Wahi Pana:
An Exploration of Visual Culture and the Hawaiian Land

Introduction and Purposes of the Site
Many non-Hawaiians are surprised to learn of the importance of land to native Hawaiians. Western mass media often describe Pacific Islanders as "nomadic" or living "lightly on the land." This could not be farther from the truth. Pacific peoples were, in fact, sedentary agriculturalists before Europeans. Irrigated, terraced gardens were being constructed in New Guinea as early as 7000 BC. Thus, when people began to disperse from Melanesia in the following centuries, they carried with them the ideas and technologies of agriculture, as well as a reverence for the land and its potential. 
It is in this context that we may begin to appreciate many aspects of the history of visual culture of Hawai‘i over the last few centuries. Prior to contact in 1778 with haole (Europeans, foreigners), Hawaiians developed a stratified society, in which the landholding nobility used an array of mostly portable visual symbols to express their status. The nobles, chiefs, and especially the king, who emerged in the 1790s, also patronized the construction of temples, many of which were associated with the maintenance of earthly fertility. Even after the arrival of haole, the nobility managed to remain in power, due largely to its control of large plots of land. However, under pressure from the haole, Hawaiian lands were privatized in 1848, and increasingly, lands fell into haole hands. Even after this division, much land was still controlled by the crown, and monarchs continued to rule, using many of the ancient symbols of nobility. They also proclaimed the antiquity and legitimacy of their dominion by building on politically significant sites. Nevertheless, even substantial wealth could not protect the monarchy from the schemes of annexation plotted by haole. In 1893, the Hawaiian monarchy was forcibly overthrown, and a few years later, in 1898, the USA annexed Hawai‘i. Since the overthrow in 1893, native Hawaiians have been largely marginalized, especially with regard to their native lands. Many live in poverty, and others are homeless. However, because of a global atmosphere favoring de-colonization, many Hawaiians are now calling for the restoration of their lands and sovereignty. Today, Hawaiians march for sovereignty and enact rituals at what are termed wahi pana, "celebrated places." Through such performances, they hope to reclaim the land and the past and revitalize ties with the ancestors. 
This website is designed with two purposes in mind. First, it provides a basic introduction to the history and visual culture of Hawai‘i. Second, it examines the way in which sites and spaces are invested with meaning through the visual arts. We will look at how three different sites have been modified and reinterpreted. The first site, Keaiiwa heiau, is a precontact period temple on O‘ahu. The second is the ‘ Iolani Palace , also on O‘ahu, a nineteenth-century palace built by native rulers. The third site encompasses all of Polynesia , which is being revisited and unified through a revival in indigenous canoe voyaging. Site 1: Keaiiwa heiau, O’ahu Geography of the Hawaiian Islands 
The Hawaiian islands consist of a chain of eight major and many minor islands that formed in the middle of the Pacific Ocean , distant from large land masses. The islands of the group feature a dramatic landscape of eroded volcanic peaks interspersed with valleys of rich soil. Winds and ocean currents bring abundant rainfall and mild even climate, which supports diverse flora and fauna. Western scientists hypothesize that the origin of the islands is due to the passing of the earth’s crust over a "hot spot" in the mantle underneath. The southeasternmost of the islands, or Hawai‘i (the " Big Island "), still exhibits regular volcanic activity. Native Hawaiians, in contrast, attribute the origins of their lands to the union of two important sibling deities, Papa, or Mother Earth, and Waakea, or Father Sky. The islands are their progeny, and thus living, sacred beings. Colonization of Hawai‘i by Polynesians The initial colonization of the Hawaiian Islands took place as part of a remarkable epoch of exploration of the Pacific that began about 1500 BCE. At this time, Austronesian peoples from Melanesia began to sail eastward, island hopping to Fiji , Tonga and Samoa . In time, these peoples, who may be called ancestral Polynesians, continued eastward to the Cooks, Societies, and Marquesas Islands . These eastern groups of islands are the base from which voyages of discovery were launched to the three peripheral points of Polynesia : Aotearoa ( New Zealand ), Rapa Nui ( Easter Island ), and Hawai‘i. We know that some voyagers reached the coast of South America , because the sweet potato, which is a South American cultigen, is found in eastern Polynesia at least as early as 1200 AD. The first group of Polynesians