How has this plane table mapping project changed your relationship with the land?


By: Shannon Fisher



During this class mapping project we scaled down a huge heiau by converting meters into centimeters on a 1 to 100 scale, I’ve changed my perspective on my homeland of Hawaii. Although, this field trip was Geometry and we kept talking about math related topics, we then learned a lot of the terms of the Hawaiian language. Though this, I learned cultural facts and geometry, but that wasn’t what made me admire the land as much as I do now.



What really made me admire the land was the feeling I got when I first stepped on through that gate. When I passed through, I felt different. I mean, my whole being was changed to a calm and selfless awe. For some reason, all the problem and struggles that had been on my mind that day didn’t bother me anymore. It may be just a feeling, but it was the first to make me know, why the ancient Hawaiians had picked this spot. That day, even Mahaelani Pai had told the class that the Hawaiians didn’t just pick any old spot on the island to build a stone structure. They only chose areas where they felt had the most spiritual connection.



Another event that happened while I worked on the site was on the last field trip day I went to Kahalu’u. That time we were saying the Eh Ho Mai (chant for the entering and to ask to gain knowledge) we had to repeat the chant. I suspect that Uncle Mahealani Pai didn’t make us repeat it because we weren’t being clear, because our attitude wasn’t right. That was the first chant I wasn’t fully serious in. First time I goofed off during a chant. Right when my respect on their words had slipped, he had realized it and made everyone chant it again. I didn’t hear anyone talking during it except for me. He had corrected what mistake I’d made. For his high honor on this historical land, I admire that feature by expressing it to the land myself. After these trips, I am considering learning how to write and speak the Hawaiian Language. I believe, that we should become close to our birthplace even though we aren’t necessarily that nationality.

Field Trip #2, January 26, 2010


Today’s field trip started out just fine. We chanted for our permission to enter, but we had to do it again because we didn’t do it right the first time. And we were on time this trip, but still late enough so that the kids from the other school was there to watch us squirm.

It turns out that not only were we not loud enough, but that some of us did not show proper respect. We slouched, we had our hands in our pockets, we swayed and fidgeted on our feet, etc. I think I did one of these things– hands in my pocket most likely– but I was nervous. Small kind, but I still froze up and stuttered in a really small voice. We got it done though, after warming up to our inner songstress’s. Or whatever name you use for the guys. Whatever, it all worked out.

Just like before, the girls and boys split up to do our own mappings. My group and I got plenty of stuff done, and managed to finish up today, with a few… problems. We set up our table wrong at first, and plotted crookedly, but we managed to fix it up again and redo our plots. There were some other complications, like some of the flags got kicked up, some kids got a little dizzy standing under the sun too long, and some of the other flags were switched around and were put in places where you had to climb up on the wall and the rocks weren’t that stable. It was fun though, even when I almost fell over on the rocks.

Afterwards, when most of the girls were done and just cruising while waiting for the other group to finish, we did some notes on the heiau and learned a little more on the history surrounding the land in this area. We also got quizzed, and even though the girls from the other school knew more than us, some of us Kealakehe girls got some right. Time went by fast after that and pretty soon all the kids were together under the tents sharing what they did today.

Then the kids from the other school had to go, and chanted their mahalo’s to the uncles and aunties there. They even said goodbye to us too. They were sweet kids and very polite. Should I still live on this island when I have kids, I’m definitely sending them to that school if can.

We on the other hand learned a new chant to practice and took some more notes. I like the note taking though, because we’re learning stuff about our roots and it’s a good reminder for me. We left soon after that, and that was pretty much the end of our third trip, and my second time going. Overall, there’s no doubt I’d go again.

–Tiani Ka’ahea-Simeona

Hui Kaha Pohaku Final Reflection


By: Ryan Pilanca

Have you ever wondered how the ancient Hawaiians built a heiau? Well in this project we found out just how they did it. Hui Kaha Pohaku is our group name, in Hawaiian it means ‘’group that maps the placement of stones.’’ Our purpose was to go out and remap the heiau that had been destroyed over time, by nature. When we got onto the site we did physical labor along with taking copious notes in our outdoor classroom. We measured out the whole area using the plane table mapping technique.

I went on four field trips aside from the orientation. Overall it was a great experience. The boys went to a site called pao’umi heiau and the girls went to another site called keikiho’okama. When on the site we put flags on the main stones and ridges so that we could see where the wall was. After flagging the whole area we set up the plane tables and mapped every flag and its distance. When all the mapping was done we started drawing the maps out. The final part was drawing all the details such as the distance, the direction and the legend.

After all this was done I looked back and I am proud to have worked on the site. It will be there when I’m gone and my children will know that I helped rebuild that heiau

I would recommend the project to the up and coming underclassmen.

Imagine yourself standing on the site 20 years from now. Your family is with you. What will you tell them? What will the site look like?


by: Iva Lauronal

Standing on the site 20 years from now with my family would be amazing. I would tell them that this is the site I’ve been working on in 2010 when I was in high school. We learned about the Hawaiian culture and how to map heiau. It took time for us to measure each rock of the heiau but we took our time. We had groups of four so we all worked together and we got it done fast. I worked and helped on the site three times which was recommended. I did learn a lot and it was interesting. I learned about the solstice, the different heiau, chants, dances and chiefs and the wars. Twenty years from now the heiau will be restored and will be in the exact place. I hope it is just more trees and grasses hopefully not hotels on the heiau because it is not right. Hopefully more people in the future will be experiencing and learning about the Hawaiian culture. I will be very proud to be telling my family about my experiences.

