Mahalo to Anakala Butch Helemano, other kūpuna of the area, and Sites of Oʻahu for this collection of manaʻo.

Pūpūkea

Pūpūkea is the name of the ahupuaʻa (traditional Hawaiian land division, from “reef to ridges”) that includes the MLCD. The name Pūpūkea means “white shell” and refers to a traditional octopus lure.

Kapoʻo

Kapoʻo is the traditional name for the entire tidepools and cove or “Sharks Cove” area, including the area makai of the fire station. Kapoʻo means “loud echoing sound, as of a heavy object falling into water, or of waves booming.” During the winter, the high surf pounds the outer rock “walls” and shoreline of the area, creating booms that amaze visitors and can often be heard by residents in the Pūpūkea plateau.

Sharks Cove

The name “Sharks Cove” has a more recent history. There are two common theories on how the area got this name. One theory states that fishermen claimed that they caught sharks whenever they fished in the cove. The other theory is associated with the old railroad that used to go around the island at the turn of the century. Supposedly, when the train used to stop off near the cove to dump cattle into the water (it is unknown why), the carcasses would attract sharks to the area. There are also accounts of a butchery across the street that would dispose of the carcasses in the cove, and that the people going by on the train would often see sharks.

Rock Quarry
In 1929, C.W. Windstedt was given a contract to build Kamehameha Highway from Waimea Bay to Kahuku. In 1930, he built a rock quarry at Pūpūkea, the site of the tidepools, to produce rock and gravel. In 1932, the facility was abandoned. In April of 1953, the Catholic mission converted some of the quarry buildings into St. Peter and Paul Church, which overlooks Waimea Bay. The quarry storage bin was converted into a church tower and is now one of the most famous landmarks on the North Shore. Over one hundred years later, the shallow tidepool and the adjacent cove are the piko or center (nursery) for marine life of the Pūpūkea Marine Life Conservation District.

Kulalua
The point between Pūpūkea and Ke Iki is called Kulalua (two points). This is the northern boundary of the MLCD. Standing at Kulalua are a series of prominent boulders called Nā Ukali O Pele (Pele’s Followers).

Nā Ukali O Pele (Pele’s Followers)
According to Sites of Oʻahu, when the goddess Pele arrived here from Tahiti (some think Samoa since Pele is a Samoan name), she landed on Ni‘ihau first, then Kauaʻi, and eventually found a place to keep her fires at Kīlauea. After digging on each island and reaching the seawater, she eventually found Hawaiʻi, where she dug with her o‘o (staff) and did not reach water. There, she found a home for her fire. In Panaʻewa, she planted her staff, and it became a tree.

Passing through the island of O‘ahu, Pele tried her oʻo (called Pāoa) at Leahi (known today as Diamond Head), Aliamanu (known today as Salt Lake), and Makapu‘u. While sailing through Pūpūkea, Pele came across a family watching her from the reef at Kulalua. One version of the story says to immortalize them, she turned them to stone.  The other says she was angered at them being ni‘ele (nosey), so she turned them into stone. The large boulders are known as Nā ukali O Pele, the followers of Pele. Their names are Paka‘a, Kuapaka‘a (son of Paka’a), ‘O’opuhalakoʻa, Holoholoua, and Holoholomakani (these last two are boys, who as they came along quarreling, reminded one of the wind and rain), and Kaʻalenui and Kaʻaleiki (two other boys, sons of Hina Alualumoana and Kapunakea).

For hundreds of years, these large upright boulders stood as sentinels of the ahupuaʻa. During the 1960s, a huge winter wave knocked over the boulders and flooded nearby residents. Today, the massive boulders mark the northern boundary of the MLCD and still stand watch over the area.

Kalua O Maua

Kalua O Maua means Ka lua (the hole/pit) O Maua (of Maua). Popularly known as “Three Tables” due to the three large table-like reef outcroppings, Kalua O Maua was an important area in ancient times for the gathering of water. Underwater freshwater springs still bubble up from the ocean floor within the small cove area.

Fresh water (wai hou) was essential for life in ancient Hawaiʻi. Access to fresh water was allocated and shared. Because Hawaiʻi has no natural lakes, ancient Hawaiians depended entirely on rain for fresh water. In times of drought, water was collected in caves and puna wai or springs. Another way that Native Hawaiians collected fresh water was to dive in the ocean and collect upwelling water from freshwater springs in submerged gourds.

