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Natural History

Kou
(Cordia Subcordata)

Kou is a quick-growing small, cultivated tree with shiny, heart-shaped leaves and pale gray bark that may grow to be 15 to 30 feet tall, with a spread of from 20 to 25 feet. The tree's wide-spreading crowns provided shade around homes -- especially in warm leeward areas. They were introduced to the islands by the first Hawaiians and were popular shade trees for villages along the leeward coasts of the islands. They are scattered in low elevation, dry coastal areas of all the main islands except Molokai and Kahoolawe.

The pumpkin-orange, scented blossoms were used to make a lei that is preferred for its color. The shallowly tubular flowers are up to two inches in diameter and are usually gathered in the evening when they fell off the tree. The plant makes green to yellow fruit that are about an inch long.

One legend associated with the lei kou regards a young chiefess of Ewa on Oahu. The girl was headed for a swim and saw an old woman stringing a lei out of kou. She arrogantly demanded the lei. The old woman angrily refused, telling her to get her own flowers and make her own lei. The chiefess could not stop thinking about the lei and she interrupted her swim to return to the old woman to demand the lei again, and then one more time. Each time the answer was an angry response.

The girl did not know that the old woman was a sorceress connected to the sharks. After the third time she tried to bully the old woman, the chiefess walked away and sat sulking close to the water's edge with her long, black hair hanging in the water. Meanwhile, sharks appeared to the old woman and asked her what they should do with the teasing girl. The old woman said they could do what they wished, and they attacked and ate the chiefess, scattering her blood over the rocks that remain red to this day. It is said that it is not the custom for the people of Ewa to wear a lei kou.
The plant is drought-resistant once established.

The beauty of the wood and the ease with which it can be cut makes kou one of the most highly prized of all woods for bowls and platters. Early woodworkers highly favored the strong, easy-to-work wood of the kou tree for carving cups, dishes and wooden idols. Bowls and dishes made of kou were used for serving and storing food because the wood did not impart a flavor.

The kou leaf gave a light-tan dye for kapa and fishing lines. The plant makes green to yellow fruit that are about an inch long.

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Arts & Culture

The Plague Outbreak

In 1900, the island of Maui had a population of about 25,300. More than half of the population was Chinese and Japanese nationals who had been imported as workers for the eleven active sugar plantations on the island. (Some of these plantations were among the largest and most productive in the Hawaiian Islands.)

By 1900, after a long, drawn-out corporate battle, in which the Maui-born titans of sugar, Alexander and Baldwin, and California sugar magnate Claus Spreckels, as well as the Wilder Steamship Company, fought over control of land holdings in Central Maui as well as the railroad system and port facilities, Alexander and Baldwin ended up with control of the sugar, the railroad and the port.

This was all well and good, but in the meantime, the port town of Kahului had developed into a squatter's town. Conditions were very unsanitary and there was a serious outbreak of the bubonic plague, which started in the area called "Chinatown," which had sprung up around the warehouses along the waterfront.

George B. Robertson, publisher of the newly launched "Maui News," quipped, "Hon. H. P. Baldwin, president of the Maui Sanitary Committee, advocates for the burning of the plague infected stores and warehouses in Kahului. Wonder if he knows who owns them?"
Robertson goes on to editorialize, "The unselfish and public-spirited position (Baldwin) takes in this matter should be a salutary lesson to some of the property owners in Honolulu."

In 1900 Lincoln M. Baldwin was sheriff for the islands of Maui, Molokai, Lanai and Kahoolawe. As the highest government official of the time, it was his job to carry out the directives of health officers from Honolulu for the containment of the plague.

