As a young boy growing up I never gave the cultural aspect of Hawaii any thought. I grew up doing what most boys my age were doing and that was wandering around the neighborhood eventually ending up at the park playing barefoot tackle football. That’s basically how we all tried to prove to each other how tough we were.

As the years passed by I started wearing shoes and doing other more meaningful things. It wasn`t until many years later that I realized that I knew so very little of our ancient past. It was at about the same time that I came to realize how special a people we are who live in Hawaii.

I know that most people say that about their special places and their origins but I really mean that about us here in Hawaii. I hope that we can take care of that which makes us special.

Kapolei is one of those special places. Historian John Papa I’I, who was born and raised in ‘Ewa during the early 1800s, has shared many stories with us regarding what life was like during those early years.

He makes many references to the heat of the ‘Ewa sun. After having lived in Makakilo for some 35 years I have come to feel that maybe John I`i was right. I think we here in Kapolei can say that we see it more often that anyone else. When it is raining or obscured by clouds elsewhere it makes its presence known to us on the leeward side.

It seems to be the central theme of this region. I can recall a friendly conversation I had with Kapolei High School’s principal several years ago when commenting on the school’s logo. It seems a decision was made to select the “Huricanes” as the high school’s logo. I thought that it was unusual that the “Huricanes” was selected especially when we only have a hurricane maybe once every 10 years. Interesting though the Ewa sun beats down on us everyday. I had quietly thought to myself how interesting the Kapolei “Suns” or “Blazers” or even the Kapolei “Heat’ sounded.

We are not the only people who have come recognize the significance of the sun besides simply warming our lives. The sun was held in high regard to the ancient people or po`e kihiko of the whole island of O`ahu and maybe all of the islands. But it was especially important to the ancient people of the Ahupua`a of Honouliuli and the po`e kahiko of the area we today know of as Kapolei.

Gilbert McAllister, who was an archaeologist for Bishop Museum, did the first archaeological survey for the island of O`ahu in 1930. In addition to his field work and notes he relied heavily upon the writings of Samuel Manaiakalani Kamakau. Kamakau like other Hawaiian historians was commissioned by Kamehameha III to study the ancient history of these islands. Kamehameha III like others of his time had come to realize that so much of the past was being lost to the simple fact that our history was an oral one and with the death of so many people, for so many reasons, so went our ancient past.

He, like other educated Hawaiians of their time, received a western education and learned nothing of their origins. Kamakau was tasked with identifying as many Kupuna he could find who had been living prior to western contact or prior to 1778.

Sam Kamakau did much of his research during the mid 1800s. McAllister’s work included much of Kamakau’s writings. McAllister agreed with Kamakau when he identified Pu`uokapolei as the single most sacred and most important place in all of the Ahupua`a of Honouliuli based on the interviews Kamakau conducted with people who lived in the area at the time of western contact.

It was identified as a special place for several reasons. It served as a landmark to travelers in ancient times. There were only 3 ways to travel from Honolulu or anciently known as Kou, to Wai’anae. One was by way of Kolekole today through Schofield Barracks. Another was by way of Pohakea, which is midway between Makakilo and Wahiawa through the Wai’anae mountains. Third, by way of Pu`uokapolei.. Farrington Highway is that ancient foot trail that passed just mauka of Pu`uokapolei.

Pu`uokapolei also served as the residence of Kamaunuaniho. When Kamapua`a killed Olopana and assumed control of the island of O`ahu, he placed his grandmother Kamaunuaniho to serve as konahiki at Pu`uokapolei. She resided in a rock shelter on the makai side of the Pu`u.

McAllister further states that in 1930 remnants of the foundation of her home, a rock wall surrounding her home, and her grave could still be seen. Interesting though today an elevated stone platform can still be seen amongst the weeds, grasses and trash where her residence once stood. The approximate location of her grave according to McAllister would place it in the area of where the Kamaaha Street Extension lies today.

It was also identified as a special place by the ancients because there once existed the largest heiau in the Ahupua`a of Honouliuli at Pu`uokapolei. In 1930 archaeologist Gilbert McAllister said that the heiau had already been destroyed. McAllister further states that in 1920 there was a rock crusher on the mauka side of Pu`uokapolei. That rock crusher would have been right in the area of where the Kapolei skateboard park is today.

The stones from the heiau at Pu`uokapolei were crushed and today the heiau lies in the foundation of Farrington Highway and the former irrigation ditches of the old sugarcane fields of Ewa.

Pu`uokapolei was the first quarry. After Pu`uokapolei the next quarry was at Pu`uPala`ila`i. It eventually became a landfill and today the Hawaiian Waters Adventuire Park lies on the southern portion of that quarry and landfill.

Today that rock crusher is at Pu `uMakakilo. These are the 3 Pu`u that gave birth to Kapolei. No one today knows the nature and significance of that heiau however it is believed that it was dedicated to the sun.

