Mauna Kea Oral History Appendix - Office of Mauna Kea Management

RG: Yes, keep them calm and they don’t have to… If they’re going this way [gestures side to
side] they’re going to get more tired.
KM: So, if they’re going back and forth across the land
RG: That’s right.
PG: The boss man stays behind, so he can see what’s going on.
RG: Yes.
KM: The boss was behind the crew, watching.
RG: But nowadays, what I saw… [pointing to recorder] Is it off
KM: We turned it back on. I wanted to get your historic description of how you drove them
down. Let me ask a question though, were there times, particularly if the cattle coming off
the mountain like you described bring ‘em back Hänaipoe out to Makahälau down. Were
there times that you folks, did they kau lei sometimes, did they when they were coming
out off the mountains, put on lei of maile Were there fun times out there Talking story
and…
RG: In Kona, Kauhökü [Kaukahökü at Keauhou] you mentioned Kauhökü. That was Bishop
Estate land, leased to my father. That Kauhökü land was used to fatten cattle and we
used to go over there and get cattle to come out to ship. We went there, the place was
loaded with maile. Some of the nicest maile lauli‘i that you could find was from that
Kauhökü land. When we came out, everybody had a maile lei. Then we’d go down Kailua
and you’d show off your maile lei, everybody wore a maile lei. There was a lot of maile.
KM: Kaukahökü, is that around 5,000 [elevation] Do you recall
RG: I would say a little less, maybe 4,500.
KM: Was there still some ‘öhi‘a forest
RG: Yes, ‘öhi‘a, koa, some sandalwood, naio. The naio was false sandalwood, as you know.
KM: Yes.
PG: Very majestic.
KM: ‘Ie‘ie still up in the trees, the vine, the small climbing hala
RG: Kauhökü, there wasn’t too much.
KM: Maybe too high
RG:
KM:
RG:
PG:
RG:
PG:
RG:
KM:
RG:
‘Ie‘ie, no, I don’t think it was, just maybe hadn’t grown there. Same elevation over at
Kaloko, Honoköhau. Honua‘ula there was a lot of ‘ie‘ie.
Hinakapo‘ula is mauka of, just a little above the mauka boundary of Honoköhau In the
forest below that area, which is that line, Kaloko, Honoköhau like that
Yes, there was ‘ie‘ie and maile.
It was the thick ‘ie‘ie too. Wasn’t that the stuff that you had to go through tunnels
Yes.
It’s a wall yeah The cattle went through in tunnels.
But the cowboys did have fun, they put on their fancy maile leis. There was a lot of
joking.
Mahone Ka‘eo, you remember
Very well.
Mauna Kea– “Ka Piko Kaulana o ka ‘Äina”
Kumu Pono Associates LLC
A Collection of Oral History Interviews (HiMK67-050606) A:48