03/31/2023
OLOWALU AHUPUA'A LAHAINA MOKU, MAUI:
βOlowalu was a land unit (ahupua'a) before Europeans arrived in the islands. Archaeologists believe that Olowalu could have been permanently occupied as early as the A.D. 900-1000s. Its residents were part of the district (moku) of Lahaina, which was part of a larger kingdom on Maui beginning in the A.D. 1300-1400s. The ahupua'a of Olowalu ran from the shoreline to the top ridges of West Maui Mountains and provided the community of Olowalu with all the resources necessary for living. Water resources were managed for drinking, bathing, and irrigation. Wild and cultivated plants provided food, clothing, canoes, weapons and many other products.
The people and land of Olowalu were linked to other communities of the Maui Kingdom by trails. A coastal trail near today's highway once led to Lahaina and on around the island. Little known today, another major trail led up Olowalu Valley into and across the West Maui Mountains into lao Valley in the Wailuku ahupua'a. Olowalu is also known as the site of a bloody massacre, which happened in 1790. The captain of the American ship Eleanora (Capt. Simon Metcalf) became upset because of a stolen boat and opened fire on Hawaiian canoes, killing more than 100 men and wounding more than 200 near the ancient Olowalu landing site. This massacre led Big Island Chief Kame'eiamoku to attack the next Western ship that arrived, which was the Fair American, captained by Metcalf's son. The entire crew was attacked and killed, except for one person, Isaac Davis, who in later years became an advisor to King Kamehameha the Great.β