Ahupuaûa () is a Hawaiian term for a large traditional socioeconomic, geologic, and climatic subdivision of land. It usually extends from the mountains to the sea and generally includes one or more complete watersheds and marine resources. The predominant traditional system in the eight high islands of the main Hawaiian Islands was based on the ahupuaûa. Each ahupuaâÂÂa contained a cross section of island resources and they were managed within a complex social system associated with each area. The general belief is that each ahupuaâÂÂa met the needs of the local population, with excess for tribute and trade.
The traditional subdivision system has four hierarchical levels:
Some oral history relates that ûUmi-a-Lëloa, son of the great High Chief Lëloa, took control of the land and divided it into ahupuaûa. However, there is also a general belief that the natural organization of communities along stream systems is the foundation for the system, whose community governance system of KÃÂnÃÂwai is often attributed specifically to shared water usage.
The Hawaiians maintained an agricultural system that contained two major classes: irrigated and rain-fed systems. In the irrigated systems, the Hawaiians grew mostly taro (kalo), and in the rain-fed systems, they grew mostly ûuala (sweet potatoes), yams, and dryland taro in addition to other small crops. This dry-land cultivation was also known as the mala. It also consisted of (kalo) taro, (niu) coconuts, (ûulu) breadfruit, (maiûa) bananas, and (kà Â) sugar cane. The kukui tree was sometimes used as a shade to protect the mala from the sun. Each crop was carefully placed in an area that was most suitable to its needs.
Hawaiians raised dogs, chickens, and pigs that were domesticated. They also made use of personal gardens at their own houses. Water was a very important part of Hawaiian life; it was used not only for fishing, bathing, drinking, and gardening, but also for aquaculture systems in the rivers and at the shore's edge.
The ahupuaûa consisted most frequently of a slice of an island that went from the top of the local mountain (volcano) to the shore, often following the boundary of a stream drainage. Each ahupuaûa included a lowland mala (cultivated area) and upland forested region. Ahupuaûa varied in size depending on the economic means of the location and political divisions of the area. âÂÂAs the native Hawaiians used the resources within their ahupuaûa, they practiced aloha (respect), laulima (cooperation), and mÃÂlama (stewardship) which resulted in a desirable pono (balance).â The Hawaiians believed that the land, the sea, the clouds and all of nature had a certain interconnectedness, which is why they used all of the resources around them to reach the desired balance in life. Sustainability was maintained by the konohiki and kahunaâÂÂpriests, who restricted the fishing of certain species during specific seasons. They also regulated the gathering of plants. Ahupuaûa is derived from Hawaiian language ahu, meaning âÂÂheapâ or âÂÂcairn,â and puaûa, pig. The boundary markers for ahupuaûa were traditionally heaps of stones used to place offerings, often a pig, to the island chief.
Each ahupuaûa was divided into smaller sections called ûili, and the ûili were divided into kuleana. These were plots of land that were cultivated by the common people. These people paid weekly labor taxes to the land overseer. These taxes went to support the chief.
There may have been two reasons for this kind of subdivision:
Each ahupuaûa was ruled by an aliûi or local chief and administered by a konohiki.
Rule over an ahupuaûa was given out by the ruling chief to subordinate members of the aliûi. On the larger mountains of Maui and Hawaiûi, smaller ahupuaûa extended up to about 6,000 to 8,000 feet in elevation, while the higher elevations of an entire district would be included within a single, large ahupuaûa. These ahupuaûa, such as Kaûohe, Keauhou, KapÃÂpala, Keaûau, Keûanae, Puûu Waûawaûa, and Humuûula, were highly valued both for their size and because they allowed control over items obtainable only from high-elevation areas, such as high-quality stone for tools and ûuaûu (Hawaiian petrel) chicks. They were given to high-ranking aliûi, or often retained by the high chief personally.
Following the Great Mahele in 1848, most ahupuaûa were split up. ManukÃÂ, Puûu Waûawaûa, and Puûu Anahulu on the island of Hawaiûi are among the few large ahupuaûa that remained nearly intact under single ownership (with the exception of some kuleana lots) because they were crown lands owned personally by the monarch. In spite of this, the impact of the ahupuaûa boundaries can be seen in many areas today. For example, the ahupuaûa of Keaûau, near Hilo, was purchased as a single unit by the William Herbert Shipman family to farm and raise cattle. Most of the land, however, was eventually sold off to become the large subdivisions of Puna. The line between the large northern lots (sold by the state as 30-50 acre farms) and 1-3 acre southern lots in the vicinity of Kurtistown, Mountain View, and Glenwood is the boundary between the ÃȈ Âlaûa and Keaûau ahupuaûa. This boundary follows the edge of the 200- to 400-year-old ûAilaûau lava flow, and the ahupuaûa of Keaûau was undoubtedly originally created from the land devastated by this flow.
Many local towns in Hawaiûi still maintain the names of the old ahupuaûa. In West Maui, the towns (north to south) Honokà Âhau, Honolua, Kapalua, NÃÂpili, Kahana, Honokawai, Kaûanapali, Lahaina, and Olowalu follow the ahupuaûa names, with each maintaining their local flavors.