![Oahu ahupuaa](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/72/Oahu_ahupuaa.gif)
Ahupuaʻa () is a
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...
an term for a large traditional socioeconomic, geologic, and climatic subdivision of land (comparable to the
tapere A Tapere or Sub-District is a low level of traditional land subdivision on five of the Southern Cook Islands (Rarotonga, Mangaia, Aitutaki, Atiu, and Mauke), comparable to the ahupua'a of the main Hawaiian Islands or to the kousapw of Pohnpei. Am ...
in the
Southern Cook Islands
The Cook Islands can be divided into two groups: the Southern Cook Islands and the Northern Cook Islands. The country is located in Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean, about one-half of the way from Hawaii to New Zealand.
From March to Decembe ...
). It usually extends from the mountains to the sea and generally includes one or more complete watersheds and marine resources. The predominant traditional system in the eight high islands of the Main Hawaiian Islands was based on the ahupua’a. Each ahupua‘a contained a cross section of island resources and they were managed within a complex social system associated with each area. The general belief is that each ahupua‘a met the needs of the local population with an excess for tribute and trade. Each ahupua`a contained resources the Hawaiian community needed like wood from the Koa tree to build homes or food like fish and taro.
History
The traditional subdivision system has four hierarchical levels:
*''Mokupuni'' (whole island — main islands except
Kahoʻolawe
Kahoolawe (Hawaiian: ), anglicized as Kahoolawe (), is the smallest of the eight main volcano, volcanic islands in the Hawaiian Islands. Kahoolawe is located about southwest of Maui and also southeast of Lanai, Lānaʻi, and it is long by wide ...
):
**
Hawaiʻi
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...
**
Kauaʻi
Kauai, () anglicized as Kauai ( ), is geologically the second-oldest of the main Hawaiian Islands (after Niʻihau). With an area of 562.3 square miles (1,456.4 km2), it is the fourth-largest of these islands and the List of islands of th ...
**
Lānaʻi
Lanai ( haw, Lānai, , , also ,) is the sixth-largest of the Hawaiian Islands and the smallest publicly accessible inhabited island in the chain. It is colloquially known as the Pineapple Island because of its past as an island-wide pineapple pl ...
**
Maui
The island of Maui (; Hawaiian: ) is the second-largest of the islands of the state of Hawaii at 727.2 square miles (1,883 km2) and is the 17th largest island in the United States. Maui is the largest of Maui County's four islands, which ...
(with
Kahoʻolawe
Kahoolawe (Hawaiian: ), anglicized as Kahoolawe (), is the smallest of the eight main volcano, volcanic islands in the Hawaiian Islands. Kahoolawe is located about southwest of Maui and also southeast of Lanai, Lānaʻi, and it is long by wide ...
)
**
Molokaʻi
Molokai , or Molokai (), is the fifth most populated of the eight major islands that make up the Hawaiian Islands archipelago in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It is 38 by 10 miles (61 by 16 km) at its greatest length and width with a us ...
**
Niʻihau
Niihau ( Hawaiian: ), anglicized as Niihau ( ), is the westernmost main and seventh largest inhabited island in Hawaii. It is southwest of Kauaʻi across the Kaulakahi Channel. Its area is . Several intermittent playa lakes provide wetland hab ...
**
Oʻahu
Oahu () ( Hawaiian: ''Oʻahu'' ()), also known as "The Gathering Place", is the third-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is home to roughly one million people—over two-thirds of the population of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The island of O’ ...
*''Moku'' (largest subdivisions of an island)
*''Ahupuaʻa''
*''ʻIli'' (two or three per ahupuaʻa, but
Kahoʻolawe
Kahoolawe (Hawaiian: ), anglicized as Kahoolawe (), is the smallest of the eight main volcano, volcanic islands in the Hawaiian Islands. Kahoolawe is located about southwest of Maui and also southeast of Lanai, Lānaʻi, and it is long by wide ...
, for example, had eight ''ʻili'')
Some oral history relates that
ʻUmi-a-Līloa, son of the great High Chief
Līloa Līloa was a ruler of the island of Hawaii in the late 15th century. He kept his royal compound in Waipi'o Valley.
Līloa was the firstborn son of Kiha-nui-lulu-moku, one of the ''noho aliʻi'' (ruling elite). He descended from Hāna-laʻa-nui. L ...
, took control of the land and divided it into ahupuaʻa. However, there is also a general belief that the natural organization of communities along stream systems is the foundation for the system, whose
community governance
Community governance consist of a system of laws, norms, rules, policies and practices mentioned in the constitution or charter that dictate the procedure to manage and oversee the affairs of any international body, line & staff agency, attached b ...
system of
Kānāwai is often attributed specifically to shared water usage.
