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Koholālele Landing
Koholālele Landing, circa 1900. Hawaiʻi State Archives.
Ke Awa Pae o Koholālele: A Brief History of Koholālele Landing
Portion of Reg. Map No. 683 of Koholālele, 1863 by S. C. Wiltse.
Koholālele Landing, known to many today as “Paʻauilo Landing,” is one of Hāmākua’s oldest and most storied landing places. Located in the ahupuaʻa of Koholālele, Hāmākua, Koholālele Landing was constructed by the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi in the 1860s to serve as a landing and loading place for ships carrying goods to and from the area. In its early days, it appears that fire wood and cattle were among the more common goods being transported from Koholālele Landing, but eventually sugar would become the primary good of export at the landing, as sugar cane production increased throughout Hāmākua. Eventually though, use of the landing was discontinued, as it gained a reputation for being very dangerous, and as ground transportation made shipping out of Hilo and Kawaihae more feasible.
Prior to ships and sugarcane, however, Koholālele was well-known as a puʻuhonua, a sacred place of refuge. The cliffs of Koholālele were famous, known in moʻolelo to be a place where the akua sisters on Maunakea—Poliʻahu, Lilinoe, and Kalauakolea—would frequent, waiting to entice unsuspecting passerbys to ascend the mountain with them. These high cliffs were also celebrated in mele, songs and chants, as favored places for fishermen to descend to the sea by rope, to fish or gather ʻopihi. Here, in Koholālele, is also where the moʻolelo of the great aliʻi of Hāmākua, ʻUmi-a-Līloa, as his father the great Hawaiʻi island aliʻi nui, Līloa, came to Koholālele before meeting ʻUmi's mother, Akahi-a-kuleana, in Hōʻea.
Prior to ships and sugarcane, however, Koholālele was well-known as a puʻuhonua, a sacred place of refuge. The cliffs of Koholālele were famous, known in moʻolelo to be a place where the akua sisters on Maunakea—Poliʻahu, Lilinoe, and Kalauakolea—would frequent, waiting to entice unsuspecting passerbys to ascend the mountain with them. These high cliffs were also celebrated in mele, songs and chants, as favored places for fishermen to descend to the sea by rope, to fish or gather ʻopihi. Here, in Koholālele, is also where the moʻolelo of the great aliʻi of Hāmākua, ʻUmi-a-Līloa, as his father the great Hawaiʻi island aliʻi nui, Līloa, came to Koholālele before meeting ʻUmi's mother, Akahi-a-kuleana, in Hōʻea.
View North from Koholālele Landing - Photo by N. Peralto, 2012.
Koholālele is an extremely important place, and it remains as such for kamaʻāina of Hāmākua today. This ʻāina’s name, Koholālele, “the leeping humpback whale,” alludes to many of the reasons why kamaʻāina of this place understood it to be so important. In the ocean, the koholā (humpback whale) migrates each year between the cold waters of the north and the warm waters of Hawaiʻi. Throughout this journey, the koholā releases sacks of mucus, called hūpē koholā, in which ʻōhua, baby fish, like that of the manini, live until they reach maturity. As these hūpē koholā float throughout the ocean, they act as seed banks, replenishing the sea with new generations of fish. In this way, the place, Koholālele, served the spiritual function of ensuring the abundance of the ocean and its many resources. Laʻa Koholālele. Koholālele is sacred—from its most ma uka boundary at Puʻu o Kiha on the slopes of Maunakea, to the depths of its rugged seas—and it requires our care and protection.
Historical Accounts of Koholālele Landing
Koholālele Landing, from Richard Nelsonʻs "Notes on Wire Landings."
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"Notes on Wire Landings"
To learn more about wire landings like Koholālele Landing, and how they were utilized, check out Richard Nelson's "Notes on Wire Landings Along Hamakua Coast on the Island of Hawaii," published in the Hawaiian Journal of History, 1974. 
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"Pii ke kai ma Hamakua." - Ka Nupepa Kuokoa - Nov. 30, 1867. Click on image to see the entire newspaper!
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PIʻI KE KAI MA HĀMĀKUA. - Ua haʻi mai ʻo J. W. Keaomakani iā mākou, i ke kai koʻo nui ma Hāmākua, Hawaiʻi. Ma ka pō ʻo ka lā 14 o Novemaba iho nei, ua lohe ʻia aku la ke ʻolēʻolēhala ʻole mai o ka leo o ke kai i nā pali o Hāmākua, ʻaʻole no kā hoʻi i kana mai, ke hele la a "paoa ka lau o ka niu, mōhala ka lau o ka naʻenaʻe," i kā ua mea he kūpikipikiō o ke kai. ʻO ka uapo hoʻi kēia o Koholālele, ua haohia aku la e ke kai, ʻaʻole he wahi paukū lāʻau hoʻokahi i koe iho, ʻaʻole nō hoʻi ke kauwahi ʻāpana napa. He uapo hou nō kēia, ʻo ka hana ʻia ʻana iho nei, a ʻo ka pūlumi koke ʻia iho nei no kā ia e ke kai. He keu nō kā kēia o kahi ʻino nui wale, a maliʻa nō paha i hoʻoiloilo mai ai ka poʻe kahiko, i ka ʻī ana mai;
"A [Koholālele] pau ka ʻino a ka makani, Hao kōʻala ka ʻino a [ke Aʻeloa] &c." |
THE SEA RISES AT HĀMĀKUA. - J. W. Keaomakani told us about the raging seas at Hāmākua, Hawaiʻi. On the night of this past 14th of November, the unmistakable, incessant ranting of the voice of the sea was heard upon the cliffs of Hāmākua. There was nothing like it! It was as if "the leaves of the coconut were cresting, and the leaves of the naʻenaʻe were unfurling," displaying truly what an agitated sea is. This was the landing of Koholālele, and it was destroyed by the sea. No piece of wood remained. Not even a small bent piece. This was a new landing that had recently been built, and it was completely swept away by the sea. This was an extremely large storm, and that is perhaps why the people of old predicted this kind of misfortune, declaring;
"At Koholālele, everything is destroyed by the gales of wind, as the Aʻeloa wind forcefully rips through..." * Note: Translation by N. Peralto. |
Koholālele Landing, Nov. 2013 - Photo by N. Peralto
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Dug out ramp to Landing - Photo by Keoni Bailado
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"Ke Awa o Koholālele." Ka Nupepa Kuokoa. Dec. 7, 1867. Click on image to see full newspaper!
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THE LANDING OF KOHOLĀLELE.
It is being talked about among the people, that this landing is being dug out again. To be sure, it is being done well. Three months remain, and the tiring work of the people digging the landing of Honomalino will be finished. Their work was recommended by the Minister of the Interior who came to visit. |
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Click HERE to see what HuiMAU is doing to care for Koholālele Landing!
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