Kūlou ma Ke‘ei, Hawai'i

Kii: Beth Young

HE WAHI MO‘OLELO NO NĀ KE‘EI MA KONA HEMA, HAWAI‘I A COLLECTION OF TRADITIONS HISTORICAL ACCOUNTS AND KAMA‘ĀINA RECOLLECTIONS OF KE‘EI, SOUTH KONA, HAWAI‘I

PREPARED BY Kepā Maly & Onaona Maly

JULY 26, 2002, Kumu Pono Associates

Pg 20-21

https://www.kumupono.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/2002_07_26_Keei-Kona-Hema-Hawaii-PDF.pdf

One of the lesser-known traditions of the Ke‘ei vicinity is one that documents the origin of the naming of Kūlou, the white sandy beach on the north side of Palemanō Point. The account centers on the arrival, in the 1500s, of a Spanish ship that wrecked on the rocks fronting Ke‘ei. While there is only limited historical reference to the specifics of the shipwreck, the story is still told by elder native kama‘āina, who tell us that Kūlou mean to kneel down. Kūpuna Kahele and Pānui, were told by their kūpuna that two youths, a boy and a girl survived the shipwreck, and upon dragging themselves to the sandy shore, they kneeled down in prayer. Witnessing this event, the natives called the place, Kūlou (see interviews with kūpuna Mona Kapule-Kahele and William Kalikolehua Pānui). Kupuna Kahele named the ship Laaka or Layasa, and gave the date of 1525, for the arrival (see interview with Kupuna Kahele). Kupuna Pānui, also pointed out a petroglyph at the awa pae wa‘a (canoe landing), fronting Pauahi Bishop’s former residence, which as a youth, was pointed out to him as being representative of person in Spanish garb, commemorating this history (see interview with kupuna Pānui).

 The arrival of Spanish ship wreck survivors along the Kona Coast, was mentioned as early as 1823, by Reverend William Ellis (1963). Ellis reported that several traditions on the island of Hawai‘i spoke of the arrival of white men in the Ka‘awaloa vicinity. Ellis observed: The different parties that subsequently arrived were probably, if any inference may be drawn from the accounts of the natives, survivors of the crew of some Spanish ship wrecked in the neighbourhood, perhaps on the numerous reefs to the north-west… It is possible that one or other of the islands might have been seen by some Spanish ship passing between Acapulco and Manila… These accounts, but particularly the latter, are generally known and have been related by different persons at distant places. All agree respecting the boat, clothing, sword, &C. of the party who arrived at Kealake’kua… [Ellis 1963:320]

In 1899, W.D. Alexander, who had served as Surveyor General of the Kingdom and Republic of Hawai‘i, published a study of Hawaiian history. In the matter of the naming of Kūlou, and the arrival of a Spanish ship at Ke‘ei, he offered the following narratives: Discovery of the Islands by the Spaniards.

—Umi was succeeded by his eldest son Kealiiokaloa, who was succeeded in turn by his youngest brother Keawe-nui-a-Umi. During the reign of the former, a foreign vessel was wrecked at Keei, in South Kona, Hawaii. The tradition relates that only the captain and his sister reached the shore safely, and that they knelt on the beach, remaining in that posture for a long time, whence the place was called Kulou, as it is to this day. Unlike the Fijians, the people received them kindly and set food before them. The strangers intermarried with the natives and became the progenitors of certain well-known families of chiefs, such as that of Kaikioewa, former governor of Kauai. In reckoning by generations, and allowing thirty years on average to a generation, we find that Kealiiokaloa was born around A.D. 1500 and probably came to the throne around A.D. 1525-30.

Now we learn from Spanish historians that Cortez, the conqueror of Mexico, fitted out several exploring expeditions on the western coast about this time. The first squadron, consisting of three vessels, commanded by Alvarado de Saavedra, sailed from Zacatula for the Moluccas or Spice Islands, October 31, 1527. These ships sailed in company, but when they were a thousand leagues from port they were scattered by a severe storm. The two smaller vessels were never heard from, but Saavedra pursued the voyage alone in the “Florida” to the Moluccas, touching at the Ladrone Islands on the way. No white people except the Spaniards were navigating the Pacific Ocean at that early period, and it seems to be certain that the foreign vessel which was wrecked about this time on the Kona coast must have been one of Saavedra’s missing ships. There is also little doubt that these islands were discovered by the Spanish navigator Juan Gaetano, in the year 1555.  He had previously crossed the Pacific Ocean as pilot for Buy Lopez de Villalobo in 1542, on which voyage they discovered the Caroline Islands (Islas del Rey). The account of his second voyage has never been published. Still, there is an ancient manuscript chart in the Spanish archives that depicts a group of islands laid down in the same latitude as the Hawaiian Islands, but over ten degrees of longitude to the east, with a note stating the name of the discoverer and the date of the discovery. The southernmost and largest island was named La Mesa, “the table,” which points to Hawaii, with its high table-land. North of it was La Desgraciada, “the unfortunate,” or Maui, and three small islands called Los Monjes, “the monks,” which were probably Kahoolawe, Lanai, and Molokai. In June 1743, the British ship of war “Centurion,” under Lord Anson, after a bloody engagement, captured the Spanish galleon from Acapulco near the Philippine Islands, on her way to Manila. A manuscript chart was found on board, containing all the discoveries which had been made in the navigation between Mexico and the Philippine Islands. In this chart, the above-mentioned group of islands is laid down in the same position as in the old chart in the Spanish archives. A copy of it is to be seen in the account of Lord Anson’s voyage which was published in London in 1748. These islands did not lie in the track of the Spanish galleons, for on leaving Acapulco they steered southwesterly so as to pass far to the south of them, and on their return voyage, they sailed northward till they reached thirty degrees of latitude and then ran before the westerly winds till they approached the coast of North America. This was fortunate for the Hawaiians, who thus escaped the sad fate of the natives of the Ladrone or Marianne Islands. The error in longitude need not surprise us when we consider that chronometers were not yet invented, and that Spanish navigators depended entirely on “dead reckoning” for their longitude. [W.D. Alexander 1899:100]