Mr. Jonah Kumalae,
Editor of the Alakai o Hawaii,
Aloha nui oe:
Please allow me some open room in your precious.
Miss Laenihi, the youth of Puna lives on Hawaii. Her favorite activity which she always does is sailing on the ocean on her canoe to fish, and surfing after returning from fishing. Continue reading
O Hae Hawaii:
Aloha oe:—On the 4th of April, it was a calm day; it was a day that Hana people drove in flying fish [malolo] into nets, and the young flying fish came back; in the evening, Kaanaana and Malulu went deep water fishing with hook and line, and not long after, the wind and rain came; Kaanaana quickly pulled up the anchor [pohaku], and Malulu urged Kanaana, “Cut the line and let’s paddle at once.” Kaanaana pulled up all the line into the canoe. They paddled for shore, but they did not reach it; there was a lot of rain and wind and they could not paddle away, the canoe went back, and the shore grew dark and could not be seen; they were lost at sea, it became dark, there was great rain and wind, and great lightning and thunder that night. They flipped over twice and the opening of the canoe was turned underneath, and they righted the canoe, and Malulu lost his paddle and the canoe only had one left. The canoe turned over with the billows and they were in danger of death for the second time. That night became day, that was the fith day, and the canoe did not turn over that day. That day turned into night; there was no calm and the land could not be seen; there was much rain and wind. They nearly died twice that night, and the ama of the canoe came off; Kaanaana jumped to it and binded the ama fast; they sat and the canoe was once again overturned by the billows, and they were in danger of death again; that was the fourth time they were in peril. It became day, and it was the sixth day; the wind died down a bit but the rain was strong; they sat in the canoe without food or clothing. Continue reading
To the Editor of the Kuokoa, Aloha kaua: Please may I have an open column of your paper, and it will be for you to flash across the calmly surging seas from Hawaii to Niihau.
The air this morning was brisk and refreshing until the time when the paddler boys of Kona boarded the Mauna Loa for Honolulu to carry off once again the victory on the 17th of this month, that being Saturday. There are six of these paddlers of Prince Kalanianaole, and these are their names and their positions: Continue reading
MANUIA MAUNUPAU
Manuia Maunupau Dies In Honolulu After Long Career On Kona Coast
A famous old-time Hawaiian fisherman, one who taught Island royalty the art, will be laid to rest here this afternoon when Manuia Maunupau of Kailua, Kona, is buried.
Mr. Maunupau died Sunday night at the home of his son, Thomas K. Maunupau, 3326 Hoolulu street, after an illness of three months. He was 68 years old and had come to Honolulu in February for medical treatment.
Born In Honolulu
Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. today at Silva’s mortuary, where the body has been on view since last night. Interment will take place Puea cemetery.
Mr. Maunupau was born in Honuakaha, this city, but spent his boyhood days in fishing at Kuhio and Kaupulehu, two of the old-time fishing villages in that section of Kona called “the waste and waterless Kekaha.”
Knew Waters
It was from his father, Maihui, that he learned the various methods of fishing. He knew the names and location of the koas or fishing grounds, particularly those surrounding the area know as Haleohi’u, “the house of many fish tails,” which is located between Keahole Point and Kuhio.
Mr. Maunupau knew the landmarks of these fishing grounds: their characteristics, such as depth, current and the kinds of fish that are found there. He knew the stars, current and the winds.He knew every rock and reef offshore and could steer a canoe or boat blindfolded along the west coast of Hawaii.
Royal Fisherman
For a short time, Manuia Maunupau was a mate on a schooner owned by George McDougall, who was then doing business in Kailua, Hawaii, more than 40 years ago, and which ran between West Hawaii ports and Honolulu.
J. B. Curts, manager of H. Hackfeld & Co., Ltd., of Kailua, Hawaii, hired him as a pilot to steer lumber vessels when they were…
(Honolulu Advertiser, 3/26/1940, p. 1)
The Honolulu Advertiser, 84th Year, Number 19,145, Page 1. March 26, 1940.