A public notice, dated February 15, 1900 and signed by Dept. of Health agent Dr. C. L. Carvin, came out after the plague had struck the island killing several people. It said, "Strict quarantine regulations are now enforced and no traffic in or out of Kahului will be permitted except by authorized passes for individuals and approved permits for freight....No merchandise now in Kahului will be permitted to leave the town, excepting a limited number of articles capable of easy and absolute disinfection. All mail matter (local and foreign) leaving Kahului will be thoroughly fumigated. All dwellings, cesspools, closets and drains should be put into a sanitary condition, and cases of sickness be reported at once to the nearest physician."

Sheriff Baldwin helped to carry out the quarantine measures. Ultimately, he coordinated the burning of affected buildings in Kahului town, displacing Chinese, Japanese and Hawaiian residents. As an added measure, authorities encircled the entire port town with corrugated iron rat-proof fences, successfully ending the plague.

Ironically, in that same year, most of Honolulu's Chinatown burned in a fire purposely set by the authorities to stop the spread of bubonic plague to the rest of the community. A strong wind whipped the fire out of control, spreading the inferno from its intended confinement at Beretania Street and Nuuanu Avenue and razing three-quarters of Chinatown's 50 acres. Nearly 7,000 Chinese, Japanese and Hawaiians were ordered to quarantine camps for several months before they were permitted to return.

Meanwhile, on Maui, a group of 141 Japanese workers arrived unexpectedly during the plague quarantine. The irrepressible Robertson said,
"These men present a neat, tidy appearance, and are doubtless free from infectious disease. If they prove to be laborers and not the riff-raff of Honolulu, they can be utilized to good advantage."

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Braddah-Nics Lexicon

STANDARD: Perhaps it's time for a reality check.
BRADDAH-NICS: Braddah...what'chu talking? 'As how!....

* * * * * * * *

STANDARD: I'm not really interested in the gossip. I already know it.
BRADDAH-NICS: No need tell me somet'ing somebody wen' tell you. I already know already.

* * * * * * * *

STANDARD: All of this negativity is really unproductive.
BRADDAH-NICS: Some humbug, dis kine hakaka!

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Local Grinds

Pork n Tofu
 

Ingredients:

Procedure:

Thinly slice pork into 2 by 1 inch pieces. Cut Green onions into 2 inch strips.
In a skillet, heat oil and brown pork. Add soy sauce, water, sugar, onion and ginger.
Bring to a boil and simmer for five minutes. Gently stir in tofu; simmer gently for a few minutes.
Add green onions just before serving.
Makes six servings.

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Spotlight On…

KULA

Think million-dollar panoramic views. Think of rich, red soil so fine that your feet send up puffs of dry dust as you walk in the bare dirt. Think of world-famous sweet Kula onions, and fascinating, magical-looking protea flowers. Think of tree-lined roads wending their way over the mountain slopes -- the smell of eucalyptus as you drive along the upper highway, the beauty of the blooming jacarandas and silk oak trees along the lower one. Think wide expanses of pasture land dotted with stands of opuntia cacti. (This is dry country, after all, tucked away in the wind-shadow of Haleakala mountain, on the leeward side of the island.

Think of small family farms and ranches with old wooden houses dating from great- grandpa's time. The diversity of crops harvested in this fertile place, trucked down the mountain to the Central Valley below, include a wide variety of flowers, cabbages, potatoes, onions, tomatoes, assorted fruits and even wine grapes.

Once upon a time Kula farms and ranches provisioned whaling ships, and Kula was called "Nu Kaleponi" (New California). Hungry miners during the California Gold Rush created such a demand for Kula's potatoes, onions and other vegetables and caused a major increase in the prices of the crops grown in the area. The population boomed in the area as farmers had their own rush for the gold, shipping off their produce to the Mainland. Population dwindled again when the gold frenzy died down and Californians settled in to farm their own lands.

Nowadays the fastest-growing "crops" are the homes in subdivisions built to accommodate folks looking for a quiet, country way of life.

The Kula area is divided into four communities: Omaopio, Pulehu, Waiakoa and Kula itself (which is sometimes further subdivided into upper and lower Kula). Currently, there are a few small stores in the area, but no real town center.

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