St Catherine’s Church

On July 7, 1827, the pioneer French Catholic mission arrived in Honolulu.  Father Louis Désiré Maigret was appointed the first Vicar Apostolic of the Sandwich Islands (now the Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu.)  Maigret divided Oʻahu into missionary districts. Shortly after, the Windward coast of Oʻahu was dotted with chapels.

St Catherine’s Catholic church was established on Mōkapu peninsula in the late-1830s or early-1840s. According to the records of the Catholic diocese, the first baptismal ceremony at Mōkapu took place in 1841. St Catherine’s was abandoned in the late-1850s after plague and migration decimated the peninsula population. The church was moved to a location at Heʻeia across the bay.

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Heʻeia Sugar

Heʻeia is one of nine ahupuaʻa of Kāneʻohe Bay (this makes up most of the Koʻolaupoko moku (district.))  In early times, the land was intensely cultivated and fish ponds lined the Bay (30 walled fishponds were noted in the Bay in 1882 - including the two largest (Heʻeia and Moliʻi) fishponds remaining in Hawaiʻi.)

 “Southeastward along the windward coast, beginning with Waikāne and continuing through Waiāhole, Kaʻalaea, Kahaluʻu, Heʻeia and Kāne’ohe, were broad valley bottoms and flatlands between the mountains and the sea which, taken all together, represent the most extensive wet-taro area on Oʻahu.” (Handy, Devaney)

As early as 1789, Portlock described this area: “Indeed, I had some reason to think, that the inhabitants on that part of the island were more numerous than in King George’s Bay (Maunalua Bay)”.

“… the bay all around has a very beautiful appearance, the low land and valleys being in high state of cultivation, and crowded with plantations of taro, sweet potatoes, sugar-cane, etc. interspersed with a great number of coconut trees”.

The open waters of the bay were also probably heavily fished within the limitations of the kapu system, and fishing rights were allocated as part of the respective ahupua’a.  (Coles)

Chief Abner Paki (father of Bernice Pauahi Bishop and hānai father of Queen Liliʻuokalani) was granted the land of Heʻeia in 1848, apparently in recognition of allegiance to the Kamehameha Dynasty and also for a longer ancestral family interest in this land. Kelly reports that some of Paki’s ancestors can be traced to a Maui line of chiefs that had conquered Kahahana, the ruling chief of O‘ahu about 1785.

Apparently, one of Paki’s uncles was charged with managing Heʻeia under the Maui rulership. Kelly suggests: “At least part of Paki’s connection with the land of Heʻeia may stem from his uncle’s earlier residence in that land, and may have been the reason why Paki was made konohiki of Heʻeia.” (Carson)

Sugarcane was introduced to Koʻolaupoko in 1865, when the Kingdom’s minister of finance and foreign affairs, Charles Coffin Harris, partnered with Queen Kalama to begin an operation known as the Kāneʻohe Sugar Company.  (History of Koʻolaupoko)

By 1865, four plantations were in production, at Kualoa, Kaʻalaea, Waiheʻe and Kāneʻohe, and in the early 1880s, four more at Heʻeia, Kāneʻohe, Kahaluʻu and Ahuimanu, with a total of over 1,000-acres in cultivation in 1880.  (Coles)

McKeague’s Sugar Plantation was in Heʻeia; starting in 1869, John McKeague (from Coleraine near Belfast, Ireland - February 12, 1832 – January 25, 1899) leased the Heʻeia ahupuaʻa from Charles and Bernice Pauahi Bishop – he had a partner, his uncle, Dr Alexander Kennedy.

About a decade later, McKeague added a mill and other improvements.  (The Plantation was also known as Heʻeia Sugar Company, as well as Heʻeia Agricultural Company.)

“Mr John McKeague, the proprietor of the Heʻeia Sugar Plantation at Koʻolaupoko, Oʻahu, has completed the erection of an entire new mill and buildings, and on Wednesday last, he very hospitably entertained a large party of his friends and acquaintances, on the occasion of firing up and setting to motion the machinery of his new plant.”

“Mr Young, the manager of the Honolulu Iron Works (by whom the machinery was built,) and several other practical engineers were present, and everybody, including Mr McKeague himself, pronounced the running of the works as perfectly satisfactory.”

“The mill can turn out ten tons of sugar per diem.  The machinery has all the modern improvements…. The works are located on rising ground, whereby each story has a ground floor.”

