Over the years I must have spoken to a lot of people who seemed not too sure where this place Honouliuli is located. I think at one time you could also perhaps have placed me in that category. There are several reasons for this. It might be because it is the name of all of this region and at the same time it is the name of a place. Honouliuli is one of 13 ahupua’a or traditional land divisions of the Moku of ‘Ewa.

Traditionally ‘Ewa is one of 6 Moku for the entire island of ‘Oahu. In defining the land area of Honouliuli we can start at the mouth or entrance of Pearl Harbor and travel along the coastline past Keoneula, Kalaeloa and Ko Olina all the way to Pili ‘O Kahi. Then follow the ridge of the Waianae Mountains up past Palehua, Mauna Kapu, Pohakea all the way to Pu’u Hapapa adjacent to Schofield Barracks. Then follow a line east beyond Kunia Road and then return to Kunia Road at a point where the Oahu Country Club is located. Follow Kunia Road past Village Park and Waipahu to a point at the top of Kaihuopala’ai or West Loch. Then continue your line bisecting West Loch to the start at the entrance to Pearl Harbor. Honouliuli is also the name of the flood plain in the area of West Loch Golf Course……….and this is where our story shall start……It is a story of exploration……settlement ……and growth………………….

A question our ancestors had to deal with constantly is how many people can an island support. I know it is something a lot of us think about often. If not, we should….. It is real…… One of the reasons our Polynesian ancestors came this far north is simply because their numbers became so overwhelming that they started to have the kind of problems you would expect as numbers of people grow. We have the same problems today and same question. It is no different although we are only separated in time. They lived a subsistence lifestyle which meant it was important for them to live in areas of resources. There were no refrigerators or grocery stores. Food and water need to be abundant and readily available. Fish had to be plentiful. One did not have time to cast a hook and line out and wait for a fish to bite as his wife and children were home waiting for a meal. As these numbers of people grew in the southern latitudes, food and resources became less readily available. It became a struggle amongst family members which resulted in conflict and famine. It was either die or risk the seas in search of a new home. Many cultural thinkers feel that it was this that brought about the age of exploration into the northern seas of our ancestors. To put this into a better perspective the Roman Empire was flourishing 27 BC. It is believed by some that the first settlers arrived in Hawaii around 100 to 300 BC. It took well over a thousand years in the evolution of a language where there are more differences than similarities. It was this distance not only in miles……… but time…..that gave rise to this unique culture who we today know of as the …………..Hawaiians.

When one compares the history of these Polynesian explorers it is no different from the explorations of other countries during the same period. It was a search for resources. There was however one major difference. The Hawaiians were the only ones out on the open seas. No other country ventured beyond the sight of land. There are many stories of such Navigators of Kapawa and Maweke having been to such places as South America, Central America and the Pacific Northwest. Maweke was exploring these foreign lands 150 years before the 1st Crusade into the Holy Land which had occurred around 1099 AD.

The sweet potato is South American in origin. It is also believed that our ancestors had a taste for salmon before western contact. In the early 1990s an article appeared in the “Smithsonian” magazine that identified human skeletal remains found along the Columbia River in the Pacific Northwest as Polynesian in origin. What made this find extremely interesting is the Iwi Kupuna was dated prior to the Native American Indians having been in this region. A court struggle with Native American Tribes of the region resulted in further research being halted and the remains turned over to the Native American Tribes involved in the dispute. The Iwi Kupuna was subsequently reinterred by the Tribes. Few Hawaiians ever knew that this discussion was taking place.

Much like Mesopotamia and the Columbia River Valley they settled in areas of resources. Where there was rich fertile soil and an abundance of fresh water. Such is the story of…….Honouliuli………..

Honouliuli was one of the areas of the earliest settlement in all Hawaii. Although Honouliuli is the name of the entire ahupua’a it is also important to understand that the entire river system and drainage from Honouliuli gulch into Kaihuopala’ai took the name of Honouliuli. Traditions clearly connect some of the fishponds of Kaihuopala’ai and mullet productivity specifically with Honouliuli. It is probable that Honouliuli took its name, meaning “blue harbor” or “dark bay”, from its association with Kaihuopala’ai.

Ancient fishpond adjacent West Loch Golf Course.

Honouliuli was known for its kalo and fish ponds. When an archaeological survey was done a number of years ago signs of human habitation and farming was very evident. Carbon 14 dating of Midden or ancient archaeological trash associated with human habitation indicated that people were living in this area by 400 AD. The Saxons invaded England in 400 AD and Atilla the Hun conquered most of Europe around 450 AD. The first migration or the Nanaulu Migration from Tahiti arrived around 400 AD. This was the first migration of the Ali’i.

A model of the settlement of the ‘Ewa region indicates that it grew west from the Honouliuli flood plain along the alluvial fan elevations inland from the Ewa Plains perhaps in the area north of Farrington Highway at the fertile river basins of Kalo’i Gulch, Makakilo Gulch, Awanui Gulch, Pala’ila’i and Makaiwa Gulch.

These were areas of permanent habitation though difficult to test due to site destruction by recent agricultural efforts and ranching and more recently by residential housing developments. Another settlement direction would have been south along Kaihuopala’ai (West Loch) to Keahi Point or we know today as Iroquois Point then further southwest along the coastline through the areas we know of as Keoneula, Kualaka’i, Kalaeloa and Ko Olina.

