Honu'apo Park Resource Management Plan

Thrum suggests that the pebbles for the pavement of the heiau came from the shore of Kāwā (Thrum in
Kelly 1980:5). The people working on the heiau became worn out and a conspiracy was soon formed
between the workers and the priests.
The temple was completed, and it only remained to carry a god up there. The divinity
was nothing but an ‘ōhi‘a tree of enormous size, which had been cut down in the forest
on Nīnole…Arriving at the base of the precipice, all pulled at the rope, but the god, either
by the contrivance of the priests or owing to the obstacles which the roughness of the
rock presented, ascended with only great difficulty. “The god will never come to the top
of the pali,” said the kahuna, “if the chief continues to walk before him; the god should
go first by right of power and the chief below, following, to push the lower end;
otherwise we shall never overcome his resistance.” The high chief Kohaokalani complied
with the advice of the priests, placed himself beneath the god, and pushed the end from
below. Instantly the priests and people let go the cord, and the enormous god rolled upon
the chief, crushing him at once. The death of Kohaokalani is attributed chiefly to the
kahuna (Remy in Stokes and Dye 1991:130).
One of the first historical references to Hīlea is from Ellis. The passage from his tour of Hawai‘i
covering Hīlea is as follows:
…About half-past eleven we reached Hilea, a pleasant village belonging to the governor.
As we approached it, we observed a number of artificial fish-ponds, formed by
excavating the earth to the depth of two or three feet, and banking up the sides. The sea is
let into them occasionally, and they are generally well stocked with excellent fish of the
mullet kind.
We went into the house of the head man, and asked him to collect the people
together, as we wished to speak to them about the true God. He sent out, and most of the
people of the village, then at home, about two hundred in number, soon collected in his
house, which was large, where Mr. Thurston preached to them. They appeared gratified
with what they had heard, and pressed us very much to spend the day with them. We
could not consent to this, as we had travelled but a short distance since leaving honuapo.
The head man then asked us to stop till he could prepare some refreshment; saying
he had hogs, fish, taro, potatoes, and banana in abundance…We ate a few ripe plantains
which he placed before us, and then took our leave…
As we left Hilea our guide pointed out a small hill, called Makanau, where Keoua,
the last rival of Tamehameha, surrendered himself up to the warriors under Taiana…
(Ellis 2004:196, 197).
Ellis stated that about two hundred people attended the sermon by Thurston. This is consistent with the
census report for 1835 that listed 238 people for Ka‘alāiki and Hīlea Nui together. Hīlea Iki was grouped
with Nīnole and Wailau for a total population of 330 in 1835 (Schmitt 1973:30).
In 1870, the Hilea Sugar Company was started (Mann and Bowen 1976). A sugar mill was built at
Hīlea in 1878 to accommodate the Hīlea Plantation, which was purchased by the Hutchinson Sugar
Plantation in 1890, and the mill at Hīlea was gone by 1907. In 1928, the plantation camps of the
Hutchinson Sugar Plantation were torn down and the residents were moved to Nā‘ālehu (Mann and Bowen
1976). The main residential area for Hīlea was mauka of Highway 11, where the main structures of the
Hutchinson Sugar Plantation were located. There was also a school in the mauka town of Hīlea. School
records for the district of Ka‘ū report that in 1865 there were 49 students.
As a result of the Māhele, Hīlea Nui was awarded to Leleiohoku as konohiki land (LCAw. 9971) and
consisted of 4,400 acres (Kelly 1980:51). With the exception of three LCAw. (9225-B, 10190, and 7733),
all kuleana awarded in Hīlea Nui were around the mauka town of Hīlea where the sugar mill was located.
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