ABSTRACT
The district of Ka‘ū covers the southernmost portion of Hawai‘i Island, locally known as the “Big Island.” Its boundaries include the active caldera Kilauea, most of Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park, rolling upland mountains, and the sloping plains of Kama‘oa. It is a windy, isolated district considered by many local residents to be one of the last kīpukas of Old Hawai‘i. A kīpuka is an untouched oasis of vegetation in the middle of a lava flow, which over time, develops its own unique ecosystem. As a concept, it is used to describe places considered pristine or “pockets” of Old Hawaiian culture (Fuchs 1961). To the residents who live there, it is this quality which characterizes Ka‘ū. As one respondent said, “Ka‘ū is the last bastion that still has the ways of the 1800’s in it [sic].”
