Historical Collections of The Hawaiian Islands - Kalaupapa, Kalawao County (Part 1)

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Historical Collections of The Hawaiian Islands
" Keepers of the Culture "
A study in time of the Hawaiian Islands
Moloka'i
Kalaupapa, Kalawao County --  part 1
by Darlene E. Kelley
October 21, 2000

http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00026.html#0006374

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Part 1 --- As told by the ancients

Kalawao County -- Kalaupapa

Kalawao County does not exist today.  Some considered the county, a
mythical fifth county, in Molokai. It included the Peninsula of
Kalaupapa. While this area is generally referred to as Kalaupapa, in
fact, Makanalua Peninsula is divided into three districts; The Kalawao
district on the eastern edge; Kalaupapa and the settlement of Kalaupaa
to the west; with Makanalua in the center. 

Inhabited from about 650 AD, the Hawaiians fished the rough surrounding
ocean by outrigger canoe with nets and spears for over 1200 years.

They also farmed the land, coaxing sweet potatoes, onions, and taro from
the harsh volcanic soil. With the vines of the sweet potato, their main
vegetable, they fed their pigs, which in turn they used to barter with
other villagers in the eastern valleys.

While the peninsula was not largely settled, it was traveled much and
used extensively. The entire area is divided and subdivided by low rock
walls that continue for mile after mile, creating thousands of small
lots of every imaginable shape.

There is no history of the people who built them;  historians theorize
that they were constructed as pens for raising pigs, as windbreaks for
growing croups and possibily as property boundaries and land divisions.

The early Hawaiians built fishing shrines called heiau as places to make
offerings for their safety while fishing in the rough waters that
surround the peninsula. These heiau were platforms built of stone in
circular and square shapes. Some of their surfaces are filled with
coral, while others have elaborate enclosures lined with flat rocks on
which offerings of fish or shells were placed.

Today, the trail from topside Moloka'i to Kalaupapa is traveled by mule,
by hikers, and on foot by some of the workers at the settlement.

Hugging the nearly perpedicular cliffs, the trail is over three miles
long and descends 1,600 feet to the peninsula. Along its course are 26
switchbacks that corkscrew in and out of the canyons and ravines. The
peninsula's terrain is flat; Translated, Kalaupapa means " level land
resembling a flat leaf."

Strong northeast trade winds and a lack of sufficent rainfall make for
harsh living conditions. The nearby cliffs receive more than 25 feet of
rain annually, but it disappears through the porous ground.

Molokia--

Molokia is fifth in size among the Hawaiian chain. It is called the most
Hawaiian island with 6.700 residents of which over half are of the true
Hawaiian ancestry. Every years, the Hula Piko festival celebrates the
birth of the romantic Hula dance which originated there on Molokai many
years ago.

The island is 25 miles south east of Oahu, 8.5 miles northwest of Maui,
and 9 miles north of Lanai. It has an area of 260 square miles and a
coastline of a little more than 100 miles. The island lies lengthwise
east to west, is 38 miles long and 10 miles wide at the extreme. It
consists of two principal parts each being a major volcanic mountain,
with a plain between. East Moloka'i, which is the larger, has a range of
mountains whose highest peak, Kamakou, is 4,970 feet. Stream erosion has
cut large amphitheater-headed valleys into its northern coast; smaller
and narrower valleys are found on its southern side, with an alluvial
plain down to the sea. West Moloka'i has a slooping mountain, Maunaloa,
which reaches an altitude of 1,380 feet. It has gulches rather then
valleys and is considerably drier than east Moloka'i.  Its northern
coast ends in a high cliff.

Legends of the Creation of Moloka'i

There are several legends regarding the origin of Molokai. According to
Paku'i, who was a historian at the time of Kamehameha 1, the islands of
the Hawaiian group were born of Wakea and his wives. After Wakea's first
wife. Papa had given birth to Hawaii, Maui and Kahoolawe, she returned
to Tahiti. Wakea then took Kaulawahine as his wife and she bore Lanai.
Again he took another wife. 

Ho'i a'e 'o Wakea loa'a Hina
Loa'a Hina he wahine moe na Wakea
Hapai Hina ia Moloka'i, he moku
'O Moloka'i a Hina he keiki moku

The Wakea turned around and found Hina
Hina was found as a wife for Wakea
Hina conceived Molokai, an Island
Hina's Molokai is an island child.

