Kauila (Alphitonia ponderosa) – Respecting kūpuna and iwi
Back in the mid-1990s, John (Culliney) and I often explored the remnant dry forests of Kohala, Kona and Ka‘u on the Big Island. One of the nicer forests, free of fountain grass and other weeds, was in Ka‘u. What made the place particularly special were the half dozen or so Alphitonia ponderosa, kauila. (Alphitonia is today very rare on all the Islands except Kaua‘i.) These were old trees, but every summer we visited we would find them in flower or with their unusual acorn-like fruits. In 2009, I went to Ka‘u specifically to see these old kauila; it had been almost ten years since John’s and my last visit. I spent two or three hours combing the forest for the kauila, checking and rechecking my field notes. They were gone. Not dead – gone. I could only conclude that someone had cut the trees down and hauled them away, perhaps, to sell the wood, perhaps, to fashion the wood into pseudo-Hawaiian weapons. I had seen and heard of this happening before; a maua in North Kona with a large branch cleanly cut off, an uhiuhi in Kohala that disappeared overnight. And, I had heard the justifications; “I have a right to carry on my cultural traditions.” or “The tree was already dead. I wasn’t going to let the wood go to waste.”
Recently, I was lucky enough to hear Yvonne Carter, one of the stewards of the native dry forest at Ka‘upulehu, share her perspective on the dead trees of our native forests with a group of volunteers for the day. Yvonne referred to the old but still-living native trees as kūpuna and the dead trees as iwi. She told us that the iwi still have value — still have purpose in the forest. One of these purposes was to show us where to look for the hidden seeds of these rare trees among the ‘a‘ā and soil at their base. Another was to mark the location of a successful life, a place where we might plant new trees with more than a prayer for their survival. And, finally, the iwi were a reminder of what was and could be again if we worked together. As Yvonne spoke, I remember wishing that the thieves who had cut down the kauila could be with us to hear her. Hawaiians revere their kūpuna and their dead, skillfully protecting their bones, their mana, from disturbance or desecration. Perhaps, one day, everyone will not only share that reverence but also extend it to all the non-human kūpuna and iwi of our Islands.