Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 23, Number 3, 1 March 2006 — ‘VALLEY OF THE PRIESTS’ [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

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‘VALLEY OF THE PRIESTS’

Hiahliahts of Waimea Vallev's extraordinarv historv

As Ka Wai Olagoes to press, negotiations are continuing to finalize a court settlement that would give the Office of Hawaiian Affairs title to 0'ahu's Waimea Valley. Under the terms of the settlement, the valley is to be purchased by a partnership between OHA, the City and County of Honolulu, the State Department of Land and Natural Resources, the U.S. Army and the National Audubon Society, with title passing to OHA to ensure the preservation of the stunning and sacred valley, and to hold it in trust for a future Native Hawaiian government. Last May, the firm Archaeological Consultants of the Pacific completed an OHA-funded cultural and archaeological assessment of the valley. This special Ka Wai Ola feature includes a summa ry of the assessment's findings, as well as highlights of Waimea's remarkable history compiled by Principal lnvestigator Joseph Kennedy's team from a wide variety of sources.

By Jūseph Kennedy Editor's note: This article combines portions ofthe Waimea Valley Cultural and Archaeological Assessment report with excerpts from an article written by the study's Principle Investigator, Joseph Kennedy, for the October 2005 issue of Natural History magazine. The ahupua'a of Waimea, known for its pieturesque bluffs, its permanently flowing river and its deep bay, provided many resourees for its inhabitants and was the setting for many important episodes of 0'ahu's history. Perhaps most important, however, are its priestly assoeiations, whieh marked Waimea as a saered plaee for more than 700 years of Native Hawaiian history. Waimea, "The Valley of the Priests," gained its title around 1090, when the ruler of O'ahu, Kamapua'a (who would later be elevated in legend to demigod status as the familiar pig deity) awarded the land to the high priest Lono-a-wohi. From that time until Western eontaet and the overturn of the indigenous Hawaiian religion, the land belonged to the kahuna nui (high priests) of the Pa'ao line. Among the religious struetures the priests ereeted in and around the valley are two large heiau, or temples: Pu'u o Mahuka, 0'ahu's largest heiau, situated on a eliff overlooking the valley; and Kūpōpolo, whieh stands near the beaeh on the Waialua side of the river. Many eultural features ean be found throughout the valley, reminding onlookers of Waimea's lively past. Fishing shrines dot the eoastal edges of the valley entranee, and the steep eliffs that form the valley walls eontain many burial eaves. House lots and agrieultural terraees are found along the valley floor.

Iust a few tidbits of aneient lore about the valley survive, reeorded during the early eontaet period. One tale is set in the bay at the mouth of the river. It seems a man named Kāne'aukai transfonned himself into a stone the size of a human head and a log the size of a body. Loeal fishermen pulled his two parts from the sea and reunited them within a shrine, ensuring ever afterward that fish would be loeally plentiful. The stone and the log are long gone, but the shrine, made of roeks and reeently reeonstrueted, still stands on the shoreline. Ka'ōpulupulu During the reign of Kahahana, who beeame ruler of O'ahu in 1773, Waimea's presiding priest was Ka'ōpulupulu. Many legends and stories reeount the life of this famous prophet. In one legend, Kahahana asked his priest to determine whether the gods approved of him, and whether the island of Kaua'i would surrender if he invaded its shores. Ka'ōpulupulu requested that a temple be built where he eould "speak to the great ehief Kekaulike (of Kaua'i) through the thoughts of the great akua Mahuka." At first, Heiau Kūpōpolo was built on the beaeh of Waimea Bay; however, when Ka'ōpulupulu used it, he reeeived no answer from Kaua'i. It was thought the temple was in the wrong loeation. Beeause the kahuna believed that "thoughts are little gods, or kupua, that travel in spaee, above the earth ... they fly freely as soaring birds," he ealled on the people to build a seeond temple high upon the eliffs. This was to beeome Heiau Pu'u o Mahuka. From the temple, Ka'ōpulupulu sent out thought waves, and the answer quiekly returned - Kaua'i wished for peaee. This legend explains the eonstruetion of the two

