Waipi'o Lookout Draft Environmental Assessment

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RC-0442 The earliest historical mention of the Waipi`o area can be found in the journals of Captain James Cook (Beaglehole 1967), when on December 7, 1778 Cook's vessels were a half-mile offshore and they exchanged goods for food with residents of Waipi`o and Waimanu Valleys. At this place are two Vallies where we saw many houses,the most easterly of the two is called Oi-e-pe-o [Waipi`o], and the other Oi-manoo [Waimanu] (Beaglehole 1967[31:1153) It was not until 45 years later in 1823,that missionaries first ventured into the Valley(Ellis 1963) and documented a sizeable population concentrated in four named clusters of houses (Napo'opo`o, Keone, Na`alapa,and Koauka)with all of the intervening areas"well cultivated."At that time a total of 265 houses were counted in the valley proper. Following the establishment of the missionary station in Waimea in 1832, the Waipi`o area was visited on a regular basis (a few times a year) until 1848. In 1847,Hiram Bingham described Waipi`o's extensive gardens of taro, sweet potato, banana, sugarcane, and wauke; and estimated the population to be between 1,200 and 1,500 inhabitants (Handy et al 1991). The Waimea Station reports of 1833 indicate a population for Waipi`o of 1,200, which would provide an estimated population at the time of cantact.of over 2,600(Curdy 1994).Waipi`o was perhaps the preeminent location of pondfield (lo`i) taro (kalo) cultivation on Hawai`i Island. The taro to`i that dominated the landscape continue to be used into the present day.Not only was Kalo an important subsistence crop,it holds a place in Hawaiian cosmology and continues to be a potent cultural symbol for Hawaiians today. Significant religious, socioeconomic, and demographic changes took place between 1790 and the 1840s, all of which promoted the establishment of a Euro-American style of land ownership, and the Mahele `.4ina was the vehicle for determining ownership of the native land. During this period (1848- 1899), the Mahele defined the land interests of the King (Kamehameha III), the high-ranking chiefs, and the low-ranking chiefs, the konohiki. The chiefs and knohiki were required to present their claims to the Land Commission to receive awards for lands provided to them by Kamehameha III. They were also required to provide commutations to the government in order to receive royal patents on their awards.The lands were identified by name only,with the understanding that the ancient boundaries would prevail until the land could be surveyed. This process expedited the work of the Land Commission and speeded the transfers(Chinn 1961). During this process all lands were placed in one of three categories: Crown Lands(for the occupant of the throne), Government Lands, and Konohiki Lands. All three types of land were subject to the rights of the native tenants. Commoners could make claims for land,and if substantiated,they would receive awards referred to as kuleana,from the Land Commission.During this period,other land grants were also made to individuals directly from the Kingdom. In 1862, the Commission of Boundaries (Boundary Commission) was established in the Kingdom of Hawaii to legally set the boundaries of all the ahupua`a that had been awarded as a part of the Mahele. Subsequently, in 1874,the Commissioners of Boundaries was authorized to certify the boundaries for lands brought before them. The primary informants for the boundary descriptions were old native residents of the lands, many of which had also been claimants for kuleana during the Mahele.The information was collected primarily between 1873 and 1885. The testimonies were generally given in Hawaiian and simultaneously transcribed in English. Information contained in the Land Commission and Boundary Commission testimony can provide insights into both land use and tenure. As stated earlier, it appears as though Lalakea (within which the current study area is located) was an ili kupono of Waipi`o. However, it was retained as an independent unit of crown land, distinct from Waipi`o during the Mahele. Waipi`o was awarded as an ali`i award to Queen Kalama(the king's wife). A search of the Mahele records indicates that there were six claims made and awarded for kuleana within Lalakea (Table 1). All of these claims were for house lots or agricultural plot in the valley portion of Lalakea,there were no claims made within or proximate to the current study area(Appendix A). 7