There are signs of both permanent and temporary habitation structures, burial, heiau and signs of dry land and sinkhole farming such as growing uala (sweet potato) on coral mounds. There is also an indication from the traditions that water could be found in the sinkholes as evidenced by Kane bringing forth water from sinkholes at Kanehili with the strike of his ko’oko’o. Kanehili is the ancient place name of the region we today refer to as Kalaeloa. One can today find ti leaves and none growing in sinkholes in Kalaeloa (Kanehili).

Honouliuli as part of Keawalauopu’uloa (Pearl Harbor) had always been a place desired by the other island chiefs historically. The island of ‘Oahu had more inland fresh water than any other island. Much of that water was fed by the 13 ahupua’a of the Moku of ‘Ewa into Keawalauopu’uloa . Today it is also referred to as the Pearl Harbor aquifer although it does not have near the amount of fresh water it once had. It was this fresh water that gave the limu Lipoa of the Ewa shoreline its unique flavor. It was this fresh water that travelled within the porous coral substrata again unique to the Ewa region.

1825 map of O’ahu’s south shore by Lieutenant C. H. Malden

When Thomas Edison invented the light bulb there was no need for whale oil to light Massachusetts homes. When the island economy shifted from whale oil to agriculture all attention turned to the island of ‘Oahu and the moving of the island capitol from Lahaina to Honolulu on ‘Oahu. It was this and the abundance of water in Honouliuli that spurned the interest of agricultural entrepreneuer James Campbell to purchase 43,270 acres of land in the Ahupua’a of Honouliuli. He moved his family from Lahaina, Maui, to ‘Oahu and drilled the first fresh water well in Honouliuli. This however is viewed by many as marking the end of a cultural landscape by widespread plowing over of a cultural landscape and also the loss of our river systems and native fresh water aquatic life.

I can still remember as a young boy in the back seat of my father’s car passing over many bridges with crystal clear water flowing beneath it out into the sea. That was a mere 55 years ago. We used to catch opai in these streams. I do not see them any more…. I used to catch O’opu in these streams. There are no O’opu to catch…………………..

James Campbell was not the first. There were others and these are their stories. Kamehameha was not the first to desire the riches of the island of ‘Oahu and the fertile river basin of Honouliuli. In ancient times the island of ‘Oahu was spoken of as being “momona”, fat. Fat in terms of its natural resources and abundance of fresh water, lo’i kalo and fishponds, especially those of Honouliuli.

The earliest invasion that we are aware of from the oral traditions and partly through the journals of Cook when he arrived on Kauai many years later was of a young and ambitious chief from Hawaii Island by the name of Kalaunuiohua. After uniting the island of Hawaii he launched and succeeded in defeating both East and West Maui. In defeating Wakalana, who was the Mo’i of East Maui he killed a warrior chief, and confiscated his interesting weapon that glistened in the sun (believed to be a steel sword). The name according to traditions of this field general of Wakalana, who was the owner of the weapon, was a man by the name of Kaluikiamanu. He and 2 other men and 2 women were befriended by Wakalana when their ship went aground off East Maui. According to traditions they all took on Hawaiian names and intermarried and had many children who have descendants living today on every island. There are stories of Kaluikiamanu and his magical ko’oko’o on how he was able to sever his enemy in battle with the strike of this magical staff that glistened in the sun.

After defeating and taking control of Maui, Kalaunuiohua had an easy time defeating both Molokai and ‘Oahu. He was defeated in Kauai and Kaluikiamanu’s weapon was confiscated by Kukona of Kauai and remained in the possession of the Kauai chiefs until Captain Cook saw it and described it in his journal as “saw a rusted piece of a metal sword in the possession of the Chief Kaeokulani” who was then chief of the island of Kauai. It is believed that this sword was Japanese in origin and not Spanish as one would think. The Japanese were here 500 years before the arrival of Captain Cook.

Many years later several chiefs from the island of Hawaii by the names of Hilo and Punalu’u amongst others launched an invasion on the island of ‘Oahu in an attempt to seek out and kill the Chief Mailekukahi. This was a period just before Columbus discovered America. Oral traditions have it that they had assembled a fleet of 3,000 canoes and at first landed at Waikiki.

Traditionally at this time there were 3 political capitols on the island of ‘Oahu; Waikiki, Mokapu and Lihue. Realizing that Mailekukahi and his army were not in Waikiki they decided to travel further west and entered Keawalauopuuloa (Pearl Harbor). They then entered the waters of Kaihuopalaai (West Loch) and landed their 3,000 canoes in the area today we know of as the shoreline of West Loch Estates and Shoreline Park and the Waipahu Business and Industrial area.

Traditions indicate that there were many homes on a high ground above the kalo and fish ponds. The area described could be where the West Loch Golf Course Country Club is located and the West Loch Estate and Shoreline Park. It appears that most everyone fled the area on arrival of such a large fleet of canoes. No mention is made of people in the homes or tending the Lo’i.

The invaders then marched north along a trail that may have been what we know of today as the Kunia Road or perhaps very close and parallel to it. Hilo and Punaluu may not have known it then but amongst the cultural sites discovered recently along that route on the high ground above Keahumoa and Kupehau (Del Monte Ag land along the slopes of the Waianae Mountains) are numerous habitation structures, walls, trails and heiau that would indicate a large population of people living in the area. They may have observed the approach of the advancing army and had time to inform Mailekukahi’s army further north at a place known as Lihue.