EXPEDITION CREW—Tim Lui-Kwan holds an unfinished canoe bailer found preserved on Huahine Island in Tahiti. Other early Polynesian artifacts on the table include Tahitian war clubs, called patus, and a tapa beater. From left are Elaine Rogers-Jourdane, Toni Han and archaeologist Yosihiko Sinoto.—Star-Bulletin Photo by Warren R. Roll.
PRESERVED LOG—A mastlike post is recovered from the Huahine pond.—Bishop Museum photo.
CANOE RELIC—Yosihiko Sinoto is shown digging a trench to look for the end of a plank believed to be part of an ancient double-hulled canoe.—Bishop Museum Photo.
Continued from Page One
…canoe plank, because of the L-shape, so what is it? That was the big question.
“SURPRISINGLY, we found a second piece about one foot below. The two pieces are the same size and the same shape.”
He said the logs that they found were round and well-worked and one was a boom to lash a canoe hull and an outrigger. “The form was very close to the Tahitian sailing canoe,” he noted.
After he returned to the museum, he began searching material on canoes in Oceania and studying canoe models to try and identify the large planks. Continue reading
Most Important Link to East Polynesian History
By Helen Altonn
Star-Bulletin Writer
A Hawaii archaeologist has discovered what he believes are the remnants of an ancient double-hulled canoe such as described in Polynesian legends.
They are two large L-shaped boards, apparently the end splash boards of a double canoe.
“If it is a double canoe, the size is bigger than the Hokule’a,” said Yosihiko Sinoto, chairman of the Bishop Museum anthropology department.
He uncovered the boards and numerous other wooden objects, many associated with canoeing, in a pond on Huahine in the Society Islands.
Kenneth Emory, senior archaeologist as the museum, said the site is the most important found yet in revealing the early history of East Polynesia. “You have a cross-section of life at one moment of time before Hawaii and New Zealand were settled,” he said. Continue reading
We should not look upon the voyage of Hokuleʻa with the thought that out ethnic pride and awareness will be re-vitalized. This type of pride we search for should emulate [emanate] from within ourselves and should be a constant part of our daily lives. We must not rely wholly upon occasional events to stir up reminders of our dignity and abilities lest we become fleeting images for display; pieces in a show case.
The importance of the upcoming voyage of Hokuleʻa lies in a different discovery: the opportunity we have to discover how our ancestors conceptualized their world, how they responded to the challenges after leaving their homelands and how they attempted to survive in this new land, today our homeland. Grasping this knowledge we too can be committed to accept the challenges before us with the same determination of our ancestors.
[Some thoughts from thirty-four years ago. How have things changed? How have things stayed the same?]
(Alahou, 2-3/1980, p. 12)
Ke Alahou, Helu 4, Aoao 12. February/March 1980.
Hold on to the course! Hold on to the course! Continue On!
by Wayne Washburn, Malcolm Naea Chun and Duke Wise
In early March the Hokuleʻa will again set sail in hopes of reaching first landfall somewhere near Tahiti. Crewmen and scientists will concentrate efforts on documenting the thinking process, and methods, which may have been used by the ancient Polynesian navigators.
Without first voyage demonstration to the modern world two important findings. First, was that navigation by the stars without use of modern navigational instruments can be successfully used when travelling between Tahiti and Hawaii. Second, a Polynesian double-hulled canoe without keels or deep centerboards is able to sail to windward, and thus maintain planned course. For the present voyage celestial navigation will once again be of primary importance. Where the first voyage showed that celestial navigation was possible, the presēnt will pay particular attention to the recording of the thought process of the navigator.
Dr. Will Kyselka of the Bishop Museum Planetarium, and an assistant to the project, cited an incident involving a highly skilled non-instrument navigator from Satawal, Mau Piailug. Once caught in a storm for three days, Mau was unable to sail or use celestial markers for assistance. After the storm, though his course direction had been turned around many times, Mau miraculously found his way home to his tiny atoll of Satawal. Dr. Kyselka suggested that maybe there are maps within some of the more skilled navigators’ minds. He mentioned that pigeons are said to find their bearings in flight by being able to sense the difference magnetic fields given off by certain structures. Using the changes in magnetic fields the pigeons are able to draw a mental map and find their way home. Did the Polynesians possess this ability or something which would enable them to find Tahiti and Hawaii with regularity?
