Mauna Kea Oral History Appendix - Office of Mauna Kea Management

Notice to Readers
The interviews cited in this volume also contain detailed information of locations other than those
directly associated with Mauna Kea—nearly all of the interviews being associated with ranching
operations of Parker Ranch. This is in part due to the fact that since the 1850s, the families and
activities most commonly associated with Mauna Kea and the ‘äina mauna, have been connected
with ranching. Indeed, between the 1850s to the early 1900s, nearly all access to Mauna Kea was
controlled through agreements with the ranchers-lessees of the Crown and Government lands of the
Mauna Kea-‘äina mauna region. After the early nineteen hundreds, the region of Mauna Kea,
extending from around the 9,000 foot elevation to the summit, was controlled by the Territorial
Forestry Division (later, by the State of Hawai‘i), with access to the ‘äina mauna and lower slopes of
Mauna Kea, being controlled by the ranches, until the late 1940s. Thus, those individuals with the
most direct knowledge of traditions, sites, features and practices of Mauna Kea, come from a small
pool of native families (many of whom were descended from those who traditionally traveled to
Mauna Kea), and others who were formerly employed through ranches and territorial agencies.
Underlined citations in the transcripts identify selected texts that describe Mauna Kea and the ‘äina
mauna. Other narratives which make up the larger transcripts cited in this volume, describe a wide
range of locations, practices, families and history that would have otherwise not been recorded. We
are again indebted to the kindness of the interviewees, who have shared facets of their history for
future generations.
Readers are humbly asked here, to respect the interviewees and their families. If specific
points of information are quoted, it is the responsibility of the individual/organization citing
the material to do so in the context as originally spoken by the interviewee. The larger
interviews should not be cited without direct permission from the interviewees or their
descendants, and in consultation with Kumu Pono Associates LLC. Proper source
documentation should be given.
Mauna Kea– “Ka Piko Kaulana o ka ‘Äina”
Kumu Pono Associates LLC
A Collection of Oral History Interviews (HiMK67-050606) A:8