The City and County of Honolulu recently announced two beaches on the North Shore of Oʻahu will have their original names restored as their official names — Pounders Beach and Laʻie Beach Park will become Pahumoa and Laʻielohelohe, respectively.
This comes after the city erected a sign bearing the name Hūnānāniho at the entrance of what has previously been officially known as Waimānalo Bay Beach Park — or Sherwoods, as many locals call it.
The Conversation was curious about the meaning behind the original name, and the history of the area, so we spoke to Waimānalo native Kalani Kalima to get the story.
RUSSELL SUBIONO: Can you share with our listeners, the meaning of the name?
KALANI KALIMA: So going off of Pounders Beach and everything else, we met with area kupuna Cy Bridges, who had shared with us the original name, which was Pahumoa, named after the konohiki (the person chosen by the chief to oversee a portion of land) of that area, which was his grandfather. And La’ielohelohe, as we all know the mo’olelo (story, myth, legend, history), or for those that don't know the mo’olelo, La’ielohelohe laieikawai, made famous in song and in chat and is really pili (connected) to that area. So I had helped out to draft that resolution to change the name. I also helped to draft the resolution to change the name from Sherwoods toHūnānāniho. And the thing about that is that when we look at the history of the area, and how it was taken, you know, it was once crown lands. And then a portion was taken out so that could be given for Bellows and then the eventual return to become a state park, and from the state, we went over to become a city park. Now when it was the state, and it was transitioning, that is when they ended up using an archaeologist to look it up, to find out what's going on, and that is when he found a lot of burials, a lot of iwi (bones). So he had actually put it on top of the list of historic places, and we utilize that in order to protect the area.
SUBIONO: I remember in 2019, the city attempted to start construction of a new athletic field there at Hūnānāniho, a decision that was protested by a large portion of the community, and ultimately scrapped last year. Can you remind our listeners, why those community members felt it was important to prevent that area from being developed in that way? I know iwi kupuna was a big reason. Is there any idea how many iwi are out there? And in addition to being a burial site, were there other reasons why the community wanted to keep it preserved the way it is?
KALIMA: Well, according to the archaeological finds, Waimānalo has some of the earliest habitation sites in all of Hawaiʻi, and they got a lot of artifacts that date back to the Marquesas to Nuku Hiva. And there's no place else in Hawaiʻi, that has those artifacts, so that goes to the earliest of migrations. And you know when we look at human migration in general, Hawaiʻi, Aotearoa, Iceland were the very fringes, the very last areas to be migrated to. So we believe that not only did that showcase how important this is for us, all of Hawaiʻi, and especially the kānaka maoli (Native Hawaiian) and the kānaka ʻōiwi (Native Hawaiian) of the area. It also had the oldest graveyards, and that is what we utilize to try and protect the area. Not just because of the iwi but also the historical and cultural sites that was there. That is still there. We understand the history — that this was a part of the Bellows complex, and that the military had bulldozed a long-standing graveyard. But what they did was they ended up spreading the graveyard, even further, and making it even larger. So more so we felt it important to try and protect whatever was leftover.
SUBIONO: What are the community’s plans to protect the area? Is it just to kind of leave it as it is, or are there plans down the road to maybe restore some of the history there?
KALIMA: You know the great part was going back to the community and having these community meetings that everybody was, you know, we try to invite everybody by, you know, social media, putting up fliers at Shima’s and other places and just trying to spread the word. And for those that came, they were able to pretty much set up what are some of the things that, that they can foresee would be in the best interest of all people. The community, the kānaka, and the general public. So we had showcased those to the mayor, and everybody else, you know: this is what the community wants. This is how they want to see us moving forward. And I believe those meetings went pretty well. So right now we had to change the name. Yeah, everybody knew it as Waimanalo Bay Beach Park. A lot of people remember the old nickname which is Sherwood's which stood for Sherwood Forest, as everybody knows the moʻolelo of Robin Hood, somebody who would steal from the rich and give to the poor. The reason why they ended up utilizing that was because in the 70s when the Robin Hood TV show was popular. It was also a place where, you know, people would steal, you know, doing the nefarious things in the forests. So in order to change that, you have to change the narrative, in order to change it into a positive. It's kind of like Nānākuli, if you look at the moʻolelo of Nānākuli, and what the community wanted to do in creating Nānāikapono (Elementary School), we wanted to do the same thing we wanted to take something that was a negative and change it into a positive so that we can bring more life, more ola, into the area.
