Kalaeloa: The Long Point
June 1st, 2009 by ShadAlthough these articles are meant to share a cultural past it is as important to keep in touch with the things of today. Our feet must be firmly planted in order to connect what has come before us and where we want to be in the future. It is a kuleana or responsibility that those of us who are descendants of those of our ancient past owe it to those of our diverse cultures today to serve as defenders of those ancient traditions and practices. It is slowly slipping from memory and will be no longer. It is not easy and will get more difficult as we become more diverse. Our ancient past is as important as our recent history. The future has to be inclusive of the ancient traditions and practices. It is important to understand that it is not just an integration of cultures but an integration of histories. No one history is more important than the other. This is the story of a place once again known as…………………..Kalaeloa.
In 1796, a British ship by the name of the “Arthur”, under the command of British Captain Henry Barber, went aground at a place Hawaiian Historian Sam Kamakau refers to as Kalaeloa, O’ahu. This was the first incident of a ship going aground in Hawaiian waters and seemed to have captured the interest of the native peoples who lived close by. They were on board the abandoned ship by morning looking for items of interest. The incident was not put to writing and documented for another 70 years. Consequently the recollections of the incident became a little obscure during those 70 years. However what is most important in terms of what was happening in these islands at that time is that this was a short period after Kamehameha defeated Kalanikapule at the Battle of Nu’uanu and was planning an assault on the island of Kaua’i.
It is also important to look at it in terms of population numbers during this period. This was a period when population numbers in ‘Ewa had been reduced drastically by 2 invasions………..that of Kahekili, Maui and that of Kamehameha……….Hawaii Island. These numbers would be reduced even more so with the introduction of small pox and foreign diseases. It lends support to the significant population numbers anciently. This is important to understand in the study of the cultural landscape of the former Barbers Point Naval Air Station………………..Kalaeloa.
It appears the grounding took place at night and everyone made it to shore by boat. In a 1939 Honolulu Advertiser article 6 men drowned out of a crew of 22. By morning Hawaiians from Kalaeloa and Ku’alakai were already on the shipwreck which is an indication that people were living close to the area of the shipwreck. There is nothing specific in all that I have read regarding exactly where the sailors came ashore and where the Hawaiian people came from. However it is reasonable to assume that it perhaps would have been along the eastern border of the now Campbell Industrial Park and the area of where Nimitz Beach is located. This is also an indication that people were living in these areas.

