Ahupua'a

E Komo Mai! Welcome!

Sounds like "ah-hoo-poo-ah-a"

What is an ahupua'a?

Ahupua'a is the name used to describe the traditional subdivisions of Hawaiian land prior to 1848. Hawaiians used to divide land from the top of the island down to the sea. The division, maybe like you would think of a county, started mauka (or up the mountain) and extended makai (towards the sea) and usually had a river or stream as its boundaries.

Why would the Hawaiians divide land like this?

Well, since the first Polynesians arrived in the islands well more than 1500 years ago, there were limited resources; meaning one had to survive off of what was provided. And the only ways of getting around were by outrigger canoes or on foot.

This meant that these new arrivals had to become self-sufficient in a hurry as there was not an abundance of resources. Over some period of time, they developed the system whereby land was divided vertically. This gave each group of people in an ahupua'a all the resources they needed to survive and eventually thrive.

For example, there were certain hardwoods such as koa that grew upland. From those trees were made outrigger canoe hulls amongst other uses. There were other trees in one's ahupua'a from whose bark the women made clothing. In the streams were a type of shrimp. And at all elevations grew various types of fruits and plants that were used for food and for medicines. Then of course the ocean provided an abundance of seafood.

Within the ahupua'a, the concept and practice was that the people had enough resources to live without encroaching on another ahupua'a and its people.

Koili Point is in the Papa'ikou ahupua'a. Like most of the topics I touch upon, there is much more under the iceberg than what I write about. I encourage you to research more!

Finally, I want to leave you with a Hawaiian Place Name and its translation. Today's place name (not surprising) is Ahupua'a. The word is actually a combination of ahu , meaning "heap", and puaʻa , which means pig. The boundary markers for an ahupuaʻa were traditionally heaps of stones upon which an offering, often a pig, was made to the island chief.

Aloha!

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If there are topics you would like to know more about in future blogs, kindly let me know at koilipoint@gmail.com. Mahalo! Len