Waiwelawela

Paʻu o keahi o Waiwelawela o ka lua e
Aloha na poʻe la o

The pit of Waiwelawela is encircled by fire
Greetings to the people of the upland pit

(From the chant “A popoʻi haki kaikoʻo” – it describes how Pele got established in Puna; it compares the movement of the lava to the movement of water.)

There are indications that the ancient Hawaiians made use of natural hot springs for recreation and therapy. Oral history relates that the ancient chieftain, Kumukahi, frequented hot springs in Puna to relieve his aches and pains.  (Woodruff/Takahashi)

“The fame of the waters of the warm springs of the Puna districts has been great during many years. In fact, it is a legend … that when the ailments of the body overcame the aliʻi of old they betook themselves to the spring known as Waiwelawela … and there they were healed of rheumatic affections through bathing, and their systemic ills cured by drinking of the waters.”

“This legend has come down to the Hawaiians of today and even now there is a fame attached to the waters of the springs, which draws to the side of the stream scores of the native residents of nearby districts.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, January 28, 1902)

Waiwelawela “is a warm spring, crescent shaped, and of a vivid ultramarine in color …. The spring, named the Blue Lake, is 90-deg in temperature and 900-feet above the level of the sea.  The water is wonderfully clear and, strange to relate, at this elevation, it has a regular rise and fall which is said to correspond to the tide of the ocean.”  (Daily Bulletin, August 28, 1882)

The Kapoho Warm Springs was formed when the downthrown block of the Kapoho fault slipped below the water table and exposed the warm waters, probably heated by a magmatic body intruded in 1840.  (USGS)

“At present no practical use is made of them, but were there a proper access a small hotel would be built and many invalids would be able to make use of these springs.”  (Hawaiian Gazette, September 17, 1889)

“The famous warm spring is to be found near the residence of Mr RA Lyman (Kapoho’s largest landowner) and is one of the finest bathing places on the islands.  Natives formerly flocked to the place from all over the islands believing that it was possessed of great healing powers.”

“The water is a pleasant temperature for bathing and is clear as crystal, small objects can be readily distinguished twenty feet below the surface. There is a mineral taste to the water.”  (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, March 22, 1892)

“The railway now goes so close to them that it is believed if a few cottages were built, and attendance provided, many afflicted people would be glad to go there and be healed.  Even those who need no physician would find at these springs a place for rest and contemplation, far from the maddening crowd.”  (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, October 12, 1908)

“It is the most marvelously beautiful place in all these beautiful islands. There is not a doubt of it. The pool, at the base of a small peak that is like what Diamond Head would be if that had sugar cane growing to its very summit, lies shaded by a dense growth of ʻōhiʻa and koa and lehua trees and guava bushes, the sun glistening upon it through the leaves of these.”

“The waters, not steaming, but of perceptibly higher temperature than the air, by some strange law of refraction are shot through with dazzling gleams of a blue that is like the blue depths of the sky. Yet the rocks in the pool are not blue. They are of rather reddish cast.”  (Mid-Pacific Magazine, 1912)

“The exposed basin where the spring comes to the surface is something like five by six yards, and the water rises from no one knows where and departs no one sees how.  The water is warm and is very full of mineral salts.”  (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, January 28, 1902)

“This spot is unquestionably one of the loveliest in all Hawaiʻi, and its charm is typical of Hawaiʻi.  It is close against the face of a volcanic cliff.  Here there is a shady grotto, and in this grotto a pool almost as it hewed out of the rocks for the bathing place of some giant of the forest.”

“The water is in spots 20-feet deep, but so translucent that it seems much less than 10.  It holds many lights and shadows, many hues and colors, varying from the deep indigo blue to a transparent jade-green and in spots a golden brown.  There are seats here and the shade is grateful.”  (Honolulu Star-bulletin, September 6, 1916)

At Warm Springs, where portions of ‘Bird of Paradise’ (1951) and other motion pictures had been filmed, stone steps led to a spring-fed, naturally heated pool fringed by ferns, cattleya orchids and lau hala trees.

The grounds and a half-mile drive were landscaped with plumeria, thousands of ti plants, crotons and ginger. Picnic tables and barbecue pits dotted a smooth lawn shaded by mango trees.  Slim Holt, who leased the property from Lyman, had labored for years to create this beauty, assisted by interested individuals and organizations.  (Flanders)

Then, “Something was amiss.”  An eruption at Kilauea had ended on December 21, 1959.