main heiau of Waimea, and radioearbon dating of the sites has, so far, not eontradieted this timeframe. In some versions of the story, it is said that the Menehune people built eaeh of the heiau in a single night with stones "passed hand-to-hand, all the way from Paumalū." Point of contact Soon after Captain Cook was killed at Kealakekua Bay in 1779, his ships, the H.M.S. Discovery and the H.M.S. Resolution - now under the overall command of Captain Charles Clerke - anchored off Waimea Bay in order to restock their water supply from the river. This event marked the first known contact with white foreigners on the island of O'ahu. Cook's lieutenant, Iames King, who now eaptained the Resolution, commented that the setting "...was as beautiful as any Island we have seen, and appear'd very well Cultivated and Popular." Clerke wrote in his journal: "On landing I was reciev'd with every token of respect and friendship by a great number of the Natives who were collected

upon the occasion; they every one of them prostrated themselves around me whieh is the first mark of respect at these Isles." The Englishmen had Hawaiian women on board, brought from the Hawai'i island. At Waimea the women danced a hula, whieh the sailors found quite lascivious. From the deck of the Discovery, William Ellis, the ship's surgeon's second mate, painted an idyllic watercolor of the valley - a reproduction of whieh appears at the top of this page. The Daedalus killings Westerners' next visit to Waimea, 13 years later, proved to be a far less idyllic encounter. Richard Hergest, a fonner midshipman on the Resolution, was in command of his own vessel, the supply ship Daedalus. Recalling the wann reception and sweet water he had earlier received, Hergest anchored in the bay in May of 1792. In spite of warnings from two Hawaiians on board that "evil people" resided in the valley and that there were no chiefs See WAIMEA on page IG

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The oldest existing image of Waimea Valley, painted by William Ellis, a crewman aboard the HMS &oi/erywhen the ship anchored off Waimea inl779. Imnnp' Rkhnn Mimnm

This sketch by originol Howoi'i missionary Hiram Bingham depicts Bingham's visit to Waimea in 1 826 to preach the gospel, accompanied by Queen Ka'ahumanu (seated in chair). Bingham wrote of the event: "Saturday [we] reached Waimea ... the residence of Hewahewa, the old high priest of Hawaiian supeistition, by whom we were welcomed .... The inhabitants of the plaee ussembled with representatives of almost eveiy district of this islund, to beur of the greut sulvation, und to bow before Jehovah, the God of beuven. Tbere were now seen the queen of the group und ber sister, und teachers, kindly recommending to ber people the duties of Christianity, uttention to schools, und u quiet submission, us good subjects, to the laws of the land." - lmage: Bishop Museum

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CantinuEd fram page 15 present, Hergest set off with the astronomer William Gooch and two sailors. After reaching shore, the sailors busied themselves with the water casks, while Gooch and Hergest wandered inland. Suddenly, men armed with spears, daggers and rocks eame running down from the valley's left flank. The men were not ordinary villagers, but the fearsome-looking warriors called pahupū, eaeh of whom had

one side of his body tattooed hlaek from head to toe. One sailor escaped to the boat, but the other was killed. The one that escaped saw Hergest and Gooch surrounded by Hawaiians and realized it was hopeless to rescue them. Many explanations for the natives' hostility toward the men of the Daedahis have surfaced over time. Regardless of the motivation, the Hawaiians on board the Daedatus warned the sailors that the area was dangerous. Captain Hergest did not heed his warning, and quickly heeame another part

of Waimea's history. Hewahewa After Kamehameha I conquered O'ahu in 1795, he recognized the importance of Waimea Valley and awarded it to his top spiritual adviser, Hewahewa, the last high priest of the Pa'ao line destined to serve as kahuna nui. Kamehameha died in 1819 at Kailua-Kona, with Hewahewa at his side. Powerful foreign influences were now propelling Hawai 'i into an era of rapid change. With Kamehameha's death, the traditional kapu system of laws or rules

had begun to crumble. During the rule of Kamehameha II (Liholiho), Hewahewa and Ka'ahumanu, Liholiho's ruling partner, denounced the Hawaiian gods and convinced the king to order all heiau and idols destroyed. In 1822, Hewahewa himself helped burn more than 100 of these idols. Hewahewa eventually eame to live at Waimea around 1826 and ruled as its chief. He reportedly had three houses on the Waialua side, one for sleeping, one for food and one for the men to prepare their food and prayers - a

hale mua. A Christian convert, Hewahewa died in 1837 and was buried in Waimea, where his grave ean still be seen near the visitor center. Hawaiian exodus After Hewahewa's death, rights to the valley eventually passed to his granddaughter Pa'alua. Following the Mahele land division in 1848, the islands' newly fonned Land Coimnission offered to give her outright ownership of roughly half of Waimea Valley, See WAIMEA on page 19