The Hawaiians maintained an agricultural system that contained two major classes: irrigated and rain-fed systems. In the irrigated systems, the Hawaiians grew mostly taro (kalo), and in the rain-fed systems, they grew mostly ʻuala (sweet potatoes), yams, and dryland taro in addition to other small crops.
[The Ahupua’a of Puanui: A Resource for Understanding Hawaiian Rain-fed Agriculture by Aurora K. Kagawa and Peter M. Vitouse http://www.pacificscience.files.wordpress.com Retrieved November 13, 2011] This dry-land cultivation was also known as the ''mala''. It also consisted of (kalo) taro, (niu) coconuts, (ʻulu) breadfruit, (maiʻa) bananas, and (kō) sugar cane. The kukui tree was sometimes used as a shade to protect the ''mala'' from the sun. Each crop was carefully placed in an area that was most suitable to its needs.
Hawaiians raised dogs, chickens, and pigs that were domesticated. They also made use of personal gardens at their own houses. Water was a very important part of Hawaiian life; it was used not only for fishing, bathing, drinking, and gardening, but also for aquaculture systems in the rivers and at the shore's edge.
![Ahupuaʻa - panoramio](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/05/Ahupua%CA%BBa_-_panoramio.jpg)
The ahupuaʻa consisted most frequently of a slice of an island that went from the top of the local mountain (volcano) to the shore, often following the boundary of a stream drainage. Each ahupuaʻa included a lowland ''mala'' (cultivated area) and upland forested region.
[Losch, Tracie, and Momi Kamahele, "Hawaii: Center of the Pacific" (Pearl City: University of Hawaii Leeward Community College, 2008)] Ahupuaʻa varied in size depending on the economic means of the location and political divisions of the area. “As the native Hawaiians used the resources within their ahupuaʻa, they practiced aloha (respect), laulima (cooperation), and mālama (stewardship) which resulted in a desirable pono (balance).” The Hawaiians believed that the land, the sea, the clouds and all of nature had a certain interconnectedness, which is why they used all of the resources around them to reach the desired balance in life.
Sustainability was maintained by the konohiki and kahuna—priests, who restricted the fishing of certain species during specific seasons. They also regulated the gathering of plants.
["Ahupuaa," , hawaiihistory.org, 2011. Retrieved on 13 November 2011.]
Ahupuaʻa is derived from
Hawaiian language
Hawaiian (', ) is a Polynesian language of the Austronesian language family that takes its name from Hawaii, the largest island in the tropical North Pacific archipelago where it developed. Hawaiian, along with English, is an official language o ...
''ahu'', meaning “heap” or “cairn,” and ''puaʻa'',
pig
The pig (''Sus domesticus''), often called swine, hog, or domestic pig when distinguishing from other members of the genus '' Sus'', is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is variously considered a subspecies of ''Sus s ...
. The
boundary marker
A boundary marker, border marker, boundary stone, or border stone is a robust physical marker that identifies the start of a land boundary or the change in a boundary, especially a change in direction of a boundary. There are several other ty ...
s for ahupuaʻa were traditionally heaps of stones used to put offers, often a pig, to the island chief.
Each ahupuaʻa was divided into smaller sections called ʻili, and the ʻili were divided into kuleana. These were plots of land that were cultivated by the common people. These people paid weekly labor taxes to the land overseer. These taxes went to support the chief.
There may have been two reasons for this kind of subdivision:
*travel: in many areas of Hawaiʻi, it is easier to travel up- and downstream than from stream valley to stream valley
*economy: having all climate zones and economic exploitation zones in each land division ensured that each could be self-sufficient for a large portion of its needs.
Each ahupuaʻa was ruled by an ''aliʻi'' or local chief and administered by a ''
konohiki
A ''konohiki'' is a headman of a land division or ahupuaʻa of the Kingdom of Hawaii who administered the land ruled by an aliʻi chief.
Background
The lands of the ruling chiefs of Hawaii were divided into radial divisions of land when possible. ...
''.
HawaiiHistory.org: Ahupuaʻa
Rule over an ahupuaʻa was given out by the ruling chief to subordinate members of the aliʻi
The aliʻi were the traditional nobility of the Hawaiian islands. They were part of a hereditary line of rulers, the ''noho aliʻi''.
The word ''aliʻi'' has a similar meaning in the Samoan language and other Polynesian languages, and in Māori ...
. On the larger mountains of Maui
The island of Maui (; Hawaiian: ) is the second-largest of the islands of the state of Hawaii at 727.2 square miles (1,883 km2) and is the 17th largest island in the United States. Maui is the largest of Maui County's four islands, which ...
and Hawaiʻi
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...
