The Mahele - One Family's Story

The Mahele - One Family's Story. . , This rock wall enclosure stands on land that once belonged to the Po'Onika family. Their story illustrates the changes wrought by the 1848 mahele (divide), which privatized land and changed Hawai'i forever. , Frank C. Po'oinka was born here in 1843. In 1855, his family purchased this land, which they had lived on for generations. Po'oinka raised his grandson Bernard Akana here in the early 1900's. In 1901, Po'oinka leased two-thirds of his land to the Kipahulu Sugar Company. The family lived in a two-story wooden house which was torn down after the family moved away. Sugarcane fields stretched down to the ocean and eventually erased most of the homestead., When the mill shut down around 1923, pineapple was planted but with little success. In 1925, cattle ranching became the dominant industry in Kipahulu. , The Kipahulu Sugar Mill [unreadable] processing, sugar was transferred [unreadable] cart to Kipahulu Landing [unreadable] the United States. The mill was located [unreadable] miles east of here. , Hawai'i sugar company owners and other businessmen, wanting more favorable trade agreements with the U.S., initiated the 1893 overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom's government. This resulted in the controversial U.S. annexation of Hawai'i in 1898. , [Unreadable] the remaining plantation [unreadable] in the park today. It was built inth e1920's by the Kanalulu family and restored by the National Park Service in 2002.