“(B)ut the shallow reservoir beneath the summit of Kilauea volcano was gorged with magma, far more than before the eruption started. Rather than removing pressure, the eruption had, for all intents and purposes, created more.”

“The uncertainty ended at 1935 January 13, (1960,) when red glow in the night sky above Kapoho announced the 1960 eruption.”  (USGS)

Bulldozers erected a quarter-mile line of dikes designed to prevent the lava from reaching Warm Springs.  Despite this effort, toward midnight the flow surmounted the embankments.

Barbecue pits exploded; trees, shrubbery, tables and benches burst into flame. Lava poured down stone steps in a cherry-red stream.  Still water, reflecting the infernal scene, disappeared under the flow. The new cinder cone was dubbed Puʻu Laimanu.  … Today, buried beneath this primeval landscape, under 50-feet of lava, lays Warm Springs.  (Flanders)

“Estimates of damage from the six-day eruption of Kilauea volcano rose into the millions today.  State Senator Richard F Lyman estimated damage to his land, blanketed by the lava as $2,000,000.”

“He owns 80-acres of sugar land and the Warm Springs resort area, now buried by the flow on Hawaiʻi Island.  Other landowners reported 3,500-acres of farmland destroyed.”  (The Spokesman, January 20, 1960)

“Waiwelawela (meaning ‘warm water’) was a warm spring pool near Kapoho which was covered in the 1960 eruption. … It is said by people of the area that Pele covered the springs because people were charging others, namely Hawaiians, for use of the warm springs. In former days these warm springs were available to everyone.”  (Pukui; DOE)

The photo shows Waiwelawela.  In addition, I have included other images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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Something was amiss

The eruption in Kilauea Iki had ended on December 21, but the shallow reservoir beneath the summit of Kilauea volcano was gorged with magma. Rather than removing pressure, the eruption had, for all intents and purposes, created more.

The end of 1959 was an uneasy time for the staff at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.  During the last week of the year, a swarm of earthquakes started in Pāhoa (more than 1,000 earthquakes were recorded by the Pāhoa station on January 12.)

The 1960 Kapoho eruption and its predecessor, the 1959 summit eruption in Kilauea Iki Crater, together formed a summit-flank sequence. The Kapoho eruption caused havoc in lower Puna, an idyllic rural community until the lava fountains and flows covered farm land and villages.

The size and frequency of the earthquakes increased; at 8 am, January 13, the ground was severely cracked along the fault through Kapoho town.  Movement along the fault was literally pulling the town apart.

The ground was constantly shaking. The roughly 300-residents undertook voluntary evacuation, which was completed by early evening.  At 7:35 pm, January 13, 1960, a red glow above Kapoho confirmed the start of the eruption.

Within half an hour, fountaining was nearly continuous along a nearly ½ - mile long fissure.  After a couple hours, the activity focused with central fountains – for the next 11-hours powerful steam blasts roared from the vents.

The resulting fallout coated everything with a thin film of fine, wet, glassy ash. Salt crystals formed as the water evaporated; they testified to the brackish nature of the groundwater.

By noon on January 14, the steam blasts had ended and lava fountaining was confined to many sources along a 600-long section of the fissure.  An ʻaʻa flow, 18-feet thick and nearly 1,000-feet wide reached the ocean – a bench formed 300-feet beyond the old shoreline.

In an attempt to save Warm Springs, bulldozers pushed a rock dike; shortly after, lava overtopped it and filled the pool.

Kapoho, a bit uphill of the fissure, was near all this activity but had not been touched by lava. Pumice and lava were wreaking havoc on nearby homes and farms (papaya, coconut, orchid and coffee groves.)

ʻAʻa continued to enter the ocean; it was also spreading southward.  Bulldozers worked in forming a barrier to protect Kapoho, Kapoho School, an area of expensive homes and real estate at Kapoho Beach Lots.  By January 20, lava had reached the barrier and overtopped it on January 23; a second barrier was shoved aside on January 27.

A third barrier held the flow, but lava then moved underground, beneath the end of the barrier, emerging near Kapoho School. The buildings began to burn at 10 am and the school was lost shortly after noon.

The barrier itself remained intact, and it survived until February 5, when it was finally overtopped and almost totally buried by lava that eventually covered the Kapoho cemetery.  More coastal houses were lost.

Despite notable developments in the vent area, Kapoho village remained virtually intact except for a blanket of pumice and ash that covered everything.

For seven hours on the afternoon of January 27, the heaviest pumice fall of the entire eruption rained down on the area during strong kona winds.

