Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 39, Number 11, 1 November 2022 — Through the Eyes of Hālawa [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Through the Eyes of Hālawa

By Adam Keawe Manalo-Camp For almost a thousand years, Hālawa on O'ahu was known for its varieties of upland kalo, large 'awa groves, medicinal herbs, feathers for cloaks, and an ample supply of pili grass used to thatch homes. The valley is also dotted with ancient temples, house sites, cave burials, and agricultural works. Hālawa had an ancient and rare birthing site similar to that of Kūkaniloko. The presence of a Hale o Papa (women's temple) and a birthing site suggests the valley played an important role in rituals associated with women, particularly Papahānaumoku and Hina. The arrival of Westerners brought plagues that decimated the thriving population of the valley within a generation. In the 19th century, ranching and sugar operations tried to supplant the valley only to be resisted by floods from Hālawa Stream whieh refused to be eontrolled. The only remnants of their time in the valley are the eucalyptus and ironwood trees. Today, Hālawa is mostly known for the H-3 freeway that destroyed a number of significant ritual and cultural sites and sparked sit-ins and protests - not just to protect the valley but to uphold the dignity of our ancestors as a whole. The valley is part of the ahupua'a of Hālawa itself, also known by its more formal name of Nāmakaohālawa (the eyes of Hālawa), in the moku (district) of 'Ewa. The ahupua'a of Hālawa extends ma kai from the eastern banks of Pu'uloa including Moku'ume'ume (Ford Island), the lands between Kamanaiki and Kamananui streams, and ma uka to the uplands of the Ko'olau mountains including Leilono near Kapūkakī (Red Hill). From this perspective, Hālawa was rich not with only lo'i kalo (both dry and wet land) but also with a dozen large fishponds (now lost due to the military), and a number of sites associated with royalty. The voyaging Nana'ulu dynasty of chiefs was associated with Hālawa Valley. Queen Emma, a descendant of the Nana'ulu chiefs, had a yellow house where Hiekam military base is today. Two ancient fishponds called Holokahiki and Kumuma'u 'Ili were part of Queen Emma's estate and now lie buried helow the runways of the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport. It was said that these and other fishponds in the area were built by people with supernatural powers known as the 'e'epa. The queen's fishponds were known for having fat nahawale mussels. Near the fishponds were huge taro fields. The queen was a kalo connoisseur and was fond of the kāīkoi variety of kalo that grew in the area. Kāīkoi was said to be one of the toughest kalo to pound and only a man or a woman from 'Ewa knew how to achieve the proper texture. With so mueh history and so many 'ono

foods, it is little wonder why the queen so loved Hālawa that she was sometimes called the "Ka Wahine Ali'i o Hālawa" whieh English languages newspapers translated as the "Countess of Hālawa." Mo'olelo of Hālawa speaks of the presence of a number of female mo'o (lizard) and shark deities. Some of these mo'o remain nameless but among the more well-known was Kānekua'ana. Kānekua'ana was a well-respected and beloved mo'o who guarded the entire moku and who left descendants. When there was a shortage of fish and the people of 'Ewa grew hungry, they prayed to her and built a waihau. Waihau are similar to kū'ula (shrines) but are normally dedicated to female akua and mo'o. At this waihau, her kin dedicated fruits and burned a fire to eall her attention. Kānekua'ana heard their prayers and brought pipi (oysters) and pāpaua (shellfish) from Kahiki. The pipi in that area was said to be juicy and was the envy of other districts. According to a story recorded by Mary Kawena Pukui, in the 1800s a kapu was placed on the pipi. A woman picked pipi during the kapu season

and was told by a konohiki (the land manager for an ahupua'a who reported to the ali'i) to return what she had picked. The woman dutifully returned her catch but the konohiki then demanded that she pay a fine of one dollar. The woman was poor and paid the fine with her last dollar. It was said that Kānekua'ana heard of this and grew angry at the treatment of this impoverished woman by the konohiki. She then gathered up all the pipi and since that time the pipi population had diminished and what remained lacked the tastiness of years past. This serves as a reminder that the spiritual guardians of the land are kind to those who are themselves kind. The recent history of Hālawa has been unkind as the valley has been assaulted by waves of devastation in the name of "progress." But Hālawa continues to remind us of our kuleana to kū e for our heritage. ■ Adam Keawe Manalo-Camp grew up in Papakōlea and is a Hawaiian and Filipino writer, blogger and independent researcher.

ln this 2006 photo taken in Hōlawa Valley the pueo rockface is clearly visible. Pueo is the 'aumakua (guardian) of the valley and pueo ean often be seen flying in Hōlawa Valley in the afternoons. Due to overgrowth of foliage, today the rockface is difficult to see and hard to get to. - Phoio: Jan Becket