Raining in La'ie
by Craig Wood
Title
Raining in La'ie
Artist
Craig Wood
Medium
Photograph - Photo
Description
Home of Brigham Young University - Hawaii and the Polynesian Cultural Center.
Historically, Lāʻie was a puʻuhonua, a sanctuary for fugitives. While a fugitive was in the puʻuhonua, it was unlawful for that fugitive's pursuers to harm him or her. During wartime, spears with white flags attached were set up at each end of the city of refuge. If warriors attempted to pursue fugitives into the puʻuhonua, they would be killed by sanctuary priests. Fugitives seeking sanctuary in a city of refuge were not forced to permanently live within the confines of its walls. Instead, they were given two choices. In some cases, after a certain length of time (ranging from a couple of weeks to several years), fugitives could enter the service of the priests and assist in the daily affairs of the puʻuhonua. A second option was that after a certain length of time the fugitives would be free to leave and re-enter the world unmolested. Traditional cities of refuge were abolished in 1819.
The history of Lāʻie began long before European contact. The name Lāʻie is said to derive from two Hawaiian words: lau meaning "leaf", and ʻie referring to the ʻieʻie (red-spiked climbing screwpine, Freycinetia arborea), which wreaths forest trees of the uplands or mauka regions of the mountains of the Koʻolau Range behind the community of Lāʻie. In Hawaiian mythology, this red-spiked climbing screwpine is sacred to Kāne, god of the earth, god of life, and god of the forests, as well as to Laka, the patron goddess of the hula.
The name Lāʻie becomes more environmentally significant through the Hawaiian oral history (kaʻao) entitled Laieikawai. In this history, the term ikawai, which means "in the water", also belongs to the food-producing tree called kalalaikawa. The kalalaikawa tree was planted in a place called Paliula's garden, which is closely associated with the spiritual home, after her birth and relocation of Laieikawai. According to Hawaiian oral traditions, the planting of the kalalaikawa tree in the garden of Paliula is symbolic of the reproductive energy of male and female, which union in turns fills the land with offspring. From its close association with nature through its name, and through its oral traditions and history, the community of Lāʻie takes upon itself a precise identification and a responsibility in perpetuating life and in preserving all life forms. Sometimes the land itself provided sanctuary for the Hawaiian people. Lāʻie was such a place. The earliest information about Lāʻie states that it was a small, sparsely populated village with a major distinction: "it was a city of refuge". Within this city of refuge were located at least two heiau, traditional Hawaiian temples, of which very little remains today. Moohekili heiau was destroyed, but its remains can be found in taro patches makai (seaward) of Laie Hawaii Temple belonging to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Towards the mountain (mauka), the remains of Nioi heiau can be found on a small ridge. All that is left of Nioi is a coral platform.
Between 1846 and 1848, the traditional Hawaiian feudal ownership of land by the king, the aliʻi nui, and his leading chiefs or konohiki was changed through the Great Mahele, or major land division. The aliʻi nui at the time was Kauikeouli King Kamehameha III, and his konohiki (leading chief) for Lāʻie was Peni Kealiʻiwaiwaiole (which means "The Chief without Riches"); the wife to this konohiki descended directly from the aliʻi nui of Oʻahu named Kakuiewa, making his wife of higher rank than he. The result of the mahele was not in compliance with the original intent of Kamehameha III. The result was that the chiefs received about 1,500,000 acres (6,100 km2), the king kept about 1 million acres (4,000 km2), which were called crown lands, and about 1 million acres (4,000 km2) were set aside as government lands.
The land of the mahele itself was cut up into parcels, much like the traditional Hawaiian land divisions, centering on the ahupuaʻa, which followed a fairly uniform pattern. Each parcel was shaped roughly like a piece of pie with the tip in the mountains, the middle section in the foothills and coastal plain, and the broad base along the ocean front and the sea. The size and shape of the ahupuaʻa varied. However, the purpose of these remained the same. The village of Lāʻie is located in the ahupuaʻa of Lāʻie. As such, Lāʻie followed the general pattern of life in the ahupuaʻa, but only the valleys in the foothills had ample water. There were ten streams that flowed through the ahupuaʻa of Lāʻie before 1865 (see 1865 map). Their names were Kahooleinapea, Kaluakauila, Kahawainui, Kaihihi, Kawaipapa, Kawauwai, Wailele, Koloa, Akakii, and Kokololio. There were more streams flowing through the ahupuaʻa of Lāʻie than through any of the other surrounding ahupuaʻa, including Kaipapau and Hauula to the southeast and Malaekahana, Keana, and Kahuku to the northwest.
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Uploaded
October 24th, 2021
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