Big Isle park preserves site of ancient settlement

Lapakahi State Historical Park is an excellent example of the type of ancient coastal village — estimated to be 700 years old — that marked the seaward edge of an ahupuaa. It is in North Kohala on Hawaii island in a relatively dry and windy area. A bluff above the village was probably used to spot the best opportunities for fishing and, perhaps, to scout for approaching enemies.

The park’s 262 acres are only a small portion of what was a series of villages that may have stretched for miles along this coast.

A winding path through Lapakahi consists of two loops that provide a good look at the major elements of an ancient Hawaiian village. A half-mile loop takes the visitor to a canoe storage area, salt-making and the major walled habitation complex along the shoreline of what’s known as Koai‘e Cove, according to the official park interpretive materials. Also along this trail is a large rock-filled platform that contained multiple burials.

But that’s not all. There is a house site that was abandoned in the early 1800s and later on became another burial site. One of the more fascinating exhibits is a halau waa. This was a thatched roof, long walled enclosure where canoes were stored. Further along is a reconstructed house site built with bamboo frame and pili grass thatching. This house was actually used into the early 1900s.

The shoreline at Lapakahi offered these settlers some challenges. Because there is no reef along most of this coastline, the sea can be pretty rough. That meant villagers had to approach fishing in a different way than countless other early Hawaiian villages where the nearshore water was calm enough to create fishponds. Here, it was a combination of shoreline fishing and canoe fishing. Thus the importance of the bluff above the village; it afforded the villagers the ability to spot when ocean conditions were just right for the best fishing.

According to the park experts, "From this bluff the fishermen could watch the changing signs of the ocean. The presence and movement of every bird, fish and marine mammals became very important. When schools of akule were spotted, nets were laid from the canoes to surround and catch the fish."

At the water’s edge is a stone monument to the fishing god Kuula. Offerings in the form of a portion of the day’s catch were placed at this shrine, and others like it, to ensure bountiful harvests from the sea in the future. The park says these shrines may have also served as a marker for fishermen to line up their fishing grounds with places onshore.

The 146 acres offshore of Lapakahi were designated a Marine Conservation District in 1979 because of the rich diversity of coral and fish along the North Kohala Coast. The boundary of this important preservation district extends 500 feet from the shoreline and an abundance of coral and fish are found near this boundary at a depth of 60 to 80 feet. According to park officials, the Lapakahi shoreline is mostly rocky lava with a few coral rubble beaches.

At one point on the trail visitors encounter a stone well that may foretell why the village was deserted some time in the 19th century. There was no nearby stream for freshwater, and so they built a well. Historians surmise that the water table may have dropped, thus hastening the withdrawal of the villagers.

No ancient Hawaiian village would be complete without a heiau and Lapakahi is no exception. Here, this open-air temple has an impressive retaining wall on a promontory overlooking Koai‘e Cove. The walls have been recently restored.

Along the trail, visitors will see plants that were sources of food, building materials, medicines and various implements. Many of these plants were brought to Hawaii by the early settlers from various areas of the Pacific. They filled their voyaging canoes with what are called canoe plants; taro, sweet potato, milo, coconut, pili grass and much more.

It is important to keep in mind that many of these villages consisted of fishermen, as mentioned, but also farmers who grew crops inland from the coastal villages. The major land division in ancient Hawaii, the wedge-shaped ahupuaa, was the original sustainable village.

At the upper elevations, trees were harvested to be used for structures and for canoes below; sweet potatoes and taro were the main crops grown in terraces formed by lengthy rock walls at midelevation; and fish were harvested along the shoreline and out into the ocean.

Preservation at Lapakahi allows us to see one of the best examples of an ancient sustainable community.

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Keep Hawaii Hawaii is a monthly column on island architecture and urban planning. Robert M. Fox, president of Fox Hawaii Inc., studied architecture in California and Japan. He was one of the founders of the Historic Hawai‘i Foundation in 1974. David Cheever, owner of David Cheever Marketing, has served on the boards of the Historic Hawai‘i Foundation and the Hawaii Architectural Foundation. Send comments to keephawaiihawaii@staradvertiser.com.