| Arts & Culture
Dividing the Land II
The ancient system of land titles in the Hawaiian Island bore a remarkable resemblance to the feudal system that prevailed in Europe during the Middle Ages. The land ultimately belonged to the gods. The chiefs who could trace their lineage back to these divine ancestors were enjoined to care for the land and its people. Lower-ranked chiefs held land in trust for the high ranking chiefs, and part of the bounty of the lands in their care was given to the high chiefs to whom they were connected.
Even though the Mahele of 1848, during the reign of King Kamehameha III, changed the system of land ownership, the basic land divisions remained the same. Over the years, however, there were many modifications of the ancient district boundaries and in some instances, other names were substituted for the old ones.
Some changes were made for political reasons and others for convenience, but the majority of the changes were made to reflect movements in population and new uses of the land area.
The basic unit of land used in Hawaii is an ahupuaa. Usually these are pieces of land that stretch from the mountain to the sea. According to Pukui-Elbert, in ancient times the boundary of an ahupuaa was marked by a heap (ahu) of stones on which there was an image of a pig (puaa) or by a stone altar where a pig or other tribute to the high chief was laid.
The ahupuaa were not equal in size. In several districts a few larger ahupuaa widened as they went up the mountainside and cut off all of the smaller lands from access to the top of the mountain. Generally these same ahupuaa also monopolized the deep sea fisheries and leaving the smaller lands with fishing along their shores in water not more than five feet deep. On Maui, for example, the Wailuku and Waikapu ahupuaa took up most of the isthmus and cut off half of the lands in the district of Kula from access to the sea.
In 1935, one expert, R. D. King, in an article in J. W. Coulter's Gazetteer of the Territory of Hawaii, said that the boundaries of the ahupuaa had been "fixed about twenty generations back in Hawaiian tradition," or about 500 years ago. District boundaries, King said, were set at about the same time. (In ancient times, no ahupuaa spread over two districts. Now, however, there are ahupuaa which overrun the ancient district boundary lines.)
Because Maui is actually a double island made up of two distinct mountain masses joined by a low flat isthmus, parceling out the island a bit more complex than on some of the other islands, where, basically, a few pie-shaped ahupuaa stretch from the central mountain to the sea.
 In West Maui, there are two traditional land districts, Kaanapali and Lahaina. The districts of Hamakua Poko, Hamakua Loa, Koolau, Hana, Kipahulu, Kaupo, Kahikinui, Honuaula and Kula make up East Maui. With the exception of Hamakua Poko, the boundary lines for each of these ancient districts radiate from a large rock on the northeast brink of the crater of Haleakala called Palaha.
Wailuku, which takes up the entire isthmus, is a relatively modern district. The area was actually four ahupuaa in ancient times - Wailuku, Waikapu, Waiehu and Waihee. These ahupuaa were collectively known as Na Wai Eha, "the Four Waters." Apparently the map makers found the name "cumbersome and ill-understood" and lumped them all together, calling the resulting area by the name of the biggest ahupuaa.
The islands of Maui, Molokai, Lanai and Kahoolawe form a geographical unit. (At one time, it is said, the islands were part of one large island known as Maui Nui.) Certainly, the islands have been considered a political unit since ancient times. On the old maps, Lanai was sometimes called a kalana (the equivalent of a county) of Maui. On one map Kahoolawe was placed in the Koolau district of Maui.
In 1859, the twelve districts of the island of Maui were reduced to four. Kaanapali was combined with Lahaina and the island of Kahoolawe was added to it to make one district. The traditional ahupuaas of Waihee, Waiehu, Wailuku and Waikapu still made up the Wailuku district, but for some reason, the ancient district of Honuaula was added to it, even though Honuaula was separated from Wailuku by the intervening traditional district of Kula. The traditional East Maui districts of Kahikinui, Kaupo, Kipahulu, Hana and Koolau were consolidated into one district and called Hana. The traditional districts of central East Maui, Hamakualoa, Hamakuapoko, and Kula were combined to form another district which came to be called Makawao. Molokai was apparently a separate district, unattached to one of the other Maui districts.
In 1909, the islands of Maui, Molokai, Lanai and Kahoolawe were again divided, this time into six districts. The Honuaula area was taken away from the Wailuku district and became a part of the Makawao district. Kahoolawe was transferred to the Makawao district as well. Meanwhile, the island of Lanai was added to the Lahaina district. Molokai was divided into two districts - Molokai district and Kalawao district which included Kalaupapa, Kalawao and Waikolu, which were then commonly known as "the Leper Settlement."
In the intervening years, there have been additional adjustments as well. The evolution of the map of the island and division of the land continues to this day. Old names for an area fall into disuse. A name for a small part of one area comes to refer to the entire area. A new name is coined to refer to some new phase of land use or land development. The face of the map keeps changing, continuing to reflect population shifts and the passage of time as the land continues to be divvied up this way and that.
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Haliimaile still looks like an old plantation camp even though the homes in the camp are privately owned, now, and no longer company worker housing. As a typical self-contained camp, Haliimaile had its own camp store, a theatre (long-gone now), as well as a dispensary (also defunct) and a gym and recreational activities. Parents sent their children to Makawao for schooling and on Sundays, the families attended church in Makawao as well.
with growing sugar in the Makawao area. The Haliimaile Plantation was established in 1848 and was operated by William A. McLane. It changed hands and names a number of times in the ensuing years.