SUBIONO: I love that idea. And I love that these beaches are getting their names restored. And can you elaborate more on the process that you went through, the community went through to be able to restore the original place names? Did you have to file some paperwork? Were there hearings that had to happen?
KALIMA: So first we went back, you know, we had met amongst ourselves, the community of Waimānalo and anybody who had wanted to be a part of this movement to protect that area. And you know we had done our own research and we had found out that Waimānalo, and there's many of us that have known this for years — Waimānalo had their own puʻuhonua (place of refuge). So, a puʻuhonua is someplace that is sanctified by not only the kahu (guardian, keeper), or the ones that ensure the sanctity of the places is followed, the protocols is followed. So you need a kahu, and you need iwi. So, Hūnānāniho, our puʻuhonua, when we looked at Waimānalo, and we looked at the area that we were in, knowing that there are a lot of iwi over there, knowing that there was a resurgence of understanding that we had, the people had stepped forward to be the kahu. So if you look at that, and you understand that, Honolulu, you know on Oʻahu, there's six moku (land divisions, districts). And back in the 1800s, they had changed the moku of Kona to Honolulu, but when you look at the history, and understand that, Honolulu was actually named after an ʻili (a smaller division of land within a larger division of land) and konohiki of that area, it wasn't a name for the whole place, used to be called Ko. They changed the narrative, they changed the name to make it fitting for that area. And we felt that utilizing research, utilizing the teaching of our kupuna (elders). We looked at utilizing the other name, Hūnānāniho. And what does that mean? You know there’s different researchers that went out and found Haununaniho, Puanananiho, Hūnānāniho, but I really like the explanation from Kumu Hula Frank Kawai Hewett who had shared with us that to Hūnānāniho, it means to lay secret as something that is so sacred, something that is so personal, as one’s teeth. So niho means teeth. So, when we met with a larger public, we talked to everyone and we wrote down all of the notes we got all of that, all of the breakout sessions and everything else, we wrote down everyone’s manaʻo (desire). And when we talk to the former Mayor Caldwell, he finally understood what we were saying. You know, we were saying all this time, that this is someplace that is sacred. It’s the earliest habitation sites, it’s the earliest graveyard in all of Hawaiʻi. So for people, for Americans who celebrate the coming of the pilgrims and celebrate Plymouth Rock, this is our Plymouth Rock. For Christians that talk about kinohi (beginning) or the Genesis, this is our Genesis. We're Maoli people throughout the Pacific. Kamawananuiakea, kamawananuiakane. And when we came to Hawaiʻi, that's when we was pili to this ʻāina (land). So, with all of that understanding, we move forward to share this. And we created a resolution last year. That didn't go forward from our prior council member Ikaika Anderson. He stopped that process from going forward. But we were blessed with Councilwoman Esther Kiaʻāina, and others to look at this process and to see the importance of it going forward.
SUBIONO: From what I read the council voted unanimously to rename the park, which I think is very symbolic of a renewed understanding of cultural identity. And, and I feel like these, renaming of the beaches are, it's kind of a part of a broader restoration of our culture. What would you say to someone who doesn't understand why it's important to local communities that names are getting replaced or restored with their traditional place name? what would you say to those people who don't quite understand?
KALIMA: All we can do is share the aloha that we have for this ʻāina, and like you had shared, restore the names. You know, if we look at names of places, you will understand the process that happened to it. Now all we have to do is share with people the history prior to that, because I'm good with having all of those names but starting with original names. Because all of those different names share a portion of who came in, you know, in the 40s had this people came over here, he was surfing over here and the sets are so long, and they reminded him of the story of the Great Wall of China. And that is how we call it China Walls. Hey, that’s a great story. No different than naming your child, your child should understand what is the context, what is the background, so that when they speak about themselves and share their name, they can share it with pride, because they have the knowledge of it. So when we looking at today's names, nicknames. The key is to just be open-minded, then just know, ʻAʻohe pau ka ʻike i ka hālau hoʻokahi, not all knowledge is received in one source. Once you can, we can hold that dear, then you can humble yourself in knowing that even though you may know a lot, you may not know it all. And it allows us to be open to learn from other sources, who share manaʻo with others, so that we can get a better understanding and appreciation and I believe that's what's going on, and the City Council, they're getting and that's awesome, they're listening to the people, and that's awesome. You know, let us continue to build this relationship so that it can be beneficial for everybody.
SUBIONO: Thank you so much for your time Kalani, appreciate it.
KALIMA: Mahalo nui.
This interview has been edited for clarity. It aired on The Conversation on Sept. 15, 2021.
