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| Kaua‘i like the other Hawaiian islands owes its origin to the fury of volcanic eruption. Photo by DigitalStock. |
Birth of an Island
Over 5 million years ago, Kaua‘i took its place as part of an island chain. Magma spewing from a hot spot beneath the floating Pacific Tectonic Plate formed Kaua‘i as it did the other islands in the chain.
The plate, bearing Kaua‘i, moved on, as the destiny of these islands is to remain in motion, advancing in a northwesterly direction at the rate of about 3.5 inches per year while slowly eroding and declining. The tops of most of these islands no longer exist above sea level; many have subsided under the Aleutian Chain in Alaska.
First came the plants. Over millions of years, every 10,000 to 100,000 years or so, a new plant arrived, until a total of about 270 colonizing species bloomed in these islands. They arrived without the aid of people, on wings and in the bellies of birds, or they rafted here on vegetation. These 270 or so colonists evolved over millennia to become significantly different so that by the time the first Polynesians arrived, they saw those 1,300 or so flowering plants mentioned earlier.
The people adapted to life in their new land, where they thrived. Hundreds of years later, in succeeding migrations, the strong, fearsome Tahitians arrived and overpowered them, establishing the Tahitian religion and culture as the basis for Hawaiian society.
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| Native plants at Kalalau Overlook. Photo by Anne E. O'Malley. |
Hawaiians built heiau, or temples, to worship their pantheon. Among the most famous in all Hawai‘i are heiau they built in an arc starting at the Wailua River on the East Side, ascending to the top of the highest region of Kaua‘i, Wai‘ale‘ale, and down to the West Side.
They considered the entire Wailua region sacred. Royals from other islands came to Wailua to give birth to their progeny at Holoholoku, sacred birthplace of the chiefs. So special was this birthing place that it gave rise to a saying.
Hanau ke ali‘i I loko o
Holoholoku, he ali‘i nui
hanau ke kanaka I loko o
Holoholoku, he ali‘i no
hanau ke ali‘i mawaho a‘e o
Holoholoku ‘a’ohe ali‘i
he kanaka ia
The child of a chief born in
Holoholoku is a high chief;
the child of a commoner born
in Holoholoku is a chief;
the child of a chief born outside
of the borders of Holoholoku
is a commoner.
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