Captaining the voyage down will be Gordon Piianaia. Navigating for the trip will be Nainoa Thompson. There to assist Thompson will be Mau Piailug, the navigator from the 1976 voyage. Crew member Steve Somsen will be documenting the navigation process. This will be done by conferring with Nainoa and Mau and then orally recording it through the use of a tape recorder. Hopefully this will shed more light on the Polynesians’ navigational thought process.
The Ishka, a sailing vessel captained by Alex Jackobenko with assistance from his wife Elsa will follow some distance behind Hokuleʻa. Dr. Kyselka will be on board to study and document the route of the Hokuleʻa using modern navigational instruments and charts. On completion of the voyage the two styles of navigation will be compared for scientific value.
March has been designed for departure because it is the season that tends to favor the northeast tradewinds which are important for the first half of the voyage. Like the 1976 voyage the canoe will travel southeasterly for about 1000 miles. Once “easting” is accomplished winds blowing from the southeast will be used to rēach first landfall or Tahiti from a windward approach. This “easting” is important in that not enough movement in that direction might cause them to sail west of Tahiti and miss the islands completely. Certain safety features have been added to the canoe in order to avoid swamping problems encountered in previous inter-island trips. The gunwales and hatches have been raised to help prevent water seepage into the hulls. Also on board will be six hand pumps, a radio and flares. The radio will be used to notify the Hokuleʻa’s escort boat in case of an emergency. Certain sections of the hulls will contain inflated rubber. In the event that the hulls are accidentally smashed these will enable the canoe to remain afloat. Although non-instrumental navigation is the paramount research project of this voyage, other projects are being encouraged on a smaller scale. One of these is to fish using traditional types of fishhooks to learn how they were used. This hopefully will also provide a supplement to the crew’s diet by adding fresh fish. While conducting the fishing experiments crew members will record how the differences of fishhooks: design, material and size; the speed of the canoe; the types of fish caught and other factors affect fishing in the deep sea. These fishhooks are being faithfully copied from authentic fishhooks under the supervision of Sam Ka’ai of Kaanapali, Maui. Ancient fishhooks were made from materials such as shell, coral, turtle shell, dog and human bones and even hard woods.
In 1964, Drs. Kenneth Emory and Y. Sinoto of the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, found a Tahitian one-piece fishhook at Maupiti in the Society Islands. They proposed a theory that this type of fishhook is the same as found in various sites in Hawaii. After its initial introduction they believe it became a major type used by the ancient Hawaiians, Today, other anthropologists are not as certain if Tahitian migrations caused the popularity of this fishhook, but nonetheless, the experiments conducted by crew members of the Hokuleʻa should provide some information that may help the on going research in finding common links between the ancient Hawaiian society and the Southern Polynesians.
With a crew of fourteen, the Hokuleʻa is scheduled to depart from Hilo on…
(Ke Alahou, 2-3/1980, p. 1)
Ke Alahou, Helu 4, Aoao 1. February/March 1980.
…the first favorable day after March 2.
Editor’s comment: The projects conducted by the crew of the Hokuleʻa remind us of the legend of Hema, a pan-Polynesian legend about a great super chief.
Hema was the son of Aikanaka and his wife Hinaaimalama of Hana, Maui. Hema’s wife was called Hina-polipoli and they lived at Kipahulu, East Maui. When she was pregnant with their second child, Hina craved for the eyeball of a large fish of the open, deep sea. This fish had a tail like that of the shark, Ahiale and was called Kekukaipaoa.
Hema prepared all his fishing gear and made ready the double-hulled canoe by loading enough food and water for several days. He covered his canoes with many mats, lashing them down with cords so that sea water could not seep in. When the canoe was covered securely, he hung his fishing line, Pupuwaiakolea, above the top of the poles that were between the hulls of the canoes. He put the end of the line through a knot he had tied and then he set up his cord calabash, which was called Kumaaiku. He took out the fishhook and tied the end of the fish line tightly around it fastening it to the pole.
