Nanakuli from the back of the valley near Palehua and Pali kea.
Previous research in to the traditional history and mythology of Nānākuli Valley has revealed a dearth of information. A common perception is that Nānākuli was a poor land with little agriculture, forcing the few residents to instead rely on marine resources.
One translation of the naming of the ahupua‘a, which seems to support this perception, is that Nānākuli means, “to look deaf” (Sterling & Summers 1978: 61-2). This is said to refer to the behavior of Nānākuli residents, who, embarrassed about not being able to offer food to passing strangers, pretended to be deaf.
Cultural specialist, Mary Pukui Kawena, relates a story told to her in 1945:
"Simeona Nawa‘a came in to the [Bishop] Museum and sat down to talk to me. In the course of the conversation he told me these things:
Nanakuli - it was Kanui, a native woman of Wai‘anae who told him why this place was so named. In the olden days, this place was sparsely inhabited because of the scarcity of water. The fishing was good but planting very poor. When it rained, some sweet potatoes would be put into the ground, but the crops were always poor and miserable.
There were a few brackish pools from which they obtained their drinking water and it is only when they went to the upland of Wai‘anae that they were able to get fresh water. They carried the water home in large calabashes hung on mamaka or carrying sticks and used their water very carefully after they got it home. They spent most of their time fishing and most of the fish they caught were dried as gifts for friends and relatives in the upland. Sometimes they carried dried and fresh fish to these people in the upland and in exchange received poi and other vegetable foods. As often as not, it was the people of the upland who came with their products and went home with fish.
Because of the great scarcity of water and vegetable food, they were ashamed to greet passing strangers. They remained out of sight as much as possible. Sometimes they met people before they were able to hide, so they just looked at strangers with expressionless faces and acted as though they were stone deaf and did not hear the greeting. This was so that the strangers would not ask for water which they did not have in that locality.
The strangers would go to other places and mention the peculiar, deaf people who just stared and they would be told that the people were not deaf but ashamed of their inability to be hospitable. So the place they lived was called Nana, or “look”, and kuli, “deaf” - that is, Deaf mutes who just look." [Sterling & Summers 1978: 61-62, referring to Hawaiian Ethnological Notes at the B.P. Bishop Museum, March 6, 1945]
An old time resident of the area, Wm. Z. H. Olepau, reported other explanations for the meaning of Nānākuli on March 20, 1933:
"There were two women who went up the hill of Pu‘u Hakila or Pu‘u Hela to dry their Kapas [tapa cloth]. While the kapas were being dried they left and went down the hill to the pool for some water. They heard dogs barking, so they stood, looking around for the barking was deafening."
A further explanation of the name Nānākuli is reprinted from Thrum’s Hawaiian Annual, ([1922: 87] in Sterling and Summers [1978:62]):
"The name of “Nānākuli”, a section of Wai‘anae, meaning “knee examination”, is said to relate to an incident in the travels of the famous Kuali‘i, when his attendants wished to see and press his knees, to relieve the king’s fatigue after the journey."
Samuel Kamakau gives yet another explanation for the origin of the name Nānākuli:
"After his return from Moloka‘i, when he had ruled six years over O‘ahu and Moloka‘i, Kahahana abandoned the advice of Ka‘ōpulupulu and began to lay burdens upon the country people and to dig up the bones from their burial places to make arrows for rat-shooting and hooks for fishing. The bones of chiefs were bartered for skirts for chiefesses and handles for kahili. Ka‘ōpulupulu came in vain to remonstrate with him, and the kahuna and all his followers, relatives, and members of his household tattooed their knees [kuli] as a sign of the chief’s deafness [kuli] to his admonitions (Kamakau 1992: 133)."
An interview with an informant, Fred Cachola, who worked and lived in the Wai‘anae District for many years, brought forth another story and possible meaning for Nānākuli (McGuire and Hammatt 1999: 53-54):
"According to local stories, the name of Nānākuli once had a Hawaiian hidden meaning, which was “Nānā-i-ka-‘ule”. It got this name from ancient times, and might have something to do with the shape of the mountain range. The shape of one mountain ridge is similar to an ‘ule [penis] in one area and the testicles in another place. Nānāika‘ule literally means looking at a man’s testicles, or looking at his penis. According to Mr. Cachola. Reverend Awai, the first principal of the elementary school to the north of the project area, was also aware of this story about the name origin of Nānākuli, and decided to name the school Nānāikapono instead, which translates as look to the way of righteousness."