Trails of leeward Oahu as described by Ii. Map by Paul Rockwood.

As both Waikiki and Mokapu, Lihue was also a political capitol of ‘Oahu and served as a training area of Nakoa in ancient times. It was at a place known as Waikakalau where the first battle took place between the armies of Hawaii and Mailekukahi. It was a major defeat for the Hawaii chiefs and Nakoa. Warfare during this period in Hawaiian history was close up and hand to hand. From a short distance spears were thrown.

Spear throwing was generally from as close as arms length to as much as 10’ to 15’. The Nakoa would have to follow up with a hand weapon to retrieve his spear and fast enough so the adversary would not have time to return to spear. There were many strategies, formations and tactics. Many West Point graduates have learned Hawaiian warfare tactics and strategies. It was a situation of run, chase and fight. This battle was no different.

When Hilo and Punaluu realized that this was not going to be an easy fight they retreated in the makai direction from Waikakalau in the southerly direction back to Honouliuli. It was a series of running and fighting. A second major fight took place in an area we today refer to as Mililani Mauka. Large numbers of Nakoa lost their lives on both sides. The Chief Punalu’u also lost his life here and later it took his name and was refered as the “Plains of Punalu’u” before it was plowed over by Dole. Subsequent to this battle the Hawaii Island chiefs and their army took another major defeat in an area that took the name of this battle. It is known to us today as Kipapa, “paved with the bodies of the Hawaii Island Nakoa”.

The fighting took place all the way to Waimano where the Chief Hilo was killed and brought an end to the fighting. Nothing is said of how many Hawaii Island Nakoa and chiefs survived. In the end Hilo was decapitated. His head placed on a pole and carried to the intersection of 2 trails. The trail to Waianae by way of Pu’uokapolei and the trail north paralleling perhaps Kunia Road today. The pole with Hilo’s head was placed at the location of the where today can be found St. Francis West Hospital. It served as a reminder to everyone else who may have thoughts of invading ‘Oahu by way of Honouliuli. This place took the name of Po’ohilo…..the head of Hilo.

When Kamehameha defeated Kahekili for the island of ‘Oahu and thus unifying the Hawaiian Islands he awarded all of the Ahupua’a of Honouliuli to one of his leading war chiefs Kalanimoku, as panilaau or conquered lands. These lands then passed to his sister Wahinepio. In 1848 Wahinepio’s daughter Kekauonohi laid claim to all of her mother’s land as part of the great land division. When she died it passed to her husband Levi Haalelea and then his wife Anadelia Amoe and subsequently to her sister’s husband John Coney.

A portion of the land, Ili of Puuloa, was sold by Kekauonohi to Kamehameha III and Issac Montgomery who operated a salt works which sold salt to meat packers for export of shipment of their meat products. John Coney leased a portion of it to James Dowsett and John Meek for cattle ranching. In 1877 all of the lands of the Ahupua’a of Honouliuli with the exception of the Ili of Pu’uloa was sold to James Campbell.

Captain George Vancouver has also helped us shape our understanding of this area through observations he made on a visit during the 1790s. While anchored off of Pearl Harbor he identified the area between the Waianae and Koolau Mountains as being low or rather moderately elevated. The land also appeared to him to be unpopulated and of poor fertility. He also indicated that there was a place close to the shore (Honouliuli flood plain) that seemed populated and that the soil was fertile for cultivation. His ability to see that far from offshore is an indication that there were no obstructions along the shoreline which meant it had to be void of tall trees and plants. It also meant that the homes at Honouliuli were on high ground.


There is still a piece of an ancient wall that can be seen in the area of the number 6 hole at the West Loch Golf Course that appears in a taro map of 1873 (below).

Some of the old Hawaiian fishponds are still there …….though over grown in Mangrove. Most of the Lo’i Kalo have all been filled in to make way for a golf course, but you can still see an occasional wild kalo, growing in the narrow stream beds amongst the California grass. There is still a piece of an ancient wall that can be seen in the area of the number 6 hole at the West Loch Golf Course that appears in a map of 1873. Po’ohilo, or where the head of the Hawaii Island Chief Hilo once stood, may have been on the high ground above the golf course where the St. Francis West Hospital now stands. Where James Campbell’s Ranch once stood is now the West Loch Fairways Subdivision. Where the Kahua Slaughter House once stood will soon be developed by the Catholic Church. Where there were once small mom and pop stores along the old quiet Ft. Weaver Road will soon be taken down to provide room for a new development. So it is both exciting with new things to come yet sad as we see one generation pass before our very eyes. ………………this is where it all started…….here in the flood plains of Honouliuli. Perhaps it was these people who arrived in Hawaii around 100 to 300 BC.

It is difficult to see beyond the plantation and military past and that is ok. However we need to remember that there once was a canoe that passed this way …….and saw the fertile lands and many rivers of this broad coral plain and abundance of flightless land birds and fish. We are here today because they decided to stay.
…….this is our story……………..another story of Kapolei.

The center of this entire region, as stated by our ancestors in statements that they made to Sam Manaiaokalani Kamakau in the 1800s, was that the largest heiau and the most sacred place in this entire region was Puuokapolei, from which our city gets its name.

