Ancient Hawaii - The Land

Ancient Hawaii, by Herb Kawainui Kane:
THE LAND

Moku (major districts of Hawai'i Island)

Because the land was immortal and humans mortal, the idea that humans could own land was beyond imagining. Their attitude was one of territorial custody rather than ownership. It was said that land could not belong to men because men belonged to the land.

In his 1840 Constitution of the Kingdom of Hawaii, Kamehameha III stated that although his father was the founder of the kingdom, the land "...was not his own private property. It belonged to the chiefs and people in common, of whom Kamehameha I was the head, and had the management of the landed property."

Eight years later, after American advisors convinced him that a distribution of land to his people would be humane and appropriate to the times, land ownership was instituted. Unaccustomed to the concept, many Hawaiians fell prey to acquisitive newcomers. But in most Pacific Islands today, most of the lands either cannot be bought by outsiders or may be purchased only under severe restrictions. In some island nations the lands remain largely under the control of the hereditary chiefs, now operating as trustees of native land trusts.

In old Hawai'i, kings awarded custody of lands to their loyal supporters. Island kingdoms (mokupuni) were divided into districts (moku) which were further parceled into minor chiefdoms (ahupua'a). Because boundaries with neighboring ahupua'a were not crossed with impunity, these land divisions typically extended from the high forested mountains to offshore fishing grounds, providing the residents with access to the resources of all elevations without crossing borders. Within each ahupua'a were 'ili, smaller holdings, each typically worked by one extended family.

The meaning of ahupua'a derives from altars (ahu) of rockwork marking the boundary of each ahupua'a where it was crossed by the main trail that circled the island. Wooden images of a pig (pua'a), stained with red earth, were placed on these altars during the annual Makahiki tour, and to these were brought the annual taxes, a gifting of craftswork and foodstuffs ceremonially made to the chiefs. Throughout the Hawaiian Islands, the names of moku and some ahupua'a are preserved as geographic areas.

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