Left: Charcoal drawing by University of Hawaii Art Teacher Linda Kane of a paved Hawaiian trail with upright stones in Kalaeloa. This trail is part of the Kalaeloa Heritage Park parcel. Right: A photograph of the Hawaiian trail drawing in charcoal by Linda Kane. Trail is being afforded protection and is part of the Kalaeloa Heritage Park. Click to enlarge.
It is also important to understand that with Kamehameha’s planned assault of Kauai there was great need for cannons and gun powder. History has it that the cannons on board the Arthur eventually found their way into the hands of Kamehameha. In 1802 Captain Henry Barber on another British ship, the “Unicorn”, stopped at Lahaina, Maui and took the opportunity to visit Kamehameha at his new palace. He noticed that Kamehameha had a battery of 10 cannons set up in defense of his new palace. He tried to negotiate the return of the cannons however he was only able to get provisions for his ship. In return he gave Kamehameha gun powder for his cannons.
Lahaina eventually became the political capitol during the whaling years and the years of the Hawaiian monarchy. When Thomas Edison invented the light bulb there was no longer any need for clean burning whale oil bringing James Campbell and his wife Kuaihelani Maipinepine from Maui to the island of O’ahu to start a new life in pursuing an agricultural market. The capitol of these islands moved from Lahaina to Honolulu in an effort to take advantage of a change in the economy. The American Civil War had come to a close and the northern states needed agricultural products especially sugar. O’ahu was known historically for its abundance of inland fresh water, more than any other island. That water was in ‘Ewa. This was the start of the era of sugar on O’ahu………..one that lasted a mere 100 years.
It is important that we understand how the integrity of place names and the relationship that place names, especially that of Kalaeloa, and an oral history play in unraveling the mystery of a cultural history. We need a clear understanding what was taking place here in ‘Ewa just prior to sugar and the strategies and motivations for decisions. As early as January 1888 an article in the “Paradise of the Pacific” publication which interestingly enough starts with “What’s in a Name?”. It identifies a great colonization scheme to expand both a military presence and attract capitalist investors into ‘Ewa and Pu’uloa. It was also marketed to attract a non-native population in an area where the native population was already dwindling.
This was the start of the great name change. The reshaping of these islands and a new economy and a new history. The strategy was ingenious. It was both interesting and clever for it was designed to both remove the ancient names and replace them with names that were “marketable” from a capitalist perspective and commemorative from an “expansionist” perspective. This was the evolution of Keawalauopu’uloa to Pearl Harbor; Kapuaikaula to Hickam Air Force Base; Kapukaki to Red Hill Fuel Storage Facility; Kuki’iahu to McGrew Point; Lihue to Schofield Baracks; Keahi to Iroquois Point; Pu’uokapolei to Ft. Barrett; Kalaeloa, Kualaka’i, Kanehili and Kaupe’a to Barbers Point NAS. All in ‘Ewa. Increase support for a military presence to serve as a stimulus for economic growth. Attract a non-native population to influence that support and direction. The rest is history…………..
Although the great colonization scheme did not completely succeed other aspects of the scheme did. The Reciprocity Treaty allowed Hawaii business interests to export sugar to the United States tax free in exchange for Pearl Harbor and an expanded military presence. I will always struggle to understand the benefits of that treaty to the Hawaiian people who still struggle today with federal agencies. There is a direct relationship with the success of sugar and a military presence. There were major land use changes in the area of Kalaeloa during the 1930s and 1940s with the construction of Army, Navy and Marine Corps facilities. The largest military construction project was the Naval Air Station at Barbers Point.
The current Kalaeloa Landowners Map as of January 2009. It is over an aerial underlay that illustrates the geographical area of the former Barbers Point Naval Air Station and current status of landownership. Click to enlarge.
Today Ewa and Waianae have the largest concentration of military installations than any other area per capita in the whole United States and presumably the whole world. It is also interesting that although these agencies provide millions in federal funds for the State and opportunites for many of our people, little of it is realized by the Native Hawaiian community in the very district that these agencies reside. Twenty-five percent of all of our lands are owned by federal agencies the largest being the Department of Defense……….more than any other state.
We are now at the dawn of a new era. The Base Realignment and Closure Commission recommended the closure of Barbers Point NAS in June of 1993. After this report was reviewed by then President Bill Clinton the BRAC recommendation was accepted by the president and confirmed by the U.S. Senate in September of 1993. Barbers Point NAS was closed in 1999. Simultaneously with this BRAC Commission recommendation discussions were taking place within the Hawaiian Civic Clubs. One month later in October of 1993 at an Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs Convention in Las Vegas the Kapolei Hawaiian Civic Club or the Ahahui Siwila Hawaii ‘O Kapolei was charted to establish a Hawaiian cultural presence in the new City of Kapolei and restore a cultural history.
This young city is unique in that it is a city of migrants. Make no mistake about it……………….it is not necessarily a bad thing……………however it is important to understand how this can change one’s sense of place. Places such as Waianae can lay claim to having some families who have lived there for 100s of years. The same can be said of places such as Laie, Punalu’u, Hau’ula. We are a city of migrants. We are a highly transit population in Kapolei. Since we have the most military installations presumably we have the largest population of military, retired military and Department of Defense employees more than any other district. These are good numbers however it does have an impact on important issues.
We are all new here……….We bring with us our own values, our own histories, our beliefs, our own stories. A place can take on a look that is foreign or unrecognizable by our views of the world around us. The solution is simple ……..an informed community…….and that has been the challenge in a migrant community.
Shortly after the Kapolei Hawaiian Civic Club was chartered in 1993, this young club introduced a resolution at the next convention of the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs to restore the name of the Barbers Point Naval Air Station to Kalaeloa. The resolution passed and charter member Annelle Amaral of the Ahahui, then District Representative, introduced a bill at the legislature to officially restore the name. The name change bill passed and the rest is history. This is the story of the new Kalaeloa…………………the long point.
The name of Kalaeloa defines the geographic shape of the shoreline of Ewa. Kalae means point and loa means long. There are many interesting aspects to Kalaeloa. After I met Aunty Rubillite Kawena Johnson, a former professor at the University of Hawaii, I developed this habit of drawing lines on a map connecting points and trying to get some kind of understanding why certain places were given certain names. I tried to find stars that ran parallel to these lines. I have struggled finding meaning in it all however I have made some interesting discoveries. Hawaiian names are not superficial. There is a deeper meaning to every name. If you take the apex or the exact point of the geographic shape of the shoreline and extend it in both directions from the point something interesting happens. As the line that passes back over the land it finds it way to the approximate center of the island of O’ahu or interesting enough ……..Kukaniloko.
We do know today that Kukaniloko much like Pu’uokapolei was a place of making celestrial observations in determining the time of the year and specific events in the calendar year. The question however is what is the point meant to draw our attention to? What is being sighted from Kukaniloko as that line passes over Kalaeloa? Kalaeloa is more than the geographic shape of a shoreline………..it points a direction. The answer can be found in the cultural resources of Kalaeloa. It can be found in the efforts of such notable people as Aunty Ruby Johnson and H. David Tuggle.
I have come to admire and respect H. David Tuggle of the International Archaeological Research Institute, an archaeological and consulting firm. He was contracted by Belt Collins to do the inventory of archaeological sites as part of the Base Realighnment and Closure of the Barbers Point Naval Air Station. His “Synthesis of Cultural Resource Studies of the ‘Ewa Plain” has served as a wonderful resource in the study of the cultural landscape of the entire ‘Ewa region.
His Synthesis of Cultural Resource Studes of the ‘Ewa Plain was not just a working document of the proposed cleanup, disposal and reuse of the Naval Air Station Barbers Point but a study on the cultural landscape and resources and a management plan for the care and future study of those resources.
I have shared much of that cultural landscape of Kalaeloa in past essays, the many different themes associated of the region, its cultural stories, its cultural resources and their analysis and interpretation. Some of it needs repeating in order to get an understanding and appreciation for place names. It is also important to understand that much of what is shared here applies everywhere in Hawaii not just Kalaeloa.
The stories associated with Kalaeloa, “the big pointer” and the many different names which are part of Kalaeloa make reference to this region as being a place of earliest settlement. The Ulu tree planted by Tahitian Chief Kaha’i-a-Ho’okamali’i defines the origins of these early arrivals. Kaha’i was the grandson of Moikeha and Olopana who made trips to and from Tahiti. The reference to the star group the Southern Cross in the place name Kaupe’a.
Perhaps the strongest evidence for this Tahitian theme is the integration of Tahitian and Hawaiian dry stacking of rock wall construction. Where Hawaiian dry stacking of rocks is horizontal and interlocking, Tahitian is vertical and upright. This integrated Tahitian/Hawaiian construction can be found not only in Kalaeloa but in other places in the surrounding region which further expands the relationship or connectivity of adjacent place names. It is so important to not lose the integrity that place names bring to understanding a cultural history…………………an oral history.