Click maps for larger view.

In defining the land area of Honouliuli we can start at the mouth or entrance of Pearl Harbor and travel along the coastline past Keoneula, Kalaeloa and Ko Olina all the way to Pili ‘O Kahi. Then follow the ridge of the Waianae Mountains up past Palehua, Mauna Kapu, Pohakea all the way to Pu’u Hapapa adjacent to Schofield Barracks. Then follow a line east beyond Kunia Road and then return to Kunia Road at a point where the Oahu Country Club is located. Follow Kunia Road past Village Park and Waipahu to a point at the top of Kaihuopala’ai or West Loch. Then continue your line bisecting West Loch to the start at the entrance to Pearl Harbor. Honouliuli is also the name of the flood plain in the area of West Loch Golf Course.

Honouliuli is one of 13 ahupua’a or traditional land divisions of the Moku of ‘Ewa.

While exploring the wilds of Kapolei on his horse, Shad Kane visits the remnants of a rich cultural history. After years of studying and learning from kupuna familiar with the area, he is currently writing a series of essays for myAdvertiser that share the ancient significance of O’ahu’s fastest-growing community.

Read about Kane’s own journey to find his roots, and how he came to be “driven to save and restore a Hawaiian cultural history that is at risk of being lost.”

He believes that “it is important that future generations come to know the true story of these islands that we have all come to love and call home.”

In this blog, Kane shares legends, pictures of old stones and paths, and the ancient significance of Kapolei, O’ahu’s second city.

These cultural essays are not meant to be a final resource for the academic scholar. It is a personal perspective on what life may have been like and to provide a comparative view with our world today. ………..and to ask the definitive question ………..are we better off………………Hints of the past lie in ancient stories and those who have developed an intimate relationship with these places.

Now that you have had time to thumb through the many cultural essays I have shared with you this might be a good time to share a little of how this cultural journey evolved and the role Pohakea played in shaping that life. The thing I dislike most is talking about myself, however in sharing these stories I think most of you who sacrifice your time to read them will see yourself in this story………it is a story about all of us.

In 1995 my wife and I were talking of moving to Portland, Oregon and I was about to complete 25 years in the Honolulu Police Department and would qualify to retire with full benefits. I went to a Community Policing seminar sponsored by the Portland Police Department and thought that I would love to work in Portland’s community policing effort. There were a lot of former HPD officers who were friends of mine working in Seattle, Vancouver and Portland and felt I would be right at home. After all Hawaii was only a short flight away. I filled in the applications, did well on the test and was just about to make the move. I had even filed for retirement and got a plaque from the A Watch Officers of the Kalihi Police Station which I had served as their Watch Commander. That retirement never occurred and the trip to Portland never happened………………however, I did keep the plaque.

When I graduated from high school back in 1964, like many of us I knew very little of our Hawaiian culture. All I knew of our Hawaiian culture was Kamehameha, Waikiki and the Aloha spirit. I was taught that it was in my best interest to assimilate into a western world. Being Hawaiian was not the thing to be. I learned the histories of other countries well. I learned the geographies of other places. I could recite all the Presidents of the United States in less than a minute and knew the capitol city of every state. I think I can still recite all Presidents today. In short I was open and vulnerable to accepting any culture as mine. I felt that there was nothing in Hawaii for me. Everything …………………was somewhere else.

We never had a TV until I was about 10 years old and when we got one I was always glued to that TV watching all the western shows. I grew up with such cowboys as Johnny Mack Brown, Sandy, Hopalong Cassidy, Lash LaRue and many others. I religiously watch Sheriff Ken’s Posse after school every day. Interesting though it was, I developed a sense of identity for the Indians. It seemed I always cheered for them……..it was that Native American culture that I was open to adopting as mine.

Eventually I got my own horse and that attachment to the Native Americans was still with me. It made a lot of sense to me…….horses and Indians. I learned many kinds of Indian crafts such as making full Indian Headresses, chokers, breast shields and even made my own homemade loom. I attended the annual PowWow at Thomas Square every year. My introduction into our Hawaiian culture grew out of this interest in the Native American culture. My wife could even tell you how I dreamed of riding out on the Great Plains chasing buffalo. I must have watched “Dances with Wolves” at least 15 times. It was in 1996 shortly after that eventful decision was made not to retire from HPD that changed my life forever.

Over the years prior to 1996 I read everything I could find on the Native American culture, specifically the “Horse Culture” or the Plains Indians. I read every book including the final battle at Wounded Knee in “Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee”. I became very familiar with all the “place names” of the great battles with the U.S. 7th Cavalry. It got to the point that during Thanksgiving time schools would invite me to speak on our Native American culture.

