When I first moved to Makakilo some 35 years ago, I identified it from a distance by an odd shaped hill in front of it. You could see it as far away as Red Hill at Moanalua or anciently known as Kapukaki.

As I approached it from Waipahu it took the shape of a huge dome. I even caught myself referring to it as a pimple. I eventually started referring to it as “Ballahead Mountain,” not realizing that those already living here were already calling it that.

I also eventually noticed it in some turn of the century photographs. It is very distinguishable in these old photos. Today like many others who live Makakilo and Kapolei we don’t even see it any more. Few us are even aware of the role it played in ancient Hawaii.

The community of Makakilo takes its name from this pu`u or volcanic cinder cone. Makakilo’s true name however is Hanalei. It is referred to in several places in the oral traditions. It is the place where Milo, Neneleau and Kamani trees were known to be abundant. It was known as a place where the native bird the Iiwi used to frequently visit.

Looking at the surrounding landscape today this is difficult to imagine. However many stories refer to the rolling grasslands of this region with rich soil at the lower elevations. One must wonder what happened to this once lush landscape. We do know that it was hot and dry on the kula lands or the low lands. But everything mauka of what is today the H-1 Freeway was lush with excellent soil for cultivation. There is nothing mentioned of a rocky landscape with thorny brush. We do know that the thorny kiawe trees were introduced in the 1820s as cattle food.

Pukaua, the area today known as Honokai Hale, which was just beyond Hanalei is also referred to as rolling grasslands. Some answers may be found in the fact that wild cattle wandered the hillsides for some 70 years before James Campbell purchased all of the ahupua’a of Honouliulu and chased out 32,000 head of wild cattle. These wild cattle totally devastated the native landscape. Once the native grasses, brush and trees were removed by cattle it opened the region to extraordinary levels of erosion beyond one`s imagination.

When James Campbell opened the region to large scale cultivation two things he did that totally and completely changed the landscape - the drilling for water reduced the amount of water traveling in the porous coral to the Ewa shoreline, the vertical plowing of the mid-elevation alluvial plains stripped the land of soil and brought it down onto the plains for the cultivation of sugar cane. More soil was needed for cultivation so the idea was to let the rains bring down the soil from the higher elevations. All of this brought about the harsh landscape that we are familiar with today. This is the region that surrounds Pu`u Makakilo.

Our ancestors always gave names only after having given it much thought. Names were never taken lightly. It was felt that the right name gave a place or person mana or spiritual strength. Whatever their reason was there is no question regarding the significance of Pu’u Makakilo. Let us first take a look at the surrounding region.

Ewa is referred to as the “celebrated land of the ancestors.” Kamaunuaniho, who is considered one of our earliest Tahitian ancestors, lived at Pu`uokapolei. Remnants of the foundation of her home can still be seen today amongst the weeds and trash at Pu`uokapolei. We know that Pu`uokapolei was referred to as the O’ahu calendar.

Kahai-a-ho`okamali`i planted the first Ulu Tree (breadfruit) at Ku`alakai. There is also a heiau in Kalaeloa that was built in both a Hawaiian and Tahitian fashion. This cannot be found in any other cultural structure throughout the entire islands.

The name Makakilo means a place where observations were made from. The question is…what were our Kupuna observing. Or maybe it served as a marker for triangulation for those departing canoes. We also know that Ewa was a place of departure from the Island of O’ahu for the southern latitudes. We also know that it was from this region that certain stars and certain star constellations were identified and marked by our ancestors in an effort to serve as wayfinders on their voyage south. Many cultural thinkers believe that there once existed a heiau at the top of Pu’u Makakilo but has long been abandoned when voyaging ceased.

This however is what we know of Puu Makakilo. When one stands on a clear day at Hanauma Bay one can only see Molokai. However …from some 20 miles farther west…when one stands at the top of Pu`u Makakilo or anywhere in Makakilo one can see all of the islands east of O’ahu.

When one takes a walk from Makakilo to the top at Palehua and Mauna Kapu one can also see Kauai on a clear day. One has an unobstructive view of all the major islands in the Hawaiian chain. Sadly though our wireless communications industry have also made this discovery as evidenced by the many communication towers on the ridgeline of Palehua. The best time to make this observation is at dawn when weather in the channels is sparse. When the weather moves in it might be difficult. Often it appears as a shadow or more often as distant weather or low clouds. Once you see it memorize that outline and look for it again on subsequent mornings.

I have also seen Haleakala on Maui and Lanai from as low an elevation as the intersection of Makakilo Drive and Pala`ila`i Street. We who live today in Makakilo and Kapolei should feel privileged for we can see what no one else can see. The question we need to ask ourselves is what would this mean to our ancestors living 900 years ago.

And it is this…time. We take so much for granted today. But imagine what life would be like if we could not tell time. Imagine if we did not have any clocks. Imagine if we did not have a calendar……..Our ancestors lived a subsistence lifestyle like many other indiginous cultures around the world. They lived on an island…….where resources were limited. Their over population numbers were reached at lower levels simply because they could not depend on outside resources. Their laws and Kapu were conservation in nature. One could not eat fish during their spawning season. Only certain kinds of fish could be eaten at certain times. When you can plant……when not to plant. When is the rain coming. When is the dry season. All of this was important for them to know.

We have shared in previous cultural essays the stories associated with Pu`uokapolei as the O’ahu calendar. Perhaps Pu`u Makakilo played a larger part in the calendar for all the islands. Perhaps we need to pay attention to the day in the year when we can observe the sun rise out of Haleakala on Maui.

As a last thought, the traditions indicate that Maui was born in a cave in Waianae…is it coincidence that if you draw a straight line from the peak of Haleakala on Maui to Pu`u Makakilo and extend that line to Waianae…that line points to the birth place of Maui in Waianae?

This essay was first published on myadvertiser.com in August 2007.