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………

Tags: Pohakea, Pohakea Pass

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