That defining moment took place in 1996 when my wife and I decided to take what I have always referred to as our “Western Vacation”. We wanted to visit all the places I read about and to stand on the sacred ground where all those great Indian battles took place with the U.S 7th Cavalry. We flew to Seattle, rented a car and started this epic journey. Traveled to Spokane, crossed the panhandle of Idaho, into Montana and spent a day at Big Horn Memorial down into Wyoming and eventually to the Black Hills, South Dakota or as it is better known to the Lakota as Paha Sapa. It was when I met a Native American elder in an Indian craft store in Rapid City, South Dakota when life took a turn. I think the name of that store was “Prairie’s Edge”. Most of their craft items were purchased from Native American craftsman from Pineridge Indian Reservation. This Indian elder was also from Pineridge Reservation. I think he must have been in his 70s at that time. We shared stories about the history of the Plains Indians. We talked of the different crafts as if we actually wore the feather bonnets, carried the spears, leather shields and rode off on horseback. He then asked me a very poignant question that I will never forget……..………….”what tribe are you from”. I immediately responded that I was Hawaiian…………..I think I must have said that many times in the past, however on this day……….in this place………….I actually heard myself. He then began to explain to me that even his own children and grandchildren knew very little of their cultural past. He found that so disturbing. It was extremely interesting to him that someone from as far away as Hawaii would know their story. That possibly was a day of change for him too.

It was on this day that I had set aside this Indian past of mine and found a new trail into our Hawaiian cultural past. I always find it interesting how a brief moment in our lives can change one forever. I learned on that day never to take for granted or fail to meet an opportunity of meeting someone even for a brief moment. The defining moment in the movie “Dances with Wolves” is when Kevin Costner in the final scene of the movie is explaining to a Lakota elder, a friend, a brother, that he needed to leave them for fear that the 7th Cavalry would find them in their attempt to find him. As sad as the Lakota elder felt about this sad news …….he understood and shared a final thought, “the only trail in life that matters……………is the trail of a real human being……….and that is all that matters………”

When my wife and I returned to Hawaii the very first thing we did was move our horses from the Barbers Point Stables to a place I was not too familiar with but knew of it as Pohakea. It was here at Pohakea where that trail started. Perhaps this story should have been the first to share. It was in the uplands above Keahumoa and just below Lihue on the Honolulu side of the Waianae Mountains. It is half way between Makakilo and Schofield. When driving along the H-1 Freeway from Pearl City to Makakilo it looks like a V shaped gap in the Waianae Mountains. It was also the subject of an alternative route out of Waianae several years ago.

I started to ride my horses in the Waianae Mountains from Makakilo all the way to Lihue or the area just makai of Schofield. I started to hike into those narrow valleys where my horses could not go. I did this for the most part all alone, just my horse and me. I started to find strange looking plants probably known to you but new to me. I started carrying a camera with me and taking pictures of these new found friends. I would look them up in different native plant books and learned their many Hawaiian names which I was not familiar with. I started carrying garden tools in my saddle bags and soon found myself pulling the weeds from around these plants that seem to be struggling in the dense non-native vegetation. I became somewhat attached to a lone koa tree that was only about 2 feet tall when I first saw it. I would constantly thin the weeds from around him and it got to the point where I was even carrying water with me to water him. It was exciting to suddenly notice that it was growing as a result of my efforts.

I have constantly asked myself what was it about these experiences that caused such a drastic change of direction for me. It came to this………….I saw myself in that young koa tree. It soon led from one discovery after another. The plants led to the discovery of many cultural stone structures to include Heiau, habitation structures, walls, stone mounds, Ahu, stone images and even probable burials. I became familiar with all the ancient place names of the area to include all the mountain tops and valleys.

The focus of these rides and hikes were, however, Pohakea Pass. There was something mystifying about Pohakea. I did not understand it in the beginning. According to Kumu John Kaimikaua it meant “White Rock”. I soon learned that Pohakea was anciently one of 3 trails into Waianae and that made sense to me as I always felt a strong sense of presence. One was by way of Kolekole Pass through Schofield and the other was by way of Pu’uokapolei along the trail that is now Farrington Highway. The location of that trail into Waianae through the Pohakea Pass became very obvious. I am certain that I have found that trail.

It is partially identifiable by upright stones at different points in walk mauka. At certain points along the trail it is marked by stones in the shape of an umeke. They are shaped like a bowl with a high side seemingly facing the winds that normally come across the island from the northern direction. There are many upright stones marking the trail.

The predominant tree in this area is the Kukui. One of the winds known in this area is the Kaiaulu wind which is a wind that makes a particular kind of sound as it blows through the Kukui……. I have heard it……………….The Kukui nut was used by the ancient Hawaiian to make oil for light. It is believed that the stone umeke along the trail served as stone lanterns to mark the trail into Waianae………They are still there…….standing in the weeds and grasses.

In my attempt to identify and learn a little of these cultural structures I soon realized that they all were undocumented. Few people have ever seen them or even heard of them. The many upright stones stand in amber silence beneath the shrouded shadows of the Kukui.

Pohakea is one of those places that appear a lot in ancient stories and chants. Not sure what that would mean but perhaps it lends support to it being a place that was frequented by many Po’e Kahiko. It is the subject of the “Legend of Kahalaopuna”. It is a story of a young and beautiful woman who lived in Manoa with her Na Makua (grandparents). She was promised by her parents to marry a man named “Kauhi”. In the story he appears to be a very respected man from the Ko’olau on the windward side of O’ahu. He sent her many gifts to impress her however there were people who did not like Kahalaopuna and told him that Kahalaopuna was seeing other men. He became so enraged that he planned to kill her. He then went to her and asked if she would go with him on a trip. They traveled throughout the Ewa region and through many small and narrow valleys, eventually coming to Pohakea. They found a spot beneath an Ohia Lehua tree. It is interesting since today there are no Ohia Lehua trees in Pohakea. But perhaps at one time there may have been. Kauhi told Kahalaopuna to lie down and it was then that she pleaded with him that she was innocent of all the accusations. He broke a branch from the tree and he beat her to death. The story has it that he placed her body beneath the Ohia Lehua tree and covered it with leaves. He then left. Her spirit then entered the tree and she chanted to passer- bys to inform her parents what had happened and where they could find her. They did this and her parents found her body. They chanted over her till she took a breath and life was restored to her. When Kauhi found out that she was still living he pleaded with her to take him back.

