Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 32, Number 7, 1 July 2015 — OHA helps safeguard Kuamo ʻo's heritage [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

OHA helps safeguard Kuamo ʻo's heritage

Contributed by Trust for Public Land and Aloha Kuamo'o 'Āina

On May 28, 20 15, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs Board of Trustees voted unanimously to contribute $500,000 toward the purchase and protection of the Kuamo'o battlefield and sacred burial grounds. OHA's contribution supplements $3 million already committed by the State Legacy Land Conservation Program (the No. 1 project and the largest grant in the program's history) and $750,000 to be raised privately by The Trust for Puhlie Land, a national nonprofit conservation group, and Aloha Kuamo'o 'Āina, a nonprofit formed by descendants of those who gave their

lives īn the histonc battle. Ihe groups have raised nearly 90 percent of their fundraising goal of $4.25 million to purchase 47 acres of the Kuamo'o coastal land located south of Keauhou, and to protect, steward and restore the land.

Historic and sacred ground Accounts of the historic battle and the events leading up to it differ. In general, before Kamehameha I died in May 1819, he

namea two neirs - nis son Linoliho (Kamehameha II) received his lands and political power, and his

nepnew Js.eKuaoKalam was entrusted witn tne care of his feathered war god Kūkā'ilimoku. Strongly encouraged by Kamehameha I's pow-

erlul queens/widows, Keopulam and Ka'ahumanu, Liholiho symbolically shared a meal of forbidden foods with the women of his court to set aside the 'ai kapu (eating taboos, but encompassing the

time of mourning a beloved ali'i nui was the time to 'ai noa, and that when the period of mourning was complete, the new mō'I (ruler) would re-establish the kapu and reset the order of the kingdom. So, it is possible that the meal shared by Liholiho and the women of his court was observed in a time of traditional 'ai noa, and Liholiho chose not to reinstate the 'ai kapu. Regardless, either the breaking of the 'ai kapu, or Liholiho's ehoiee to not reinstate the kapu was a drastic change. Liholiho's cousin, Kekuaokalani, resisted this change. In December 1819, Liholiho sent his Prime Minister Kalanimoku to defeat Kekuaokalani and the forces he had amassed. Kekuaokalani marched up the Kona coast from Ka'awaloa and met Kalanimoku's forces at Lekeleke, south of Keauhou. The battle was fought with muskets, spears, slingstones and clubs. Kalanimoku's/Liholiho's forces were supported by a swivel gun mounted on a dou-ble-hulled eanoe and cannons on a western

code ot conduct governing contact between men and women) and

imtiated 'ai noa (eating without restnctions, but meaning a time of no adherence to the traditional Hawaiian religion, laws and regulations). Historian Samuel M. Kamakau wrote that the

frigate. The first skirmish is said to have favored Kekuaokalani - with Liholiho's forces suffering a temporary defeat at Lekeleke. Liholiho's forces regrouped and allegedly trapped Kekuaokalani at Kuamo'o between forces on land and a flotilla of canoes at sea. Kekekuokalani's wife Chiefess Manono (sister of Kalanimoku) accompanied Kekuaokalani into battle, and was slain beside him at battle's end. Hundreds of warriors died. Liholiho ordered that his men be buried in the terraced graves at Lekeleke, located to the north of the property. Kekuaokalani, Manono and their followers are said to have been left exposed or buried at Kuamo'o under makeshift stone cairns.

Ihe Battle ol Kuamo'o marked a pivotal turning point in Hawaiian history. Following the SEE KUAMO'O ON PAGE 23

Hālau Hula Na Lei Kaumaka 0 Uka's visit to Kuamo'o before the Merrie Monarch Festival. - Courtesy: Lma Kaakua

Kuamo'o as seen from the water. - Courtesy: Rob Scballenberger

Aunty Nona Beamer. - Courtesy: Ricky Cooke traditional Hawaiian

"Aloha Kuamo'o 'Āina's plan to use this land as a plaee of learning and peaee is an answer to my prayers," says Mrs. Margaret "Possum" Schattauer, a descendant of Kamehameha I, whose family owns the land at Kuamo'o. - Courtesy pboto

KUAMO'O

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battle, traditional gods were abandoned and ki'i representing those gods destroyed. The first group of missionaries arrived only three months later, in March 1820, to find an incredibly spiritual people with a void. Hawai'i was forever changed. Historian Kamakau interpreted the battle as the fulfillment of the prophecy of the famous seer Kapihe - who told Kamehameha that the islands would unite, the taboos will fall, the high shall be brought low and the low shall rise to the heavens. Others disagree with Kamakau and feel that the prophecy has yet to be fulfilled. In addition to this historic and pivotal battle, the land at Kuamo'o includes Lonohelemua Heiau and Pū'o'a Heiau, shrines and ceremonial areas, sea caves (haunt of the shark god Ukanipo), salt pans, agricultural terraces, the remains of an historic village and residence, and part of the Ala Kahakai National Historic Trail. The opportunity A Hawaiian family, the Paris/ Schattauers, have owned and ranched the land at Kuamo'o for several decades. Eighty-eight-year-old Mrs. Margaret "Possum" Schattauer, a descendant of Henry O'opukahaia and Keoua on her father's side, and Kamehameha I on her mother's side, has long desired to preserve the land. The Trust for Public Land connected Mrs. Schattauer with Aloha Kuamo'o 'Āina, a nonprofit founded by famed musician Keola Beamer and his wife, Kumu Hula Moanalani Beamer. Keola is the son of Winona Kapuailohiamanonokalani Desha Beamer, fondly known as "Aunty Nona," famed kumu hula, composer, educator and activist. The Beamers are descendants of Chiefess Manono. Aunty Nona handed down the history of Kuamo'o in chant and hula in a video, E Manono, recorded by the Hula Preservation Society. In it, Aunty Nona tells the story of Chiefess Manono covering her slain husband Kekuaokalani's face

with his feather eape, picking up his spear to join the battle and chanting "Kō aloha la ea," a plea to both sides that no matter what obstacles eome to Hawai'i, keep your love of one another. Aloha Kuamo'o 'Āina believes that Manono's legacy of mālama kō aloha - holding fast to one's love of Hawai'i and its people - lives on, and envisions the land as a center of education for peaee, justice and reconciliation, transforming a plaee of conflict into a refuge for meaningful learning and plaeebased education integrating Native Hawaiian and indigenous cultures in modern life. Onee the land acquisition is eompleted, it will engage neighboring landowners and the loeal eommunity in planning for the land's future; restoring the cultural, historical and ecological integrity of the landscape; reconnecting keiki, kūpuna and displaced family to the mo'olelo, wahi pani and values of Kuamo'o through music, health and lived experience; and share the values of aloha as practiced by Native Hawaiians and expressed through our islands' multiethnic diversity and cultural richness to promote peaee and justice in our world. The need The Trust for Public Land and Aloha Kuamo'o 'Āina have raised nearly 90 percent of the $4.25 million goal, and need the eommunity's help to raise the final funding needed to purchase and protect these lands forever. If you would like to join others in honoring those who fell in the historic battle and show that this important history is not forgotten, please visit www.protectkuamoo.org to make a secure donation, or eall The Trust for Public Land at 524-8694. The website also includes videos of Aunty Nona Beamer and Hālau Hula Na Lei Kaumaka O Uka's E Manono powerful second-place wahine kahiko performance at the 2015 Merrie Monarch Festival courtesy of the Hula Preservation Society, the Merrie Monarch Festival and Hālau Hula Na Lei Kaumaka O Uka. ■