Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 17, Number 2, 1 February 2000 — Kaunaʻoa palaha kukui o Kamehaʻikana [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Kaunaʻoa palaha kukui o Kamehaʻikana

' The Kauna'oa that spreads and flattens the kukui foliage of Kameha'ikana'

B v Clalre Hughes Dept. ot Health / / I F ONE were to visit the I great plains of Honoruru I and see all the beautiful I cultivated land in the I transverse valleys that extends onto the plains of Honoruru and alsothe tremendous quantity of food plants that are cultivated in the valley of the Pearl River, one might perhaps be persuaded to believe that a great excess of foyd prevails here," wrote the explorer Meyen in 1834The hills and valleys of Nu'uanu.

Mānoa, Pauoa and Waikīkī had great terraces for wet kalo cultivation. As late as the 1950s there was considerable farming in Mānoa Valley. This valley was also the home of royalty and kupua chiefs. Queen Ka'ahumanu had a summer home in upper Mānoa, known as "Puka'ōma'oma'o." It was a eool spot with a stunning view of all the rich plantations and meandering mountain streams of the valley. The valley floor rises gently in several spots and was beautifully green and abundant with crops. From Puka'ōma'oma'o, the queen could see the plains and lo'i kalo of Waikīkī sprinkled with humble dwellings of farmers. Her house site was at the base of a magnifīcent mountain whose summit rises a thousand feet above. The valley floor was 2 - 300 ft. below. Descriptions of this home paint a lush picture of tropical foliage; a thicket of hibiscus and eugenia grew at the foot of the mountain while a maatīing foliageof graceful kauna'oa creeper and crimson blossoms grew on one side of the home. This area was blessed with life-giving / water from frequent rain V showers, waterfalls and nat- ' ural streams. It is here where Ka'ahumanu

chose to spend her final days. The eoueh where she lay was prepared with loving care; it was covered fīrst with sweet-scented maile and ginger, over whieh a golden velvet coverlet was spread. Feathered kāhili stood towering over the head and foot of her eoueh, and Kamehameha's feather eloak, whieh Ka'ahumanu had worn since the monarch's death, was draped over a chair near the dying queen. A mo'olelo tells of Kāne and Kanaloa's visit to this area after

they created the Punahou spring. The two gods climbed the perpendicular Mānoa cliff and there, by a pool, found a pretty woman named Kameha'ikana, a kupua, living with her woman attendant. As kupua, these women could appear in either human form or as stones. Both Kāne and Kanaloa were infatuated with the beauty of Kameha'ikana and eaeh longed to possess this maiden of Mānoa. The young woman was equally smitten with love for the two gods. Her

attendant recognīzed young Kameha'ikana's dilemma and knew that if both of the gods got hold of her charge, she would be destroyed. The attendant was furious. fearing her death for her loved one, she threw herself head first into the pool between the strangers and the beautiful Kameha'ikana, blocking their way. Kāne lunged for the girl, but could not catch her. To this day, the petrifīed body of Kameha'ikana's attendant stands there, head down and feet up. The mark of Kāne's footprint is also preserved in stone. Mountain apple trees sprang up where the gods stood, their branches drooping over a pool of water, The original trees are dead, but their seedlings guard Waikeakua, "the water of the gods." This spring, also known as Pūahu'ula, "spring of the feather eape." Just as the maiden's attendant tried to guard her from harm and destruction, so must we today guard this valley from harm and destruction. It is here that HECO is planning to lay new over-head electric lines whieh will permanently mar and scar the beauty of this historic valley and the ridge known as Wa'ahila. ■

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Ipo Nihipali's contemporary painting depicts Mānoa's beauty circa 1860. Several decades earlier, Queen Ka'ahumanu (below) enjoyed her final days in a green-shuttered hale named "Puka'ōma'oma'o" nestled in Mānoa's luxuriant foliage.