Stories such as this have a purpose. It is difficult for us today to understand because we live in an era of high speed communication. We struggle with them but what is important for us to understand is that these are the stories that our Kupuna shared for subsequent generations living in an oral tradition. We at times forget that it was an oral tradition. History or information was passed on to subsequent generations by means song, dance and na mo’olelo. It served as a documented historical account of a period when people passed through Pohakea between Ewa and Waianae. It paints a picture for subsequent generations in what it may have looked like. What types of trees and plants. There are other stories such as the legend of Kahalaopuna that I will share with you briefly. This is not a history lesson but rather an effort to help us understand what our ancestors world was like and paint a picture that subsequent generations will have.

When Hi’iaka went to Kauai to fetch Lohiau and take him to Pele they had paddled back to O’ahu and stopped at Pokai. It was at Pokai that Hi’iaka instructed both Lohiau and Wahinema’o to continue paddling by canoe to Kou (Honolulu) and not stop until she met with them in Kou. She then told them that she would travel alone by land for a while. She chose to travel along the trail through Pohakea. When she reached the top she was able to see a group of women along the shore in Ewa gathering crabs and limu. As she descended from Pohakea onto the Plains of Keahumoa she met with a group of women who were stringing leis of Ma’o. She offered a chant to them and when done they offered her their leis. Here is another example of a story that identifies Pohakea as an important trail that was frequently used by the ancients. It was also a place from which one could see long distances. There are also references of Kane and Kanaloa having stopped and rested at Pohakea identifying it as an important trail in ancient times. As Kane and Kanaloa stood on the ridge of Pohakea that separated the view of Kou from Waianae they commented on how beautiful the coconut trees and distant sands of Maili were.

Top of Pohakea Pass looking into Waianae. It is the view that Hiiaka and Kane and Kanaloa would have seen when standing at the top of Pohakea.

All the photos that are a part of this essay and some of the other essays that we have shared with you were taken by Jan Becket. Mr. Becket has taught English and photography at Kamehameha Schools for 21 years. Working exclusively in black and white, he has exhibited in one person and juried shows in Paris, Denmark, Honolulu , the San Francisco Bay area and many other places around the world for the past 34 years. One of his heiau images was included in “Collective Visions”, a major retrospective exhibition by the Honolulu Academy of Arts.

Jan Becket has been a big part of our preservation effort. His photos have helped us share a part of Hawaii that few have seen or even aware of. These wahipana and wahikapu such as Pohakea are unique beyond mere value. His photos have brought us closer to these special places and help us understand what life might have been like. Through his photos he has helped restore that intimate relationship with the aina that we are only beginning to understand. He has been a special person to me…………The only trail in life that matters …………is the trail of a real human being……………….that is all that matters………

In some places it is not strange to see what cannot be seen by others. Often times I find myself seeing beyond what most of us see as I spend my day driving to and from doing all the things we all do as families living and working in Kapolei. Maybe it is the aspirations of a dreamer. Not sure how it happened or when it started but I find myself often seeing beyond mere walls, buildings, roads, shadows of people with no faces. To see it as it once was ……through the eyes of one who has passed this way before. It grows out of a sincere and genuine relationship with the aina upon which we lay our head.

I think most of us today have developed a talent to ignore those things that frustrate us and dwell on that which comforts us. One can find peace in the past. When life was simple. I think we all feel at times if only we could go back to when we were young. When days were long and sunny. When we found pleasure in simple things. To dwell on how life once was. To see the O’o as he feeds on the Noni at Kanehili. To see Hi’iaka as she admires her reflection in the pond of Hoakalei. To see Namakaokapao’o as he seeks his father’s mahiole (feather helmet) and ahuula (feather cape) beneath the standing breadfruit tree at Kualaka’i. To see Kahai-a-Ho’okamali’i at Kualaka’i. Seeing is what these articles are all about. Our Kupuna had another way of sharing that thought, or that ability……or talent. I have heard it referred to as the “Makakolu”, or the “third eye”. To see what cannot be seen….to appreciate and embrace that which we cannot understand.