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Cūntinued fram page IG on condition that she relinquish any elaini to the rest. She and her husband managed to hold on to a portion of the valley until 1884, but in the process fell heavily into debt, and the descendant of the last kahuna nui in Waimea had to mortgage and lease the land. Soon after she died in 1886, the property was foreclosed. Over the next 20 years the valley changed hands at puhlie auetion several times, and by the turn of the 20th century it was in the control of the Castle & Cook pineapple and sugar company. Between 1894 and 1898, a series of floods hit the valley, causing vast destruction and forcing the majority of the Native Hawaiians living in Waimea to give up their land and leave. In 1903, historian Thomas Thrum described the effects of the floods: "The tremendous freshets [flood-

waters] ... terminated the agricultural enterprise of its people by washing out to sea the growing taro from its terraced banks; the fruit and coffee trees planted along its slopes, and filling up the taro patches and the bed of its stream with debris, rocks and boulders several feet deep ... houses and other property were swept away and three lives lost in the effort to rescue personal effects from the madrushing torrent." In the early part of the 20th century, Waimea was used for ranching and fanning. Along with immigrants of other extractions, a community of Iapanese farmers moved into the valley and lived at a settlement called Fujita Camp. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the military moved in, building artillery positions and other installations around the valley. Waimea as theme park In the 1960s and 1970s, eommercialism further obscured the valley's sacred past. The Waimea

Falls Ranch and Stables offered 75-cent stagecoach rides, complete with actors who rode alongside playing cowboys and Indians. A restaurant and gift shop appeared, guided tours were offered in openair trolleys, and visitors could attend a cliff-diving show or see a hula dance. At one time, ahnost 2,000 people visited the park eaeh day, but the archaeological richness of Waimea Valley went largely unnoticed. A 1 50-acre arboretum and botanieal garden was established with native and endangered Hawaiian plants, as well as exotic plants from many other areas around the world. The arboretum has now heeome an important repository for threatened plant life from many tropical regions. Eventually, however, the park fell on hard times, and in 1996 New York theme-park developer Christian Wolffer purchased the valley by assuming the previous owner's $12-million mortgage. Under Wolffer, the valley was

transformed into an "adventure park," with ATV trails and high admission prices, but the operation continued to struggle financially. Eventually, Wolffer tried to sell the valley as a private residence, then placed it into bankruptcy. In 2002, the City and County of Honolulu moved to acquire the property through condemnation, and awarded a lease to the Nahonal Audubon Society, whieh currently manages the park as an ecological and cultural visitor center. Meanwhile, the court case over the condemnation of the valley slowly ground forward, and was scheduled for a trial this winter. In November, however, Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann proposed a settlement in the case that would have returned the majority of the valley to Wolffer. That proposal was defeated by the Honolulu City Council after a puhlie outcry against it. Then, in December, a new deal was announced under whieh the valley would be purchased from

Wolffer for $14 million by a partnership including the city, the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, the U.S. Army and the Audubon Society, with title to property to be assumed by OHA for eventual transfer to a future Hawaiian governing entity. As of this writing, negotiations over the final details of the settlement eonhnue. Waimea Valley's past has taken many turns as its inhabitants have eome and gone, and its landscape has been used, exploited, and modified. Despite the many changes, Waimea is still respected today as a sacred and powerful valley and recognized as a plaee filled with history. A priest no longer presides over the area, yet the power of its past leaders remains in the spirit of the valley. It seems only fitting that ownership of this "Valley of the Priests" should now return to Hawaiian hands after more than a century of control by others. S

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