However, it was the lava flow that would doom the town.

Late that night, the rapidly moving ʻaʻa flow moved through the streets, overwhelmed building after building. By midnight January 27, most of Kapoho had been destroyed; a couple days later (January 30) the town was gone.

The eruption ended slowly. Dribbles of lava continued to enter the sea north of Cape Kumukahi as late as February 13. High fountains continued until February 15, when lava was spraying upward from the main vent area to heights of 600-feet.  It gradually subsided and on the morning of February 19, the eruption stopped.

Volcanologists concluded that the Kapoho eruption was tied to events at Kilauea’s distant summit.  On January 17, four days after the Kapoho eruption had started, the summit began to subside (deflate, by analogy with a balloon) as magma was leaving the storage reservoir and heading down the east rift zone to the Kapoho area.

The eruption was the first during the modern era of volcano monitoring at Hawaiʻi Volcanoes Observatory. As a result, probably more fundamental ideas were reached from it than from any other single eruption in Hawaiʻi.

The main lesson, and really the only one that bears repeating over and over again, is clear. What happened then will happen again. That lesson should never be lost.  (All information here is from USGS.)

The image shows Kapoho and the eruption.  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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Puna

Prior to Western contact, each of the major islands or independent chiefdoms in the Hawaiian chain comprised a mokupuni (island.) Over the centuries, as the ancient Hawaiian population grew, land use and resource management also evolved.

Each island was divided into several moku or districts, of which there are six in the island of Hawaiʻi, and the same number in Oʻahu. There is a district called Kona on the lee side and one called Koʻolau on the windward side of almost every island.  (Alexander)  Another moku (common on a couple mokupuni) is Puna (“well-spring”) – this summary is about Puna on Hawaiʻi Island.

Puna was once known for its groves of hala and ʻōhiʻa-lehua trees.  Hawaiians observed, “Ka ua moaniani lehua o Puna / The rain that brings the fragrance of the lehua of Puna”.

This ʻōlelo noʻeau refers to the forests of Puna, which attract clouds to drench the district with many rains, refreshing and enriching the Puna water table, and sustaining the life cycle of all living things in Puna.

While the Puna district does not have running streams, it does have many inland and shoreline springs continuously fed by rains borne upon the northeast tradewinds. (McGregor)

In Nā Mele o Hawaiʻi Nei, the reference “Puna paia ʻala i ka paia ʻala i ka hala,” is translated as “Puna of the fragrant bowers, fragrant with the blossoms of the hala” (pandanus.)  (King, 1938)

According to Pukui, in the olden days, people would stick branches of hala into the thatching of their houses to bring some of the fragrance indoors.

“Puna on Hawaiʻi Island was the land first reached by Pāʻao, and here in Puna he built his first heiau for his god Ahaʻula and named it Ahaʻula (Wahaʻula.)  It was a luakini (large heiau where human sacrifice was offered.)  From Puna, Pāʻao went on to land in Kohala, at Puʻuepa. He built a heiau there, called Moʻokini.”  (Kamakau; McGregor)

According to Kamakau, the Island of Hawaiʻi was without a chief when Pāʻao arrived in Hawaiʻi in the eleventh century.  Evidently the chiefs of Hawaiʻi were considered aliʻi makaʻāinana (commoner chiefs) or just commoners, makaʻāinana, during this time.

Pāʻao sent back to Tahiti for a new ruler for Hawaiʻi, thereby ushering in a new era of ruling chiefs and kāhuna for the Hawaiian archipelago. The new ruler was Pili-kaʻaiea, from whom King Kamehameha I eventually descended.  (McGregor)

One story tells that Hāʻena, a small bay near the northern boundary of Puna, is said to be the birthplace of hula.  The goddess Hiʻiaka is said to have been instructed to dance hula on the beach there.  Puna is said to inspire hula because of the natural movements of waves, wind and trees. (Other stories suggest hula was started in other areas of the Islands.)

Early settlement patterns in the Islands put people on the windward sides of the islands, typically along the shoreline.  However, in Puna, much of the district's coastal areas have thin soils and there are no good deep water harbors. The ocean along the Puna coast is often rough and windblown.

