Tucked away along the South Kona coastline, far from the reach of most, is a largely intact fishing village the Hawaiian Islands Land Trust hopes to protect in perpetuity.
Tucked away along the South Kona coastline, far from the reach of most, is a largely intact fishing village the Hawaiian Islands Land Trust hopes to protect in perpetuity.
Today, Ala‘e, as the area is known, is an arid, coastal landscape dominated by a host of nonnative species such as haole koa, kiawe and goats, among others. But with a little imagination — assisted by the interpretations provided by a couple of National Park Service archaeologists — one can see how the area centuries ago once supported a village with hundreds of residents.
On Saturday, more than a dozen people participated in a free Talk Story on the Land hike at the site, which is located north of the Kona Paradise subdivision and rarely is open to members of the public, offered by the Hawaiian Islands Land Trust as part of the nonprofit’s 2015 public education series. The trust is tasked with a mission to protect “lands that sustain us for current and future generations,” according to the organization’s website.
Positioned looking toward the sea, numerous terraces that once served as platforms for homes remain, as does a heiau that borders the parcel’s northern edge and a hand-flattened agricultural area. Those, as well as other features, were the backbones of a bustling village that boasted thatched homes and even a palm tree grove.
“We were able to do charcoal samples for two of the house platforms that we tested and the dates were right around Captain (James) Cook time (1779),” explained Tyler Paikuli-Campbell, a National Park Service archaeologist who studied the Ala‘e area several years ago and who volunteered during Saturday’s event. “So, when the villages were made or when the first habitation in this area is, is kind of a question still, but I guarantee generations back before Captain Cook just because of the size and complexity of the modifications of the area.”
He later noted excavations at the house sites found “a lot of cultural material from the traditional time period, there’s no dates, but definitely traditional, so, pre-Captain Cook, and (the material was found) in pretty deep deposits.”
Archaeologists have not determined exactly why or when the village was abandoned, but think it occurred in the late 1800s, after the Great Mahele in the 1840s, because evidence of land division, a practice that went into effect about that time, is visible.
They also have not concluded just how the inhabitants got water, which might have played a role in the shift away from Ala‘e.
“Economies and various changes in lifestyles moved them more mauka toward the (Mamalahoa) highway,” Paikuli-Campbell said.
On Hawaii Island, the trust has acquired conservation easements from landowners covering more than 1,070 acres, according to its website.
Janet Britt, who serves as the acquisitions specialist and director for the trust’s Hawaii Island division, said the trust currently is working with several landowners around the island to secure additional easements.
It also is working to purchase a preserve on the island.
The private land on which Saturday’s hike took place is among several lots there owned by the Foti family that are up for sale. Britt said the trust is working with the family to secure an easement or preserve on about 25 acres.
“This very special place that we are visiting right now belongs to Dr. Phil Foti, and Dr. Foti is working with the Hawaiian Islands Land Trust to hopefully protect this land in some way,” Britt said Saturday.
“We don’t know yet what the avenue will be but he does want to protect this land forever. And, he allowed us to come down today for the like to get people and the community to know about this special area and to be really supportive of protecting it.”
In addition to Britt and Paikuli-Campbell, Saturday’s talk story event featured additional volunteers from the National Park Service, including Arik Arikaki, Ala Kahakai National Historic Trail superintendent, and Rick Gmirkin, an archaeologist with the trail, who provided participants with additional information and facts about trails in the area, most of which connect with the later Ala Kahakai Trail System.
Several more talk story events are planned this year, including visits to the Kona Cloud Forest on March 21; heiau and halau along the Ala Kahakai National Historical Trail in the Kaiholena South area April 18; the Honolulu Coffee Co. in Captain Cook on May 16; and conservation easements within the trust’s Kipuka Mosaic Project on June 13 in Volcano.
To reserve a spot for one of the upcoming events, email Britt at janet@hilt.org or call 769-4343.
For more information about the Hawaiian Islands Land Trust or to donate to the organization, visit hilt.org.
Email Chelsea Jensen at cjensen@westhawaiitoday.com.