Waikiki: A History of Forgetting & Remembering

CHAN FEESER (Continued from front flap)

WAIKIKI

A History of Forgetting & Remembering

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Long before it became a tourist Mecca, Waikîkî (“Place of Spouting Waters”) was a watery expanse fed by mountain streams, underground springs, and ocean waves. Its waters irrigated taro plantations, which in turn fed man-made ponds rich in fish and seaweed. Waikîkî nourished the spirits of Native Hawaiians as well as their bodies. The area was considered sacred; several heiau (temples) were built and many came for spiritual healing. Early Asian immigrants to Hawai‘i continued to raise fish in Waikîkî, as well as duck, and cultivated acres of rice paddies. Only in the last century would Waikîkî’s waters be drained, purportedly to combat disease carried by mosquitoes, initiating a relentless reclamation of land for defense and building by military officials, government leaders, and businessmen. Waikîkî’s environment was ravaged, and many of its people were displaced to make way for military installations and hotels.

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WAIKI KI A History of Forgetting & Remembering

GAYE CHAN is an artist and teaches at the University of Hawai‘i. ANDREA FEESER is a writer and teaches art history, previously at the University of Hawai‘i and currently at Clemson University. In 1998 Chan and Feeser founded DownWind Productions, a collaborative of activists, artists, and educators, to explore the past and present effects of colonialism, capitalism, and tourism in Waikîkî. For more information, please visit www.downwindproductions.com

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Waikîkî: A History of Forgetting and Remembering critically examines the diverse ways Waikîkî has been remembered in official history and collective memory. It will alter the way we view this famous site by challenging its portrayal exclusively as a tourist destination. This fine-grained history of Waikîkî’s environment and culture will appeal to a wide range of readers.

Waikîkî: A History of Forgetting and Remembering presents a compelling cultural and environmental history of the area, exploring its place not only in the popular imagination, but also through the experiences of those who lived there. Employing a wide range of primary and secondary sources— including historical texts and photographs, government documents, newspaper accounts, posters, advertisements, and personal interviews— an artist and a cultural historian join forces to reveal how rich agricultural sites and sacred places were transformed into one of the world’s most famous vacation destinations.

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immigrants, settlers, and visitors interact with one another and with the islands’ natural resources. The book’s creators counter this narrative of displacement and destruction with stories—less known or forgotten—of resistance and protest. Throughout they provide important interpretive frameworks often ignored in the examination of Hawai‘i’s popular and visual culture to give readers a better understanding of the decisions of Hawai‘i’s leaders and politicians and the business practices of hotel entrepreneurs and beachboys—as well as recent communal efforts to revive a wetland habitat in Waikîkî.

ISBN-13: 978-0-8248-2979-7 ISBN-10: 0-8248-2979-4

Gaye

Chan

art & design www.uhpress.hawaii.edu

Andrea

Feeser

author

The story of Waikîkî’s conversion from a vital self-sufficient community to a tourist dystopia is one of colonial oppression and unchecked capitalist development, both of which have fundamentally transformed all of Hawai‘i. Colonialism and capitalism have not only changed the look and function of the landscape, but also how Native Hawaiians,

(Continued on back flap)

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WAIKIˉKIˉ

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WAIKIˉKIˉ

A History of Forgetting & Remembering Gaye

Chan

art & design Andrea

Feeser

author

University of Hawai‘i Press Honolulu, Hawai‘i

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The publication of this book was made possible through sponsorship of the Native Hawaiian Center of Excellence, John A. Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawai‘i at Mânoa. Partial funding for this publication was provided by the Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources Services Administration, Bureau of Health Professions, Division of Health Careers, Diversity and Development.

© 2006 University of Hawai‘i Press All rights reserved Printed in the People’s Republic of China 11

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Feeser, Andrea. Waikiki : a history of forgetting and remembering / text by Andrea Feeser ; design by Gaye Chan. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-0-8248-2979-7 (cloth : alk. paper) ISBN-10: 0-8248-2979-4 (cloth : alk. paper) 1. Waikiki (Honolulu, Hawaii)—History. 2. Waikiki (Honolulu, Hawaii)—Social life and customs. 3. Waikiki (Honolulu, Hawaii)—Description and travel. I. Chan, Gaye, 1957– II. Title. DU629.H7F44 2006 996.9’31—dc22 2005037459

University of Hawai‘i Press books are printed on acid-free paper and meet the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Council on Library Resources. Printed by Golden Cup Printing Co., Ltd. Composited by Santos Barbasa Jr. of the University of Hawai‘i Press

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This book is dedicated to everyone who nourished the Place of Spouting Waters whose names do not (yet) appear in the historical record.

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Ala Wai – Ka lia

Kaluaokau Hamohamo – Kaneloa Ulunui Helumoa

–

Le ‘ahi

Kawehewehe Kapua

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Contents

Preface

ix

Acknowledgments

xi

Introduction – ‘ahi Le

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Ala Wai – lia Ka

25

Kawehewehe

53

Helumoa

63

Uluniu

75

Kaluaokau

89

39

Hamohamo – neloa and Kapua Ka

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Conclusion

127

Waiki–ki– Timeline

139

Notes

147

maps

164

Glossary

167

Historical Figures

171

List of Images

175

Index

183

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Preface

Waikîkî: A History of Forgetting and Remembering and the public art project Historic Waikîkî (http://www.downwindproductions.com), of which it is a part, reflect our commitment to critiquing the operations of colonialism and capitalism, especially in Hawai‘i, where Chan currently lives and Feeser has lived for six years. Analyses of Hawai‘i and its peoples within the frameworks of colonialism and capitalism are varied and contentious: our work contributes to this rich and complex terrain. “I” in this book refers to Feeser as the book’s author. “We” at times refers to Feeser and Chan as cocreators of Waikîkî: A History of Forgetting and Remembering and sometimes to those reading the book. Elsewhere “we” is used more broadly to denote people who consume resources and cultures through tourism. Current accepted spelling of Hawaiian words has been used throughout the text except in two instances: with proper and place names that are often written in older style without diacritical marks; and with organizations’ names that appear without diacritical marks in their own literature.

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Acknowledgments

We are extremely grateful to all who have contributed to this book, which benefited from the expertise and efforts of many people. We thank Creative Capital; Clemson University’s College of Architecture, Arts and Humanities; and the University of Hawai‘i John A. Burns School of Medicine’s Native Hawaiian Center of Excellence for their financial support of the book, as well as everyone at the University of Hawai‘i Press who helped with the project, especially our editor, Masako Ikeda, and production consultants Brad Barrett and Santos Barbasa. The research for this book was made possible by Hawai‘i’s extraordinary textual and visual resources, particularly those available at the Hawai‘i State Library and Archives, the Bishop Museum Library and Archives, and the University of Hawai‘i Hamilton Library Hawaiian Collection. We are indebted to the following people from these institutions: DeSoto Brown, Marlene Donovan-Pa‘ahao, Joan Hori, Debbe Lee, Dore Minatodani, Victoria Nihi, and Ron Schaeffer. We are grateful for the important work of the many writers cited in this book and also for the generous help from Dale M. Allison, Judith Bowman, Chris Chapman, Terrye Conroy, Lynette Cruz, Pila Kikuchi, Kehau Kruse, Stephen Kubota, Michelle Spalding Matson, Priscilla Munson, Chris Myers, Warren Nishimoto, Nalani Olds, Kristi Siegel, and Robert Weyeneth. We extend special thanks to those who read all or portions of the manuscript, notably the anonymous reviewers; our copy editor, Jenn Harada; and especially Jenny Bourne and Noenoe Silva, who provided invaluable guidance.

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Introduction

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– – Mai noho ‘oe a ho ‘oni i ka wai ua lana ma lie. Do not stay and disturb the water floating peacefully.

—Mary Kawena Pukui and Samuel H. Elbert, Hawaiian Dictionary The pages that you turn in this book—the images and words on them—tell stories of Waikîkî, a site on the island of O‘ahu with a Hawaiian name that means “place of spouting waters.” Presented through the art and writing of two individuals, these stories communicate the deeds, designs, and dreams of countless people who have known Waikîkî. Physical traces of these people’s connections to Waikîkî, such as photographs, maps, and quotations, are incorporated into what follows. What you will view, read, and ponder is therefore an adventure through place and time that in many ways is like Waikîkî itself: an entity that unfurls as a particular kind of space with a specific sort of vision, built upon and shaped by layers of history and interpretation. The Waikîkî you encounter here, however, is not the Waikîkî of advertisements geared toward tourists, which promise a paradisiacal idyll free from the trials and tribulations of everyday life. As this fantasy is told and retold, Waikîkî’s real histories are willfully forgotten. Forgetting and Remembering Waikîkî resurrects historical events to explore a place fundamentally structured by trials and tribulations, where escape is possible only if you turn a blind eye to past and present realities. In the following chapters, you will certainly encounter a great deal of beauty and pleasure, but you will experience it alongside brutality and pain. Through carefully chosen stories and pictures, we have gathered in this book a journey about remembering. The twin engines that will drive this journey are colonialism and capitalism, two institutions that have fundamentally transformed Waikîkî and all of Hawai‘i. Colonialism and capitalism have not only changed the look and functions of land and

water throughout the Hawaiians Islands; they have profoundly affected how Hawai‘i’s indigenous people, settlers, and visitors interact with one another and with the islands’ natural resources. Our travels in this book track the ebb and flow of colonialism and capitalism in Waikîkî and chart how the course of these forces through the area is related to the draining of its spouting waters. When Waikîkî’s waters ran, it was a sacred site rich in aquaculture and sea harvesting as well as a favored dwelling and surfing spot for kânaka maoli (Native Hawaiians). When Waikîkî’s waters were stilled, it became a site developed for settlers and tourists who desired access to Hawai‘i’s sun, sand, and surf. As this shift occurred, Waikîkî’s waters, lands, and people were ravaged: Native Hawaiians who cared for their natural resources with ecologically sound stewardship were dislocated by beachgoers whose activities tax both natural and human resources. Although tourism, Hawai‘i’s single largest industry, brings billions of dollars to America’s fiftieth state, it does so at a cost that includes a damaged environment, a displaced population, and an underpaid workforce. We can trace Waikîkî’s transformation from a self-sustaining Native Hawaiian community to an urban resort by examining how its waters were drained. Thus, these waters will serve as a metaphor for how Waikîkî and its people have suffered and resisted the destructive effects of colonialism and capitalism. Water, perhaps our most precious resource, is a fitting symbol: we all understand its incomparable value as the source of life. It comprises 75 percent of the earth’s surface and constitutes more than 50 percent of our bodies. It nourishes and cleanses every living thing on earth. We not Introduction | 1

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only drink and wash with water, we also plumb its depths for food and harness it to irrigate crops and habitats. We use water for transportation, sport, and leisure, and we study its characteristics and contents to learn about the natural world. We admire its beauty and gain inspiration from its workings; therefore, it sustains our souls, bodies, and minds. The waters of Waikîkî—most of which have been filled, diverted, or altered—once provided many people with all of these blessings. Although water provides us with so many gifts, we regularly treat it with disrespect and assume that it is always available for use as we please. This is true not only of water in Waikîkî, but of waters the world over. Americans and other people from wealthy, industrialized nations consume vast quantities of water without knowing or caring about the consequences. We use a tremendous amount of water in our homes; pour tons of sewage, industrial waste, and urban runoff into oceans and lakes; develop waterfronts without consider-

ing the environmental impact; divert groundwater to irrigate desert home sites and golf courses; and operate water vehicles that emit foul pollutants. Although environmentalists warn us that we are steadily destroying and depleting water sources, we can’t imagine giving up the luxuries that we view as our needs and consider our right. How could we make do without a twenty-minute shower, a good soaking for our rose bushes, or an occasional round of golf? The logic of colonialism and capitalism lies at the heart of our requirement for “the good life.” The basic impulse of entitlement fuels both systems, and most of us recognize our own investment in the notion that the world is our oyster—to be pried open for its pearls. In this book, we will show that the steady stream of outsiders who came to Hawai‘i’s shores believed that the islands had a great deal to give them, and these people often got what they wanted. Although the acquisitions varied and were achieved through a range of means, they largely reflect a conceit of individuals living in capitalist nations with a history of conquest: if I can make something of it, it should be mine. We are the inheritors of this conceit and the transformations it wrought and continues to effect in Waikîkî and all of Hawai‘i. Oftentimes, we cannot imagine that transforming what we take can be problematic because generally, what we have in mind is improvement. Sometimes we view this in a very elemental sense: it will improve my well-being; it will make me happy! On other occasions, our motives are more altruistic. We think that what we do will benefit others. Frequently these two notions are intertwined and supported by value systems that we do not question. For example, when I purchase a Waikîkî vacation package for my family, I do so not only to provide myself with leisure, but also to supply my loved ones with enjoyment. For me, vacationing where I please is a reality of the American Dream. We Americans work hard, and because of our dedicated labor, we sometimes get to play hard. We even pay for our fun, funneling our wages back into the economy at vacation

2 | Introduction

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playgrounds that industrious people like ourselves have built to provide for our well-deserved pleasures. Indeed, since I work tirelessly to earn money for a holiday, and because guidebooks and tourist brochures show me that Waikîkî is all about frolicking in the sun, I don’t hesitate to charge plane tickets and hotel rooms to my credit card. My hard-won money will buy my family and me a week of relaxation and excitement at a destination whose sole purpose is to cater to tourists. The people in Waikîkî who tend to us are compensated for their labor, and the taxes on my vacation purchases support the infrastructure and businesses that keep Waikîkî clean and running. I believe what I have been told for as long as I can remember: work assiduously to provide for yourself and your nearest and dearest, and you will earn time off to purchase fun at vacation spots that exist for your enjoyment and that contribute to local economies.

This is the story I try to tell myself as I look at my vacation pictures of children playing on the beach and adults sipping cocktails. However, in my mind are many other tales—and they come with images of their own. Some of these Waikîkî stories are history lessons that describe the dredging of thriving fishponds and the filling of taro patches with coral rubble. Some stories feature condemnation proceedings with pictures of kânaka maoli being pushed out of the way for land reclamation and real estate development. Other stories showcase the construction of world-class hotels with pictures of Asian staff and Native Hawaiian performers working for affluent Caucasian travelers. My Waikîkî vacation story and pictures are built on these and other histories, including tales and images that are contemporary with my own. Perhaps, the young Native Hawaiian woman who taught my child to play the ukulele remembers her great-grandfather’s eviction from his Waikîkî home and envisions the day that Hawai‘i is sovereign again. Maybe the middle-aged Japanese man who served my dinner recalls his mother’s forced labor at Waikîkî’s Fort DeRussy during World War II and envisions a time when he can afford to take her to the restaurant I dined in every night of my vacation. The past, present, and future of the people who made my holiday dream a reality are not necessarily as bright as my brief week in the sun. While there is majesty in Waikîkî’s long history, glory in its lingering beauties, and hope for its coming days, much of its power and harmony have been drained off along with its waters. Our approach to water in general mirrors our approach to Waikîkî in particular: we make of it what we will and use it for our pleasures and imagined needs. We understand little of the costs and consequences. In this book, we will examine some of what was depleted in the Place of Spouting Waters—what was literally spent—and we will explore some of what resulted from this loss.



The Hawaiian Islands are intimately bound to water: they are surrounded by ocean, crisscrossed by streams, and dotted

4 | Introduction

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with waterfalls. Springs well up in locales all over the islands, which also feature numerous ponds. Rains pour down from mountaintops—wreathing valleys in rainbows—and vapors rise from volcanic fissures. Everywhere you tread and everywhere you look, you feel, hear, smell and see water. Although visitors to Waikîkî today experience abundant water at their vacation destination—the vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean— in years past they would have encountered much more. Until the first two decades of the twentieth century, Waikîkî literally overflowed with rich sources of fresh and brackish water: a spring, seasonal wetlands, and three streams that channeled rainwater from the mountains into ponds and finally, the sea. These waters nourished and sustained Waikîkî’s plants, land, and sea creatures, as well as the Native Hawaiians who made the region their home. Kânaka maoli born and raised at Waikîkî descended from Polynesians who traveled to the Hawaiian Islands in waves, the first dating from as early as 300.1 Those who settled in the islands brought with them foodstuffs from their native lands, and dramatically changed the natural environment they encountered in order to grow their plants. They cleared a great deal of forest to cultivate bananas, breadfruit, sweet potatoes, sugar cane, taro, and yams. They also cleared silt from denuded areas drained from streams into lagoons and bays, likely affecting fish in these habitats.2 These transformations were not harmful in the long run, for Hawai‘i’s early people developed stewardship practices that turned harvested areas of land and water into mutually beneficial ecosystems. For example, in Waikîkî, streams irrigated taro plantations whose waters fed fishponds, and ponds near the shore contained brackish water that nourished varieties of fish and limu (seaweed). Indeed, Waikîkî’s waters not only made the area a rich farming ground, but also a sacred place frequented for physical and spiritual renewal. Ali‘i nui, divine aristocrats who served as interlocutors with Hawai‘i’s gods and governed Hawai‘i’s people, favored Waikîkî as a dwelling site because

of its freshwater, bountiful agricultural, and ocean harvests, as well as its ready access to sea transportation. Waikîkî was thus suffused with the mana (spiritual power) of these sacred rulers, who in their roles as providers oversaw the vast taro and fishfarming complex established in the area. Maka‘âinana (planters) tended Waikîkî’s loko (fishponds) and lo‘i (taro patches) and collected and caught other foodstuffs from the shore and ocean depths. They therefore supplied abundant food for themselves as well as the ali‘i and kâhuna (priests, healers, and teachers) who presided over rituals at Waikîkî’s heiau (shrines), which protected and blessed the community. Waikîkî’s waters also provided kânaka maoli with sport and leisure through surfing and succor for body and soul: a spring and section of ocean in Waikîkî were sites for healing procedures. Oral tradition and archeological records indicate that Waikîkî was well established as a settlement and farming center by the fifteenth century.3 Waikîkî was one of six ahupua‘a (land divisions) that comprised a district in O‘ahu named Kona. Ahupua‘a were devised to facilitate taxation, which consisted of offerings made during the annual harvest festival Introduction | 5

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to the rain god Lono and his representative on earth, the mò‘î (paramount chief).4 Each ahupua‘a was a pie-shaped wedge that ran from the mountains to the ocean and therefore contained all the varied resources available from the islands’ rain forests, flat lands, shorelines, and sea.5 Maka‘âinana lived and worked on plots administered by lower ranking ali‘i for their superiors who held title to the land. Land, or ‘âina, was not owned in the Western sense: instead, rights to its use were distributed along a chain of hierarchy. The mò‘î appointed loyal high chiefs as supervisors of particular districts, and these supervisors in turn selected retainers as administrators who then provisioned planters with land to till.6 When the mò‘î’s authority was usurped, the high chief who took his stead redistributed districts to his supporters, although this changeover rarely affected those who worked the ‘âina.7 These cultivators, who provided the food that nourished the community, usually retained their rights to work their acreage, which they were free to leave in pursuit of other farming grounds if they felt unjustly treated.8 In the middle of the nineteenth century, when Western settlers supplanted the Native Hawaiian practice of land stewardship with the institution of private land ownership, many kânaka maoli lost their homelands to haole (foreign) investors, and ecologically sound cultivation was largely replaced with

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environmentally destructive agriculture. Westerners gained the power to affect Hawai‘i’s government through a series of historical events that they helped set in motion. Starting in 1778 with Englishman Captain James Cook’s crew,9 foreign travelers to Hawai‘i steadily introduced diseases that decimated the islands’ native people. In 1820, American Protestant missionaries first began their work to convert Native Hawaiians; Ka‘ahumanu, de facto ruler of Hawai‘i, paved the way for great Western influence by embracing Christianity, probably as a means of healing her dying people, who seemed to have been abandoned by their traditional gods.10 Missionaries advised kanaka maoli leaders about not only spiritual matters, but secular ones as well, including Western approaches to government, property, and business. Indeed, through the efforts of well-placed haole Christians, Native Hawaiians’ access to and use of their ‘âina was dramatically altered. William Richards and Gerrit P. Judd, two American missionaries who counseled the ruling chiefs according to their Christian and capitalist values, facilitated legislation that contributed to the loss of Native Hawaiian sovereignty. Richards worked assiduously to educate Hawai‘i’s powerful ali‘i about capitalism, and in 1841, he drew up a secret contract between Mò‘î Kauikeaouli, one of his advisors, and the sugar growers Ladd and Company—which Richards

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deemed an upstanding Christian business—to lease all of Hawai‘i’s unoccupied lands.11 Through this measure, Richards tried to engineer colonization and development by Christians whom he believed could be trusted to enlighten and enrich Hawai‘i. Instead, Ladd and Company’s representative tried to sell the company’s lease rights to the highest bidders—irrespective of their religious values—and in 1842, Richards left the islands on a diplomatic mission to protect his plan. In his absence, Gerrit P. Judd, a missionary physician and personal doctor to high chiefs, became the Hawaiian royal court’s primary foreign advisor, overseeing legislation that further compromised Native Hawaiians’ relationship to their land. As Secretary for Foreign Relations, Judd worked with the American lawyer John Ricord to Westernize Hawai‘i’s government, which was largely accomplished with the passing of the 1845 Organic Acts. The second of these acts established the Land Commission, which was headed by William Richards. This body oversaw the division of land known as the Mâhele, which set aside vast tracts for private ownership. A controversial piece of legislation, the Mâhele was resisted by Native Hawaiians before and after its passage. Petitions to the mò‘î from maka‘âinana argued strongly against foreign influence because of its deleterious effects.12 However, Mò‘î Kauikeaouli believed

that the new land tenure system would grant kânaka maoli land rights that foreigners would respect, as well as attract native planters to areas depopulated by disease.13 Therefore, by 1850, land was available for purchase in Hawai‘i, and non-Hawaiians began buying property, much of which came to support more foreign-owned sugar plantations. While the Mâhele was the foreign-inspired legislation that eroded Native Hawaiian land tenure, the sugar industry was the foreign-dominated business that compromised land

cultivation in the islands. As foreign settlers acquired property in Hawai‘i, they looked for the means of turning a profit on their real estate investments. Hawai‘i’s ideal climate made agriculture a logical pursuit, and sugar growing was one of several farming ventures foreigners undertook. Natural resources for the venture proved relatively simple to come by. This was not initially the case with human resources because the kanaka maoli population was radically reduced through the spread of foreign disease, and many Native Hawaiians Introduction | 7

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refused to work on plantations. Cheap labor from China and later Japan was therefore contracted through the 1850 Masters and Servants Act, and in the wake of the U.S. Civil War (when southern sugar was boycotted by the northern states), sugar became very big business in Hawai‘i.14 However, sugar enriched largely Caucasian businessmen at the expense of Asian laborers who were often poorly treated and paid,15 and especially at the expense of kânaka maoli, who lost not only land to plantations, but also water rights. Because sugar cane requires a great deal of irrigation, vast quantities of water were diverted—often away from native aquaculture systems and small farms—to feed the thirsty crop. In the process of building personal fortunes, the foreign businessmen who ran Hawai‘i’s sugar industry also acquired a stake in the island nation’s government, and they drove the work of colonialism and capitalism in Hawai‘i toward an ignominious outcome. Sugar barons pushed for the 1876 Reciprocity Treaty, which bound Hawai‘i to the United States through commerce and defense: the document instituted taxfree trade between the nations and ceded to the United States limited rights to Pearl Harbor, which were subsequently expanded. In 1893, when captains of industry in Hawai‘i feared that Queen Lili‘uokalani intended to curtail their influence and power, they overthrew the Hawaiian government with the help of the U.S. military, and instituted a republic. The ruling oligarchy maintained close ties with the United States; in 1898, the American government officially annexed the islands. Hawai‘i not only remained an important source of sugar and other products for the United States, but also became an increasingly important military outpost. Indeed, Hawai‘i’s economic and strategic value to America resulted in its 1959 admission to the federal union.16 With the gradual decline of the plantations, Hawai‘i’s primary industry shifted to tourism, and large sections of the islands have been and are being developed to accommodate not only settlers, but also tourists. Hawai‘i’s ‘âina is violated with little or no concern for its meaning and function for

Native Hawaiians. Waikîkî, one of the most famous and popular tourist destinations in the world, is today a concrete jungle built on grounds that were once Native Hawaiian royal compounds and on land reclaimed by draining the multiple fishponds and taro fields that kânaka maoli cultivated. Because Hawai‘i’s current economy relies on tourist-related industries, development continues in Waikîkî and elsewhere in the islands. Hawai‘i’s lands and waters are often ravaged and polluted in the process, Native Hawaiians and residents resort to low-paying service jobs that cater to tourists, and facsimiles of kanaka maoli culture are marketed as commodities to fulfill visitors’ fantasies of an exotic, tropical paradise.



Sitting at a beachside cocktail lounge in Waikîkî, watching a graceful hula dancer move to the gentle rhythms of the ukulele played by her musician companions, we find it almost impossible to imagine that water, power, life, and happiness have been drained from Waikîkî. As the sun sets on the horizon, it tips billowing clouds with rose and golden light, and the ocean deepens to a majestic azure. Soft trade winds blow perfumed air across the faces of tourists and locals who smile warmly and chat as they glory in the perfect early evening and relish the gracious entertainment. It is a magical moment that seems to capture the essence of Waikîkî’s charm: its natural beauty, cultural richness, and warm hospitality. Much of what has happened to make this moment possible is grim. Perhaps this can be said of virtually any location anywhere. But the extreme contrast of loss and gain is especially pronounced and poignant in the Place of Spouting Waters; thus, we have much to consider while tracing the many stories that thread through Waikîkî’s past and present right up to our magical moment on the beach. Indeed, as we reflect on the waters of Waikîkî, we may come to see some of ourselves reflected in them, and in the process, reconsider our relationships to the places and people that make up our holiday destinations.

8 | Introduction

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– Le ‘ahi

Diamond Head

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– Hu ka wai i ke pili. The water overflows to the pili grass.

Said of anything that overflows its boundaries, including a person whose behavior goes beyond the bounds of propriety. – —Mary Kawena Pukui, Olelo No‘eau

Lè‘ahi, better known as Diamond Head, is a dormant volcano at the edge of Waikîkî and perhaps the most recognized landmark in Hawai‘i. For centuries, governments and individuals have exploited Lè‘ahi’s natural beauty and its geographical relationship to the rest of the Hawaiian Islands. Lè‘ahi has been and continues to be used by businesspeople as a visual emblem to market land: Hawai‘i as a tourist destination and the Diamond Head neighborhood as a luxury home site. The physical landmass itself also has been used as a symbolic and material tool of power and control. Ali‘i established a heiau on the promontory’s slopes and used the structure to secure beneficence through human sacrifice, as well as to monitor the ocean for surfers. Within Lè‘ahi’s crater, the U.S. government created a complex for military operations that also became a site for a Federal Aviation Administration (F.A.A.) air traffic control center for Honolulu International Airport. Wealthy citizens, including the man who destroyed Waikîkî’s wetlands, purchased Diamond Head property to build mansions that broadcast their status and wealth. However, Lè‘ahi was (and still is) another sort of place. It contained dry yet productive land carefully cultivated by farmers. It provided battlegrounds for patriots who fought to restore Queen Lili‘uokalani to the throne stolen from her. Today, it houses an arboretum laboriously planted with threatened native species and site-appropriate introduced xerophytic species. It is a national landmark protected from development and destruction by a coalition of concerned citizens. And it is

terrain with a seasonal wetland that once supported an indigenous ecosystem. Lè‘ahi’s intermittent wetland, which at times grew to become a large lake, is part of the vast, dynamic network of standing, flowing, seeping, crashing, and spouting waters that once dominated Waikîkî. Lè‘ahi’s wetland flourished, suffered abuse, and tenaciously reappeared. In microcosm, this cycle aptly demonstrates Lè‘ahi’s life in macrocosm.



After the short, steep climb up the trail to the summit of Lè‘ahi, hikers often raise bottled water to their lips as they drink in the 360-degree view of O‘ahu and the surrounding ocean. The labels on these bottles frequently feature swaying palms, tropical flowers, semi-clad women, or cartoon menehunes (a legendary race of small folk). Each picture is a visual notation of Hawai‘i’s attraction for many people, and together these images portray the islands as a lush paradise peopled with seductive maidens and happy-go-lucky natives. The text that accompanies these illustrations represents the water within the bottles as natural draughts from pristine and untouched sources. The bottled water thus promises to quench our physical thirst as well as our emotional thirst for natural beauty, sensual pleasure, and delightful exotica. However, those who thirst for knowledge understand that these representations in no way reflect the complex and, at times, destructive processes that impact Hawai‘i and its people. For in Lè‘ahi | 11

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the bottled water labels, place is mediated—and distorted— by marketing. This condition of misrepresentation permeates our encounters with Lè‘ahi, which, as an image, is perhaps the most potent symbol of Hawai‘i. Featured on countless postcards and other souvenirs, in numerous advertisements in all media, and in scores of movies and songs, the dormant volcano’s profile has come to serve as a kind of beacon. Since the nineteenth century, images of Lè‘ahi have been used to bring people to the islands, and most especially to the tourist mecca Waikîkî, which sprawls along the promontory’s slopes. A 1946 promotional piece produced by Standard Oil Company of California provides a good example of Lè‘ahi’s use in marketing Hawai‘i as a vacation paradise. Designed as part of a set of large-scale collectible photographs, the advertisement features informative text about the pictured destination on the reverse. Standard Oil’s “Diamond Head” consists of a dreamy, tinted photograph of the landmark, facts about the island of O‘ahu that focus on recreational highlights, and a lyrical hymn to the dormant volcano by Hawai‘i poet and artist Don Blanding. Skimming lightly over incursions into Hawai‘i by explorers, missionaries, soldiers, and businessmen, and over the United States’ subjugation of the island nation, Blanding writes as if he were Lè‘ahi: a sentinel lovingly watching over tourists frolicking on Waikîkî’s beaches. I see visitors from every land, relaxed and happy under the soothing touch of the Hawaiian sun, or dreamy-eyed with the enchantments of the Hula Moons. They are tasting the joys which will remain in their hearts so long as they live. The flavor of Hawai‘i is Hawai‘i’s own. It remains in the memory as the haunting memory of the Garden of Eden hovers in the racial heart of all of us. I know that the love of Hawai‘i is contagious and is passed happily from those who have known the islands to those who dream of knowing this Paradise

of the Pacific. It is said that “distance lends enchantment,” but Hawai‘i gives enchantment which is not evanescent, but increases with time and distance for those who remember it with nostalgic yearning.1 Blanding’s poetic license to masquerade as Lè‘ahi and his presumption that in our collective “racial heart” we all nostalgically yearn for Eden is a powerful instance of a particular sort of vision many settlers and visitors have brought and continue to bring to Hawai‘i. Europeans, Asians, and especially Americans have all viewed Hawai‘i as a place they can rightfully inhabit and take; they have all assumed that Hawai‘i’s beauty and bounty can and should satiate everyone’s need for a paradise free from life’s difficulties. Those who live or vacation in Hawai‘i today often feel similarly, as do many people who portray Hawai‘i in words and images—whether in film, music, or books—and especially in advertisements. Investigating Lè‘ahi’s history, like examining the history of anywhere in or near Waikîkî—indeed anywhere in Hawai‘i—helps us see a more complex place. We certainly encounter a gorgeous land and ocean, and we may see how such loveliness can inspire dreams of fulfillment and foster the nightmare of greed. However, we equally experience an embattled terrain, frequently scarred by outside contact and fiercely defended by those who revere and nurture it. Like all sites associated with Waikîkî, when we study Lè‘ahi, we also find water. Not bottled water toted up the promontory, but living water that pooled in the crater and nourished the plants, animals, and people who formed a dynamic ecosystem within the area.



The origin of the name “Lè‘ahi” is disputed. The name is associated with fire: the fires of the once active volcano2 and the fires kânaka maoli are said to have burned at the volcano’s summit to guide canoes to shore.3 Lè‘ahi is also associated with the “fire” of ‘ahi, yellow-fin tuna reported to have run

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so hard when hooked on Native Hawaiian fishermen’s lines that canoe gunwale strakes smoked from the friction.4 Most sources agree that these sea creatures are a key part of the name: that Lè‘ahi is a combination of terms that means “forehead of the ‘ahi.” The goddess Hi‘iaka may have been the first to note the resemblance between the volcano and the fish; it is she who is said to have christened the landmass with its Hawaiian name.5 According to kânaka maoli, Hi‘iaka and her sister Pele established the fires at Lè‘ahi when they settled briefly at the volcano after their older sister, Nâmakaokaha‘i, expelled them from home. Once the ocean extinguished Lè‘ahi’s flames, the goddesses departed and continued their search for a new residence.6 According to geologists, who classify Lè‘ahi as a pyroclastic volcano, Lè‘ahi’s fires flared and roared spectacularly between seventy and five hundred thousand years ago,7 when ocean water and molten rock, or magma, came into

contact with one another and produced explosions that threw tuff (exploded magma particles) into a giant ring. Since its fiery, explosive beginning, Lè‘ahi has continued to have a tumultuous existence. Many have fought to command its slopes or battled on or near it to control O‘ahu or even all of Hawai‘i. Indeed, Lè‘ahi’s popular name, Diamond Head, was born of a lust for possession. When English sailors discovered crystalline rocks at the volcano’s base, they mistook them for diamonds. Determined to prevent foreign appropriation of Hawaiian resources, Kamehameha I made Lè‘ahi kapu (taboo), insisting that any diamonds discovered on or near its slopes belonged to ali‘i.8 Kamehameha I and the Maui ruler Kahekili used a Lè‘ahi heiau called Papa‘ena‘ena as an important site for consolidating personal and political power. In 1780, Kahekili launched his campaign to take O‘ahu and landed war canoes from a beach fronting Lè‘ahi down the coast of Waikîkî. He

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brutally subjugated O‘ahu three years later and massacred virtually every member of the island aristocracy.9 Afterward, Kahekili may have built Papa‘ena‘ena heiau on the southwestern slopes of Lè‘ahi to honor his victory and avenge his ancestor Kauhiakama, who was sacrificed and desecrated at Waikîkî’s ‘Âpuakèhau heiau around the middle of the sixteenth century.10 Approximately 128 by 68 feet, with three tall, broad walls and a series of terraces,11 Papa‘ena‘ena housed a suitably fierce drum now in Honolulu’s Bishop Museum: it is topped with sharkskin and inlaid with human teeth.12 Kamehameha I, who took O‘ahu in 1795 from Kahekili’s successor Kalanikupule, also empowered himself by using Papa‘ena‘ena as a luakini heiau: a site for human sacrifice. Indeed, at Papa‘ena‘ena, Kamehameha I may have offered up Kalanikupule’s body to the war god Kûkâ‘ilimoku.13 In 1804, Kamehameha ordered more sacrifices at the heiau, but this time to reverse ill fortune related to his invasion of Kaua‘i. En

route to invade Kaua‘i, the chief’s troops landed at Waikîkî, where two-thirds of the warriors died during an outbreak of disease (possibly typhoid, dysentery, or cholera). The sacrifice at Papa‘ena‘ena was huge: four hundred coconuts, four hundred bananas, four hundred pigs, and three humans.14 During the ceremony, Kamehameha signaled his choice of successor by having his son Liholiho offer up a prayer.15 Kamehameha I also used Papa‘ena‘ena to safeguard his most important wahine (consort). The chief’s young nephew Kanihonui was slain and left to decompose at Papa‘ena‘ena after he was discovered trysting with Kamehameha’s favorite wahine, Ka‘ahumanu.16 Furthermore, according to the Reverend Charles S. Stewart, ten men were killed in 1804 at the heiau to secure the recovery of Kèopûolani, Kamehameha’s sacred wahine, who was desperately sick. Kanaka maoli oral tradition demonstrates that heiau could be used for varied functions,18 and Papa‘ena‘ena served Lè‘ahi | 15

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as a means of not only empowering chiefs through propitiation, but also providing surfers with mana and guidance.19 Papa‘ena‘ena overlooked what is today First Break, the beginning of the Kalahuewehe surfing course, which stretches down the coast to Kâlia. Kâhuna at Papa‘ena‘ena notified kânaka maoli of excellent surfing conditions by flying a kite from the heiau high into the air.20 Papa‘ena‘ena was thus a site that ensured political power and privilege on land and enabled sport and pleasure at sea. Because other heiau were built on or near Lè‘ahi, the landmass was clearly important to the Native Hawaiians who lived and worked in the area. In addition to Papa‘ena‘ena, four other heiau were connected to Lè’ahi. Kuapalaha heiau, which stood at Cunha Beach near Kapi‘olani Park, may have worked directly in conjunction with Papa‘ena‘ena.21 Ahi heiau, thought to have graced the rim of Lè‘ahi’s crater, may have been the site where Native Hawaiians tended fires to help canoes navigate to shore.22 Pahu-a-Maui heiau, which stood at the site occupied by the lighthouse on Diamond Head Road, was dedicated to seafarers and fishermen and served kâhuna as a lookout for schools of fish in the nearby channel.23 Makahuna heiau, also dedicated to seamen and those who fished, was located on the beach just west of and below Lè‘ahi’s peak.24 Within the volcano’s crater, other life-forms—chiefly plants rather than fish—were observed and cultivated. Although Lè‘ahi was frequently dry and hot, with little yearround rainfall, people tended gardens on the volcano floor in the early part of the nineteenth century.25 In fact, in the early 1820s, a Western visitor to the area ate some of the numerous melons and watermelons he saw growing in Lè‘ahi’s interior.26 In the eastern part of the crater, a seasonal wetland that grew in rainy months to the size of a small lake sustained endemic plants, toads, and waterfowl.27 It is certainly possible that this watery area provided nearby inhabitants with refreshment and plant resources. Several reported sightings of human remains at Lè‘ahi 16 | Lè‘ahi

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suggest the dormant volcano’s further significance to kânaka maoli as a possible site for executions, battles, and burials. In 1823, Scottish botanist James Macrae’s assistant found in Lè‘ahi’s crater many human skulls, which Macrae’s cook claimed were the remains of criminals flung over the crater rim.28 In the latter part of the nineteenth century, two American visitors came upon burial sites. U.S. Special Commissioner H. Willis Baxley observed numerous human bones near Black Point peninsula.29 Several years later, Mark Twain saw at the foot of the volcano a mass grave that his companions stated was an old battleground, but that he believed interred victims of foreign disease.30 Finally, in 1940, Lt. William C. Addleman maintained that Lè‘ahi’s ‘Ewa (western) slope contained some of O‘ahu’s oldest burial caves, robbed of their contents.31 These reported remains, the activities connected with

the environs’ heiau, and food-gathering at the volcano show that for Native Hawaiians, Lè‘ahi was a powerful site of life and death. At the dormant volcano, ali‘i punished wrongdoers and ordered sacrifices to intercede with deities. At Lè‘ahi heiau, kâhuna sought favor for seafarers and fishermen and reported prime conditions for surf riders. Inside the crater, plants were cultivated and wetlands grew and receded. And possibly, Hi‘iaka and Pele’s former home provided a final resting place for the highborn and for the people who were felled by disease or cut down in battle.



Once Westerners and their political, social, and religious systems made solid inroads in Hawai‘i, Lè‘ahi was dramatically altered. When Christianity was adopted in the nineLè‘ahi | 17

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teenth century, many heiau were abandoned, and some were destroyed or allowed to fall into disrepair. In 1892, Charlie Peterson, who for years had scanned the ocean from Lè‘ahi to announce incoming ships to Honolulu, became the keeper of the lighthouse built where Pahu-a-Maui heiau once overlooked the sea. In 1856, Chief Kana‘ina (the administrator of his son Lunalilo’s inheritance, which included Lè‘ahi as part of the future king’s Mâhele settlement) dismantled what remained of Papa‘ena‘ena, and the heiau’s stones were used for building projects in Waikîkî.32 By that time, private property and capitalism were as much gospel as the New Testament, and within a few short decades, parts of Lè‘ahi would fall into foreign hands. In 1884, the Hawaiian government purchased 729 acres of the volcano and its environs from the Lunalilo Estate; in the next ten years, parcels were leased (to Sanford B. Dole among others), with several north and east of the crater used for pasture.33 This grazing killed many of the indigenous plants growing on the volcano. Destructive grazing, as well as productive gardening, ceased at Lè‘ahi in the early twentieth century because the United States, which annexed Hawai‘i in 1898, saw the value of the landmass as a military installation and took it over. In a 1905 photograph of the volcano, a lone Native Hawaiian farmer tends a cow and vegetable garden.34 The following year he would have had to abandon his farm because in 1906, the U.S. government purchased the Lè‘ahi lands previously owned by the Hawaiian government and acquired neighboring parcels. The area was christened Fort Ruger Military Reservation, and it was off limits to all civilians until the 1950s. In 1907, building got underway on the first of many structures at the reservation. Construction lasted until the 1950s and consisted of two tunnels, four concrete batteries (Harlow, Hulings, Dodge, and Birkheimer), the Lè‘ahi Fire Control Station, firing ranges, two reservoirs, and support buildings (officers’ quarters, barracks, a service club, and a chapel). Companies of the Coast Artillery arrived first in 1909 (before work on their facilities was completed),35 and at the outbreak of World War

II, large numbers of soldiers passed through Fort Ruger barracks en route to battle in the Pacific. Traffic through the crater continued even after the army relinquished control over much of its installation in 1950, as the fort then became the headquarters for the Hawai‘i National Guard. Furthermore, in 1959, the F.A.A. acquired land in the crater for an air traffic control center, which guided jets bearing tourists in and out of the newly created fiftieth state. The digging, churning, boring, exploding, and tramping that followed on all of this government activity scarred the interior and exterior of Lè‘ahi and crushed its already compromised ecosystem. Indeed, during the military occupation of the volcano, Lè‘ahi’s seasonal wetland repeatedly was bulldozed36 and filled with soil, coral, lumber, and scrap concrete and metal.37 Land and water that once provided kânaka maoli with political power, sensual pleasure, and spiritual and physical sustenance were ravaged by the U.S. government, which turned Lè‘ahi into a material emblem of American military might and the station from which air traffic controllers guided millions of tourists to O‘ahu.



The history that we have examined so far suggests that Lè‘ahi’s natural landscapes and power for Native Hawaiians were completely destroyed by American colonization. This is by no means the case. In the late nineteenth century, the volcano served as a key site in the battle Hawai‘i patriots fought against the Dole Republic. Since the 1950s, Lè‘ahi has provided a home for carefully planted endemic shrubs, flowers, and grasses, as well as for environmentally friendly introduced species. Furthermore, today the promontory is a state monument that benefits from the cultural and ecological preservation efforts of the Diamond Head Citizens Advisory Committee. Although patriots’ 1894–1895 efforts to restore Queen Lili‘uokalani to the throne were not successful, their fight affirmed the authority of Native Hawaiian sovereignty and

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assumes a place in the continuing work of kânaka maoli to take back their land and government. In the autumn of 1894, wealthy patriots supplied funds for Major W. T. Seward to buy arms and ammunition during a trip to California, and resistance efforts were organized under Sam Nowlein and Robert W. Wilcox. On January 1, 1895, a small steamer took the weapons from the schooner that shipped them to Hawai‘i and waited off Lè‘ahi for instruction. Two days later, two boats landed the arms: some at Kahala beach and some at Black Point. On January 5, a band of patriots unearthed the weapons and took up camp at the nearby homes of H. F. Bertelmann and Antone Rosa. A spy betrayed the men at Bertelmann’s residence and Republic police officers and Citizens’ Guard members engaged the patriots in battle. Bertelmann called for a cease-fire and was arrested, but many of his fellows hid themselves on the slopes of Lè‘ahi, where they continued to fight Republic forces. In the ensuing days, Wilcox led his men far back into Mânoa Valley, where they were captured in the latter part of January after a great deal of effort. Both Wilcox and another prominent member of the patriot contingent, Prince Jonah Kûhiò Kalaniana‘ole, went on to fight for Native Hawaiian rights within the U.S. government that annexed Hawai‘i in 1898. Wilcox served as Hawai‘i’s first delegate to the U.S. Congress from 1900 Lè‘ahi | 19

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to 1903, and Prince Kûhiò served as delegate from 1903 to 1922. Lè‘ahi and its slopes served as another kind of battleground in 1950: George C. Munro’s fight to save and revive the volcano’s xerophytic vegetation. That year the botanist, ornithologist, and conservationist received permission from the National Guard to plant nine acres on the exterior of the volcano’s western rise. The garden was called Nâ Lâ‘au Arboretum, and it eventually covered one hundred acres, became part of the State Parks program, and was designated a sanctuary in 1958. Two acres of the arboretum, called Ke Kua‘âina, were dedicated solely to endemic plants. During extended dry periods, when the arboretum was first becoming established, Munro and his family and friends carried buckets of water to Nâ Lâ‘au plants.38 This careful and committed work to protect and enhance Lè‘ahi’s natural environment continues in the efforts of those fighting to see the 1979 Diamond Head State Monument Master Plan realized. This plan, which equally is geared toward safeguarding Lè‘ahi’s cultural resources, was designed to remove industrial facilities from the crater, to create an educational center on the volcano’s interior slope, to expand trails, and to ensure that Lè‘ahi remains undeveloped. The commercial development of Lè‘ahi became a very real possibility in 1966, when financier Chinn Ho—who built the Waikîkî ‘Ilikai Hotel, devel20 | Lè‘ahi

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oped a resort in Mâkaha Valley, and owned the Honolulu Star-Bulletin— helped create the Diamond Head Improvement Association. Ho’s objective was to “improve” Lè‘ahi by building two high-rise apartment buildings at the volcano’s foot; he used his newspaper, press releases, and public meetings to sell Hawai‘i citizens on his scheme.39 He failed, however, because in 1967, the Honolulu city council upheld zoning laws that forbade the type of development Ho pursued. The following year, Lè‘ahi received national landmark status.40 Nevertheless, zoning laws and landmark status did not prevent additional development proposals, including projects to turn Lè‘ahi into a golf course, a Disney theme park, and a so-called Asian-Pacific Cultural Center composed of a series of Asian and Pacific villages.41 In 1977, preservation-minded community members founded the Diamond Head Citizens Advisory Committee in an effort to devise an ecologically sound and culturally appropriate plan for Lè‘ahi. The Land Board approved the committee’s Diamond Head State Monument Master Plan two years later. Although the committee saw no movement on its plan for years, concerned citizens made a giant step toward safeguarding the volcano in 1992, when the F.A.A.’s proposal to expand its control tower facility was thwarted and the F.A.A. itself was required to move out of the crater.42

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In addition to removing built structures within Lè‘ahi, the Diamond Head State Monument Master Plan calls for improving the crater’s wetland. In 1972, the seasonal wetland was pumped to prevent mosquitoes and flooding of the road within the volcano. However, since 1996, pumping has been curtailed to protect rare plants growing in the region.43 During the rainy season in winter, the wetland retains standing water for up to three weeks, and its deepest part, a sump that measures about one hundred by fifty feet, attains depths up to six feet.44 The sump area supports two indigenous sedges: Cyperus trachysanthos, which is endangered, and Torulinium odoratum subspecies auriculatum, which is “a species of concern.”45 The master plan’s resolution to enhance the wetland will protect and augment the growth of these and other plants. It will also improve the habitat for Hawaiian water birds that live in the area, including the endangered common moorhen (Gallinula chloropus sandvicensis) and the Hawaiian coot (Fulica alai).46 The Diamond Head Citizens Advisory Committee’s commitment to preserve and protect Lè‘ahi, George C. Munro’s efforts to cultivate the volcano’s vegetation, and Hawaiian patriots’ fight to restore their queen and nation all demonstrate the power of resistance to the destruc-

tive effects of colonization and capitalism. Indeed, these projects show that however much Lè‘ahi has been embattled, like the volcano’s seasonal wetland, it has survived and flourished.



