Ko'olaupoko

Ann Marie Kirk's short film, "Short Kine Stories" contained an interview with a Waimanalo man with a peculiar stone now located near his porch. It got my mind jumbling about stories I have read concerning important ancient fishing shrines of the district. During the question and answer portion of the Oiwi film showing that night, I asked Ann Marie where that stone exactly was. Because I was planning a trip to Waimanalo the next day with my wife, to look for plant nurseries. She said it was at a home in Kalapueo, above the Honu fishpond at the end of Waimanalo.

Kalapueo is what remains of an old fishing village. I didn't get a chance to talk to anyone outside of their homes but it still has the feel of old Hawaii, as I would have imagined it. There was even a canoe being carved and some people cooking outside, sitting on woven hala mats.

 

 Here is the stone that was the topic of one of the stories in the movie. I forgot the homeowners name, but he basically mentioned how a woman approached him about fifteen or so years before the interview. She asked him to take care of a stone that was somewhere in the area. He could tell it must have been important to her and the whole idea of Hawaiian culture. So he agreed to care for it. He took his truck and went to collect the stone from wherever it was, and set it outside of his house. This was not an easy task as the stone is just a little smaller than a La-Z-Boy recliner and it must have been pretty heavy. He mentioned in the film that he could tell it was somehow related to fishing because the curve on the top was most likely used to hold the fish while it was being cleaned.

I know of two particular stones that were said to have been from this district. The first is Malei, it stood on the back of Makapuu hill on the Koolau side. It is site #1 in McAllisters island wide survey. He mentioned that it was above the lighthouse and was a female kupua. It was given burnt offerings and sung to. Charles Alona, the informant of Waimanalo Oahu place names, mentioned that it also was offered Uhu fish and attracted abundance of fish all of the way to Hanauma Bay. Another mentions Lipoa seaweed leis being left by the alii and how the stone actually came from Molokai. Aiai son of Ku'ula brought it there to be set up as a fish god. A chant about Hiiaka mentions Malei and Moeau Point (Makapuu Point).

Sometime later John Cummings is said to have taken malei to his home in Waimanalo until his death and then the stone was taken back to Makapuu Point. Other stories mention that it was taken to Bishop Museum, that it was buried somewhere near Makapuu, or that it was pushed into the ocean. Some stories mention it causing sickness and death to those that disturbed it. Now it is lost to history...

Another famous stone to Waimanalo folklore is that of Kini. It was also a fish shrine and female kapua that was said to help attract akule and O'io. It had a slight depression on its top that fishermen used to pour awa on it before going out to catch fish. The first fish caught was left on the stone as an offering of thanks and the last kanaka t have left an akule on it was a Maui man, Kaalele. Later during road construction and widening. The stone was tossed on the mauka side of the road and left on it's side. The informant Charles Alona mentioned how he hoped that the stone sould be set somewhere that it could see the ocean...

 

Could the stone now sitting outside of that Waimanalo home possibly be one of these famous pohaku? This is the view that is now has. In the movie that home owner mentions that he never saw that woman that asked him to care for the stone ever again. All must be right with the land and sea, in this time and district then...

 

Sad to say but I didn't find anything else of immediate historic cultural significance to share with you. As far as my research so far reveals. I did get a better feel of the land and will try to return and take a closer look at places that I now know exist deep in the valleys down empty dirt roads. Most likely in tights and on my bike. Since that never looks threatening when trespassing...

 

The following images are glimpses of what we found at the end the valleys from Waimanalo to Waiahole.

Museum Friday

A pahu drum at Bishop Museum.

 

While at the Oiwi Film Festival. I was talking with Kaleo Paik about what the pahu Hawea and Opuku drums would have looked like. She suggested that they must have been large temple drums with deep tones. She said the stumps of the coconut trees in Tahiti are much larger than those found in Hawaii. The drums Hawea and Opuku were brought from Tahiti during the migration of La'amaikahiki and his family. When the drums arrived in Hawaii they also travelled around the islands, and so many places bare the name. Finally they must have been set at Hoolonopahu heiau near Kukaniloko to signify the birth of the alii. They must have been very loud because they were said to have been heard by the commoners not allowed to enter the district of what was then known as Lihue...

Part Of The Ohana At Hawea

Yet another clean up at Hawea Heiau Complex this past Saturday and I am left thinking about my own personal connection to it. A few weeks ago I voiced interest about wanting to be involved in clearing the well if the time ever came. Shortly after that, a kupuna visited the area. As many different groups are now allowed to take tours. Such as the Hokulea PVS and such. I'm not sure if she was with them. But the kupuna mentioned that in order for progress to continue throughout the entire project, the well needed to be cleared out.
During the initial survey of the remains of Hawea complex. I was told that some archaeologists suggested that the well was of modern construction and could have been added to the list for removal. Although that statement was partly true. The well is most likely from a much older time period. Kaleo Paik mentioned that the higher construction above ground level was made with modern techniques and used cement between the stones, but below that is a more tightly stacked wall of stones that are similar to the way older inhabitants would have built around a spring...