As a result, settlement patterns in Puna tend to be dispersed and without major population centers. Villages in Puna tended to be spread out over larger areas and often are inland, and away from the coast, where the soil is better for agriculture.  (Escott)

This was confirmed on William Ellis’ travel around the island in the early 1800s, “Hitherto we had travelled close to the sea-shore, in order to visit the most populous villages in the districts through which we had passed. But here receiving information that we should find more inhabitants a few miles inland, than nearer the sea, we thought it best to direct our course towards the mountains.”  (Ellis, 1826)

Alexander later (1891) noted, “The first settlement met with after leaving Hilo by the sea coast road, is at Keaau, a distant 10 miles where there are less than a dozen inhabitants; the next is at Makuʻu, distant 14 miles where there are a few more, after which there is occasionally a stray hut or two, until Halepuaʻa and Koaʻe are reached, 21 miles from Hilo, at which place there is quite a village”.

“Nearly all the food consumed by the residents of this District is raised in the interior belt to which access is had by the ancient paths or trails leading from the sea coast. The finest sweet potatoes are raised in places that look more like banks of cobble stones or piles of macadam freshly dumped varying from the size of a walnut to those as large as ones fist. In these holes there is not a particle of soil to be seen”.  (Alexander; Rechtman)

Puna was famous as a district for some of its valuable products, including “hogs, gray tapa cloth (‘eleuli), tapas made of mamaki bark, fine mats made of young pandanus blossoms (‘ahuhinalo,) mats made of young pandanus leaves (ʻahuao,) and feathers of the ʻoʻo and mamo birds”.  (Kamakau; McGregor)

An historic trail once ran from the modern day Lili‘uokalani Gardens area to Hāʻena along the Puna coast. The trail is often referred to as the old Puna Trail and/or Puna Road. There is an historic trail/cart road that is also called the Puna Trail (Ala Hele Puna) and/or the Old Government Road.

It likely incorporated segments of the traditional Hawaiian trail system often referred to as the ala loa or ala hele.  The full length of the Puna Trail, or Old Government Road, might have been constructed or improved just before 1840. The alignment was mapped by the Wilkes Expedition of 1804-41.  (Escott)

With Western contact, extensive tracts of Puna’s landscape were transformed, first with sandalwood export began in 1790, reaching its peak between 1810 and 1825.

After Hawai‘i’s first forestry law in 1839 restricted the removal of sandalwood trees, cattle ranching and coffee cultivation became the leading commercial activities. By 1850, agriculture diversified with the cultivation of potatoes, onions, pumpkins, oranges and molasses.

Before 1900, coffee was the chief agricultural crop in the area. Over 6,000-acres of coffee trees were owned by approximately 200-independent coffee planters and 6 incorporated companies.

Soon, sugarcane was in large-scale production. The dominant operation in Puna was the Puna Sugar Company, whose plantation fields extended for ten miles along both sides of Highway 11 between Keaʻau and Mountain View, as well as in the Pāhoa and Kapoho areas.

Initially founded in 1899 as Olaʻa Sugar Company, it was later (1960) renamed Puna Sugar Company. The coffee trees were uprooted to make way for sugarcane. ʻŌhiʻa forests also had to be cleared, field rock piled, land plowed by mules or dug up by hand with a pick. Sugarcane was in large-scale production; the sugar mill operation ran for just over 80 years, until 1984.

Macadamia nuts and papaya were introduced in 1881 and 1919, respectively. Since the closure of the Puna Sugar Company, papaya and macadamia nut production have become the leading crops of Puna.  About 97% of the state’s papaya production occurs in Puna, primarily in the Kapoho area.

Another thing growing in Puna is housing.  Between 1958 and 1973, more than 52,500-individual lots were created.  There are at least over 40-Puna subdivisions.

As a comparison, Oʻahu is about 382,500-acres in size; the district of Puna on the island of Hawaiʻi is about 320,000-acres in size – almost same-same.

According to the 2010 census, Oʻahu has about 955,000-people and Puna has about 45,500.  That means there are less than a half-acre per person on Oʻahu and over 70-acres per person in Puna.

However, in Puna, they plotted out the subdivisions in cookie-cutter residential/agricultural lots across a grid, with very little space for other uses (such as parks, open space, government services, regional roads … the list goes on and on.)

Likewise, most subdivision lots are accessed by private, unpaved roads. The streets generally lack sidewalks and lighting, and do not meet current County standards in terms of pavement width, vertical geometrics, drainage and other design parameters.

There are only two main roads to move the people in the district in and out – one (Route 130 - Keaau-Pahoa Road) goes into Pahoa to Kalapana; the other (Route 11 - Volcano Highway) serves the lots up in the Volcano area.  (Lots of information here from the Puna Community Development Plan.)