In the next chapter, we will explore how the many waters of Waikîkî were slowed and in many cases drained. The man responsible for this destruction of a once watery land is Walter F. Dillingham, who built a palatial home called La Pietra on the slopes of Lè‘ahi. In 1919, Dillingham purchased his Diamond Head property from the James Campbell Estate and hired noted architect David Adler to design a residence modeled after a Florentine villa owned by Dillingham’s wife’s aunt. Dillingham was eager to secure his stature as a baron of Hawai‘i industry by building a prominently sited home with a stately European pedigree. His rose garden was constructed where Papa‘ena‘ena once stood,47 a landscaping decision that aptly mirrors the overall desecration of Lè‘ahi by haole settlers. The epigraph for our investigation of Lè‘ahi speaks to this desecration, and our reflection on Dillingham’s monumental indignity serves as an appropriate segue to our examination of the Ala Wai Canal’s history.

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Ala Wai Ala Wai Canal

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– – Ina e lepo ke kumu wai, e ho ‘ea ana ka lepo i kai. If the source of the water is dirty, the muddy water will travel on.

Where there is evil at the source, the evil travels on. – —Mary Kawena Pukui, Olelo No‘eau

In this chapter, we review the history of the Ala Wai, which was created by Walter F. Dillingham’s Hawaiian Dredging Company in 1921–1928 and was aptly first known as the Waikîkî Drainage Canal.1 Whereas Lè‘ahi is the most recognized landmark associated with Waikîkî, the Ala Wai is the mark on the land—indeed the scar on the ‘âina—responsible for creating the Waikîkî we know today. The canal ostensibly was created to clean up Waikîkî’s so-called swamps, which harbored mosquitoes feared as carriers of disease. However, the engineering project was really undertaken as a reclamation endeavor, to create land suitable for development into commercial and residential real estate. Although the enterprise was a gigantic business deal orchestrated largely by two men, Dillingham and Lucius E. Pinkham, the groundwork for reclamation was laid by Sanford B. Dole’s republic, which stole Hawai‘i’s government from the Hawaiian monarchy in 1893. In what follows, we examine how a group of prominent haole men drained much of Waikîkî’s living waters, producing in the process a filthy canal that is a grievous health hazard. Indeed, these men cleaned up nothing by ruining Waikîkî’s wetlands; instead, they produced a landfill that harbors one of Hawai‘i’s most polluted areas. Ravaging Waikîkî’s wetlands not only decimated the region’s environment, but also destroyed farmers’ hard-won livelihoods and residents’ beloved homes. Before the Ala Wai Canal, Waikîkî was a thriving site of agriculture and aquaculture, carefully tended by Native Hawaiians and by Asian immigrants who often first worked in Hawai‘i as contract labor. Although powerful haole officials and businessmen ultimately displaced these individuals, their

cultivation efforts, like Waikîkî’s apparently stilled waters, continue to leave an imprint on the region. Scholars and activists have educated Hawai‘i’s residents and visitors alike about farmers’ stewardship of Waikîkî; those who experienced Waikîkî as a food-producing area have imparted their knowledge in oral histories. Furthermore, critics of the canal’s historical and current effects have publicized their complaints and fought to clean up the Ala Wai. All of this work, which bubbles up alongside the flashy, hyped narratives that sell Waikîkî as a tourist destination, parallels the running waters that escape the containing power of the Ala Wai Canal. Thus, the waters of Waikîkî are not completely buried under fabricated land, a concrete jungle, and the false advertising that represents today’s Waikîkî as a “natural” paradise. They live on.



In the early morning and evening, people often use the Ala Wai area for recreation: golfers swing clubs at the nearby golf course, outrigger canoe paddlers navigate the canal’s murky water, and individuals walk or run along the pavement lining the waterway. High-rise condominiums dominate both sides of the canal: the area is sometimes called the Gold Coast, a moniker that reflects the value of the region’s high-priced real estate and proximity to the ocean. Despite the waves that lap the shore several blocks away, the commanding view of the Ko‘olau Mountains from the canal’s sidewalks, and the outdoor leisure people pursue there during daylight hours, the Ala Wai is a resolutely urban place. Concrete is everywhere, as are the sounds and smells of rushing cars, trucks, and Ala Wai | 25

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buses. Signs posted near the canal inform those who pause to read them that fish and shellfish living in the waterway are contaminated. This information comes as no surprise—if you stand next to the Ala Wai to look closely and breathe deeply, your eyes and nose are assaulted by the trash and poisons in the water. Styrofoam cups, cigarette butts, pesticides, and auto emissions swirl about in the canal, producing a hideously toxic concoction. By contrast, if you sit at the bench near Wai Nani Way along the Ala Wai Canal and turn your gaze upward, you can observe the mountain watershed that once fed Waikîkî’s flourishing wetlands.2 Three main valleys from your left to right— Makiki, Mânoa, and Pâlolo—serve as channels for rainwater that runs off the Ko’olau Mountains. Three streams—Pi‘inaio, ‘Âpuakèhau, and Ku‘ekaunahi—once washed this freshwater through wetlands and ponds out to sea. However, their courses have been altered radically and diminished by the Ala Wai, into which they now largely drain. The streams have

not disappeared fully, as the water that empties into the canal directly across from your bench may well be a remnant of the Ku‘ekaunahi, which flowed down from Pâlolo Valley.3 Furthermore, a small portion of ‘Âpuakèhau Stream likely trickles alongside the canal about three streets over to your left, and much farther down in that direction, a possible remnant of the Pi‘inaio runs beneath a large condominium across from Kuamo‘o Street.4 Evidence of the streams’ continued existence despite the Ala Wai Canal is scattered throughout Waikîkî, and this evidence serves as a kind of testimony to the resistance that accompanied Dillingham and Pinkham’s dredging project and that feeds work to restore Waikîkî’s watershed today.



In 1924, midway through the construction of the Ala Wai, the Paia family refused to clear off their home site until Dillingham’s dredge was literally at their door.5 Like many

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ists who saw only the artistic side of the duck ponds will be equally satisfied with the beauty of the canal, boulevards and park strip that is fast taking the place of the too-long neglected menace that the duck ponds were to the health of Honolulu.7

Waikîkî residents, they had been forced to sell their tract to the Territory of Hawai‘i, and they were deeply upset about losing most everything that was special to them: their land, house, community, and even some of their ancestors—chiefs buried on the property.6 The Paias’ great losses were supposedly the price of progress; territory leaders in government, industry, and the press argued that reclaiming land in Waikîkî would sanitize, beautify, and increase the value of the area. In 1923, F. W. Thrum, the engineer in charge of dredging the canal, used the widely read Hawaiian Annual to sing the praises of the engineering work underway and ahead. The area to be drained and filled comprises 1,400 acres and will, when completed, not only add greatly to the health of this section of Honolulu but will make available a new tract for residential purposes. . . . The picturesque as well as odoriferous duck ponds are fast becoming but a memory. The tour-

In his report, Thrum notes that Waikîkî is already a tourist destination and proclaims that after the canal is built, the region will make way for residents (he says nothing of those residents displaced by the dredging). He mentions— with dripping irony—that some visitors to Waikîkî find the duck ponds of area farms attractive, but he implies that these tourists do not recognize that the ponds are not only foul smelling, but also health hazards. For Thrum, the dredging will eradicate dangerous, offensive wetlands and provide visitors with a healthful and beautiful canal to enjoy. This vision of reclamation as a campaign to clean up and improve Honolulu and its environs was first promulgated under the Republic of Hawai‘i in 1896. That year, the legislature passed Act 61, which granted the Board of Health the power to deem land unsanitary and authorize its improvement by the owner or by the government (at the owner’s expense) if the owner could not do so.8 Act 61’s long name precisely describes how those of few means would lose their property under the legislation: “An Act to Provide for the Improvement of Land in the District of Honolulu Deleterious to Public Health and for the Creation and Foreclosure of Liens to Secure the Payment of the Expense so Incurred.”9 Act 61 lived on in the Territory of Hawai‘i as sections 1025 to 1034 of Chapter 8 in the 1905 Revised Laws of Hawai‘i, and in this incarnation supported the building of the Ala Wai Canal.10 Just what was it, however, that led F. W. Thrum and others before him to argue that Waikîkî’s duck ponds were unsanitary? How unsanitary were they? Were health issues really at the heart of reclamation? Prior to urban “improvement” projects, Waikîkî’s wetlands were by no means deleteAla Wai | 27

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rious. The Pi‘inaio, ‘Âpuakèhau, and Ku‘ekaunahi streams, fed by the Ko‘olau watershed, drained into the ocean at beach sites in Kâlia, Uluniu, and Hamohamo, respectively. From the sixteenth through the nineteenth century, Native Hawaiians tended taro fields and fishponds in the wetlands these streams nurtured. From the mid-nineteenth century to the early twentieth century, as foreign disease felled thousands of kânaka maoli, Asian settlers cultivated rice, lotus root, and ducks in the watery expanses formerly devoted to Native Hawaiian staples. All the laborers who farmed in Waikîkî created effective drainage and pond maintenance systems to secure the health of their crops and stock. Their work was at times compromised through no fault of their own. Drainage problems developed in Waikîkî from the late nineteenth century because of urbanization, when roads were built and expanded in the area (thereby blocking runoff) and when a drainage system for land from Punchbowl to Makiki diverted surface water to Waikîkî.11 The first official report to maintain that Waikîkî was unsanitary—the document that paved the way for the Ala Wai—provided no specific information about drainage and standing water to back up its author’s claim that the region’s wetlands were hazardous. Hawai‘i Board of Health President Lucius E. Pinkham authored the 28 | Ala Wai

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report in 1906, amended it in 1907, and titled his work “Reclamation of the Waikîkî District: For the Making of Honolulu as Beautiful and Unique in Character, as Nature Has Endowed it in Scenery, Climate and Location.” In his text, Pinkham repeatedly asserted, with no supporting statistics or case studies, that a large section of Waikîkî contained “687 acres of land, all lying below a five-foot grade above sea-level, and utterly incapable of surface or sewer drainage and threatening present and future public health.”12 The names of landowners in the area in question and the assessed tax value of their properties immediately followed this assertion.13 This seemingly secondary information actually goes to what became the real thrust of Pinkham’s argument: in his report, he was less concerned with health issues than with turning Waikîkî into a real estate mecca. Pinkham asserted that Waikîkî reclamation would attract wealthy settlers and visitors to Honolulu by providing them with beachfront quarters; a canal as lovely as those in Venice, in which boats could be raced; and roadways for speedy land travel. Pinkham declared, “man is becoming discontented with short distances and tame sport. He desires ocean racing and thirty-one seconds per mile automobiling. What may happen if Honolulu can furnish the most attractive means of satisfying these longings in our incomparable climate may be imagined.”14

More health-specific arguments related to Waikîkî’s wetlands were presented in two other reports that followed Pinkham’s. In 1909, W. C. Hodby, the chief quarantine officer for the U.S. Public Health and Marine-Hospital Service authored “The Outlook for Quarantinable Diseases in the Territory of Hawai‘i.” In 1912, the Report of the Sanitary Commission (Created Under Act of the Legislature of 1911) to his Excellency the Honorable W.F. Frear, Governor of Hawai‘i was produced at the behest of the territory. Hodby’s document vigorously advocated exterminating mosquitoes, which carried diseases such as malaria

and yellow fever that Hodby feared could spread to epidemic proportions.15 The Sanitary Commission extended Hodby’s alarm about mosquitoes to concern about wetland agriculture in Waikîkî. The commission report argued that “the immense loss due to mosquitoes” outweighed the value of crops that would be lost by filling wetlands and claimed that such reclamation would provide an important asset: new housing tracts.16 After a single case of yellow fever surfaced in Honolulu in 1911—a quarantine officer contracted the disease from a traveler from Mexico—Walter F. Dillingham and a group of other promiAla Wai | 29

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nent businessmen issued a resolution against the offending insects. Honolulu’s leaders of industry declared that in order to protect their business interests against disease, they would cooperate with the authorities to exterminate mosquitoes.17 This proposed cooperation belies the self-serving bonds that linked Dillingham, Pinkham, and Governor Frear. As Barry S. Nakamura has demonstrated, Dillingham and his helpmates were less concerned with mosquitoes and sanitation than with creating valuable real estate by dredging Waikîkî’s wetlands. Nakamura’s 1979 history of Waikîkî reclamation exposes Dillingham’s collusion with key power brokers, including Pinkham, Frear, and William Owen Smith. Pinkham, originally brought to Honolulu as an employee of Dillingham’s father,18 was governor of Hawai‘i when three laws to facilitate reclamation were passed.19 Frear, Dillingham’s brother-in-law, was governor of the territory when the 1911 report recommending the draining of Waikîkî was issued. Smith and Dillingham’s father were part of the oligarchy that overthrew the Hawaiian government, and as president of the Bishop Estate, Smith sold estate property near the proposed canal to the younger Dillingham for a cheap price.20 Nakamura not only uncovers this inglorious birth of the Ala Wai Canal, but also shows that Waikîkî’s supposedly mosquitoinfested swamps and “odiferous duck ponds” were really productive farming ventures.



Nakamura’s investigative scholarship provides the most in-depth examination of pre–Ala Wai Canal aquaculture and agriculture in Waikîkî. It also represents the core of a body of research that documents how farmers’ livelihoods were displaced or destroyed by dredging. This research shows not only that Waikîkî’s wetlands fed, rather than harmed, a community, but also that Waikîkî farmers and residents resisted the reclamation that paved the way for turning Waikîkî into a prime tourist destination. A 1901 article in Paradise of the Pacific, while by no

means a wholly flattering account of duck farming, nevertheless demonstrates the efficiency, cleanliness, and productivity of the business. The author describes the workings of what he calls a “Chinese duck ranch” and maintains that it is typical of countless such enterprises across O‘ahu. Although he bemoans duck farms’ appearance, describing them as “painful eyesores,” he admires the farms’ workings.21 He notes that the duck rancher carefully monitors every stage of his birds’ growth and guards his flock from predators such as mongoose. He also states that the rancher gets two uses from his irrigation ditches, which he freshens regularly: he employs them not only for ponds, but also for growing bananas.22 Although this account deems O‘ahu duck farms unsightly, it reveals that farm operations were well organized, economical, and sanitary. One of the earliest endeavors to document duck farming and other agricultural ventures thriving in the areas that Dillingham drained is a history paper written in 1975 by University of Hawai‘i undergraduate Harlan Lee. Lee’s paper outlines the history of Waikîkî reclamation and focuses on how this engineering project displaced hundreds of Native Hawaiian, Chinese, and Japanese families who tended taro, rice, and ducks. Indeed, he discusses how his father’s family had to give up their farm in Waikîkî once area real estate appreciated after dredging: the Lees could no longer afford to rent the land they cultivated.23 In his introduction, Lee reproduces a carefully labeled map of his grandfather Y. K. Lee’s farm with surrounding landmarks and households. The map, which provides little-known information about the appearance and function of the Waikîkî agricultural community, shows where ducks, chickens, and pigs were raised, the fishpond on the Lee property, and the tracts owned by neighboring Native Hawaiian and Japanese families.24 In addition to this visual information, Lee’s text uses biting humor to give expression to the anger and resentment of those dislodged from their homes and businesses. He concludes, “. . . for the many displaced former residents of the area, who were moved out in the name of progress and sanitation, the memories of Waikîkî are

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revived from time to time whenever construction crews for a new condominium dig below the surface and release a pocket of that odoriferous duck pond stench—the real foundation of today’s Waikîkî.”25 Lee hoped his study would contribute “toward a fuller sociological study” of the effects of urbanization on farming, and indeed it did.26 The same year that Lee wrote his paper, Tin-Yuke Char compiled and edited a book on the history of the Chinese in Hawai‘i. In this book, Char examines the rice industry in Hawai‘i, a business begun to make use of the countless taro fields that fell into disuse as the kânaka maoli who had cared for them perished from foreign disease.27 Most of those who undertook this venture were Chinese, and for a time, rice farming flourished in Waikîkî. In 1892, two years after the zenith of rice production in Hawai‘i (as much as 10,579,000 pounds left island shores in 189028), Waikîkî was the third largest rice-producing region in Hawai‘i.29 American

and Chinese concerns (notably Chulan and Company,30 Chin Wo Company, and Lung Doo Wai Company31) oversaw production in Waikîkî, although Chinese laborers did the actual farming. Many of these workers were wah kiu (Chinese sojourners) who came to the Hawaiian Islands “to make money and then to return to their homelands with higher social and economic status.”32 However, those who married and had families in Hawai‘i had an impetus to stay, and some of these farmers’ descendants cultivated rice in Waikîkî up until the dredging for the Ala Wai. When work on the canal began in 1921, rice was no longer a key crop in Hawai‘i, in part because of a decline in Chinese labor. Once Hawai‘i became a U.S. territory, America’s Chinese Exclusion Act (passed in 1882) extended to Hawai‘i, virtually halting Chinese immigration there.33 America’s and Hawai‘i’s white residents feared the large influx of Chinese labor brought to the country’s shores for cheap

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labor in developing industries and felt particularly threatened when Chinese workers began their own businesses in their new homelands.34 Although rice was not big business in Waikîkî by 1920, for Dillingham and his supporters, rice farmers—as with duck farmers—stood in the way of turning a profit in Waikîkî. These farmers made good use of the region’s wetlands, which Dillingham was determined to fill for real estate. Like Lee and Char’s research, Nakamura’s work also documents successful duck and rice farming in Waikîkî. In addition, Nakamura highlights commercial aquaculture ventures in the region. He details the findings of U.S. Commission of Fish and Fisheries worker John N. Cobb’s 1901 survey, “Commercial Fisheries of the Hawaiian Islands,” which noted that fifteen fishponds comprising 51.16 acres in Waikîkî supported healthy businesses largely run by Chinese.35 One pond was devoted to rice, and the remaining fourteen were devoted

to ‘ama‘ama (mullet) and awa (milkfish), which were sold to two Chinese firms that controlled the market for these fish.36 Cobb was very impressed with the bounty these fishpond operations produced and advocated their maintenance.37 Unlike other haole investigating Waikîkî’s wetlands, when Cobb examined the area’s watery expanses, he saw healthy, vigorous aquaculture. In addition to proving that Pinkham and others were wrong when they characterized Waikîkî as dirty swampland, Nakamura’s research demonstrates that agricultural workers threatened by Dillingham’s dredge did not merely roll over when faced with the combined forces of politicians and businessmen bent on the reclamation of Waikîkî. Nakamura unearthed farmer complaints issued against Dillingham’s Hawaiian Dredging Company and showed that a number of these Waikîkî tenants and workers filed suit against the company. The scholar quotes a powerful indictment from a farmer Ala Wai | 33

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named Chang Fow, who demonstrates how the dredging destroyed productive cultivation. Salt water escaped into my fishponds and killed all of the fishes in them. Then when my flock of five hundred ducks swam about the ponds and ate the dead fishes floating in them, they got ill and died at the rate of about twenty to thirty every day until now I have only about a hundred of them left. The ducks died in such number each day that I have not had time to bury them fast enough and in the course of a day or two worms begin to creep out of these carcasses and when my chicken [sic], numbering over a hundred, ate these worms, most of them got sick and perished. It cost me about $2.25 to raise a duck from a duckling up to the time she begins to lay and 34 | Ala Wai

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multiplying 400 ducks by $2.25, I have calculated my loss in ducks alone to be $900.38 Fow received merely $250 from the Hawaiian Dredging Company; the highest single amount awarded by a court of law to the tenant farmers Nakamura studied was $449.25.39 Waikîkî agricultural workers fought hard to safeguard their businesses: they thoroughly documented the devastating damages they incurred and directly confronted the Hawaiian Dredging Company in writing and in the courts. However, they were by no stretch of the imagination compensated for their losses. Nakamura’s research, which echoes many of the oral histories of Waikîkî recorded in 1985–1986 by the University of Hawai‘i’s Center for Oral History, provided the foundation for Carol Bain and Ed Coll’s 1994 documentary Taking Waikîkî: From Self-sufficiency to Dependency. Taking Waikîkî puts images to the history Nakamura mined and, by quoting sentiments expressed by those who promoted and those who decried the canal, makes the story of the Ala Wai and resistance to it come alive. Shown across Hawai‘i in classrooms and rented on videotape by those intrigued by Waikîkî’s development, Taking Waikîkî makes Nakamura’s discoveries available to those who have not read his important thesis. The fourvolume published transcripts of Waikîkî oral histories, placed in libraries across Hawai‘i, also provide those who live in and visit Hawai‘i with a living history of Waikîkî’s wetlands and their destruction by the Ala Wai Canal. The twenty-nine histories, most of which recount the productivity of Waikîkî before the Ala Wai, include stories of children gathering pûpû (shells) for duck feed,40 Japanese immigrants harvesting rice,41 and residents collecting fish washed from neighboring ponds by flood rains.42 Furthermore, a 1985 oral history interview with Earle “Liko” Vida, who operated the dredge that dug the Ala Wai, demonstrates that the living waters of Waikîkî—like farmers who resisted the destruction of their livelihood—resist constriction by the canal. In the interview, Vida recounts floodAla Wai | 35

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ing problems in Waikîkî, noting one area in particular that is especially subject to overflow. The lowest part of the canal between McCully and Kapahulu is at Paoakalani, right in Waikîkî. If you notice when we have a heavy, heavy rain, all the water settles right there. . . . [It is too shallow.] The pond that was there before needed more fill. It’s just like resettling. . . . You get your finger corals and stuff like that. They get ’em underneath like that, and then bumbai [later], they’ll rot, you see. And then, you got space in there. So it’s got to be filled somewhere. So, you get your turbulence every once in a while and it settles.43 Thus, Dillingham’s dredge and fill operation was not completely successful in plugging up Waikîkî’s wetlands. At times, the region’s waters flow and pool, just as the history of Waikîkî aquaculture and agriculture rises up in the records left by protesting farmers, reminiscences of residents, and research of scholars.



The fight against the Ala Wai Canal continues in the work of citizens concerned about the waterway’s toxicity. Ironically, the men who decried the unsanitary conditions of Waikîkî’s wetlands ended up creating a manmade body of water that is—in words Pinkham might have used—extremely deleterious to public health. A 1995 study published by the Mamala Bay Study Commission noted that during one storm in January of that year, the Ala Wai Canal dumped as many enterococci bacteria (which can contribute to severe gastrointestinal disease) into the bay as the Honolulu and Sand Island wastewater treatment plants combined.44 The following year, citizens appalled by such invisible hazards (which include dangerous levels of metals and pesticides), as well as by the visible garbage and stench of the canal, formed the Ala Wai

Canal Watershed Water Improvement Project, coordinated by Eugene P. Dashiell. The project brought together almost 275 people on its Steering Committee: individuals, elected officials, organizations, and members of canoe clubs and neighborhood boards.45 The committee and project coordinator developed a plan that drew on water quality research developed from the mid-1970s by researchers from the University of Hawai‘i and elsewhere. The plan proposed a number of clean-up projects, including the creation of debris-collecting booms for the mouths of tributary streams that feed the Ala Wai, the installation of filters in storm drain outlets on the roads, and the creation of erosion-control plantings such as taro patches.46 The latter initiative makes use of the ahupua‘a practices that once structured Waikîkî, and indeed, restoring such a model of resource management girds the work of the Ala Wai Watershed Association (A.W.W.A.), a citizens’ group that implements projects outlined in the Ala Wai Canal Watershed Water Improvement Project plan. In 1998 and 1999, the Hawai‘i state legislature adopted the plan and appropriated nearly $1.2 million for it. A.W.W.A. has utilized some of these funds, along with additional monies granted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, “to improve water quality and foster awareness of ahupua‘a concepts through community-based stewardship of the Ala Wai watershed.”47



The epigraph that began this chapter literally and figuratively describes the work of the Ala Wai Canal: it destroyed wetlands, lives from Waikîkî flatlands to the shore, and now collects toxins and trash and channels them into the sea. In the next chapter, we will explore more “runoff” from the canal: the effects of real estate development in Waikîkî after the Ala Wai. Specifically, we will investigate the incursion of the military and leisure industry at Kâlia and explore how hierarchy and money empowered some in the area at the expense of many. Ala Wai | 37

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– Ka lia

‘Ewa End of Waikıˉkıˉ through Fort DeRussy

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– I kani no ka ‘alae i ka wai. A mudhen cries because it has water.

A prosperous person has the voice of authority. – —Mary Kawena Pukui, Olelo No‘eau

Kâlia, a place where Native Hawaiians initially prospered as cultivators, is now a site for prosperous military personnel to vacation. Kâlia was the portion of Waikîkî that was originally the wettest. The Pi‘inaio Stream once coursed through Kâlia, where it fed numerous fishponds built by kânaka maoli and spread into a broad delta that stretched its many fingers and rivulets into the sea. Kâlia was perhaps the richest source of fish, shellfish, and seaweed in all of Waikîkî, nourishing area residents along with their families and friends well into the first three decades of the twentieth century. However, beginning with the latter part of the nineteenth century, Kâlia’s productivity as an aquacultural region was compromised. When haole settlers began to recognize Kâlia’s charms as a vacation destination and the U.S. military began to covet the area for strategic defense, the watery region was taken from those who cultivated it and turned into a battleground for power and control. Indeed, Kâlia is the section of Waikîkî perhaps most vividly scarred by the destruction wrought by money and land-lust. The politics of race—which often sharpen the politics of land and power in Hawai‘i—cut through Kâlia like a knife, severing people from their land, their way of life, and one another. Kâlia fishponds were filled to make way for a military reservation and an adjoining entertainment district. These developments supported a military population in Waikîkî that on at least two occasions played a part in horrifying instances of racial injustice. In this chapter, we examine this history to reveal how both the constructive and destructive acts of distinct com-

munities in Kâlia have been buried, but ultimately excavated. This covering and uncovering tells us a great deal about who has might in Hawai‘i. It also helps us see why the powerful achieve their recognition and mastery when they do. Although the story of Kâlia is largely a sad tale, in which the draining of the region’s water seems to parallel the draining of its humanity, we will focus on two important tributes to water and people in Kâlia. These tributes remind us that although precious natural and human resources have been buried by development in Waikîkî, they have neither been forgotten nor irrevocably destroyed.



Guests at the Hilton Hawaiian Village on Kâlia Road in Waikîkî lodge in a small city unto itself. The twenty-two-acre complex consists of six towers with accommodations, more than 20 restaurants and 90 shops, an artificial beach and lagoon, four pools, a branch of the Bishop Museum, and myriad programmed activities. This city is “Hawaiian” because its facilities have Hawaiian names (Kâlia Tower and Tapa Café), Hawaiian entertainment and cultural activities (hula performances and ukulele lessons), and Hawaiian décor (tropical flower arrangements and Hawaiian quilts as hangings). However, the hotel complex is a “Hawaiian village” in name only. It is really a high-end temple of tourist consumption that offers simulations of exotica; for example, the Hilton’s Rainbow Bazaar houses Polynesian- and Asian-style boutiques and eateries, including a Thai temple relocated from Thailand. Kâlia | 39

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The resort area is dotted with many manmade bodies of water, ranging from swimming pools to waterfalls and ponds. Perhaps the most popular of these wet attractions is the penguin pool, where children flock to see imported birds being fed. The Hilton Hawaiian Village Web site boasts: “Learn about our wildlife family, which includes our African RedWinged Flamingos, ‘good luck’ carp, Black-Footed Penguins and a number of other exotic animals! Each child will receive a Wildlife & Ecology Certificate and a Polaroid® picture taken at the penguin pond.”1 This activity—which draws the visitor into not only the Hilton Hawaiian Village family, but also into the family of all creatures on earth—unabashedly proclaims the attraction of the exotic and purports to teach children ecological principles about wildlife. But what ecological principles do these children truly learn? They see animals brought in from distant lands to an artificial pool. They are not told that the very ground upon which they stand once supported an actual Hawaiian village whose inhabitants tended ecologically sound fishponds. This is today’s Kâlia experience in a nutshell: the area is a hyperdeveloped, Disney-like tourist playground that, while claiming to offer education alongside entertainment, rarely presents in-depth information about Kâlia’s original topography and former residents. Certainly the Bishop Museum branch within the Hilton Hawaiian Village provides a general history of kanaka maoli life in the vicinity and throughout Hawai‘i. However, this history focuses broadly on heroic deeds and nostalgic loss rather than on charting the specific and complex ways in which kânaka maoli experienced disenfranchisement in Kâlia and elsewhere in the islands. Furthermore, although the other Kâlia museum—the U.S. Army Museum of Hawai‘i at Fort DeRussy—sets forth a history of conflict in Hawai‘i, as Kathy E. Ferguson and Phyllis Turnbull have demonstrated, it certainly does not provide a history that examines struggles between the military and the people of Hawai‘i.2

Two such battles within Kâlia erupted at places that once were sites of prosperity rather than locales that resonate with pain. The first battle was loud, extremely incendiary, and highly publicized. Known today as the Massie Case of 1931, it involved the alleged gang rape by Native Hawaiian and Asian youths of a privileged white woman married to a naval officer. The events first unraveled at John ‘Ena Road, not far from where the Pi‘inaio Stream once fed water in and out of large fishponds named Kaipuni, Paweo and Ka‘ihikapu.3 The second conflict was hushed, earnest, and quietly addressed. Today, it is a little known but documented abuse of power that occurred during World War II and involved the use of interned elderly Japanese for a construction project at Fort DeRussy.4 This forced labor took place somewhere in the vicinity of what had been either Kaipuni or Paweo fishpond. As we explore the history of these sites and the events associated with them, we will see that many within the Native Hawaiian and Japanese communities suffered at the hands of the predominantly white military. We will also see, however, that the hard and constructive work produced by countless kânaka maoli and Japanese hands is honored in Kâlia today. The walls of Kâlia fishponds remain intact beneath the fill that created Fort DeRussy, and in the fort’s Kuroda Field, adjacent to the land cleared by interned Japanese laborers, the Japanese Americans who rendered great service to the United States during World War II are remembered and honored.



Unlike the artificial ponds at the Hilton Hawaiian Village, built as stage spaces for the display of non-indigenous flora and fauna, the loko (fishponds) that once dotted Kâlia were built by kânaka maoli to work in harmony with nature. William K. Kikuchi, an important authority on Hawaiian aquaculture, noted that Hawai‘i, and specifically O’ahu, had the most numerous, varied, widely distributed, largest, and most technically advanced fishponds in all of Oceania.5 Ki-

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kuchi cataloged four different types of fishponds in Hawai‘i: loko kuapa (with seawalls to separate a pond from the ocean), loko pu‘uone and loko wai (natural, inland ponds used for fish), and loko i‘a kalo (irrigated taro patches also used to raise fish).6 The ponds now beneath Fort DeRussy were loko wai, bodies of fresh water fed by springs and drainage ditches that were likely brackish because of seawater that came in with the tides and seeped in through coastal dunes.7 These ponds were part of a larger irrigation system that included ‘auwai (drainage ditches), kahawai (streams), and mâkâhâ (sluice gates). For example, a ditch known as ‘Auwai o Pau drained water from a taro growing region called Ko‘ele Kalo o Pau, once along the east side of what is now Fort DeRussy.8 Furthermore, a sluice called ‘Auwai o Ka Mâkâhâ formerly linked the Paweo pond to a kahawai that was one of the Pi‘inaio’s many branches.9 This network of natural elements and enhanced or built structures demonstrates that kânaka maoli who lived in Kâlia

devised economical and environmentally efficient methods of food production. Water that fed their lo‘i (taro patches) in turn fed their loko, which were filtered by sluices that swept baby fish into ponds and prevented mature fish from returning to the sea. Although fishponds did not produce voluminous quantities of food,10 their yield supplemented ocean fishing and their walls contained fish for ready access.11 These fish were ‘o‘opu (common goby) and âholehole (silver perch), which lived in ponds that nourished taro, as well as ‘ama‘ama (mullet) and awa (milkfish), which lived in brackish ponds closer to the ocean.12 According to Kikuchi and Russell Apple, these fish and their watery homes were owned exclusively by ali‘i.13 E. S. Craighill and Elizabeth Green Handy argue that the first Polynesians who settled Hawai‘i (who did not have an ali‘i class and who came to the islands as early as 30014) probably built loko such as those constructed in Waikîkî, which subse-

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quent, ali‘i-led Polynesians later expanded into vast irrigation complexes.15 Indeed, oral tradition maintains that Chief Kalamakua, who reigned in the first half of the fifteenth century, developed Waikîkî’s great aquacultural system, which was built by maka‘âinana.16 Records from the Mâhele of 1848, which placed Hawai‘i’s lands into private hands, show that nineteenth-century Waikîkî fishponds were owned by both ali‘i and maka‘âinana.17 These loko were therefore an important part of all Native Hawaiians’ lives: both the highborn and the general populace had a hand in their creation and use. Although predominantly Chinese tended Waikîkî’s loko in the later nineteenth century—by that time many Native Hawaiians were swept from Kâlia by disease and dispossession—kânaka maoli who remained in the area gathered fish and other resources from ponds and streams well into the early twentieth century. Native Hawaiian women harvested medici-

nal native plants such as makaloa (perennial sedge) and kâmole (primrose willow) from taro patches,18 and Native Hawaiian children caught o‘opu in streams and collected ‘ama‘ama that spilled out of ponds during flooding rains.19 Thus, although Kâlia’s fishponds no longer functioned within an integrated agricultural complex overseen by kânaka maoli, the loko supplemented the bounty obtained from the ocean until they were filled in the early 1900s. Indeed, the bay that once stretched across the Hilton Hawaiian Village site was one of the richest seafood producing regions in O‘ahu. A big reef extended from the locale now occupied by Fort DeRussy’s hotel and contained a large lobster bed and sheltered he‘e (octopus).20 During crab season, area residents used sheets to capture hundreds of crabs as they scurried in the sand, and when ‘oama (young goatfish) were running, people caught them by hand right out of thick schools.21 Kâlia families also threw nets for shrimp and speared pâki‘i Kâlia | 43

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(sand dabs) in shallow water.22 Native Hawaiians came from as far as Kalihi to collect limu in the area, as it was famous for its limu‘ele‘ele23 and rich in limu lîpoa,24 as well as in manauea and huluhulu waena seaweeds.25 Kâlia’s flowing ponds, splashing waves, sheltering reef, and curving shoreline produced and supported a great deal of life.



The productive harvesting of Kâlia slowed and finally stopped as the military and businessmen developed the area. Parts of the Kâlia lands that now constitute Fort DeRussy were settled by foreigners as early as 1850.26 By 1865, the haole community in Waikîkî was pronounced enough to merit note in the local press.27 Just more than twenty-five years later, almost all of the 194 land claims made by kânaka maoli in Waikîkî were foreign-owned.28 Some haole settlers in Kâlia capitalized on the area’s beauty by running establishments for recreation and leisure. In 1891, in part of the area now occupied by the Hilton Hawaiian Village, the Old Waikîkî bathhouse opened. This was one of several such businesses that catered to tourists interested in sea bathing. Four years later, the Old Waikîkî was purchased and turned into a boardinghouse, which in 1911 became the Cassidy’s at the Beach hotel.29 Later renamed the Pierpont, it then became one of a cluster of buildings refurbished as the Niumalu Hotel in 1926.30 By this time, Kâlia was firmly established as a vacation destination for tourists. The Paoa family, who had an estate near these Kâlia vacation grounds—holdings ultimately subsumed into the Hilton Hawaiian Village site—remained in Kâlia until 1955 and saw many Native Hawaiians leave the region over the years. When Bob Paoa was interviewed about his family lands in 2001, his interviewers learned a great deal about how Native Hawaiian residents fared in Kâlia. Mr. Paoa indicated he’d heard stories from his mother and other relatives about many Hawaiians being

displaced from Kâlia. . . . It was rumored that many of these Hawaiian families became “beholden” to a particular individual and they turned over their land, either in exchange for debts paid or sold out for a nominal fee. . . . Bob’s understanding is that many of these displaced Hawaiian families moved to “Squattersville”—first in the present Ala Moana park area, which used to be the City’s dumping grounds. Later, the City relocated the homeless families to a second “Squattersville” location in the tract over by John ‘Ena Road and Kalâkaua Avenue. Eventually, he heard many of these same families moved to Papakòlea Homestead, he thinks, some time after World War II.31 These families may have had to turn over their land because the military was determined to acquire it or because they were unable or unwilling to comply with the legislation (passed first in 1896) that required landowners to improve wetlands considered unsanitary. In 1904, the U.S. Army began obtaining the 69.4 acres that comprise Fort DeRussy by purchasing and seizing shorefront lots in Kâlia, acquiring Native Hawaiian J. W. Kawai’s property in 1905 after it was condemned.32 The army then “improved” its acquisitions, filling fishponds and wetlands with two hundred fifty thousand cubic yards of sand and coral,33 which were dredged from Kâlia’s reefs by Walter F. Dillingham’s Hawaiian Dredging Company.34 By 1928, the army had filled all of the fishponds within its holdings.35 As early as 1911, businessmen began acquiring the Kâlia lands Native Hawaiians had tended. That year, developer Percy Pond bought the six-acre Loko Ka‘ohi, filling it with land from a Diamond Head parcel he owned to create a tract he named Beach Walk.36 Records show that Loko Ka‘ohi had supported a cluster of Native Hawaiian households. The fishpond and others nearby were awarded to the ali‘i Kekuanaoa in the Mâhele, and nine small holdings in the vicinity of Kekuanaoa’s loko complex suggest that the area sustained

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a number of kanaka maoli families prior to Pond’s development.37 Dillingham’s Hawaiian Dredging Company also destroyed numerous wetlands Native Hawaiians had cultivated. In 1912, Dillingham bought 84.41 acres of Kâlia from the Bishop Estate,38 securing an inexpensive price through his personal connections with the estate’s president.39 Eight parcels of the property were leased to Native Hawaiians at the time of the sale,40 and Dillingham subsequently filled these parcels and all of the property he acquired with material he dredged from the reef at today’s Ala Moana Beach.41 The area was also filled with garbage, as landowners were allowed to reclaim wetlands by permitting the city to use their premises as dumping grounds.42 Commercial developers and military engineers “reclaimed” once productive wetlands that had nourished kânaka maoli for centuries, and many of Kâlia’s Native Hawaiian residents ended up “squatting” not only on coral reef that once had fed them, but also on garbage. Indeed,

Squattersville, one such Kâlia landfill, was the dumping ground for the displaced kânaka maoli that Bob Paoa’s family remembered.



Until the second half of the twentieth century, when the Hilton Hawaiian Village joined the ranks of Waikîkî’s luxury lodgings, such as the Waikikian and the ‘Ilikai, in drawing crowds to the ‘Ewa end of Waikîkî, it was Fort DeRussy that brought the largest numbers of visitors to Kâlia. These visitors were soldiers, men who both worked and played in Waikîkî. They first arrived at Fort DeRussy in 1908 and continue to arrive daily, most often as vacationers at the Hale Koa Hotel, which was built in 1977 as a recreation facility for servicemen and servicewomen as well as their families. The fort, established as a coastal artillery defense of Pearl Harbor and Honolulu Harbor, was named for a commander Kâlia | 45

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distinguished in coastal protection. Brigadier General Rene E. DeRussy designed and commanded San Francisco’s harbor defenses during the Civil War.43 In 1909–1911, the army constructed Fort DeRussy’s coastal defense, Battery Randolph. The battery was built of reinforced concrete and mounted with two fourteen-inch rifles on disappearing carriages able to fire projectiles weighing 1,560 pounds up to fourteen miles.44 Battery Dudley was built on the ‘Ewa side of Battery Randolph and possessed two six-inch rifles on disappearing carriages.45 These guns dramatically affected the surrounding area. A barge that delivered some of the guns broke through the reef, thereby changing currents, which swept so much sand through the hole in the reef that people with oceanfront homes had to install seawalls.46 Furthermore, whenever the army fired its battery guns, residents were warned to open their doors and windows to avoid damage to their homes from the blasts.47 Fort DeRussy’s battery guns were actually never fired for defensive purposes; indeed, the batteries never had to protect the harbors they were built to safeguard. Although many Waikîkî residents surely perceived the soldiers that walked their streets as men determined to defend island citizenry, others experienced these military personnel much as they did battery guns: as a destructive, rather than protective, presence. Mary Clarke, a Paoa family member who lived next door to Fort DeRussy, told an interviewer that her family feared the first troops that came to the area. My father almost got killed, you know. He was outside on Kâlia Road fixing something. I think he was just sweeping up. . . . These soldiers used to come. And [father] being Hawaiian, “Oh you dirty kanaka,” and all that. Oh it was terrible. So, they walk up to Ah Yin Store, and they were talking and talking. They stole this. . . . Before, they used to have these (round) weights—old fashioned weights. . . . Well, [he] stole one and [he was] going to hit my father with it. Uncle Duke happened to come and grabbed

him. Took him. Well, every time they did something like that, they were sent away back home. Oh, (they were) bad, those days. We were scared living there.48 In 1931, racial violence such as this exploded into an alleged rape and an actual lynching that shook all of Hawai‘i and that reverberated throughout the United States. The events that began this conflagration unfolded first in Kâlia, when a naval officer’s wife took a solitary walk down John ‘Ena Road.



Thalia Massie married a navy man at a very early age, and although she came from a military home, she did not adjust well to naval life. Massie was from a prominent family—her father was military aide to Theodore Roosevelt and her mother was a socialite—and she was often bored with life in Honolulu. On September 12, 1931, after trading insults with an officer, Massie left a party at Waikîkî’s Ala Wai Inn, an establishment frequented by naval personnel. She wandered down nearby John ‘Ena Road, which was lined with shops and cafés that catered to the enlisted men of Fort DeRussy. Massie later claimed that as she walked, two men emerged from a car into which she was forced and where she was beaten. According to Massie’s testimony, the “Hawaiian boys” who abducted her drove to Ala Moana Park, where she was raped.49 She was picked up on Ala Moana Road, exclaiming to her rescuers, “Thank God you’re white!” and driven home to Mânoa Valley.50 When she was subsequently taken to the hospital and examined, no conclusive evidence of rape was found.51 However, during her hospital stay, police made repeated trips to her room with five men they had picked up in relation to another Waikîkî incident, and Massie eventually identified the five as her rapists. These young men—Benny Ahakuelo, Henry Chang, Horace Ida, Joseph Kahahawai, and David Takai—were brought to trial and judged more harshly by the navy and in the press than they were in the courtroom. One of the high-

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est-ranking naval officers in Hawai‘i, Rear Admiral Yates Stirling, Jr., who commanded the Fourteenth Naval District at Pearl Harbor, advocated lynching the accused. Local papers repeatedly quoted his assertion that whites were “under attack” in the islands and that Massie’s alleged assailants were “brutes” who should be seized and strung up in trees.52 Court judgment was more restrained: a jury made up of a cross-section of Honolulu citizenry was not convinced beyond reasonable doubt that Massie had been raped. After this verdict, Hawai‘i’s establishment press announced that justice had failed and that the islands were imperiled. A Honolulu Advertiser editorial claimed that tourists told their friends and families at home to avoid Hawai‘i, as it was unsafe for women and children.53 A Honolulu Star-Bulletin article declared that naval fleet activities would be cancelled, which would have dire economic consequences for the islands.54 The national press was equally hysterical, with Time magazine arguing that navy wives were in danger in Honolulu where “yellow men’s lust for white women had broken bonds.”55 Admiral Stirling’s call to vengeance did not fall on deaf ears. After the trial, Horace Ida was forced into a car by several navy men and driven to the countryside where he was brutally beaten.56 The next day, Joseph Kahahawai was abducted and shot dead. Police found his body in a car, accompanied by Massie’s husband, her mother (who had come to Hawai‘i to care for her daughter), and a navy-enlisted man. The three were arrested along with a sailor accomplice and tried for murder. However, at Admiral Stirling’s insistence, they were remanded to navy custody and did not await trial in jail.57 Naval officers and members of Congress attempted another irregularity by trying to get the case turned over to a U.S. court.58 Indeed, concerned that Hawai‘i was incapable of protecting those on its shores, the U.S. Justice Department sent Assistant Attorney General Seth W. Richardson to investigate law enforcement in the islands. Richardson found that Hawai‘i’s political and judicial infrastructure functioned adequately but included in his Kâlia | 47

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report the much sterner judgment of Admiral Stirling, who called for commission government in Hawai‘i. The admiral’s appeal was deeply marked by profound racial prejudice: What is . . . disturbing is the intermixture of races that has been going on in the Hawaiian Islands for many years. Scientists have stated that these intermixtures tend to produce types of a lower moral and mental caliber than the pure-blooded types of each race, and this intermixture is increasing to an extent that will tend to make each new generation of mixed bloods, with the continual introduction of a greater proportion of Oriental blood, contain a majority of individuals of lower intellect and of increasing degeneracy. . . . Present governmental control should be by men primarily of the Caucasian race . . . by men who are not too deeply imbued with the peculiar atmosphere of the islands. . . . Actual control of the laws, their inception, promulgation and enforcement, should be by the national government. Should the logic of the situation decide for a government of limited suffrage with a considerable measure of control by the national government, the constitution of such controlling government, while predominantly civilian, should include an officer of the United States Army and an officer of the United States Navy. . . .59 Admiral Stirling’s recommendations alarmed Hawai‘i politicians and businessmen, who feared loss of power, and horrified the Native Hawaiian and Asian communities, who envisioned further racial hatred. The former did not want U.S. armed forces to have an even greater interest in the islands, and the latter did not want to see haole privilege triumph over justice. Only three years earlier, Myles Fukunaga, who confessed to kidnapping and murdering the Caucasian son of a 48 | Kâlia

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Hawaiian Trust Company vice president, was hanged despite an open letter to the governor from a university professor that declared Fukunaga legally insane.60 Fukunaga’s case spurred so much anti-Japanese sentiment that Japanese families fearful of a lynch-mob mentality ordered their children to come straight home from school.61 Massie’s husband and mother and their accomplices were not hanged for the murder they committed. Defended by the famous trial lawyer Clarence Darrow, who pleaded temporary insanity for his clients, the navy men and Massie’s mother were found guilty of manslaughter, with leniency recommended for Massie’s husband. Although they were sentenced to ten years of hard labor at O‘ahu Prison, Governor Lawrence Judd commuted their sentences after Hawai‘i’s U.S. Delegate Victor S. K. Houston argued that prison terms for the accused would mean commission government for the islands.62 Walter F. Dillingham—concerned that his powerful, American-based friends in government and business deemed Hawai‘i poorly run and dangerous—issued a memorandum arguing that the territory was capable and safe. In this private document, Dillingham stated that lynch law might be condoned where “whites are in the majority.”63 He further argued: “Hawai‘i has been branded as lax in the punishment of offenders in sex crimes. A study of the record, however, and a consideration of the fact that we have been coping with a mixed population, largely of Asiatic origin, will show that Hawai‘i has done a remarkable job in instilling into these Americans of foreign ancestry a high degree of respect for the law.”64 Apparently, for Dillingham, Stirling, and other powerful haole leaders in Hawai‘i, “respect for the law” meant something different if one were white, rather than Native Hawaiian or Asian.