The moʻolelo (story) of Kalua O Maua speaks to this special place and the vital nature of this traditional water gathering practice. Living close to the ‘apapa (reef) was a fisherman and his wife, Maua. One night, the wife went fishing. Not being able to see her from their home, the man went looking on the reef for his wife. He found her in the form of stone floating on the reef. It is said that whenever this stone is found, there is fresh water in the ocean. Tradition says that whenever you saw Māua “floating” (the exposed table-like reef tops), you would find fresh water bubbling up from the ocean bed.

Waimea

Waimea means sacred/reddish wai or water. Waimea Valley, still known as the “valley of the priests,” was originally part of the larger moku (district) of Ko‘olauloa but was added to the district of Waialua in the 1800s. The ha‘i ‘ōlelo (oral history) of Waimea, according to Hawaiian historian Sam Kamakau (who was from Waialua, O‘ahu), begins with the high chief Kama Pua‘a. According to traditional history, Kama Pua‘a was given a gift from the Kahuna Nui (high priest) Kahiki‘ula. This took place sometime in the eleventh century. The gift was all the lands that begin with the word Wai. Prior to this time, little is known about the kānaka (Native Hawaiians) who lived in the ahupua‘a of Waimea. The valley may have been settled as early as 400 A.D.

The ahupuaʻa (traditional divisions of land from mountain to sea) of Waimea and Pūpūkea were given to the Papa Kahuna (priestly class) in perpetuity. Since the eleventh century, the Kahuna Nui (high priests) ruled over the valley.

In 1795, Kamehameha took control of the island of O‘ahu and gave Waimea Valley to his Kahuna Nui, whose name was Hewahewa. He was the last kahuna to preside over the temples (heiau) in the valley. Hewahewa died in 1837 and is buried in Waimea Valley. In 2016, his lineal descendants reunited when the Puʻukua parcel where he is buried was acquired from a private landowner and became protected land through the efforts of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, the Trust for Public Land, and community members.

The valley is surrounded by three major heiau. Pu‘u O Mahuka, located on the pu‘u (bluff) called Keanaloa, located on and accessible through the Pūpūkea plateau, was built by Kaopulupulu, the Kahuna Nui who lived in the valley in the 1700s. Kūpopolo Heiau, located on the Haleʻiwa side of the outer entrance to the valley, was also built under the direction of the Kahuna Nui Kaopulupulu. Ke Ahu Hapu‘u, another sacred site (discussed below), located on the water’s edge at the southwestern side of Waimea Bay, is dedicated to the shark god Kaneaukai. Pu‘o o Mahuka and Kupopolo are considered to be human sacrificial temples, and Kaneaukai is a fishing shrine or temple.

In 1779, Captain Cook’s ships, the Resolution and the Discovery, landed in Waimea Bay. The ships anchored in the bay after Cook was killed in Kealakekua. Looking for water, the crew members were the first white men to set foot on the island of O‘ahu.

Waimea hosted a large settlement of Native Hawaiians, though the actual number of inhabitants is unknown. With an almost constant water source and abundant fishing grounds, in addition to the cultivation of traditional foods, the ahupuaʻa of Waimea was an example of the Polynesian method of managing natural resources “reef to ridges.”

During the 1800s, Waimea Bay became the sandalwood “capital.” Huge cargo ships would anchor offshore to load sandalwood that had been plundered from the forests above. By the 1830s, sandalwood was beginning to disappear. The sandalwood trade soon came to grinding to a halt.

In 1898, a deluge of water in the form a huge flood drove the inhabitants from Waimea Valley. Most of them moved to the beach area and eventually moved away due to the flooding.

Kāne Aukai
One of the most important ancestral gods on the North Shore is Kāne Aukai, an aumakua or ancestral god. The Ke Ahu O Hapu‘u temple (also the name of the bluff) is located on the southern point of Waimea Bay. The hapuʻu is a type of sea bass. The tradition of Kāne Aukai begins in the distant past.