Another informant in Nānākuli, Mrs. Lehua Kapaku, revealed an entirely different story about the place, based on the legends of the hero/god, Māui (McGuire and Hammatt 1999:82-83):
"Māui had several brothers and two sisters. One sister was Lualualei, which means “sacred wreath” and is the name of the ahupua‘a north of Nānākuli. The second sister was a beloved baby, named Nānāiku‘ulei, which means, “look to my pretty lei”. Mrs. Lehua Kapaku suggests that this may be the original name for the Nānākuli ahupua‘a."
In Hawaiian culture, the name of a place is significant in that it documents history and relates details of a specific geographical area. In some cases, places were given entirely new names to reflect changes in history and record more recent events. It can be seen from the above stories that “Nānākuli” has taken on several different meanings over time. In a Hawaiian framework, all of these stories are valid because they held meaning for the people living during those particular times.
From: "Archaeological Monitoring Report for the Nānākuli Beach Park Sewer Connection for the Recreation Center Project, Nānākuli Ahupua‘a, Wai‘anae District, O‘ahu Island [TMK: (1) 8-9-001:002]" Prepared for Engineering Solutions, Inc.; Prepared by Erika Stein B.A. and Hallett H. Hammatt, Ph.D.; Cultural Surveys Hawai‘i, Inc. Kailua, Hawai‘i; June 2006; Revised January 2007
References:
Kamakau, Samuel Manaiakalani
1992 Ruling Chiefs of Hawaii. Revised Edition. The Kamehameha Schools Press, Honolulu, Hawai‘i.
McGuire, Ko‘ohulani, and Hallett H. Hammatt
1999 Native Hawaiian Gathering Rights Assessment for the Proposed Nānākuli 242 Reservoir Site and 20’’ Transmission Main Along Nānākuli Avenue, Nānākuli, Wai‘anae District, Island of O‘ahu (TMK: 8-9-8:3). Cultural Surveys Hawai‘i, Kailua, Hawai‘i.
Sterling, Elspeth P., and Catherine C. Summers (comp.)
1978 Sites of O‘ahu. Dept. of Anthropology, B.P. Bishop Museum, Honolulu, Hawai‘i.
One translation of the naming of the ahupua‘a, which seems to support this perception, is that Nānākuli means, “to look deaf” (Sterling & Summers 1978: 61-2). This is said to refer to the behavior of Nānākuli residents, who, embarrassed about not being able to offer food to passing strangers, pretended to be deaf.
Cultural specialist, Mary Pukui Kawena, relates a story told to her in 1945:
"Simeona Nawa‘a came in to the [Bishop] Museum and sat down to talk to me. In the course of the conversation he told me these things:
Nanakuli - it was Kanui, a native woman of Wai‘anae who told him why this place was so named. In the olden days, this place was sparsely inhabited because of the scarcity of water. The fishing was good but planting very poor. When it rained, some sweet potatoes would be put into the ground, but the crops were always poor and miserable.
There were a few brackish pools from which they obtained their drinking water and it is only when they went to the upland of Wai‘anae that they were able to get fresh water. They carried the water home in large calabashes hung on mamaka or carrying sticks and used their water very carefully after they got it home. They spent most of their time fishing and most of the fish they caught were dried as gifts for friends and relatives in the upland. Sometimes they carried dried and fresh fish to these people in the upland and in exchange received poi and other vegetable foods. As often as not, it was the people of the upland who came with their products and went home with fish.
Because of the great scarcity of water and vegetable food, they were ashamed to greet passing strangers. They remained out of sight as much as possible. Sometimes they met people before they were able to hide, so they just looked at strangers with expressionless faces and acted as though they were stone deaf and did not hear the greeting. This was so that the strangers would not ask for water which they did not have in that locality.
The strangers would go to other places and mention the peculiar, deaf people who just stared and they would be told that the people were not deaf but ashamed of their inability to be hospitable. So the place they lived was called Nana, or “look”, and kuli, “deaf” - that is, Deaf mutes who just look." [Sterling & Summers 1978: 61-62, referring to Hawaiian Ethnological Notes at the B.P. Bishop Museum, March 6, 1945]
An old time resident of the area, Wm. Z. H. Olepau, reported other explanations for the meaning of Nānākuli on March 20, 1933:
"There were two women who went up the hill of Pu‘u Hakila or Pu‘u Hela to dry their Kapas [tapa cloth]. While the kapas were being dried they left and went down the hill to the pool for some water. They heard dogs barking, so they stood, looking around for the barking was deafening."