Nine years after the Massie case, not far from the place Massie purportedly was abducted, Fort DeRussy soldiers supervised elderly Japanese aliens who were put to work breaking stone

and building a wall. These people were interned at Sand Island and Honouliuli and were bussed in to Waikîkî. It was the advent of World War II for the United States, in the aftermath of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, and many people in the states and Hawai‘i viewed Japanese aliens and Japanese Americans with distrust and even outright hatred. Internment was the grim fallout from this xenophobia, and in the 1940s, scores of men, women, and children of Japanese ancestry were rounded up in the United States and Hawai‘i and sent to camps in remote locales. In fact, a senior army intelligence officer produced a plan to imprison some Japanese in Hawai‘i well before the United States joined allied forces in World War II. This man was Lt. Colonel George S. Patton, Jr., who would go on to become a well-known general in the European theater during the war. While he worked intelligence in Hawai‘i from 1935–1937, he devised a secret document of action for the islands in case hostilities developed between the United States and Japan. His plan called for the seizure of 128 Japanese hostages, the confiscation of 23 Japanese businesses, and the closing of 60 radio stations.65 Patton’s plan suggests that even before Japan attacked Hawai‘i, military personnel perceived Japanese living on American soil as a threat to U.S. security. The first Japanese arrested in Hawai‘i were rounded up during the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941; by the following day, 345 people were imprisoned.66 On December 9, detainees were sent to Sand Island Detention Center, where they were subsequently shipped off to camps on the continental United States or to Camp Honouliuli on O‘ahu.67 While interned at Sand Island, Japanese were treated cruelly by the commander in charge, Captain Carl F. Eifler. Eifler forbade his charges the use of newspapers and any writing implements or paper, forced them to eat everything that they were served, and had them all stripped and searched when a kitchen spoon went missing (it was later found on top of a cupboard).68 Sam Uyehara, an Okinawan born on the island of Hawai‘i, observed some of the harsh treatment Japanese Kâlia | 49

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detainees received: he witnessed the elderly Japanese breaking stone and building a wall at Fort DeRussy. Almost ten years before, Uyehara had started the Smile Café, a Kâlia eatery that became a popular destination for locals. In his accounts of Waikîkî life for the University of Hawai‘i Center for Oral History, Uyehara reported that his father made musubi (molded seasoned rice) for the Japanese detainees who worked at Fort DeRussy, food that Uyehara delivered with the help of a sergeant who accepted payoff. . . . Some people help the old folks make the wall, bring the stone, and everything. You feel really sorry for them, boy. But I made good with the Sergeant

Anderson. So, when the time come, he goes away. He gives the signal, eh? He goes away, that’s when (chuckles) we used to go and give ‘em [musubi]. He knew what’s going on, but he pretend he don’t know, see. But it used to cost me money. When everybody go home, his duty is all pau [finished] already, he used to come to the bar. I used to give him a drink. You got to play ball with him.69 The plight that these elderly Japanese suffered at the hands of the U.S. military received none of the attention that Massie’s alleged rape generated. The supposed violation of a navy wife almost brought the government of Hawai‘i to its knees, whereas the imprisonment and forced labor of Japanese detainees barely caused a ripple. Thus Kâlia, where fishponds once defined a way of life, became a place where Native Hawaiian and Asian youth and aged Japanese literally—indeed physically—bore the weight of white prejudice in the islands.



Today, there are memorials related to Kâlia’s former fishpond grounds. One memorial is a public tribute to the Japanese in Hawai‘i who served the United States during World War II. Kuroda Field, named on September 28, 1957, in honor of Robert T. Kuroda, is a public recreation ground in Fort DeRussy, not far from where interned elderly Japanese labored. The field pays tribute to Kuroda, who was killed by sniper fire on October 20, 1944, near Bruye`res, France, where he destroyed enemy machine gun nests and killed enemy snipers.70 Kuroda was a member of the U.S. Army’s 442nd Regimental Combat Team, which consisted of 25 officers and 2,855 enlisted men of Japanese ancestry from Hawai‘i.71 More than seven hundred of these men perished, making the 442nd the unit with the highest number of casualties in U.S. Army history.72 The 442nd was also the most decorated unit of its length of service and size in America’s history.73 Kuroda Field’s location is ironic but extremely important: near the very site where 50 | Kâlia

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U.S. Army personnel mistreated Japanese detainees, the army honors Japanese American soldiers of Hawai‘i. Although the memorial is a kind of public relations tool for the army—it veils the military’s racial politics by paying tribute to an Asian American—Kuroda Field is equally a powerful reminder that Hawai‘i soldiers of Japanese ancestry proved to the army that they deserved the respect their interned elders were owed, but denied.74 The second memorial related to the fishpond grounds is a document housed in the University of Hawai‘i’s Hawaiian Collection. It is the first of several documents that honor the work of the countless Native Hawaiians who built and managed the complex irrigation system and fishponds that once functioned on Fort DeRussy lands. The text is a 1989 archaeological report prepared for the army by Bertell D. Davis, and it presents Davis’ reconnaissance survey and historical research of Fort DeRussy lands. The archaeologist’s work uncovers some very important information. Davis and his coworkers discovered intact remains of fishpond walls and ‘auwai, prehistoric habitation deposits, and historic-era refuse pits. Davis was able to date items that he found and determined that the loko and irrigation complex were well established by the fifteenth century (a fact that is confirmed by oral traditions).75 Furthermore, he was able to link unearthed material to recorded household sites, suggesting the possibility of “identifying house structures—perhaps like those described by Vancouver in 1792 and other early explorers.”76 Davis’ research demonstrates that Kâlia’s aquacultural complex sustained Native Hawaiians settled in the area for hundreds of years and that the loko and irrigation systems were built so well that they survived their attempted destruction through filling projects.77 Their continued existence under land developed by the army and businessmen—land additionally scarred by the shameful events unleashed by the Massie case and the forced labor of interned Japanese—is a powerful reminder that Waikîkî’s wetlands, like the people who worked on and, eventually, above them, cannot be truly buried. Kâlia | 51

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Kawehewehe Vicinity of Haleku¯lani Hotel

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– Pu ‘ali kalo i ka wai ‘ole. Taro, for lack of water, grows misshapen.

For lack of care one may become ill.

– —Mary Kawena Pukui, Olelo No‘eau

In this chapter, we examine the history of a small section of Waikîkî adjacent to Kâlia, an area profoundly linked to both life and death. Native Hawaiians who lived, worked, and fought in this land and its waters knew it as Kawehewehe. Its boundaries roughly correspond to the land beneath Kalâkaua Avenue between Saratoga Road and Lewers Street, and include the ocean just beyond Gray’s Beach, in front of the Halekûlani Hotel. Until developers filled their courses, additional waters once flowed through the area. These were a spring, pond, and stream that during heavy rains drained into the ocean. Native Hawaiians ascribed great healing properties to Kawehewehe’s salt- and freshwaters. However, the region’s gentle ocean waves and soft gurgling spring were unable to cure kânaka maoli of the illnesses that claimed a huge number of their lives: pestilence brought to Hawai‘i from haole who crossed the Pacific. In fact, Native Hawaiians and those who settled among them were often at odds in their pursuit of health and well-being. In the previous chapter, we explored the sickness of racism and its devastating impact on many people in Hawai‘i. Foreigners also introduced diseases that left a horrifying mark on the islands, killing thousands of Native Hawaiians and, in the process, drastically altering native land stewardship and government. Indeed, the epidemics that decimated the kanaka maoli population ironically and tragically encouraged several ruling ali‘i to adopt some Western beliefs and practices they hoped would restore the population, but that ultimately compromised their sovereignty instead. As we investigate these disastrous events, it will become clear that although the

waters of Hawai‘i have fed and cleansed kânaka maoli for centuries, they also bore to the islands people who left disease and destruction in their wake. In the face of these potent negative forces, we will see that Native Hawaiians fought to regain their health and power, an ongoing battle aptly symbolized in the remnant of Kawehewehe’s stream that returns to Waikîkî during high tides.



Few people today associate the section of Waikîkî that abuts Fort DeRussy with Kawehewehe. Instead, they think of it in connection with the world-renowned Halekûlani Hotel. The Halekûlani (literally, “the house befitting royalty”) is one of Hawai‘i’s most exclusive resorts, and numbers among a handful of Waikîkî’s elite and extremely expensive vacation destinations. Clifford and Juliet Kimball first established the hotel in 1917 after managing Walter F. Dillingham’s Hale‘iwa Hotel on O‘ahu’s north shore for almost a decade.1 They pieced the Halekûlani together from several adjoining properties and named the hotel for the Robert Lewers’ home, a beachfront bungalow where Native Hawaiians were given permission to store their canoes, which was built in the area around 1881.2 Fewer than thirty years earlier, the site was owned rather than “borrowed” by kânaka maoli; in the early 1850s, six Native Hawaiians received parcels on the current hotel grounds as Mâhele claims.3 This area is now a small patch of sand called Gray’s Beach, named after La Vancha Maria Chapin Gray, who ran a hotel in the vicinity beginning in 1912.4 The name demonstrates that Kawehewehe, like most of Waikîkî, was in Kawehewehe | 53

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foreign hands as the nineteenth century progressed and the twentieth century dawned. Today, the Halekûlani capitalizes on its proximity to Gray’s Beach and its waters, which kânaka maoli once bathed in to restore their health and spiritual well-being. The hotel’s exclusive spa, where massages begin at $180, advertises its services with the following reference to Kawehewehe’s powers: “Gray’s Beach, which fronts Halekûlani, was known to early Hawaiians for its healing water or Kawehewehe. The tradition continues with the creation of SpaHalekûlani, inspired by the healing cultures of Hawai‘i and [the] South Pacific and committed to the gracious hospitality and timeless elegance of [the] Halekûlani.”5 The spa offers a menu that includes Hawaiian, Samoan, Japanese, and Thai bodywork practices and rejuvenating aromatherapy scrubs “infused with exotic island plants” that “detoxify and soothe.”6 The spa claims that “Mânoa Mint” encourages “celebration,” while “Coconut Passion” provides “nourishment” and limu promotes “purifying.”7

These costly procedures are linked to kanaka maoli experience of Kawehewehe’s healing through tenuous association only. Native Hawaiian cleansing rituals off Gray’s Beach included limu, but these rites existed a world apart from the pricey, exoticized spa treatments offered at the Halekûlani. The hotel’s spa-goers buy merely the fantasy of a native therapeutic experience, one that is luxuriously packaged and several air-conditioned corridors away from ocean water and what is today a sorry strip of beach. There is something ironic and almost grotesque about visitors to Hawai‘i seeking wellness through imagined access to Native Hawaiian healing, as it was actually the first visitors to the islands who brought sickness that kânaka maoli could not combat.



Before haole were a major force in Hawai‘i, kânaka maoli died in Waikîkî and elsewhere from infirmities due to congenital

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weaknesses and age, infections resistant to treatment, food shortages and bloodshed in times of war, and human sacrifices. Descriptions of death that Native Hawaiians visited upon one another are chilling. For example, the Maui chief Kahekili, who began his successful 1780–1783 campaign to take O‘ahu by landing a fleet of war canoes at Waikîkî from Ka‘alawai to Kawehewehe,8 destroyed all possible resistance by massacring O‘ahu’s ali‘i. His warriors slaughtered men, women, and children “until the streams of Makaho and Niuhelewai in Kona and of Kahoa‘ai‘ai in ‘Ewa were choked with the bodies of the dead, and their waters became bitter to the taste . . . from the brains that turned the water bitter.”9 Other Hawaiian waters normally associated with life were also marked by horrible deaths. Ruling ali‘i employed the ocean off Waikîkî’s shores for the drowning of kauwâ, a caste of “untouchables” used for human sacrifice.10 The following account of such a drowning appeared in the Hawaiian language newspaper Ka Loea Kâlai‘âina:

When the ruling chief wished to go to Waikîkî for sea bathing he asked the chief just below him in rank, “How are my planting places at Pu‘u Ku‘ua [a place in the Wai‘anae Range famous as a kauwâ residence and place of mixed caste], have they not produced young suckers?”. . . When the men, women and children least expected it, the messenger came to get some of the children. The father stood up and took his sons to Waikîkî. Then, when the ruling chief went sea bathing, he sent an attendant to get the boys and take them to a shallow place where the ruling chief would come. Then the ruler placed a hand on each of the boys, holding them by the neck. The words he uttered were, “My height has not been reached! My height has not been reached!” He advanced and held onto the boys until the sea was up to his chest. The boys floated on the water face down. The father on shore Kawehewehe | 55

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called out, “Lie still in the sea of your Lord,” and so on.11 These grim deaths and all the others that claimed kanaka maoli lives before contact with Westerners pale in numbers when compared to the loss of life caused by diseases introduced by foreigners.12 Although scholars dispute the size of Hawai‘i’s population before contact,13 even low estimates suggest that within just more than fifty years, at least half of the islands’ native people were dead.14 The decline continued steadily and ominously, and a mere two years after the United States annexed Hawai‘i in 1898, only 29,799 kânaka maoli were counted. Native Hawaiians had no immunity to the infectious diseases haole brought to their shores and had little within their sophisticated healing tradition to help those sickened by introduced illnesses. Missionaries who settled in the islands from 1820 on curtailed the practice of much native health care, and in 1846, when called upon to report on the conditions of kânaka maoli, failed to recommend increased Western medical treatments for Native Hawaiians.16 After the 1804 ma‘i òku‘u (squatting sickness) epidemic—possibly typhoid, dysentery, or cholera—wiped out two-thirds of Kamehameha I’s warriors assembled at Waikîkî, the ruler decreed a training program for kâhuna lapa‘au (healers) to help address the threat of further epidemics. Kamehameha’s effort was the first of several Native Hawaiians launched that attempted—but ultimately failed—to protect kânaka maoli. Ma‘i òku‘u was the first large-scale epidemic to claim many lives quickly. However, venereal diseases, which Native Hawaiians contracted earlier, became chronic illnesses that caused terrible suffering and loss. When English Captain James Cook first landed in Hawai‘i in 1778, he knew that sailors in his crew had sexually transmitted diseases and forbade contact between his men and native women.17 His proscription failed, and because “any sort of sex was completely free” in kanaka maoli society, gonorrhea and syphilis

spread extremely quickly.18 Cook’s men and the whalers and traders who followed them introduced other forms of deadly sickness, and disease proliferated in the towns that sprang up to accommodate foreign businesses. Townspeople did not properly dispose of human waste, and soil, water, and food contaminated by bacteria, viruses, and parasites bred fevers, diarrheas, dysenteries, and infestations.19 Between 1848 and 1849, epidemics of influenza, measles, mumps, and whooping cough claimed five thousand lives, a tragedy taken up by the king’s Privy Council, which declared December 6, 1848, a day of prayer to end the scourge.20 Smallpox, introduced in 1853 when a sick traveler was not quarantined properly, caused a one-year epidemic that killed approximately fifteen thousand people.21 The following decade, leprosy spread to Hawai‘i (likely from Chinese immigrants), and in 1864, the government initiated a segregation policy that sent the afflicted to Moloka‘i, which for banished kânaka maoli who dreaded separation from family and friends was equivalent to death itself.22 Cholera came to Hawai‘i’s shores in 1895, and bubonic plague followed in 1899.23 Some of the despair and anger Native Hawaiians felt as they watched their numbers rapidly diminish is evident in a letter written at the time of the cholera outbreak to a highranking ali‘i by her half-sister. Writing with great feeling to Princess Ka‘iulani, Rose Cleghorn linked Native Hawaiians’ loss of health—and their loss of land—to the Caucasians who lived among them. It is a little over a fortnight since the cholera broke out; so far, it is only the natives who are the victims, with the exception of a sailor on board the H.S.S. Bennington who died. Up to last evening there were about 26 or 27 deaths. . . . The Hawaiians have lost faith in the white men and they think that the disease was brought here to kill them off. In consequence of which, when a case breaks out among them, they hide it, until it is too late; for they dread being taken to

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the hospital, and I think they prefer having a Chinese or Japanese, to a white doctor. . . . It is terrible this, coming on top of our political troubles. As you very truly say, we have indeed had enough troubles to last us to the end of our lives. It is an awful shame that our people should be taken off in this way, and I do so hope before it is too late that there will be some one with influence enough, to bring them to reason. I do not for a minute blame our people for feeling the way they do toward the whites, for what have they done, but defrauded and deceived them in every way.24 Cleghorn’s bitter analysis reflects the immense pain Native Hawaiians felt as twin evils descended upon them: at the very time they were contending with yet another pestilence, they were suffering the loss of their nation. In 1893, haole politicians and businessmen had usurped power from Queen Lili‘uokalani. This great injustice followed decades of kanaka maoli rulers’ attempts to protect their people’s health and sovereignty by drawing on native institutions as well as foreign tools they deemed helpful. For example, Native Hawaiian scholar Lilikalâ Kame‘eleihiwa has shown that Ka‘ahumanu, de facto ruler of the islands upon Kamehameha I’s death, fueled the spread of Christianity as a means of providing kânaka maoli with a new spiritual practice that would safeguard them from disease.25 Native Hawaiian scholar Jonathan Kay Kamakawiwo‘ole Osorio has demonstrated that Kauikeaouli (Kamehameha III) helped effect private land ownership through the 1848 Mâhele in part to encourage maka‘âinana to cultivate land depopulated in the wake of epidemics.26 Christianity, the Mâhele, and the ensuing 1850 Kuleana Act (which distributed land claims to maka‘âinana) neither protected Native Hawaiians’ health nor secured their prosperity. Instead, these practices and acts empowered haole settlers: believing their moral understanding and land tenure practices superior to those of kânaka maoli, missionaries and their descendants 58 | Kawehewehe

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took property and power from a people decimated by foreign diseases.



It is uncertain whether the healing practices associated with Kawehewehe preceded kanaka maoli contact with haole or were linked to the introduced epidemics that wreaked havoc on Native Hawaiians.27 Wehe, which means “to remove,” is the root of the name “Kawehewehe.”28 It refers to part of a ritual that occurred in the ocean off Gray’s Beach, in which sick kânaka maoli wore limu kala lei as they bathed in the sea of Kawehewehe. Since kala means “forgiveness,” these lei represented a request for pardon.29 Penitents ducked under the water to free the lei and then walked to shore without looking back in a gesture that symbolized the release of illness.30 Native Hawaiians also sought physical and spiritual cleansing in the waters of Kawehewehe Spring, which once fed a pond and a stream along Saratoga Road.31 Although rituals that may have been a part of this healing practice have not been unearthed, the restorative powers of springs and pools have been well documented. Two of the more famous are Mânoa’s Kanewai Pool and Kumulae Spring, both formerly in the vicinity of King Street. The pool, which sprang from the ground there and greatly interested Queen Lili‘uokalani, drew numerous Native Hawaiians to its waters.32 The spring was considered sacred by kânaka maoli, and the many medicine bowls found in the area attest to its healing properties.33 As the ritual associated with Kawehewehe’s ocean waters suggests, Native Hawaiians saw illness as the outcome of having lost mana by committing an offense. They viewed health and well-being as a reflection of pono, or goodness achieved through proper conduct.34 This entailed respect for and devotion to the deities that granted or withheld blessings, as well as adherence to the kapu that maintained the different positions and responsibilities of Hawai‘i’s classes through structured behavior.35 When a person fell sick after having wronged someone, he or she appealed to one of many different

sorts of medical practitioners (kâhuna lapa‘au). These healers were named and categorized according to their varied gifts, which ranged from the ability to diagnose from palpation (kahuna haha) to the ability to use magic in treatments (kahuna ‘anâ‘anâ or kahuna kuni).36 Although Christian missionaries who settled in the islands from 1820 railed against native medicine, which they regarded as superstition at best and pagan ritual at worst, kâhuna lapa‘au continued their censored work. Some incorporated practices learned from Western doctors, while others continued their traditional remedies and refused to treat patients who contracted foreign disease, sending them instead to haole physicians.37 Kamehameha V reinforced respect for native medicine by establishing in 1868 the Hawaiian Board of Health, a body that licensed kâhuna lapa‘au and continued well into the reign of Kalâkaua.38 Many Native Hawaiians recognized that Western medicine afforded effective treatment against introduced diseases, but they often had great difficulty obtaining such care. The small number of Western doctors who worked in Hawai‘i prior to the 1920s practiced in towns often far from native settlements,39 and they largely advertised their services to fellow haole. In fact, Hawai‘i’s first hospitals (beginning in 1837) were created for sailors, and subsequent private hospitals (commencing in 1852) ran newspaper ads geared toward “residents” and “strangers.”40 Recognizing that such institutions did not provide adequate care for his rapidly dying people, on May 25, 1855, King Kamehameha IV approved “An Act to Institute Hospitals for the Sick Poor” at Honolulu and Lahaina and worked hard to interest others in the undertaking. He and his wife, Queen Emma, raised the funds necessary for the costly venture; in 1859, the Queen’s Hospital opened in Honolulu with the mission of providing free medical treatment to poor kânaka maoli. Although the hospital provided crucial care for sick Native Hawaiians, much more was needed. Gerrit P. Judd, a missionary, physician, and political advisor who published one Kawehewehe | 59

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of the first medical texts written in the Hawaiian language,41 established a short-lived medical school in 1870 to educate kânaka maoli in Western medicine. In 1872, the school graduated a single class of ten practitioners who were sent to remote locations because haole physicians feared competition from them.42 Almost twenty years later, it took the determination and clout of another Hawaiian queen to open a second hospital for natives. In 1890, Queen Kapi‘olani founded the Honolulu maternity and gynecological hospital that bears her name; it is an institution intended “to propagate and perpetuate” kânaka maoli.43 Despite the hard work of Native Hawaiian healers and of the ali‘i and doctors who established the Queen’s and Kapi‘olani Hospitals, foreign disease continued to take an enormous toll on Hawai‘i’s indigenous people.



The healing waters of Kawehewehe Spring and Pond may have provided relief to some Native Hawaiians who suffered during the islands’ many epidemics of foreign disease. The spring and pond once rippled and flowed on the properties of two Native Hawaiians, Kaleipaopao and Wailehua, whose holdings were recorded at the time of the Mâhele.44 An 1881 Hawaiian government survey map shows buildings in the area that may have belonged to the claimants’ families, but as haole were firmly established in Waikîkî by then, this is uncertain.45 Indeed, the Saratoga Baths, a sea-bathing establishment that ran in the area throughout the 1890s, brought a stream of foreign tourists to Kawehewehe; over the next twenty years, the region’s wetlands were filled to make way for development. Bob Paoa, whose family lived in the vicinity for generations, told interviewers that he suspected any healing practices associated with Kawehewehe Spring had ended by 1900.46 Today, however, a number of Native Hawaiian organizations and projects operate to provide both native and Western medical treatment to kânaka maoli in Waikîkî and throughout Hawai‘i. In 1988, the Native Hawaiian Health Care Improvement Act established Papa Ola Lokahi, a consortium 60 | Kawehewehe

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of nonprofit agencies devoted to restoring health to Native Hawaiians.47 The Hawai‘i Primary Care Association was created in 1992, and it includes community-based Native Hawaiian Health Care Systems. Ke Ola Mamo, the system that serves O‘ahu, runs four clinics, including the Waikîkî Health Center, which provides medical and social services for all people who require them, including the uninsured and underinsured. Providing care since 1977, the center has aided people of every ethnicity from all walks of life, from runaways and prostitutes to unemployed residents and tourists.48 For several years, the Waikîkî Health Center has partnered with the Hawai‘i Pacific University Division of Nursing’s Ho‘ola Like Outreach project, which sponsors clinics that serve Native Hawaiian communities alienated from the Western health care system. These communities include people who have been turned away from facilities because they cannot pay or who have kept away from doctors because of mistrust of medical terminology.49 In these clinics, nurse practitioners and traditional Na-

tive Hawaiian healers work both to treat patients and to educate students about the value of their respective contributions to health and well-being.50 The important work of this service, which acknowledges the crucial needs of underserved kanaka maoli communities and reaffirms the power of native healing practices, is emblematized by the periodic upsurge of Kawehewehe Stream. During high tides, ocean water flows out of a storm grate at the intersection of Kâlia and Saratoga Roads, a phenomenon that suggests the stream may still course underground.51 Kawehewehe’s healing waters may have been buried underneath the fill that prepared Waikîkî for development, but the vigorous power of the ocean pushes these waters up and out over the concrete that paves the region. Although introduced diseases have claimed untold kanaka maoli lives, and settlers’ reclamation has disfigured Waikîkî, Kawehewehe’s resurgent waters metaphorically demonstrate that foreign contact and colonization have by no means finally destroyed kânaka maoli or their ‘âina.

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Helumoa Vicinity of the Royal Hawaiian Hotel

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– Ha ‘ale i ka wai a ka manu. The rippling water where birds gather.

A beautiful person. The rippling water denotes a quiet, peaceful nature which attracts others. – —Mary Kawena Pukui, Olelo No‘eau Helumoa is a section of Waikîkî associated with royalty— Hawai‘i’s ruling ali‘i who lived in the area, and foreign “kings” and “queens” of industry who vacationed at the famous Royal Hawaiian Hotel, built in 1927. Well before modern times, Helumoa was a residence and playground for the most privileged kânaka maoli. This legacy was exploited by the shipping company that built the Royal Hawaiian, the Pink Palace, to seduce wealthy tourists into buying costly sea passage and hotel accommodations. Later, developers in Waikîkî further cultivated the fantasy of purchasing a “royal” experience through the construction, in 1960 and 2001, of two large shopping centers in Helumoa and its environs. Trading on the dream of living like a prince or princess through consumption, the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center, which backs the Royal Hawaiian Hotel and fronts Kalâkaua Avenue, and the D.F.S. (Duty Free Shopping) Galleria on Kalâkaua and Royal Hawaiian Avenue, hold out the promise of royal treatment through purchasing power. While the commingling of aristocracy and capitalism has a long and complex history in Hawai‘i, in today’s Waikîkî this history is reduced to a crass encounter with a price tag: for a hefty sum, tourists can sleep, sun, and shop where native rulers once dwelled. In the Helumoa of our time, nineteenth-century Native Hawaiian nobles are those celebrated at the Pink Palace and nearby malls. Because these individuals, such as Princess Ka‘iulani, King Kalâkaua, and Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop, are dressed and posed like European aristocracy in hotel lobby paintings and tourist brochures, they appear more recognizably regal to haole visitors. Because they were ali‘i

who practiced some foreign customs, representations of them can convey to Western viewers the exoticism of the Native Hawaiian “purified” by the glamour of Victorian-era nobility. Vacationers and shoppers who are satisfied with this Western fantasy need not concern themselves with the complex ways in which native royals and many others of their class negotiated kanaka maoli and Western beliefs and practices, including the institution of monarchy. An examination of how Hawaiian royal status and control was impacted by capitalism, as well as how capitalist enterprise now works to market its construct of the royal, reveals a great deal about the function of power in Hawai‘i. Indeed, the history of Helumoa and its residents yields two important truths about privilege in Hawai‘i. First, superficial, romantic conceptions of royalty are scarcely related to the experience of the ali‘i; second, capitalism—like the foreign diseases explored in the previous chapter—has taken a tremendous toll on Hawai‘i and its people.



Like all of Waikîkî, the royal precinct of Helumoa was and is intimately tied to water. ‘Âpuakèhau Stream cut through its mauka (mountainside) perimeter, and ocean waves lapped its celebrated shoreline, which included Kahaloa, a beach once rich in the fragrant limu lîpoa seaweed. Kahaloa, now bounded by the Halekûlani and Royal Hawaiian Hotels, was an important site for two of O‘ahu’s premodern rulers. The beach was Chief Kalamakua’s favorite spot for surfing and the place where Chief Kahahana first landed on O‘ahu, where its people Helumoa | 63

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invited him to govern them. Now Helumoa’s waters are diminished and dirtied. To further real estate development, ‘Âpuakèhau was filled in the twentieth century, and ocean waves, now affected by urban runoff, no longer wash limu lîpoa onto Kahaloa’s sands. Today’s pristine ocean experience is available to tourists at the D.F.S. Galleria, a multistoried mall not far from the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center. The first set of stairs in the galleria twists up and through a 65,000-gallon aquarium visible from Kalâkaua Avenue. Two reef sharks and eight hundred fish live in the aquarium; for five hours daily, divers feed the tank’s residents and ensure that their environment is clean. These divers wear special helmets that connect them to D.F.S. customers, who may ask questions about the aquarium. This ocean adventure is just one of many “retail-tainment” interactions that marketing executives designed for D.F.S. to make the mall especially attractive to shopping tourists who desire “encounters” with Hawai‘i.1 The attractions created for the galleria—which include a two-story stage-set replica of the ocean liner that brought wealthy tourists to the Royal Hawaiian in the 1920s and 1930s—indicate that those who promote consumption in Hawai‘i believe that buyers want romantic images of the sea and Waikîkî’s bygone days. Much of this romance is filtered through shopping experiences with tenuous links to Hawai‘i’s royalty. For example, tourists can buy resort apparel at the D.F.S. Pikake Plantation, named for Princess Ka‘iulani’s favorite flower. Locally made arts and crafts are sold at Kalâkaua General Store, named for Hawai‘i’s last king. Such fantasies of access to Hawai‘i’s magnificent ocean waters and regal past do great injustice to the historical and current realities of Waikîkî’s connection to water and ali‘i. The water that flowed at Helumoa and the chiefs who made the area their home were powerful forces that cannot be reduced to mere backdrops for shopping sprees. A rarely recognized reminder of these forces remains in evidence at Helumoa today. There still exists in the region’s seabed a channel

cut by ‘Âpuakèhau Stream, and occasionally, when a strong current runs, lifeguards must rescue swimmers caught in its course.2 This might, obscured by the calm waters favored by guests of the Royal Hawaiian, is a potent metaphor for the strength embodied in the ali‘i who once lived and reigned in Helumoa. Helumoa’s nobility, benevolent like surf at Kahaloa yet potentially threatening like ‘Âpuakèhau Channel, both accommodated and resisted foreigners and their ways. Only in a capitalistic fantasy could these former rulers function as contemporary props for consumerist dreams of royal living. Likewise, although capitalism profoundly scarred Hawai‘i’s rulers and their subjects, it cannot lay claim to their legacy.



Helumoa received its name from a mighty chief that lived in the region. It means “chicken scratch” and refers to chickens once present in the area. According to Hawaiian legend, the supernatural rooster Ka‘auhelemoa flew from Ka‘au Crater in Pâlolo and landed in front of Mò‘î Kâkuhihewa while he was playing games near the beach in Waikîkî. The rooster scratched the earth and disappeared. Kâkuhihewa had his men plant a coconut in the place marked by Ka‘auhelemoa, and the tree as well as the grove that grew from it became known as Helumoa.3 Helumoa (or ‘Âpuakèhau) was also the name of a heiau in the area, and chickens are said to have scratched the dirt on its grounds looking for maggots from the bodies of sacrificial victims.4 Perhaps the most notable person sacrificed at the heiau was the Maui Mò‘î Kauhiakama, whose desecration at Helumoa was later avenged by his descendant Kahekili. Because Helumoa included a beach, freshwater, and a grove—three features that Hawaiian rulers favored in Waikîkî5—it became an important chiefly residence for some of the most powerful ali‘i. Kamehameha I, who united all of Hawai‘i under his rule, lived in the area, which was also home to his two predecessors on O‘ahu, Kahekili and Kahahana. In more recent times, on grounds now occupied by Helumoa | 65

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the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, Lota Kapuâiwa, the fifth and last Kamehameha king, built a home where his illustrious forebear once maintained a compound.6 Princess Ruth Ke‘elikòlani inherited Kamehameha V’s Helumoa property upon his death in 1872, and when she died in 1883, the lands passed to her cousin Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop.7 The controversial Bishop Estate today manages these huge holdings; although its profits were set up to benefit Native Hawaiians, they have at times enriched trustees and their cronies. As the presence of a luakini heiau (shrine for human sacrifice) at Helumoa attests, royal power in Waikîkî was at times linked to bloodshed. Indeed, ali‘i were trained as warriors and launched military campaigns to demonstrate and build their mana. Ali‘i successful in warfare acquired fame, territory, resources, subjects, and the mana of their slain enemies. War brought great suffering to many but heaped tremendous blessings on the victorious. Because violence was

one of the key vehicles through which ruling ali‘i secured prestige and power, it shaped the experience of many people in traditional Hawaiian society. A ruler concerned about the possibility of conspiracies among unoccupied followers might even launch a raid to keep his idle soldiers busy and satisfied.8 Although warfare was a primary instrument of mana, another important path to spiritual power for chiefs was to assure fertility of the land.9 One of O‘ahu’s early ali‘i, Mâ‘ilikûkahi, pursued this avenue by creating policies that paved the way for great agricultural productivity in Waikîkî and other parts of the islands. Around 1350–1400, Mâ‘ilikûkahi established Waikîkî as the ruling seat for O‘ahu chiefs,10 instituting laws from his capital that ensured peace and prosperity for his people.11 He frowned upon the practice of human sacrifice,12 fought battles largely to protect his lands from invaders, and divided the ‘âina into sectors that contained all of the island’s varied resources. Waikîkî was widely

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cultivated not long thereafter; around 1400–1450, Chief Kalamakua developed with the help of other farmers the large, rich taro plantation in the wetlands that covered the region now bounded by Kalâkaua Avenue, Kapi‘olani Park, and Mo‘ili‘ili.13 Waikîkî’s taro was carefully tended by subsequent ali‘i. Indeed, Kamehameha IV oversaw a project to renew the area’s lo‘i, and the success of this venture—achieved through the labor of chiefs, maka‘âinana, and convicts—was celebrated in the Hawaiian language newspaper Ku‘oko‘a in 1863: The taros are thriving from up at Keokea down to the shore, a pleasing sight to the eyes. The leaves are green and much admired by every one here in Waikîkî. Our King had cultivated these huge taro patches before in years past. Many commoners and chiefs worked in them. All of this patch has not been worked in because of the great size and the toughness

of the bulrushes. . . . The work is very hard but the heart of our King is neither dismayed nor discouraged. . . . He raised the project of working in his patches and at the time, the honorable C. Kapa‘akea, one of the chiefs, was placed in charge of the work and the prisoners [brought in to assist in the effort. . . . We admire the wisdom, the skill and thinking of the overseer. . . . We also admire Harry, one of the prison guards who [was] sent to take good care of the prisoners and their work. . . . [The prisoners] are strong and the toughness of the bulrushes of Keokea [is] broken into small clods by the strength of the prisoners and the sharpness of the shovel.14 By overseeing and at times participating in the work of producing food from Hawai‘i’s ‘âina, ali‘i garnered a great deal of mana and protected rather than took lives. In fact, Hawai‘i’s Helumoa | 67

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most powerful chief, Kamehameha I, expended great effort to facilitate agricultural productivity once he gained control of all of Hawai‘i through skillful diplomacy and bloody warfare. After he conquered O‘ahu, he worked with its residents to establish agricultural concerns, often “farming [himself] in order to rouse the enthusiasm of the people.”15 Helumoa was an important place to Kamehameha I and Kalamakua, two of the chiefs most responsible for assuring O‘ahu’s fecundity. They both found rest and fulfillment in the area: the former’s compound stood in the vicinity near ‘Âpuakèhau and the latter surfed in the sparkling waves off Kahaloa. According to kanaka maoli beliefs, the mana of these chiefs and other ali‘i that lived at Helumoa continues to permeate the area today.16



As Lilikalâ Kame‘eleihiwa has shown, the dualistic structure of the chiefly path to mana reflects the strength of force and beneficence as well as the place of hierarchy in traditional Hawaiian experience. Ali‘i were descended from the akua (gods) who controlled life and death, and it was the responsibility of this class of high-ranking people to mediate between the divine and the human worlds. They achieved these ends by establishing and upholding kapu, laws of conduct that protected the sacred from defilement. One of the most important of these laws was ‘aikapu, which forbade men and women from eating together, and women from eating specific foods that were associated with male fertility and offered as sacrifices to male akua.17 This sanction protected male potency from the threat of being consumed by female power.18 Family history, rather than gender, marked status in Hawai‘i. Jonathan Kay Kamakawiwo‘ole Osorio explains that ali‘i were divided into classes based on their varying degrees of sacredness as embodied in their genealogies: ali‘i nui were the most sacred and therefore the most powerful, and kaukauali‘i were of lesser rank and therefore served their superiors.19 Ali‘i were further aided by kâhuna, those who guarded and prac-

ticed native arts and sciences,20 and were expected to protect maka‘âinana, the kânaka maoli who produced food, goods, and services. Because the ali‘i nui represented the divine on earth, they, like their akua, had the power of life and death. They oversaw stewardship practices that secured bountiful harvests, and they exacted often-lethal punishment for transgressions against kapu. Kame‘eleihiwa states that if their acts were seen as upsetting pono (righteous harmony in the universe), ali‘i could be brought down by those they ruled.21 Indeed, this is how Mâ‘ilikûkahi came to power: his cruel predecessor Haka was deposed, and Mâ‘ilikûkahi was chosen to rule by O‘ahu’s ali‘i, kâhuna, and maka‘âinana.22 Harmony in traditional Hawaiian society was gravely disrupted when Westerners made contact with kânaka maoli during Captain Cook’s late eighteenth-century travels in Polynesia. In 1778, Cook and his crew anchored at Waimea, Kaua‘i, and although they were received with some trepidation, the island’s people welcomed them.23 As Noenoe K. Silva argues, the haole travelers wore out their welcome through actions that were far from pono. They killed the warrior Kapupu‘u when he began to remove some iron from the English ship, intimidated kânaka maoli by firing weapons, and attempted to take Mò‘î Kalani‘òpu‘u hostage.24 Silva states that Cook was killed for his transgressions and those of his men, but notes that his visit paved the way for further disharmony in Hawai‘i, notably by introducing foreign diseases that would devastate the archipelago’s population.25 Furthermore, accounts of Cook’s journey fueled interest in Hawai‘i, which was visited by subsequent foreigners with commercial interests. Kamehameha I put his relatives by marriage in charge of the commerce with foreigners that developed from the 1790s on,26 and by the 1810s, Native Hawaiians were trapped in a disastrous sandalwood trade with haole. As Kame‘eleihiwa observes, foreigners allowed chiefs to buy on credit, and the latter soon fell into a never-ending cycle of debt that even all of the islands’ sandalwood could not repay.27 In kanaka maoli society drastically disfigured by contact with

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foreigners, capitalism became the road to ruin.



For foreigners, ownership of land logically followed ownership of goods, and the Mâhele of 1848 empowered them to acquire property in the islands. By the middle of the century, many haole were installed in Waikîkî and several owned land in Helumoa. In 1866, Kamehameha V purchased part of his Helumoa estate—where his ancestor Kamehameha I once lived—from a haole doctor named Charles Guillou.28 Through inheritance, Kamehameha V’s property eventually became part of Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop’s holdings and ultimately part of the estate set up in her name. Other Helumoa lands were acquired by George W. Macfarlane, a Scot from New Zealand who enriched himself through commerce in liquor, sugar, and the hotel industry, which he entered in 1888.29 In 1906, Macfarlane began the Seaside Hotel, razed just twenty years later to make way for the Royal Hawaiian Hotel. The Royal Hawaiian was the brainchild of William Roth, the manager of the Matson Navigation Company, an establishment founded in 1882 that shipped most of Hawai‘i’s sugar overseas and brought tourists to the islands.30 Roth believed that Hawai‘i could expand tourism by catering to an elite clientele and saw that Matson could 70 | Helumoa

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benefit by accommodating such visitors on sea and on land. As a result, the company built the most luxurious ocean liner to date for the venture and selected Helumoa as the appropriately grand location for its regal lodgings. Matson formed a new corporation to oversee the hotel project by joining forces with Conrad C. von Hamm’s Territorial Hotel Company, which owned the Seaside and Moana Hotels located slightly farther down the beach.31 The corporation kept the name of von Hamm’s business and obtained a long-term lease from the Bishop Estate for the Royal Hawaiian Hotel site.32 A renowned architectural firm and landscape designer were hired to develop the fifteen-acre property into a palace for the royalty of travelers. Warren & Wetmore of New York, celebrated for creating New York City hotels such as the RitzCarlton,33 constructed a huge pink palace in a loose rendition of the Spanish-Moorish style, meant to evoke the romance of exotic, warm climates. Landscape designer Ralph Stevens furthered the fantasy by creating a twelve-acre tropical garden. Exotica mixed and merged in a potpourri of design concoctions; for example, the hotel’s theater-ballroom was decorated with barges floating down the Nile.34 The hotel opened in 1927 with a dazzling reception that featured an alluring, “authentic” Royal Hawaiian pageant. This event—the dose of exotica that secured the hotel’s diverse markers of status and wealth to both the “native” and “royal”—was staged by Princess Abigail Kawananakoa as a recreation of Kamehameha I’s landing on Waikîkî’s shores. Although the design of the hotel and its grounds had no conceptual or visual connection to the history of its locale, the pageant and its princess-creator authenticated the structure and its delivery of a Royal Hawaiian experience. Indeed, according to the author of an editorial published in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, “much of ‘old Hawai‘i’ has been marvelously and satisfactorily preserved in the building of the new Royal Hawaiian Hotel. That is an outstanding impression brought from the gorgeous, elaborate opening of the great hostelry last evening.”35

Although Princess Abigail was present at the opening along with a few other Native Hawaiians, photographs of the gala—the “greatest party” in Hawai‘i’s history36—show that the vast majority of the privileged guests were Caucasian and that they were served by a largely Asian staff. In fact, the guest list comprised Honolulu’s most powerful citizens, the haole who dominated business in the islands. The subsequent hotel guests that Native Hawaiians would entertain and Asians would serve were also mostly white, as from its opening up until World War II, the Royal Hawaiian served as a playground for the most privileged haole in the world. Paying Matson huge sums for travel and lodging, political leaders, industrialists, and the kings and queens of Hollywood enjoyed royal treatment at the “Queen of the Pacific.” Native Hawaiian beachboys took them surfing and massaged their sore muscles, Japanese staff brought them cool drinks and cleaned their rooms, and the Royal Hawaiian Girls’ Glee Club serenaded them while they dined. With the advent of the Pink Palace, the privileged at Helumoa were no longer royal Hawaiians, but representatives of the haole caste of high-powered capitalists who had dethroned Hawai‘i’s queen and stolen the Hawaiian kingdom. Just as members of this foreign class had helped themselves to the islands’ lands, their tourist counterparts helped themselves to a “royal” experience of Waikîkî.



The images of Hawaiian kings, queens, princes, and princesses that hang today at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel and the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center enable wealthy tourists to imagine that something of the regal will brush off on them as they consume products for sale in Helumoa. The Bishop Estate, which owns the shopping center, decided to make its concern extremely upscale. Not long after the mall opened in 1960, former estate trustee Richard Wong secured boutique leases from high-end retailers such as Chanel and Louis Vuitton.37 Thus, it is common to see tourists holding parcels emblazoned with “Chanel” admiring photographs of nineteenth-century Helumoa | 71

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ali‘i prominently displayed in the shopping center’s lowerlevel outdoor walkway. If these viewers read the texts that accompany the pictures, they glean no information about the extent to which Hawaiian royalty resisted rather than accommodated the mechanisms of capitalism that came to disenfranchise kânaka maoli. They do not learn, for example, that Alexander Liholiho, who became Kamehameha IV in 1854, spent his reign working to curb the power of largely haole legislators bent on obtaining full control of government spending.38 Nor do they read that Queen Emma, a contender to the throne in 1874, was staunchly anti-American and anti-missionary, for she thought both were committed to wresting control of the islands from Native Hawaiians for financial gain.39 Furthermore, no mention is made of King Kalâkaua’s attempts to establish closer ties to Japan as a means of counterbalancing his American advisors’ and America’s power in Hawai‘i,40 especially with respect to the sugar industry. Tourists who turn to the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center for a history lesson learn little about ali‘i’s political battles and are encouraged instead to view Native Hawaiian aristocrats as mere emblems of luxurious consumption. The writing of Native Hawaiian scholars such as Lilikalâ Kame‘eleihiwa, Samuel M. Kamakau, Jonathan Kay Kamakawiwo‘ole Osorio, Haunani-Kay Trask, and Noenoe K. Silva explodes this fantasy. These scholars’ work enables readers interested in the actual deeds of modern ali‘i to discover the complex ways in which the islands’ highborn dealt with the haole practices and institutions that ultimately transformed Hawai‘i. For example, Kame‘eleihiwa informs us that Ka‘ahumanu broke the kapu that forbade women to eat with men and embraced Christianity because she believed that Hawai‘i’s akua had abandoned their people, as scores of kânaka maoli were dying of introduced diseases.41 From Kamakau we learn that Kamehameha III established a constitutional government, appointed foreign ministers, and embraced land reforms as a strategic effort to make Hawai‘i a modern

nation equal to those in the West. Kamakau argues that the king partially Westernized the islands as a means of protecting his kingdom from foreign domination and of providing maka‘âinana with greater rights and privileges.42 Osorio shows us that both Kamehameha IV and Kamehameha V viewed their power as mò‘î as superseding the constitution’s and that the latter in particular worked for constitutional changes that consolidated his power.43 Trask explains that Lunalilo ultimately refused to cede Pearl River Lagoon to the United States when Native Hawaiians protested the potential action as a prelude to annexation.44 Silva demonstrates that Kalâkaua supported the revival of hula and published the Kumulipo (the ancient chant of creation) and mele (song, chant, and poetry) to alleviate some of the harmful effects of Western colonization.45 She further shows that Lili‘uokalani fought the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy and the annexation of Hawai‘i through every means at her disposal.46 Through the writings of these scholars, the forceful attempts of native rulers to control the encroachments of colonialism and capitalism surge forward in historical memory. Indeed, scholarship on the resistance work of ruling ali‘i—like the current in ‘Âpuakèhau Channel that pulls at unwary tourists—troubles the calm flow of the elegant and empty constructs of Hawaiian royals used to market Helumoa today. The epigraph for our investigation of Helumoa aptly characterizes the appeal ali‘i had for their subjects, who loved and honored them if they embodied righteousness. The saying also reflects haole’s fascination with royal Hawaiians, for when haole gaze at the images of Hawai‘i’s ali‘i that flood today’s Helumoa, they see only a “quiet, peaceful nature.” In royal portraits conceived for Waikîkî tourists, visitors to the islands do not perceive what kânaka maoli know: namely, that royal Hawaiians fought fiercely to navigate the tide of capitalism that threatened to drown Hawai‘i’s indigenous people. As we will discuss in subsequent chapters, these battles proved the extraordinary might not only of ali‘i, but also of kânaka maoli from every walk of life.

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Uluniu Vicinity of the Sheraton Moana Surfrider Hotel

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Ua malo‘o ka wai. The water has dried up. Said of inhospitality.