Hapai Ali’i and the Seasons

By Michael Schloffel

In the past couple of weeks, I have been going on Hui Kaha Pohaku (plane table mapping) field trips. I have learned so much about a few heiau in the Kahalu’u area. I think the most important heiau that I have learned about is known as the Hawaiian calendar, or Hapai Ali’i Heiau. This formation of stones is significant because it can be used to tell which season it is. It is incredibly accurate as well, you will know the very day the season changes, just by looking at it.

Hapai Ali’i Heiau is even simple to use, it is rectangular in shape, and has stones on top of the west wall that were placed in geographic points. The stones line up directly with the sun on the day the season changes. To read the season, you simply stand around 100 meters back from the East (Hikina) wall, and look at the three stones placed on the center of the West (Komohana) wall. If the sun is on the North (Akau) side, than it is summer, Kealapolohiwa’akane, or the season of Ku’u. if the sun is on the South (Hema) side, than it is winter, Kealapolohiwa’akanaloa, or the season of Lono. When the sun is directly over the middle stone, it is the equinox, or Kealapiko’owakea.

This Heiau is a very useful tool. About 600 years ago, the Hawaiians would look to it to find out the au, or current time. John Stokes measured it in 1906, he found that it was exactly 100ft by 150ft. Henry Kekahuna measured it once again in 1952. I learned that the stones from the heiau were dated back to 1411-1465. They found this out by carbon dating.

It took over 600-800 men and about three years to produce. They built it directly in front of a small pond. They knew that putting it in front of the pond would help push back the force of the ocean, making it last longer. The pond actually takes energy from the wave before it would hit the stones. There were massive waves as well back then, so they could only build during low tide. Another thing was they built they walls at a slant. This building technique makes it even stronger and more likely to withstand the brutality of the open ocean. Hapai Ali’i has a PaePae open court built into it. I think it is amazing how the Hawaiian’s figured out how to build it corresponding with the time changes on the Earth. It must have taken lots of hard work making it accurate, and only constructing it during low tide.

Project Reflection

By Mercury Oandasan

As a young kid I had visited the Outrigger quite a few times to go hang out on the hammock, eat at the all you can eat buffet, or to watch my cousin Eileen dance hula in the main lobby. While growing up I did not really pay that much attention to the Heiau, but I do remember seeing a lot of rubble and large cobblestones in a collapsed shaped mound.

I attended an orientation about a Plane Table Mapping project called Hui Kaha Pohaku in the Kealakehe High school library. While I was in the orientation Uncle Mahealani described what we would be doing on the worksite, and also showed us a slideshow from the last years group showing us how fun it will be while working hard and learning at the same time. I was really interested in this project so I signed up for the field trips.

At the first field trip, students from a Hawaiian Immersion School, who arrived before us, accompanied our students. Uncle Mahealani discussed how he would like us to act on the site, shared with us the history of the Heaiu surrounding the Kahalu’u Ahupua’a, and what we were going to do on the site for the day. On arrival we observed trees that have been cut down all the way around Pao Umi Heaiu, but there were still trees standing inside of the Heaiu. We were instructed to clear all of those trees out by the end of the day. Everyone lined up in a single file line from the Heiau to a pile of debris and we all passed it all down and added our rubbish to the pile. We finished in less than one hour, which was really fast to me. I think teamwork was a typical Hawaiian way of doing things.

After the fieldtrip was over I thought about how hard I had worked, all the information I learned about the heiau and about Hawaiian culture, and laughed to myself. I felt that ever since the beginning of the year I knew a lot about the Hawaiian culture and heiau. After attending the Hui Kaha Pohaku fieldtrips I have learned a tremendous amount of information about the Hawaiian culture, and have gained more respect towards my teacher Mr. Lowery than when the semester began. I used to think that every thing he talked about in class was useless and I would never need to use it. I thought it was boring until I was at the amazingly restored Hapai Ali’i Heiau. Everything he taught us in class helped me answer questions and understand what they were talking about throughout the rest of the fieldtrips.

My thoughts, beliefs, and feelings toward the Ain’a have changed since attending the Hui Kaha Pohaku fieldtrips. I have also changed my perspective and my point of view of how I look at things or talk to people. I try to look at everything with a positive thought in my mind. My belief in keeping the Ain’a clean and maintained has strengthened as I learned more and more about the Hawaiian customs in the old days, how they lived and kept their land clean with respect and love.

As I think back, I am really thankful for the experience I was given and feel that I have benefited from it. I learned a lot about the old Hawaiian culture which will help keep my perspective more spiritually based and my respect towards other peers at a high level. I want to try to treat everyone and everything the way I want to be treated. My knowledge will always be growing. Time will change and I will remember this experience forever. I find myself wondering what this area and the life of the area will be like 200 years from now.