Kauila
A legend relates that there was a time when stormy weather prevented the men from diving for water. There were two supernatural turtles who had come out of the ocean to Punalu`u: Honu-po`o-kea (Turtle-with-white-head), the mother; and Honu-`ea (Turtle-with reddish-brown shell), the father. The mother gave birth to an object resembling a piece of kauila wood, which she buried in the sand to be hatched out by the sun. Then they dug into the earth and made a spring, then returned to the sea. When it was time for “egg” to hatch, Honu-po`o-kea returned. When the thing she had laid did hatch it was a turtle the color of polished kauila wood. Mother and daughter lived in the spring until the baby turtle grew up. The young turtle was named Kauila. The spring came to be named “The-rising-water-of-Kauila.” The turtle girl was able to assume human form and play with the young folk, but would become a turtle again when she went back into the spring. When bubbles came up in the spring, people knew the turtle girl was asleep in her home. Children used to catch fish and shrimps in the spring, and Kauila watched lest the little ones fall in. The people loved Kauila for this and because her spring gave them drinking water. They never used her water for any other purpose.
Native Planters In Old Hawai`i,by E.S. Craighill Handy and Elizabeth Green Handy, with the collaboration of Mary Kawena Pukui (1991 edition)
Kauila is one of the most beautiful and cherished trees in Hawai`i. Valued for its strength and utility, kauila took the place of metals in traditional Hawaiian society. It was fashioned into `o`o, kapa beaters, ihe and other weapons, fishing spears, poles for kahili, and house beams. The wood of kauila is reddish brown, similar to mahogany. Hard and heavy, it is said to sink in water.
A beautiful hula performed by Frank Kawaikapuokalani Hewett and Kuhai Halau O Kawaikapuokalani Pa `Olapa Kahiko, honors Kalakaua and his walking stick, Kauila, as he journeys upward to Kaliuwa`a (Sacred Falls). Kauila ke ko`o ko ka lani i ka ala pi`i hele i Kaliuwa`a. Almost certainly, the chief’s cane was made from this extraordinary wood.
The habitat for kauila is the native dry and mesic forest. It is often found growing with lama, alahe`e, and `ohe. Two species of kauila exist:
Alphitonia ponderosa, which is found on all of the main islands except Ni`ihau and Kaho`olawe; and Colubrina oppositifolia, which is found on O`ahu, Maui, and Hawai`i. An ancient legend holds that the kauila, nioi (probably Eugenia koolauensis), and `ohe (Reynoldsia sandwicensis) trees on Moloka`i are possessed by the poison gods, Kaneikaulana`ula and Kahuilaokalani, and Kapo, a goddess at Maunaloa, Moloka`i. These trees contained much mana and were cut down and made into images.
“Ka nioi wela o Paka`alana” refers to the heiau of Paka`alana in Waipi`o, Hawai`i. The timber used in the doorway was nioi wood. To tamper with the trees or the wood, especially in places of worship, was to invite serious trouble.1
While Alphitonia ponderosa is relatively common, Colubrina oppositifolia is in danger of going extinct. Ninety percent of the native dry forest in the Hawaiian islands has been destroyed, and many of our native dryland species are now imperiled. C. oppositifolia was listed as an endangered species in 1994 after concerned citizens took action to obtain legal protection for kauila and dozens of additional Hawaiian plants. This kauila is one of 292 threatened and endangered plant species in the Hawaiian islands.
Like most Hawaiian plants and animals, kauila is threatened by the loss of habitat, destroyed by by feral and game mammals and by alien plants, such as fountain grass, lantana, and Christmas berry. Fire and the black twig borer are also major threats. The twig borer was accidentally introduced to Hawai`i through carelessness, and it attacks the trunks and twigs of several rare and endangered native trees.
The population of endangered kauila consists of about 300 plants distributed among nine populations. Three are in the Wai`anae Mountains on O`ahu. Six are on the Big Island — on the northern slope of Hualalai and in Ka`u. A single tree was discovered on Maui in a private nature preserve in 1992. Populations of kauila were historically known from Makua Valley and other locations, but are no longer found in these areas.
The largest population is made up of approximately 150 trees at Pu`uwa`awa`a, Hawai`i. About half of these trees were planted by the state in an effort to recover this species.
In order to recover kauila so that future generations may use and enjoy this plant, we need to protect its habitat from ungulates and alien plants. Control of the black twig borer is also essential. Pu`uwa`awa`a is currently grazed by private commercial ranchers under a month-to-month revocable permit from the Board of Land and Natural Resources. A proposal by Ka `Ahahui `O Pu`uwa`awa`a offers a unique opportunity to protect kauila and its main remaining habitat at Pu`uwa`awa`a. The hui is an organization of residents of Pu`uwa`awa`a and Pu`u Anahulu, ecologists, land managers, and others who care deeply about this special place. Their proposal includes restoration of native ecosystems and cultural practices, public education, hunting, ranching, and ecotourism to help foot the bill.
Despite years of abuse by cattle grazing, illegal koa logging, and ongoing degradation by game mammals, kauila is one of many rare native species that are still hanging on at Pu`uwa`awa`a. It will be up to the state Land Board to decide whether kauila and the unique ecosystem that supports this and many other native species are recovered at Pu`uwa`awa`a.
Editor’s Note: E Ho`omau I Ke Ola (To Perpetuate the Life) will profile endangered species in Hawai`i.
- 1. `Olelo No`eau: Hawaiian Proverbs & Poetical Sayings by Mary Kawena Pukui (1983)
— Marjorie Ziegler
Volume 12, Number 1 July 2001
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