HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0156.030 2004-2006 Murashige, Laura
From: Patrice Belcher [pbelcher@bishopmuseum.org]
Sent: Tuesday, April 19, 2005 4:07 PM
To: counciltestimony@co. hawai i. h i. us
Cc: josh.stanbro@tpl.org
Subject: BILL 53 DRAFT 2
Thank you for this opportunity to share my thoughts about Honuapo Bay. I am grateful that the council has brought this
issue this far. Thank you to the council for all your hard work!
I am a lover of history, and I am keenly interested in the story of this area. In July 1823, Rev. William Ellis (Journal of
William Ellis) visited Honuapo and wrote of the multitudes of people encountered there. Rev. Ellis ate a dinner of fish
caught in Honuapo Pond. In 1880, Honuapo was a port with a post office and a store which specialized in cakes, the "Kau
Bazaar" run by a Mr. Bartells (Hawaiian Kingdom by Bowser). Honuapo would have been a popular place to get off the
interisland steamer and head toward the Volcano via Pahala.
Honuapo is formed by the cliff Pohina Pali, "a low cliff in whose caves the remains of ali'i were hidden away in ancient
times." One translation of Honuapo is Honua (land) 'apo (embraced) or Embraced Land. (Native Planters in Old Hawaii).
The epithet for Honuapo in song and saying is "i ka malu o ka niu," "Honuapo in the shade of the coconut palms."
(www.ulukau.org) Old photos of this area reveal numerous coconut palms at the shoreline.
I am also a lover of nature, and Honuapo has some species of special note. The pond is critical habitat for the
Orangeblack Hawaiian Damselfly, Megalagrion xanthomelas, a canditate for listing under the endangered species act and
currently listed on the Federal Register (Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 1995, Part 1: Articles, by Polhemus).
Additionally, two marine surveys revealed the presence of Green Sea Turtles, a federally listed species (contact me for
further info on reports).
I hope this testimony will help to preserve Honuapo for future generations.
Sincerely, Patrice Lei Belcher
45-500 Noii Place, Kaneohe, HI 96744
Phone work 848 4148
Phone home 235 0553
NOTE: This testimony is my opinion and does not necessarily represent all of Bishop Museum.
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