– —Mary Kawena Pukui, Olelo No‘eau

Uluniu is a section of Waikîkî once favored by ali‘i, kâhuna, and kânaka maoli of all castes who loved the area’s surf and its branch of ‘Âpuakèhau Stream. In this chapter, we examine the ways in which these Native Hawaiians’ practices in Uluniu and throughout Waikîkî have been valued or devalued. In so doing, we will see that value has much to do with what is visible and invisible, and that sometimes we view what is not meant for our eyes and overlook what we should perhaps most examine. Specifically, we will consider a celebration of life in Waikîkî surf and a demonstration of respect for death in Waikîkî burial practices. In traditional Hawaiian society, one important means of celebrating life was through surfing. Surfing was a joyous pursuit—largely for the ali‘i—that celebrated human prowess and the ocean’s power; kanaka maoli history abounds with the feats of great surfers. In recent times, surfing has become a highly visible international sport that has drawn in athletes from all over the world. In the course of this change during the early twentieth century, an attendant culture and business was born in Uluniu, namely the Waikîkî beachboy phenomenon. The men who created this enterprise, such as the famous Duke Kahanamoku, were frequently Native Hawaiian surfers and paddlers who had great knowledge of the sea and an interest in remaining attached to the Waikîkî shore that was fast becoming the playground of vacationing haole. The beachboys gave their tourist clientele contact with things Hawaiian— trips to luau, exposure to Hawaiian music and dance—and as conduits to the native they were prized by haole visitors and duly celebrated. In the early years of beachboy culture, these

young men achieved status and access to privilege denied to other Waikîkî kânaka maoli. Native Hawaiians fundamentally attached to Waikîkî who did not gain comparable respect were those buried in the area prior to its extensive development. As Waikîkî was transformed from a highly cultivated dwelling site to a tourist destination, hundreds of iwi (treasured bones of deceased kânaka maoli) were dug up during construction. Though they were an annoyance to hotel corporations and their contractors involved in expansion or renovation projects—the discovery of iwi slowed down work—iwi have been a boon for scholars keen to learn about Native Hawaiian life and history in Waikîkî. For many descendants of the dead, both the irritation of builders and the fascination of scholars are an abomination, as unearthing and examining iwi entails profound disrespect. Iwi are meant to rest in peace—not to be pulled up and out of their burials, seen and handled by the disinterested or curious who uncovered them, or studied by archaeologists and anthropologists. By exploring the history of surfing and burials in Uluniu, we can learn a great deal about how Native Hawaiian practices and effects in Waikîkî have been valued, devalued, and even desecrated. We will see that a kanaka maoli pastime Uluniu | 75

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remnant can be a major nuisance for the hotel and a secret satisfaction to those who regret the draining of Waikîkî to pave the way for tourism.



that could be linked to tourism—namely surfing—gained visibility and significance in the eyes of haole. We will also see that haole consistently have approached Native Hawaiian burials, which at times have impeded Waikîkî tourism development, with little understanding or empathy. A remnant of ‘Âpuakèhau, the stream that once coursed through Uluniu on its way to the ocean, is today an apt emblem of these varied manifestations of value. The stream’s now “ghostly” existence—part of it occasionally reappears during heavy rains to flood the Outrigger Reef Hotel’s parking garage—reminds us that things we may not want to see are often precisely what we need to look at. Indeed, the re-emergence of ‘Âpuakèhau demonstrates that we cannot easily bury history. However much we may try to remember and honor aspects of a culture that appeal to us, other features of community life surface to show us that what we hold dear is often not the complete picture and that furthermore, what we value, others may decry. For Native Hawaiians, ‘Âpuakèhau was a source of water that merited respect. For haole, ‘Âpuakèhau was a barrier to development. When it floods the Outrigger today, the stream

Uluniu, whose name means “coconut grove,” is a site that was once thick with thousands of coconut trees. According to an 1897 map of Waikîkî drawn by M. D. Monsarrat, Uluniu was located just above Helumoa toward the mountains and across from ‘Âpuakèhau Stream. It incorporated Ulukou (kou tree grove), a chiefly residence on the eastern bank of the ‘Âpuakèhau Stream estuary. Today, the area that formerly comprised Uluniu runs from the shoreline to Kûhiò Avenue and is bounded by Ka‘iulani and Kealohahilani Avenues (from ‘Ewa toward Diamond Head). A number of very powerful people lived in the region at Ulukou, most notably four fifteenth-century healers from Tahiti who brought health and well-being to many of Hawai‘i’s people, as well as the famous sixteenth-century Chief Kâkuhihewa, who brought peace and prosperity to O‘ahu. In the nineteenth century, well-known ali‘i and wealthy haole inhabited Ulukou and its environs. Many tourists also came to Ulukou because at the beginning of the twentieth century, it became the site for the largest hotel in Waikîkî at the time: the Moana. The Outrigger Canoe Club—which revived surfing and outrigger canoeing—grew up alongside the Moana Hotel, and both employed the beachboys who captured the hearts of countless early Waikîkî visitors. Just more than sixty years after the first beachboy is thought to have made his appearance at Waikîkî,1 some iwi eroded from the beach near the Moana Hotel, emerging from sands that once fronted the Outrigger Canoe Club.2 Like all iwi found in Waikîkî prior to 1980, these remains were discovered by people involved in development or construction.3 Because the iwi were not found by archaeologists, they were not dealt with in a manner conducive to “data recovery”; therefore, very little is known about them.4 However, the scant information we do have, provided in a 1984 report that

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details archeological investigation elsewhere in Waikîkî, tells us that iwi have been removed from their resting places by builders at least since the early twentieth century. Unearthing and building are useful practices to examine while mining the history of Uluniu, as uncovering and constructing in the region have lead to the production of two monuments that embody differing notions of value concerning the Native Hawaiian. These monuments—a statue of legendary surfer Duke Kahanamoku and a shrine dedicated to four sacred stones—both embrace life in the surf and honor the dead. The statue of Kahanamoku celebrates Waikîkî surfing and the early beachboys who lived and died for their sport. The shrine built for the treasured pòhaku (stones) also honors four long-dead kâhuna who loved to bathe in Ulukou’s surf. Since it was erected, the Kahanamoku statue has attracted much appreciation. By contrast, until very recently, the sacred stones were frequently disregarded and sometimes mistreated. The histories that inform these two monuments demonstrate that kanaka maoli customs that got in the way of perceived needs for tourism received little respect.



The fourteen-foot bronze sculpture of beachboy Duke Kahanamoku that stands on Waikîkî Beach was dedicated on August 24, 1990, the one hundredth anniversary of Kahanamoku’s birth. The statue was a gift to the city by the Waikîkî Improvement Association;5 it was created by Jan Fisher, an artist who taught at Brigham Young University’s Hawai‘i campus from 1970–1991.6 The sculpture is a naturalistic, heroic portrayal of the celebrated surfer, showing Kahanamoku with outstretched arms and bearing the following inscription: In Hawai‘i, we greet friends, loved ones or strangers with ALOHA, which means with LOVE. ALOHA is the key word to the universal spirit of real hospitality, which makes Hawai‘i renowned as the world’s center of understanding and fellowship. Try meeting or leavUluniu | 77

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ing people with ALOHA. You’ll be surprised by their reaction. I believe it and it is my creed. ALOHA to you. —Duke Kahanamoku7 Since its unveiling, the monument has drawn countless Hawai‘i residents and visitors to pay tribute to Kahanamoku, a great Olympic swimmer and the man credited with having turned surfing into an international phenomenon. Recently, the City of Honolulu set up a Web cam directed at the statue of this famous and beloved beachboy.8 The city’s Web page featuring the live view of the site states, “Picture yourself next to the Duke Kahanamoku Statue on Waikîkî Beach,”9 an invitation that affirms the popularity of the monument as a key “photo opportunity” for tourists. As the inscription on the statue suggests, during his lifetime, Kahanamoku was Hawai‘i’s symbol of island hospitality, and the statue that celebrates him ensures that he plays the same role in death. Indeed, the monument’s great success with tourists has even squelched controversy that emerged over the statue’s placement. The bronze sculpture shows Kahanamoku with his back to the water—which for Native Hawaiians signals disrespect for the sea—but because its orientation guarantees a photo alongside it with a lovely ocean background, the statue has not been moved.10 The treatment of four sacred healing stones in Uluniu—under which a body was buried and in which the mana of great healers was placed—demonstrates that Native Hawaiian practices that could not be aligned with tourism were subject to much greater indignities. Frequently called the “wizard stones,” Nâ Pòhaku Ola O Kapaemahu A Me Kapuni—the proper name for the pòhaku—were once visited and honored by kânaka maoli for their curative powers. However, until their recent enshrining, the stones were subject to abuse in the twentieth century, serving as the foundations for a bowling alley and as a picnic site for beachgoers. Today, Nâ Pòhaku Ola O Kapaemahu A Me Kapuni stand together as a monument at Waikîkî Beach near the 78 | Uluniu

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Kahanamoku statue. The pòhaku are placed on a stone platform built by mason Billy Fields, a renowned expert in Native Hawaiian dry wall construction.11 A large wrought-iron fence protects the boulders and their platform. In 1997, after the platform and fence were completed, the pòhaku were rededicated by the master Native Hawaiian healer Papa Henry Auwe and the Native Hawaiian historian George S. Kanahele. It was Kanahele who formulated the proposal for the shrine, which was funded by the Queen Emma Foundation.12 Leading newspapers in Hawai‘i covered these events, and visitors to Waikîkî now cannot miss seeing the stones and understanding their importance, which is spelled out on a plaque at the monument. Today, the pòhaku are memorialized in recognition of their sacred power and the blessings they have bestowed on many people throughout Hawai‘i. The huge basalt boulders, each of which weighs several tons,13 were moved from Kaimukî to Ulukou sometime around 1400 at the direction of four Tahitian kâhuna.14 These healers—Kapaemahu, Kahaloa, Kapuni, and Kinohi—likely settled in O‘ahu during the second wave of Polynesian immigration to Hawai‘i, which

introduced to the islands Tahitian religious and sociopolitical practices that included human sacrifice, sanctification of surfing, and pronounced social stratification.15 The kâhuna were mâhû (men who dress and live as women) and possessed both manly stature and feminine grace coupled with tremendous healing powers.16 They toured all of the Hawaiian Islands before making a home at Ulukou; during their travels, they became famous for many miraculous cures,17 which they generously taught to their admirers.18 After a long sojourn in Hawai‘i, the four kâhuna decided to return to their homeland. Before doing so, they asked their kanaka maoli friends to move four large stones from the vicinity of the renowned “bell rock” at Kaimukî,19 a mushroom-shaped stone once on the Waialae Road that resonated when struck.20 On the night of Pò Kâne—when marcher spirits were said to arise—thousands of Native Hawaiians moved the boulders to Ulukou,21 placing two on the grounds of the healers’ residence and two in the surf where the four men loved to bathe.22 After the kânaka maoli finished their work and as the sun rose, the kâhuna began ceremonies to bless the pòhaku. Ki‘i (images) were buried under each stone, and a righteous and beautiful young Uluniu | 79

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chiefess was sacrificed and buried under the boulder dedicated to Kapaemahu, the leader of the four Tahitians.23 Each stone was named for one of the men who imbued the pòhaku with their restorative mana.24 Today, areas where two of the boulders were originally located also bear their names: Kahaloa is a section of beach, and Kapuni is a portion of Waikîkî surf.25 The stones remained in situ for hundreds of years, healing the sick and protecting the ocean borne, because their position opposite the outer reef “Cave of the Shark God” made them markers for the dangerous spot.26 The stones eventually settled into the sand on property acquired by Archibald Cleghorn and his wife, Princess Likelike, and when Cleghorn established his family’s home there in 1872, he had the pòhaku unearthed and placed in a more prominent setting on the estate.27 Whenever Princess Likelike and her daughter Princess Ka‘iulani went swimming in the ocean, they said prayers at the pòhaku, upon which they left flower lei.28 Although Cleghorn’s will stipulated that the pòhaku had to remain where they were placed and that they could not be defaced,29 the stones were subject to mistreatment after Cleghorn’s death. They stayed at the beach—which fronted the Moana when it was built in Ulukou in 1901—but they disappeared in the 1920s, resurfacing about forty years later when they were discovered at the foundations of the Waikîkî Bowling Alley on Kalâkaua Avenue, a structure then undergoing demolition.30 Although the City and County of Honolulu and the Waikîkî Improvement Association relocated the sacred stones to their present location on Waikîkî Beach,31 for many years thereafter the boulders were treated without care. Tourists unaware of the stones’ history and even locals well versed in the lore surrounding the pòhaku used them as seats, picnic tables, and towel-drying racks. The pòhaku and Duke Kahanamoku monuments suggest that today’s island residents and visitors equally value Waikîkî’s traditional culture and modern beachboys. Indeed, through the work of Kanahele and other Native Hawaiian experts, a great deal of Waikîkî’s indigenous history has been

recovered and memorialized. However, Kanahele’s vision of restoring dignity to the pòhaku by honoring them has not turned Waikîkî into a mecca for those dedicated to traditional healing, an objective Kanahele hoped the shrine would realize.32 Duke’s Waikîkî, a bar and restaurant named after the ocean legend located at the site of the former Outrigger Canoe Club, draws many more individuals: hundreds of locals and tourists daily. The corporation that owns Duke’s (as it is popularly known) seductively describes the popular destination at its Web site. Duke’s Waikîkî, named in honor of surfing legend Duke Kahanamoku, is a seafood restaurant where great tasting food and the aura of old Hawai‘i are the fashion. Located oceanfront at the Outrigger Waikîkî Hotel, the restaurant and Barefoot Bar are popular spots for beachboys (and beachgirls), locals and visitors alike. Duke’s Waikîkî is located right on the site of the original Outrigger Canoe Club, overlooking the spot where Duke rode the biggest wave of his life. The restaurant is reminiscent of a gentler and younger Waikîkî, when canoeing and surfing were in their heyday, beachboys ruled, and Duke was the undisputed “king of the ocean.” A virtual museum, Duke’s features an extensive collection of Duke memorabilia, including framed photographs, a koa outrigger canoe, surfboards, and old Hawaiian posters. The decor adds to the overall ambiance, with palm-thatched roofs and umbrellas, rich koa wood paneling, touches of bamboo and lau hala, and a saltwater aquarium.33 This shrine dedicated to Kahanamoku—a contemporary temple of consumption—draws infinitely more pilgrims than the shrine dedicated to Nâ Pòhaku Ola O Kapaemahu A Me Kapuni. Uluniu | 81

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Undoubtedly, this is as many kânaka maoli would wish, as a similar crush—especially if fueled by the engine of commerce—would strip the pòhaku shrine of its dignity and reduce it to a mere spectacle. However, the fact that Waikîkî is famous for and even marketed through one of its beachboys rather than being revered as a site with the power of life and death says a great deal about the values of those who have come to dominate Waikîkî.



Because the first beachboys were both great water sportsmen and world-famous Waikîkî icons, the beachboy phenomenon reflects both the strength and beauty of traditional kanaka maoli water sports and the spell these “exotic” pursuits cast on haole who settled in and visited Hawai‘i. The beachboys who tempted tourists into the surf around the time the Moana Hotel opened its doors in 1901 were men who practiced a sport that had dominated chiefly life in Hawai‘i for centuries. Because kânaka maoli viewed the ocean as a great provider of life, the surf and surfing itself had a religious dimension.34 The Tahitian kahuna Pâ‘ao, who arrived in Hawai‘i around the same time as the Tahitian healers who settled at Ulukou, was a high-ranking member of the priesthood Kanalu (the surf), and although he probably did not go to Waikîkî, “his influence on surfing did.”35 The link between surfing and the sacred is evident in the rites associated with Papa‘ena‘ena heiau on Lè‘ahi, a heiau used not only for sacrifice, but as a signal station for fine surfing conditions.36 Precontact Hawaiian history abounds with stories of famous kanaka maoli surfers, largely from the chiefly class. One of the best known tales concerns Chiefess Kelea and Chief Kalamakua, ali‘i in Waikîkî. According to legend, Kelea left her residence in Wahiawâ one day to go surfing and entered Waikîkî at the coconut grove and beach of Kawehewehe. She rode the waves to great acclaim at Kahaloa, where the renowned Kalamakua surfed. Kalamakua, who was celebrated for the large taro patches he constructed and maintained at

Waikîkî, recognized her as the famous surfer Kelea, a chiefess originally from Maui. When she emerged from the waves, he offered her his feathered cape (a sign of his high rank) and made her his ali‘i wahine mò‘î (consort). This romantic legend captures the glamour of the chiefly sport whose virtual disappearance, along with outrigger canoeing (another Native Hawaiian water pursuit), was starkly evident in the late nineteenth century. In 1891, folklorist H. C. Bolton wrote that he observed surfing only while on the island of Ni‘ihau; the following year, anthropologist Nathaniel B. Emerson claimed that surfboards were rarely seen outside of museums or private collections.37 In large part, the decline of kanaka maoli water sports reflected the massive depopulation of Hawai‘i due to introduced disease, as well as Christian missionaries’ proscription against indigenous cultural practices.38 In addition, outrigger canoeing was virtually supplanted by Western-style rowing,39 which was so fashionable that when Lucius Pinkham proposed in 1906 to build a canal to drain Waikîkî, he argued that the waterway would become an ideal spot for boat racing.40 In the early 1900s, American former newsman Alexander Hume Ford vowed to make Native Hawaiian water sports widely practiced once more and toward these ends established the Outrigger Canoe Club in 1907. Ford created the club by relocating two grass hale (houses) to one and one-half acres of land adjoining the Moana Hotel, property he leased from the Queen Emma Estate for a nominal fee.41 To attract members, Ford kept dues low and recruited George Center, one of Honolulu’s best watermen, to be the club’s first captain. Ford also used journalism as a vehicle to publicize surfing and paddling. He enlisted the famous writer Jack London, whom he had taught to surf at Waikîkî, to write an article on the sport, and Ford himself celebrated the rising popularity of surfing in Mid-Pacific Magazine, a periodical he started.42 London’s “Surfing: A Royal Sport” promotes surfing as a demanding, exotic, aristocratic, and even godlike sport that kânaka maoli rule, but that Caucasians might also master. His

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essay opens with an image of an enormously powerful ocean wave that a Native Hawaiian surfer rides gracefully and progresses with images of himself struggling to surf with instruction from Ford. London’s word-picture of the kanaka maoli glorifies the surfer’s achievements, renders them highly desirable, and then makes them appear attainable as feats befitting man, the lord of creation. [The surfer] . . . is a Mercury—a brown Mercury. His heels are winged, and in them is the swiftness of the sea. In truth, from out of the sea he has leaped upon the back of the sea, and he is riding the sea that roars and bellows and cannot shake him from its back. But no frantic outreaching and balancing is his. He is impassive, motionless as a statue carved suddenly by some miracle out of the sea’s depth from which he rose. And straight on toward shore he flies on his winged heels and the white crest of the breaker. There is a wild burst of foam, a long tumultuous rushing sound as the breaker falls futile and spent on the beach at your feet; and there, at your feet steps calmly ashore a Kanaka, burnt golden and brown by the tropic sun. . . . He is a Kanaka—and more, he is a human being, a member of the kingly species that has mastered matter and the brutes and lorded it over creation.43 By the end of his article, London is a dedicated if novice surfer, whose heroes have become his haole teachers, Ford and Freeth, and whose objective has become to take the place of the Native Hawaiian surfer. Informing his readers that he is concluding his writing in bed, having badly sunburned himself while surfing, London promises that “tomorrow I shall be out in that wonderful water, and I shall come in standing up, even as Ford and Freeth. . . . I, too, [will] wing my heels with the swiftness of the sea, and become a sunburned, skin-peeling Mercury.”44 Although London is self-deprecating in this pasUluniu | 83

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sage, he asserts that with will and effort, any man can become a godlike practitioner of “the royal sport” of surfing. Indeed, not long after London published his essay, his teacher Ford acknowledged that surfing was becoming a favored pastime for Caucasian athletes. In a piece that Ford wrote for the 1910 Hawaiian Annual, he chronicled the rise of the Outrigger Canoe Club and its surge in membership and observed that it “is practically an organization for the haole (white person).”45 The following year, kânaka maoli asserted their claim to Waikîkî’s surf by establishing a club to rival the Outrigger, the Hui Nalu. Hui Nalu had no clubhouse but met under a hau tree on the Moana Hotel lawn and used the hotel’s basement bathhouse as a locker room.46 The club’s first captain, Edward Kenneth Kaleleihealani (Dude) Miller, was also the first beachboy to run a beach concession, which he set up with the Moana.47 Miller and the beachboys who worked under him took tourists surfing and paddling during the day and performed Hawaiian music for visitors and locals alike at the end of the Moana Hotel Pier at night.48 Although Hui Nalu members reaffirmed the “Hawaiian-ness” of their pursuits, they did so in part by granting haole access to their prowess in kanaka maoli water sports and music. With the opening of the Royal Hawaiian Hotel in 1927, Waikîkî’s fame as an exotic vacation destination spread, and many of the world’s wealthiest travelers came to Waikîkî to surf, paddle, and socialize with the beachboys. In 1934, the Outrigger Canoe Club established the Waikîkî Beach Patrol to run a single beach concession.49 Although World War II brought tourism in the islands to a halt, by 1946 the beachboys were back in business, introducing vacationers to the joys of the ocean. Corporate kingpins and Hollywood stars that stayed at the Royal Hawaiian befriended the beachboys and made them as famous as Waikîkî itself. Indeed, in 1950, radio and television journalist Arthur Godfrey—who came to know the beachboys and Hawaiian music while a C.B.S. correspondent in Hawai‘i during the war—featured Duke Kahanamoku along with beachboys Chick Daniels and Splash Lyons on his

national broadcasts.50 Furthermore, Kahanamoku, who got parts in twenty-eight movies, worked in Hollywood for four decades.51 As superb hosts, companions, entertainers, and instructors, Waikîkî’s beachboys provided their tourist clientele with a carefree, exotic lifestyle that featured aspects of Native Hawaiian culture that visitors found charming. Vacationers who reveled with the beachboys did not see unpleasant aspects of kanaka maoli experience in modern Waikîkî: they learned nothing of how scores of Native Hawaiians lost their homes through reclamation and real estate development or how such “improvements” destroyed aquaculture and a great deal of sea harvesting. Furthermore, vacationers who delighted in the company of beachboys learned nothing of other displacements that affected the Native Hawaiian forebears of their holiday companions. These tourists did not see that their hotels were built on iwi.



In traditional Hawaiian society, iwi were greatly honored and treated with reverence. Upon death, a person’s ‘uhane (spirit) remained identified with his or her bones, which were usually cleaned of their flesh, bundled, and carefully concealed so that no evildoer could tamper with the ‘uhane.52 Iwi were either buried under the family home or taken to a site identified with an ‘aumakua (deified ancestor who served as the family god); in the case of ali‘i, iwi were placed in a cave.53 Although it was imperative that iwi locations remain hidden from everyone else, family members would visit cave burial chambers to keep them clean and to leave the deceased food and favored belongings.54 Historical accounts of iwi desecration convey kânaka maoli’s horror of mistreating human remains. During Maui Chief Kahekili’s reign on O‘ahu in the late eighteenth century, a Maui ali‘i named Kalaikoa built a long house at Moanalua, which he filled and surrounded with the bones of O‘ahu chiefs and warriors who had planned an insurrection. Nineteenth-

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century Native Hawaiian scholar Samuel Kamakau published a grim account of the site. The bones of [O‘ahu chiefs] Elani, Kona-manu, and Ka-lakio‘o-nui were bundled up and placed beside the entrance. The house stood at Lapakea on the slope into Moanalua on the upper side of the old road. Eyewitnesses said, “It was a terrible and gruesome sight. The bones were stripped, bundled together, and the skulls set upon each bundle, so that, seen from a distance, it looked like a company of living men.”55 Handled with disrespect and exposed to the eyes of all that traveled along the road, these iwi were subject to a great indignity. This horrifying monument of conquest served as a means not only of punishing the dead, but of terrifying the living. Although those who have discovered iwi at Waikîkî have likely not intended to inflict harm on the departed and their larger community, for many Native Hawaiians, uncovering, examining, handling, and documenting iwi hurts the deceased and kânaka maoli as a whole. This was made dramatically apparent in 1988, when Native Hawaiians protested the archaeological unearthing of more than one thousand ancestral Uluniu | 85

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remains at Honokahua, Maui. The excavation was begun to make way for the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, but was stopped after kânaka maoli held a 24-hour vigil at the State Capital.56 Governor John Waihe‘e, himself Native Hawaiian, had the remains returned to their resting place and the hotel site moved further inland from the burial grounds.57 Hui Mâlama I Nâ Kûpuna O Hawai‘i Nei (Group Caring for the Ancestors of Hawai‘i), a “Native Hawaiian organization dedicated to the proper treatment of ancestral Native Hawaiians,” was born from this successful protest.58 It and other kânaka maoli–run groups have gone on to oversee many reburials throughout Hawai‘i. A significant number of iwi have been found in Waikîkî during the course of the vacation destination’s development, and archaeologists reporting their own discoveries and the discoveries of others have lamented the rough treatment some of the iwi have received— without noting that their own studies anger some Native Hawaiians. Indeed, in advice that Hui Malama provides to indigenous groups working with museums to repatriate human remains, the organization suggests that such groups unequivocally state, “Don’t study our ancestors.”59 The 1990 Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, which requires the return of remains to the indigenous people who claim them, maintains that a federal 86 | Uluniu

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agency or museum may study remains if they “are indispensable for completion of a specific scientific study.”60 However, many Native Hawaiians feel that more harm than good comes of such work. For some kânaka maoli and their supporters, archaeological studies at Waikîkî have some value: they demonstrate the extent to which real estate development in O‘ahu’s holiday playground has displaced iwi. For example, a 1984 report details numerous discovered remains, including iwi found near the present-day Elk’s Club (1901), at Saratoga Road adjacent to Fort DeRussy (1961), near the current Outrigger Canoe Club (1963), at Prince Edward Street (1963), near the former Outrigger Canoe Club (1964), at today’s Hale Koa Hotel (1976), at the Hilton Hawaiian Village’s Tapa Tower (1980), at the Halekûlani (1981), and at the Queen Lili‘uokalani Gardens (1983).61 Additional archaeological records document other iwi discoveries at Fort DeRussy in 1991 and 1993.62 Land titles and oral histories have supplied further information about interference with ancestral burials at Waikîkî, including a Hawaiian graveyard at the former Waikîkî Church (dug up around 1916 to make way for an addition to the Moana and now the site of the Sheraton Princess Ka‘iulani)63 and skeletal remains at ‘Òhua Avenue (unearthed around 1930).64 All of these documents illustrate that iwi have been treated with disrespect, and they further demonstrate that the Waikîkî once home to many living Native Hawaiians continues to be the burial site for many kânaka maoli that have died. In January 2002, Waikîkî iwi and their living descendants finally received some of the respect they had long been denied. A memorial and burial mound designed by Keawe Keohokalole and built near the Honolulu Zoo was blessed as the final resting place for iwi disinterred during Waikîkî

construction projects.65 The families of the deceased spearheaded the creation of the monument when several sets of bones were discovered as the Board of Water Supply installed pipe through Waikîkî.66 Mayor Jeremy Harris and the Honolulu City Council supported the work of the Aloha Solutions Committee—composed of the deceased’s lineal and cultural descendants—and the city appropriated $250,000 to fund the burial mound planned by the committee.67 Seven feet high and approximately forty feet in diameter, the monument is a slightly raised octagon built of lava rock and marked with a modest plaque.68 Although for some Native Hawaiians, any memorial runs counter to the traditional practice of keeping burial sites secret,69 for the descendants gathered at the blessing for the mound, the monument provided a dignified, safe resting place for their ancestors.70



When heavy rains fall and water begins to run down Ka‘iulani Avenue along the former channel of ‘Âpuakèhau Stream, it flows steadily to the Uluniu site that once served as the stream’s outlet to the sea: the current Outrigger Reef Hotel. In the hotel’s garage, a hidden water pump begins the heavy work of keeping the vicinity dry, although sometimes the “ghost” of ‘Âpuakèhau defeats modern technology and floods the garage. ‘Âpuakèhau may have been swept away—as the sacred pòhaku once were and as countless kanaka maoli ancestors have been—but just as the mana of the stones and the iwi have been restored through proper recognition and respect, the power of ‘Âpuakèhau resurfaces. This diminished yet strong stream remnant signals to those mindful of metaphor that Waikîkî’s people and places—that many have desecrated—have not been destroyed.

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Kaluaokau Vicinity of the International Market Place

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Aia aku la paha i Waiki–ki– i ka ‘imi ‘ahu ‘awa. Perhaps gone to Waikı¯kı¯ to seek the ‘ahu ‘awa sedge. Gone where disappointment is met. A play on ahu [heap] and ‘awa [sour]. – —Mary Kawena Pukui, Olelo No‘eau In this chapter, we explore the transformations that occurred on a relatively small parcel of Waikîkî once called Kaluaokau. Today it is known as the International Market Place, a hodgepodge of shops, restaurants, and vending carts off Kalâkaua Avenue, sandwiched between the Waikîkî Beachcomber and Sheraton Princess Ka‘iulani Hotels. As its current name suggests, the market place is conceived as an exotic shopping experience, where consumers can purchase refreshments and souvenirs with an international flair. Many of the goods and services offered at the site are billed as Hawaiian or Pacific, although virtually any “ethnic” item is for sale there. American tchotchkes, such as Mickey Mouse key rings, appear alongside Tahitian beach wraps and other Polynesian wares, so the bazaar seemingly provides endless variety and accommodates nearly any taste. In recent years, the shopping area has acquired a rather humble pedigree and is now viewed by many sophisticated travelers as an adventure in kitsch. However, when the International Market Place first opened shortly before Hawai‘i gained statehood, it was celebrated as a world-class shopping and dining experience that showcased Hawai‘i’s Polynesian heritage and “exotic” blend of cultures. The International Market Place sits on Kaluaokau, grounds once owned by the powerful nineteenth-century ali‘i nui Emma Na‘ea Kaleleonâlani Rooke, who received this Waikîkî property from Hawai‘i’s King William Lunalilo. Today, the Queen Emma Foundation, a trust created to administer the queen’s properties, controls the market place. With her husband, King Kamehameha IV, Queen Emma established The Queen’s Hospital, and the trust that bears Queen Emma’s

name supports the medical facility through its business dealings. The trust has major plans to overhaul the International Market Place and, in keeping with many Waikîkî businesses’ recent renewal projects, intends to retool the site so that it reflects a more “Hawaiian sense of place.” Businesspeople and government leaders have sought to publicize Hawai‘i destinations such as the International Market Place through appeals to cultural richness, often using purportedly Native Hawaiian qualities and practices as marketing tools. We will see how exotica perceived as elements of Hawai‘i’s heritage as well as true components of Hawai‘i’s history and culture have been and continue to be used to promote Waikîkî. We will encounter diverse stakeholders in this process and different claims for the effects of this enterprise. As we explore the ways in which Kaluaokau has functioned— from a royal home site to a shopping bazaar—we will engage complex questions about how “Hawaiian-ness” is represented in Waikîkî. Such representations are extremely varied and range from something as crass as a stage-set heiau to something as meaningful as the shrine built at Ulukou to protect and honor Waikîkî’s sacred stones. This wide range reflects the sharp distinctions that exist among those who are invested in Waikîkî—from entrepreneurs with profits to maximize to kânaka maoli with ties to the ‘âina—and includes the different understanding and value these people afford to things Hawaiian. Through such stakeholders’ efforts, extremely different images of Waikîkî’s history and culture have emerged. The wide gulf that separates these competing representations is Kaluaokau | 89

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as broad as the divide that separates the ways Kaluaokau has been used and experienced.



Wandering through the International Market Place today, a visitor cannot help but feel a bit claustrophobic: vendors’ carts are packed tightly into the site and people press up against one another as they navigate pathways that meander through the space. Beneath people’s footsteps a very different force once flowed through Kaluaokau: ‘Âpuakèhau Stream. Today, the only water that flows at the market place is that which runs from kitchen and bathroom sinks and toilet bowls. The name “Kaluaokau” most likely means “the pit of kau,” although no specific interpretation has ever been published.1 Nevertheless, some important aspects of the site’s history are documented: for example, it was home to Lâ‘ie-lohelohe, daughter of the famous surf rider Kelea and Kalamakua, the fifteenth-century chief who farmed Waikîkî’s lò‘i.2 Kaluaokau remained in the hands of ali‘i until the later nineteenth century, although a portion of it was owned by Henry and Eliza Macfarlane, who arrived in Hawai‘i from New Zealand in 1846.3 William Lunalilo, king of the islands from 1873–1874, was awarded Kaluaokau lands in the 1848 Mâhele;4 he subsequently acquired the property owned by the Macfarlanes.5 Lunalilo bequeathed his Waikîkî estate to Queen Emma,6 who enjoyed the modest home on the 29acre site. The simple wooden structure, located on the west bank of ‘Âpuakèhau Stream, was set back from the ocean and away from the growing influx of foreign beachgoers.7 Queen Emma further secured her privacy by enclosing her Waikîkî home with a fence made of stones taken from the ruins of Papa‘ena‘ena heiau.8 Although many people today would view this as an act of desecration, she did not: she was a devout Anglican who did not worship Hawai‘i’s gods.9 However, because many of Papa‘ena‘ena’s stones were used for roadwork in Waikîkî, she may have believed she was protecting some by placing them on ali‘i property.10 90 | Kaluaokau

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Nineteenth-century photographs of Queen Emma’s Kaluaokau property stand in stark contrast to pictures of the area from the 1950s forward. For example, an older photograph by Herman Stolpe now in the collection of the Bishop Museum shows a shady, quiet residence with a flowing stream, grassy lawn, and stately trees. A 1957 photograph by Stewart Fern documents a bustling tourist attraction with a manmade pool, dancing entertainers, and miniature thatched huts. The latter picture accompanies an article on the International Market Place Fern wrote for the magazine Paradise of the Pacific. Fern produced the photo and article to publicize the recently opened shopping bazaar. His illustrated essay tells us a great deal about how Waikîkî was represented on the eve of statehood. According to Fern, the International Market Place responds to “the demand of some of Hawai‘i’s best sociologists—that Hawai‘i ought really to present its true self to its visitors.”11 This true self consists of a “fairyland entertainment park” that showcases purportedly Hawaiian and Polynesian goods and entertainment, as well as supposedly genuine artifacts and cultural experiences native to other lands, including Japan, Korea, China, and the Philippines.12 Fern argues that the multiracial establishments designed by the “best business and entertainment brains in the visitor field” provide tourists from

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America with “something different, something exotic, something remote from Cincinnati or Cedar Rapids,” namely an encounter with the Pacific and with Hawai‘i.13 For Fern, the bazaar’s simulated Japanese, Korean, Chinese, and Polynesian villages offer real contact with unique places and people. He sees no irony or contradiction in the fact that the businesspeople expanding the shopping and entertainment complex are literally fabricating exotic representations. For example, as he puts himself in the shoes of a market place developer, Fern muses: “What photogenic bowers with their waterfalls, tropical plants, and island models can be arranged for the amateur photographers?”14 With this imaginary agenda he reveals an extraordinary fantasy and conceit, namely that “Hawaiian-ness” can be obtained by others: it can be composed by businessmen out of tropical elements and displayed for tourists to capture with their cameras. In 1957, such faux, commercialized Hawaiiana apparently passed for an authentic cultural encounter. The making and marketing of the International Market Place was the brainchild of haole entrepreneurs, especially Donn Beach. In 1955, Beach—who as “Don the Beachcomber” began the Polynesian-themed bar and restaurant business in post-Prohibition Los Angeles15—teamed up with American millionaires Clint Murchison, Jr. and Paul W. Trousdale to fashion a “Waikîkî village.”16 Murchison and Trousdale leased the property for the venture from the Queen Emma Foundation and hired the architectural firm Wimberly and Cook to create a bazaar that reflected Beach’s aesthetic and convictions: make it tropical and “native” and the tourists will come. Indeed, as Fern’s article attests, the market place was an extension of Beach’s enterprise. Fern notes that the International Market Place was “flanked by two of Don the Beachcomber’s exciting new buildings designed like chiefs’ huts of a dozen different Pacific isles” and accommodated “a great Polynesian type hâlau [meeting house] . . . operated by Don the Beachcomber himself.”17 Another article in Paradise of the Pacific spelled out the direct links between the development and Beach’s vision of Waikîkî: 92 | Kaluaokau

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The International Market place [sic] started as another of Don the Beachcomber’s dreams . . . saving the heart of Waikîkî for an open park-like exposition of all the folk arts of the Pacific peoples, giving it all a setting of authentic materials and design. The dream caught on with some far-sighted people. . . . [Landscape architect George] Walters and Nick Brownlee, artist, worked together on the waterfall, creating the likeness of an ancient heiau in a rain forest. In one wall they placed a very special stone, full of mana (mystic force) and rubbed smooth by long-gone Hawaiian hands. They are sure its power is intact. Artist Brownlee used motifs from all the Pacific peoples. He carved the end gables for the South Seas longhouses, tikis and masks for garden spots. He decided on the colors of railings and signs, and even saw that trashcans were decorative.18 As this description of the market place demonstrates, the enterprise reflected Beach and his colleagues’ perception

of Hawai‘i and the Pacific as places with colorful cultures to be mixed and matched in a playground for foreign visitors. Indeed, the market place designers gave themselves free reign to “recreate” Hawaiian culture as they saw fit, even crafting a stage-set heiau. When actual Native Hawaiians are mentioned, their absence is emphasized: the heiau stone filled with mana was “rubbed smooth by long-gone Hawaiian hands.” Nothing in the profile on the market place suggests that living kânaka maoli had a part in the design of Beach’s Waikîkî village, although deceased kânaka maoli are described as providing the market place with romantic mystery. Don the Beachcomber’s project was not particularly new: it merely represented a new spin on the longstanding haole practice of appropriating things Hawaiian to sell Hawai‘i to tourists. Beach, his associates, the writers who reported on the International Market Place, and the countless souls who visited the bazaar were all steeped in romantic myths about Hawai‘i that had been churned out by the islands’ foreign-run tourist industry since the late nineteenth century. Newspaperman Henry Whitney celebrated Hawai‘i’s tropical, native Kaluaokau | 93

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allure by writing the first tourist guidebooks to Hawai‘i in the 1870s; in 1892, during a slump in the sugar industry, newspaperman Lorrin A. Thurston continued this work by spearheading the first Hawai‘i tourist concern.19 In 1903, the Hawai‘i Promotion Committee— which evolved into the Hawai‘i Tourist Bureau and ultimately into the Hawai‘i Visitors and Convention Bureau—spent $3,600 in taxpayer funds to promote Hawai‘i as an island paradise through tourist brochures distributed at the St. Louis World’s Fair.20 In the 1910s, advertisements for the Honolulu MidPacific Carnival (an annual event from 1907–1916) and for Matson Navigation

Company, as well as sheet music decoration for popular Hawaiian songs, all featured aspects of Native Hawaiian culture to create exotic, romantic allure.21 Typically, such imagery included tropical backdrops that framed female hula dancers and musicians, as Hawaiianstyle entertainment had become famous in the United States by 1915, when “On the Beach at Waikîkî” became a hit after it was sung at the Panama-Pacific Exposition in San Francisco.22 With the success of Waikîkî’s Royal Hawaiian Hotel in the later 1920s, promotional literature became more voluminous and more pointed in its references to native seductiveness. For

example, in the early 1930s, the tourist bureau published a 33-page booklet that portrayed Native Hawaiians as a major selling feature of the islands. “Patriotic American citizens” who have retained many of their customs, kânaka maoli are described in the booklet as friendly hosts who greet visitors with leis, serenade them with song, and treat them to luaus and fishing parties.23 One of the most overt uses of the Native Hawaiian to sell Hawai‘i is evident in an Aloha Week brochure published in 1959, the year Hawai‘i became a state. Established in 1946 by a group of former Junior Chamber of Commerce members, Aloha Week was conceived as a means of boosting Hawai‘i tourism (and thus improving the then-territory’s economy) and as an avenue for celebrating Hawai‘i’s many cultures, especially that of “the old Hawaiians.”24 The 1959 Aloha Week brochure includes charming visuals that bring the past right up to the present: drawings of smiling kânaka maoli dressed in native costume gathered near a grass house rushing to greet an ocean liner making its way to shore. The brochure promises actual encounters with Native Hawaiians and their “old” ways during Aloha Week spectacles, including “a carefully reproduced Hawaiian village of pili grass and palm thatched huts” where one can “photograph the day to day life of ancient Hawai‘i.”25 The back of the brochure features a description of Aloha Week

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that suggests everyone can have access to and identify with kanaka maoli culture. Set within a box formed by an aerial view of a stylized outrigger canoe, the text reads: “Old Hawai‘i preserved in song, dance and pageant for the new generation of those Hawaiian at heart.”26 Just like the International Market Place—with which it is virtually contemporary—the Aloha Week brochure sums up decades of promotion work in Hawai‘i: the islands and its native people exist to be appropriated by foreigners to fulfill their dreams of exotic, carefree adventure.



By the 1970s, almost two centuries of kanaka maoli struggles against foreign appropriation in Hawai‘i—of land, resources, power, and culture—erupted in an especially visible movement of pride and protest. Commencing as fights against corporations and the U.S. military over land violations, the battles burgeoned into a full-scale sovereignty movement that featured a powerful cultural renaissance along with intense political activism.27 Native Hawaiian activists, such as Dana Naone Hall, George Helm, Kehau Lee, Kimo Mitchell, Haunani-Kay Trask, and Mililani Trask, spoke out against and resisted the destructive force of American colonialism in Hawai‘i. Mitchell and Helm—the latter of whom was a gifted musician who performed widely, includ-

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ing in Waikîkî—lost their lives at sea in an attempt to prevent the U.S. Navy from bombing Kaho‘olawe.28 Today, countless activists continue the battles begun by these and other leaders, and in much of their work they decry the ways in which the visitor industry has “plasticized, cheapened, and exploited” Native Hawaiian culture.29 However, by the 1970s, the visitor industry was a major employer for hundreds of Native Hawaiians, who served tourist businesses in every capacity possible. Many kânaka maoli who performed aspects of their culture for vacationers—notably those who played and sang Hawaiian music and who performed hula—felt enormous pride in their work to continue and extend native traditions. For example, Waikîkî’s famous beachboys, who made good money in the 1920s by entertaining wealthy tourists, gathered in the evenings at the end of the Moana Pier to sing Hawaiian songs. A great many tourists and locals came to hear the beachboys sing for free,30 as well as to witness these men celebrate the culture that sustained them (as they made their living off island visitors). Other Native Hawaiians in Waikîkî also sought to rejuvenate their culture while sharing it with others. From 1932 until the early 1940s, George P. Mossman and his family ran Lalani Village near Kapi‘olani Park as an extension of a school that Mossman founded in 1928 to preserve and per-

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petuate Hawaiian language and culture. Mossman established the village to educate tourists about kanaka maoli beliefs and practices, and especially as a means of raising money from visitor fees to support his efforts to preserve things Hawaiian.31 By 1934, Mossman had about twelve hundred students enrolled in courses on Hawaiian language, music, and food preparation, as well as in hula, surfing, and swimming.32 Collaborating with other native scholars, Mossman and his colleagues interpreted misunderstood hula and mele (chants, poems, or songs), preparing records of proper performances for future generations.33 The work of Lalani Village continued until the beginning of World War II, when tourism fell off and the village lost its major source of income.34 In more recent times, kânaka maoli have also taken control of representing their culture for visitors, insisting that Waikîkî be transformed to reflect their understanding of their history and values, which have so fundamentally shaped the Place of Spouting Waters. The best known among them is George Kanahele, a historian and cultural consultant who had a dramatic impact on the ways in which politicians and businesspeople have approached their work in Waikîkî. Up until his death in 2000, Kanahele toiled assiduously to see Waikîkî reflect a “Hawaiian sense of place”—a term he is credited with having coined. Specifically, he authored a 1994 report for the Queen Emma Foundation, “Restoring Hawaiianess to Waikîkî,” which contains 143 proposals for recognizing, honoring, and re-establishing kanaka maoli beliefs and practices. The following year, the Queen Emma Foundation published Kanahele’s book Waikîkî 100 BC to 1900 AD: An Untold Story, which recounts the former life of Waikîkî as an ecologically balanced farming community, sacred site, and home to ali‘i and maka‘âinana. Kanahele’s research and publications, networking with like-minded kânaka maoli, and business prowess led to the creation of a successful consulting firm. In addition, he cofounded in 1997 the Native Hawaiian Tourism and Hospitality Association. Both organizations have worked with

government and business leaders to instill Native Hawaiian values and practices into the Waikîkî workplace and tourist experience. Perhaps the most visible product of the work of Kanahele and his allies is the Waikîkî Historic Trail, a selfguided or escorted tour of prominent Native Hawaiian sites in Waikîkî that are identified by surfboard shaped markers with text written by Kanahele. By following the trail, tourists and locals alike can learn a great deal about Waikîkî’s former existence as an agricultural community, a home of great ali‘i, and a sacred space. Furthermore, because of the efforts of Kanahele and his colleagues, big hotel chains such as the Outrigger today employ Native Hawaiian cultural experts as advisors and branches of city government such as the Office of Waikîkî Development emphasize the preservation and strengthening of kanaka maoli culture.35 Such a focus on rejuvenating Waikîkî’s “Hawaiian-ness” also informs the Queen Emma Foundation’s ambitions for redeveloping the International Market Place, which it plans to close and then reopen in 2007.36 The foundation’s objective is to recreate a “historic garden retreat” that will feature a Niumalu Amphitheater for performances and ceremonies and an open air “Kupuna Story Hearth” where people can hear storytellers recreate the ancient and modern history of Kaluaokau.37 Along with devising these spaces for enacting Hawaiian performance, ritual, and history, the foundation also plans to recreate a physical Hawaiian attribute of the site: part of ‘Âpuakèhau Stream. Once the area is cleared, engineers will raise the ground level by approximately three feet and fabricate the stream by employing a recirculating pump system.38 By re-establishing ‘Âpuakèhau Stream and creating spaces for Hawaiian cultural entertainment, the Queen Emma Foundation likely assumes that it will restore to Kaluaokau some of its “Hawaiian-ness,” along with the dignity and grace it possessed when Queen Emma lived there. Certainly the International Market Place will be stripped of the vestiges of its Don the Beachcomber incarnation. However, because the

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primary objective of the foundation is to generate money from the market place through dining, entertainment, and retail experiences, it is highly unlikely that any Hawaiian components of the redesign will disrupt cheerful consumption. Indeed, representations of Hawaiian history and culture promoted by those who have adopted Kanahele’s “Hawaiian sense of place” do not challenge foreign institutions such as capitalism and tourism that have so drastically altered life in Waikîkî and throughout the islands. In fact, Kanahele believed that Hawai‘i needs tourism and that the visitor industry’s historical and current insensitivity to cultural and ecological issues would disappear as more and more businesses adopted the Native Hawaiian values and practices he advocated. Some critics of the visitor industry are less sanguine about changes in Waikîkî. As Serge Marek and Houston Wood have noted in critiques of what Wood calls “echo tourism”—charming incarnations of the past that ignore difficult

political conditions—many current efforts to revamp Waikîkî erase Hawaiian history and experience that contest foreign presence in the islands.39 Alongside the stately beauty that can characterize a “Hawaiian sense of place” exist other, less harmonious realities, namely the challenges kânaka maoli have issued and continue to issue to settlers and visitors who assume that Hawai‘i exists for their pleasure and enjoyment. Just as ‘Âpuakèhau Stream was both beneficent and threatening, at times meandering peacefully through Kaluaokau and at other times flooding the area with its rain-swollen torrents, kânaka maoli at once embrace and confront those in their midst. Native Hawaiians draw on their culture both to sustain themselves and visitors to the islands and to fight for their sovereignty and criticize the place of haole in Hawai‘i. Because the latter is incompatible with Waikîkî business today, tourists at the International Market Place may discover that Queen Emma had a lovely estate on the grounds beneath their

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feet, but they probably won’t learn that she was staunchly anti-American and opposed to business ties between Hawai‘i and the United States.40 There is a big difference between Don the Beachcomber’s International Market Place and the Queen Emma Foundation’s proposed plans for the Kaluaokau site. Donn Beach and his cohorts claimed to represent true aspects of Native Hawaiian culture in crass, kitsch formulations. The foundation’s planned overhaul of the International Market Place will most

certainly attempt more sensitive incarnations of the Hawaiian by drawing on the expertise of kânaka maoli. What remains to be seen, however, is whether the resulting “Hawaiian sense of place” can make any room for Native Hawaiian voices—such as Queen Emma’s—critical of the haole business practices that largely run Waikîkî. For those eager to hear such voices, the epigraph for this section may prove apt. Kalauokau, like much of Waikîkî, may remain a “place where disappointment is met.”

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Hamohamo Vicinity between Ala Wai Boulevard and Waikıˉkıˉ Beach Center

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He wai makamaka ‘ole. Water that recognizes no friend.

Said of flooded streams that are dangerous. – —Mary Kawena Pukui, Olelo No‘eau In this chapter, we explore the myths that surround Hawai‘i and the feminine in relation to a Waikîkî place where two of the islands’ most famous women of modern times lived. The region, Hamohamo, runs from the Ala Wai Canal to the sea between today’s Ka‘iulani and ‘Òhua Avenues. Both streets bear witness to the two important women that once made Hamohamo home: Princess Ka‘iulani, heir to the Hawaiian throne, and Queen Lili‘uokalani, whose retainers (‘òhua) are memorialized by ‘Òhua Avenue. The streets also overlie evidence of powerful natural forces that formerly shaped Hamohamo: two of the freshwater streams that flowed from the mountains through Waikîkî to the ocean. ‘Âpuakèhau Stream meandered through a channel now paved over by Ka‘iulani Avenue, and Ku‘ekaunahi Stream coursed down a path now buried under ‘Òhua Avenue. Just as the campaign to develop Waikîkî required misrepresenting its streams as swamps, efforts to annex Hawai‘i and turn it into a tourist’s paradise required misrepresenting Lili‘uokalani and Ka‘iulani as failed leaders. These distortions drew on longstanding Western fantasies about the feminine and the native. At one extreme, such fantasies focused on a dark, threatening savagery (the queen) that required control; at the other extreme, they centered on a light, welcoming embrace (the princess) that invited ownership. In both instances, the constructs suggest that the female native surrenders authority: in the first because she needs to be tamed, and in the second because she wants to be possessed. These projections, which reveal nothing about Lili‘uokalani and Ka‘iulani, actually reveal a great deal about those who produced them.