The next and perhaps most important reason that Kamakau refers to Pu`uokapolei as the most sacred place in all of this region is because it served as the marker of the seasons.

In his discussion with Kupuna from this area who lived prior to western contact, they tried to convince him that he was wrong in his understanding that we had four seasons. He understood from his western education that there were the fall, winter, spring and summer seasons. They insisted there was only two seasons. One when the sun was in the north when the days were long and hot. It was a period of very little rainfall. Not much water. “Not the time to plant Kalo, Sam.” They referred to this season as the season of the Makali’i.

The other season was when the sun was far away. When the hot days were short and long nights cool. This was the season of a lot of rainfall and a lot of water. “This was the season to plant Kalo, Sam.” They referred to this season as the season of the Ho`oilo.

What we have to remember is when our voyaging ancestors started to venture into the northern latitudes they were leaving behind the stars, constellations and relative location of the sun and moon. They were entering waters whose location of stars they were not familiar with. When they arrived on these precious shores the first thing they had to do was mark the location and direction to the homeland of those stars. The same method they had used to find their way over those long distances of ocean they used on land with a series of markers.

Our Kupuna never had a calendar as we know. Their calendar was the relative location of the sun, moon and stars with respect to either geographic features or rock structures.

“…The people of O`ahu reckoned from the time when the sun set over Puuokapolei until it set in the hollow of the Mahinaona and called this period Kau, and when it grew cold and the time when young sprouts started, the season was called from their germination the season of Ho`oilo.

There were therefore two seasons, the season of Makali`i and the season of Ho`oilo.” (S.M. Kamakau, Mo`olelo Hawai`i, Volume 1, Chapter 2, p. 23.)

Therefore to the po`e kahiko the cold season was the Ho`oilo and the warm season was the Makali`i. Welo, corresponding to April, was the last month of the Ho`oilo and Ikiiki, corresponding to May was the first month of the Makali`i. The sun is reported by Kamakau to be seen setting over Puuokapolei during the period corresponding to the end of the Ho`oilo and the beginning of the Makali`i.

This however continued to puzzle contemporary cultural thinkers. We know now that Pu`uokapolei served as a marker for the season when the sun set over Pu`uokapolei in the Mahinaona. We also know that the division of the season was the first day of May. However the question was where would the observer have to stand to make that observation and what was the Mahinaona.

Historian Emma Nakuina Metcalf who lived in the early 1900s help unravel some of the mysteries by sharing the following with us: “There were sun-worshipers among the original arrival in Hawai`i, and there were two temples dedicated to the sun on O`ahu – one at Kaneloa (close to where the Waikiki Shell and Bandstand is today), and one at Kau`o Kala, Waianae). These temples were not for the whole population, but for only a few who claimed it as a privilege…”(Nakuina, Emma Metcalf, Hawai`i – Its People, Their Legends; Honolulu, 1904. pg. 8).

Associated with the Kaneloa Heiau is the Opunaha Kuahu which was located at the location of the present Waikiki Aquarium. Its location and that of the Kaneloa Heiau can be seen on maps at the Survey Office of the 1840. Many observations have been made from the former location of the Opunaha Kuahu and on May 1 the sun can be seen setting in a crown.

Mahinaona has many definitions as many Hawaiian words do. It could mean a peak of a mountain, a bottom of a V such as a valley, a Pu`u or a crown. A crown could also be a lei.

When one stands at Puuokapolei and looks east he can see a very distinguishable crown…Mount Leahi, or Diamond Head. When one stands at the site of the former Opunaha Kuahu, directly below Diamond Head and looks west he can see another crown…that is, PuuPala`ila`i. One cannot see Puuokapolei as the sun sets but one can see PuuPala`ila`i as the sun sets in it directly behind Puuokapolei on May 1.

PuuPala`ila`i is the mirror image of Diamond Head however with the peak reversed. Diamond Head`s peak of the crown is on the makai side facing the ocean. The crown of PuuPala`ila`i is on the mauka side facing the mountains.

However the big question is this…a Mahinaona can also mean crown as in a lei. Our Kupuna would not celebrate something as superficial as the presentation of a lei. But they would celebrate the coming of the cooler seasons, the coming of the rains and the time for planting Kalo.

Perhaps May 1 or Lei Day is not a mere celebration of wearing a lei but rather the celebration of the change of seasons of when the sun sets over Puuokapolei in the Mahinaona. Perhaps Lei Day is really …Pu`uokapolei Day.

Every year on May 1 there is a celebration of the change of season at both the Waikiki Aquarium and Puuokapolei. Kumu Hula John Keola Lake and his halau at the Waikiki Aquarium and the Ahahui Siwila Hawaii O Kapolei (Kapolei Hawaiian Civic Club) at Puuokapolei jointly celebrate the setting of the sun over Puuokapolei in the Mahinaona (Pu`uPala`ila`i).

Come and join us on May 1, 2007 as we celebrate this cultural event that played an important role in Kapolei’s ancient past.

