Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 38, Number 3, 1 Malaki 2021 — Fishponds, Factories and Families [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Fishponds, Factories and Families

By Puanani Fernandez-Akamine

Change eame to all of Hawai'i after the "discovery" of our islands by British explorers, but few places in our pae 'āina were as quickly or as profoundly affected as Kaka'ako. Kaka'ako is not the area's original name; plaee names often change with the passing of time. The area we now eall Kaka'ako, located on the south shore of O'ahu between downtown Honolulu and Waikīkī, is actually part of two 'ili (smaller land divisions within an ahupua'a); Ka'ākaukukui to the west and Kukuluāe'o to the east. And the area just ma uka was known as Kewalo. It was part of a network of important wahi pana and a plaee of significance in Hawaiian society where ali'i and kahuna alike maintained residences. The inland coastal areas of Kaka'ako and Kewalo were wetlands, distinctive for their brackish marshes, fresh water springs and salt ponds. Kalo and 'uala were abundant in the fertile mauka lands. But the area was most famous for its rich hsheries. It was part of a large system of fishponds, reefs and productive fishing grounds that extended along 0'ahu's south shore from 'Ewa to Maunalua. Activities along the coastal

waters and reefs included fishpond farming, pa'akai (salt) harvesting, limu gathering and all types of fishing, from nearshore to deep sea. To this day, Kewalo is known for fishing. Salt-making and subsistence fishing activities continued in Kaka'ako during the early and mid-19th century mueh as they did in the previous century. But the harbor at Honolulu drew whaling and merchant ships, and, along with new ideas, they brought new diseases whieh devastated Kānaka Maoli. Kaka'ako played an important role in that grim history. In February 1853, smallpox arrived in Hawai'i aboard the Charles Mallory, an American merchant ship sailing out of San Francisco. As the disease ravaged the population, a smallpox quarantine eamp and hospital were set up in Kaka'ako. By the time the epidemic abated in January 1854, more than 5,700 people, most of them Native Hawaiians, had perished. Because there were so many deaths, many of the victims were buried at Kaka'ako in shallow graves. Kaka'ako continued to be used to quarantine individuals with deadly diseases. In 1881, a hospital and receiving

station for Hanson's Disease (leprosy) patients was built there and in 1899, when huhonie plague swept through Chinatown, infected patients were moved to a quarantine eamp at Kaka'ako. By the end of the 19th century, increasing urbanization in Honolulu began changing the appearance of Kaka'ako. A landscape dominated for centuries by fishponds and wetlands was irrevocably transformed. It began with the dredging and deepening of Honolulu Harbor in the 1840s. This type of activity continued well into the 20th century. Extensive dredging and infilling of reefs, fishponds and wetlands extended the Kaka'ako shoreline, enabling the construction of commercial businesses and forever altering the geography and ecology of the region. In the decades that followed, Kaka'ako was the site of a massive garbage dump, two incinerators (one built in 1905 and the second in 1930) and a sewage pumping station.

A close-knit working-class community flourished in Kaka'ako for decades unlil rezoning of the area in the 1 950s forced families oul. Pictured here are homes on Ahui Street in 1945. Modern Kaka'ako Makai sits on land that was formed by infilling the pristine reef with dredged material, debris, trash and incinerator ash. As the wetlands disappeared and the fishponds were filled, the area heeame a prime location for large-scale industrial uses such as the Honolulu Iron Works, lumber yards, a tuna cannery and a flour mill. And as Honolulu heeame larger, busier and more prosperous, people flocked to the urban center from rural areas looking for opportunity, many of them ending up in Kaka'ako. By the turn of the century, the periphery of Kaka'ako heeame known for its poverty as shantytowns of SEE FISHPONDS, FACTDRIES AND FAMILIES ON PAGE 21

FISHP0NDS, FACT0RIES AND FAMILIES Continued from page 20

mostly Native Hawaiians were established at "Blue Pond" and "Squattersville." In the 1920s, the Territorial Government razed the settlements at Blue Pond and Squattersville, forcing more than 700 impoverished Native Hawaiians to move. A multi-ethnic working class community that included Hawaiians, Japanese, Chinese, Portugese and Filipinos - described by some as an "urban plantation village" - was also established at Kaka'ako during the latter part of the 19th century. For decades this community thrived, and the people who grew up there have fond memories of a tight-knit eommunity bound not by culture, but by shared experiences. By the mid-20th century Kaka'ako had a population of about 5,000 and boasted three movie theatres, six schools, churches, poi factories, sake breweries, rice mills, laundries, bakeries, groceries, and all sorts of stores. In the 1950s, rezoning of the neighborhood displaced most of the community and by the 1960s few remained. Warehouses and factories, quonset huts and auto repair shops replaced homes, transitioning Kaka'ako to a dedicated industrial area. Things began to shift again in the 1970s. The landmark Honolulu Iron Works shut down after more than 120 years, and planners recommended transforming Kaka'ako from an industrial center to an area of "mixed use" to include residential buildings, restaurants and shops. By the end of the decade, some 2,000 people, mostly renters, were living in Kaka'ako. Today, Kaka'ako is being revitalized and developed into a trendy, mixed-use urban community. The Howard Hughes Corporation is the largest developer in Kaka'ako. Their planned development, Ward Village, will include 4,000 high-rise luxury residences and more than a million square feet of retail and commercial space on 60 acres of land. Another key developer in Kaka'ako is Kamehameha Schools. They are developing 29 acres there that will include commercial space and high-rise market-price residences, However, Kamehameha's plans also include affordable and workforce housing on two of its nine parcels.

In 2012, OHA was conveyed 30 acres at Kaka'ako Makai as a settlement for money owed to OHA by the state for Public Land Trust (ceded land) revenues. Kaka'ako Makai is also the location of the Gateway and Waterfront Parks, the John A. Burns School of Medicine, the Children's Discovery Center and the 53 By The Sea restaurant.

As OHA plans for the mixed-use development of its lands at Kaka'ako Makai, leadership is committed to the importance of balancing eeonomie prudence with the eultural, social and spiritual values of our kūpuna in order to preserve the eonneehon between our past, our present and our future. ■

By the end of the 1 9th century, Kaka'ako had heeome known for poverty, and at there were at least two communities of squatters, mostly Native Hawaiians, living on the fringes of the area. Pictured here is a squatter's shack in Kewalo circa 1895-1898. The government razed the encampments in the 1 920s displacing more than 700 people.

A traditional activity in the Kaka'ako area was salt production. Salt was extremely valuable, not just as a seasoning, but as a preservative. This photo of salt ponds in Kaka'ako was taken around 1890.

L-R- Fishermen repair nets at Kewalo Basin in 1940. I The landscape of Kaka'ako was forever changed as a result of dredging activities and infilling of wetlands, fishponds and reefs to create "usable" land. This is a pholo of dredging at Kewalo Basin in 1913. 1 For decades coastal land in Kaka'ako was used as an enormous garbage dump. The first incinerator was built at Kaka'ako in 1905. The second incinerator, pictured here, was built in 1930.

... • I 1 1 m A view of Punchbowl Crater from the Kaka'ako/Kewalo area in 1 885. The area was renowned for its wetlands and fishponds. - Photos: Bishop Museum