Exploring representations of the queen and princess as failed rulers in connection with the history of Hawai‘i’s illegal overthrow and annexation reveals the portrayals of Hawai‘i as feminine in the political control and economic development of the islands. As Haunani-Kay Trask has powerfully demonstrated, Hawai‘i was and is routinely portrayed as a

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feminine entity at once requiring the firm hand of discipline and offering a restorative embrace.1 This metaphor does a great disservice to Hawai‘i and kanaka maoli women because it reduces both to mere pawns of American imperialism and capitalism. Hawai‘i and its native women had and have great power, which was and is marshaled against colonialism and commercialism in the islands. Just as ‘Âpuakèhau and Ku‘ekaunahi Streams nourished rather than compromised Waikîkî, Lili‘uokalani and Ka‘iulani sustained rather than disappointed their nation. Indeed, remnants of the two streams continue to water Waikîkî today, and the written words of the queen and princess continue to attest to the women’s actual strength. Their efforts to resist misrepresentation, and especially political disenfranchisement, are endlessly redoubled. Today, as during Lili‘uokalani and Ka‘iulani’s lifetimes, Native Hawaiian women battle American colonization, exploding the myth of Hawai‘i as the savage woman or the charming enchantress.



An entrance to the Sheraton Princess Ka‘iulani fronts Kalâkaua Avenue; if you pass through it, you immediately encounter the hotel’s swimming pool. On any given day, vacationers lounge on reclining chairs stationed at the cement expanse that surrounds the chlorinated water, and children swim under the watchful eyes of their parents. A few trees and potted plants break up the baking concrete, which is further enlivened by the bright tropical-print swimwear sported by hotel guests swimming or sunning themselves. Although the beach is across the street, many holiday makers seem utterly content to pass their leisure time on the paved-over grounds of Ka‘iulani’s former estate, ‘Âinahau. During the princess’ lifetime in the later nineteenth century, the water on her property was fresh rather than chemically treated, as ‘Âpuakèhau Stream passed through ‘Âinahau on its way to the ocean. Like the present pool site, Ka‘iulani’s grounds were highly developed; her father, Archibald Cleg-

horn, shaped virtually every inch of ‘Âinahau through careful planting. However, the nineteenth-century site was cool, green, and naturally watered, a far cry from the urban resort that seems to have successfully recreated a tropical paradise for its pool users. For tourists at the Sheraton Princess Ka‘iulani, a few potted plants and a swimming pool appear to communicate the romance of a former royal enclave and the delights of a holiday in the sun. Having imbibed a great number of messages about Hawai‘i and Waikîkî as the incarnation of a welcoming, glamorous, and exotic feminine embrace, these travelers from distant shores are content to absorb the aura of ‘Âinahau and its princess while sunning and splashing amidst a sea of concrete.



“Hamohamo” means “soothing, to rub gently,” and in the nineteenth century when Lili‘uokalani and Ka‘iulani lived in the region, it was indeed a calm and peaceful place quite unlike today’s bustling locale. The name “Hamohamo” itself is most associated with the queen’s Waikîkî property, which she inherited from family in 1859 and 1868;2 it encompassed the grounds between the present Lili‘uokalani and Paoakalani Avenues, including fourteen hundred feet of beachfront.3 Lili‘uokalani’s quiet seaside cottage, Ke‘alohilani (literally, “royal brightness or glitter of heaven”), was located at the currently boisterous Kûhiò Beach. The queen also had another residence, Paoakalani (which means “royal perfume”),4 further inland at the present Lili‘uokalani Gardens apartment complex.5 The queen’s cottage was one of her favorite retreats, and within its walls she wrote portions of her book protesting the illegal overthrow of her kingdom. Ka‘iulani’s home, not far from that of her royal aunt’s, was a large estate pieced together from property purchased by her father and inherited by Ka‘iulani and her mother, Princess Likelike.6 The estate initially contained several grass houses, but the family replaced them with a cottage and, ultimately, a Victorian mansion.7 This later addition was meant to comple-

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ment Cleghorn’s extensive landscaping of ‘Âinahau, which turned the Waikîkî property into a veritable botanical garden filled with rare and unusual trees, flowers, and vines.8 Although ‘Âinahau today is densely developed with high rises and shops, names of several streets and structures recall the site. Ka‘iulani Avenue once led directly into ‘Âinahau, and off the avenue, the present Cleghorn, Kapili, and Tusitala Streets form a square that echoes what was once a circular drive on the estate.9 The Governor Cleghorn and Ka‘iulani apartment buildings span Ka‘iulani Avenue between Kûhiò Avenue and Cleghorn Street, and the gigantic Sheraton Princess Ka‘iulani Hotel faces Kalâkaua Avenue between the International Market Place and Ka‘iulani Avenue.

The plethora of things called “Ka‘iulani” in Waikîkî greatly outnumbers those named after Lili‘uokalani. This disparity is also evident in representations of the two women: Ka‘iulani is pictured far more often than her aunt. Portrayals of the princess are everywhere, especially in and around the Sheraton hotel that bears her name. A gorgeous young woman at the time of her death, Ka‘iulani inspired and continues to inspire many more favorable depictions than Lili‘uokalani, who not only aged in the public eye, but who also wielded authority that her niece never acquired. Invested with royal prerogative before she was dethroned, Queen Lili‘uokalani took action against power-hungry American businessmen and politicians who had weakened her brother King Kalâkaua and Hamohamo | 103

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who sought to further compromise the monarchy. This exercise of might, which Ka‘iulani could never match, infuriated haole leaders in Hawai‘i who wished to dominate the islands. It made Lili‘uokalani infinitely less attractive than Ka‘iulani to enemies of the crown, who produced or inspired extremely unattractive depictions of Hawai‘i’s queen. Today, the Sheraton Princess Ka‘iulani, the largest hotel in Waikîkî when it was built in 1955, is also literally the largest purveyor of representations of Ka‘iulani, which it—like other participants in the “Ka‘iulani industry”—uses to accrue revenue from tourists. Such images consistently picture Ka‘iulani as a beautiful and gracious Victorian lady whose tragic “loss” of the throne and early death symbolize the passing of a genteel and glamorous period in Hawai‘i’s history. As shown in our exploration of Helumoa’s history and current circumstances, nostalgic representations of Europeanized Hawaiian royalty regularly provide Waikîkî businesses with the means of marketing goods and services to vacationers eager for a taste of the regal spiced with the exotic. Portrayals of Ka‘iulani were and remain the perfect vehicle for delivering this experience, for her half-Scottish parentage along with her European education and dress make her a recognizable princess, and her half–kanaka maoli parentage along with frequent festooning in Hawaiian leis make her an emblem of inviting aloha. This latter signal is particularly important because constructs of the princess emphasize demise: of her youthful person, of the kingdom she would have inherited, and of a romantic era. Such imagery is therefore freighted with melancholy, and to keep it hovering within the delectable realm of nostalgic loss rather than tipping over into the morose requires communicating some sense of warmth and connection. This is achieved through the visual and textual cues in representations of Ka‘iulani that emphasize welcome and, by extension, imply that tourists are free to take Ka‘iulani’s place: to rest in the Waikîkî lands she once called home and to experience there the royal treatment she once knew.

By contrast, little in Waikîkî is marketed through its connection to Lili‘uokalani: a condominium bears her given name and a surfing break near her former cottage is named Queen’s Surf. Representations of Lili‘uokalani color Hawai‘i visitors’ experience at another tourist destination—‘Iolani Palace in Honolulu—but there, tales of the queen’s ignoble imprisonment by her political enemies and her repeated efforts to regain her kingdom serve to inform visitors that Hawai‘i was once a sovereign nation. Drawing travelers’ attention to Hawai‘i’s illegal overthrow and Lili‘uokalani’s strenuous work to restore her throne might discomfort Waikîkî tourists, and above all, today’s Waikîkî prides itself on comfort. There is little comfort to be gained from reflecting on the key moments in Lili‘uokalani’s life. While her lovely young niece can easily be attached to images of a lush, exotic estate and glamorous bicultural lifestyle, Lili‘uokalani is unavoidably associated with the ugly deeds of American imperialism. Photographs of her near and after dethroning cannot be romanticized like pictures of her designated heir. Lili‘uokalani’s careworn, proud face seems etched with and aged by pain. And her eyes meet our regard with little that approaches welcome.



Let’s first examine the events that involved Lili‘uokalani and Ka‘iulani in desperate political battles to protect their land and its people. When Lili‘uokalani became queen in 1891, she knew she was in for a fight with the captains of Hawai‘i industry, as they were committed to taking control of the islands to ensure and further their financial interests in sugar and other enterprises. Lili‘uokalani was determined to restore the power of the monarchy, which was sorely compromised by the 1887 Bayonet Constitution foisted on her brother Kalâkaua by power-hungry haole leaders. Petitions for a new constitution by two-thirds of the islands’ registered voters— including a July 1892 petition authored by Native Hawaiian women—fueled Lili‘uokalani’s fighting spirit.10 In January 1893, when Lili‘uokalani sought to pro-

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mulgate a new constitution designed to empower the throne, her government was overthrown by the so-called Committee of Safety aided by the U.S. military. The committee was in part an outgrowth of the Annexation Club, secretly started in 1892 by missionary descendant and politician Lorrin A. Thurston. That year, Thurston took advantage of his government-sponsored mission to establish a Hawaiian exhibit for America’s World’s Columbian Exposition to poll U.S. officials on their attitudes toward annexation. Persuaded of American support abroad and in the islands—the latter in the person of American Minister John L. Stevens—the Committee of Safety implemented its plan for a provisional government “as a prelude to annexation.”11 Stevens ordered soldiers ashore from the U.S.S. Boston, and under threat of violence, Lili‘uokalani surrendered, although her official statement to Sanford B. Dole and other members of the provisional government asserted her authority and conviction that her government should be restored. I, Lili‘uokalani, by the grace of God and under the constitution of the Hawaiian kingdom Queen, do hereby solemnly protest against any and all acts done against myself and the constitutional government of the Hawaiian kingdom by certain persons claiming to have established a Provisional Government of and for this kingdom. . . . Now, to avoid any collision of armed forces, and perhaps the loss of life, I do, under this protest and impelled by said forces, yield my authority until such time as the Government of the United States shall, upon the facts being presented to it, undo (?) the action of its representative, and reinstate me in the authority which I claim as the constitutional sovereign of the Hawaiian Islands.12 This official protest, designed to underscore her constitutional authority and the illegal actions of the provisional govern-

ment, was echoed in letters that Lili‘uokalani immediately wrote to American President Benjamin Harrison and President-Elect Grover Cleveland. Furthermore, upon learning that the P.G.’s (members of the provisional government) were sending a delegation to Washington to push for Hawai‘i’s annexation, Lili‘uokalani sent her own delegation to America’s capital to fight for Hawai‘i’s sovereignty. The overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy in 1893 by Caucasian businessmen and American armed forces ended Lili‘uokalani’s rule and Ka‘iulani’s inheritance of the Hawaiian throne. When the queen was deposed, Ka‘iulani was completing her education in Britain and Europe. As a young teenager, she was sent for schooling abroad to prepare her for the regal duties that she was to inherit. Fluent in Hawaiian and extremely well versed in kanaka maoli history and culture, Ka‘iulani studied the foreign dimensions of her heritage not only to embrace part of her ancestry, but specifically to become a leader well versed in the customs of the Western world. Like her royal forebears and Lili‘uokalani, she was trained to draw on Western institutions as a means of protecting and advancing Hawai‘i’s interests in a world largely dominated by American, European, and British imperialism. America’s powerful influence in Hawai‘i became an extremely painful reality for Ka‘iulani when her aunt was dethroned. The young woman quickly took action against the P.G.’s. First, she issued the following statement, a biting criticism of Lorrin Thurston, in London newspapers: Four years ago, at the request of Mr. Thurston, then a Hawaiian Cabinet Minister, I was sent away to England to be educated privately and fitted to the position which by the Constitution of Hawai‘i I was to inherit. For all these years I have patiently and in exile striven to fit myself for my return this year to my native country. I am now told that Mr. Thurston is in Washington asking you to take away my flag and my throne. . . . I am coming to Washington to

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plead for my throne, my nation and my flag. Will not the great American people hear me?13 These sentiments were echoed in the speech Ka‘iulani delivered when she reached New York from London, an impassioned plea designed to awaken indignation in a Christian, patriotic audience. . . . Seventy years ago, Christian Americans sent over Christian men and women to give religion and civilization to Hawai‘i. Today three of the sons of those missionaries are at your capital, asking you to undo their fathers’ work. Who sent them? Who gave them the authority to break the Constitution which they swore they would uphold?14 American officials were divided over Hawai‘i’s sovereignty or annexation. The Harrison administration and influential

congressmen supported the P.G.’s, who succeeded in placing a treaty of union before the U.S. Senate. However, when Grover Cleveland assumed power as American president in March of 1893, he withdrew the treaty and sent a special commissioner, James H. Blount, to Hawai‘i to investigate political matters in the archipelago. Blount issued a report in favor of restoring the monarchy, and Cleveland ordered Albert S. Willis, the new U.S. minister to Hawai‘i, to reinstate Lili‘uokalani. However, the P.G.’s refused to surrender power; Cleveland, loathe to use force, let the U.S. Congress take up matters in 1894. While congressmen debated Hawai‘i’s political future, the P.G.’s created the Republic of Hawai‘i with Sanford Dole as president, and defenders of the islands’ freedom began plans to unseat the ruling oligarchy. On the first of the new year, freedom fighters transferred guns purchased abroad from ships offshore to locations near Lè‘ahi, and several days later the patriots’ Waikîkî camp became the first site of armed conflict between Hawai‘i’s defenders and republic supporters. Defeated after three days of resistance, patriots were arrested and imprisoned, as was Lili‘uokalani. Fearing for the lives of those who fought for their nation, the queen abdicated the throne, signing a statement prepared by her enemies that declared “the late Hawaiian Monarchy . . . finally and forever dead.”15 Defiant in the face of this intended humiliation, she gladly signed the document “Lili‘uokalani Dominis” at her jailor’s request: this was not her actual name and she therefore saw no legally binding authority attached to the signature.16 Even as the haole oligarchy became further entrenched in Hawai‘i’s government, neither Lili‘uokalani nor Ka‘iulani stopped work on behalf of her homeland and its native people. After her release from months of imprisonment, Lili‘uokalani traveled to the United States to work for Hawai‘i’s freedom. From late 1896 to the summer of 1898, she lobbied against annexation and worked on Hawai‘i’s Story by Hawai‘i’s Queen, which vividly recounts Hawai‘i’s illegal overthrow. Ka‘iulani returned to her native land in 1897, where kânaka maoli rallied around her as an embodiment of their nation, visiting her

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commissioners at ‘Âinahau attended by Lili‘uokalani, an event that showcased the dignity of Native Hawaiian customs and emphasized the extent to which the American representatives were guests in a foreign land.19



at ‘Âinahau by the hundreds.17 When in 1898 Hawai‘i was finally annexed—its usefulness as a military outpost during America’s battle with Spain in the Philippines ultimately decided the islands’ fate—Lili‘uokalani returned home and worked with her niece to protect kanaka maoli rights. When American President William McKinley sent commissioners to Hawai‘i to help oversee the formulation of a territorial government, Lili‘uokalani and Ka‘iulani planned a campaign designed to demonstrate the power of Native Hawaiians and their devotion to their culture and one another. As the commissioners traveled throughout the islands, Lili‘uokalani preceded them at every stop, where multitudes of kânaka maoli paid homage to her rather than the foreign visitors.18 In turn, Ka‘iulani presided over a luau for the

Haole participants in and observers of the political events that resulted in Hawai‘i’s annexation often painted very different pictures of Lili‘uokalani and Ka‘iulani, and these images were colored by longstanding gendered and racialized visions of the female native. Those who supported or were sympathetic to the Hawaiian monarchy generally produced flattering representations of both women as dignified royalty, but enemies of the crown lampooned Lili‘uokalani while sparing Ka‘iulani coarse treatment. Lili‘uokalani’s detractors pictured the queen as a dark-skinned, grotesque mockery of womanhood in satires of Hawai‘i’s political battle for freedom. For example, the February 17, 1894, cover of the American magazine Judge depicted the queen as a black, nappyhaired savage seemingly aping flirtatious, feminine ways.20 She is shown with a slipping crown, a “primitive” short skirt and ornaments, and shapely legs in high heels exposed while she coyly fans herself. The poem “Lili to Grover” beneath this caricature further sexualizes the ludicrous image: “You listened to my DOLE-ful tale; / You tried your

best—’twas no avail. / It’s through no fault of yours or mine / That I can’t be your VALENTINE.”21 Both the text and drawing depict the queen as an uncivilized menace who desires power (that only a man—Cleveland—can fulfill), which she fails to attain. Lili‘uokalani’s association with the savage, coded as black, and an ugly, threatening, yet finally impotent femininity is also evident in 1898 badges worn in Hawai‘i by people who celebrated annexation. The pins featured an Africanized Lili‘uokalani embracing Uncle Sam over the motto “This is Our Wedding Day.”22 When these racist and sexist images of Lili‘uokalani were forged, the “uncivilized” black female was an established stereotype within the Western imaginary. The imperialist expansion of America, Britain, and Europe sparked both a fascination with and loathing of the non-Western, which became especially linked to the feminine and further associated with undeveloped “nature” that Westerners encountered during colonialist exploits. In the nineteenth century, the capitalist concerns that grounded Western domination of foreign lands were the purview of men, whereas women provided progeny and succor for their men from the confines of their “natural” domestic sphere.23 The female realm of nature became variously coded. In its positive incarnation, it served as a site where men might restore themselves before returning to the

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battlefields of business and government; in its negative incarnation, it functioned as threatening space literally colored by dark feminine forces that drained men of their power. Indeed, writing of nineteenth-century men’s anxiety over the efforts of women’s rights activists, Bram Dijkstra has made a direct connection between the “savage” and female might: “For them feminine self-assertion represented a reversion to earlier conditions of human life, a return to a more primitive stage of human civilization.”24 In the later nineteenth century, the “primitive” and race was an extremely potent social and political construct in the United States. Nearly thirty years prior to America’s annexation of Hawai‘i, the United States had almost split over divergent investments in regional institutions, including slavery. Although the northern states became connected with its abolition, slavery was practiced in parts of the north as well as in the south, and northerners were by no means free of racial prejudice and poor treatment of African Americans.25 “Blackness” in America harbored a seemingly infinite number of negative associations and the colored painted depictions of foreign persons—such as Lili‘uokalani—racist Americans wished to denigrate.26 Portrayals of Ka‘iulani around the time of Hawai‘i’s overthrow were also shaped by race and gender stereotypes, and although they aimed to be favorable, they granted her no authority. On her way back to home, Ka‘iulani stayed briefly in San Francisco, and there a reporter for the Examiner penned the following description of her: A barbarian princess? Not a bit of it. Not even a hemi-semi-demi barbarian. Rather the very flower— an exotic—of civilization. The Princess Ka‘iulani is charming, fascinating, individual. She has the taste and style of a French woman; the admirable repose and soft voice of an English woman. She was gowned for dinner in a soft, black, high-necked frock, with the latest Parisian touches in every fold. . . . She is

tall, of willowy slenderness, erect and graceful, with a small, pale face, full red lips, soft expression, dark eyes, a very good nose, and a cloud of crimpy black hair knotted high.27 Although this verbal picture of Ka‘iulani draws attention to her “crimpy black hair”—which could be viewed as a sign of “blackness”—the report emphasizes Ka‘iulani’s Caucasian features and Anglo-European demeanor, thus distancing her from the “barbarian” at the very same time that the writer virtually swoons over her exoticism. Ka‘iulani is represented repeatedly as “soft” and seemingly as fragile. Indeed, she is depicted as an elegant china doll rather than as a strong young woman of political conviction. Such representations figure repeatedly in accounts of Ka‘iulani published in newspapers that covered her movements during the oligarchy’s rise to power in Hawai‘i. When she left Europe for America to speak out against the provisional government, more ink was spilled on accounts of her physical beauty than on her message. Such reports emphasized aspects of her “Hawaiian-ness” and station that communicated her exoticism as a Polynesian and a royal, but they focused primarily on attributes that signaled her supposed Westernization and fall from power. The Princess impresses one as . . . tall and slight [with] decidedly good eyes, which are a soft brown. Her hair is almost black and somewhat wavy. Her complexion is dark but not more so than many girls whom one meets every day on Broadway. She wore yesterday, when she left the steamship, a simple gray travelling gown with a dark jacket and some sort of fluffy hat which was not unbecoming. She talks in a very simple, dignified way. . . .28 In this description of Ka‘iulani on her way to Washington, the woman legally entitled to inherit command of a nation is Hamohamo | 111

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reduced to a mere cipher of fashion who is somewhat exotic and most certainly “simple.” Although Ka‘iulani protested the subjugation of her land and people, those who favored gutting the Hawaiian monarchy spared her the overtly negative portrayals her aunt suffered. As a beautiful, young part-Caucasian woman with no direct experience of political power, she posed no threat to oligarchy leaders. Indeed, prior to accepting the presidency of the provisional government’s executive council, Sanford Dole proposed installing Ka‘iulani on the throne under a regency while she was a minor.29 No lover of monarchy, Dole clearly imagined that a Queen Ka‘iulani would stabilize a precarious situation with kânaka maoli while serving as a

mere figurehead for haole leadership. Such a fantasy suggests that Ka‘iulani was readily linked to the Victorian image of woman as man’s nurturing helpmeet and the Western projection of the pacific native female who welcomes a foreign embrace. Neither Ka‘iulani nor Lili‘uokalani is truly rendered in the sexist and racist images that haole produced of them. The images instead speak to the investments nineteenth-century Americans and numerous Caucasian Hawai‘i residents had in the islands, which the queen and princess personified. Many haole wished to experience Hawai‘i as a gracious, exotic, yet familiar hostess who would cater to their desires for power and pleasure. Lili‘uokalani could never be perceived as conforming to such a fantasy, but despite her words and actions, Ka‘iulani could.



Hawai‘i’s history is typically recorded through the deeds of its ali‘i. We have seen that from a kanaka maoli worldview, such tribute is in keeping with the sacred nature of Native Hawaiian aristocrats, who as representatives of the divine on earth were charged with maintaining righteous relations among the gods, the natural world, and Hawai‘i’s native people. Americans’ fascination with Hawaiian aristocracy reflects very different investments: because royal power historically has been associated

with political oppression in America, Hawai‘i’s ali‘i appeal to Americans when they are aligned with social status, wealth, and fashion. Whereas kanaka maoli histories of ali‘i focus on their might, American histories of Native Hawaiian rulers focus on their glamour and ultimate demise. The injustice of reducing Hawai‘i’s rulers—politically through the overthrow and symbolically through romanticization—is further compounded when the extraordinary sovereignty battles of Native Hawaiians from all walks of life are ignored. Noenoe K. Silva, a kanaka maoli scholar, has ensured that the powerful resistance efforts of Lili‘uokalani and Ka‘iulani’s contemporaries are recognized and celebrated today. By reading Hawaiian-language periodicals and conducting extensive archival research, Silva has demonstrated that kânaka maoli from every class fought for Hawai‘i’s liberty and for their queen. Silva’s writings show that Native Hawaiians quickly added their voices—by the thousands—to Lili‘uokalani’s protest against the deeds of the provisional government.30 Kânaka maoli organized themselves into political groups committed to fighting the P.G.’s, the so-called republic that these haole men established, and all of their annexation efforts. A huge number of women contributed to these efforts—the women’s auxiliary of the kanaka maoli patriot

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league called Hui Aloha ‘Âina had more than eleven thousand members31—and in so doing, they resisted Americanimposed notions of gender roles. Since ensconcing themselves in the archipelago from 1820, American missionaries in Hawai‘i had promulgated Western notions of female behavior, insisting that women confine themselves to domestic duties rather than involve themselves in the “male” sphere of politics.32 As Silva has shown, the women of Hui Aloha ‘Âina rejected this construct of the feminine by reminding themselves that a woman—the goddess Papahânaumoku—gave birth to their beloved islands and that all kanaka maoli women tend their land as they look after their children.33 Furthermore, these female activists wrote of their admiration for Lili‘uokalani and Ka‘iulani’s political battles and held up their queen and princess “as examples for women to follow.”34 Hui Aloha ‘Âina’s women multiplied the efforts of Lili‘uokalani and Ka‘iulani many times over. These sovereignty activists prepared a letter to Commissioner Blount protesting annexation, rallied thousands of Native Hawaiians to decry the P.G.’s’ republic, sent a protest resolution to the ministers of six foreign nations, and supported the families of those imprisoned for attempting to overthrow the republic through armed insurrection.35 In addition, women of Hui Aloha ‘Âina gathered a huge number of signatures

from kânaka maoli throughout Hawai‘i on petitions protesting annexation. Abigail Kuaihelani Campbell, Emma ‘A‘ima Nâwahî, Laura Mahelona, and others obtained thousands of signatures on the island of Hawai‘i, while Kaikioewa Ulukou did the same on Kaua‘i.36 As Silva has documented, when the petitions collected by three collaborating sovereignty groups were ready for submission, more than thirty-eight thousand signatures—from almost every Native Hawaiian in the islands—filled them.37 Although the labors of Hui Aloha ‘Âina’s women, as well as those of Lili‘uokalani and Ka‘iulani, failed to stem the tide of American imperialism, their resistance survives and is echoed in the continued work of kanaka maoli women, such as Silva. Indeed, in every capacity and every station—whether in the highly visible world of politics or the more private realm of personal life—Native Hawaiian women demonstrate through legal battles, rallies, publications, artwork, classroom lessons, and family discussions that Hawai‘i and its women neither require nor welcome control. Two remnants of ‘Âpuakèhau and Ku‘ekaunahi Streams serve as important metaphors for this opposition. At the upper edge of Hamohamo, by the Ala Wai Canal built to drain Waikîkî of its water, small but sure remainders of the streams flow. Between Paoakalani

Avenue and Wai Nani Way, the water that empties into the canal once fed Ku‘ekaunahi, and across the Ala Wai, a former course of ‘Âpuakèhau gently runs.38 Just as the waters of Hamohamo continue to live despite efforts to eradicate them, the resistance of Lili‘uokalani, Ka‘iulani, and countless kanaka maoli women continues.

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– Ka neloa and Kapua

Kapi‘olani Park

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– – E ‘au ma lie i ke kai pa pa‘u, o paki– ka wai a pula ka maka. Swim quietly in shallow water lest it splash into the eyes.

A cautioning to go carefully where one isn’t sure of conditions. – —Mary Kawena Pukui, Olelo No‘eau Today’s Kapi‘olani Park, named in honor of King Kalâkaua’s queen, is made up of Kâneloa and Kapua, two former land divisions that were once part of the Waikîkî ahupua‘a. Although the names “Kâneloa” and “Kapua” survive in the present—for a seasonal wetland and a sea channel, respectively—most visitors think of the park in terms of modern-day, built environments, such as the Waikîkî Aquarium, Honolulu Zoo, and Natatorium memorial and pool. Although a great deal of the park consists of grassy playing fields and picnic areas fringed on one side by narrow strips of beach, it is a recreation area thoroughly defined by nineteenth- and twentieth-century structures and landscaping. The history of Kapi‘olani Park’s development is intimately tied to the development of Waikîkî itself and its transformation from an ahupua‘a filled with spouting waters to an urban tourist destination. And it’s possible that the future of water in Kapi‘olani Park may promise a healthier future for all the waters of Waikîkî. Kapi‘olani Park not only helped to spur the creation of the Waikîkî we know today, but it also reflects in microcosm many of the conditions that we have seen shape Waikîkî as a whole. Like Lè‘ahi, which towers over its far end, Kapi‘olani Park is a landmass that has served as a tool of power and control, as businessmen and politicians have fought over ownership of the park’s beaches.1 As we shall discover, like the Ala Wai Canal, the park is a manmade entity that contributed to Waikîkî’s development and, through building projects, to its ecological degradation. As with Kâlia, Kapi‘olani Park has served as a site of military occupation: during America’s turn-of-the-century involvement in the Philippines, part of

the park harbored Camp McKinley, the first U.S. Army post in Hawai‘i.2 Like Kawehewehe, the area that constitutes the park has known sickness; during the 1853 smallpox epidemic that killed thousands in Hawai‘i, Kapua was the site of a quarantine station for arriving visitors.3 As with Helumoa, the park also has a history of commodifying the royal—on one of its beaches, the Queen’s Surf restaurant and bar stationed at Queen Lili‘uokalani’s former seaside retreat once catered to both locals and tourists. Like Uluniu, the park is also associated with the celebration and degradation of Hawaiian culture, which occurred—as at Kaluaokau—through commercialization and—as at Hamohamo—by associating Hawai‘i with the feminine. These intertwined conditions played themselves out through the long-running Kodak Hula Show once held in the park, a revue that introduced tourists to accessible versions of the sacred art of hula, which was largely performed by female dancers and staged to facilitate souvenir picture-taking with Kodak film.4 In this chapter, we investigate one of the many histories threaded through Kapi‘olani Park that makes up its dense fabric: the construction and destruction of its shoreline. We will contrast the negative impact of this development with a recent, successful project to restore the Kâneloa seasonal wetland, located near the park’s soccer fields. We will discover that work done along Kapi‘olani Park’s beaches in the name of betterment in fact often contributed to the coastline’s decline, and we will see that simply permitting Kâneloa wetland to return and flourish has led to the rebirth of some of the region’s ecological balance and harmony. This shift Kâneloa and Kapua | 115

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begins to reclaim the Waikîkî that Dillingham’s dredging drained away.



Visitors to the Waikîkî Aquarium in Kapi‘olani Park experience the most amazing artificial aquatic environments in all of Waikîkî. On the grounds of and inside the aquarium are numerous elegant and educational exhibits that recreate ocean habitats with living beings. Adults and children from Hawai‘i and around the world marvel at beautifully colored and fantastically shaped fish and coral. Through the glass panes of freestanding and inset fish tanks, aquarium visitors peer at deep-sea environments. Sometimes, captive sea creatures within these watery dioramas peer back. However, Waikîkî visitors who seek fish and coral undersea through the panes of diving masks or goggles find very few ocean inhabitants to return their gaze. Although Waikîkî’s shoreline, reefs, and ocean depths once teemed with life, they now support little. The beaches of and waters off the former regions of Kâneloa and Kapua have been respectively developed and polluted; neither sustains many of its former plant and animal inhabitants. Instead, the shoreline along Kapi‘olani Park hosts Honolulu residents and Waikîkî vacationers who desire grassy areas for picnicking, sandy strips for sunning, and ocean waters for swimming. Kapi‘olani Park Beach Center is the heart of the park’s coast, and it is flanked by Kûhiò Beach Park and the adjacent Queen’s Surf Beach (at the ‘Ewa end of Waikîkî) and Sans Souci State Recreation Area (at the Diamond Head end of Waikîkî). An extraordinary amount of construction and destruction has occurred along this stretch of land and water, and these conditions are perhaps best captured by contrasting the vitality of the aquarium’s artificial environments with the relative lifelessness of ocean waters that spread down the coast on either side of the aquarium. Development took place along each end of Kapi‘olani Park’s coast: at Sans Souci in Kapua and near Queen’s Surf in Kâneloa. While the built structures

and landscaping along this corridor produced some lovely destinations for people who came to Waikîkî, they simultaneously created environmental stress that compromised the region’s shoreline.



Kapua and Kâneloa were conjoined as an entity in 1876 when members of the newly formed Kapi‘olani Park Association established the park. Although additional lands comprise the park, Kâneloa and Kapua are its two largest parcels and were once owned by King Kalâkaua and Honolulu hotel manager Allen Herbert, respectively,5 although Herbert may have won Kapua from Kalâkaua in a poker game.6 Herbert, who likely spearheaded the park project,7 along with the king and the other prominent men who made up the Kapi‘olani Park Association, devised the park scheme for public good and private gain. They envisioned their creation as a site of recreation for Honolulu citizenry, a place for agricultural and industrial exhibitions,8 and a residential suburb for themselves and other wealthy island residents.9 Each person who bought a $50 share in the association was entitled to build a home in the park.10 By the 1880s, the park’s beachfront was graced with some of the most stately homes on O‘ahu.11 These homes, and others subsequently erected, were built on shoreline tracts with leases that expired in 1919, at which time the property was to return to the park.12 The leases provided funds that helped association member and landscape architect Archibald Cleghorn design and plant the park; his handiwork beautifies its verdant expanses to this day.14 These leases in Kapua and Kâneloa also spurred shoreline development: the physical construction and nascent tourism enterprise that would redefine Waikîkî. In 1884, Herbert opened his Kapua seaside residence as one of Waikîkî’s earliest hotels, a resort that he named Sans Souci (meaning “without a care” in French) after Frederick the Great’s Potsdam Palace.15 Although Herbert did not get a great deal of business, he nevertheless contributed to the rise of Waikîkî as a vacation

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destination,16 and his Sans Souci became famous when Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson made it his favorite Waikîkî haunt. The celebrated author stayed at Sans Souci during his two visits to O‘ahu and was hosted on his last visit in 1893 by George Lycurgus, who made a success of the Kapua area hotel.17 Although hotel business declined after 1895, when Lycurgus and others were arrested for spearheading efforts to restore Queen Lili‘uokalani to the throne, development at Sans Souci continued.18 In 1902, Alexander Dawes, who took over the hotel as a private residence,19 sold a small portion of Sans Souci to the Commercial Pacific Cable Company, which was responsible for laying the first submarine communication cable to connect Hawai‘i to land elsewhere.20 The cable ran from San Francisco to Sans Souci, and on December 28, 1902, the koa canoe Halekûlani and its Native Hawaiian crew, headed by David Pi‘ikoi Kahanamoku, brought the cable guideline ashore through Kapua Channel.21 Just as Kapua Channel, a natural break in the reef outside the beach, was filled with a nonnatural material to “improve” Hawai‘i (modernize communication), beachfront structures built at Kapua and down toward Kâneloa were filled with artificial seawalls to “better” shoreline conditions (protect buildings). Once a highly productive and cherished fishery—administered by Chief Iona Pehu and Chiefess Ke‘ekapu from 1823 to at least 1852—Kapua and Kâneloa’s waters and beaches were severely degraded after construction along Kapi‘olani Park’s beachfront lots began.22 With the proliferation toward the end of the nineteenth century of exclusive beach homes, many built too close to the water line, came shoreline hard surfacing and seawalls, both of which contributed to beach loss and poor reef conditions.23 As early as 1927, the Engineering Association of Hawai‘i identified seawalls as the primary factor contributing to the “destruction of Waikîkî’s beaches through their reflection of wave energy, which further eroded beaches down current of the walls, requiring further seawall construction.”24 This massive and ongoing erosion gravely impacted sea life along the shoreline, Kâneloa and Kapua | 119

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as studies of 1928 and 1991 confirm. C. H. Edmondson’s 1928 report, based on research conducted in Kâneloa just offshore of the Waikîkî Aquarium, cataloged twenty-three well-established species of coral in the region. By 1991, however, researchers found only nine species of hard corals along Waikîkî’s reefs, with only four of these well represented.25 Ironically, the Waikîkî Aquarium, which opened in 1904, was part of the Kapi‘olani Park shoreline development that adversely affected the coastline. Like Sans Souci in Kapua, the aquarium in Kâneloa was originally conceived as a tourist destination, and it was built at the end of the streetcar line operated by Honolulu Rapid Transit and Land Company as a means of generating customers for the streetcar.26 The company maintained the aquarium, which was funded by Mr. and Mrs. Charles M. Cooke and erected on the beachfront lot donated to the venture by James B. Castle.27 In 1919, the facility became affiliated with the University of Hawai‘i; the university’s original Hawai‘i Marine Laboratory was once located near the aquarium, serving as the collection area for many of the early identifications of Hawaiian marine invertebrates. However, a 2002 report on Waikîkî reef conditions shows that Kâneloa’s shoreline no longer thrives. The report notes that the reef outside the aquarium is now partly covered by sand and virtually devoid of coral and that the water outside the aquarium is thoroughly colonized by invasive algae.28



Today, many Hawai‘i residents weigh in on ongoing debates about construction and destruction of beachfront areas on either side of Kapi‘olani Park. One debate concerns the Natatorium, a World War I memorial and saltwater pool at the edge of Kâneloa that abuts Kapua. The second concerns the Queen’s Surf Beach area in Kâneloa and the adjoining Kûhiò Beach Park further ‘Ewa. Both regions were home sites for wealthy businessmen who acquired Kapi‘olani Park beachfront lots, and both subsequently evolved into sites designed

for public beach access and recreation. These transformations were civic-minded and well intentioned, but they resulted in the scarring of the shoreline and the fouling of its waters. The Natatorium was erected on the former site of Honolulu businessman and Kapi‘olani Park trustee William G. Irwin’s seaside residence, which existed on the beachfront from the 1880s into the 1910s.29 Hawai‘i’s territorial legislature acquired the property from the Irwin estate in 1919 with the stipulation that it serve as a memorial park.30 Two years later, the legislature authorized the construction of a memorial to the men and women of Hawai‘i who served during World War I.31 The plan for the memorial included a public swimming course; in 1922, architect Louis P. Hobart of San Francisco won the competition held for the memorial design.32 The Natatorium opened on August 24, 1927—Olympic swimmer and surfing champion Duke Kahanamoku’s birthday—and Kahanamoku took the first swim in the ocean pool. The Natatorium was very successful as a public recreation area and venue for competitive swimming, but compromises in the structure’s original design as well as subsequent neglect bred rapid deterioration.33 Indeed, only two years after the memorial opened, the Honolulu Star-Bulletin published an article decrying the condition of the Natatorium.34 The pool’s flushing mechanism failed to function properly,35 and its concrete construction was of poor quality.36 Although the structure was renovated in 1949,37 an engineering firm determined it was unsafe in 1965 and the city proposed to demolish it.38 The Army Corps of Engineers backed this recommendation in 1972, arguing that razing the Natatorium would facilitate beach widening and improvement in Kapi‘olani Beach Park.39 Citizens committed to saving the memorial established the Natatorium Preservation Committee in 1971, although the structure’s continued decline forced the city to close up and lock the Natatorium in 1979.40 In 1980, the memorial became the only site in Kapi‘olani Park listed on the National Register of Historic Places, though this designation has not smoothed the way for its restoration or preservation.41 Kâneloa and Kapua | 121

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The Natatorium has not only devolved into a safety hazard, but also contributed to beach erosion and reef destruction. Indeed, prior to construction of the memorial, the reef in the area was dredged to facilitate swimming in the planned pool and around the adjacent area.42 Sand loss in the area has been dramatic: a 1963 report by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers determined that the Natatorium comprised an area, stretching down to Kûhiò Beach, that was losing 4,600 cubic yards of sand a year.43 The resulting degradation of the coastal area has contributed to its colonization by alien plants in tremendous volumes: in 2002, more than seventy volunteers removed almost twelve thousand pounds of the seaweed Gracilaria salicornia from the beach and swimming channel near the Natatorium.44 Queen’s Surf Beach, adjacent to Kûhiò Beach Park, has a history similar to that of the Natatorium: once the site of a Kapi‘olani Park beach-lot mansion, it became a public recreation site that contributes to coastal decline. Originally the location for Queen Lili‘uokalani’s beach cottage, the area became a park oceanfront lot that converted to private property.45 It sported a huge residence designed by Chicago architects Holabird and Roche in 1916 for C. W. Case Deering, an industrial giant who manufactured farm equipment.46 Fleishmann Yeast heir Chris Holmes purchased the palatial structure in 1933, and in 1944, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, and General Douglas MacArthur met there to devise military strategy in the Pacific during World War II.47 After the war, the Spencecliff Corporation ran the mansion as a popular nightspot called the Queen’s Surf, and in 1957, a beach of the same name was created by covering coral in the region with imported sand.48 The city of Honolulu purchased the site the following year, and since then, city politicians dreamed of demolishing the Queen’s Surf restaurant and bar to widen the beach.49 When Frank Fasi became mayor in 1969, he made beach improvement one of his pet projects and had the structure destroyed in 1971, despite little public support; a 1969 Honolulu Star-Bulletin poll demonstrated citizens’ overwhelming desire to keep the location undisturbed.50

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In 1972, Queen’s Surf Beach was linked to what would become ongoing supposed improvement from Kûhiò Beach into Kapi‘olani Park’s beach areas, alterations that conservationists have linked to coastal degeneration. In 2001, aggressive changes implemented within Queen’s Surf created more shady and grassy areas and an extension of the Kalâkaua promenade along the oceanfront.51 City officials argued that the building would not contribute to beach erosion, but University of Hawai‘i geologist Chip Fletcher maintained that, as with past construction, the “improvements” covered sand necessary for shoreline health.52 Indeed, two years after the recent work done at Queen’s Surf, Governor Linda Lingle told the Waikîkî Improvement Association that she was considering spending more than $2 million on tearing out seawalls, replacing them with breakwaters, and trucking in huge amounts of sand to bolster Kûhiò Beach.53 Many Hawai‘i residents and Waikîkî vacationers are unaware that because of beachside development fostered by

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the birth of Kapi‘olani Park, Waikîkî’s inviting coast will continue to decline and will require huge amounts of capital and care to endure.



Further inland, in Kâneloa, a small and very special miracle is unfolding: the restoration of a seasonal wetland.54 In 1998, Michelle Spalding Matson initiated the project to protect and enhance the ecosystem, obtaining funds to clear the area of invasive growth, plant native flora, and establish an interpretive path. Named the Kâneloa Natural Habitat and Cultural Gardens, the wetland—once a drainage basin for water that flowed into the area from Lè‘ahi—comprises two acres located between the Waikîkî Shell outdoor theater and Kapi‘olani Park’s soccer fields. Since work began on the wetland restoration, hundreds of volunteers, from members of the U.S. military forces to Honolulu school children, have contributed their time and energy to coax the ecosystem back to health. Today in Kâneloa, a brackish water table feeds indigenous wetland

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plants, including the reedy makai and three ground covers: the lush green ae‘ae, the orange ‘akulikuli, and the silver hinahina. When the wetland fills with water, the endangered white fairy tern appears to gather nourishment, and o‘opu (gobies) dart back and forth, having found their way inland from subterranean pathways. The communal efforts to revive and sustain this wetland, a remnant of the spouting waters that once defined Waikîkî, demonstrate a return to practices that formerly guided appreciation and use of the ahupua‘a of Waikîkî: respect for and stewardship of water and land. As the sands of Waikîkî’s beaches slip away and the few remaining corals in the region’s reefs die off, a significant parcel of parkland slowly but surely returns to its natural state. While we might lament the former, we can celebrate the latter and hope the successful restoration of Kâneloa’s wetland will inspire other efforts to understand and experience Waikîkî as an ahupua‘a—a selfsustaining ecosystem—instead of a paved-over and polluted urban resort.

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Conclusion

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– Ho‘omoe wai kahi ke ka o‘o. Let all travel together like water flowing in one direction.

– —Mary Kawena Pukui, Olelo No‘eau

In our journey through Waikîkî’s history, we have seen how colonialism and capitalism have ravaged land and water and dispossessed those who harnessed both for their livelihoods. The three streams that formerly fed Waikîkî’s wetlands have been largely eradicated, and much of the area’s bays and reefs, which used to teem with sea life, have been stilled. Where fishponds, taro fields, heiau, burial grounds, ali‘i compounds, and maka‘âinana home sites once existed, there is a concrete jungle built to entice travelers from distant shores. Numerous battles—propelled by greed as well as opposition to it—were waged during Waikîkî’s transformation from a self-sustaining community to an overdeveloped urban area primarily dependent on tourism. While it may seem that colonialism and capitalism have triumphed, resistance to both continues and a number of important victories have been won. For example, today, Native Hawaiians are involved in the representation of their history and culture in Waikîkî and elsewhere. Researchers now are uncovering and recording kanaka maoli, immigrant, and settler histories that were previously devalued and even suppressed. Additionally, we have seen that Lè‘ahi will not be developed in an ecologically or culturally insensitive manner and that the Ala Wai watershed is under the care of concerned and active citizens. In fact, the concept of the ahupua‘a and ecologically sound stewardship of land and water informs the practices of environmental groups and farming ventures across the islands. Moreover, members of the community fight to protect the ocean, beaches, and sea life of Waikîkî and all of Hawai‘i. Indeed, the pressures Native Hawaiians, activists, environmentalists, and concerned citizens have brought to bear on the industry of tourism and its

partners—advertising and development—have demonstrated the extent to which many people are fed up with “business as usual” in Waikîkî and other tourist spots in Hawai‘i. For instance, powerful resistance to tourism’s dehumanizing effects surfaced in the 1998 conference “Tourism in Hawai‘i: Its Impact on Native Hawaiians and Its Challenge to the Churches.” This conference was convened by the Hawai‘i Ecumenical Coalition on Tourism, the Hawai‘i Council of

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Churches, the American Friends Service Committee, and the Hawai‘i Conference of the United Church of Christ in collaboration with the Ecumenical Coalition for Third World Tourism (E.C.T.W.T.) and the North American Coordinating Center for Responsible Tourism (C.R.T.). Conference participants issued a call to Hawai‘i’s religious institutions and world citizens to recognize the destructive effects of tourism on kânaka maoli and hotel employees. Specifically, the call asked people to support Native Hawaiian efforts toward sovereignty and self-sufficiency, to back tourism industry workers’ efforts to achieve equitable pay and benefits, and to work with governments and businesses to stop investment in Hawai‘i tourism that negatively impacts Hawai‘i’s people.1 Another particularly visible instance of resistance to tourism—especially its dire impact on the environment—sur128 | Conclusion

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faced at the beginning of the new millennium when the Hawai‘i Chapter of the Sierra Club filed a lawsuit against the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority. This state agency had pledged $114 million for a three-year marketing campaign designed to bring nearly thirty thousand more visitors a day to the islands by 2005. The Sierra Club’s lawsuit called for an environmental assessment of spending state funds on this huge marketing contract. Although the case was not successful—tourism is Hawai‘i’s largest industry and threats to its growth meet powerful opposition—the Sierra Club’s use of the courtroom and resultant media coverage keep the question of tourism’s benefits in the spotlight. Alongside critiques of the tourist industry exist work within tourism itself to promote more culturally sensitive and ecologically sound practices. Across the globe, the past three decades have witnessed tremendous efforts geared toward effecting social and environmental justice. Some of this energy has informed the responsible tourism movement, which emerged in the 1970s.3 Ecotourism, defined by the International Ecotourism Society as “responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and sustains the wellbeing of local people,” has become an increasingly popular form of travel.4 Tourism researchers and activists, such as Zac Goldsmith, Virginia Hadsell, Martha Honey, Ron Mader, and Deborah McClaren, warn that much ecotourism pays only lip service to its stated mission and actually degrades the environment and host people. However, responsible travel opportunities do exist.5 Environmental and government agencies, tourism professionals, indigenous people, and activists of all stripes are contributing increasingly to new forms of travel that respect natural resources and local populations. People who wish to experience Hawai‘i and other parts of the globe can travel in a socially and environmentally responsible matter that requires them to research their host culture, their destination’s environment, and the businesses they will patronize. Travelers interested in true ecotourism can also extend

their environmental and social justice concerns to encompass their life experience beyond vacations. People can educate themselves about destructive business practices the world over and participate in large and small efforts to protect the environment and human rights. For example, individuals can study and support local and global work on fair labor practices, green initiatives, community enterprises, indigenous rights, organic farming, and sustainable business. Committing to lifestyle changes that require critical investigation, creative problem solving, and active participation in democratic processes is extremely challenging and also potentially very rewarding.



This book has tracked how Waikîkî has become a concrete jungle. This “paving of paradise” has compromised, but not destroyed, Waikîkî’s ability to rejuvenate and sustain those who spend their time at this vacation destination. However, much of this experience comes at the cost of negative impacts on the environment, Native Hawaiians, and many individuals who work in the tourism industry. They erupt as specific events and individual experiences, but they reflect the profound structural impact of colonialism and capitalism in Hawai‘i, impact broad in its reach and mired in institutionalized practices and unquestioned belief systems. Individuals cannot make Waikîkî’s painful realities disappear merely by choosing environment-friendly hotels; real change requires linking individual goals to group initiatives that tackle colonialism and capitalism in their ideological and institutional manifestations. As citizens of the state of Hawai‘i and/or of the United States, as well as consumers of commercial products, many of us support the colonial and capitalist order. The following resources may not help us step outside or beyond this order, but they may help us retool our relationship to it. Conclusion | 129

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General Resources for Responsible Travel and Consumption Basecamp—Ecoventure’s Searchable Database

http://www.wsulibs.wsu.edu/ ecoventure/!ecovent.htm This database provides information about ecotourism publications for a general audience. Designed by Ronald Ziegler of Washington State University, it is part of a Web site created to help travelers design trips that are ecologically sound and culturally sensitive.

and services, including travel and accommodations. CorpWatch

http://www.corpwatch.org CorpWatch is an organization that uses the Internet to publish information about corporate activities and policies, thereby striving to hold businesses accountable for their actions. The Web site provides links related to ecological sustainability and social justice. The site’s “Issues Library” page contains a section called “Water Wars” that details the worldwide crisis in water abuses.