Once there lived two Kahuna who were also lawaiʻa or fishers. One raised ʻawa and the other grew ‘uala or sweet potatoes. One day, they both went fishing in the bay and, after many tries, they came up empty. Time after time, they dropped their ‘upena (net) but did not catch any iʻa (fish). Ready to call it a day, on the last try, they pulled in their net and found a pohaku (stone) and one fish. They threw back the fish and also the stone, which was the size of a human head. Later that night, they both had a moe-uhane (dream). The next morning, one of them said, “Last night I had dream.” The other man said, “I too had a dream. I dreamed that the stone said he was cold and asked me to pull him out of the ocean.” To their surprise, they had dreamed the same dream.

The next day, they went fishing and retrieved the stone. They began to build a heiau in honor of the sacred pohaku. In the dream, the stone said that his body was in Waialua. They retrieved the wooden body from Waialua (it was a large piece of driftwood in the form of a human body) and united it with the stone head. As a reward for their building the temple in his honor, Kāne Aukai brought an abundance of fish to the Waimea district. For many years and still today, Waimea was famous for its multitude of fish species. The temple is still standing and respected by traditional practitioners.

Kūpolopolo
Located on the Waimea Valley bluff on the Haleʻiwa side toward the cliff is a large heiau called Kūpopolo. The Kahuna Nui Kaopulupulu built this temple in the1700s. The aliʻi nui of that time was a cruel chief called Kahahana. He directed the Kahuna Nui Kaopulupulu to construct the temple in order to detect war from Kauaʻi. The term Kūpopolo means to see with the eyes closed. Kaopulupulu was a great prophet and oracle, but the Kahuna was unable to “see” a sign of war because the heiau was too low on the horizon. He decided to build a new temple on the other (Pūpūkea) side of the valley called Pu‘u O Mahuka. This temple was built high on the cliff known as Keanaloa. Pu‘o o Mahuka is the largest war temple used for human sacrifice still standing today on Oʻahu.

Wai Puʻuone
Waimea is a famous place for surfing (he‘enalu). One of the most common forms of traditional water sports was known as Wai Pu‘uone. When the river (muliwai) was blocked by sand bars, the ancient Hawaiians rode the waves on their boards up the sand dunes and into the river mouth. Depending on how high the dunes were, it could prove to be a hair-raising event.

‘Iliahi
In 1782, Kahekili, the high chief of Maui, conquered O‘ahu and disposed of the cruel chief known as Kahahana. From this time on, the kanaka (people) of the valley of Waimea were mandated to pick a “picul” a day per person or suffer the wrath of the konohiki (chief of the valley who oversaw the high chief’s kanawai or laws). A picul was 138 pounds of ‘iliahi or sandalwood. This kanawai or law was imposed on men, women, and able children. The once-peaceful beach head became a busy staging area for the sandalwood sold at high prices to foreign markets around the world.

By 1836, all of the sandalwood was gone. The once-bustling harbor of Waimea was abandoned and the sandalwood trade era came to an abrupt end, bringing peace to the remaining kanaka.

However, deforestation caused erosion. Eventually, a huge flood in 1894 destroyed most of the house sites and agricultural areas and drove most of the inhabitants of Waimea to the shore and eventually out of the valley for fear of more severe flooding. As much as 12 feet of sediment was said to have been deposited, burying most of the near-shore agricultural terraces at the mouth of the river.

Maʻi Pākē
Leprosy (Hansen’s Disease), called ma‘i pākē, came to Hawaiʻi at the turn of the century. The north valley of Waimea Valley was home to a leprosy colony for several years. Eventually, all of the leprosy “patients” were banished to Kalaupapa on Molokai. This disease, like other diseases, was introduced to Hawaiʻi by haole (foreigners).

Pohaku Lele
In the mid-1900s, sand was mined from Waimea kahakai (beach). The sand was used to make Waikīkī Beach and other resort areas. This mining exposed a large rock to ocean water. Today, this huge rock out-cropping is the famous “jump rock” at Waimea Bay that is enjoyed by thousands of people every year.

Puʻu Kilo Iʻa
Waimea had several areas famous for fish-watching. On the Waialua side of the bay is Kalakoi, a place used in ancient times to look for fish. A person called a kilo i‘a or fish spotter sat on this rock and acted as a spotter for fishermen. Located on the Kahuku side of the bay is another famous rock called Kalaku used for fish sightings. These fish-spotting areas are also known as Pu‘u kilo i‘a.