Loko Iʻa
[Fish Ponds]
Loko iʻa [fishponds] were used by Hawaiians to exponentially increase protein through the raising of fish. The fishponds of Kahuku are loko wai type fishponds meaning they are located inland, filled with fresh water. These were naturally forming pools or ponds and did not intend any stone work. Some of the well-known loko wai or natural fresh water fish ponds include Kukiʻo, Kaʻauhelemoa and Punamanō. Native Register and Foreign Testimony documents of the 1848 Māhele express additional loko wai in Kahuku ahupuaʻa. Through analysis of Kingdom of Hawaiʻi land documents, Estrella provides an informational table regarding these additional ponds which can be found at the bottom of this page.[1]
Kukiʻo Pond is approximately 100 yards inland from Kahuku point. It is said that this pond contained many different varieties of fish and was home to a rather large settlement.[2] Kukiʻo is literally defined as “standing water” and refers to the natural basin characteristic of this pond.[3] Punamanō was filled with brackish water and is said to have been home to a shark that was caught and raised by an old man and woman. Kaʻauhelemoa was located on the “Waimea side of Kahuku” and was named after “its guardian moʻo…who could change himself into a man or a chicken”.[4] Kaʻauhelemoa was also known as a lesser chief of Olopana and often battled with Kamapuaʻa. Kaʻauhelemoa can be translated as the chicken that goes and sets the net, most likely in the "kuʻu" style of net fishing which was most likely used at times in these fishponds.[5]
[1] Estrella, Reconnection to Ancestral Knowledge of Land with Kahuku Ahupuaʻa: Wahi Pana, Moʻolelo and Kuleana ʻĀina, 68.
[2] McAllister, Archealogy of Oahu, 153.
[3] Pukuʻi and Elbert, Hawaiian Dictionary, 177.
[4] McAllister, Archealogy of Oahu,154.
[5] Pukuʻi and Elbert, Hawaii Dictionary, 186-187.
[2] McAllister, Archealogy of Oahu, 153.
[3] Pukuʻi and Elbert, Hawaiian Dictionary, 177.
[4] McAllister, Archealogy of Oahu,154.
[5] Pukuʻi and Elbert, Hawaii Dictionary, 186-187.