“The proprietor has built a dock on the water front below the mill, alongside which a vessel can load and unload freight – a vast improvement on the old boat and scow system.  Altogether, it may be said that the mill and works of Heʻeia are among the finest and best appointed of any on the Islands.”  (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, December 14, 1878)

Unfortunately, on February 12, 1879, McKeague received a severe injury by a fall from his horse in an accident crossing the Pali, “by reason of which his mind became impaired to such an extent as to render his intellect incoherent and his judgment defective so as to unfit him for the transaction of business.”  (Supreme Court Records)  A guardian (TA Lloyd) was appointed to represent his interests.

For the 1880 season, the plantation was renting 2,500-acres, 650 of which were for sugarcane, with 250 actually under cultivation, and having a mill capacity of 10 tons/day, expecting 600 tons that season. (Devaney)

June 30, 1882, John McKeague sold to the Heʻeia Sugar Plantation Company, a corporation “organized and existing under the laws of the State of California, USA, and carrying on business at Heʻeia, Koʻolaupoko, Island of Oʻahu, as cultivator and manufacturer of sugar and other products of sugarcane”.  (Supreme Court Records)

Heʻeia had a good landing place, in which the sugar was shipped in barges, to be put on board schooners which lie out about the sixth part of a mile from the shore.  In the late-1800s, all supplies were brought to the windward side from Honolulu by the schooner JA Cummins, which made twice a week trips, picking up sugar grown in Heʻeia and Waimanalo, and rice from the area.  (Devaney)

In 1880, the region reported 7,000-acres available for cultivation; in 1883 a railroad was installed at Heʻeia, and by the summer of that year it was noted that the railroad had allowed a much greater amount of land to be harvested, even allowing cane from Kāneʻohe to be ground at Heʻeia; however, the commercial cultivation of sugar cane was short-lived.  (Devaney)

After almost four decades of a thriving sugar industry in Koʻolaupoko, the tide eventually turned bad and saw the closures of all five sugar plantations by 1903. The closures were due to poor soil, uneven lands and the start-up of sugar plantations in ʻEwa, which were seeing much higher yields.

As sugar was on its way out in Koʻolaupoko, rice crops began to emerge as the next thriving industry.  (History of Koʻolaupoko)  In 1880 the first Chinese rice company started in the nearby Waineʻe area. Abandoned systems of loʻi kalo were modified into rice paddies. The Kāneʻohe Rice Mill was built around 1892-1893 in nearby Waikalua.

Another commercial crop, pineapple, was also grown here, starting around 1910.  By 1911, Libby, McNeill & Libby gained control of land there and built the first large-scale cannery at nearby Kahaluʻu with an annual capacity of 250,000-cans; growing and canning pineapples became a major industry in the area for a period of 15 years (to 1925.)

The image shows Heʻeia Sugar Plantation mill site.   In addition, I have included more related images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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Heʻeia

The nine ahupuaʻa of Kāneʻohe Bay, beginning at the boundary between Koʻolauloa and Koʻolaupoko Districts (west) and moving eastward, are Kualoa, Hakipuʻu, Waikāne, Waiāhole, Kaʻalaea, Waiheʻe, Kahaluʻu, Heʻeia and Kāneʻohe.

The ahupuaʻa of Heʻeia and Kāneʻohe also included portions of Mōkapu Peninsula (Heʻeia runs from the mountains to the sea, but also crosses over a portion of the water in Kāneʻohe Bay and includes a portion of a Mōkapu peninsula across the Bay.)  Heʻeia also includes Moku-o-Loʻe (Coconut Island,) Kahaluʻu includes Kapapa Island and Kualoa includes Mokoliʻi.

The name of the land of Heʻeia is traditionally associated with Heʻeia, the handsome foster son of the goddess Haumea and grandson of the demigod ʻOlopana, who was an uncle of Kamapuaʻa.

Heʻeia was named in commemoration of a tsunami-type wave that washed Haumea and others into the sea - a great tidal wave that “washed (he‘e ‘ia) … out to sea and back” (Lit., surfed, or washed (out to sea,) or swept away.)

They swam until they were exhausted and were finally washed ashore at Kapapa Island in Kāneʻohe Bay. It was the handsome Heʻeia who fell in love with Kaohelo, a younger sister of Pele and Hiʻiaka, whom he met in Koʻolau, Oʻahu.  (Devaney)

In ancient Hawai‘i, fishponds were an integral part of the ahupua‘a food source.  Hawaiians built rock-walled enclosures in near shore waters to raise fish for their communities and families.  Loko iʻa (fishpond) were used for fattening and storing of fish for food and also as a source for kapu (forbidden) fish.  Walled, brackish-water fishponds were usually constructed on the reef along the shore and one or more mākāhā (sluice gate.)

