, and were known for their studious demeanor.

Founded in 1839 during the reign of King Kamehameha III, the original Chief's Children's School was in the area where the ʻIolani barracks now stand. Mr. and Mrs. Amos Cooke, missionaries from New England, were commissioned to teach the 16 royal children (others who joined the Pākī sisters were Lot Kapuāiwa (later Kamehameha V), Queen Emma, King William Lunalilo and Liliʻu’s brother, David (later King Kalākaua.)

In 1846 the school's name was officially changed to Royal School; attendance was restricted to descendants of the royal line and heirs of the chiefs. In 1850, a second school was built on the site of the present Royal School; it was opened to the general public in 1851.

These two women left lasting legacies in Hawaiʻi.

In 1850, Pauahi was married to Mr. Charles Reed Bishop of New York, who started the bank that is now known as First Hawaiian Bank.

When her cousin, Princess Ruth Keʻelikōlani, died,  Keʻelikōlani's will stated that she "give and bequeath forever to my beloved younger sister (cousin), Bernice Pauahi Bishop, all of my property, the real property and personal property from Hawaiʻi to Kauaʻi, all of said property to be hers." (about 353,000 acres)  (Keʻelikōlani had previously inherited all of the substantial landholdings of the Kamehameha dynasty from her brother, Lot Kapuāiwa (King Kamehameha V.))

Bernice Pauahi died childless on October 16, 1884.  She foresaw the need to educate her people and in her will she left her large estate of the Kamehameha lands in a trust "to erect and maintain in the Hawaiian Islands two schools, each for boarding and day scholars, one for boys and one for girls, to be known as, and called the Kamehameha Schools."

She further stated, "I desire my trustees to provide first and chiefly a good education in the common English branches, and also instruction in morals and in such useful knowledge as may tend to make good and industrious men and women".

On September 16, 1862, Liliʻu married John O. Dominis. Dominis’ father, a ship’s captain, had built a New England style home, named Washington Place, for his family.  They lived with his widowed mother.  The home became the official residence of Hawai‘i's Governor and today serves as a museum.

On February 12, 1874, nine days after the passing of King Lunalilo, an election was held between the repeat candidate David Kalākaua (her brother) and Queen Emma - widow of King Kamehameha IV.  Kalākaua won.

At noon of the tenth day of April, 1877, the booming of the cannon was heard which announced that King Kalākaua had named Liliʻuokalani heir apparent to the throne of Hawaiʻi. (Liliʻu's brother changed her name when he named her Crown Princess, calling her Liliʻuokalani.)

King Kalākaua died on January 20, 1891; because he and his wife Queen Kapiʻolani did not have any children, his sister, Liliʻuokalani succeeded him to the Hawaiian throne.  Queen Liliʻuokalani was Hawaiʻi’s last monarch.

In 1909, Queen Liliʻuokalani executed a Deed of Trust that established the legal and financial foundation of an institution dedicated to the welfare of orphaned and destitute children of Hawaiʻi - Queen Liliʻuokalani Trust.

Her Deed of Trust states that “all the property of the Trust Estate, both principal and income … shall be used by the Trustees for the benefit of orphan and other destitute children in the Hawaiian Islands, the preference given to Hawaiian children of pure or part-aboriginal blood.”

The trust owns approximately 6,200-acres of Hawaiʻi real estate, the vast majority of which is located on the Island of Hawaiʻi.  92% is agriculture/conservation land, with the remaining land zoned for residential, commercial and industrial use.

The trust owns approximately 16-acres of Waikīkī real estate and another 8-acres of commercial and residential real estate on other parts of Oʻahu.

The image shows the Pākī sisters, Bernice Pauahi Paki and Lydia Kamakaʻeha Paki, in 1859.  In addition, I have added other images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Kaupō Field System



At the time of initial contact, Hawaiian subsistence economy was dominated by two distinct agricultural ecosystems: (1) irrigated ponds (primarily for taro production) near permanent streams that could feed irrigation canals and (2) extensive tracts of dryland, rain-fed intensive cultivation (focused on the cultivation of sweet potatoes.)

Although irrigated ponds continued after contact, the intensive dryland field systems were abandoned in the early decades of the nineteenth century (probably due to greater labor demands for the dryland systems.)

Until recently, no intensive, dryland rain-fed field systems had been identified on Maui.  However, now, there is clear evidence of such a system at Kaupō.