Hema’s fishhook was not made of human bone like some of those found in the Bishop Museum, nor was it made of whale bone or turtle shell like Manaiakalani. It was made of a branch of wood whose name is not known today. The kikala or the intersection of the barbs, is found at the branch closest to the trunk of the tree. When this branch is laid flat, three other branches project from it. These branches are broken so they are short and sharp. This joint is called lehua, perhaps after the flower. The shank knob of the fishhook is called muʻo and this is where the fish line is tied. The name of Hema’s fishhook is Papalahoʻomau and still survives today as the name of the Congregational Church in Kipahulu.
It was later on in the story that Hema was blown off course and his voyage to Kahiki or Holani-ku began.
(Alahou, 2-3/1980, p. 11)
Ke Alahou, Helu 4, Aoao 11. February/March 1980.
(Written by Z. P. K. Kawaikaumaiikamakaokaopua.)
Canoe building is one of the greatest trades; it is with great knowledge and thought that this is done. And when the important high chiefs of Napoopoo were living, they being Kamakau; Kahalau; Kanuha; Kekukahiko; and Kanihomauole, the son of Kiilaweau; Kanihomauole decided to go to Maui in search of a number of canoe building kahuna for himself. And that alii Kanihomauole did indeed go with some attendants from his royal court.
When they went, they landed at Hana, Maui. Kaahumanu was there living at the time, and was married (hoao) with Kamehameha, who was away on Oahu. And because it was heard often that Kanihomauole was the child of Kiilaweau, the alii of highest blood, and that he was kin to Kamehameha, the Conqueror of the Nation, they were welcomed along with those who came, they being Kahula, Kamaka, Naili Sr., Keaka and Puuki.
The queen asked, “why have you come?” The alii Kanihomauole replied, “I have come in search of a kahuna kalaiwaa for myself, and I have come to see the two of you to get my kahuna kalaiwaa.” “Yes, you will have one. Let us remain until Papa Keeaumoku and the boy Kamehameha returns; they will be back tomorrow.” And they waited, and spent the night, and those that came were treated well by the kamaaina of the place.
…
[This is how the piece on canoes by Kalokuokamaile begins on 10/26/1922, and it continues on in the Kuokoa until 2/15/1923. This is one of the many priceless translations appearing in the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum’s Hawaiian Ethnographic Notes (HEN) Collection. HEN: Newspapers, October 26, 1922.
Kalokuokamaile was very prolific. This series is then followed by yet another, this time on net making!]
(Kuokoa, 10/26/1922, p. 7)
Ka Nupepa Kuokoa, Buke LXI, Helu 43, Aoao 7. Okatoba 26, 1922.
Written for the Hoku o Hawaii by ka Ohu Haaheo i na Kuahiwi Ekolu¹
Paaiea was a great pond almost like the ponds of Wainanalii and Kiholo. In the olden days, when the great ruling chiefs were living, and when these fish ponds were full of the riches of Awa, Anae, and Ahole, along with all sorts of fish which swam within.
During that time, Konohiki were stationed, and he was the guard of the pond that watched over the pond and all things, as here we are talking about Paaiea Pond which was destroyed by lava and became pahoehoe lava which remains today, which is what the writer is introducing to the readers of the Hoku o Hawaii.
In the correct and trues story of this pond, its boundaries began from Kaelehuluhulu on the north and on the south was at the place called Wawaloli, and the distance from one end to the other was 3 miles or more, and that was the length of this pond; and today within these boundaries, there are a number of pools [lua wai loko] remaining during this time that the writer is speaking before the readers of the Hoku.
The great Overseer [Konohiki] who cared for this pond was Kepaalani, and everything fell under him: the storehouses [hale papaa] where poi and fish were stored, the halau for the fishing canoes, the nets and all thing, and from him the fishermen and the retainers of the court would obtain their sustenance.
And at this time when the pond was destroyed by lava, Kamehameha was residing in Hilo for the purpose of waging war, and this war was called Kaipalaoa; during this war, Namakehaikalani died and was offered atop the Heiau of Piihonua in Hilo; and this was Kamehameha’s final war, and his enemies lived quietly without uprising once again. This was the time between 1798 until 1801, and it is said that this is when lava destroyed this pond that was full of riches, and turned it into a land of pahoehoe lava which remains to this day. Continue reading
nupepa 