Resources and Features Cited in Claims from Honouliuli

In addition to naming traditional residents and noted places of Honouliuli, the records of the Mahele Aina also provide us with important information on residency, land use practices, physical features—today’s cultural sites, and some of the plants or resources which were tended as food crops by the people who lived on the land. While there do not appear to be any direct references to lands now within the boundaries of the Haseko Development or for the cultural resources which are under the stewardship of the Hoakalei Cultural Foundation, there are important descriptions of agricultural practices in neighboring coastal lands and similar environments. The descriptions help us form an image of how people lived on the land, and actually provide us with a template for interpretation of some resources in the three preservation areas.

On December 13, 1847, Nahuawai, a native tenant of Puuloa, Honouliuli, wrote a description of agricultural practices and features he claimed at Keahi, in the ili of Puuloa, near the Pearl Harbor entrance. The record, in Hawaiian, states

I ka poe hanohano na Luna Hoona Kumu Kuleana aina o ko Hawaii nei pae aina. Aloha oukou. Ke hai aku nei au ia oukou i ko‘u kuleana hale, a kula hui. Me keia ka hui ana, aole i ike pono ia ke kuauna elike me ka loi kalo, i ka poopoo pohaku e kanu ai kekahi, i kahi kaheka kekahi, lele wale aku no i kela wahi i keia wahi.

Eia kou hale ma Keahi i Puuloa, Ewa, Mokupuni Oahu. Eia kona mau palena, ma ka Akau he kula e ku ana i kau haha paakai, ma ka Hikina ko Naunau ana puni, ma ka Hema ke kai, ka ke Komohana ke ana puni o Mahiole.

16 makahiki kou noho ana i keia kuleana hale. O wau no me ka mahalo kau kauwa hoolohe.

Na Nahuawai.

The translation of the record is below.

To the Honorable Commissioners who Quiet Land Claims. Aloha to you. I hereby tell you of my house and combined kula parcel claim. The combined boundaries are not known like those of the banked walls of loi kalo (taro pond fields), the planting is done in hollows of rocks, and in kaheka (small brackish water ponds) and are scattered about at various places.

Here is my house at Keahi in Puuloa, Ewa, Island of Oahu. Here are its boundaries: towards the North, a kula parcel where my haha paakai (salt gathering beds) are situated; towards the East, surrounded by Naunau; towards the South, the sea; towards the West, surrounded by Mahiole.

My residency at this house claim has been for 16 years. I am with appreciation, your obedient servant.

By Nahuawai²

1Native Register, Vol. 5, Number 6132, Puuloa, Ewa, December 13, 1847, p. 243–244.

2Translated by Maly.

The Hoakalei Cultural Foundation (HCF) seeks to provide the public with access to the rich history of Honouliuli Ahupuaa—bringing traditional and historical documentation that has time depth, and that is factual, to the attention of all who care for this land. The research is being conducted in a wide range of archival collections, and incorporates primary—first account—documentation from both Hawaiian- and English-language resources.

As a part of that research, Kepa Maly and Onaona Pomroy Maly completed a review of all the original land title records of the Hawaiian Kingdom recorded during the Mahele Aina (Land Division) between the years 1847 and 1855. For the first time, all of the Mahele records have been compiled in one collection, and the original Hawaiian-language documents of the Native Register and Testimony collections were translated by Kepa Maly for this program. This work was conducted over a five-week period between July and August 2012. The results provide readers with significant documentation coming from those who lived on and knew the land in a traditional manner. The Mahele documents describe land use, residency, and the practices of the families of Honouliuli and its smaller land subdivisions. With this information, we are able better to understand the history and cultural landscape of Honouliuli. While much has changed in the last 170 years, the spirit of place, the named places, and lives of those who came before us are still present on the land. Their history adds value to our own lives and community.

All told, 436 Mahele documents were found for Honouliuli; no additional Mahele claims for Honouliuli are known to exist. This total can be broken down, as follows:

105 Native Register (NR) Claim records registered by 99 native tenants;
80 Native Testimony (NT) Claim records;
99 Foreign Testimony (FT) records;
77  Mahele Award Book records; and
75  Palapala Sila Nui (Royal Patent) records.

Of the 106 native tenant claims and one chiefly claim identified from Honouliuli, 74 were awarded to the claimants or their heirs and 33 were denied.

In compiling this collection of historical land and family records from Honouliuli, we have attempted to ensure the accuracy of all citations. The original records though, are challenging. Being all handwritten, the writing is at times illegible. At other times spelling of personal and land area names vary from one record to another. We have done our best to compare the various records and maintain the highest accuracy possible. The records are organized by Helu—the original numerical sequence assigned at the time of recording the information. Also, certain important classes of information such as place names, personal names, subsistence practices, types of features, and cultural and natural resources are called out in tables and summary form for easy access to the historical information.