to reach Hawai‘i probably hailed from the Marquesas Islands to the Southeast, arriving between 300 BC and 100 AD. Other voyagers from Tahiti arrived by 1000-1350 AD. The cultural development that made these amazing voyages possible was a complex of technology and knowledge associated with the ocean-going canoe. These ships were formidable catamaran-like vessels, with a cabin built on a platform that extended between twin wooden hulls. Efficient triangular sails provided propulsion. Ancient Polynesians brought with them on these colonizing voyages plants such as breadfruit and coconut, animals such as chickens and pigs, and most importantly oral traditions and technological knowledge that allowed them to forge successful societies in new lands. Although by the eighteenth century, Hawaiians no longer made long-distance voyages, huge double-hulled canoes were still used for transporting war parties. Precontact social structure and subsistence 
In the fertile valleys and rich fisheries of Hawai‘i, early Hawaiians found places to practice the agricultural and maritime skills they brought with them. They terraced and irrigated the land, planted sugarcane and taro (from which poi is made), built fishponds, and maintained populations of wild game and plants. By the eighteenth century, the population grew to between 300,000 and 1 million persons. As a result of competition over resources, a stratified social system developed. The system was based on strict class identification, determined by birth. The most exalted class was the ali‘i, or noble class. Below the ali‘i was the maka‘aainana, or commoners, and below this were the outcast slaves, or kuawa. The ali‘i class was dominated by a supreme chief who ruled an entire island. The power of a chief was determined both by genealogy and by personal ability to rule. Nobility traced their decent back to the gods, from whom they received their spiritual power or mana. Mana was concentrated in men whose bloodlines were the most pure; therefore the son of a brother-sister marriage was considered the most fit to rule. Personal ability to rule rested both on a chief’s personal charisma, and on his sacred character which allowed him to declare what was kapu (taboo). In Hawaiian thought, the establishment of kapu was sanctioned by the gods, and of great importance. Especially significant was the ‘aikapu, or "eating taboo," which restrained women from eating "masculine" foods (coconut, banana, pork, and certain red fish) and required separation of men and women during meals. Violations of kapu were tantamount to blasphemy and resulted in elaborate rites of purification or even execution. The high chief also achieved power through his right to administer lands and fishing areas. This was of crucial importance in the Hawaiian Islands , where land is scarce. In order that lands provided all necessary resources, including access to the ocean, the islands were divided in pie-shaped wedges that reached from the mountains to the sea. The borders of these districts, or ahupua‘a, were marked by altars, and were overseen by lesser chiefs. The chief required a regular tribute of produce, labor, and goods from the ahupua‘a under his control. In return, the chief (through advisers) oversaw their development, defended them, and redistributed food in times of disaster. Construction and use of Keaiiwa Heiau 
As a sacred person, the chief was responsible for invoking and communicating with the major deities. This "state religion" was focused on temples, or heiau, which were often commissioned by rulers. The main function of the heiau was to create a sacred setting or home for large wooden images of the deities, called ki‘i. Like many other cultures, the wooden images were thought of as receptacles for divine essences (mana) during ritual invocation. During these ceremonies, the kaahuna (priests) presented offerings to the gods, in hopes of receiving divine guidance, protection, and sustenance. In some heiau, kaahuna sacrificed men. Such sacrifices were sanctioned by Hawaiian cosmology, and were designed to offer spiritual power or mana to the god. Thus, the preferred victim was a captive of high status, preferably ali‘i. In other heiau, animal, food, or flower offerings were given. Four major gods, to whom many heiau were dedicated, were venerated by all Hawaiians: 
Kuu, the god of fishing, war, canoe building, and sorcery 
Kaane, the god of virility, irrigated agriculture, fishponds, and sorcery 
Lono, the god of non-irrigated agriculture, fertility, birth, and medicine 
Kanaloa, the god of ocean travel and death 
There were a number of deities worshipped exclusively by chiefs, and others specific to various occupations, such as fishermen, thieves, and bird catchers. The people looked to the kaahuna who administered the heiau for a variety of specialized services, such as weather prediction, guidance for planting and harvesting, and healing. 