I was saddened when the news broadcast the first house lost to the ongoing lava flow – a home of a friend and former student from Parker School.

I have been debating about posting on Puna – but decided that as the lava flows there, we should reflect on its history, but also be sensitive to and respectful of the trauma facing many of the families there – they are going through situations many of us will never have to face.

The image shows the Wilkes 1840-1841 map of Puna.  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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Pāhoa

Early settlement patterns in the Islands put people on the windward sides of the islands, typically along the shoreline.  However, in Puna on the Island of Hawaiʻi, much of the district's coastal areas have thin soils and there are no good deep water harbors. The ocean along the Puna coast is often rough and windblown.

As a result, settlement patterns in Puna tend to be dispersed and without major population centers. Villages in Puna tended to be spread out over larger areas and often are inland, and away from the coast, where the soil is better for agriculture.  (Escott)

This was confirmed on William Ellis’ travel around the island in the early 1800s, “Hitherto we had travelled close to the sea-shore, in order to visit the most populous villages in the districts through which we had passed. But here receiving information that we should find more inhabitants a few miles inland, than nearer the sea, we thought it best to direct our course towards the mountains.”  (Ellis, 1823)

An historic trail once ran from the modern day Lili‘uokalani Gardens area in Hilo to Hāʻena along the Puna coast. The trail is often referred to as the old Puna Trail and/or Puna Road. There is an historic trail/cart road that is also called the Puna Trail (Ala Hele Puna) and/or the Old Government Road.

This path was essentially the main thoroughfare through the Puna district before the late-1800s.  Pāhoa was oʻioʻina (a resting place) on the trail.  (Papakilo)  Then it grew to become the principal town of lower Puna.

The evolving trail (first by foot, then by horse, cart and buggy, and finally by automobile) likely incorporated segments of the traditional Hawaiian trail system often referred to as the ala loa or ala hele.  (Rechtman)

The full length of the Puna Trail, or Old Government Road, might have been constructed or improved just before 1840. The alignment was mapped by the Wilkes Expedition of 1804-41.  (Escott)

People who traditionally had lived along the Puna coast were moving toward Hilo and into the more fertile upland areas of Puna in order to find paid work and to produce cash crops for local markets and for export.

The focus began to shift to the center of the Puna District and the developing sugar and related industries near ʻŌlaʻa, Hilo and the volcano region.

Before the turn of the century, railroad operations began – with lines running into Hilo. A main railroad line and several feeder lines were constructed in the early-1900s from Keaʻau to locations in lower Puna District.

The major line ran from Hilo through Keaʻau to the Kapoho area.  A branch line ran from the ʻŌlaʻa Sugar Mill up past present day Glenwood. A second branch line ran to Pāhoa town.

Some suggest this is how Pāhoa received its name.  “Then the train was put in from Hilo to Puna. One spur went up into Pāhoa; it was like a dagger into the forest. I‘m told this is how Pāhoa got its name. (Pāhoa means dagger.)”  (Edwards; Cultural Surveys)

People began to work in the inland areas to grow sugarcane. The new road, the Pāhoa branch of the railroad, sugarcane agriculture and a logging venture all combined to create Pāhoa as a population center in the region.  (Rechtman)

Macadamia nuts and papaya were introduced in 1881 and 1919; at the turn of the century, large-scale coffee cultivation was attempted.  Over 6,000-acres of coffee trees were owned by approximately 200-independent coffee planters.

This fledgling industry couldn‘t compete with more successful ventures located in other districts, and after a few decades the coffee industry in Puna was abandoned.  (Cultural Surveys, Rechtman)

By 1901, sugar dominated the island’s industry and landscape, and Hilo was the epicenter of production and export. Railroads connected sugar mills and sugar plantations in Hilo, the Hāmākua and Puna. The railroad also connected the mills to the wharves at Hilo Bay.

Early on, one of the major export items transported by the railroad was timber.  Starting in 1907, the Hawaiian Mahogany Company began cutting trees to clear land for sugarcane. The logs were brought to Pāhoa Town to be milled, then sent to Hilo Harbor and eventually shipped to the US Mainland as railroad ties for the Santa Fe Railroad.

The lumber mill facilities and the railroad line that served them were located near the center of town where the Akebono Theater is located.

In 1909, the company was renamed Pāhoa Lumber Company. In 1913, the main mill facilities were lost in a fire; it was rebuilt that year the company was renamed the Hawaiian Hardwood Company.