A historian Kahako'ikamoana, however, recounted a different parentage
for Molokai.

Na Kuluwaiea 'o Haumea he kane
Na Hinanuialana he wahine
Loa'a Moloka'i, ke akua, he kahuna
He pualena no Nu'umea

Kuluwaiea of Haumea as the husband
Of Hinanuiakalana as the wife
Was born Molokia, a god, a priest
The first morning light from Nuumea

There is another tradition of the forming of the Hawaiian Islands. A
fisherman by the name of Kapuhe'euanui caught a piece of coral on his
hook. Lauliala'aumakua, a priest, instructed him to offer a prayer, make
a sacrifice, and throw the coral back in the sea.  This he did. The
story goes as follows;

Kapuhe'euanui continued fishing and always took to the priest the corals
he caught on his line, who named them and ordered him to go through the
same process of deifying them, or rather offering sacrifices to them,
until all the islands now comprising the group were successfully raised
as corals.  And thus, according to this tale, the islands of this group
grew up from pieces of coral.

Traditional  History of Molokai--

The traditional history of Molokai is fragmentary. The island was not of
major political importance. Its importance lay in the connections its
ali'i [ chiefs ] made by marriage, and , in later years, the reputation
of its sorcery and kahuna [ priest ].

13th Century --  Kamauaua .

Molokai's traditional history began in the early  part of the13th
century with Kamauaua, who was the first ali'i-nui of the island. He was
a member of a powerful family which descended from the amcient Nanaulu
line. His father Hakalanileo [ the son of Kuheailani ], appears to have
become lord of some lands in the Hilo district of Hawaii, and married a
chiefess of southern descent named Hina.

Kamauaua became the superior chief of Molokai. He had several sons, the
second, Keoloewa, succeeded his father in the sovereignty of the island,
and married Nuakea, the grand daughter of Maweke, and daughter of
Keaunui, and sister of Lakona. all famous and powerful chiefs on Oahu.
Kamauaua was married to Hinakeha, by whom he had had four 
children. His eldest son was called Kaupeepee-nui-kauila and he dwelt on
a promontory or mountain-neck called Haupu, situated on the north side
of Molokai . This was strongly fortified by art as well as by nature,
and was considered impregnable. From this stronghold Kaupeepee went
forth in search of adventures, possibly plunder, and on one of his
excursions off the coast of Hilo, he saw and became enamoured of the
beautiful Hina, the wife of Hakalanileo. To see and to desire to possess
was the logical operation of the chieftain's mind. He suceeded in
carrying off the lady, and returned with her without mishap to his
mountain fortress, between Pelekuna and Waikolo on the north side of
Molokia. So skillfully laid were the plans of Kaupeepee, and so well
executed, that the bereaved husband was for a long time ignorant of what
had become of his wife or who was the abductor.  He traveled over Hawaii
and Maui, seeking and inquiring, but found no news of the lost one.

Years rolled on, and the young sons of Hina, having grown up to manhood,
took up the search which the father had finally abandoned.
These sons were called Kana and Nikeu-Kalohe. They are said to have been
instructed by their grandmother, Uli, in all the arts of sorcery and
witchcraft, for which the southern immigrants were noted and feared by
the previous inhabitants of the Hawaiian group.
The sons soon discovered where their mother was kept captive, and
measures were taken for her liberation.

Kaupeepee was warned by his Kaula, or prophet, Moi, the brother of
Nuakea, the wife of his brother Keoloewa, that bad days were
approaching, and that the sons of Hina were coming to the rescue of
their mother. Secure in his mountain fastness, the chief scorned the
advice and defied the sons of the outraged lady. On the episodes and the
details of the war that ensued I will not dwell. They are so mixed up
with the fabulous and supernatural, that it is almost impossible to
disentangle a thread of truth in the whole account. But of the result of
the war there is no doubt whatsoever. By force, by stratagem, by
treachery, or by all combined, the fortress was taken and demolished,
Kapeepee slain, the lady Hina delivered and returned to Hakalanileo, and
the prowness and skill of the southern element in this expedition was
retained by the songs and saga of all, in succeeding generations.