Business Enterprises for Sustainable Travel

http://www.sustainabletravel.org This organization highlights businesses and initiatives committed to sustainable travel. Its Web site provides a link for resources on community tourism and environmental travel.

GoNOMAD Network

http://www.gonomad.com GoNOMAD is a group of alternative travelers committed to responsible and sustainable travel. This Web site offers a newsletter and information about every aspect of community-minded and ecologically sound tourism.

Co-op America

http://www.coopamerica.org Co-op America, a collective of businesses and cooperatives committed to a sustainable future, encourages consumers to use their buying power for environmental and social justice. The Web site’s “Responsible Shopper” page enables individuals to research corporations’ business practices, and the “Green Pages Online” page permits consumers to locate green products

The International Ecotourism Society

http://www.ecotourism.org The International Ecotourism Society advocates responsible and sustainable tourism that protects natural environments and benefits local populations. This Web site offers the “Travel Choice” page, which helps tourists locate ecofriendly travel services, tour operators, and lodgings.

The International Society for Ecology and Culture

http://www.isec.org.uk This society is an international organization that produces educational materials and promotes educational campaigns on globalization issues. Their work highlights the impact of multinational development within local communities and seeks to advance localized, sustainable economic structures. Journeys International

http://www.journeys-intl.com Journeys International, an ecotour operator, uses native and resident tour guides and contributes part of its profits toward environmental preservation and host-community initiatives. Partners in Responsible Tourism

http://www.pirt.org/about.html This San Francisco–based network of travel industry professionals is committed to culturally and environmentally sensitive travel. It promotes responsible travel ethics and practices through events, symposia, and partner newsletters. Rainforest Alliance

http://www.rainforest-alliance.org The Rainforest Alliance is a nonprofit agency committed to developing innovative solutions for global conservation. The agency conducted a feasibility study for the creation of an international Conclusion | 131

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body to oversee ecotourism certification, and it partners with other organizations to promote responsible tourism in fragile environments and native lands. This Web site details successful ventures and provides opportunities for individuals to support progressive sustainability projects. Tourism Concern

http://www.tourismconcern.org.uk Tourism Concern is a Londonbased organization that campaigns for responsible tourism. The project offers support to communities impacted by the negative effects of tourism as well as resources on ethical travel.

Hawai‘i Resources on Culture, Education, and the Environment – – ‘Ahahui Ma lama I Ka Lo kahi

http://www.aecos.com/aml ‘Ahahui Mâlama I Ka Lòkahi is a nonprofit organization created by Native Hawaiians who recognize that Hawai‘i’s unique native plants, animals, and ecosystems represent a vital cultural resource in danger of extinction. Ahupua‘a Action Alliance Online

http://www.ahupuaa.net The Ahupua‘a Action Alliance brings together organizations that draw

on ahupua‘a concepts to care for and protect Hawai‘i’s lands and waters. The alliance works to educate citizens as well as corporate and government leaders in responsible stewardship of natural resources. Ala Wai Watershed Association

http://alawaiwatershed.org The Ala Wai Watershed Association is a nonprofit community-based organization that cares for the watershed that flows into the Ala Wai Canal and ocean waters at Waikîkî and Ala Moana. The association educates the public about ahupua‘a concepts to promote community-based cleanup and stewardship of the watershed.

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The Bishop Museum

http://www.bishopmuseum.org Charles Reed Bishop founded the Bishop Museum in 1889 to honor his late wife, Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop, the last descendant of the royal Kamehameha family. In 1988, the museum was designated Hawai‘i’s State Museum on Natural and Cultural History. It contains a vast collection of Hawaiian and Pacific cultural materials and an in-depth library and archive devoted to Hawaiian and Pacific history and culture. The museum also develops programs on Hawai‘i’s natural history and cultural heritage. Center for Hawaiian Studies, – University of Hawai‘i at Ma noa

http://www.hawaii.edu/chs A Native Hawaiian–run educational and research institution that offers coursework in Hawaiian Studies; sponsors research on Native Hawaiian history, culture, and politics; and organizes public programs on Native Hawaiians and other indigenous people’s issues. –

Hoa ‘Aina O Makaha

http://www.aloha.com/~hoa-aina Hoa ‘Âina O Mâkaha is a nonprofit organization and spiritual community based in Mâkaha Valley on O‘ahu’s Wai‘anae Coast. It is dedicated to establishing peace through education, equitable economic development, and

social justice. The organization supports Native Hawaiian rights and works with the Native Hawaiian tradition of mâlama ‘âina to tend its sustainable agriculture projects. It has also coordinated exchange programs with visitors to promote cultural understanding. – – – Hui Ma lama I Na Ku puna O Hawai‘i

Nei

http://huimalama.tripod.com Hui Mâlama is a Native Hawaiian organization that cares for ancestral remains. Using the Native American Grave Protections and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), Hui Mâlama works with entities that possess ancestral remains and sacred objects to ensure that they are returned to the care of their proper guardians. The group also advises other indigenous people with these aims. KAHEA: Hawaiian Environmental Alliance

http://www.kahea.org KAHEA is an alliance of kanaka maoli cultural practitioners, environmental activists, and concerned citizens dedicated to protecting Native Hawaiian customary and traditional rights and Hawai‘i’s diverse and threatened ecosystems. – Ma lama Hawai‘i

http://www.malamahawaii.org Mâlama Hawai‘i is a nonprofit community-based organization that

promotes progressive projects dedicated to improving Hawai‘i’s economy and environment and its people’s cultures, education, health, and welfare. Native Hawaiian Advisory Council

http://www.kekiai.org This kanaka maoli organization educates the public about Native Hawaiian traditions and practices and emphasizes water rights issues. Their Web site contains resources for educators and activists. Sierra Club, Hawai‘i Chapter

http://www.hi.sierraclub.org/index. html The Hawai‘i Chapter of the Sierra Club informs the public about environmental degradation in Hawai‘i and has challenged the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority’s promotion of tourism in the islands. The chapter’s Web site contains a link to past and pending legislation that involves benefits or threats to Hawai‘i’s environment. Virtual Taro Patch on Kaua‘i

http://members.tripod.com/~kaimi This Internet resource provides information about traditional land stewardship in Hawai‘i and current ecological initiatives. It contains a wealth of information about cultural resources, including arts, crafts, hula, and subsistence practices.

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Hawai‘i Resources on History, Politics, and Society AlohaQuest

http://www.alohaquest.com The AlohaQuest Web site archives components of a six-hour all-island learning event on Hawaiian issues that was hosted by Aloha First in 1998 at ‘Iolani Palace and broadcast on television and the Internet. The program’s Web-based materials explore the history and future of Native Hawaiian selfdetermination. The Annexation of Hawai‘i

http://libweb.hawaii.edu/digicoll/ annexation/annexation.html This resource compiled by University of Hawai‘i at Mânoa scholars and librarians provides readers with access to primary documents pertaining to the United States’ annexation of Hawai‘i. It includes petitions signed by thousands of Native Hawaiians protesting annexation. The Hawaiian Historical Society

http://www.hawaiianhistory.org/ about.html The Hawaiian Historical Society was organized in January 1892 by Honolulu citizens dedicated to preserving historical materials relating to Hawai‘i and to publishing scholarly research on Hawaiian history. Today, the society’s scope of interest includes the

Pacific region as a whole and Hawai‘i’s role within it. This Web site features a section called “Moments,” which highlights important events in Hawai‘i’s history. Hawaiian Independence Homepage

http://www.hawaii-nation.org/index. html The Hawaiian Independence Homepage is devoted to Native Hawaiian sovereignty issues and actions. The site contains extremely useful links on kanaka maoli history, culture, and politics and provides up-to-date news about sovereignty issues as well as suggestions for effecting change in Hawai‘i.

that promotes environmental and social justice, helped organize an important conference on Hawai‘i tourism and kânaka maoli. As a means of publicizing its findings, the service created this Web page, which also contains useful resources for travelers. A Call for Responsible Tourism

http://www.ksbe.edu The Kamehameha Schools educate kânaka maoli and were founded by the estate of Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop. They are among the premier educational institutions in the United States, and their Web site provides in-depth information about the Native Hawaiian experience.

http://members.tripod.com/ ~MPHAWAII/Tourism.htm Native Hawaiian leaders and activists have worked hard to disseminate information about the negative impact of tourism on Hawai‘i’s indigenous people. The Reverend Kaleo Patterson is a notable example. A kahu (minister) ordained in the United Church of Christ and an activist for kanaka maoli sovereignty, Patterson serves on the Board of Directors for the Native American Legal Rights Fund and directs the Hawai‘i Ecumenical Coalition, a church-based Native Hawaiian justice organization. He has organized conferences on tourism’s impact on kânaka maoli and written and lectured extensively on the topic. Five articles that explore this issue can be read on his Web site.

Responsible Travel in Hawai‘i: Respecting Ka–naka Maoli

Resources for Planning Travel to Hawai‘i

American Friends Service

Alternative-Hawai‘i

http://www.afsc.org/lgbt/hi.htm The American Friends Service, an international Quaker organization

http://www.alternative-hawaii.com Alternative-Hawai‘i is a Web site that promotes ecotravel in the Hawaiian

Kamehameha Schools, History of Hawai‘i

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Islands. It provides information about tour operators, lodgings, and events that emphasize environmental and cultural sensitivity. Environment Hawai‘i

tourism along more ecologically sustainable and culturally sensitive lines. It contains documents that propose new models for tourism and provides information about the impact of tourism on Hawai‘i’s communities.

http://www.environment-hawaii. org/volunteeroahu.htm Environment Hawai‘i is a monthly newsletter devoted to protecting Hawai‘i’s natural resources. The newsletter’s Web site features a section on volunteer activities for cleaning up O‘ahu land and water and for planting native species. Friends of Malaekahana

http://www.alternative-hawaii. com/fom Malaekahana is on the windward side of O‘ahu and was once a pu‘uhonua, a place of refuge Native Hawaiians used as a haven when they broke kapu. Today, it is a pristine beach park with lodgings and amenities administered by a Native Hawaiian civic group that provides other native people with training in managing parks. The Hawai‘i Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism Planning for Sustainable Tourism in Hawai‘i Project

http://www.hawaiitourismstudy. com/products.asp This Web site provides information about Hawai‘i’s efforts to rethink Conclusion | 135

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Hawai‘i Ecotourism Association

Travel with a Challenge, Hawai‘i

http://www.hawaiiecotourism.org/ links.htm The Hawai‘i Ecotourism Association is devoted to promoting responsible travel and business. Their Web site provides links to ecotour operators and resources on environmental and cultural initiatives in Hawai‘i and elsewhere.

http://www.travelwithachallenge. com/Travel_Themes_Hawaii.htm Travel with a Challenge is an Internet-based resource for mature (over 55) travelers who would like to vacation responsibly by learning about local cultures and supporting local businesses. The organization sponsors an online magazine.

Native Hawaiian Hospitality Association

University of Hawai‘i at Hilo

http://www.nahha.com The Native Hawaiian Hospitality Association brings together Native Hawaiian businesspeople in the travel and hospitality industry who promote Native Hawaiian values and practices in their work. Association members educate participants about kanaka maoli history, culture, and practices. The association spearheaded the Waikîkî Historic Trail project, a self-guided or escorted tour of important Native Hawaiian sites in Waikîkî.

EdVenture Program

http://conference.uhh.hawaii.edu/ edventure.html This award-winning program offers educational and responsible travel programs for people of all ages. University of Hawai‘i at Hilo Conference Center staff work with community leaders and university faculty to design learning opportunities in culture, business, government, history, and natural history. Willing Workers on Organic Farms, Hawai‘i

People’s Advocacy for Trails, Hawai‘i

http://www.21stcenturyhawaii.com/ ecotravel/biking/path.html This nonprofit organization has worked with government agencies and citizens’ groups across the islands to promote travel through bicycling and walking.

http://www.wwoofhawaii.org/ content/where.html Willing Workers on Organic Farms (W.W.O.O.F.) is an international network of organic farmers who host travelers interested in volunteering their time on organic farm work. The Hawai‘i chapter offers opportunities in both agriculture and aquaculture.

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Waiki–ki– Timeline

The following events occurred in Waikîkî or dramatically impacted the Place of Spouting Waters and all of Hawai‘i.1

1780–1783

1820

— Maui ruler Kahekili battles and ultimately defeats O‘ahu warriors. His war canoes land at Waikîkî.

— American Protestant missionaries begin their work of converting kânaka maoli to Christianity.

ca. 1783

early 1820s

— Papa‘ena‘ena heiau is constructed, possibly by Kahekili to celebrate his victory on O‘ahu and to avenge the mid–sixteenth century sacrifice of his ancestor Kauhiakama at ‘Âpuakèhau heiau in Waikîkî.

— Melons and watermelons are cultivated on Lè‘ahi’s crater floor.

as early as 300

— The first Polynesians settle Hawai‘i and build loko such as those that come to grace Waikîkî. ca. 1350–1400

— Chief Mâ‘ilikûkahi establishes Waikîkî as the ruling seat of O‘ahu.

1835

— Hawai‘i’s first sugar plantation opens in Kòloa, Kaua‘i.

1792 1400

— Tahitian kâhuna named Kapaemahu, Kahaloa, Kapuni, and Kinohi settle at Ulukou in Waikîkî. When they return to their homeland, they have O‘ahu residents place four stones near their beach home, which the healers imbue with their powers. ca. 1400–1450

— Chief Kalamakua establishes extensive taro fields in Waikîkî near the present Ala Wai golf course.

— English Captain George Vancouver anchors off Waikîkî and provides vivid accounts of the area’s rich farming. 1794–1795

— Hawai‘i Island’s Chief Kamehameha I defeats O‘ahu’s Chief Kalanikupule and establishes a residence in Waikîkî at Pua‘ali‘ili‘i near today’s Royal Hawaiian Hotel.

1845

— Passage of the Organic Acts, devised by foreign advisors to the Hawaiian king, partially Westernizes the Hawaiian government. 1848

— The Mâhele, an outgrowth of the Organic Acts, institutes private land ownership in Hawai‘i.

1804

1848–1849

— Maui Chief Kauhiakama is sacrificed at ‘Âpuakèhau heiau in Waikîkî.

— Kamehameha I orders sacrifices at Papa‘ena‘ena heiau to prevent further deaths from an outbreak of disease, which wiped out two-thirds of his warriors.

— Epidemics of influenza, measles, mumps, and whooping cough claim about five thousand Native Hawaiian lives.

1778

1809

— English Captain James Cook and his crew land on the island of Kaua‘i: seamen spread venereal disease to kânaka maoli.

— Kamehameha I has Kanihonui sacrificed at Papa‘ena‘ena heiau for trysting with the mò‘î’s kapu wahine Ka‘ahumanu.

ca. 1550

1850

— Foreigners begin settling in Waikîkî. — Passage of the Masters and Servants Act brings cheap contract labor (largely from Asia) to Hawai‘i for plantation work.

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1853–1854

1887

— Smallpox epidemic kills about fifteen thousand Native Hawaiians.

— Haole businessmen and politicians use the threat of force to get King Kalâkaua to accept the Bayonet Constitution, which effectively strips the throne of power.

ca. 1856

— Papa‘ena‘ena heiau is dismantled.

a nominal republic, which is actually an oligarchy under the leadership of Sanford B. Dole. — The Blount Report declares the overthrow illegal. — Sans Souci Hotel opens.

1888 1859

— Queen’s Hospital is established to provide free medical treatment for poor Native Hawaiians. 1860–1865

— Road into Waikîkî is improved and widened. — Honolulu newspapers note the growth of foreign settlers in Waikîkî. 1863

— Hawaiian newspaper Ku‘oko‘a publishes an account of thriving taro patches in Waikîkî. 1864

— Leper colony is established on Moloka‘i where all lepers in Hawai‘i are banished.

— Park Beach Hotel, the first hotel on Waikîkî’s beach, opens.

— Tramcar line replaces omnibuses to Waikîkî.

— From the Sans Souci Beach area, Hawai‘i patriots launch a failed attempt to restore the Hawaiian monarchy. Patriots fight republic troops on the slopes of Lè‘ahi. — Cholera comes to Hawai‘i.

1890

1896

— Kapi‘olani Maternity and Gynecological Hospital is founded to help perpetuate Native Hawaiians.

— Under Act 61, S.L. 1896, Waikîkî landowners are required to turn wetlands into dryland if the Honolulu Board of Health deems such property a health hazard.

1889

1891

— Old Waikîkî Bathhouse opens in the current vicinity of the Hilton Hawaiian Village. 1892

— Passage of the Reciprocity Treaty institutes tax-free trade between the United States and Hawai‘i and cedes limited U.S. rights to Pearl Harbor. — Kapi‘olani Park Association is organized.

— More than five hundred acres of rice are planted in Waikîkî, the third largest rice producing region in Hawai‘i. — Diamond Head Lighthouse is built on the grounds where Pahu-a-Maui heiau once stood. — During a slump in the sugar industry, newspaperman Lorrin A. Thurston spearheads the first tourist concern.

1882

1893

— Matson Navigation Company is established and transports most of Hawai‘i’s sugar and its tourists.

— American businessmen in Hawai‘i overthrow the Hawaiian monarchy with the help of the U.S. military and establish

1876

1895

1898

— United States annexes Hawai‘i, ignoring petitions against annexation signed by thousands of Native Hawaiians and the efforts of Queen Lili‘uokalani and others to restore the throne. — American troops establish Camp McKinley in Kapi‘olani Park. 1899

— Bubonic plague comes to Hawai‘i. 1900

(3,000 tourists visit Hawai‘i) — Robert W. Wilcox, a leader of the 1895 efforts to restore the monarchy, becomes Hawai‘i’s first delegate to the U.S. Congress, a post he keeps until 1903.

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1901

1907

— Moana Hotel opens. — U.S. Commission of Fish and Fisheries employee John N. Cobb writes a report that details the productivity of Waikîkî fishponds.

— Building at Fort Ruger Military Reservation begins in Lè‘ahi’s crater. — City and County of Honolulu builds public baths in Kapi‘olani Park.

1912 1908

1902

— Electric trolley replaces the horse-driven tramcar that services Waikîkî.

— Alexander Hume Ford founds the Outrigger Canoe Club to promote the Native Hawaiian water sports of outrigger canoeing and surfing.

1903

— Prince Jonah Kûhiò Kalaniana‘ole, participant in the 1895 efforts to restore the monarchy, becomes Hawai‘i’s delegate to the U.S. Congress, a post he keeps until 1922. He spearheads the 1921 Hawaiian Home-lands Commission designed to provide Native Hawaiians with land. — Hawai‘i Promotion Committee spends taxpayers’ money to promote Hawai‘i as a tourist destination. 1904

— First underwater telegraph and telephone cable linking Honolulu and San Francisco is laid in Kapua Channel off Sans Souci Beach. — Honolulu Aquarium opens at the end of the Honolulu rapid transit line. The transit line maintains this tourist destination. 1906

— Honolulu Board of Health President Lucius E. Pinkham issues a report that declares Waikîkî’s wetlands a health hazard and recommends reclamation for real estate development. — The U.S. government purchases Lè‘ahi lands for a military reservation.

— Developer Percy Pond buys a Kâlia fishpond and fills it with earth from property he owns at Lè‘ahi to create Beach Walk tract.

— Honolulu Sanitary Commission claims that mosquitoes pose a great threat to the health of Hawai‘i’s people and urges the filling of Waikîkî’s wetlands. 1914–1918

1909

— Coast artillery companies arrive at Lè‘ahi’s Fort Ruger. — Quarantine officer W. C. Hodby authors a report that advocates exterminating mosquitoes in Hawai‘i. 1909–1910

— Fort DeRussy offshore shallows are dredged to fill fishponds in the area.

— Tourism virtually halts in Waikîkî during World War I. 1915

— Zoo is created in Kapi‘olani Park. — “On the Beach at Waikîkî” becomes a hit in the United States after it is sung at the Panama-Pacific Exposition in San Francisco. 1917

1910

— U.S. War Department finishes acquiring the Kâlia acreage that comprises Fort DeRussy. 1910–1914

— Batteries Randolph and Dudley are built at Fort DeRussy for coastal defense purposes.

(8,000 tourists visit Hawai‘i) — Princess Likelike, Princess Ka‘iulani, and Archibald Cleghorn’s ‘Âinahau estate is subdivided for residential development after Honolulu officials decline Cleghorn’s donation of the land for a city park to be named for Ka‘iulani. — Governor Lucius E. Pinkham signs Act 231, S.L. 1917 to establish a commission to reclaim Waikîkî wetlands.

1911

— Outrigger canoe and surfing club Hui Nalu is founded by Native Hawaiians. — Single case of yellow fever (borne by a traveler rather than a mosquito) surfaces in Honolulu.

1918

— Pinkham signs Act 14, S.L. 1918 to acquire Waikîkî lands via condemnation, purchase, or exchange for a drainage canal.

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1919

— Walter F. Dillingham purchases property at Lè‘ahi to build a stately home. The property includes the grounds of the former Papa‘ena‘ena heiau. 1920

— Dillingham’s Hawaiian Dredging Company receives the contract for the Waikîkî Reclamation Project. 1922

— Waikîkî farmers file claims against the Hawaiian Dredging Company for the losses they incur during dredging; they receive merely token settlements. 1923

— Act 74, S.L. 1923 appropriates $100,000 to the Sanitation Fund, which was used to pay for wetland filling if property owners could not do the required work. If property owners could not repay the fund, their land was foreclosed and auctioned. — Act 254, S.L. 1923 appropriates $10,000 to pay Waikîkî residents for damages to their property during reclamation work. 1924

— Paia family refuses to clear off their Waikîkî property until Dillingham’s dredge reaches their door. 1927

— City and County of Honolulu Board of Supervisors passes zoning ordinances that concentrate Waikîkî commerce on Kalâkaua Avenue.

— Matson’s luxury ocean liner Malolo, which cuts travel to the islands by two days, docks in Hawai‘i for the first time. — Royal Hawaiian Hotel opens, virtually doubling tourist occupancy in Waikîkî. — Natatorium, a memorial to soldiers who perished in World War I, opens near Sans Souci Beach. 1928

(More than 20,000 tourists visit Hawai‘i) — Waikîkî’s last fishponds, located at Fort DeRussy, are buried. — Waikîkî Beach reclamation is scheduled to begin before the new year. 1929

— Tourism falls off because of the U.S. stock market crash. 1931

— Thalia Massie accuses five young men of kanaka maoli and/or Asian ancestry of abducting and raping her in Waikîkî. When they are found not guilty, one is beaten by navy men and another is murdered by Massie’s mother, husband, and accomplices. The murderers are found guilty, but Governor Lawrence Judd, fearing retribution by the white community and U.S. military intervention in Hawai‘i, commutes their sentences.

1935

— City and County of Honolulu purchases Prince Kûhiò’s beachfront property at auction. — Hawai‘i Calls, initially a radio program and ultimately a television show, begins its 37-year run from the Moana Hotel. 1936

— City and County of Honolulu demolishes Prince Kûhiò’s home and Queen Lili‘uokalani’s pier as part of a beach improvement project. 1937

— Waikîkî Improvement and Business Association is established. — Kodak Hula Show begins at Sans Souci Beach in Kapi‘olani Park. 1938

— Waikîkî building boom begins, and most new structures are concrete. 1939

— By the end of the beach reclamation, 6,800 square yards of sand have been moved; a groin is built to prevent sand from drifting ‘Ewa. 1939–1945

— Wartime curfews and blackouts stop almost all beach activity in Waikîkî.

1932

(10,400 tourists visit Hawai‘i) — Mossman family opens Lalani Hawaiian Village near Kapi‘olani Park, using entertainment and visitor education as a means of safeguarding and furthering Native Hawaiian culture.

1941

— Interred elderly Japanese are put to work breaking stones and building a wall at Fort DeRussy. — Honolulu Rapid Transit Company replaces its trolleys with buses.

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1942

1953

— U.S. Navy leases the Royal Hawaiian Hotel for soldiers’ rest and recreation.

— Hawaiian Dredging Company creates a boat channel for a yacht harbor near Ala Moana Park in exchange for the excavated coral, which it uses to fill the lands that support the Ala Moana Shopping Center, built in 1959.

1944

— President Franklin Roosevelt meets secretly with his Pacific commanders at the former Deering mansion in Kapi‘olani Park.

1954

— Waikîkî Shell opens in Kapi‘olani Park. 1946

(15,000 tourists visit Hawai‘i) — Aloha Week is established by a group of former Junior Chamber of Commerce members as a means of boosting Hawai‘i tourism. — Waikîkî Improvement Association is founded. 1947

— Hawai‘i Visitors Bureau is created. — United Airlines beings service from San Francisco to Honolulu. 1948

— Construction begins on a new zoo in Kapi‘olani Park. 1950

— Airline service between Honolulu and eighty-seven U.S. cities exists. — George C. Munro begins efforts to preserve Lè‘ahi’s vegetation by establishing Nâ Lâ‘au Arboretum. 1951

(46,593 tourists visit Hawai‘i) — Honolulu’s master plan for Waikîkî calls for condemnation of beachfront properties to create parks.

1955

— United Airlines cuts two hours off air travel from the West Coast to Honolulu. — Rising Waikîkî land values push small landowners out (due to high taxes) and generate concern over building heights. — The Paoas, one of very few Native Hawaiian families to keep their Waikîkî property, sell their family estate in Kâlia. — Henry J. Kaiser builds the Hawaiian Village Hotel. — Matson opens the Princess Ka‘iulani Hotel, the largest hotel in Waikîkî since the Royal Hawaiian. 1957

— International Market Place is built. — Public recreation ground in Fort DeRussy is named for Robert T. Kuroda, who served in the U.S. Army’s 442nd Regimental Combat Team comprising Japanese American men from Hawai‘i. 1959

— Hawai‘i becomes America’s fiftieth state. — Fiftieth State Fair is held in Kapi‘olani Park. — U.S. Federal Aviation Administration acquires land in Lè‘ahi crater for an air traffic control tower.

— Pan American cuts travel time to Honolulu from the West Coast to five hours. — Matson sells the Moana, Royal Hawaiian, Surfrider, and Princess Ka‘iulani Hotels to Sheraton Hotel Corporation for $17.69 million. 1960

(296,517 tourists visit Hawai‘i) — Sheraton Hotel Corporation sells the Moana, Royal Hawaiian, Surfrider, and Princess Ka‘iulani Hotels to a Japanese investor group headed by Kenji Osano for $30 million. — Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center opens and features luxury shops. — Soaring property values spur more high-rise construction in Waikîkî. 1961

— Kaiser sells the Hawaiian Village Hotel to Hilton Hotels Corporation for $21.5 million. — Construction on the world’s largest co-op, the $22 million ‘Ilikai Hotel promoted by Chinn Ho, is about to begin. — New Kûhiò Beach Center opens. 1962

— Middle-income tourists replace wealthy tourists as Waikîkî’s primary visitors. — All street vendors’ licenses expire without renewal, and all lei stands are relocated to private properties. — Waikîkî International Terminal Building opens on Kûhiò Avenue and offers airport bus service, luggage handling, and check-in counters. — Dillingham and Shigeo Shigenaga announce plans for a new Kaimana Hotel

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at Sans Souci Beach to further tourism from Japan. 1964

— Influx of Japanese tourists begins. 1965

— Hawai‘i state legislature declares Lè‘ahi a state monument. 1966

— Waikîkî is a favorite vacation destination for young Americans. 1967

— Fort DeRussy Pumping Station, which will service the growing Ala Moana area, begins construction. — Waikîkî hotels are occupied 101 percent. — New Waikîkî Improvement Association is launched. 1968

— Waikîkî hotels are occupied 100 percent. — News reports call Waikîkî a “concrete jungle” because of its 120 high-rises (28 more are on the way). — Lè‘ahi is designated a National Natural Landmark. 1969

— Waikîkî is the number two hotel city in the nation, second to New York City. — Honolulu Mayor Frank Fasi promises to help find affordable housing for Waikîkî residents displaced by new high-rises. 1970

— Number of Native Hawaiian sovereignty groups form, and a major resurgence of Hawaiian culture and language begins.

1971

research demonstrates that reclamation in Waikîkî was motivated by interest in development rather than concern for citizens’ health.

— World’s largest resort hotel at the time, the Sheraton-Waikîkî Hotel, is built.

1980

— Citizens group Save Our Surf fights a beach-widening project at Kûhiò Beach.

1975

— Harlan Lee authors an undergraduate history paper at the University of Hawai‘i that details the destruction of Waikîkî farms by the Waikîkî Reclamation Project. — Natatorium is placed on the Hawai‘i Register of Historic Places. — City and County of Honolulu establishes the Diamond Head Historic, Cultural, and Scenic District to protect Lè‘ahi vistas. 1977

— Diamond Head Citizens Advisory Committee is founded to devise an ecologically sound and culturally appropriate plan for Lè‘ahi; the plan includes efforts to restore the crater’s seasonal wetland. — Hale Koa Hotel is built at Fort DeRussy as a recreation facility for American servicemen, servicewomen, and their families. — Waikîkî Health Center is established to provide medical and social services for all that need them. 1979

— Honolulu closes the Natatorium because it is deemed unsafe. — Barry S. Nakamura authors a master’s thesis at the University of Hawai‘i that details Waikîkî’s wetland farming prior to construction of the Ala Wai Canal. His

— Natatorium is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. 1984

(4.25 million tourists visit Hawai‘i) 1986

— University of Hawai‘i Center for Oral History publishes its four-volume oral histories of Waikîkî featuring the recollections of residents and workers who experienced Waikîkî when it was the Place of Spouting Waters. 1989

— Archaeologist Bertell Davis publishes a report on the remnants of the aquaculture complex at Fort DeRussy that provides scientific evidence for Native Hawaiian habitation and cultivation in Waikîkî from the fifteenth century. 1992

— Kapi‘olani Park is listed on the Hawai‘i Register of Historic Places. — U.S. Federal Aviation Administration is required to vacate Lè‘ahi crater. 1993

— Native Hawaiians and their supporters hold a mass protest at ‘Iolani Palace against the 1893 illegal overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom.

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1994

— Carol Bain and Ed Coll release the documentary Taking Waikîkî: From Self-sufficiency to Dependency, which details the former productive harvesting of Waikîkî’s wetlands. — Queen Emma Foundation publishes George Kanahele’s “Restoring Hawaiianess to Waikîkî.” 1995

— National Trust for Historic Places lists the Natatorium as one of the United States’ eleven most endangered historic places. — Mamala Bay Commission reports on the Ala Wai Canal’s toxicity. — Queen Emma Foundation publishes George Kanahele’s Waikîkî 100 BC to 1900 AD: An Untold Story. 1996

— Ala Wai Canal Watershed Water Improvement Project is launched. — Pumping of Lè‘ahi’s seasonal wetland

is curtailed in an effort to protect rare plants in the region. 1997

— Nâ Pòhaku Ola O Kapaemahu A Me Kapuni monument is dedicated at Waikîkî Beach. — Native Hawaiian Tourism and Hospitality Association is founded. 1998

(6.7 million tourists visit Hawai‘i) — Restoration of Kâneloa wetlands begins with support from the federal Environmental Protection Agency. — Hawai‘i Ecumenical Coalition on Tourism, the Hawai‘i Council of Churches, the American Friends Service Committee, and the Hawai‘i Conference of the United Church of Christ in collaboration with the Ecumenical Coalition for Third World Tourism and the North American Coordinating Center for Responsible Tourism convene the conference “Tourism in Hawai‘i: Its Impact on Native Hawaiians and Its Challenge to the Churches.”

1998–1999

— Hawai‘i state legislature appropriates nearly $1.2 million to implement the Ala Wai Canal Watershed Water Improvement Project plan. 2000

— Hawai‘i Chapter of the Sierra Club sues the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority, calling for an environmental assessment of spending state funds on a marketing campaign to increase tourism. 2002

— Kâneloa Natural Habitat and Hawaiian Cultural Garden is established. — Kahi Halia Aloha Memorial for Waikîkî’s kanaka maoli ancestral remains is dedicated. 2005

— Waikikian, last of the 1950s “tikiki-style” hotels, is scheduled for demolition to make way for a 38-story timeshare tower.

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Notes

Introduction

1. George S. Kanahele, Waikîkî, 100 BC to 1900 AD: An Untold Story (Honolulu: Queen Emma Foundation, 1995), 11. 2. E. S. Craighill Handy and Elizabeth Green Handy (with Mary Kawena Pukui), Native Planters in Old Hawai‘i: Their Life, Lore, and Environment, rev. ed. (Honolulu: Bishop Museum Press, 1991), 17–18. 3. Bertell D. Davis, Subsurface Archaeological Reconnaissance Survey and Historical Research at Fort DeRussy, Waikîkî, Island of O‘ahu, Hawai‘i (Honolulu: International Archeological Research Institute, 1989), 76. 4. Handy and Handy, Native Planters in Old Hawai‘i, 48. 5.

Ibid.

6.

Ibid., 41.

7.

Ibid.

8.

Ibid.

9. O. A. Bushnell, The Gifts of Civilization: Germs and Genocide in Hawai‘i (Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 1993), 134. 10. Lilikalâ Kame‘eleihiwa, Native Lands and Foreign Desires: Pehea Lâ E Pono Ai?

(Honolulu: Bishop Museum Press, 1992), 80–81. 11.

Ibid., 179.

12. Ibid., 188–189; 331–338: documents 2–5. 13. Jonathan Kay Kamakawiwo‘ole Osorio, Dismembering Lâhui: A History of the Hawaiian Nation to 1887 (Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 2002), 47-48. 14. Carol Wilcox, Sugar Water: Hawai‘i’s Plantation Ditches (Honolulu: Kolowalu / University of Hawai‘i Press, 1996), 2. 15. See Ronald Takai, Pau Hana: Plantation Life and Labor in Hawai‘i, 1835-1920 (Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 1983). 16. See Roger Bell, Last Among Equals: Hawaiian Statehood and American Politics (Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 1984) for an in-depth discussion of the events and issues that pertain to Hawai‘i’s statehood. See also Hawai‘i State Resolution 98, which requests that the U.S. government and the United Nations “review the actions taken in 1959 relevant to Hawai‘i’s Statehood within the Union of the United States of America, the fact that, in affording

the people the opportunity for self-governance, no choices were given for independence or free association” (Hawai‘i State Legislature 2001 Regular Session SR 98, http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session2001/ status/SR98.asp). – Le ‘ahi

1. Standard Oil Company of California, “Diamond Head” ([San Francisco?]: Standard of California, [1946?]), advertisement from See Your West series, University of Hawai‘i Hamilton Library, Hawaiian Collection. 2. “How Diamond Head Was Named,” from Alapai, given by M. K. Pukui, originally from Henry H. Parker, MS Grp 8, Box 5.16, Bishop Museum Archives. 3. Robert D. Van Dorpe, Pacific Planners Corporation, “Diamond Head Study Report, 1966–1969: History of Diamond Head,” 1, M-470, Hawai‘i State Archives. 4. John R. K. Clark, The Beaches of O‘ahu (Honolulu: Kolowalu / University Press of Hawai‘i, 1977), 41. 5.

“How Diamond Head Was Named.”

6. Van Dorpe, “Diamond Head Study Report,” 3.

Notes | 147

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7. Hawai‘i Statewide Hazard Mitigation Forum, “O‘ahu Volcanoes,” in Are You at Risk from Hawai‘i’s Natural Hazards? (http://www.mothernature-hawaii.com/ county_honolulu/volcano_what_are-oahu. htm). 8. Van Dorpe, “Diamond Head Study Report,” 2. 9. Abraham Fornander, An Account of the Polynesian Race: Its Origin and Migrations and the Ancient History of Hawaiian People to the Times of Kamehameha I (Rutland, VT: Charles E. Tuttle Company, 1969), 226. 10. Thomas G. Thrum, “Lè‘ahi Heiau (Temple): Papa’ena’ena,” in Hawaiian Annual for 1927 (Honolulu: Thomas G. Thrum, 1926), 109. 11. J. C. McAllister, Anthropology of O‘ahu, Bulletin 104 (Honolulu: Bernice P. Bishop Museum, 1933), 71-74. 12. Mary Cooke, “Here’s the Story of the Heiau and Its Discovery,” Honolulu Advertiser, February 6, 1968. 13. Kathleen D. Mellon, The Lonely Warrior: The Life and Times of Kamehameha the Great of Hawai‘i (New York: Hastings House, 1949), 87. 14. Daniel Tyerman and George Bennett, Journal of Voyages and Travels . . . in the South Sea Islands, China, India . . . Between the Years 1821 and 1829, vol. 1 (London: F. Westley and A. H. Davis, 1831), 423.

15. John Papa I‘i, Fragments of Hawaiian History, Bernice P. Bishop Museum Special Publication 70 (Honolulu: Bishop Museum Press, 1959), 37. 16. Otto von Kotzebue, A Voyage of Discovery into the South Sea and Bering’s Straits for the Purpose of Exploring a North-East Passage, Undertaken in the Years 1815-1818 (London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, 1821), 250. 17. C. S. Stewart, A Residence in the Sandwich Islands (Boston: Weeks, Jordan & Company, 1839), 297. 18. Kèhaunani Cachola-Abad, “Introduction: Heiau Luakini,” in Pana O‘ahu: Sacred Stones, Sacred Land, ed. and comp. with photographs by Jan Becket and Joseph Singer (Honolulu: Latitude 20 / University of Hawai‘i Press, 1999), xxii. 19. George S. Kanahele, Waikîkî, 100 BC to 1900 AD: An Untold Story (Honolulu: Queen Emma Foundation, 1995), 56. 20.

Ibid.

21. Thomas G. Thrum, “Heiaus and Heiau Sites throughout the Hawaiian Islands,” in Hawaiian Annual for 1907 (Honolulu: Thomas G. Thrum, 1906), 57. 22. M. J. Tomonari-Tuggle and Roger Blankfein (with J. Stephen Athens and Jerome V. Ward), Exploring a Backdrop to Waikîkî’s Past: Historical Research and Archaeological Assessment of Diamond Head State Monument, O’ahu, prepared for P.B.R.

Hawai‘i (Honolulu: International Archaeological Research Institute, 1998), 35. 23. Division of State Parks, Diamond Head State Monument Planning Report (Honolulu: Division of State Parks, Outdoor Recreation and Historic Sites, Department of Land and Natural Resources, 1979), 21. 24. Tomonari-Tuggle and Blankfein, Exploring a Backdrop, 38. 25. Van Dorpe, “Diamond Head Study Report,” 2. George Kanahele argued that because the crater was kapu as the former residence of goddesses, Hawaiians would not have considered living there (TomonariTuggle and Blankfein, Exploring a Backdrop, 68). By the 1820s, after the kapu were destroyed, perhaps some felt free to dwell at Lè‘ahi. 26. Gilbert Faquhar Mathison, Narrative of a Visit to Brazil, Chile, Peru, and the Sandwich Islands during the Years 1821 and 1822 (London: C. Knight, 1825), 376. 27. Van Dorpe, “Diamond Head Study Report,” 2. 28. James Macrae, With Lord Byron on the Sandwich Islands in 1825: Being Extracts from the MS Diary of James Macrae, Scottish Botanist (Honolulu: Petroglyph Press, 1972), 39–40. 29. Henry Willis Baxley, What I Saw on the West Coast of South and North America and at the Hawaiian Islands (New York: D. Appleton, 1965), 522.

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30. A. Grove Day, ed., Mark Twain’s Letters from Hawai‘i (Honolulu: University Press of Hawai‘i, 1975), 59–62.

41. Peter Wolf, “Create a Spiritual Theme Park: Diamond Head Development as Visitor Draw?” The Waikîkî News, January 6, 1998.

31. William C. Addleman, “History of the United States Army in Hawai‘i: 1849– 1939” (Territory of Hawai‘i: Division Headquarters Detachment, Hawaiian Division, Schofield Barracks, 1940), 4 (typescript in the files of the Tropic Lightning Center, Schofield Barracks, O‘ahu).

42. Michelle Spalding Matson, “Other Views: Diamond Head Monument Plan,” Honolulu Star-Bulletin, December 25, 1999, editorial column.

32.

44.

Char, Botanical Study, 5-6.

45.

Ibid., 6.

(Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 1996), 150–151. 6.

Thrum, “Heiaus and Heiau Sites,” 44.

33. Tomonari-Tuggle and Blankfein, Exploring a Backdrop, 19, citing archival records. 34. Ibid., 20, citing the August 23, 1945, editorial page of the Advertiser.

43. Tomonari-Tuggle and Blankfein, Exploring a Backdrop, 60.

46. Tim J. Ohashi, Wildlife Survey: Diamond Head State Monument: Island of O’ahu, prepared for P.B.R. Hawai‘i (Kailua, 1998), 10. 47.

35.

Ibid., 26.

36.

Ibid., 60.

37. Winona P. Char, Botanical Study: Diamond Head State Monument Master Plan Update, prepared for P.B.R. Hawai‘i (Honolulu: Char and Associates Botanical Consultants, 1998), 6. 38. Van Dorpe, “Diamond Head Study Report,” 4. 39. Helen Geracimos Chapin, Shaping History: The Role of Newspapers in Hawai‘i (Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 1996), 266. 40.

Ibid., 268.

Ibid., 151.

7. F. W. Thrum, “The Waikîkî Reclamation Project,” in Hawaiian Annual for 1923 (Honolulu: Thomas G. Thrum, 1922), 66–67. 8. Barry Seichi Nakamura, “The Story of Waikîkî and the ‘Reclamation’ Project” (master’s thesis, University of Hawai‘i, 1979), 43. This chapter, like virtually all work on the Ala Wai Canal, is much indebted to Nakamura’s thesis. 9. Hawai‘i (Republic) Laws, Laws of the Republic of Hawai’i Passed by the Legislature at its Session, 1896 (Honolulu: R. Grieve, 1896), 201.

Spalding Matson, “Other Views.” 10. Nakamura, “The Story of Waikîkî,” 44.

Ala Wai

11.

1. This name appears in Hawai‘i (Territory) Laws, Laws of the Territory of Hawai‘i Passed by the Eleventh Legislature, Regular Session, 1921 (Honolulu, 1921), 323.

12. Lucius E. Pinkham, “Reclamation of the Waikîkî District: For the Making of Honolulu as Beautiful and Unique in Character, as Nature Has Endowed it in Scenery, Climate and Location” (Honolulu: Board of Health, 1906), 6.

2. Veneeta Acson, Waikîkî: Nine Walks through Time (Norfolk Island, Australia: Island Heritage Limited, 1983), 5. 3.

Ibid., 6.

4.

Ibid., 7, 9.

5. Helen Geracimos Chapin, Shaping History: The Role of Newspapers in Hawai‘i

Ibid., 31, 33–34.

13. Ibid., 6. The table to which Pinkham directs his readers did not appear in the 1906 report, but in the addendum to it written the following year. On p. 31 of his February 15,1907 “Supplementary Remarks,” Pinkham revised his estimate of the acreage in question to “702 and 135/1000 acres, valued for taxation at $449,486.40.”

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14. Pinkham, “Reclamation of the Waikîkî District,” 12. 15. W. C. Hodby, “The Outlook for Quarantinable Diseases in the Territory of Hawai‘i,” in Report to the President of the Board of Health of the Territory of Hawai‘i for the Twelve Months Ended June 30, 1909, by Hawai‘i (Territory) Board of Health, (Honolulu, 1909), 213–214. 16. Hawai’i (Territory) Sanitary Commission, Report of the Sanitary Commission (Created Under Act of the Legislature of 1911) to His Excellency the Honorable W. F. Frear, Governor of Hawai‘i (Honolulu, 1912), 105. 17. W. F. Dillingham, “Report of the Chairman, Civic Sanitation Committee,” in Report of the President of the Board of Health of the Territory of Hawai‘i for the Twelve Months Ended June 30, 1912, by Hawai‘i (Territory) Board of Health (Honolulu, 1912), 195–196. 18. Nakamura, “The Story of Waikîkî,” 56–57. 19. Ibid., 79. These laws were Acts 102 and 231, Session Laws of 1917; and Act 14, Session Laws of 1918 20.

Ibid., 74.

21. “Chinese Duck Ranch,” Paradise of the Pacific, November 1901, 11. 22.

Ibid.

23. Harlan Lee, “The Waikîkî Reclamation Project” (History 424 paper, University of Hawai‘i, 1975), 2.

34. Americans.net, “Chinese Immigration,” in Asian Americans (http://www.asianamericans. com/ChineseImmigration.htm).

24. Ibid., sketch map of Chinese Duck Farm ca. 1920.

35. 49.

Nakamura, “The Story of Waikîkî,”

25.

Ibid., 23.

36.

Ibid.

26.

Ibid., 2.

37.

Ibid.

27. 19.

Nakamura, “The Story of Waikîkî,”

38. Ibid., 101, quoting letter from Chang Fow to the Bishop Trust Company, May 23, 1922, Dillingham Archives, file W-16, Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, Honolulu.

28. Tin-Yuke Char, comp. and ed., The Sandalwood Mountains: Readings and Stories of the Early Chinese in Hawai‘i (Honolulu: University Press of Hawai‘i, 1975), 91. 29.

Ibid., 95.

30.

Ibid., 94.

31. George Kanahele, “Waikîkî’s Single Largest Economic Force: Rice,” The Waikîkî News, December 5, 1996. 32.

39. Ibid., 102, citing letter of release and arbitration awards from Dillingham Archives, file W-16, Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, Honolulu. 40. Interview with Ella Ling Wong, Waikîkî, 1900–1985: Oral Histories, vol. 4 (Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Center for Oral History, 1985–1986), 1824. 41. Interview with Miyo Asuka, ibid., vol. 2, 897.

Char, Sandalwood Mountains, 92.

33. The Hawaiian government passed its own “Chinese Exclusion Act” in 1886. For anti-Chinese sentiment in late nineteenth-century Hawai‘i, see “The Chinese Question in Hawai’i: As Shown in the Cabinet’s Reply to the Petition of a Committee of Citizens of Honolulu, October 14, 1889,” in Hawaiian Almanac and Annual for 1889 (Honolulu: Thomas G. Thrum, 1890), 81–90.

42. Interview with Nani Roxburgh, ibid., vol. 1, 371. 43. Interview with Earle Kalikolehua Vida, ibid., vol. 2, 599. 44. “Neither Sewer nor Stream, Ala Wai is Pollution’s Highway to the Sea,” Environment Hawai‘i 6, no. 6 (December 1995), http:// planet-hawaii.com/environment/1295neit. htm.

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45. Eugene P. Dashiell, “Ala Wai Canal Watershed Water Quality Improvement Project, Honolulu,” in Enterprise for the Environment: A CSIS Web Focus: Mayors’ Asia Pacific Environmental Summit (http://www. csis.org/e4e/Mayor32Dashiell.html). 46.

University of Hawai‘i Center for Oral History, 1985–1986), 1548-1549.

Lore, and Environment, rev. ed. (Honolulu: Bishop Museum Press, 1991), 484.

5. William K. Kikuchi, “Prehistoric Hawaiian Aquaculture,” http://www. hawaiilink.net/~ems/Pila/Aquaculture_files/ Aqua_Prehistoric.htm.

16.

6.

18. Interview with Annie Ako, Minerva Kalama, Eleanor Williamson, and Mary Kawena Pukui, recorded at the home of Minerva Kalama in Makawao, Maui, January 29, 1963 (Bishop Museum tape recording HAW 135.1.1).

Ibid., 481.

17. Davis, Subsurface Archaeological Reconnaissance, 29.

Ibid.