A further explanation of the name Nānākuli is reprinted from Thrum’s Hawaiian Annual, ([1922: 87] in Sterling and Summers [1978:62]):
"The name of “Nānākuli”, a section of Wai‘anae, meaning “knee examination”, is said to relate to an incident in the travels of the famous Kuali‘i, when his attendants wished to see and press his knees, to relieve the king’s fatigue after the journey."
Samuel Kamakau gives yet another explanation for the origin of the name Nānākuli:
"After his return from Moloka‘i, when he had ruled six years over O‘ahu and Moloka‘i, Kahahana abandoned the advice of Ka‘ōpulupulu and began to lay burdens upon the country people and to dig up the bones from their burial places to make arrows for rat-shooting and hooks for fishing. The bones of chiefs were bartered for skirts for chiefesses and handles for kahili. Ka‘ōpulupulu came in vain to remonstrate with him, and the kahuna and all his followers, relatives, and members of his household tattooed their knees [kuli] as a sign of the chief’s deafness [kuli] to his admonitions (Kamakau 1992: 133)."
An interview with an informant, Fred Cachola, who worked and lived in the Wai‘anae District for many years, brought forth another story and possible meaning for Nānākuli (McGuire and Hammatt 1999: 53-54):
"According to local stories, the name of Nānākuli once had a Hawaiian hidden meaning, which was “Nānā-i-ka-‘ule”. It got this name from ancient times, and might have something to do with the shape of the mountain range. The shape of one mountain ridge is similar to an ‘ule [penis] in one area and the testicles in another place. Nānāika‘ule literally means looking at a man’s testicles, or looking at his penis. According to Mr. Cachola. Reverend Awai, the first principal of the elementary school to the north of the project area, was also aware of this story about the name origin of Nānākuli, and decided to name the school Nānāikapono instead, which translates as look to the way of righteousness."
Another informant in Nānākuli, Mrs. Lehua Kapaku, revealed an entirely different story about the place, based on the legends of the hero/god, Māui (McGuire and Hammatt 1999:82-83):
"Māui had several brothers and two sisters. One sister was Lualualei, which means “sacred wreath” and is the name of the ahupua‘a north of Nānākuli. The second sister was a beloved baby, named Nānāiku‘ulei, which means, “look to my pretty lei”. Mrs. Lehua Kapaku suggests that this may be the original name for the Nānākuli ahupua‘a."
In Hawaiian culture, the name of a place is significant in that it documents history and relates details of a specific geographical area. In some cases, places were given entirely new names to reflect changes in history and record more recent events. It can be seen from the above stories that “Nānākuli” has taken on several different meanings over time. In a Hawaiian framework, all of these stories are valid because they held meaning for the people living during those particular times.
From: "Archaeological Monitoring Report for the Nānākuli Beach Park Sewer Connection for the Recreation Center Project, Nānākuli Ahupua‘a, Wai‘anae District, O‘ahu Island [TMK: (1) 8-9-001:002]" Prepared for Engineering Solutions, Inc.; Prepared by Erika Stein B.A. and Hallett H. Hammatt, Ph.D.; Cultural Surveys Hawai‘i, Inc. Kailua, Hawai‘i; June 2006; Revised January 2007
References:
Kamakau, Samuel Manaiakalani
1992 Ruling Chiefs of Hawaii. Revised Edition. The Kamehameha Schools Press, Honolulu, Hawai‘i.
McGuire, Ko‘ohulani, and Hallett H. Hammatt
1999 Native Hawaiian Gathering Rights Assessment for the Proposed Nānākuli 242 Reservoir Site and 20’’ Transmission Main Along Nānākuli Avenue, Nānākuli, Wai‘anae District, Island of O‘ahu (TMK: 8-9-8:3). Cultural Surveys Hawai‘i, Kailua, Hawai‘i.
Sterling, Elspeth P., and Catherine C. Summers (comp.)
1978 Sites of O‘ahu. Dept. of Anthropology, B.P. Bishop Museum, Honolulu, Hawai‘i.
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