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| Memorial in Punchbowl crater today. |
Before Punchbowl, this was Pūowaina (see the name of the street that leads you around and into the crater), "hill of sacrifice", where Hawaiians in violation of kapus (taboos) were sacrificed to the gods. The kapu violator was taken to Kewalo fishpond nearby (no longer there) and ceremoniously drowned, the body thereafter taken to the heiau (temple) Kanelaau (perhaps Kanela'au) near present-day streets Lunalilo and Kinau for a special ceremony. The kahunas then walked the body to a stone atop Pūowaina where a fire was sometimes kindled for cremation. The family of the sacrificed would sometimes retrieve the remains or body the next night. The last known sacrifice was made in 1809.
Legend says menehune once lived here and ali'i would slide down the crater slope as a kapu sport (1).
The first great battle on Oahu for unifying the Hawaiian islands under the singular rule of King Kamehameha I occurred along heiau up the crater and near Kanelaau between Kamehameha I, who had the great advantage of having befriended British seamen knowledgeable of western military tactics and weaponry operation and the ability to obtain such weapons, and Oahu's army, which was commanded by Kaiana under the rule of Oahu's King Kalanikupule. The battle continued into Pauoa and Nuuanu valleys, and famously ended at the Nuuanu Pali.
In the early 1800s, King Kamehameha I's military advisor, the British John Young, had "eight heavy guns" put on top the crater and also built the fort in Downtown Honolulu near the harbor, after which Fort Street is named (no longer there), to stave off the Russians (who had built a fort on Kaua'i and were considered a potential threat). Punchbowl was then for a time called Fort Punchbowl. King Kalākaua drew criticism when he refused to allow the guns to be ceremoniously fired in traditional remembrance of his popular predecessor King Liholiho (sic, Lunalilo?). In the 1870s, King Kalākaua planted a variety of trees in the crater ("ingas, acasias, algerobas, eucalypti and other varieties in circular rows, with space enough between for carriage paths").
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| Pre-1850 drawing of the view of Honolulu from Punchbowl. Image credit: Hawaii State Archives. |
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| Undated view of Punchbowl. Photo credit: Hawaii State Archives. |
An 1892 article in "Paradise of the Pacific" described the view from the crater, which can be contrasted with both today's view and an earlier description of the surrounding land as terraced and under sweet potato cultivation (see 1): "Waikiki is marked by the long line of coconut trees...squares of "Salt Pans" dug in the marsh...Pearl River Harbor, the three lochs...Oahu Prison...Around the prison are some large fish-ponds, and near them the Kalihi, Nuuanu, and Pauoa Valley streams find their way into the harbor...the city itself it is so tree-embowered, that only the roofs of some of the loftiest buildings...are to be seen...the interior of that crater is thickly covered with the Algeroba tree. These as well as the trees on the hill to the left have been set out to test the question as to whether many of the barren hills on the island cannot be crowned with fruit trees and the experiments have succeeded well. To illustrate what can be done in this volcanic black sand, it may be mentioned that when in 1820, the first missionaries landed in Honolulu, there was hardly a tree or shrub to be seen on the plain, where the city now stands." The guns were fired for the last time in 1895 by supporters of the overthrow against supporters of Queen Lili'uokalani. (2)
The idea for creating a cemetery here dates back to the years between overthrow and annexation. Concern existed at the time that this might lead to contamination of the water supply, and it was instead used as a park for decades.
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| View of Punchbowl from Beretania Street, undated. Photo credit: Hawaii State Archives. |
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| View of Punchbowl from Tantalus, undated. Photo credit: Hawaii State Archives. |
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| View of Punchbowl from 'Iolani Palace in late 1890s. Photo credit: Hawaii State Archives. |
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| Looking towards Punchbowl in 1890s. Photo credit: Hawaii State Archives. |
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| View of Honolulu from Punchbowl ca. 1915. Photo credit: Hawaii State Archives (click for larger image). |
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| View of Honolulu from Punchbowl in 1934. Distances to points of interest near and far are shown in the foreground. Photo credit: Hawaii State Archives. |
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| Memorial, today. |
Foreshadowing December 7, Congress authorized an expenditure for creating a "national cemetery" in Hawaii in November 1941 with the provision that the land be freely available to the federal government. Construction began post-war in 1948. So many burials were needed that a three-day long repeatable procedure was developed to balance efficiency against due respect. Over nine thousand veterans were buried in the crater between January and March of 1949. Wooden crosses and Stars of David temporarily marked burial sites, and were later controversially replaced with flat markers.
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| Wood crosses in Punchbowl crater. Photo credit: Hawaii State Archives. |
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| What Punchbowl crater looked like with wooden crosses. Photo credit: Hawaii State Archives. |
Work on a memorial began in 1958. Vietnam veterans were buried in the crater before it was finished. The maps, originally made in Italy using the ancient scagliola technique (apply marble dust and cement paste to Carrara marble, add pigments and glaze, then polish), were replaced with marble and glass designed by Mary M.H. Jacobs and built by Earley Studios of Manassas, Virginia (3).
The Vietnam memorial was created by The Armbruster Co. to match the other existing maps in the gallery.
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| Close-up of one of the maps. |
Famous war correspondent Ernie Pyle, members of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team and 100th Battalion, and astronaut Ellison Onizuka are buried here. See "Hawai'i's World War II Military Sites..." by Colonel Charles A. Jones for burial and points of interest.
(1) "Ancient Sites of O'ahu..." by Van James.
(2) "Punchbowl..." by Doug Carlson; main source.
(3) See NPS documentation (PDF) and Armbruster Co.'s website.