Heʻeia Fishpond’s wall was one of the longest, extending nearly a mile.  As a large pond, it is subject to considerable evaporation, increasing salinity in the pond; as such, fresh water is added.  Heʻeia is somewhat unique in that it has mākāhā gates on the mauka wall to control the flow of fresh water.

Kalo (taro) was a main staple in the diet of nearly all Hawaiians prior to European contact and was extensively cultivated.  As early as 1789, Portlock described this area:
“… the bay all around has a very beautiful appearance, the low land and valleys being in high state of cultivation, and crowded with plantations of taro, sweet potatoes, sugar-cane, etc. interspersed with a great number of coconut trees ….”

The region had a considerable amount of land cultivated in taro up through the early-1800s.  “Southeastward along the windward coast, beginning with Waikāne and continuing through Waiāhole, Kaʻalaea, Kahaluʻu, Heʻeia and Kāne’ohe, were broad valley bottoms and flatlands between the mountains and the sea which, taken all together, represent the most extensive wet-taro area on Oʻahu.” (Handy, Devaney)

The rains that sweep through here have been memorialized in poetry and song.  A traditional mele honoring Kaumuali‘i suggests “the sound of heavy rain drops on dry leaves, or dry thatching of the pandanus leaf, … of the rain accompanying the koʻolau wind, which calms the troubled waters”.  This “heavy-sounding rain” of the Koʻolau has been transformed into a poetical saying, “Ka ua kani koʻo o Heʻeia, The rain of Heʻeia that sounds like the tapping of walking canes”.  (Fornander)

During the early historic times, many of the ruling chiefs favored this area as their place of residence. Kahahana the ruler of Oʻahu sometimes resided there. Kahekili after defeating Kahahana lived in Kailua, Kāneʻohe and Heʻeia.

The Sacred Hearts Father’s College of Ahuimanu was founded by the Catholic mission at Ahuimanu, Heʻeia in 1846.  “Outside the city, at Ahuimanu, Maigret has now a country retreat that he refers to by the Hawaiian word māla.  It is a combination garden, orchard and kitchen garden. … The venerable bishop has built his own vineyard and planted his own orchard … His retreat in the mountain, his “garden in the air” as he terms it, is a pleasant and profitable sight … When the pressure of events allows it, Maigret takes refuge there.” (Charlot)

One of its students, Damien (born as Jozef de Veuster,) arrived in Hawaiʻi on March 9, 1864, at the time a 24-year-old choirboy.  Determined to become a priest, he had the remainder of the schooling at the College of Ahuimanu.  Bishop Maigret ordained Father Damien at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace in 1864 and later assigned him to Molokaʻi.  In 2009, Father Damien was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI.

The earliest of the modern large commercial agricultural ventures started with the cultivation of sugar cane in Kualoa in the 1860s. By 1880, three more sugar companies had emerged in Kahaluʻu, Heʻeia and Kāne’ohe. Heʻeia Sugar Company (also called Heʻeia Agricultural Co. Ltd) operated from 1878 to 1903.

In 1880, the region reported 7,000-acres available for cultivation; in 1883 a railroad was installed at Heʻeia, and by the summer of that year it was noted that the railroad had allowed a much greater amount of land to be harvested, even allowing cane from Kāneʻohe to be ground at Heʻeia; however, the commercial cultivation of sugar cane was short-lived.  (Devaney)

Rice cultivation did not occur in earnest until the decline of sugar, and in 1880 the first Chinese rice company started in the nearby Waineʻe area. Abandoned systems of loʻi kalo were modified into rice paddies. The Kāneʻohe Rice Mill was built around 1892-1893 in nearby Waikalua.

Another commercial crop, pineapple, was also grown here, starting around 1910.  By 1911, Libby, McNeill & Libby gained control of land here and built the first large-scale cannery with an annual capacity of 250,000-cans at nearby Kahaluʻu; growing and canning pineapples became a major industry in the area for a period of 15 years (to 1925.)

The US military first established a presence on the Mōkapu peninsula in 1918 when President Woodrow Wilson signed an executive order establishing Fort Kuwaʻaohe Military Reservation (the western portion of Mōkapu is within the Heʻeia ahupuaʻa.)

Today, Marine Corps Base Hawaiʻi continues to serve as a fully functional operational and training base for US Marine Corps forces. The Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) here operates a 7,800-foot runway (on the ahupuaʻa of Heʻeia) that can accommodate both fixed wing and rotor-driven aircraft.

With World War II underway, the Navy recognized the need to be able to communicate across the Pacific.  In 1942, a group of radio experts determined a superpower radio station with across-the-Pacific range might be built provided that the antenna could be raised high enough above the ground.

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 in Heʻeia.  Haiku Valley with its horseshoe shape and sheer side-walls filled the prescription perfectly.