The company closed down in 1916 when the Santa Fe Railroad ended its contract to buy lumber. The defunct company then leased its mill facilities, buildings and railroad tracks to the expanding ʻŌlaʻa Sugar Company.  (Rechtman)

Today, Pāhoa Town has a main street – the former highway route before the construction of the by-pass road – that still retains much of the original street-wall of plantation-era structures, as well as some significant stand-alone buildings.

Most of the uses are commercial or civic.  The County has acquired a large tract of land within Pāhoa Town, which presents a significant opportunity for community revitalization and a possible catalyst for economic activity.  (Puna CDP)

The image shows Pahoa in 1920.  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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Kauaʻi

Poetically the island is reportedly called, "Manōkalanipō", or "Kauaʻi a Manō" after the ancient chief who was largely responsible for elevating Kauaʻi's ancient society to sophisticated heights of advancement and productivity.  (NativeKauai)

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.

Kauaʻi was traditionally divided into 5 moku (districts) including: Koʻolau, Haleleʻa, Nā Pali, Kona and Puna. (Common district names that are universally used across of the Hawaiian archipelago include "Koʻolau" marking the windward sides of the islands; "Kona" - the leeward sides of the islands; and "Puna" - indicating regions where springs and fresh water abound.)

The whole of the northwest coast (Napali) show the remains of extensive agricultural work and a fairly extensive population; the Mana region had clusters of house sites in the dry valleys that cut through the cliffs. Nearly all the great river valleys are thoroughly terraced and show evidence of population.

The principal location of the house sites is on the shore line, especially near the mouths of the river valleys where the taro was growing; in the mountains are some house sites and small villages.

The principal cultivated products on Kauai were taro, sweet potatoes, yams and gourds among the vegetables, and banana, breadfruit, coconut palm and paper mulberry among the trees.  (Bennett)

Malo notes that the “cultivation of kula lands is quite different from that of irrigable lands. The farmer merely cleared of weeds as much land as he thought would suffice. If he was to plant taro (upland taro), he dug holes and enriched them with a mulch of kukui leaves, ashes or dirt, after which he planted the taro.”

“In some places they simply planted without mulch or fertilizer ... If a field of potatoes was desired, the soil was raised into hills, in which the stems were planted; or the stems might merely be thrust into the ground anyhow, and the hilling done after the plants were grown.”

The boundaries of the five moku on Kauaʻi were changed in the late-1800s to reflect the present day judicial land districts, Kawaihau, Hanalei, Waimea, Kōloa and Līhuʻe.

In 1877, Hanalei and Līhuʻe shared a common boundary.  Kawaihau was set apart by King Kalākaua, who gave that name to the property lying between the Wailua River and Moloaʻa Valley.  A bill was introduced into the legislature and the eastern end of Hanalei District was cut out and Kawaihau became the fifth district on the island of Kauaʻi.

Though comprising only 547-square miles, Kauaʻi is large enough to have figured at all times as a major influence on Hawaiian culture. Together with Niʻihau it forms a group which is considerably isolated from the other Hawaiian islands.  (Bennett)

Fornander notes, “the ruling families of Kauai were the highest tapu chiefs in the group is evident from the avidity with which chiefs and chiefesses of the other islands sought alliance with them. They were always considered as the purest of the "blue blood" of the Hawaiian aristocracy; ... But of the exploits and transactions of most of the chiefs who ruled over Kauai during this period, there is little preserved to tell.”

He further notes that during the “nine generations from Laamaikahiki (about the 14th century – he reportedly came from Tahiti,) the island of Niihau bore about the same political relation to the mōʻi (king) of Kauai as the island of Lanai did to the mōʻi of Maui - independent at times, acknowledging his suzerainty at others. … Springing from and intimately connected with the Kauai chiefs, there was a community of interests and a political adhesion which, however strained at times by internal troubles, never made default as against external foe.”

Then things changed for Kauaʻi and the rest of the Islands.  In the dawn hours of January 18, 1778, on his third expedition, British explorer Captain James Cook on the HMS Resolution and Captain Charles Clerke of the HMS Discovery first sighted what Cook named the Sandwich Islands (that were later named the Hawaiian Islands.)  He first landed at Waimea, Kauaʻi.

