Maunalua
(The following description of Maunalua is from
Native Planters in Old Hawai'i by E.S. Craighill Handy and
Elizabeth Green Handy, with the collaboration of Mary Kawena
Pukui [Honolulu: Bishop Museum, 1972]; pp. 483-484.)
Maunalua is the land area at the southeasternmost tip of O'ahu,
marked by the two great barren mountain masses, Koko Head
jutting seaward and Koko Crater inland. It was not part of
the chiefdom of Kona, although it lies on the south (kona)
coast of the island. It was an 'ili (land section) of Waimånalo
on the adjacent eastern (windward) coast in Ko'olaupoko (Coulter,
1935, p. 223).
Maunalua (“Two—Mountains”)
was noted for its great fishpond (loko kuapå) covering
523 acres. Actually this great pond, named Ke-ahu-pua-o-Maunalua
(The-shrine-of-the-baby mullet-of-Maunalua) was a broad, shallow
bay, walled off at its seaward side, with an inlet and a gate
which was opened to let fish in as the tide came in and was
closed when the tide began to run out. Chamberlain (1957,
p. 29) crossed the causeway in 1828. There was evidently a
sizable village in the vicinity because there was a school
in which he addressed thirty people, although most of the
men were away cutting sandalwood. Before that, and since the
time of the chiefess Mahoe for whom the menehune built the
kuapå, Maunalua Valley was said to have been amply inhahited,
and in the hinterland of Maunalua and beyond, there are many
evidences of former sweet-potato culture.
Coulter (1935) gives no historical or traditional
explanation of why this last valley on the Kona coast, together
with its headland (Koko Head) and the jewel-like, almost land-locked
Hanauma Bay beneath it, should ever have been regarded as
an 'ili of Waimånalo, an ahupua'a on the Ko’olau
coast. [A possible explanation for including Maunalua in the
ahupua'a of Waimånalo: Waimånalo was the source
of fresh water and taro; Maunalua was the fishing grounds,
protected from the trade winds and trade wind swells.]
The headland of Kokohead, whose real name is
Mo'o-kua-o-Kåne'åpua (Backbone-of-Kåne'åpua),
forms the eastern rim of Maunalua Bay. Kåne'åpua
was a younger brother of Kane. It is said (Ka Nupepa Kuokoa,
March 4, 1921) that Kåne and Kanaloa came here and opened
a spring, which later dried up. The area is now bare and arid. |
Place
Names of East Honolulu (See Map)
Maunalua: “Two Mountains”
Mauka
Kealakîpapa (“The Paved Road,”
from Kaloko to Makapu'u)
Ke Kula o Kamauwai (Coastal Plain from Kealakîpapa
to Kamiloiki; a sweet potato growing area)
Kalama (Valley, “The Lama Tree”)
Kamehame (Ridge; “The Mehame, or Hame Tree”)
Koko (Crater, “Blood”; ancient name for the
crater: Kohe-lepelepe, lit. “vagina fringe,”
or Labia Minor”)
Pu'u Ma'i (Highest Point on Koko Crater, 1208 ft.; Ma'i
= “Genitals”)
Kamiloiki (Valley, “The Little Milo Tree”)
Kamilonui (Valley, “The Big Milo Tree”)
Kaluanui (Ridge, “The Big Pit”)
Haha'ione (Valley, “Broken Sand”)
Mauna 'Øahi (Ridge, “Fire-Hurling Mountain”)
Ka'alåkei (Valley, “Proud Water-Worn Stone”)
Makai
Makapu'u (Point, “Bulging Eyes”;
a female kupua; a stone with eyes on it)
Miana (Point at the base of Makapu'u; “Urinal”)
Ke Ana o ke Akua Pøloli (“The Cave of the Hungry
God”; Ke Akua Pøloli, The Hungry God was the
husband of Makapu'u; a black stone with eight eyes was found
in this cave)
Moeau (Point, “Resting Current”)
Kîpahulu (Hill, “Fetch [from] Exhausted Gardens”)
Nåpåi'a (Flat, “The Noisiness”)
Kaloko (“The Pond”)
Wåwåmalu (Beach; or Awåwamalu, “Shady
Gulch”)
' Øku'u (Underwater healing stone; “Crouch”;
people swam over or crouched next to the stone for good
health; the stone is where the sand begins at Sandy Beach
toward Hålona
Hålona (“Lookout”)
Hanauma (“Curved Bay”)
' Ihi'ihilauåkea (“Wide-leafed 'Ihi'ihi [a fern]”;
Crater, a Wind of Hanauma Bay)
Nono'ula (Crater next to 'Ihi'ihilauåkea, “Flushed,
Blushed“; “Red from Sunburn”)
Kuamo'o [o] Kåne or Mo'o-kua-o-Kåne'åpua;
(Hill, highest on Koko Head, 642 feet; “Backbone of
Kåne”; a place to study the wind; the ridge
on which Kåne and Kanaloa drank 'awa)
Kawaihoa (Point below Kuamo'o Kåne; “The Companion’s
Water”)
Kuapå (Pond, lit. “Fishpond Wall”)
Kuli'ou'ou (“Knee Sounding,”
referring to a Knee Drum; Kuli=Knee; 'Ou'ou=Sound of the drum)
Niu (“Coconuts”)
Wailupe (“Waters of the Kite”)
Wai'alae (“Waters of the Mud-hen”) |