This essay was first published on myadvertiser.com in December 2006.

I remember as a young boy my mom and dad driving along the only road to Waianae by way of Farrington Highway. After only a brief stop at Arakawa’s store along Waipahu Depot Road we would make the long drive through fields of sugar cane towering over us to Nanakuli. As a young boy it seemed as an extremely long ride with nothing to see but sugarcane. That was a mere 56 years ago.

Today many of us still think of the Ewa and the Kapolei areas in terms of its plantation history. However, prior to sugar, prior to cattle, before there was a military presence in Ewa, before an industrial park, a resort and today the new city of Kapolei, there existed a cultural landscape that extended from Pu`u Palehua to Kualaka`i.

Almost equal distant from both Pu`u Palehua and Kualaka`i existed a little known hill by the name of Pu`uokapolei. There are many aspects that made this little hill perhaps the most sacred place in all of the ahupua`a of Honouliuli. Today I want to share just one. Most people pay little attention to it in their daily drive to and from work. It is perhaps even safe to say that most people do not even see it. It is the most neglected place in all of Kapolei. Beer cans, broken glass bottles and trash litter its landscape. Interesting though it is in the exact center of the new city of Kapolei. From a cultural perspective it is “Piko” of Kapolei.

Kekuapo`i was the wife of Kahahana who was the last ruling Mo`i or chief of the island of O`ahu. He died as a result of injuries he suffered in the assault on the island of O`ahu by Kahekili, Mo`i or chief of the island of Maui. He died in Puuloa and his body was taken to Waikiki where he was sacrificed at the Heiau Apuakehau that once stood on the present grounds of the Moana Hotel.

Kekuapo`i wrote a Kanikau in honor of her husband. A kanikau is a chant that is done in a wailing or crying manner as if to mourn the passing of a loved one. Kekuapo`i in her husband’s kanikau mentions all the places that was special to Kahahana.

In her reference to Pu`uokapolei as a special place to her husband we find an interesting quote. It seemingly puzzles most contemporary cultural thinkers. In this reference she refers to Pu`uokapolei as a conduit to another place in the after life.

In our attempt to understand this reference let`s take a look at our ancestors beliefs regarding how life, death and sleep overlap. In the oral traditions there is an interesting reference to places known as Aokuewas and Leina Ka Uhane. The traditions refer to an Aokuewa as “places of wandering spirits” for lack of a better explanation. A Leina Ka Uhane is referred to as “leaping places” into the afterlife.

In an explanation of how life, death and sleep overlap we need to first understand how our ancestors perceived this aspect of their lives. In their understanding we as human beings had two energies in us. One energy is referred to as a “dream spirit”. In contemporary beliefs it would be safe to say that maybe this reference is regarding one’s spirituality or from a Christian sense one’s soul? When one sleeps this “dream spirit” is allowed to travel. It may even visit one’s departed ancestors or one’s departed grandparents.

For example if a woman was with child or pregnant and she dreamed that she met her departed grandmother and the last thought she had was a name, she would take this dream or visitation seriously feeling that she had actually visited her grandmother and her grandmother was sharing the new child’s name with her. She would give this name to her new child. However in order to wake from a sleep this dream spirit would have to return.

The other energy within all of us is the energy that sustains our lives. It was the energy that would allow our hearts to pulse and allow us to breath. If however that dream spirit does not return, that would define death. This would bring about chanting in an effort to kahea or summon that dream spirit back into the body of the loved one. Early explorers to our shores witnessed this event when they observed individuals chanting over a departed loved one.

If an individual lived a good life. If he was respectful of his aumakua, if he was respectful of his parents, if he was a good person, he would have the benefit of his aumakua carrying him off to a Leina Ka Uhane. On the island of O`ahu the Leina Ka Uhane is at Kaena Point. It is here that one’s aumakua would help he or she “leap” into the afterlife.

If he was not respectful of his aumakua, if he was not respectfulof his parents, if he was a bad person, one would not have the benefit of one’s aumakua carrying him to the Leina Ka Uhane. He would be banned to “barren or desolate places”. These places are referred to as Aokuewa. On the island of O`ahu the Aokuewa is Kaupea or the area surrounding Pu`uokapolei.

Upon further investigation Pu`uokapolei is approximately the same distance from the southwest end of the Waianae Mountains as the Leina Ka Uhane at Kaena from the northeast end of the Waianae Mountains. Perhaps Kahahana’s wife Kekuapo`i is correct in her reference to Pu`uokapolei as a conduit to the after life.

In a Christian sense there are 3 places in the after life, heaven, hell and limbo or purgatory. In a Christian sense purgatory is somewhere else. From a Hawaiian cultural perspective purgatory is………here. That is the area that surrounds Pu`uokapolei……”the Wiliwili groves of Kaupea.”

It is not something to fear…….but to embrace…………..for this is the story of our new City of Kapolei………..

This essay was first published on myadvertiser.com in December 2006.