Before getting into the specifics of the field system, let’s recall what was happening in and around Kaupō in late pre-contact times.

Kaupō is associated in Hawaiian oral traditions with Kekaulike, a famous Maui king (ali‘i nui) who on genealogical estimates is dated to approximately the early eighteenth century.

Kekaulike made Kaupō his residential seat, and assembled his army at Mokulau, preparing for a war of conquest against his rivals on Hawai‘i Island.

After returning from his invasion of Kohala, Kekaulike resided at Kaupō, where he died.  The succession of the Maui kingship demonstrated the importance that Kaupō had in the late pre-contact Maui kingdom.

Kaupō is on the south-eastern flanks of Haleakalā, Maui.

The district is dominated by the “Kaupō Gap,” a breach of the southern wall of Haleakalā Crater with a rejuvenation phase of a massive outpouring of lava flows (and one major mudflow) through the Kaupō Gap and down to the sea, creating a vast accretion fan.  The Hawaiians called this fan Nā Holokū (“The Cloak.”)

It was this great fan of young lavas with high nutrient content, combined with ideal climate conditions that provided the environmental potential for intensive agricultural production in Kaupō.

Given its use as a Royal Center for Island Ali‘i, there was a definite need for sufficient crop production.  Fortunately, the area has an ideal combination of soils, elevation and rainfall making it also a predictable environment for an intensive dryland field system to feed the people.

Historic records note that this region was identified as “the greatest continuous dry planting area in the Hawaiian islands,” both in ancient times and well into the 1930s.  But this old culture was vanishing due to a combination of economic and climatic circumstances.

Oral traditions state that sweet potatoes were cultivated from sea level up to about 2,000 feet elevation and great quantities of dry taro were planted in the lower forest belt from one end of the district to the other.

Using high-resolution color aerial photographs of Kaupō and then confirming their findings on the ground, archaeologists identified grid patterns over significant parts of the landscape, confirming the existence of a major dryland field system, the first to be identified for Maui Island.

The field system a closely spaced grid of east-west embankments and small field plots bisected at right angles by longer north-south trending walls; it covered an area of 3,000 to nearly 4,000-acres and could have supported a population of 8,000-10,000 people.

A range of smaller features such as enclosures, shelters and platforms are found within the field system area indicating the presence of a complex social community integrated within the system.

This was truly dryland agriculture, there was no evidence to level terraces as in irrigated pondfield systems (taro lo‘i,) and there was no evidence of water control features or channels; so the conclusion was the system was strictly rainfed.

The most common feature type consists of stacked or core-filled stone-walled enclosures; many of these are rectangular and may be the foundation walls for thatched houses, but a few larger, irregular enclosures may be animal pens.

On Hawai‘i Island, field system complexes are associated with prominent ceremonial structures (heiau) and royal residential centers, such as Mo‘okini Heiau at the northern tip of Kohala, and the royal centers at Kealakekua and Hōnaunau in Kona.

This strong association between field systems and ceremonial architecture is not surprising, given that these intensively cultivated field complexes provided the underpinning of the elite economy.

Like other areas, two heiau at Kaupō stand out for their massive size and labor invested in their construction, Lo‘alo‘a and Kou.

Lo‘alo‘a Heiau is one of the largest on Maui and indeed in the entire archipelago and is associated in Hawaiian traditions with King Kekaulike, who ruled Maui in the early 1700s.  Kou Heiau, on a lava promontory jutting into the sea is on the western end of the Kaupō field system.

It is believed that Kaupō with its field system at one time played an important role in the emerging Maui population, particularly in the final century prior to European contact, when it became the seat of the paramount Kekaulike.

The enormous capacity of these field systems enabled the rise of a population center; Lo‘alo‘a and Kou heiau on either side of the Kaupō fields illustrate the inseparable links between agriculture and the religious traditions of ancient Hawai‘i.

The image shows the general location and some of the field walls of the Kaupo Field System.  A special thanks to Patrick Kirch for information and images on the Kaupō Field System (P. V. Kirch, J. Holson, and A. Baer, 2009,  Intensive dryland agriculture in Kaupō, Maui, Hawaiian Islands. Asian Perspectives 48:265-290.)

I have added other images and maps of this area in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook page.

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© 2012 Hoʻokuleana LLC