This is what this essay is about…..it is about those who have passed this way before us……before we came along. It is about choices. That which defines lives………even today. Maybe there is a lesson here…………………

I remember while growing up how my kupuna always told me that life was all about choices. She always made it seem so simple. We are the choices we make. One can define oneself in terms of these choices. I can hear those words as if it was just yesterday. This is a story I will share with you. This is another story of Kaupe’a and those who those who “eat spiders and moths” in an attempt to seek their aumakua and their way to the “Leiwalu ‘O Leilono”. Maybe it is they who are the shadows with no faces that we see……

I have shared in other essays the ancient beliefs of our kupuna regarding the two separate forces of energy that inhabited our physical body. Hawaiian Historian Sam Kamakau informs us that they called these two energies “Wailua”. One was referred to as a “dream spirit” and the other was that energy which sustained our lives and carried on the life-sustaining processes of the body such as the functions of the heart, brain, lungs and breathing. It was believed that life, death and sleep overlapped. When one went to sleep and dreamed this “dream spirit” leaves the body and travels. “Dream spirits” can resolve problems and visit departed family members. If one was a practitioner of the arts and he dreamed he met with someone who shared information he would take this advice seriously. If the person does not wake up, or in their beliefs the “dream spirit” does not return to the physical body that defines death. In death if this person lived a good life and was respectful of all the Kapu, he respected the wishes of his parents and basically lived a good life he would have the advantage of his aumakua or family guardians (guardian angels?) to help him find his way to a “Leina Ka Uhane” or leaping places into the next world. If however he was not a good person and was not able to find an aumakua or family guardian who would help him he would be banned and doomed to wander in desolate and barren places. He would wander and exist by eating spiders and moths in places referred to as an Aokuewa or “Places of Wandering Spirits”. So therefore there are two places, a “Leina Ka Uhane” and an “Aokuewa”. On the island of ‘Oahu the Leina Ka Uhane is at Kaena Point and perhaps also at Pu’uokapolei based on a kanikau by Kekuapo’i. Every island has an Aokuewa, Kama’oma’o on Maui, Mana on Kauai, Halali’i on Ni’ihau, Uhana on Lanai, Ma’ohelaia on Molokai and the wiliwili groves of Kaupe’a on O’ahu or as we know it today as Kapolei……..

In an effort to get an appreciation out of what we are sharing today there is one fundamental Christian belief that we need to understand. From this I will draw some parallels to bring some kind of clarity to this. In a Christian sense there are three places in death. There is a heaven, hell, and a third place known either as limbo, purgatory and which other cultures may have different names. This third place is where one’s spirit, soul or “dream spirit” goes to make up. It is his second chance. If you are not good enough to find your way to a better place or not so bad so as to be condemned to pain and suffering for eternity, it is purgatory where you would go to make up for past deeds or poor choices. However most of us believe that purgatory is somewhere else. In a Hawaiian cultural sense…………purgatory……….is here. In places known as an aokuewa.

These are the places whose stories we are all very familiar with. It is not to say that strange things do not happen elsewhere. Of course they do. However it is places such as Kaupe’a where they happen most often. I will share just a few from a personal perspective. I have had strange unexplainable things happen to me on other islands but these are just those that have occurred here in Kaupe’a…………Kapolei.

We lived at one time at the bottom of Makakilo at a relatively new subdivision named Kapolei. Not the Kapolei that we know today, but one that is just adjacent to Hawaiian Waters Water Park on the eastern slope to Pu’u Pala’ila’i. We had a perimeter house lot facing the H-1 Freeway. Our house was on Akaawa Street. The front door and back door was perfectly aligned such that you could see through the house out the back when standing on the front porch. You could see the kiawe and interesting rock walls in the brush. Many things happened there which is perhaps one of the reasons we moved to where we are living today. I will share only a few in an effort to keep this as short and brief as possible. It was a perimeter lot where the dry kiawe trees and dry brush at certain times of the year came right up to our house so there was always the concern of brush fires especially on New Years. To keep the brush back I kept my horse and a goat in the back. Hoping that they would enjoy eating the many different grasses growing out of the rock walls. There were many times when my horse would behave in a manner that led me to believe that children were playing in the area. As most of us would do I brushed it off as not meaning much since in most cases I could not see anyone. And as most of us know horses can be unpredictable. However I started paying a little more attention to incidents involving my goat whose name was “Blah”. I often found it strange that his 5-gallon bucket of water was often found empty. I assumed that he enjoyed drinking a lot of water. The empty bucket would be found still standing with the ground surrounding the bucket dry. It got to a point that it was happening too often to make much sense. After having stretched my garden hose over the wall one day to fill his bucket with water I returned to check the filled bucket immediately after I had rolled the hose back up. To my amazement the bucket was empty. The bucket was still standing and the ground surrounding the bucket was dry. A chill went up my back that I can still remember clearly to this day. This is a true story that I have never been able to explain. There have also been many occasions when in the middle of the night my wife would wake to see a shadow of a woman standing at the foot of our bed. At one time I had a dog, whose name was Ali’i, that I kept under my house directly beneath our bedroom. He was not an old dog but he was always a well mannered quiet dog. One evening in the middle of the night he kept waking us up with all the noise and running around. It got so bad I woke up and went to check. I got dressed, turned on the light under the house and walked and peeked under the house to see that it looked like he was playing. His tongue was hanging out and his tail was wagging excitedly as if he was playing with someone he knew. I dismissed the behavior of the dog as nothing unusual and went back to sleep until the next day. When I went to check on him in the morning I found him dead. Ali’i did not belong to me. His owner who was a family friend had passed away about a month prior. He and his owner an elderly Hawaiian man had lived in Punalu’u and had routinely walked almost daily together on the beach. That dog’s behavior had changed drastically since the day his owner passed and became very withdrawn. I personally believe it was his owner that he was playing with under my house on that night before he died. There are many more stories as the many stone walls between my house and the freeway. I think those walls are still there today and can be seen from the freeway.