47. Ala Wai Watershed Association mission statement, http://www.alawaiwatershed. org. – Ka lia

1. Hilton Hawaiian Village, “Hilton Hawaiian Village Children’s Programs,” http:// www.hilton.com/en/hi/hotels/information. jhtml?ctyhocn=HNLHVHH&key=RECRE ATION_CHILDRENS.

Ibid.

7. Davis, Subsurface Archaeological Reconnaissance, 28. 8.

Ibid.

9.

Ibid.

10. Kikuchi estimates three hundred pounds of fish per acre per year (“Hawaiian Aquacultural Systems,” [Ph.D. dissertation, University of Arizona, 1976], 208).

19. Interview with Fred Paoa, Waikîkî, 1900-1985: Oral Histories, vol. 2, 535–538. 20. Interview with Doveline “Tootsie” Notley Steer, ibid., vol. 4, 1605–1607. 21.

2. For a discussion of the U.S Army Museum of Hawai‘i and race, consult Kathy E. Ferguson and Phyllis Turnbull, Oh, Say, Can You See?: The Semiotics of the Military in Hawai‘i (Minneapolis and London: University of Minnesota Press, 1999), 43–76. 3. See fig. 3 detailing the Fort DeRussy area in Bertell D. Davis, Subsurface Archaeological Reconnaissance Survey and Historical Research at Fort DeRussy, Waikîkî, Island of O‘ahu, Hawai‘i, submitted to U.S. Army Engineer District, Pacific Ocean Division (Honolulu: International Archaeological Research Institute, 1989), 18. 4. Interview with Sam Uyehara, Waikîkî, 1900–1985: Oral Histories, vol. 4 (Honolulu:

Ibid.

11. George S. Kanahele, Waikîkî, 100 BC to 1900 AD: An Untold Story (Honolulu: Queen Emma Foundation, 1995), 48.

22. Interview with Nani Roxburgh, ibid., vol. 1, 366–367.

12.

23.

Ibid., 41, 44.

13. Russell Apple and William Kikuchi, Ancient Hawai‘i Shore Zone Fishponds: An Evaluation of Survivors for Historical Preservation (Honolulu: National Park Service, Department of Interior, 1975), 7-8. 14.

Kanahele, Waikîkî, 11.

15. E. S. Craighill Handy and Elizabeth Green Handy (with Mary Kawena Pukui), Native Planters in Old Hawai‘i: Their Life,

Ibid.

24. Interview with Doveline “Tootsie” Notley Steer, ibid., vol. 4, 1605–1607. 25. Interview with Fred Paoa, ibid., vol. 2, 533–534. 26. Davis, Subsurface Archaeological Reconnaissance, 31, noting Land Grant 2634 of 1850 to Alice Montgomery. 27. Ralph S. Kuykendall and A. Grove Day, Hawai‘i: A History, from Polynesian

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Kingdom to American Commonwealth (New York: Prentice-Hall, 1948), 137, citing an 1865 newspaper item. 28. Davis, Subsurface Archaeological Reconnaissance, 14. 29. Don Hibbard and David Franzen, The View from Diamond Head: Royal Residence to Urban Resort (Honolulu: Editions Limited, 1986), 54. 30.

Ibid., 100.

31. Ka‘ohulani McGuire, Rodney Chiogioji, and Hallett H. Hammatt, A Traditional and Cultural Practices Assessment for a Proposed Outrigger Hotels Hawai‘i Property Redevelopment in Waikîkî, Kona District, Island of O‘ahu, prepared for Group 70 International (Honolulu: Cultural Surveys Hawai‘i, 2001), 59. 32. Davis, Subsurface Archaeological Reconnaissance, 17.

38. Barry Seichi Nakamura, “The Story of Waikîkî and the ‘Reclamation’ Project” (master’s thesis, University of Hawai‘i, 1979), 70. 39.

Ibid., 74.

40.

Ibid., 72.

41.

Ibid., 111.

42. City and County of Honolulu’s Refuse Division, “Garbage in Paradise: A History of Honolulu’s Refuse Division—Swamps, Swamps Everywhere,” http://www.opala. org/index.html. 43. “Fort DeRussy,” report to the Historic Hawai‘i Foundation Executive Committee, September 20, 1983, section 6: Fact Sheets and Press Release. 44.

Ibid.

45. “Fort DeRussy: A Brief Historical Background,” email to the author from Judith Bowman, August 29, 2003.

(Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 1996), 153. 50. The Navy and the Massie-Kahahawai Case: A Timely Account of a Dark Page in Hawaiian History Worthy of Study (Honolulu: Honolulu Record Publishing, 1951), 1. 51. Theon Wright, Rape in Paradise (New York: Hawthorn Books, 1966), 289. 52.

Chapin, Shaping History, 154–155.

53. Ibid., 155, quoting the September 29, 1931, edition of the Advertiser. 54. Ibid., citing an item from the December 11, 1931, Star-Bulletin. 55. Ibid., citing the December 28, 1931, edition of Time. 56. The Navy and the Massie-Kahahawai Case, 16. 57.

Ibid., 19.

46. Kinau Wilder, Wilders of Waikîkî (Honolulu: Topgallant Publishing, 1978), 72.

58.

Ibid., 20.

47. Hibbard and Franzen, The View from Diamond Head, 79.

59. Ibid., 31–32, quoting Admiral Stirling in Seth W. Richardson’s report.

36. Hibbard and Franzen, The View from Diamond Head, 104.

48. Interview with Mary Clarke, Waikîkî, 1900-1985: Oral Histories, vol. 2, 655.

60. Roland Kotani, The Japanese in Hawai‘i: A Century of Struggle (Honolulu: Hawai‘i Hochi, 1985), 59–65.

37. Davis, Subsurface Archaeological Reconnaissance, 29.

49. Helen Geracimos Chapin, Shaping History: The Role of Newspapers in Hawai‘i

33.

Ibid.

34. Ibid.,19, quoting Thrum’s Hawaiian Annual for 1909. 35.

Ibid.

61.

Ibid., 60.

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62. The Navy and the Massie-Kahahawai Case, 34. 63. Walter F. Dillingham, “A Memorandum,” for private circulation (Honolulu: Hawai‘i State Archives, 1932), 9. 64.

Ibid., 11.

65.

Kotani, Japanese in Hawai‘i, 78.

66.

Ibid., 79.

67.

Ibid.

68.

Ibid., 80.

their military service). For a discussion of such mutual benefit and the career of Daniel Inouye, see Ferguson and Turnbull, Oh, Say, Can You See?, 156-177. 75. Davis, Subsurface Archaeological Reconnaissance, 76. 76.

69. Interview with Sam Uyehara, Waikîkî, 1900-1985: Oral Histories, vol. 4, 1549. 70. U.S. Army Center of Military History, “Full-text Listings of Medal of Honor Citations, World War II Medal of Honor Recipients (G-L),” http://www.army.mil/ cmh-pg/mohiia2.htm. 71.

Kotani, Japanese in Hawai‘i, 107.

72.

Ibid., 110.

73.

Ibid.

74. The army’s celebration of a people it had actively denigrated proved beneficial to the military (helping to obscure its desecration of Waikîkî and much of Hawai‘i), as well as sectors of the Japanese community in the islands (those who achieved enormous political and economic power because of

Ibid., 77.

77. In 1992, 1993, and 2000, additional archaeological studies revealed more loko and irrigation complex remains. An overview of these findings can be found in Group 70 International, Waikîkî Beach Walk, Waikîkî, Island of O‘ahu, Hawai‘i: Final Environmental Impact Statement, prepared for Outrigger Enterprises, Inc. (Honolulu: Group 70 International, 2002), 4-23 through 4-24.

Kawehewehe

1. Interview with Richard King Kimball, Waikîkî, 1900-1985: Oral Histories, vol. 4 (Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Center for Oral History, 1985–1986), 1716–1717. 2. Bertell D. Davis, The Halekûlani Hotel Site: Archaeological and Historical Investigations in Waikîkî, O’ahu, Hawai‘i, submitted to the Halekûlani Corporation (Honolulu: Department of Anthropology, Bishop Museum, 1984), 18. 3.

Ibid.

4.

Ibid., 19.

5. The Halekûlani Hotel, “SpaHalekûlani,” http://www.halekulani.com/spa/index.asp. 6. Ibid., http://www.halekulani.com/spa/ experiences.asp. 7.

Ibid.

8. Samuel M. Kamakau, Ruling Chiefs of Hawai‘i, rev. ed. (Honolulu: Kamehameha Schools Press, 1992), 135. 9.

Ibid., 138.

10. Mary Kawena Pukui and Samuel H. Elbert, Hawaiian Dictionary (Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 1986), 134. Pukui speculates that this caste was composed of Hawai‘i’s original Polynesian settlers. She believes that these people were conquered by the second wave of Polynesian settlers and forced to live as “the very lowest of the low” (E. S. Craighill Handy and Mary Kawena Pukui, The Polynesian Family System in Ka‘u, Hawai‘i [Rutland, VT, and Tokyo: Charles E. Tuttle Company, 1972], 205). 11. Ka‘ohulani McGuire, Rodney Chiogioji, and Hallett H. Hammatt, A Traditional and Cultural Practices Assessment for a Proposed Outrigger Hotels Hawai‘i Property Redevelopment in Waikîkî, Kona District, Island of O’ahu, prepared for Group 70 International, Inc. (Honolulu: Cultural Surveys Hawai‘i, 2001), 38–39, quoted and translated from Ka Loea Kâlai‘âina. 12. O. A. Bushnell, The Gifts of Civilization: Germs and Genocide in Hawai‘i

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(Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 1993), 24. 13. See Ibid., 5–7 for a discussion of varying calculation methods and projections. 14. According to Bushnell, most demographers accept the precontact population to have been two hundred fifty to three hundred thousand (ibid., 266). However, David E. Stannard has argued very persuasively that the numbers were much higher: between eight hundred thousand to one million (Before the Horror [Honolulu: Social Science Research Institute, University of Hawai‘i, 1989]). A census taken in 1832 recorded 130,313 Native Hawaiians (Bushnell, Gifts of Civilization, 266). 15. Bushnell, Gifts of Civilization, 269. Lilikalâ Kame‘eleihiwa provides a somewhat higher number for roughly the same time, as she included part-Hawaiians in her reckoning (Native Land and Foreign Desires: Pehea Lâ E Pono Ai? [Honolulu: Bishop Museum Press, 1992], 141). 16.

Bushnell, Gifts of Civilization, 202.

17.

Ibid., 136–137.

18. Kame‘eleihiwa, Native Land and Foreign Desires, 80. 19.

Bushnell, Gifts of Civilization, 190.

20. Kame‘eleihiwa, Native Land and Foreign Desires, 299, 381n. 44. 21.

Bushnell, Gifts of Civilization, 210.

22. Jonathan Kay Kamakawiwo‘ole Osorio, Dismembering Lâhui: A History of the Hawaiian Nation to 1887 (Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 2002), 176–178. 23. “Hawaiian Epidemics, 1800 to 1950,” The Hawai‘i Health Messenger 10, no. 10 (1950): 1, 4.

35.

Bushnell, Gifts of Civilization, 65.

36. Samuel M. Kamakau, Ka Po‘e Kahiko, trans. Mary Kawena Pukui, ed. Dorothy B. Barrère (Honolulu: Bishop Museum Press, 1991), 98. 37.

Bushnell, Gifts of Civilization, 114.

24. Rose Cleghorn to Princess Ka‘iulani, September 4, 1895, Cleghorn Collection, M-164, Hawai‘i State Archives.

38.

Ibid., 110.

39.

Ibid., 120.

25. Kame‘eleihiwa, Native Land and Foreign Desires, 154.

40. Robert C. Schmitt, “Hawai‘i’s Hospitals, 1831–1956,” Hawai‘i Medical Journal 15, no. 4 (1956): 338.

26.

Osorio, Dismembering Lâhui, 47.

27. McGuire, Chiogioji, and Hammatt, Traditional and Cultural Practices Assessment, 69. 28.

Ibid.

29. Pukui and Elbert, Hawaiian Dictionary, 99.

41. Mamiya Medical Heritage Center, Archives, Medical Museum, and Special Collections at Hawai‘i Medical Library (http:// hml.org/mmhc/exhibits/anatomia/index. html). 42.

Bushnell, Gifts of Civilization, 118.

43.

Schmitt, “Hawai‘i’s Hospitals,” 440.

30. McGuire, Chiogioji, and Hammatt, Traditional and Cultural Practices Assessment, 69.

44. McGuire, Chiogioji, and Hammatt, Traditional and Cultural Practices Assessment, 9.

31.

45.

Ibid., 13.

46.

Ibid., 61.

Ibid., 61.

32. Elspeth P. Sterling and Catherine C. Summers, comps., Sites of O‘ahu (Honolulu: Bishop Museum Press, 1978), 281. 33.

Ibid., 282.

34. Pukui and Elbert, Hawaiian Dictionary, 340.

47. Native Hawaiian Healthcare, “Administrators,” http://www.nativehawaiianhealth. net/moku/stateWide.cfm. 48. Ibid., “O‘ahu Facilities,” http://www. nativehawaiianhealth.net/moku/Oahu.cfm#5.

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49. Dale M. Allison, Francine Dudoit, and Shirleen Simons, “Service-Learning in Nurse Practitioner/Traditional Hawaiian Healing Outreach Clinics” (paper presented at the Fourth Annual Continuums of Service Conference, University of California at Berkeley, April 2001), 61. 50.

Ibid., 61–62.

51. McGuire, Chiogioji, and Hammatt, A Traditional and Cultural Practices Assessment, 74.

Helumoa

1. Alvin Koo, “D.F.S. Presents the Ultimate in Retail-tainment,” The Waikîkî News, February 2, 2001. 2. John R. K. Clark, The Beaches of O‘ahu (Honolulu: Kolowalu / University Press of Hawai‘i, 1977), 54–55. 3. Veneeta Acson, Waikîkî: Nine Walks through Time (Norfolk Island, Australia: Island Heritage Limited, 1983), 19. 4.

Ibid.

5. George S. Kanahele, Waikîkî, 100 BC to 1900 AD: An Untold Story (Honolulu: Queen Emma Foundation, 1995), 135. 6.

8. Lilikalâ Kame‘eleihiwa, Native Lands and Foreign Desires: Pehea Lâ E Pono Ai? (Honolulu: Bishop Museum Press, 1992), 48. 9.

Ibid., 46–47.

10. Bertell D. Davis, Subsurface Archaeological Reconnaissance Survey and Historical Research at Fort DeRussy, Waikîkî, Island of O‘ahu, Hawai‘i, submitted to U.S. Army Engineer District, Pacific Ocean Division (Honolulu: International Archaeological Research Institute, 1989), 6. 11. Martha Beckwith, Hawaiian Mythology (Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 1970), 383–384. 12.

Ibid., 383.

13. E. S. Craighill Handy and Elizabeth Green Handy (with Mary Kawena Pukui), Native Planters in Old Hawai‘i: Their Life, Lore, and Environment, rev. ed. (Honolulu: Bishop Museum Press, 1991), 481. 14. Ibid., 481 (Pukui’s translation of text from the November 28, 1863, edition of Ku‘oko‘a). 15. Ibid., 485 (Pukui translation of text from the September 1, 1906, edition of the Hawaiian language newspaper Ka Na‘i Aupuni).

Ibid., 134.

7. For the details of these transactions, see ibid., 133.

16. George Kanahele, “Waikîkî Was Always Home to the Ali‘i,” The Waikîkî News, November 14, 1997.

17. Kame‘eleihiwa, Native Lands and Foreign Desires, 33–34. 18. Ibid., 33–35. Kame‘eleihiwa notes that Hawaiian women were not perceived as inferior because of ‘aikapu and that they accrued some benefit from the practice: they did not have to cook and they were not offered as sacrifices. 19. Jonathan Kay Kamakawiwo‘ole Osorio, Dismembering Lâhui: A History of the Hawaiian Nation to 1887 (Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 2002), 289–290. 20.

Ibid., 290.

21. Kame‘eleihiwa, Native Lands and Foreign Desires, 391. 22. Samuel M. Kamakau, Tales and Traditions of the People of Old (Na Mo‘olelo a ka Po’e Kahiko) (Honolulu: Bishop Museum Press, 1992), 54. 23. Native Hawaiians’ reception of Cook has been variously interpreted, and a violent debate about how kânaka maoli perceived the Englishman rages between anthropologists Marshall Sahlins and Gananath Obeyesekere. See Obeyesekere, The Apotheosis of Captain Cook: European Mythmaking in the Pacific (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1997) and Sahlins, Historical Metaphors and Mythical Realities: Structure in the Early History of the Sandwich Island Kingdom, A.S.A.O. Special Publications 1 (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1981), Islands of History (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1985), and How “Natives”

Notes | 155

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Think, About Captain Cook, For Example (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996).

36. Glen Grant, Waikîkî Yesteryear (Honolulu: Mutual Publishing, 1996), 58.

24. Noenoe K. Silva, Aloha Betrayed: Native Hawaiian Resistance to American Colonialism (Durham and London: Duke University Press, 2004), 21.

37. Alvin Koo, “Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center: Gala Festivities Mark 20 Years in Waikîkî,” The Waikîkî News, April 6, 2000.

25.

27. Kame‘eleihiwa, Native Lands and Foreign Desires, 10. Kanahele, Waikîkî, 132.

29. Don Hibbard and David Franzen, The View from Diamond Head: Royal Residence to Urban Resort (Honolulu: Editions Limited, 1986), 66–67. 30. Masakazu Ejiri, “The Development of Waikîkî, 1900–1949: The Formative Period of an American Resort Paradise” (Ph.D. thesis, University of Hawai‘i, 1979), 253. 31.

38.

Osorio, Dismembering Lâhui, 84–85.

3.

Ibid., 32.

39.

Ibid., 152.

4.

Ibid.

Ibid., 21–22.

26. Sahlins, Historical Metaphor and Mythical Realities, 56.

28.

2. Bertell D. Davis, The Halekûlani Hotel Site: Archaeological and Historical Investigations in Waikîkî, O‘ahu, Hawai‘i, submitted to the Halekûlani Corporation (Honolulu: Bishop Museum Department of Anthropology, 1984), 29.

Ibid., 254.

32. David W. Eyre, “The Night They Opened the Royal,” Honolulu 6, no. 5 (1971): 82–83.

40. Roland Kotani, The Japanese in Hawai‘i: A Century of Struggle (Honolulu: Hawai‘i Hochi, 1985), 6. 41. Kame‘eleihiwa, Native Lands and Foreign Desires, 80–81. 42. S. M. Kamakau, Ruling Chiefs of Hawai‘i, rev. ed. (Honolulu: Kamehameha Schools Press, 1992), 396–403. Kamakau maintains that abuses that resulted from this Westernization were the work of land hungry foreign residents of Hawai‘i. 43.

Osorio, Dismembering Lâhui, 116–129.

44. Haunani-Kay Trask, From a Native Daughter: Colonialism and Sovereignty in Hawai‘i (Monroe, ME: Common Courage Press, 1993), 11.

5. Curt Sanborn, “Civic Art or Tourist Schlock?” The Honolulu Weekly, April 2, 2003, http://www.honoluluweekly.com/ archives/coverstory%202004/04-02-03% 20Statues/04-02-03%20Statues.html. 6. Valley Bronze of Oregon, “Selected Artists: Jan Fisher,” http://www.valleybronze. com/clients-artists/fisher.htm. 7. “New Postage Stamp Highlights Celebrations Honoring Duke Paoa Kahanamoku, August 24,” Duke Foundation press release, June 27, 2002, http://www.dukefoundation. org/dukestamp/Duke_Stamp_Dedication. html. 8. The City and County of Honolulu, “Home page,” http://citycams.co.honolulu. hi.us/duke.streaming.html.

45.

Silva, Aloha Betrayed, 121.

9.

33. Ejiri, “The Development of Waikîkî,” 255.

46.

Ibid., 164–203.

34.

Uluniu

10. Products of Hawai‘i, “‘Good News’ Letter,” vol. 1, issue 2, http://www.products ofhawaii.com/newsletter/Volume_1_Issue_2. html#Duke_Kahanamoku.

1. Grady Timmons, Waikîkî Beachboy (Honolulu: Editions Limited, 1989), 26–27.

11. “‘Wizard Stones’ Blessed,” Honolulu Advertiser, March 4, 1997.

Ibid., 256.

35. “Opening Night,” editorial, Honolulu Star Bulletin, February 2, 1927.

Ibid.

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12. Greg Barrett, “Healing Stones Finally Get Some Respect,” Honolulu Advertiser, April 15, 1997.

26.

Grant, Waikîkî Yesteryear, 14.

42.

27.

Ibid.

13.

28.

Ibid.

43. Jack London, “Surfing: A Royal Sport,” in The Cruise of the Snark (New York: Macmillan, 1923), 76–78.

29.

Ibid.

44.

Ibid.

30.

Ibid.

45.

Ford, “Out-Door Allurements,” 146.

31.

Ibid.

46.

Timmons, Waikîkî Beachboy, 26.

32.

Ibid., 1.

14. Glen Grant, Waikîkî Yesteryear (Honolulu: Mutual Publishing, 1996), 14. 15. George Kanahele, Waikîkî, 100 B.C. to 1900 A.D.: An Untold Story (Honolulu: Queen Emma Foundation, 1995), 53.

Timmons, Waikîkî Beachboy, 25.

Barrett, “Healing Stones,” A11.

47.

Ibid., 27.

16. Jas. H. Boyd, “Tradition of the Wizard Stones Ka-pae-mahu on the Waikîkî SeaBeach Premises of Hon. A. S. Cleghorn,” in Hawaiian Annual for 1906, ed. Thomas G. Thrum (Honolulu: Thomas G. Thrum, 1907), 140.

33. T. S. Restaurants, “Duke’s Waikîkî: Memorable Dining on the Sands of Waikîkî Beach,” http://www.dukeswaikiki.com/.

48.

Ibid., 27, 30.

49.

Ibid., 33.

34.

Kanahele, Waikîkî, 53.

50.

Ibid., 35.

17.

Ibid.

35.

Ibid.

51.

Ibid., 73.

18.

Grant, Waikîkî Yesteryear, 14.

36.

Ibid., 56.

37.

Timmons, Waikîkî Beachboy, 25.

52. E. S. Craighill Handy and Mary Kawena Pukui, The Polynesian Family System in Ka‘u, Hawai‘i (Rutland, VT, and Tokyo: Charles E. Tuttle Company, 1972), 151–152.

38.

Ibid.

39.

Ibid.

19. Boyd, “Tradition of the Wizard Stones,” 141. 20. Elspeth P. Sterling and Catherine C. Summers, comps., Sites of O‘ahu (Honolulu: Bishop Museum Press, 1978), 278. 21.

Grant, Waikîkî Yesteryear, 14.

22. Boyd, “Tradition of the Wizard Stones,” 140–141. 23.

40. Lucius E. Pinkham, Reclamation of the Waikîkî District: For the Making of Honolulu as Beautiful and Unique in Character, as Nature Has Endowed it in Scenery, Climate and Location (Honolulu: Board of Health, 1906), 12.

Ibid., 141.

24.

Ibid.

25.

Kanahele, Waikîkî, 55.

41. Alexander Hume Ford, “Out-Door Allurements: The Outrigger Club,” in Hawaiian Annual for 1910, ed. Thomas G. Thrum (Honolulu: Thomas G. Thrum, 1911), 140.

53.

Ibid., 152.

54.

Ibid.

55. Samuel M. Kamakau, Ruling Chiefs of Hawai‘i, rev. ed. (Honolulu: Kamehameha Schools Press, 1992), 138–139. 56. Hui Mâlama I Nâ Kûpuna O Hawai‘i Nei, “Background,” http://huimalama. tripod.com/index.html#background 57.

Ibid.

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58.

Ibid.

59. Edward Halealoha Ayau, “Advice for Natives Working with Museums,” http://huimalama.tripod.com/index.html# advice. 60. “Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990,” http://www. arrowheads.com/nagpra.htm. 61.

Davis, The Halekûlani Hotel Site, 28.

62. Ka‘ohulani McGuire, Rodney Chiogioji, and Hallett H. Hammatt, A Traditional and Cultural Practices Assessment for a Proposed Outrigger Hotels Hawai‘i Property Redevelopment in Waikîkî, Kona District, Island of O‘ahu, prepared for Group 70 International, Inc. (Honolulu: Cultural Surveys Hawai‘i, 2001), 36–37. 63. Ibid., 46; “Waikîkî Church,” in Hawaiian Annual for 1916, ed. Thomas G. Thrum (Honolulu: Thomas G. Thrum, 1917), 70; Interview with Mary Clarke, Waikîkî, 1900-1985: Oral Histories, vol. 2 (Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Center for Oral History, 1985–1986), 642–643; Interview with Leslie Fullard-Leo, ibid., vol. 4, 1046. 64. Sadao Hikida claims to have seen hundreds of skeletons dug up when ‘Òhua Avenue was rebuilt (Hikida, Biographical Summary, Waikîkî, 1900-1985: Oral Histories, vol. 2 [Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Center for Oral History, 1985–1986], 971). The approximate date for this exhumation is based on information gleaned from Inter-

view with Harold M. Aoki, ibid., 736 and Interview with Helen Kusunoki, ibid., vol. 3, 1382.

4. George S. Kanahele, Waikîkî 100 BC to 1900 AD: An Untold Story (Honolulu: Queen Emma Foundation, 1995), 116.

65. Treen Shapiro, “Burial Mound Dedicated in Waikîkî,” HonoluluStarbulletin.com, http://starbulletin.com/2002/01/14/news/ story4.html.

5.

66.

Ibid.

67. Robert R. Weyeneth, Kapi‘olani Park: A History (Honolulu: Kapi‘olani Park Preservation Society, 2002), 142. 68.

Ibid., 143.

69.

Ibid.

70. Shapiro, “Burial Mound Dedicated in Waikîkî.”

“Kau Lua O Kau.”

6. Kanahele notes that Queen Emma successfully battled the Lunalilo Estate over Kaluaokau: the estate offered her only four acres, whereas she believed she had claim to the entire area (Waikîkî, 133). 7. Glen Grant, Waikîkî Yesteryear (Honolulu: Mutual Publishing, 1996), 22. 8. Thomas G. Thrum, “Heiaus and Heiau Sites throughout the Hawaiian Islands,” Hawaiian Annual for 1907 (Honolulu: Thomas G. Thrum, 1906), 44. 9. 10.

Kanahele, Waikîkî, 136. Thrum, “Heiaus and Heiau Sites,” 44.

Kaluaokau

1. “Kau Lua O Kau: A Brief History of the Land beneath the International Market Place,” http://www.internationalmarket placewaikiki.com/history2.htm.

11. Stewart Fern, “International Market Place: In the Heart of Waikîkî a New Development Springs Up with Glamour, Interest and Entertainment,” Paradise of the Pacific 69, no. 6 (1957): 16.

2. Samuel Kamakau, Nâ Mo‘olelo a ka Po‘e Kahiko: Tales and Traditions of the People of Old, trans. Mary Kawena Pukui, ed. Dorothy B. Barrère (Honolulu: Bishop Museum Press, 1991), 49.

12.

Ibid.

13.

Ibid., 17.

14.

Ibid.

3. Don Hibbard and David Franzen, The View from Diamond Head: Royal Residence to Urban Resort (Honolulu: Editions Limited, 1986), 66.

15. Arnold M. Bitner, “The Mai Tai,” The Waikîkî News, July 2000. 16.

“Kau Lua O Kau.”

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17. Fern, “International Market Place,” 16–17. 18. Edith Ricker, “International Market Place,” Paradise of the Pacific 72, no. 6 (1957): 17. 19. Helen Geracimos Chapin, Shaping History: The Role of Newspapers in Hawai‘i (Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 1996), 221.

29. Kehau Lee in 1970 on evictions of Hawaiians from native lands, quoted in Trask, From a Native Daughter, 1. 30. Grady Timmons, Waikîkî Beachboy (Honolulu: Editions Limited, 1989), 30.

20.

Grant, Waikîkî Yesteryear, 60.

21.

Ibid., 60–61.

31. Theodore Kelsey, “Hawai‘i of Old to Live Again through Lalani Hawaiian Village,” Paradise of the Pacific 46 (April 1934): 12–13. See Adria L. Imada, “Hawaiians on Tour: Hula Circuits through the American Empire,” American Quarterly 56, no.1 (2004): 119–125 for a recent account of the Mossman initiative.

22.

Ibid., 60.

32.

Kelsey, “Hawai‘i of Old,” 14.

23. Masakazu Ejiri, “The Development of Waikîkî, 1900–1949: The Formative Period of an American Resort Paradise” (Ph.D. thesis, University of Hawai‘i, 1979), 288.

33.

Ibid.

24.

Ibid.

25.

Ibid.

35. See the City and County of Honolulu, Hawai‘i, “Office of Hawaiian Development: Objective Three,” http://www.co.honolulu.hi. us/menu/ecodev/resources/spread2-owd.pdf.

26. Aloha Week Hawai‘i (Honolulu: Aloha Week Hawai‘i, Inc., 1959), Bishop Museum Archives, MS Grp. 60. 27. See Haunani-Kay Trask, From a Native Daughter: Colonialism and Sovereignty in Hawai‘i (Monroe, ME: Common Courage Press, 1993), part II for a detailed account of this history. 28. See the Web site Sovereign Stories for a discussion of Helm and other Native Hawaiian activists (http://www.sovereignstories. org/sovereignty/sovereigntyp.htm).

34. Hibbard and Franzen, View from Diamond Head, 131.

36. Russ Lynch, “Banyan Tree to Stay Grounded at International Market Place: The Plan for the Renovated Complex Includes Keeping a Mix of Carts and Kiosks,” Honolulu Starbulletin.com, http://starbulletin. com/2003/09/11/business/story2.html. 37.

Ibid.

38.

Ibid.

39. See Serge Marek, “Waikîkî Virtual Reality: Space, Place and Representation in

the Waikîkî Master Plan” (master’s thesis, University of Hawai‘i, 1997), 114; and Houston Wood, “Echo Tourism: The Narrative of Nostalgia in Waikîkî,” in Displacing Natives: The Rhetorical Production of Hawai‘i (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 1999), 85–102. 40. Jonathan Kay Kamakawiwo‘ole Osorio, Dismembering Lâhui: A History of the Hawaiian Nation to 1887 (Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 2002), 152.

Hamohamo

1. Haunani-Kay Trask, From a Native Daughter: Colonialism and Sovereignty in Hawai‘i (Monroe, ME: Common Courage Press, 1993), 179–197. 2. George S. Kanahele, Waikîkî 100 BC to 1900 AD: An Untold Story (Honolulu: Queen Emma Foundation, 1995), 133. 3. Veneeta Acson, Waikîkî: Nine Walks through Time (Norfolk Island, Australia: Island Heritage Limited, 1983), 30. 4.

Ibid.

5.

Kanahele, Waikîkî, 136.

6.

Ibid., 133.

7.

Ibid., 137.

8. See the March 1904 edition of Paradise of the Pacific for a detailed description of the landscaping.

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9. Dorothea Woodrum, Governor Cleghorn, Princess Ka’iulani and ‘Âinahau: Recollections of a Gracious Era in Hawai‘i’s History (Honolulu: Island Development Corp., 1964). This text is a non-paginated booklet designed to promote the Governor Cleghorn condominium and apartment building in Waikîkî. Tusitala was the poet Robert Louis Stevenson’s Samoan name; Stevenson is remembered in Hawai‘i today for having authored at Waikîkî a poem in honor of Ka‘iulani (see Nancy Webb and Jean Francis Webb, Ka’iulani: Crown Princess of Hawai‘i [Honolulu: Mutual Publishing, 1998], 69–70). 10. Noenoe K. Silva, “Ke Kû‘è Kûpa‘a Loa Nei Mâkou: Kanaka Maoli Resistance to Colonization” (Ph.D. thesis, University of Hawai‘i, 1999), 161–162. 11. Richard A. Wisniewski, The Rise and Fall of the Hawaiian Kingdom: A Pictorial History (Honolulu: Pacific Basin Enterprises, 1979), 96. 12. Lili‘uokalani, Hawai‘i’s Story by Hawai‘i’s Queen (Rutland, VT, and Tokyo: Charles E. Tuttle Company, 1964), 387–388. 13. Ka‘iulani’s February 1983 statement, reproduced in Kristin Zambucka, Princess Ka‘iulani of Hawai‘i: The Monarchy’s Last Hope (Honolulu: Green Glass Productions, 1998), 56. 14. Ka‘iulani’s March 1, 1893, speech reproduced in ibid., 57. 15.

These political events, and part of

Lili‘uokalani’s abdication document, are presented in Wisniewski, Rise and Fall, chapter 12.

26.

Silva, Aloha Betrayed, 176–180.

27.

Webb and Webb, Ka‘iulani, 153.

16. Lili‘uokalani, Hawai‘i’s Story by Hawai‘i’s Queen, 275–276.

28.

Ibid., 104.

29.

Wisniewski, Rise and Fall, 97.

17.

Webb and Webb, Ka‘iulani, 157.

18.

Ibid., 184–187.

19.

Ibid., 187–188.

20. This cover is reproduced and discussed in Houston Wood, Displacing Natives: The Rhetorical Production of Hawai‘i (Lanham, MA: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 1999), 87–88. It is also analyzed in Noenoe K. Silva, Aloha Betrayed: Native Hawaiian Resistance to American Colonialism (Durham and London: Duke University Press, 2004), 175–178. 21.

Wood, Displacing Natives, 88.

22.

Webb and Webb, Ka‘iulani, 180–181.

23. Jane C. Desmond, Staging Tourism: Bodies on Display from Waikîkî to Sea World (Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 1999), 5. 24. Bram Dijkstra, Idols of Perversity: Fantasies of Feminine Evil in Fin-de-Siecle Culture (New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1986), 65. 25. See chapter 2 in Mike Wright, What They Didn’t Teach You About the Civil War (Novato, CA: Presidio Press, 1996), 17–37.

30. Silva’s Aloha Betrayed explores this work in great depth and detail. Her article and dissertation cited below discuss specific aspects of these efforts. 31. Silva, “Kû‘è! Hawaiian Women’s Resistance to the Annexation,” Social Process in Hawai‘i—Women in Hawai‘i: Sites, Identities, and Voices 38 (1997): 8. 32.

Ibid., 5.

33.

Ibid., 8.

34.

Ibid.

35.

Ibid., 9–11.

36. Silva, “Ke Kû‘è Kûpa‘a Loa,” 188–189. 37.

Ibid., 189.

38.

Acson, Waikîkî, 6–7.

– Ka neloa and Kapua

1. See Robert Weyeneth, Kapi‘olani Park: A History (Honolulu: Kapi‘olani Park Preservation Society, 2002) for the history of the park and battles over ownership.

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2. Don Hibbard and David Franzen, The View from Diamond Head: Royal Residence to Urban Resort (Honolulu: Editions Limited, 1986), 43. 3. Veneeta Acson, Waikîkî: Nine Walks through Time (Norfolk Island, Australia: Island Heritage Limited, 1983), 44. 4. See Wayne Harada, “Hula Show Takes Final Bow Today,” HonoluluAdvertiser.com, http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/ 2002/Sep/26/ln/ln06a.html for a history of the show and its recent demise. 5. See Weyeneth, Kapi‘olani Park, 22–23 for a discussion of the park association and land ownership. 6.

Ibid., 36.

7.

Ibid.

8.

Ibid., 27.

9.

Ibid., 22.

15. Historic Sans Souci (Honolulu: Woodrum and Staff, 1960). This is a non-paginated promotional brochure.

28. Coles, DeFelice, Eldredge, Nonindigenous Marine Species, 13, 20. 29.

16. Hibbard and Franzen, View from Diamond Head, 57. 17. Lycurgus leased the property from Francis March Hatch, who had bought Sans Souci from Herbert (Historic Sans Souci).

Weyeneth, Kapi‘olani Park, 81.

30. C.J.S. Group-Architects, Waikîkî War Memorial Park and Natatorium: Kapi‘olani Park, Honolulu, O‘ahu, Hawai‘i, prepared for the Department of Parks and Recreation, City and County of Honolulu (Honolulu: C.J.S. Group-Architects, 1984), 2.

18. Hibbard and Franzen, View from Diamond Head, 58.

31.

Ibid.

19.

32.

Ibid., 3.

33.

Weyeneth, Kapi‘olani Park, 86.

Ibid.

20. John R. K. Clark, The Beaches of O‘ahu (Honolulu: Kolowalu / University Press of Hawai‘i, 1977), 46. 21.

Ibid., 47.

22.

Historic Sans Souci.

10.

Ibid., 23.

23. S. L. Coles, R. C. DeFelice, L. G. Eldredge, Non-indigenous Marine Species at Waikîkî and Hawai‘i Kai, O‘ahu, Hawai‘i, Bishop Museum Technical Report No. 25 (Honolulu: Bishop Museum, 2002), 5.

11.

Ibid., 37.

24.

Ibid.

12. Michelle Matson, “Another Piece of Historic Waikîkî,” e-mail message to author, July 31, 2003.

25.

Ibid., 6.

26.

Weyeneth, Kapi‘olani Park, 68.

13.

Ibid.

14.

Weyeneth, Kapi‘olani Park, 157.

27. Thomas G. Thrum, “Kapi‘olani Park Aquarium,” in Hawaiian Annual for 1904 (Honolulu: Thomas G. Thrum, 1903), 217.

34. C.J.S. Group-Architects, Waikîkî War Memorial Park, 5. 35.

Weyeneth, Kapi‘olani Park, 86.

36. C.J.S. Group-Architects, Waikîkî War Memorial Park, 6. 37.

Ibid.

38.

Weyeneth, Kapi‘olani Park, 86.

39.

Ibid.

40.

Ibid.

41.

Ibid.

42.

Clark, Beaches of O‘ahu, 48.

43. Glenn P. Ingwersen, Waikîkî Beach, Island of O‘ahu, Hawai‘i: Cooperative Beach

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Erosion Control Study, prepared for Division Engineer, U.S. Army Engineer Division, Pacific Ocean, Honolulu, Hawai‘i (Honolulu, 1963), 22.

54. For a brief overview of the initiative, see Weyeneth, Kapi‘olani Park, 158.

Conclusion

44. National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, “National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science Accomplishments Report, FY 2002,” http://www.nccos.noaa.gov/ documents/2002report.pdf. 45.

Weyeneth, Kapi‘olani Park, 105.

46. Hibbard and Franzen, View from Diamond Head, 36. 47.

Ibid.

48.

Weyeneth, Kapi‘olani Park, 105.

49.

Ibid.

50. The poll established that 1,659 people wanted to preserve Queen’s Surf while only 256 agreed with Fasi that it should be closed (A. A. Smyser, letter to Frank Fasi, April 29, 1969, University of Hawai‘i Hamilton Library, Hawaiian Collection). 51. Jessica Webster, “Kûhiò Beach Project Hits Wall of Criticism,” HonoluluAdvertiser. com, http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/ 2001/Jul/25/In/In02a.html/?print=on. 52.

1. See the American Friends Service Committee Web page that details the conference findings and call, http://www.afsc.org/lgbt/ declaration.htm. 2. See the Sierra Club, Hawai‘i Chapter Web site for information about the lawsuit, http://www.hi.sierraclub.org/index.html. See also the Hawai‘i State Judiciary Web site for Hawai‘i Supreme Court judges’ opinions on the Sierra Club suit, http://www.courts. state.hi.us/page_server/LegalReferences/ 73DFB8859867A628EAE7AB3DC5.html. 3. Deborah McLaren, Rethinking Tourism and Ecotravel, 2nd ed. (Bloomfield, CT: Kumarian Press, 2003), 137. 4. See the International Ecotourism Society Web site, http://www.ecotourism.org. 5. See McLaren, Rethinking Tourism and Ecotravel for an in-depth discussion of tourism and ecotravel, as well as the problems with and promise of the latter. Waiki–ki– Timeline

Ibid.

53. “Lingle Considers Waikîkî Sand Lift,” Pacific Business News, November 19, 2003, http://pacific.bizjournals.com/pacific/ stories/2003/11/17/daily37.html.

1. Dates and associated events have been culled from the following sources: American Friends Service Committee conference Web page, http://www.afsc.org/lgbt/declaration. htm; O. A. Bushnell, The Gifts of Civilization:

Germs and Genocide in Hawai‘i (Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 1993); Helen Geracimos Chapin, Shaping History: The Role of Newspapers in Hawai‘i (Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 1996); Tin-Yuke Char, comp. and ed., The Sandalwood Mountains: Readings and Stories of the Early Chinese in Hawai‘i (Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 1975); Eugene P. Dashiell, “Ala Wai Canal Watershed Water Quality Improvement Project, Honolulu,” in Enterprise for the Environment: A CSIS Web Focus: Mayors’ Asia Pacific Environmental Summit (http://www.csis. org/e4e/Mayor32Dashiell.html); Bertell D. Davis, Subsurface Archaeological Reconnaissance Survey and Historical Research at Fort DeRussy, Waikîkî, Island of O‘ahu, Hawai‘i, submitted to U.S. Army Engineer District, Pacific Ocean Division (Honolulu: International Archaeological Research Institute, 1989), 6–7; Masakazu Ejiri, “The Development of Waikîkî, 1900-1949: The Formative Period of an American Resort Paradise” (Ph.D. dissertation, University of Hawai‘i, 1979); Glen Grant, Waikîkî Yesteryear (Honolulu: Mutual Publishing, 1996); E. S. Craighill Handy and Elizabeth Green Handy (with Mary Kawena Pukui), Native Planters in Old Hawai‘i: Their Life, Lore, and Environment, rev. ed. (Honolulu: Bishop Museum Press, 1991); Don Hibbard and David Franzen, The View from Diamond Head: Royal Residence to Urban Resort (Honolulu: Editions Limited, 1986); Lilikalâ Kame‘eleihiwa, Native Lands and Foreign Desires: Pehea Lâ E Pono Ai? (Honolulu: Bishop Museum Press, 1992); Jim Kelly, “Last of the ‘50s ‘Tikiki-style’ Hotels to Disappear from Waikiki,” Pacific Business News, February 28, 2005, http://www.bizjournals.com/pacific/stories/

162 | Notes

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2005/02/28/focus2.html; Gilbert Faquhar Mathison, Narrative of a Visit to Brazil, Chile, Peru, and the Sandwich Islands During the Years 1821 and 1822 (London: C. Knight, 1825); Ka‘ohulani McGuire, Rodney Chiogioji, and Hallett H. Hammatt, A Traditional and Cultural Practices Assessment for a Proposed Outrigger Hotels Hawai‘i Property Redevelopment in Waikîkî, Kona District, Island of O‘ahu, prepared for Group 70 International, Inc. (Honolulu: Cultural Surveys Hawai‘i, 2001); Barry Seichi Nakamura, “The Story of Waikîkî and the ‘Reclamation’ Project” (master’s thesis, University of Hawai‘i, 1979); Native

Hawaiian Healthcare, “O‘ahu Facilities,” http://www.nativehawaiianhealth.net/moku/ Oahu.cfm#5; The Navy and the MassieKahahawai Case: A Timely Account of a Dark Page in Hawaiian History Worthy of Study (Honolulu: Honolulu Record Publishing Co., 1951); Sierra Club, Hawai‘i Chapter Web site, http://www.hi.sierraclub.org/index.html; Noenoe K. Silva, Aloha Betrayed: Native Hawaiian Resistance to American Colonialism (Durham and London: Duke University Press, 2004); M. J. TomonariTuggle and Roger Blankfein (with J. Stephen Athens and Jerome V. Ward), Exploring a Backdrop to Waikîkî’s Past:

Historical Research and Archaeological Assessment of Diamond Head State Monument, O‘ahu, prepared for P.B.R. Hawai‘i (Honolulu: International Archaeological Research Institute, 1998); Robert D. Van Dorpe, Pacific Planners Corporation, “Diamond Head Study Report, 1966–1969: History of Diamond Head,” 1, M-470, Hawai‘i State Archives; Waikîkî, 1900-1985: Oral Histories, vol. 4 (Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Center for Oral History, 1985–1986), A-1–A-48, 1549; and Robert Weyeneth, Kapi‘olani Park: A History (Honolulu: Kapi‘olani Park Preservation Society, 2002), 152–154.

