Aloha Authentic – The arrival of Hawaiians to Hawaiʻi

HONOLULU (KHON2) – In Hawaiʻi, names are very important as they tell a story. 

Do you know the meaning of the street that you live on? 

Our weekly “Aloha Authentic” segment highlights various streets across the islands so we can dig into those names, and in turn, learn something new. 

This week, we bring attention to a street found here on Oʻahu.

In the ahupuaʻa of Hōʻaeʻae, which lies in the moku of ʻEwa here on Oʻahu, stands a street given the Hawaiian word for “grandparent, ancestor, or source.” 

We are talking about Kupuna Lp.

When the word kupuna is used, we tend to think of our grandparents, elders, or even our ancestors.

But it also refers to a starting point. 

For Hawaiians in Hawaiʻi, the latest estimation dates back to approximately 300 AD.

Some believe that the first Hawaiians arrived on the shores of what we know today as Bellows Air Force Base, only to settle in the vicinity of Waimānalo through Kailua to Kāneʻohe.

Kahana is also a possibility.

According to Hawaiian historian David Malo, it is theorized that “all people were aliʻi” and that it was “over after the lapse of several generations that a division was made into commoners and chiefs.”

As food and resources were sparse at the beginning, fishermen became the first providers of food.

This allowed the early Hawaiians to regard fishing as the oldest and most prestigious of professions.

But the staple crop in Hawaiʻi has always been the kalo, leading to the popular by-product known as poi.

It is believed that an average person ate about 4 lbs of poi per day, while some say the old Hawaiians could have eaten up to 10-15 lbs of poi per day. 

Did you know?  Now you do!