“The height of the land within, the quantity of clouds which we saw, during the whole time we staid, hanging over it, and frequently on the other parts, seems to put it beyond all doubt, that there is a sufficient supply of water; and that there are some running streams which we did not see, especially in the deep valleys, at the entrance of which the villages commonly stand.”  (James Cook Journal)

“From the wooded part to the sea, the ground is covered with an excellent sort of grass, about two feet high, which grows sometimes in tufts, and though not very thick at the place where we were, seemed capable of being converted into plentiful crops of fine hay. But not even a shrub grows naturally on this extensive space.”  (James Cook Journal)

Throughout their stay the ships were plentifully supplied with fresh provisions which were paid for mainly with iron, much of it in the form of long iron daggers made by the ships' blacksmiths on the pattern of the wooden pāhoa used by the Hawaiians.  The natives were permitted to watch the ships' blacksmiths at work and from their observations gained information of practical value about the working of iron. (Kuykendall)

After a month's stay, Cook got under sail again to resume his exploration of the Northern Pacific. Shortly after leaving Hawaiʻi Island, the foremast of the Resolution broke and the ships returned to Kealakekua Bay for repairs.  On February 14, 1779, at Kealakekua Bay, Cook and some of his men were killed.

At the time of Cook’s arrival, the Hawaiian Islands were divided into four kingdoms: (1) the island of Hawaiʻi under the rule of Kalaniʻōpuʻu, who also had possession of the Hāna district of east Maui; (2) Maui (except the Hāna district,) Molokaʻi, Lānaʻi and Kahoʻolawe, ruled by Kahekili; (3) Oʻahu, under the rule of Kahahana; and at (4) Kauaʻi and Niʻihau, Kamakahelei was ruler.

Kamakahelei was the "queen of Kauaʻi and Niʻihau, and her husband (Kāʻeokūlani (Kāʻeo)) was a younger brother to Kahekili, while she was related to the royal family of Hawaiʻi. Thus, it will be seen, the reigning families of the several islands of the group were all related to each other, as well by marriage as by blood. So had it been for many generations. But their wars with each other were none the less vindictive because of their kinship, or attended with less of barbarity in their hours of triumph.”  (Kalākaua)

Kaumuali‘i was the only son of Kamakahelei and Kāʻeo; he was born in 1778 at Holoholokū, a royal birthing heiau specifically designated for the birth of high ranking children.  Kaumuali‘i became ruling chief of Kaua‘i upon the death of his parents.

In 1784, Kamehameha I began a war of conquest, and, by 1795, with his superior use of modern weapons and western advisors, he subdued all other chiefdoms, with the exception of Kaua‘i.  King Kamehameha I launched his first invasion attempt on Kaua‘i in April of 1796, having already conquered the other Hawaiian Islands, and having fought his last major battle at Nuʻuanu on O‘ahu in 1795.

Kaua‘i’s opposing factions (Kaumuali‘i versus Keawe) were extremely vulnerable as they had been weakened by fighting each other (Keawe died and Kaumuali‘i was, ultimately, ruler of Kaua‘i and Ni‘ihau.)  Kamehameha’s two attempts at invading Kauaʻi were foiled (by storm and sickness.)

The island was never conquered; in the face of the threat of a further invasion, in 1810, at Pākākā on Oʻahu, negotiations between King Kaumuali‘i and Kamehameha I took place and Kaumualiʻi yielded to Kamehameha. The agreement marked the end of war and thoughts of war across the islands.

After King Kamehameha I died in 1819, Kaumuali‘i pledged his allegiance to Liholiho, Kamehameha's son and successor.    Kaumuali‘i settled in Honolulu and became a husband of Kaʻahumanu, widow of Kamehameha I.

Hiram Bingham was on a preaching tour of the island of Kaua‘i in 1824, shortly before King Kaumuali‘i died.  Kaumuali‘i had been living on Oahu for three years.  Bingham spoke to him just before coming to Kaua‘i.

Bingham writes:
“We found Kaumuali‘i seated at his desk, writing a letter of business.  We were forcible and pleasantly struck with the dignity and gravity, courteousness, freedom and affection with which he rose and gave us his hand, his hearty aloha, and friendly parting smile, so much like a cultivated Christian brother.”

When the king died, Bingham said a gloom fell over Kaua‘i.

Kaumuali‘i was buried at Waine‘e Church (Wai‘ola Church,) on Maui (he wanted to be buried near Keōpūolani, another of Kamehameha's wives - mother of Liholiho (Kamehameha II) and Kauikeaouli (Kamehameha III.))  (King Kaumuali‘i’s granddaughter Kapiʻolani (1834–1899) married King Kalākaua.)