Heiau wall within the former Southern Trap and Skeet Range whose walls are built both in a Hawaiian fashion (horizon/interlocking) and in a Tahitian fashion (upright). This is an example of a Tahitian built wall.

Another wall built in a Tahitian fashion adjacent to Ordy Pond.
In closing, it is important to understand that although the construction of the Barbers Point Naval Air Station altered the cultural landscape, pieces of that past still exist amongst the kiawe and rubble. Native plants still thrive beneath the weeds and thorny branches of the kiawe.

Left: Photograph by Kamehameha Schools English and Photography Teacher Jan Becket of an unusual cultural structure near the main gate. Right: Jan Becket taking a photo of an Ahu or altar built in a Tahitian fashion. This Ahu was located on the property of the former Northern Trap and Skeet Range site. It was destroyed in the cleanup of lead and arsenic as a result of the lead shot from its previous military use as a Trap and Skeet Range. Click to enlarge.
Military construction maps reveals the manner in which grubbing was done throughout all of Kalaeloa. Interesting enough in almost every place where no grubbing was done can be found hints of the past and remnants of cultural structures. This is an indication that anciently Kalaeloa was not just an isolated community of fragmented Hawaiian and Tahitian coastal villages but one large community of people that extended from Pu’uloa to Ko Olina.

Left: A small enclosure with tall walls located within the Southern Trap and Skeet Range, associated with a nearby heiau. Right: Charcoal drawing of a Kalaeloa stone enclosure by University of Hawaii Art Teacher Linda Kane. Click to enlarge.
It is sometimes hard to imagine these things today because of the changes. The evidence lies beneath the weeds in Kalaeloa. Dave Tuggle’s closing thoughts as part of his Synthesis is that much more needs to be done in terms of archaeological studies of the ‘Ewa Plains especially that of the former Naval Air Station at Barbers Point. All previous archaeological studies just skimmed the surface. More in depth, subsurface studies needs to be done to include bird bone studies within the Kalaeloa sinkholes.

Photograph of a walled sinkhole with an old Ti leaf growing in the sinkhole within the Kalaeloa Heritage Park.
These articles are meant to do a number of things. They are meant for us to not just accept things as they are but to expand our thinking and find answers to questions. It is a fragmented history as shared by Hawaiian Historian John Papa I’i. We have lost an understanding of our ancient past. Whether it was intentional or evolutionary is not important. It is hoped that these articles will someday stimulate our young minds to seek answers to these questions. Perhaps those answers can be found in names………………perhaps one of those names is ………Kalaeloa.
At the 2009 Kapolei Outstanding Achievement Awards (KOA) recently held at Lanikuhonua the Kapolei Hawaiian Civic Club received the prestigious Lifetime Community Service Award. In her award presentation the Mayor’s wife, Gayle Hanneman, made an interesting comment. In order to decide amongst the nominees for the Lifetime Community Service category they decided that they wanted to select that one nominee that the City of Kapolei could not have done without. After having considered that aspect for selection they felt that nominee was the Kapolei Hawaiian Civic Club.
Mahalo to Jan Becket for the use of his photos, Linda Kane for her charcoal renditions of cultural sites in Kalaeloa and Pearlyn Fukuba of the Kalaeloa Development Authority for the Kalaeloa Landowners Map.





















