Wehewehe Wikiwiki Hawaiian language dictionaries

1. n., Land division usually extending from the uplands to the sea, so called because the boundary was marked by a heap (ahu) of stones surmounted by an image of a pig (puaʻa), or because a pig or other tribute was laid on the altar as tax to the chief.

• Related:
  • The landlord or owner of an ahupuaʻa might be a konohiki.

2. n., The altar on which the pig was laid as payment to the chief for use of the ahupuaʻa land.

s., Ahu, collection, and puaʻa, hog.

1. Name of one of the smaller divisions of a country, made up of several ʻili, and under the care of a head man; a hog paid the tax of that district to the king. He ahupuaʻa o Wailuku; o na aina maloko o Wailuku. he ʻili, he moʻo.

2. A city; a village; a settlement, as the capital of said ahupuaʻa.

[Ahu, collection, and puaʻa, hog.]

1. n., One of the smaller divisions of a kalana or district, made up of several ʻili, small districts, and under the care of a head man; a hog was the tax of that district to the king: He Wailuku, he ʻili he moʻo; Wailuku is an ahupuaʻa; the lands in Wailuku, ʻili and moʻo, a division of land next below ʻili.

2. n., The ahu or altar upon which the tax levied on the ahupuaʻa was laid; also used as a landmark; called on the island of Oʻahu, Kaʻānaniʻau.

land section, usually extending from the uplands to the sea

Large land division extending from the ocean shore to the mountain top or ridge. It is roughly wedge-shaped because of the somewhat pie-shaped configuration of an island of which it is a part. Boundaries are marked by piles of stone (ahu), which were regarded as altars for placing offerings. This division was the domain of a lesser chief.

Division of land, such as Wailuku, made up of several sub-divisions descending in size. The ahupuaʻa extended from the ocean to the highest uplands. This division, usually placed under a lesser chief for control, was roughly shaped like a segment of pie, very wide on the ocean side and coming to a point or narrow boundary at the top. An ahupuaʻa often included one or more fishponds.

1. “An ahupuaa has been called the ʻunit’ of land in this country; but it is by no means a measure of area, for ahupuaas vary exceedingly as to size. Many ahupuaas are divided into ilis; other ahupuaas have no ilis in them, as for instance, Kualoa and Waimanalo on this island Oahu.” Harris v. Carter, 6 Haw. 195, 206 (1877). 2. “Ahupuaa means ʻa land division usually extending from the uplands to the sea.’” McBryde Sugar Co. v. Robinson, 54 Haw. 174, 177, n.3 (1973) (citations omitted). 3. “The unit of land was the ahupuaa, usually running from the mountain to the sea.” Territory v. Bishop Trust Co., Ltd., 41 Haw. 358, 361 (1956). 4. “Use of the term ahupuaa is misleading unless it is borne in mind that this term is used sometimes in the sense of a land subdivision smaller than a district, and sometimes in the sense of a tract of land held by the king or a chief as a unit under the feudal system then obtaining.” State v. Midkiff, 49 Haw. 456, 464 (1966). 5. “While theoretically an ahupuaa ran from the sea to the summit of the mountain, in order that the natives might share in all the different products of the forest, soil and sea, in actual practice, particularly on the island of Hawaii, the ordinary ahupuaa did not run to the top of the mountain but only to or into the zone of timber land, being cut off from the top of the mountain by the larger ahupuaas” (citations omitted). State v. Midkiff, 49 Haw. 456, 464, n.l (1966). 6. “The unit of land, so to speak, seems to have been the ahupuaa. Its name is derived from the ahu or altar (literally, pile, kuahu being the specific term for altar) which was erected at the point where the boundary of the land was intersected by the main road, alaloa, which circumferented each of the islands. Upon this altar at the annual progress of the akua makahiki (Year-God) was deposited the tax paid by the land whose boundary it marked, and also an image of a hog, puaa, carved out of kukui wood and stained with red ochre. How long this was left on the altar I do not know, but from this came the name, ahupuaa, of the pile of stones, which title was given also to the division of land marked thereby.” (CJL) 7. Subdivision within a mokuʻāina, kalana or ʻokana (SMK). 8. One of the smaller divisions of a kalana or district, made up of several ʻili, small districts, and under the care of a head man; the ahu or altar upon which the tax levied on the ahupua ʻa was laid; also used as a landmark (AP). 9. Land division from the uplands to the sea (PE).