The image shows a map of the island of Kauaʻi, noting moku (districts) and ahupuaʻa. I added a couple of other images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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© 2014 Hoʻokuleana LLC

Growing Pains

Oʻahu is about 382,500-acres in size; the district of Puna on the island of Hawaiʻi is about 320,000-acres in size – almost same-same.

According to the 2010 census, Oʻahu has about 955,000-people and Puna has about 45,500.  That means there are less than a half-acre per person on Oʻahu and over 70-acres per person in Puna.

For some, it sounds like optimal living; and, many are moving to the Big Island to enjoy this rural lifestyle.

Open spaces with room to roam, it sounds kind of like the Wild West.  And, for some, that’s its nickname, however, not with the same context.

Wait, there’s more.

Between 1958 and 1973, more than 52,500-individual lots were created.  There are at least over 40 Puna subdivisions. Geographically, these subdivisions are sometimes as big as cities.

For example, Hawaiian Paradise Park has over 8,800 building lots and is reportedly the second largest private subdivision in the United States.  It is over 4-miles long and nearly 3½-miles wide.

Back then, they plotted out the subdivisions in cookie-cutter residential/agricultural lots across a grid, with very little space for other uses (such as parks, open space, government services, regional roads … the list goes on and on.)

To add insult to injury, most subdivision lots are accessed by private, unpaved roads. The streets generally lack sidewalks and lighting, and do not meet current County standards in terms of pavement width, vertical geometrics, drainage and other design parameters.

There are only two main roads to move the people in the district in and out – one (Route 130 - Keaau-Pahoa Road) goes into Pahoa to Kalapana; the other (Route 11 - Volcano Highway) serves the lots up in the Volcano area.

Most lots rely on individual catchment systems (captured off the roof and rainfall stored in water tanks) supplemented with private delivery trucks for drinking water.  None of the subdivisions have central sewer systems. Large sections of some subdivisions are off the power grid.

Oh, and one more thing, about 6,400 subdivision lots lie in the highest lava hazard zone and over 500 of these are exposed to additional risks from subsidence, tsunami and earthquakes.

That’s not just hazards noted on a map; nearly 2,500 of these lots have been covered by lava flows or have been rendered unbuildable by shoreline subsidence over the years.

While most of these subdivisions are on agricultural-zoned lands, the actual use of developed lots is predominantly residential.

At the time these subdivisions were approved, the Puna district was sparsely populated and, with the exception of a sugar plantation and a small-scale visitor attraction at the volcano, which had not yet been developed as a national park, there was little economic activity in the area.

Shortly after the approval of the first of these subdivisions, Hawai‘i was admitted as the 50th state. That event, coinciding with jet travel, spurred increased investment in the Islands.

To prevent the excesses of land speculation, Hawai‘i adopted the first State Land Use Law in the nation in 1961.

Most of the Puna district was placed in either the Conservation District or the Agriculture District when formal boundaries were established in 1964, and this somewhat served to abate the number of subdivision applications.

However, it wasn’t until the County adopted a subdivision ordinance in 1973, setting more rigorous lot size and infrastructure standards, that large subdivisions with minimal services were effectively discouraged.

In the first decade or so following the creation of the non-conforming subdivisions, lot sales were fairly brisk, but there was little lot development.

In the 1970 Census, the recorded population of the Puna District was only 5,154-residents, most of whom lived in the older settlements of Kea‘au, Pāhoa and Volcano.

That was then, over the years the population exploded, doubling to 11,751 in 1980, then up another 10,000 by 1990 (to 20,781,) and another 11,000 by 2000 (to 31,335,) to the 2010 population of 45,500.

Population growth has worn on the minimal infrastructure, as well as people’s patience.

Today, folks in Puna are living with the lack of planning and regulatory control over the subdivision bonanza days.  But, they do benefit from lower sales prices (associated with the general lack of facilities and the huge availability.)  Some say you are getting what you pay for.

This region is finally undergoing some short and long-range planning.  The Puna Community Development Plan has been adopted (and has already had several amendments.)  Much of the information here comes from the Puna CDP documents.

Depending on your perspective, addressing the issues in this region today is either a planner’s nightmare or a planner’s dream.  This is an area where I would love to get involved – for me, challenges create opportunities.

The image notes the individual parcels within the Puna district (overlaying the Google Earth image.)  At this scale, many of the lots are not discernible – the fully gray areas indicate smaller lot residential uses, with no (or very limited) park space – where you can just see between the lines, these are 1-5 acre parcels.

I have added some other 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