History and Description of the Area
Midway between the old sugar cane plantation village of Kahuku and the Mormon settlement of Laie, the bay at Malaekahana faces the prevailing tradewinds on Oahu's rural northeast shore.
This enclave, home of the kahuna Manuwahi, is the only part of the island which was never, in spite of several attempts, conquered by Kamehameha the Great, when he unified all of the islands.
Laie, whose first sugar mill was opened in 1868, originally hosted separate camps of workers, Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese and Filipino, but by 1890 the sugar processing had moved to Kahuku, and by 1954 the Laie plantation had been phased out. Some of its land was leased to the Chinese for rice growing. In Kahuku, sugar was produced from the early 1890s until 1971. Its layout and dwellings are still very much the original plantation town.
A three-minute drive, Laie is the Hawaiian center of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, situated on what was originally a 6,000-acre site, and dates from 1864. The locale includes the town, the temple (phone 293.9297) and grounds and visitor center, as well as the Hawaii campus of Brigham Young University, with its library, grounds and athletic facilities, and the Polynesian Cultural Center.
The Polynesian Cultural Center (phone 293.3333) preserves and shares the heritage of the South Pacific region. Waterways and a lagoon wind throughout the 42-acre park. Customs, arts, crafts and sports can be observed in the exhibition areas, and island dancing, mat weaving and coconut husking can be learned and local foods sampled. Canoe pageants, dances and music of the Pacific are presented.
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