NOWRAMP
2002
Manawai,
The Branching of Fresh Water
Pearl
and Hermes Atoll
Posted by Scott Kikiloi, graduate researcher, Center for
Hawaiian Studies, U.H.M.
September 20, 2002
In
the equation of life, the existence of an island ecosystem
is dependent upon the ocean that surrounds it, and the fresh
water it can retain. If these variables change over time,
the island, and everything on it can become just a memory
of the past. Nowhere is this more apparent than this region
of the Hawaiian archipelago. As these islands age gracefully,
they slowly dissolve into the sea, transforming into massive
circular coral rings that have small, low laying islets
that rest on the outer edge. Many of these islets are so
low that they can become completely washed over with the
smallest change in tide or currents through the various
seasons of the year. Pearl and Hermes exemplifies this,
as it is being slowly washed away into obscurity, trying
its hardest to retain life. Seeping out of some of these
sinking islets is ka wai ola, or the water that gives
life. This water mixes in with the ocean and forms brackish
estuaries in the middle of each islet. In Hawaiian, "Manawai"
means "stream branch." It's my educated guess
that these small islets of Pearl and Hermes may have ties
to this ancestral root word that was recorded over a century
ago. These different islets that make up the atoll are branches
that channel the fresh water inward to lagoon lakes, like
veins in a body. The names for this area mentioned in the
ko`ihonua, or genealogical chant are Manawainui,
Manawailani, and Manawaihiki (Bishop Museum
Archives #HI.H.107, folder 2).
As
I looked over this atoll I wondered how different this area
of the archipelago might have looked a thousand years ago.
The Hawaiian people come from a deep history with the ocean,
as it makes up over two thirds of the Earth's surface in
the Pacific region. In that context, land was something
that was scarce, and sacred, as they appreciated even the
most inhospitable and remote of places. We arrived at South
Eastern Island at Pearl and Hermes in the morning. The waves
were calm, and one could see the camouflage patterns of
coral through the ocean's liquid surface. We maneuvered
though this underwater garden, making our way to land. It
was hard to ignore the fact that this island is barely ten
feet above sea level at its highest point. Ocean debris
is scattered across the beach shoreline. It's also abundant
in the islands interior, as waves wash it all the way to
the lagoon in the middle of this island. The types of native
plant species that grow here are the `akulikuli,
which covers the jagged coral surface like a soft carpet;
the `alina, which is a low lying shrub that has beautiful
small white flowers; and the nohu, which is a hearty
indigenous shrub that seems to tolerate the most difficult
of environments.
My
stay on this island was a pleasant one, as Pearl and Hermes
seems to have a personality all its own… I can see
it struggling to stay above the sea level, and to be remembered
in our traditions. As native Hawaiians we need to respect
places like these and acknowledge them. Manawainui,
Manawailani, and Manawaihiki are places that
persevere in the hardest of ocean conditions and still manage
to retain life.
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