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Wai‘anae
- University of Hawai'i Press
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Wai‘anae 60 wai‘anae he Wai‘anae District in pre-Mähele days extended south from the leeward slopes of the Wai‘anae Range toward the ‘Ewa District, and west toward the leeward coast. It included a long, narrow strip of land, formerly known as Wai‘anae Uka, that stretched across Kolekole Pass all the way to the windward Ko‘olau Range, sandwiched between Waialua and ‘Ewa Districts. Only four small streams flow out of the Wai‘anae Range onto the coastal plains. Poor rainfall and soil further contribute to marginal agriculture.128 The hot, dry climate, however , favored a crop of ipu mänalo (sweet gourds), highly prized as gifts and barter items in early days.129 As though to make up for the arid agriculture of the eight ahupua‘a of Wai‘anae—Keawa‘ula, Kahanahäiki, Mäkua, ‘Öhikilolo, Kea‘au, Mäkaha, Wai‘anae, and Nänäkuli—fishing was exceptionally good in the great currents flowing with the trade winds along the Wai‘anae coast.130 Here, in these waters, the great chief Kawelo became a renowned fisherman. Kamakau obviously felt great affection for the district: Wai‘anae of the gentle kaiäulu wind, the sweet waters of Eku, the thick poi of Pähoa, the stringy poi of Lehano and Küäiwa, the rich poi of Kamaile, and aku fish “tidbits” (aku nahu pü) of Wai‘anae . . . land beloved of the sun.131 Much of the Wai‘anae coast is still marked by sharply sloped, shifting sand dunes and rough seas. Captain Vancouver in his second visit described the Wai‘anae coast as “one barren, rock waste, nearly destitute of verdure, cultivation or inhabitants.” He noted a “village, situated around a little bay with its high rock [Maunalahilahi] projecting from a sand beach—the only village we had seen westward of Opoorah [Pu‘uloa or Pearl Harbor].”132 He missed some of that coast’s cultural assets, however. At Pöka‘ï Bay, some O‘ahu kähuna had established a school in an effort to preserve the folklore of O‘ahu and to teach subjects such as history , navigation, and the genealogies of the O‘ahu chiefs.133 And in Mäkua lived a clan expert in the lua school of handto -hand fighting. At the beach of Mäkua was once a fishing shrine used early in this century by Sam Pulu‘ole, the head fisherman of the nearby village.134 Despite the frequent warfare in the last half of the eighteenth century, few hostilities took place in Mäkaha Valley. However, in the late eighteenth century, the Maui chief Kahekili defeated the O‘ahu ali‘i nui Kahahana at the battle of Kaheiki in Nu‘uanu. He then went on to massacre all the O‘ahu ali‘i after the battle of Niuhelewai, and then to destroy their retainers at Käwïwï, a stronghold on the ridge between Wai‘anae and Mäkaha, “where many died of starvation or were flung over the precipice because of famine, and many perished.”135 Wai‘anae inhabitants still speak of the brutality shown by Kahekili to villages in the area.136 Ironically, the celebrated O‘ahu chief Mä‘ilikükahi began his benign reign hundreds of years earlier by defeating and killing the despotic chief Haka at Käwïwï.137 Mäkaha suffered a drop in population as warriors departed to defend O‘ahu during Kamehameha ’s invasion in 1795. In April of 1796, Kamehameha sailed toward Kaua‘i from the Wai‘anae coast with an invasion fleet of eighty war canoes, according to one account.138 The fleet, buffeted by a great wind called Külepe, turned back, foiling Kamehameha’s first of two139 attempts to take Kaua‘i by force.140 By 1836, Wai‘anae had lost about three-fourths of its precontact population because of warfare, the sickness of workers collecting sandalwood in the high rain forests, and devastating epidemics of measles, mumps, whooping cough, influenza, and smallpox.141 In 1828, Levi Chamberlain, in his T [44.222.212.138] Project MUSE (2024-03-28 18:16 GMT) wai‘anae 61 tour of O‘ahu, found only sixteen students at the Wai‘anae Missionary School, and even fewer at Waimänalo School farther down the coast.142 The birthing stones of Kükaniloko lie on the Waialua side of Kaukonahua Gulch, in ancient Wai‘anae Uka, on land that later became part of Waialua District. Kükaniloko was...