Keaiiwa Heiau is a good example of a relatively small heiau, presumably built under the direction of a chief. It is located above Pearl Harbor , on the island of O ‘ahu. Like many other heiau, it was designed as a ceremonial precinct, open to the sky and bounded by a rectangular wall. The volcanic stone used to build the structure was obtained locally, and was not cut or dressed, but rather fitted by trial and error and without mortar. The perimeter walls of Keaiiwa Heiau measure about 100 by 160 feet. If it was like other heiau, the stone walls probably supported a wooden fence. Various grass-covered huts would have been constructed within. The main one would have been a hale mana, or house of spiritual power, conceived as a home for the resident god. Heiau also often included a drum house, where ritual instruments were kept, and an oven house, used to prepare sacrifices. Wickerwork towers were sometimes built, for the purpose of receiving divine oracular messages. Often a small banana altar (or lele) for holding offerings was placed near the towers. Finally, the god images usually guarded the entrances and protected the altar. From what remains of Keaiiwa Heiau, we can be sure of very little of its structure and ceremonial use. The various stone rings and altars now seen within the original enclosure were constructed after mid-1951, when the heiau was "rediscovered." Only the perimeter wall and parts of one dividing wall are original, as shown in the plan. 
Contact, the Great Death, and the abandonment of sacred sites 
Before the arrival of the English in the late eighteenth century, Hawai‘i was divided into independent chiefdoms. Nevertheless, certain chiefs had envisioned the unification of the archipelago long before this time, at least as early as 1450-75. And indeed, frequent marriages between the chiefdoms of the islands had virtually unified the ali‘i in a single family. By the late eighteenth century, several chiefs had begun to conduct wars of conquest, assimilating the territory of their neighbors. It was in this situation that an opportunistic leader from Hawai‘i Island named Kamehameha grew up. Also arriving on the scene in 1778 was the English explorer Captain Cook, who stumbled upon the islands while searching for the elusive Northwest Passage between the Atlantic and Pacific. Although the Hawaiians killed Cook soon after this encounter, his crew left behind an important legacy, including technology of guns and ships, and diseases to which the Hawaiians had little immunity. Through clever alliances with Europeans and supported by guns, Kamehameha engaged rival chiefs in bloody conflict. In fact, two of the first non-Polynesians to settle in Hawai‘i, English sailors Young and Davis, were enlisted by Kamehameha as military advisers in 1790. By 1796, all islands except Kaua‘i and Ni‘ihau were united under Kamehameha. In 1810 Kaua‘i finally submitted through peaceful negotiation. Despite its tumultuous birth, the kingdom founded by Kamehameha endured until it was overthrown in 1893. Kamehameha ruled the new united kingdom in a traditional fashion until his death in 1819. Sacrifices were still conducted, and heiau remained in good repair. However, a strict adherence to traditions did nothing to stem the waves of virulent diseases that repeatedly swept through the population. In fact, to one of Kamehameha’s surviving wives, Ka‘ahumanu, it seemed to be a likely cause. After all, Europeans and Americans visiting and living in Hawai‘i violated kapu with no ill effect. Her response was to initiate a cultural revolution, toppling the old gods and breaking kapu. Her final triumph came when she convinced Kamehameha’s son and heir Liholiho (Kamehameha II) to break the ‘ai kapu, by eating with women. This act signaled the end of the old order, leaving Hawai‘i open to exploitation by foreign powers, especially those of Calvinist missionaries from New England , who arrived in 1820. Capitalizing on the spiritual vacuum and terror of disease, the missionaries undertook a rapid conversion of the populace, casting Ka‘ahumanu as a "Christian Queen." Royal children were indoctrinated in mission school. The descendants of the first missionaries quickly rose in power to become an oligarchic enclave, controlling the political and economic life of Hawai‘i through its native monarchs for generations. Destruction of the heiau 
A major effect of the cultural revolution and subsequent conversion to Christianity, was the abandonment of heiau, and a shifting of focus to the new Christian churches. Major god images that were not destroyed by iconoclasts in 1819 or later sold to European and American collectors, quickly succumbed to termites and fungus. Without chiefly support, the hales, altars, and other structures decomposed, and stone walls were dislodged by tree roots. Keaiiwa Heiau suffered the additional misfortune of being located on good agricultural land; hence, it has been further mutilated by extensive plowing. Still later, around World War II, American soldiers plundered the heiau for construction materials. Thus, through active and passive destruction, the heiau was "lost" and forgotten. 
 
REF: Marty Martins via private email