An Overview of Native Hawaiian Land Management PracticesIn a discussion of the Hawaiian landscape it is also appropriate to briefl

‘Äina a me ke Kai: Hawaiian Land And Ocean Use Practices

An Overview of Native Hawaiian Land and Ocean Management Practices

In a discussion of the Hawaiian landscape it is also appropriate to briefly discuss traditional Hawaiian land terms and land management customs. It is important for contemporary readers to know that in the Hawaiian mind all aspects of the land—all natural and cultural resources are interrelated, and that all are culturally significant. The integrity of a landscape and its sense of place depends upon the well-being of the whole entity, not only a part of it. Thus, what we do to one part of the landscape has an affect on the rest of the landscape. Properly planned, designed, and built features could ensure both physical and spiritual well-being for the inhabitants and users. To ensure that a balance and compatibility with the natural landscape was maintained, priests of the papa hulihonua and kuhikuhi pu‘uone (priests who specialized in knowledge of the earth, its natural systems, and the placement of structures upon the land) were called upon by high chiefs and commoners prior to undertaking and during construction projects (cf. Malo 1951:161, Kamakau 1968:8,27,47).

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Sketch map – Island of Kahoolawe (ca. 1880),
showing primary points and place names
(indicating ahupua‘a boundary points). (State Archives Document No. 1126)

Hawaiian customs and practices demonstrate the belief that all portions of the land and environment are related, like members of an extended family, each environmental zone was named, and their individual attributes were known. Acknowledging the relationship of one environmental zone (wao) to another, is rooted in traditional land management practices and values. Just as place names tell us that areas are of cultural importance, the occurrence of a Hawaiian nomenclature for environmental zones also tells us that there was an intimate relationship between Hawaiians and their environment. The native tradition of Ka-Miki (in Ka Hoku o Hawaii, 1914-1917), provides readers with a detailed account of Hawaiian land divisions and environmental zones. These traditional wao or regions of land, districts, and land divisions include:

1–Ke kuahiwi; 2–Ke kualono; 3–Ke kuamauna; 4–Ke ku(a)hea; 5–Ke kaolo; 6–Ka wao; 7–Ka wao ma‘u kele; 8–Ka wao kele; 9–Ka wao akua; 10–Ka wao la‘au; 11–Ka wao kanaka; 12–Ka ‘ama‘u; 13–Ka ‘apa‘a; 14–Ka pahe‘e; 15–Ke kula; 16–Ka ‘ilima; 17–Ka pu‘eone; 18–Ka po‘ina nalu; 19–Ke kai kohola; 20–Ke kai ‘ele; 21–Ke kai uli; 22–Ke kai pualena; 23–Kai popolohua-a-Kane-i-Tahiti.1–The mountain; 2–The region near the mountain top; 3–The mountain top; 4–The misty ridge; 5–The trail ways; 6–The inland regions; 7 and 8– The rain belt regions; 9– The distant area inhabited by gods; 10–The forested region; 11–The region of people below; 12–The place of ‘ama‘u [fern upland agricultural zone]; 13– The arid plains; 14–The place of wet land planting; 15–The plain or open country; 16–The place of ‘ilima growth [a seaward, and generally arid section of the kula]; 17–The dunes; 18–The place covered by waves [shoreline]; 19–The shallow sea [shoreline reef flats]; 20–The dark sea; 21–The deep blue-green sea; 22–The yellow [sun reflecting– sea on the horizon]; and 23–The deep purplish black sea of Kane at Tahiti. (Kihe in Ka Hoku o Hawaii, September 21, 1916; Maly, translator).

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A portion of the ahupua‘a of Kalihi, O‘ahu;
Depicting ‘ili land divisions, water flow, estuarine and fishpond systems (Mahele Award Book 3:40, Helu 803)

Over the centuries, as the ancient Hawaiian population grew, land use and resource management also evolved. The moku puni or islands were subdivided into land units of varying sizes, and the largest division was the moku-o-loko (district - literally: interior island). It appears that the development of the major districts on the islands, and the system of establishing smaller manageable units of land became formalized by the early 1600s, in the reigns of ‘Umi-a-Lïloa and Mailekukahi (cf. Kamakau 1961 and Fornander 1996). The large districts were in turn, further divided into ‘okana or kalana (regions smaller than the moku-o-loko, yet comprising several other units of land).

In the system of traditional land management, the next, and perhaps most important unit of land was the ahupua‘a; subdivisions of land whose boundaries were usually marked by altars with images of a pig, carved of kukui wood, placed upon them. The ahupua‘a within which the native Hawaiians lived, represented land divisions that were complete ecological and economic production systems. The boundaries of the ahupua‘a were generally defined by cycles and patterns of natural resources that extended from the mountainous zone, or peaks, to the ocean fisheries.

The natural cycles within the ahupua‘a were also the foundation of the Hawaiian family, social, political and religious structure, and it can be said that the Hawaiian culture itself, is rooted in the land. This concept is demonstrated in the Hawaiian saying – “He kalo kanu o ka ‘aina,” which translates literally as “A taro planted on the land.” The saying has been used for generations, to describe someone who was a native of a particular land (Pukui 1983:1447). The ahupua‘a, like the larger districts they belonged to, were also divided into smaller manageable parcels. The ‘ili lele were detached parcels with resources in various environmental zones; kïhapai were gardens; mala were dryland agricultural parcels; and ko‘ele were agricultural parcels worked by commoners for the chiefs, and these small land units are among those which were identified by the ancient Hawaiians. These smaller parcels were inhabited and managed by the maka‘ainana (people of the land) and their extended families. In each ahupua‘a—from mountain slopes to the ocean—the common people were generally allowed access to all of the various natural resources within a given ahupua‘a (cf. Kamakau 1961, Boundary Commission Testimonies 1873-1890, and Handy, Handy, and Pukui 1972).

Entire ahupua‘a, or portions of the land were generally under the jurisdiction of appointed konohiki or lesser chief-landlords, who answered to an ali‘i-‘ai-ahupua‘a (chief who controlled the ahupua‘a resources). The ali‘i-‘ai-ahupua‘a in turn answered to an ali‘i ‘ai moku (chief who claimed the abundance of the entire district). Thus, ahupua‘a resources also supported the royal community of regional and/or island kingdoms. This form of district subdividing was integral to Hawaiian life and was the product of strictly adhered to resource management planning.