When Hawaiian Waters Water Park first opened they had a difficult time keeping the same security guards. Guards frequently found themselves chasing what they thought were children but could never find them. When Barbers Point NAS first closed in 1999 it was the same situation with security guards. Security guards were chasing what they thought were children through the abandoned buildings but never finding them. Kapolei Middle School had incidents of unexplained shadows of children playing and of a woman who would disappear behind closed doors. Many office buildings in Kapolei were blessed by Hawaiian Kahu many times because of unexplained incidents. Many unexplained accidents along the freeway by Honokai Hale. Incidents of drivers trying to avoid what they thought was an individual standing on the road. Many stories of new home owners in Kapolei seeing shadows. One story was shared with me by a woman whose family recently moved from Maui to a new house in Kapolei. Her young son would wake up in the middle of night crying saying a man with something red on his shoulders and something red on his head standing at the foot of his bed staring at him. The boy was only about 3 or 4 at the time. I have been asked many times to help bless new homes in Makakilo, Kapolei and Ewa for similar reasons. The stories are many. The concern was real.

Those wandering souls may still be here. However the oral traditions hint that these lost souls may still have a second chance. There is a place where they could be saved. It was called the Leiwalu ‘O Leilono. A strange tree with only two branches. It is an endless search on their part to find friendly souls or friendly aumakua to help them seek the Leiwalu ‘O Leilono, the breadfruit tree of Leilono. It can only be found at Kapukaki.

Leilono is a place of reprisal. It is the place in the traditions or stories of old that the wandering spirits on the plains of the wiliwili groves of Kaupe’a need to seek in order to be saved. It is long trek from Kaupe’a to Leilono in their attempt to find some friendly aumakua who could help save them from falling into the endless night of Milu. Leilono is described as being at Moanalua. It is described as being on the northern side of Kapukaki at the boundary between the Moku of Ewa and the Moku of Kona. It is also explained as being right in line with a burial hill at Aliamanu. Kapukaki is better known today as Red Hill. Interesting enough it is also described as being on the right side of the North Star. It is said that the Leiwalu ‘O Leilono can be found here. It was a small hole about 2 feet in circumference. This is the hole that the wandering spirits from Kaupe’a have come to seek. If one cannot find a friendly aumakua to help save him, his only chance of being saved is to find the breadfruit tree of Leilono. It is known in the oral traditions as the Leiwalu ‘O Leilono. When one would peer through this ka puka o Leilono, this small hole he will find this tree. It had on it only two branches. It is here that those wandering spirits who had not been able to find a friendly aumakua would have to make a critical choice. He had come a long way from Kaupe’a to be saved. As he peered down into the hole he would see the breadfruit tree of Leilono. Of the two branches he would have to decide which branch would save him. If he chose the wrong branch it would break and he would tumble down into the hole plunging into the pit of total darkness and endless sleep. It is known in the oral traditions as the po pau ‘ole. If he grabbed hold of the correct branch that would hold and not break, it would bring him the help of the friendly aumakua. From that branch the soul would see the aumakua realm and his ancestors. He would thus be saved.

The Leiwalu ‘O Leilono at Kapukaki (Red Hill) however was guarded on the east by a giant caterpillar watchman. On the west it was guarded by a giant Mo’o watchman at the pond of Napeha. I have been told that Napeha was a swimming pond west of Kapukaki (Red Hill). It was a pond that got its name from the Chief Kuali’i who drank water from it. The name came from Kuali’i being out of breath and tired when he came upon this pond to refresh himself. These wandering souls had to get past these giant watchman in an effort of making a choice and thus either be saved or to perish forever in the po pau’o’e of Milu. A place of total darkness and endless sleep.

A last thought to leave you with. There are three realms for the spirits of the dead according to the ancients and we have spoken of all three today. There was first, the realm of the homeless spirits, the “Aokuewa”. Kaupe’a is that place…..limbo……….purgatory we know today as Kapolei. The second realm is the realm of the “Ao ‘Aumakua”. It is a good place that one day we all want get to and restore those acquaintances with our ancestors or those who have already passed. The third place has many names such as the realm of the “Milu”, of Kapokuakini, of Kapokuamano and perhaps that of Pu’uokapolei……….when Chief Kahahana died his wife Kekuapo’i wrote an oli kanikau in honor of his life. She wrote it around 1785 when her husband died from injuries he received from the assault of Kahekili on the island of O’ahu. He died at Pu’uloa or today Ewa Beach. His body was taken to Apuakehau Heiau in Waikiki and sacrificed by Kahekili. In this oli kanikau Kekuapo’i mentions all the names of places that were special to her husband. She however makes an interesting reference to Pu’uokapolei. She states that her husband’s “spirit” entered the Milu by way of Pu’uokapolei.

In addition to hula, Kapo, the older sister of Pele, was also known for sorcery. In some hula rituals and ceremonies……….it is Kapo……………who is summoned…………….it is she who is called to enter one’s body.

I have never questioned any of these stories from people who shared them with me. I only know that I need to share them. They are not mine to keep. We all struggle with them however they are never questioned. We may not understand but can only appreciate them simply because these are the stories and beliefs of our ancestors. They are not to be feared………but to be embraced………These are the stories of Kapolei.

This essay was first published on myadvertiser.com in February 2008.