, smaller ahupuaʻa extended up to about 6,000 to 8,000 feet in elevation, while the higher elevations of an entire district would be included within a single, large ahupuaʻa. These ahupuaʻa, such as Kaʻohe, Keauhou, Kapāpala, Keaʻau, Keʻanae, Puʻu Waʻawaʻa, and Humuʻula, were highly valued both for their size and because they allowed control over items obtainable only from high-elevation areas, such as high-quality stone for tools and ʻuaʻu ( Hawaiian petrel) chicks. They were given to high-ranking aliʻi, or often retained by the high chief personally.
Today
Following the Great Mahele
Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements
* Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size
* Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent
People
* List of people known as "the Great"
*Artel Great (born ...
in 1848, most ahupuaʻa were split up. Manukā, Puʻu Waʻawaʻa, and Puʻu Anahulu on the island of Hawaiʻi
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...
are among the few large ahupuaʻa that remained nearly intact under single ownership (with the exception of some kuleana lots) because they were crown lands owned personally by the monarch. In spite of this, the impact of the ahupuaʻa boundaries can be seen in many areas today. For example, the ahupuaʻa of Keaʻau, near Hilo, was purchased as a single unit by the William Herbert Shipman
William Herbert Shipman (1854–1943) was a businessman with an American background who was from Hawaii. He grew up and conducted his business on the island of Hawaii. One estate of his family was used to preserve the nēnē, an endangered species ...
family to farm and raise cattle. Most of the land, however, was eventually sold off to become the large subdivisions of Puna. The line between the large northern lots (sold by the state as 30-50 acre farms) and 1-3 acre southern lots in the vicinity of Kurtistown, Mountain View, and Glenwood is the boundary between the ʻŌlaʻa and Keaʻau ahupuaʻa. This boundary follows the edge of the 200- to 400-year-old ʻAilaʻau lava flow, and the ahupuaʻa of Keaʻau was undoubtedly originally created from the land devastated by this flow.
Many local towns in Hawaiʻi still maintain the names of the old ahupuaʻa. In West Maui, the towns (north to south) Honokōhau, Honolua
Honolua Bay, Mokuleia Bay and Lipoa Point are part of an area known as the ahupuaʻa of Honolua, located just north of Kapalua, West Maui in Maui County, Hawaii, United States. The area is a mix of agricultural and conservation land tended by th ...
, Kapalua
Kapalua is a census-designated place (CDP) in Maui County, Hawaii, United States. A resort development by the Maui Land & Pineapple Company extends inland from Kapalua Bay and Honolua Bay. The population was 495 at the 2020 census.
Geography ...
, Nāpili, Kahana, Honokawai, Kaʻanapali, Lahaina
Lahaina ( haw, Lāhainā) is the largest census-designated place (CDP) in West Maui, Maui County, Hawaii, United States and includes the Kaanapali and Kapalua beach resorts. As of the 2020 census, the CDP had a resident population of 12,702. Laha ...
, and Olowalu
Olowalu is a community on the west side of the island of Maui in the state of Hawaii. It is located about south of Lahaina on the Honoapiilani Highway. It is a census-designated place (CDP), with a population at the 2020 census of 100.
It sust ...
follow the ahupuaʻa names, with each maintaining their local flavors.
References
* "Ahupua`a." ''hawaiihistory.org''. © 2021 Info Grafik Inc. http://www.hawaiihistory.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=ig.page&CategoryID=299.
* Jokiel, P.L, "Marine Resource Management in the Hawaiian Archipelago: The Traditional Hawaiian System in Relation to the Western Approach." ''Journal of Marine Sciences.'' Edited by Robert J. Toonen. https://www.hindawi.com/journals/jmb/2011/151682/.
* Mueller-Dombois, Dieter. "The Hawaiian Ahupua‘a Land Use System: Its Biological Resource Zones and the Challenge for Silvicultural Restoration." ''Bishop Museum.'' Edited by N.L. Evenhuis & J.M. Fitzsimons. http://hbs.bishopmuseum.org/pubs-online/strm/04-Mueller-Domboisr.pdf.
External links
Ahupuaa: Land for the Good of All
Maui Nō Ka ʻOi Magazine Vol.7 No.4 (Jan. 2004).
Ian Lilley: Archaeology of Oceania: Australia and the Pacific Islands, Wiley-Blackwell, 2006
Thegn Lawford and Michael Graves: The Formation of HawaiianTerritories, pages 259-283
Ahupuaa map of Oahu
*{{cite web , last=Haiken , first=Melanie , title=Hawaii's ancient land management system , website=BBC Travel , date=2022-08-18 , url=https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20220818-ahupuaa-hawaiis-ancient-land-management-system , ref=none , quote=The ahupua'a system of land development, in practice for more than 1,000 years, has the potential to show the world a new path to sustainability.
Ancient Hawaii
Geography of Hawaii
Hawaii culture
Hawaiian words and phrases
Indigenous land rights
Indigenous toponymy