To build it, mountain climbers pounded spikes into the vertical cliff, then added wooden stairs up the mountain.  A lift to haul up materials was added and they strung cables across the valley.  The Alexanderson Alternator radio system, transmitting Morse code across the Pacific, was operational in 3-months.  A reminder of that facility is the Haiku Ladder, Haiku Stairs – the Stairway to Heaven (a 3,922-step ladder/stairway ascending the summit of the Koʻolau mountain range.)

Today, Windward Mall, portions of Windward Community College, Valley of the Temples, Tetsuo Harano Tunnels (H3,) Hawaiʻi Institute for Marine Biology, MCBH, Heʻeia Kea Small Boat Harbor and a bunch of other folks call Heʻeia home.

The image shows Heʻeia ahupuaʻa over Google Earth.  In addition, I have included other related images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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Muliwai

Water flowing from the mountainside is called a kahena wai or a kahawai, a watercourse or stream. The spot from which water begins to flow is the po‘owai, it is the source of the water. The bank on either side is called kapana wai or kaʻe no ka wai or ikana wai, and the water amid-stream is called the holomoku or ihiakala.

Where the water of a slow moving stream, a muliwai, meets the sea is called a nuku muliwai, and the mouth of a shallow rushing stream, a kahawai, is called a nuku kahawai.

Water flowing over a cliff is called a wailele, waterfall. If the water divides in falling (kahe makawalu), it is called a waihi, cascade; if the water sprays (kulu makaliʻi) in falling over a cliff it is called hunawailele or wai puhia or wai ehu.   (Kamakau; Maly)

There are several types of muliwai (muli, the remains; and wai, water - estuarine systems) in Hawai‘i. The two most common are at stream mouths or where surface flow is absent but with significant groundwater discharge.

Whether they’re called a stream mouth, bay, harbor, inlet or lagoon, muliwai are the transition zones between and connecting two major land/sea habitats – the mauka forest and the ocean.

They are among the most productive ecosystems on Earth.  The muliwai is an essential nursery habitat for certain fish species in their larval and juvenile growth stages.

The muliwai is the brackish area between the stream (land) and the sea and hosts many different species of fish, birds, plants and other biodiversity and helps to filter the stream before it empties into the ocean; and, is an important area for certain fish to gather and grow.

When the ocean was rough for the fishing canoes to go out, the families would catch fish like awa, ʻaua and ʻāholehole.  (Maly)  “The families fished for ʻoʻopu nākea and ʻakua and ʻōpae in the streams and muliwai; in the muliwai had plenty ʻoʻopu, the head big like this (the size of a fist.)” “Young awa, ʻamaʻama were abundant.”  (Chun, Davis; Maly)

Some familiar examples of estuary ecosystems include Kāneʻohe Bay, Oʻahu; Keālia Ponds, Maui; Waipiʻo Bay, Hawaiʻi and Wainiha Bay, Kauaʻi.

Threats to muliwai/estuaries are real and diverse, including development (draining, filling, damming and dredging,) fishing, recreational use, pollutants and excess nutrients, invasive species, etc.

While I was at DLNR, the issue of muliwai/estuary protection was a growing concern.  As the Hawaiʻi representative to the Coastal States Organization, we had ongoing discussions with the NOAA and others on a national level.

Locally, through the inspiration and actions by Bob Nishimoto at DLNR’s Division of Aquatic Resources, there were discussions on establishing a Center for Stream and Estuarine Research, while a partner, the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology, would focus on marine issues.

On a national level, NOAA established the National Estuarine Research Reserve System (NERR,) a network of 28 areas representing different biogeographic regions of the United States, to protect estuaries and provide long-term research, water-quality monitoring, education and coastal stewardship.

Currently, there is no NERR site in Hawaiʻi, but actions are underway to establish one.  Recently, public meetings through OP-CZM were held to discuss candidate sites.

Apparently Site Selection committee members prefer Heʻeia Estuary in Kāneʻohe Bay to be Hawaiʻi’s first NERR site (Hilo Bay was also considered, but, apparently, the decision was to move forward with only one, at this time.)

Each research reserve is made up of a core area and a buffer area. The core area around the estuary is managed for long-term research, water-quality monitoring, education and coastal stewardship.

The reserves are run by the state with input from local partners. The goal of the reserve system is to support local knowledge and management decisions pertaining to the coastal resources of the region.

The image shows a graphic that helps illustrate the importance and connection of muliwai; it was used by Bob Nishimoto on his discussion on estuaries at a stream and estuary conference I was fortunate to attend while at DLNR.  In addition, I have added related images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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