Notes | 163

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Glossary

‘auwai:

A

awa: ae‘ae:

green groundcover indigenous to Hawai‘i

‘ahi:

silver perch

‘awa:

sour

‘aikapu:

kapu that forbade men and women from eating together and women from eating specific foods that were associated with male fertility and offered to male gods

‘a ˉ ina:

lands

akua:

gods

akua loa:

honored attendant, guardian, keeper; minister

west of Honolulu, used as a directional term

coarse sedge with green or brown flowers land division from mountains to sea cultivated through ecologically sound stewardship

symbol of the god Lono

‘akulikuli:

orange groundcover indigenous to Hawai‘i

‘aumakua:

deified ancestor who serves as a family’s god

expert in any profession

ka ˉ huna:

plural of kahuna

healer with the ability to use magic in treatments

H

kahuna haha: ha ˉ lau: hale:

healer with the ability to diagnose from palpation

meeting house

buildings; houses

kahuna kuni:

healer with the ability to use magic in treatments

haole:

foreigner (singular and plural), usually Caucasian

he‘e:

octopus

heiau:

pre-Christian place of worship; shrine (singular and plural)

hinahina:

silver groundcover indigenous to Hawai‘i

huluhulu waena:

dark-red seaweed with irregular branches

ka ˉ huna lapa‘au: ka ˉ mole:

healers

primrose willow

kanaka maoli:

Native Hawaiian

ka ˉ naka maoli:

plural of kanaka maoli

kapu:

taboo, prohibition; sacred

kaukauali‘i:

chiefs of lesser rank who served their superiors

kauwa ˉ:

high chief or chiefess (singular and plural) mullet

kahuna:

kahuna ‘ana ˉ ‘ana ˉ:

ali‘i nui:

‘ama‘ama:

creek, stream, river; gulch, ravine, valley

kahu:

‘ahu‘awa:

ahupua‘a:

kahawai:

E ‘Ewa:

heap

K

milkfish

yellow-fin tuna

a ˉ holehole: ahu:

drainage ditches

caste of “untouchables” in Native Hawaiian society used for human sacrifice

I iwi:

treasured bones of deceased Native Hawaiians

ki‘i:

images

Glossary | 167

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14-glossary.indd 168

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I

ma ˉ hu ˉ:

lau hala:

Pandanus leaf often woven into mats and other goods

limu:

long, brown seaweed with tough, narrow leaves bladelike, branched, brown

seaweed lo‘i:

ma ˉ ka ˉ ha ˉ:

lake, pond, pool

makai:

mana:

irrigated taro patch also used to raise fish

perennial sedge

loko pu‘uone:

natural, inland pond connected to the sea used to raise fish

small, red seaweed with stiff, cylindrical stems and branches

shrine for human sacrifice

sand dab

finished

mountainside, used as a directional

Arabian jasmine

grass, often used for thatching

po ˉ haku:

stone (singular and plural)

pono:

goodness; correct and proper procedure

pu ˉpu ˉ:

shells

pu‘uhonua:

place of refuge

U

term mele:

chants, poems, or songs

Menehune:

legendary race of small people who created ponds, roads, and shrines at night

loko wai:

natural, inland pond used to raise fish

pau:

care for the land

manauea:

loko kuapa:

fishpond with seawall that separates it from the ocean

pa ˉ ki‘i:

pili:

spiritual power

mauka:

P

pikake:

reed indigenous to Hawai‘i

makaloa:

loko i‘a kalo:

luakini heiau:

planter and producer class;

sluice gates

ma ˉ lama ‘a ˉ ina:

irrigated terrace for taro and rice

loko:

squatting sickness (possibly typhoid, dysentery, or cholera) commoners

long, green, hairlike seaweed

limu kala:

limu liˉpoa:

ma‘i o ˉ ku‘u:

maka‘a ˉ inana:

seaweed

limu‘ele‘ele:

men who dress and live as women

mo ˉ ‘iˉ:

paramount chief; king

musubi (Japanese):

molded seasoned rice

‘uhane:

spirit

W wahine:

woman; wife

wahine mo ˉ ‘iˉ:

high chief’s mate; queen

wah kiu (Chinese):

sojourner

O

M Ma ˉ hele:

1848 land division that created private property in Hawai‘i

‘oama:

young goatfish

‘o‘opu:

common goby

Glossary | 169

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Historical Figures

A

Cook, James (1728–1779): English

navigator and sea captain who brought his ship and crew (and foreign disease) to the Hawaiian Islands in 1778

Alexander Liholiho (1834–1863):

Kamehameha IV; built Queen’s Hospital with Queen Emma

H Ho, Chinn (1903–1987):

financier raised in Waikîkî who built the ‘Ilikai Hotel and attempted to develop Lê‘ahi; owned the Honolulu Star-Bulletin

D

B Beach, Donn (1907–1989):

a.k.a. “Don the Beachcomber;” created the Polynesian-themed bar and restaurant business in post-Prohibition Los Angeles and Waikîkî’s International Market Place

Dillingham, Walter F. (1875–1963):

head of the Hawaiian Dredging Company, which drained Waikîkî

Blanding, Don (1894–1957):

writer and artist who produced numerous inviting images of Hawai‘i, many geared toward tourists

K Ka‘ahumanu (1768?–1832):

E Emma (1836–1885):

Kamehameha IV’s queen and candidate to the throne upon Lunalilo’s death

royal governor of O‘ahu; first parks commissioner for the City and County of Honolulu and landscape architect; married to Princess Likelike and father of Princess Ka‘iulani

Kamehameha I’s favorite wahine who coruled with Kamehameha II (pushing him to overthrow the ancient kapu system); promoted Protestantism

Kahanamoku, Duke (1890–1968):

Ford, Alexander Hume (1868–1945):

Cleghorn, Archibald (1835–1910):

medical missionary and advisor to the Hawaiian throne; promoted Westernization of Hawai‘i’s government

president of the Hawai‘i Republic and the first governor of the Territory of Hawai‘i

F

C

Judd, Gerrit P. (1803–1873):

Dole, Sanford B. (1844–1926):

Bishop, Bernice Pauahi (1831–1884):

last Kamehameha descendant and the namesake of a trust established to benefit the Kamehameha Schools for Native Hawaiians

J

Outrigger Canoe Club founder Frear, Walter F. (1863–1948):

third governor of the Territory of Hawai‘i; Dillingham’s brother-in-law and supporter

beachboy, Olympic athlete (swimming and water polo), and world famous surfer who served as Honolulu’s official greeter Kahekili (1713–1794):

ruler of Maui who conquered O‘ahu and set up court at Waikîkî

Historical Figures | 171

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Ka‘iulani (1875–1899):

princess named heir to the Hawaiian throne by Lili‘uokalani

Kala ˉ kaua (1836–1891):

Hawai‘i’s king and champion of Native Hawaiian culture whose authority was compromised by the 1887 Bayonet Constitution

L

P

Liholiho (1796–1824):

Kamehameha II; overthrew the ancient kapu system

Lili‘uokalani (1839–1917):

Pinkham, Lucius E. (1850–1922):

president of the Territorial Board of Health who advocated reclamation in Waikîkî; fourth governor of the Territory of Hawai‘i

Hawai‘i’s

last monarch London, Jack (1876–1916):

American writer who promoted surfing as a sport

Kalamakua (ca. 1400–1450):

O‘ahu chief who cultivated extensive taro fields in Waikîkî

Lota Kapua ˉ iwa (1830–1872):

Kamehameha V; devised a constitution that increased royal authority

Kalanikupule (1760–1795):

ruler of Maui and O‘ahu defeated by Kamehameha I

R Richards, William (1793–1847):

missionary and advisor to the Hawaiian throne who promoted Westernization of Hawai‘i’s government

Lunalilo: (1833–1874):

voted king upon the demise of the Kamehameha line

Ricord, John (1812–1861):

attorney general of the Hawaiian Kingdom who drafted the 1845 Organic Acts that Westernized much of Hawai‘i’s government

Kamehameha I (1758?–1819):

paramount chief of Hawai‘i Island who united all of the Hawaiian Islands under his rule

Kapi‘olani (1781–1841):

Kalâkaua’s queen and founder of O‘ahu’s hospital for women and children; Waikîkî’s largest park named in her honor

Kauikeaouli (1813–1854):

Kamehameha III; the 1848 Mâhele occurred during his reign

Keo ˉ pu ˉolani (1778–1823):

Kamehameha I’s sacred wahine and mother of Kamehameha II and III

M Ma ˉ ‘iliku ˉkahi (ca. 1350–1400):

established Waikîkî as the ruling seat for O‘ahu chiefs, instituting laws from his capital that ensured peace and prosperity

Stevenson, Robert Louis (1850–1894):

Scottish writer who traveled to Honolulu in 1889 and 1893; befriended Princess Ka‘iulani at ‘Âinahau

Massie, Thalia (1910 or 1911–1963):

navy officer’s wife who claimed to have been raped by five young men of Native Hawaiian and Asian ancestry; the resulting trial and the murder of one of the suspects by Massie’s husband, mother, and accomplices fanned racial hatred in Hawai‘i and the United States

Ku ˉhio ˉ (1871–1922):

prince who served as the second Hawai‘i delegate to the U.S. Congress; sponsored the 1921 Hawaiian Homelands Act

S

Munro, George C. (1866–1963):

conservationist and ornithologist who established Nâ Lâ‘au Arboretum on Lè‘ahi

T Thurston, Lorrin A. (1858–1931):

plantation and railroad developer, politician, and leader in the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy and of annexation efforts; publisher of the Honolulu Advertiser

172 | Historical Figures

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V Vancouver, George (1757–1798):

English sea captain who anchored off Waikîkî in 1792; recorded the area’s rich farming

W Wilcox, Robert W. (1855–1903):

patriot soldier and first Hawai‘i delegate to the U.S. Congress

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List of Images

Neither memory nor history is democratic. The selection process is influenced by power—repeating stories that empower particular speakers, eliminating those that tell a different one. All images made, reproduced, or archived are parts of this process. This book attempts to examine the machinations behind forgetfulness and remembrance. We are interested in not only sharing seldom-seen images, but offering counterhegemonic ways to look at archetypal images that have come to exemplify certain places, people, and experiences as well. All images in this book are based on historical documents, albeit sometimes slightly enhanced. They are not included for the mere purpose of illustrating the writing. Rather, predictably appropriate images are often deliberately withheld or included in unexpected ways. It is our hope to entice readers to always be aware of the editorial processes that are parts of all endeavors of forgetting and remembering. The images in this book are primarily drawn from three collections. In the listing below, the collections will be notated as follows. Hawaiian Collection-University of Hawai‘i at Mânoa (UHM) Hawai‘i State Archive (HSA) Gaye Chan Personal Collection (GCPC) Notes are added by Gaye Chan.

cover (GCPC) Unknown photographer, 1950s. pages i - iii (GCPC) Unknown photographer, 1950s. page vi Collage based on photographs by NASA, 2003. Courtesy of the Image Analysis Laboratory, NASA Johnson Space Center NASA. page vii (HSA) Reclamation inventory, 1900– 1920s. page viii (GCPC) Department of Public Works, Annual Report to the Governor – Superintendent of Public Works, 1951. page x (GCPC) Hawai‘i Tourist Bureau, subscription, 1927.

Chapter 1– Introduction

page xii (GCPC) Unknown photographer, 1950s. page 2 (HSA) Photograph by Davey Photo Company, HI, Diamond Head, From Waikiki Road, Honolulu, HI, early 1900s.

NOTE: This image depicts one of the many lo‘i (taro fields) that were once in Honolulu.

page 3 (HSA) Unknown photographer, early 1900s. NOTE: This image shows a tributary of one of the streams that coursed through Waikîkî. Lè‘ahi is seen vaguely in the background. page 4 (UHM) Unknown photographer, date unknown. NOTE: These two images are from an album of a visitor to Hawai‘i in the early 1900s. page 5 (HSA) Unknown photographer, 1903. Commercial photograph. page 6 (UHM) Advertisement, 1952–1953. Courtesy of Eastmen Kodak Company. page 7 (GCPC) Postcard. Ray Helbig’s Hawaiian Service, Le Ronde Restaurant, 1951. page 9 – all photographs (GCPC) Unknown photographers, 1950– 1960s.

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– Chapter 2 – Le ‘ahi

page 10 (HSA) Unknown photographer, Sept 1, 1959 – Hawn National Guard – Fort Ruger ground breaking, 1959. page 13 (HSA) Photograph by Davey Photo Company, HI, within the crater of Diamond Head, Honolulu, HI, early 1900s. NOTE: There was once a small lake in the midst of Diamond Head crater. You can observe animals grazing in the lake in this photograph. page 14 (HSA) Unknown photographer, Fort Ruger – view of camp from Diamond Head, 1909. page 15 left: (HSA) Unknown photographer, Fort Ruger – making roads, 1909. right: (HSA) Unknown photographer, Fort Ruger – water tank for the post, soldiers making road to edge of reservation, 1909. page 16 (GCPC) Illustrated by Stephen Medvey for Oscar Lewis, Hawaii: Gem of the Pacific (Random House, 1954), cover. page 17 left: (GCPC) Illustrated by Stephen Medvey for Oscar Lewis, Hawaii: Gem of the Pacific (Random House, 1954), p. 3. right: (HSA) Unknown photographer, date unknown. Aerial photograph. page 19 Map by G. F. Morrell, U.S. Strategic Pacific

Sites, which envelop Japan at all points, 1941. Reprinted with permission from The Illustrated London News. page 20 left: (GCPC) Unknown photographer, crossroads of the Pacific, 1930–1960s. Commercial photograph. NOTE: This sign was located in front of Kau Kau Corner, a 24-hour drive-in at the intersection of Kapi‘olani and Kalâkaua avenues. It opened in 1935 and was replaced by Coco’s coffee shop in 1960. The Hard Rock Cafe is currently at this location. right: (GCPC) Unknown photographer, 1940s. Amateur photograph. page 21 (GCPC) Unknown illustrator for Brewster Aeronautical Corporation, 1942. page 23 left: (HSA) Stamp by U.S. National Defense, date unknown. NOTE: This stamp was used by the U.S. National Defense to denote classified materials. right: (HSA) Unknown photographer, Lt Col Au – Air National Guard, Fort Ruger, 1960s.

Chapter 3 – Ala Wai

page 24 (HSA) Unknown photographer, date unknown. page 26 (HSA) Hefley, Pond in Waikiki, 1914–1915.

page 27 (HSA) Photograph by Virgil Bigg, 1900– 1920. NOTE: This image depicts one of the many rice fields that were in Waikîkî. page 28 (HSA) Water Commission, 1912. page 29 (HSA) Unknown photographer, 1920s. NOTE: Stereograph of the dredging of the Ala Wai Canal. page 31 (HSA) Photograph by Camera Hawai‘i, 1920s. NOTE: Aerial photograph of the dredging of the Ala Wai Canal. page 32 left: (HSA) Public Works Projects, Waikîkî bridge, 1904. right: (HSA) Public Works Projects, Waikîkî bridge mauka side spans 20′ each, 1904. page 33 (HSA) Public Works Projects, Manoa – Beretania St bridge time exposure, 1904. page 34 left: (HSA) Unknown photographer for the Department of Public Works, Annual Report to the Governor – Superintendent of Public Works, 1952. Caption: This house at 1330 University was the first building to be auctioned to make way for the Mauka Arterial. right: (HSA) Picher, Canal Fishing, 1931.

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page 35 (HSA) Unknown photographer, Tree Planting by Outdoor Circle, 1934. page 36 left: (HSA) Unknown photographer, date unknown. NOTE: Interior of a Honolulu Board of Water Supply Station. right: City & County of Honolulu, Dept. of Environmental Services, 2005. NOTE: Signs like this one are currently posted all along the Ala Wai Canal. – Chapter 4 – Ka lia

page 38 (GCPC) Unknown photographer, 1930– 1940s. page 41 left: (HSA) Photograph by Allan Campbell, 1942. NOTE: Anticipating attack by Japanese troops at Waikîkî, people strung barbed wire all along the beach. right: (HSA) Unknown photographer, 1940s. pages 42–43 – all photographs (GCPC) Unknown photographers, 1930– 1940s. NOTE: During WWII, the Moana and Royal Hawaiian Hotels were transformed into military housing to accommodate the influx of military personnel. Page 42 left photo shows soldiers horsing around on the beach in front of the Royal Hawaiian Hotel. Page 42 right and page 43 right photos depict soldiers at the Moana Hotel.

page 45 Police photographs, 1932. NOTE: Police photographs of the five men falsely accused of raping Thalia Massie. Left to right: Horace Ida, David Takai, Henry Chang, Joe Kahahawai, and Benny Ahakuelo. page 47 – both photographs (GCPC) Unknown photographer, 1930– 1940s. NOTE: Commercial photography studios proliferated with “Hawaiian” backdrops and props. page 48 – both photographs (GCPC) Unknown photographers, 1930– 1940s. page 50 (GCPC) Unknown photographer, 1940s. page 51 (HSA) Unknown photographer, Hawn Natl Guard on Armed Forces Day at Ala Moana Park, 1963.

Chapter 5 – Kawehewehe

page 52 (HSA) Based on a painting by Paul Emmert. Reprinted with the permission of the Hawai‘i Historical Society, 1853. NOTE: This painting depicts a smallpox quarantine hut in Waikîkî. page 54 left: (HSA) Photograph by Samuel Houghton Cox, 1914. right: (UHM) Unknown photographer for

the Hawaii Promotion Committee, Hawaii, 1913. Caption: Landing of Kamehameha. One of the features of the annual Mid-Pacific Carnival and Floral Parade held February 22 every year. page 55 left: (HSA) Photograph by Samuel Houghton Cox, 1914. middle: (GCPC) Unknown photographer, 1920s. right: (HSA) Unknown photographer, Coral Removal – Waikiki, Blast, 1934. page 57 left: (HSA) Unknown photographer, Gray’sby-the-Sea, Honolulu, T.H., 1890–1900. NOTE: Gray’s-by-the-Sea, a home converted to a boarding house in 1912, was located on the site overlapping the boundaries of the present Sheraton-Waikîkî and Halekûlani hotels. right: (HSA) Photograph by Davey Photo Company, HI, 1900. NOTE: Photographer Davey was hired by the Hawaiian government to document its efforts in controlling an outbreak of the bubonic plague. This effort resulted in the quarantine, evacuation, and complete destruction by fire of Honolulu’s Chinatown. page 58 – both photographs (GCPC) Unknown photographer, date unknown. page 60 (HSA) Photograph by Davey Photo Company, HI, 1900. NOTE: Photographer Davey was hired

178 | List of Images

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by the Hawaiian government to document its efforts in controlling an outbreak of the bubonic plague. This effort resulted in the quarantine, evacuation, and complete destruction by fire of Honolulu’s Chinatown. page 61 Spa Halekulani, http://www.halekulani. com/spa_halekulani, 2005. Chapter 6 - Helumoa

page 62 (GCPC) Photograph by Camera Hawaii, 1960s. NOTE: Parade on Kalâkaua Avenue. page 64 left: (GCPC) Unknown photographer, steamship Lurline, 1930s. Reprinted with permission from Matson Navigation Company. right: (GCPC) Unknown photographer, 1930s. NOTE: Arrival of steamship Lurline at Honolulu Harbor. page 66 left: (HSA) Photograph by Samuel Houghton Cox, 1914. NOTE: Visitors watching performances staged by the burgeoning tourist industry. right: (GCPC) Unknown photographer, 1900–1920s. NOTE: Photographs depicting “Hawaiian” performances staged by the Royal Hawaiian Hotel for their guests. page 67 left: (GCPC) Unknown photographer, 1900– 1920s.

NOTE: Photographs depicting “Hawaiian” performances staged by the Royal Hawaiian Hotel for their guests. right: (GCPC) Unknown photographer, 1940s. Reprinted with permission from Matson Navigation Company. NOTE: This image was reprinted in Honolulu Magazine’s 1971 November holiday issue with the caption: Baggage boys chop-chopped for missee’s trunk.

page 69 – all photographs (HSA) Photograph by Samuel Houghton Cox, Native Chiefs Historical Pageant Honolulu Carnival, 1914. NOTE: These images show entertainment spectacles staged by the tourist industry. page 70 (GCPC) Unknown photographer, date unknown. NOTE: Photograph possibly made during one of the annual Mid-Pacific Carnival in the 1910s. page 73 top: (UHM) Unknown photographer, “Hawaii Set for Record Tourists Business in 1947,” September 7, 1946. Reprinted with permission from Honolulu Advertiser. Caption: NEW HIGHWAY MARKERS – Against a background of the new photo-mural installed in the redesigned Hawaii Visitors Bureau offices in the Dillingham Bldg. the visitors bureau “crew” gets instructions from Executive Secretary Mark Egan on the next halfyear of operation as the bureau completes its first six months of postwar business.

bottom: (GCPC) Royal Alii Taxi and Tour, date unknown.

Chapter 7 - Uluniu

page 74 (HSA) Unknown photographer, Moana Banyan Tree, date unknown. NOTE: A party at the Moana Hotel. page 75 (GCPC) Unknown photographer, Waikiki Bowling Alley, date unknown. page 76 (GCPC) Unknown photographer, 1900s. page 77 (GCPC) Unknown photographer for Hawaii Tourist Bureau, Nani O Hawaii, 1938. page 78 (GCPC) Unknown photographer for Hawaii Tourist Bureau, Nani O Hawaii, 1938. page 79 – both photographs (GCPC) Unknown photographer, 1900s. NOTE: Waikîkî beachboys performing various services for visitors. page 80 (GCPC) Unknown photographer, date unknown. pages 83–86 – all photographs (GCPC) Unknown photographer, date unknown.

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Chapter 8 - Kaluaokau

page 88 (GCPC) Unknown photographer for Ali‘i Land Company, advertisement, 1971. page 90 (HSA) Waikiki Reclamation Project Section #2, 1900–1920s. page 91 (GCPC) Survey possibly by J. L. Brown (surveyor), Waikiki Land Survey, 1895. NOTE: Survey of area known as AquaMarine, Kaluahole, in Waikîkî. page 92 (HSA) Unknown photographer for News of Hawaii-Air Force USA, aerial photograph of McCoy property, 1924. page 93 (HSA) Property map, 1919. page 94 (HSA) Unknown photographer, cottages across from the Moana, date unknown. page 95 (UHM) Photograph by K. Shimogaki, “Waikiki District has Big Boom in Waikiki” by Ray Coll Jr., 1948. Reprinted with permission from Honolulu Advertiser, page 97 left: (HSA) Photograph by 11th Photo Section AC Luke Field T.H., 1930. right: (HSA) Unknown photographer for Hawai‘i Visitors Bureau, 1970.

pages 98–99 – all photographs (GCPC) Postcards. Unknown photographers, left to right: Princess Ka‘iulani Hotel, Sheraton Waikîkî Hotel, New Otani Kaimana Beach Hotel, Waikîkî Surf Hotel, The Surfrider Hotel, 1960–2000s.

page 112 (HSA) Based on advertisement for Matson’s Navigation Company for their Steamship Lurline cruise line. Reprinted with permission from Matson Navigation Company, 1950.

Chapter 9 - Hamohamo

page 113 (GCPC) Based on photograph by Mark Kauffman for Life Publishing, 1965.

pages 100–101 (GCPC) Unknown photographer, date unknown. page 103 (GCPC) Book cover and interior illustration by Don Blanding, The Virgin of Waikiki (New York: Henry M. Snyder, 1928). pages 105 and 107 – both photographs (HSA) Unknown photographer, Tourists Photographing Hula Dancers at Kapiolani Park, date unknown. page 108 (GCPC) Based on postcard by Movie Supply of Hawaii, 1960s. page 109 left: (HSA) Based on advertisement for Matson’s Navigation Company for their Steamship Lurline cruise line, 1950. Reprinted with permission from Matson Navigation Company, right: (GCPC) Based on photograph by Mark Kauffman for Life Publishing, 1965. page 110 (GCPC) Based on postcard by Movie Supply of Hawaii, 1960s.

– Chapter 10 – Ka neloa and Kapua

page 114 (HSA) Photograph by Virgil Bigg, date unknown. NOTE: Bulldozer spreading out sand as Waikîkî Beach was being widened. page 117 (HSA) Photograph by Hefley, Road with Ironwood Trees, 1914–1915. page 118 (HSA) Photograph by 11th Section AC Luke Field T.H. for Fort Shafter, Natatorium, 1930. page 119 (HSA) Unknown photographer, watching the races, date unknown. page 120 left: (HSA) Photograph by Fred J. H. Rickon, Camp Otis, Co L. 2nd USV Engineer, 1898–1900. right: (HSA) Photograph by Fred J. H. Rickon, Camp McKinley–Camp Engineer Battalion USV, 1898–1900.

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page 122 left: (HSA) Unknown photographer, Caption: Ian Merrill, left, and Ann Taylor learn of the undersea wonders, as Johnny Makua, Hawaiian swimmer, picks some coral “blossums” for them, near Honolulu, date unknown. right: (HSA) Unknown photographer, removing coral from Waikîkî, 1934.

Esberg, Our Friend Watermelon John, 1901–1902. bottom left: (HSA) Photograph by Winter Egeker, Workers in Ricefield, 1919–1920. right: (HSA) Photograph by A. A. Montano, Selling Grass, date unknown.

pages 123–125 – all photographs (GCPC) Unknown photographer for Department of Public Works, Annual Report to the Governor – Superintendent of Public Works, 1951.

page 135 left: (HSA) Unknown photographer, Waikîkî road, date unknown. right: (GCPC) Unknown photographer, 1930–1940s.

Chapter 11 – Conclusion

page 126 (HSA) Photograph by Davey Photo Company, HI, 1900. page 127 (GCPC) Unknown photographer, date unknown.

page 132 (GCPC) Unknown photographer, 1929. Panoramic photograph.

page 136 (GCPC) Unknown photographer, 1930– 1940s. page 137 – all photographs bottom right: (HSA) Unknown photographer, Chinks, date unknown. all others: (GCPC) Unknown photographer, 1930–1940s.

page 128 – both photographs (HSA) Photograph by Davey Photo Company, HI, 1900.

Waiki–ki– Timeline

page 130 top left: (HSA) Photograph by Milton

page 138 (HSA) C. B. Wood, washing photo plate in stream, 1889.

Notes

page 146 (GCPC) Unknown photographer for Gaf Pana-Vue Travel Slides, 1960s.

Glossary

pages 166 and 168 (GCPC) Photo album cover and interior page, 1942.

Historical Figures

page 170 (HSA) Unknown photographer, 1930– 1940s.

List of Images

pages 174 and 176 (GCPC) Advertisement and pick-up receipt for Outrigger Camera & Gift Shop, 1968.

Index

page 182 (GCPC) Kaiulani Camera Shop photo album cover, date unknown.

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Index

Images are noted by italicized page numbers.

A agriculture. See farming Ahi heiau, 16 ahupua‘a, 5, 6, 37, 115, 124, 127, 167 ‘âina, 6, 8, 25, 61, 66, 67, 89, 167 ‘Âinahau, 81, 102-103, 110, 141, 159n. 8 (Hamohamo) Ala Wai Canal, 17, 24, 25, 28, 101, 115, 149n. 8, (Ala Wai); building of, 29, 31, 32; and contrived health issues, 27–30, 33, 144; and creating real estate, 29, 30, 33, 144; and destruction of faming, 29, 30–35, 142, 144, 164 (and image); and draining wetlands, 22, 26, 29, 35, 37, 113, 141, 176; and plans to improve, 37, 145; pollution of, 25, 26, 36, 37, 145, 177 Ala Wai Canal Watershed Water Improvement Project, 37, 145 Ala Wai Watershed Association (A.W.W.A.), 37, 127 Alexander Liholiho (Kamehameha IV), 59, 67, 72, 89, 171 ali‘i, 11, 14, 15, 17, 55, 56, 60, 84, 88, 178; and contact with foreigners, 6, 53, 68–70, 72; definition of, 5, 167; and fishponds, 42-43, 44; and lo‘i, 67; representations of in tourist industry, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 86, 178; at residence in Waikîkî, 8, 63, 65-70, 75, 76, 89, 90 (and image), 96, 127; and

surfing, 11, 75, 82, 84; and traditional roles, 66, 68, 112 annexation, 8, 19, 56, 72, 101, 106–110, 111, 112–113, 134, 140 ‘Âpuakèhau heiau, 15, 65, 66, 139 ‘Âpuakèhau Stream, 63, 75, 76, 90, 93, 98, 101, 102, 127, 164; and ali‘i, 68; part of Ko‘olau watershed, 26, 28 (and image); recreation of, 96; remnants of, 26, 65, 72, 76, 87, 113, 165 aquaculture, 1, 30, 33, 37, 40–44, 51, 136, 151nn. 3, 10 (Kâlia), 153n. 77 (Kâlia), 164 (and image); destruction of, 8, 25, 29, 39, 84, 165. See also fishponds; lo‘i; rice Army, U.S., 18, 48, 49, 50, 51, 110, 153n. 74 (Kâlia); and Coast Artillery, 18, 45–46; installation construction, 18, 39, 45–46, 141; and reclamation, 40, 44, 45, 51; and stationed troops, 18, 20, 40, 45–46, 47, 48. See also Battery Randolph; Battery Dudley; Camp McKinley; Fort DeRussy; Fort Ruger; Hale Koa Hotel; Army Corps of Engineers, U.S.; Army Museum of Hawai‘i, U.S.; World War II Army Corps of Engineers, U.S., 121, 123 Army Museum of Hawai‘i, U.S., 40, 151n. 2 (Kalia)

B Battery Dudley, 46, 141 Battery Randolph, 46, 141

Bayonet Constitution of 1887, 104, 140 Beach, Donn, 92-93, 96, 99, 171 beachboys, 71, 75, 76, 77–79, 78, 79, 81, 82, 84, 95 beaches, 28, 65, 76, 81, 82, 83, 84, 102, 115; created, 39, 114, 123, erosion of, 46, 115, 119, 121, 123, 124; development of, 116, 119, 121-123, 122, 123–125, 143; and heiau, 16; and Native Hawaiian battles, 14, 15, 54, 55, 71, 139; pollution of, 116; reclamation of, 123, 142; and supposed improvement, 142; as tourist destination, 12. See also Cunha Beach; Gray’s Beach; Kahala Beach; Kahaloa Beach; Kûhiò Beach; Queen’s Surf Beach; Sans Souci Beach; Waikîkî Beach Bishop, Bernice Pauahi (Princess), 63, 66, 70, 133, 134, 171. See also Bishop Estate; Bishop Museum Bishop Estate, 30, 45, 66, 70, 71, 90, 93, 134 Bishop Museum, 15, 39, 40, 91, 133 Blanding, Don, 12, 103, 171, 179 Blount, James H., 108, 113 Blount Report, 108, 140

C Camp McKinley, 115, 120, 140, 179 capitalism, ix, 1, 2, 18, 98, 127, 129; and community resistance, 22, 127, 129, 131; and early impact in Hawai‘i, 6-8, 68–70; and fantasies of the royal, 63,

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65, 71–72, 115; and gender, 102, 110-111; Native Hawaiian’s struggles against, 72, 98, 102; and tourism, 98 Char, Tin-Yuke, 32, 33 Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, 32, 150n. 33 (Ala Wai) Cleghorn, Archibald, 81, 102, 103, 116, 141, 159n. 8 (Hamohamo), 171 Cleveland, Grover, 106, 108, 110 colonialism, ix, 1, 2, 61, 127, 129; and community resistance, 18, 22, 127, 129; and early impact in Hawai‘i, 6–8; and gender, 102, 110–111; Native Hawaiians’ struggles against, 18, 72, 95, 102, 159n. 27 (Kaluaokau) Cook, James, 6, 56, 68, 139, 155n. 23 (Helumoa), 171 Cunha Beach, 16

D Davis, Bertell D., 51, 144, 151n. 3 (Kâlia) D.F.S. Galleria, 63, 65 Diamond Head (Lè‘ahi), xii, 25, 76, 82, 108, 115, 124, 140, 144; and advertising, 6, 11, 12, 21; and burials, 17; and commercial development, 20–21, 44, 97, 115, 127, 141; gardening within, 11, 16, 17, 18, 139; as geographical feature, 17, 28, 175; and grazing, 18, 176; Hawaiian name for, 12, 14; military use of, 11, 18, 141; patriot battle at, 11, 18–19, 22, 108, 119, 140; popular name for, 14; prior to overdevelopment, 2, 3, 4, 5, 27, 175; and quarantine station, 52; and residential neighborhood, 11, 92; seasonal wetland inside, 11, 13, 16, 17, 18, 22, 145;

symbol of Hawai‘i, 7, 9, 11, 12, 16, 147n. 1 (Lè‘ahi); and volcanic activity, 12, 14. See also Ahi heiau; Federal Aviation Administration, U.S. (F.A.A.); Fort Ruger; Kuapalaha heiau; La Pietra; Nâ Lâ‘au Arboretum; Pahu-a-Maui heiau; Papa‘ena‘ena heiau Diamond Head Citizens Advisory Committee, 11, 18, 21–22 Diamond Head State Monument Master Plan, 20, 21, 22 Dillingham, Walter F., 22, 29-30, 49, 53, 142, 143; and draining Waikîkî, 11, 22, 25, 26, 33, 37, 44, 45, 116, 142, 171 disease: and Ala Wai Canal pollution, 37; bubonic plague, 57, 60, 140, 177; cholera, 56, 140; and community-based care, 60–61; due to foreign contact, 6, 7, 17, 28, 32, 43, 53, 63, 68, 72, 82; and healing waters, 53, 54, 59, 60, 61; and hospitals for Native Hawaiians, 59–60, 140; leprosy, 56, 140; malaria, 29; and mosquitoes, 25, 29–30, 141; and Native Hawaiians’ distrust of Caucasians, 56–58; and sacrifice at Papa‘ena‘ena heiau, 15, 139; smallpox, 52, 56, 115, 140, 177; and types introduced, 56; venereal, 56, 139; yellow fever, 29, 141 Dole, Sanford B., 18, 25, 106, 108, 110, 112, 140, 171 dredging, 4, 25, 29, 31, 32, 35, 37, 116, 176; and creating real estate, 30; and development in Kâlia, 44, 45, 141; and displaced residents, 26–27, 30, 142; and farmer resistance, 33–35, 37, 142; for Natatorium, 123 Duke Kahanamoku Statue, 77–78, 81

E Emma (Queen), 59, 72, 89, 90–91, 96, 98–99, 158n. 6 (Kaluaokau), 171. See also Queen Emma Estate; Queen Emma Foundation; Queen’s Hospital

F farming, 37, 68, 96, 127, 135, 136, 137, 139, 164 (and image); destruction of, 6, 8, 25, 30, 33–35, 142, 144, 165; duck, 27, 28, 30-32, 33, 34-35; and Lè‘ahi gardens, 11, 16, 17, 18, 139; productivity of, 5, 28, 30, 35, 130, 139. See also plantations; rice; sugar; taro Federal Aviation Administration, U.S. (F.A.A.), 11, 18, 21, 143, 144 Ferguson, Kathy E., 40, 151n.2 (Kâlia), 153n. 74 (Kâlia) fishing, 14, 16, 17, 34, 42, 43–44, 94, 119, 127, 176 fishponds, 28, 30, 39, 139, 151n. 3 (Kâlia), 164 (and image); destruction of, 4, 8, 34, 39, 44, 127, 141, 142, 165; productivity of, 5, 33, 35, 40–43, 44, 141, 151n. 10 (Kâlia); remains of, 40, 51, 153n. 77 (Kâlia) Ford, Alexander Hume, 82, 83, 84, 141, 171 Fort DeRussy, 38, 40, 42, 43, 44, 45–46, 53, 87, 143, 144; and fishponds, 42, 51, 141, 142, 144, 151n. 3 (Kâlia); forced Japanese labor at, 4, 40, 49–51, 142. See also Hale Koa Hotel; Kuroda Field Fort Ruger, 10, 14, 15, 18, 23, 141, 175, 176 Frear, Walter F., 29, 30, 171

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as tourist entertainment, 39, 66, 80, 95, 100, 101, 105. See also Kodak Hula Show

G Gray’s Beach, 53, 54, 59

H

I

Hale Koa Hotel, 43, 45, 87, 144 Halekûlani Hotel, 52, 53–54, 61, 63, 87, 177 Hawaiian Dredging Company, 25, 33, 35, 44, 45, 142, 143 Hawai‘i National Guard, 10, 18, 20, 23, 38, 51, 175, 177 heiau, 5, 14–16, 17, 18, 66, 89, 93, 127, 167. See also Ahi heiau; ‘Âpuakèhau heiau; Kuapalaha heiau; Makahuna heiau; Pahu-a-Maui heiau; Papa‘ena‘ena heiau Hi‘iaka, 14, 17 Hilton Hawaiian Village, 39-40, 43, 44, 45, 87, 140, 143 Ho, Chinn, 20, 143, 171 Honolulu Rapid Transit and Land Company, 121, 141, 142 Honolulu Zoo, 87, 115, 141, 143 hotels, 4, 89, 96, 98–99, 144, 146, 179; first in Waikîkî, 44, 53, 57, 70; and iwi, 75, 84, 86, 87; luxury, 45, 53, 70. See also Hale Koa Hotel; Halekûlani Hotel; Hilton Hawaiian Village; ‘Ilikai Hotel; Moana Hotel; Outrigger Reef Hotel; Royal Hawaiian Hotel; Sans Souci Hotel; Sheraton Moana Surfrider Hotel; Sheraton Princess Ka‘iulani Hotel Hui Aloha ‘Âina, 113 Hui Nalu, 84, 141 hula, 72, 96, 133, 159n. 31 (Kaluaokau), 179; and marketing Hawai‘i, 12, 94;

‘Ilikai Hotel, 20, 45, 143 International Market Place, 88, 89, 90–93, 95, 96–99, 103, 143 iwi, 17, 75, 76, 84–87, 158n. 64 (Uluniu), 167

J Judd, Gerrit P., 6, 7, 59, 171 Judd, Lawrence, 49, 142

K Ka‘ahumanu, 6, 15, 58, 72, 139, 171 Kahahana, 63, 65 Kahala Beach, 19 Kahaloa Beach, 63–65, 81, 82 Kahanamoku, Duke, 75, 77–78, 79, 81, 84, 121, 171. See also Duke Kahanamoku Statue Kahekili, 14–15, 55, 65, 84, 139, 171 Kahi Halia Aloha memorial, 87, 145 kâhuna, 5, 16, 17, 56, 59, 68, 75, 77, 79, 139, 167 Ka‘iulani (Princess), 56, 63, 65, 81, 90, 101, 102–104, 141, 160n. 9 (Hamohamo), 172, 179; racist depictions of, 101, 111–112; work to restore kingdom, 102, 104, 106–110, 112–113. See also Sheraton Princess Ka‘iulani Hotel Kâkuhihewa, 65, 76 Kalâkaua (King), 59, 63, 65, 72, 103, 104, 115, 116, 140, 172

Kalamakua, 43, 63, 67, 68, 82, 90, 139, 172 Kalanikupule, 15, 139, 172 Kamakau, Samuel M., 72, 85, 156n. 42 (Helumoa) Kame‘eleihiwa, Lilikalâ, 58, 68, 72, 147n. 10, 154n. 15 (Kawehewehe), 155n. 18 (Helumoa) Kamehameha I (Conqueror), 14–15, 54, 56, 58, 65, 68, 70, 71, 139, 172, 177 Kamehameha II. See Liholiho Kamehameha III. See Kauikeaouli Kamehameha IV. See Alexander Liholiho Kamehameha V. See Lota Kapuâiwa Kanahele, George, S., 79, 81, 96, 98, 145, 148n. 25 (Lè‘ahi), 158n. 6 (Kaluaokau). See also Nâ Pòhaku Ola O Kapaemahu A Me Kapuni; Native Hawaiian Tourism and Hospitality Association; Waikîkî Historic Trail Kâneloa Natural Habitat and Cultural Gardens, 115, 124, 145 Kapi‘olani (Queen), 115, 172. See also Kapi‘olani Maternity and Gynecological Hospital; Kapi‘olani Park Kapi‘olani Maternity and Gynecological Hospital, 60, 140 Kapi‘olani Park, 16, 28, 67, 95, 114, 117, 119, 140, 142, 143, 144; creation of, 116, 123–124, 140; development of, 115, 116, 119, 121, 123, 141. See also Camp McKinley; Honolulu Zoo; Kâneloa Natural Habitat and Cultural Gardens; Kodak Hula Show; Kûhiò Beach; Natatorium; Queen’s Surf Beach; Waikîkî Aquarium Kauhiakama, 15, 65, 139 Kauikeaouli (Kamehameha III), 6, 7, 58, 72, 172

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Kawananakoa, Abigail (Princess), 71 Kèopûolani, 15, 172 Kikuchi, William K., 40, 151n. 10 (Kâlia) Kodak Hula Show, 108, 110, 115, 142, 161n. 4 (Kâneloa and Kapua) Kuapalaha heiau, 16 Ku‘ekaunahi Stream, 26, 28 (and image), 101, 102, 113, 127, 164, 165 Kûhiò (Prince), 19–20, 141, 142, 172 Kûhiò Beach, 102, 116, 121, 123, 143, 144 Kuleana Act of 1850, 58 Kuroda, Robert T., 50, 143. See also Kuroda Field Kuroda Field, 40, 50, 51, 143

L Lalani Village, 95–96, 142 La Pietra Villa, 11, 22, 142. See also Papa‘ena‘ena heiau Lee, Harlan, 30–32, 33, 144 Liholiho (Kamehameha II), 15, 172 Likelike (Princess), 81, 102, 141 Lili‘uokalani (Queen), 59, 90, 101, 102, 115, 123, 142, 172; overthrow of, 8, 25, 30, 58, 71, 102, 103, 104–108, 140, 144; patriots’ attempt to restore, 11, 18–19, 22, 108, 119, 140, 141; racist depictions of, 101, 104, 110–111, 112; work to restore kingdom, 72, 102, 103–110, 112–113, 140 limu. See seaweed lo‘i, 2, 5, 42, 67, 82, 90, 139, 140, 164, 169, 175; destruction of, 127, 165. See also plantations, native; taro loko. See fishponds London, Jack, 82–84, 172 Lota Kapuâiwa (Kamehameha V), 59, 66, 70, 72, 90, 172 Lunalilo (King), 18, 72, 89, 90, 172

M Mâhele of 1848, 7, 18, 43, 44, 53, 58, 60, 70, 90, 139, 169 Mâ‘ilikûkahi, 66, 68, 139, 172 maka‘âinana, 5, 6, 7, 43, 58, 67, 68, 72, 96, 127, 169 Makahuna heiau, 16 Massie, Thalia, 46, 142, 172. See also Massie Case of 1931 Massie Case of 1931, 40, 45, 46–49, 50, 51, 142, 177 Masters and Servants Act of 1850, 8, 139 Matson Navigation Company, 63, 64, 65, 70–71, 140, 142, 143, 146, 178; and advertising, 94, 109, 112, 179 memorials, 39, 50–51. See also Duke Kahanamoku Statue; Kahi Halia Aloha memorial; Kuroda Field; Nâ Pòhaku Ola O Kapaemahu A Me Kapuni; Natatorium missionaries, 6, 12, 59, 72, 82, 106, 108, 113, 139; See also Judd, Gerrit P.; Richards, William Moana Hotel, 71, 74, 76, 81, 82, 87, 94, 141, 143, 178, 179; and beachboys, 84, 95; hosts Hawai‘i Calls, 142; and stationed troops, 42, 43, 177 mò‘î, 6, 7, 65, 68, 72, 82, 139, 168, 169 Monsarrat, M.D., 76, 164 mosquitoes, 22, 25, 29–30, 141 Mossman, George P., 95-96, 142. See also Lalani Village Munro, George C., 20, 22, 143, 172. See also Nâ Lâ‘au Arboretum

N Nakamura, Barry S., 30, 33–35, 144, 149n. 8 (Ala Wai)

Nâ Lâ‘au Arboretum, 11, 20, 143 Nâ Pòhaku Ola O Kapaemahu A Me Kapuni, 75, 77, 78–82, 87, 89, 139, 145 Natatorium, 115, 118, 121–123, 142, 144, 145, 179 Native Hawaiian Tourism and Hospitality Association, 96, 145. See also Kanahele, George S.; Waikîkî Historic Trail Navy, U.S., 9, 21, 50, 56, 75, 77, 95, 143; and Massie Case of 1931, 40, 46-49; and overthrow of Hawaiian kingdom, 106; during World War II, 42, 43, 48, 143

O Organic Acts of 1845, 7, 139 Osorio, Jonathan Kay Kamakawiwo‘ole, 58, 68, 72 Outrigger Canoe Club, 76, 81, 82, 84, 87, 141 Outrigger Reef Hotel, 76, 87 Outrigger Waikîkî Hotel, 81

P Pahu-a-Maui heiau, 16, 18, 140 Papa‘ena‘ena heiau, 11, 14-16, 18, 22, 82, 90, 139, 140, 142. See also La Pietra Villa Pearl Harbor (formerly Pearl River Lagoon), 8, 45, 47, 49, 72, 140 Pele, 14, 17 Pi‘inaio Stream, 26, 28 (and image), 39, 40, 42, 127, 164 Pinkham, Lucius E., 25, 26, 28 (and image), 30, 33, 37, 82, 141, 149n. 13 (Ala Wai), 172 plantations: foreign, 7–8, 139; native, 5, 28, 30, 32, 67, 164, 165

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plants, native, 12, 43, 68, 116, 135; inside Diamond Head, 16, 18, 22, 145; and Kâneloa Natural Habitat and Cultural Gardens, 124; and Nâ Lâ‘au Arboretum, 11, 18, 20; and Waikîkî’s waters, 5. See also seaweed pollution, 1, 2, 8, 18, 25–26, 36, 37, 65, 116, 121, 124 Pond, Percy, 44, 45 Pukui, Mary Kawena, 147n. 2 (Lè‘ahi), 151n. 18 (Kâlia), 153n. 10 (Kawehewehe), 155nn. 14, 15 (Helumoa); and Hawaiian sayings, 1, 11, 25, 39, 53, 63, 75, 89, 101, 115, 127

Queen Emma Estate, 82 Queen Emma Foundation, 79, 89, 92, 96–97, 99, 145 Queen’s Hospital, 59, 60, 89, 140 Queen’s Surf Beach, 116, 121, 123

F.; Ho, Chinn; hotels; Kapi‘olani Park; Mâhele of 1848; Pinkham, Lucius E.; Queen Emma Foundation; Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center Reciprocity Treaty of 1876, 8, 140 reclamation, vii, 33, 61, 90, 114, 123–125, 142, 143, 144, 175, 178; and real estate development, 4, 25, 29; as supposed improvement, 27, 29, 84. See also Ala Wai Canal; Army (U.S.), and reclamation; beaches, reclamation of; wetlands, and reclamation rice, 27, 28, 30, 32–33, 35, 50, 130, 140, 164 (and image), 165, 176, 180 Richards, William, 6–7, 172 Ricord, John, 7, 172 Royal Hawaiian Hotel, 62, 63, 65, 66, 70–71, 84, 94, 139, 142, 143; and entertainment, 66, 67, 71, 178; and World War II, 41, 42, 143, 177 Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center, 63, 65, 71–72, 143

R

S

racism, 39, 48, 49, 51, 53, 59, 92–95, 110–111, 151n. 2 (Kâlia), 153n. 74 (Kâlia); and depictions of people, 11, 48, 67, 111, 137 (see caption), 180. See also Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882; Fort DeRussy, forced Japanese labor at; Ka‘iulani (Princess), racist depictions of; Lili‘uokalani (Queen), racist depictions of; Massie Case of 1931 real estate, 7, 37, 65, 84, 87, 141, and advertising, 95; and property development, 4, 25, 97. See also Ala Wai Canal, and creating real estate; Army, U.S.; Bishop Estate; D.F.S. Galleria; Diamond Head; Dillingham, Walter

Sans Souci Beach, 116, 140, 141, 142 Sans Souci Hotel, 116–117, 140 sea life, 65, 116, 124, 127; destruction of, 26, 37, 55, 116, 119–121, 122, 123–125, 127; former abundance of, 1, 5, 12–14, 39, 42, 43–44, 116 seaweed, 5, 39, 44, 54, 59, 63, 65, 123 sexism, 11, 101, 102, 110–112, 113, 115 Sheraton Moana Surfrider Hotel, 74, 143 Sheraton Princess Ka‘iulani Hotel, 87, 89, 98, 102, 103, 104, 143 Silva, Noenoe K., 68, 72, 112–113 Stevenson, Robert Louis, 119, 160n. 9 (Hamohamo), 172 Stirling, Yates, Jr., 47, 48, 49

Q

sugar, 5, 6–8, 70, 72, 94, 104, 139, 140 surfing, 1, 5, 75, 76, 79, 82–84, 96, 141; and ali‘i, 11, 63, 68, 75, 82, 90, 104; and beachboys, 71, 75, 77, 78, 81, 82, 84, 141; and Papa‘ena‘ena heiau, 11, 15–16, 17, 82. See also Kahanamoku, Duke

T taro, 2, 5, 32, 37, 43; destruction of, 4, 8, 127, 165; as former Waikîkî crop, 5, 28, 30, 42, 67, 82, 139, 140, 164 (and image) Thurston, Lorrin A., 94, 106, 140, 172 tourism, ix, x, 27, 29, 47, 60, 76, 101, 115, 116; and advertising, 6, 11, 12, 25, 77, 78, 94, 109, 113, 146; and beachboys, 75, 77 (and image), 78, 79, 81, 82, 84, 95; and class, 70–71, 84, 95, 143; and entertainment, 39, 54, 66, 67, 69, 70, 71, 80, 100, 101, 105, 107, 178; and fantasies of the royal, 63, 65, 69, 71, 72, 73, 86, 102, 103–104, 115; and greeters, 80, 85; and hotel staff, 61, 67, 71, 74; and impact on environment, 1, 8, 127, 129, 145; and impact on Hawai‘i’s people, 1, 2–4, 8, 77, 95, 127-128, 129, 134, 145; and Japan, 143, 144; and Kanahele, George, S., 96, 98; and Massie Case of 1931, 47; promotion of, 93–95; 141, 143, 145; and responsible travel, 129–136; 145, 162n. 5 (Conclusion); and statistics, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 145; and U.S. stock market crash, 142; in wartime, 84, 96, 141, 142; and youth, 144. See also Honolulu Rapid and Land Transit Company; hotels; International Market Place; Kodak

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Hula Show; Lalani Village; Matson Navigation Company Trask, Haunani-Kay, 72, 95, 101, 153n. 74 (Kâlia) Turnbull, Phyllis, 40, 151n. 2 (Kâlia), 153n. 74 (Kâlia) Twain, Mark, 17

V Vancouver, George, 51, 139, 173

W Waikîkî Aquarium (formerly Honolulu Aquarium), 115, 116, 121, 141

Waikîkî Historic Trail, 96, 136. See also Kanahele, George, S.; Native Hawaiian Tourism and Hospitality Association Waikîkî Improvement Association, 77, 81, 123, 143 Waikîkî Beach, 77, 78, 81, 84, 100, 125, 142, 145, 146 wetlands, 3, 26; destruction of, 51, 60, 127, 140, 141, 142, 165; at Diamond Head, 11, 13, 16, 17, 18, 22, 27, 144, 145; and productivity, 2, 5, 51, 67, 164; and reclamation, 44, 45; restoration of, 115, 144. See also Ala Wai Canal; aquaculture; Dillingham, Walter F., and draining Waikîkî; farming; fishponds; lo‘i; Kâneloa Natural

Habitat and Cultural Gardens; reclamation Wilcox, Robert W., 19, 140, 173 wildlife, 12, 16, 22, 40, 124. See also sea life “wizard stones.” See Nâ Pòhaku Ola O Kapaemahu A Me Kapuni World War I, 121, 141, 142 World War II, 44, 123, 143; and internment of Japanese, 49; soldiers at Waikîkî during, 41, 42, 43, 48, 177; and tourism, 71, 84, 96, 142; troops in Hawai‘i, 18, 50; and U.S. Army 442nd Regimental Combat Team, 40, 50, 143. See also Fort DeRussy, forced Japanese labor at; Kuroda Field

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