 

Here is the well with its cement mortar above ground and it's condition when I first saw it on my first visit to the heiau clean up.

 

 

 

There I go down the well! I brought my Hi-Viz Giro helmet for safety and a little touch of  Hawaiian cyclist blogger, right! I also tucked my inside shirt in my pants and wore a hoodie, so roaches wouldn't get into any places on my body that would cause me to scream like a girl and cause a cave in. Before I went in, Kaleo took me to the side and said a prayer for protection and announced that I was entering the will in good intentions. She then rubbed some Hawaiian sea salt into my hands for protection. Which I then stuffed into my pockets. Later when Arnold took the second shift and entered the well, Kaleo wasn't around. So I took the salt that she gave me and gave him some while mentioning to the aina that he was about to enter with the same good intentions...

 

It smelt like decades of roach as I cleaned all of the modern rubbish and passed it up in a bucket. We filled three garbage bags of rubbish that morning.

 

 

 

 
 

 

 Another volunteer and Hawaii Kai resident, Chris brought this rope that we didn't end up using that day. But It came from the Hokulea and I thought that was very symbolic and special.

 

Along with a bunch of 40oz. bottles and plastic containers of all shapes and sizes, we found this pair of tortoise shell Ray Ban shades! I'll add it to the modern artifact collection pile that the grounds keeper Sam is building.

 

 

Here is the well that is finally giving up water after we simply cleaned it out. It is supposed to be capped somehow and they are still working on how to located it and uncap it. We were ecstatic when we saw water coming out from the ground. We took samples but I'm not sure what the results were. Kaleo offered up a very inspiring phrase, "Where are the waters of Kane? The waters of Kane are here at Hawea." I would like to interpret that in Hawaiian and use it as a slogan for the clean up effort!

 

 

I was invited to return at sunset on Sunday to be apart of the drumming ceremony to further advance the Hawea Heiau project and reconnect with the aina and the kupuna of the past. I don't have any images to share as it was very dark when we were getting started. Kaleo arrived dressed in a black dress. Unlike I usually see her, in her safari looking gear for landscaping and cleaning. She was accompanied by her lua group which all had some sort of drum or pu. They also had bamboo pu'ohe, as conch shell horns are actually of Tahitian or deep water cultures and not of Hawaii. We helped roll out mats under the trees next to the heiau. All of us that weren't a part of her group stood on the sides and I guess we all thought we were just going to watch what they were going to do. But we were mistaken because Kaleo asked us to come in closer for a blessing. She asked me to help her grind some Olena ginger roots against a small lava stone and then she mixed it with water and sea salt in a wooden bowl with ti leaves. She placed some of the mixture on each individual. First on the head, then from the shoulders to the hands, and then some sprinkled on the feet. While offering a quiet prayer.

As the ceremony began, Kaleo and another woman began to blow their pu'ohe to the four winds. Then Kaleo began to softly chant another prayer. When she was ready, she began to tap on her pu. The drummers in the back began to set the rhythm. A slow tap and not too loud. After about ten minutes of drumming by the specialists that brought them, the instruments surprisingly were being passed around. I caught a couple of rotations myself and reconnected with my "Explorations" days at Kamehameha School. This went on for about an hour and we all got blessed again with the mixture Kaleo made in her bowl. Later she decided to empty her bowl around the well and everyone that didn't get a chance to see it went up to it to get a look.

 

As we were leaving, one of Kaleo's friends Anne Marie. Invited me to her film premier on Tuesday Night during the Oiwi Film Festival. Entitled "Short Kine Stories." During her film she interviews peoples from all over Hawaii as they share short stories of a particular area. In one story she is with a man living in Waimanalo and he shares a story of a rock that was given to him to care for near his home. The story led me to take a trip to Waimanalo to look at it for myself...



Museum Friday

Sorry for not posting for a couple of weeks. That's actually how long I haven't been behind a computer screen. I Just had my wedding last weekend at Bishop Museum's courtyard, but posting that would totally be out of context.

 

Continuing with the chest ornaments of the Pacific. This pearl shell breastplate was polished and drilled to be worn on the upper chest. It was discovered on a site at Paeao, Maupiti, Society Islands and dated to about 600 years ago. Now a part of the new Pacific Hall at Bishop Museum.

 

I have some good stuff brewing this weekend at Hawea Heiau's monthly clean up Saturday morning and a special ceremony there on Sunday night... the drums will sound again.