Overview

Why does Puueo have this shape?

The Big Island of Hawaii is divided into segments called ahupua’a. These segments went from the ocean up toward the mountain tops. The picture below shows the PUUEO segment, at the bottom of the picture, reaching to Hilo Bay as recorded in 1901. The details on the map were inked on in 1906.

This slice of the Big Island has unusual characteristics that you can learn about by clicking the button below.

Pre-Sugar Cane

The scope and complexity of Hawaiian history deserves the time it takes to read at least some of the great books that have been written on the subject. Michener’s Hawaii is a well-established ( and thick) take on the matter, and I think Gavan Daws’ Shoal of Time is an even better choice for trying to delve into the Hawaii’s history. I am looking forward to reading Isabella L Bird’s Six Months in the Sandwich Islands, it’s been on my list for years, along with David Kalākaua’s Legends and Myths of Hawaii. Both are in the Honolulu Magazine list of the top 50 Hawaiian History books and it is an inspiring list of must-reads. If you’d like to check out their whole list and how the list was compiled check it out here https://www.honolulumagazine.com/50-essential-hawaii-books-you-should-read-in-your-lifetime/ Honolulu Magazine top 50

Kaiulani,Crown Princess of Hawaii written by Jean Francis Webb and Nancy Webb, is a fairly in-depth telling of the tragic story of Hawaii’s last crowned princess. If you read it, you can find some typical insensitivities that describe local Hawaiian ways with some obvious misunderstandings or even judgements of an outsider, but it paints a poignant picture of the great loss of this amazing woman in Hawaiian history. Hawaii’s Story by Hawaii’s Queen, written by Queen Liliuokalani is well-worth it’s place in my library and in my heart along with Mark Twain’s Letters from Hawaii.

Sugar Cane Era

The Sugar Cane era is remarkably complex. Each nation that had large numbers of people leaving for Hawaii during the sugar cane days had different circumstances and challenges motivating their citizens. Furthering that complication, was the promises and false promises, that were advertised to these immigrants regarding what their future lives in Hawaii might look like, from those that stood to gain much from the imbalanced and often abusive dynamics that underlined sugar plantation recruitment. Not to mention the shifting realities of life for Kanaka Maoli (local Hawaiian people) that were reeling from their ways of life and resources in turbulence again and again. And all that was just the beginning!

John Cross generously shared his photos and articles about Plantation days with us below, or here!

If you have an inclination to learn more about this chapter in Hawaii’s history, you will find some great resources. Here on the Big Island we have a wonderful Plantation Museum in Papaikou, not far from Hilo! Their website contains a great collection of photos and resources as well. https://www.hawaiiplantationmuseum.org/#/. Hawaii Plantation Museum

I highly recommend, Pau Hana, Plantaion Life and Labor in Hawaii by Ronald Takaki if you’d like a accessible read that brings the plantation era to life.

There are still plenty of folks who have vivid memories and stories from plantation days. Get out there and talk story with just about anyone from Hawaii who has been around for a while and you are likely to hear some first hand recollections. It has now been about 25 years since the last of the cane was harvested from a Hawaiian sugar plantation, but there are still farms growing and processing pure sugar cane. Sweet Cane in Hilo is a wonderful cafe in downtown Hilo that offers their very own sustainably grown and lovingly harvested cane. It is a truly special treat is you have the opportunity to stop in. Sweet Cane Cafe.

After the mahele of 1848, ownership of land was established by either Land commission Awards with a Royal Patent of Confirmation based on claims to the right of ownership of land before 1848, or by Grants which were purchases of land directly from the government. These laws changed land distribution and the ability to sell property. King Kamahemaha III sold over 2000 acres, the entirety of the Puueo apuhua’a to Thomas Spencer in 1870. You can read more about Captain Spencer’s section below, or .

A precious window into the Sugar Cane Era

 John Cross was involved in the latter part of the Sugar Cane Era, and had provided us with invaluable photos and details of this era. Click the link below for this information

Post Sugar Cane

When labor costs made growing sugar cane in Hawaii unprofitable, the sugar cane companies sold off their properties. There are reminders of this post-sugar cane era all around the Big Island, in the form of thousands of acres of eucalyptus trees! The idea was, at the time, that renewable energy could be produced from the burning of these fast growing, very large trees. One important factor in that plan, is that these plantings of various eucalyptus species needed to be thinned and maintained. Most were not. At some point, after this vast planting, it became clear that there were more efficient, and likely less dangerous, ways of producing energy and so the Eucalyptus trees just continue on. There are not any scalable plans in place to address to over abundance of these giant stands of trees, but at the very least they do a good job of keeping soil in place and provide a lovely home for nesting I’o and other creatures to find habitat. There is at least one mill producing beautiful milled lumber from the Robusta species, and hopefully there will be more interest in discovering ways to utilize this resource.

The Hōnua Ola energy plant in Pepe’ekeo was attempting to utilize much of these tracts of eucalyptus for their original intent, which was for energy production, but their efforts have been thwarted for years. Court battles and rumors have been the norm and hopefully at some point the idea will just be put to rest or they will get permission to move forward because they will be able to prove that it is a good idea to do so.

Macadamia nut trees were also planted in the post- sugar cane era. While the climate and soil has proved to support healthy macadamia trees in Ka’u and Kona, the ones here in Puueo eventually just seemed to struggle. They are in now the process of being replaced by sweet potato farms. On average you can expect only about two harvests from the sweet potato crops. Nematodes infest the soil to the point where it is unusable for the potatoes, and ginger is commonly grown crop once the soil has reached that stage. The land that has gone through these stages is considered pretty exhausted, and when you consider the 100 year history of sugar cane farming, then sweet potatoes and ginger, that depletion makes sense. From the experience of those who are farming there is much to take into account in the restoration and viability of growing any kinds of trees or food crops in this circumstance. But, it can and is being done!

What comes next?

Let’s hope that this rich agricultural land continues to be devoted to growing crops and providing greater food security for Hilo and beyond! We have beautiful clay soil, and a history of bountiful food production; this agricultural land deserves to be protected.

There is a chance that more than 200 acres of this land will be covered by solar panels. We get up to 200 inches of rain a year so it seems that panels could be much more effective in a place with more sun and less agricultural significance.

They also envision huge lithium battery arrays that the solar panels would charge on a sunny day to allow supporting the grid for a few hours after the sun goes down. This energy storage is huge and each stack has the potential explosive energy of about 1200 pounds of TNT.

Forward motion on the solar farm is unlikely as other proposed Longroad Projects are: “…because of the global supply chain crisis and sharp cost increases in solar and battery equipment, as well as rising interest rates…”. Also, many people are also becoming alerted to the humanitarian crisis involved in the Cobalt production in Africa which should slow our rate of rushing towards Lithium batteries which require it.