How did Pahoa get its name?

[punafish]

Anyone know why or how our town came to be known as "Dagger"? Really curious to find out. Any other insights welcome.

[Tink]

I haven't the foggiest, as my dad would say why, but a dagger would be the "multi tool" of long ago. In this fertile land one could cut a sprout, punch a hole in the dirt with a dagger and plant the sprout. It would be the perfect weapon, as dense forest/jungle a spear would be useless in hunting game. It is not cumbersome as most weapons/tools, and is lightweight. Completely waterproof for offshore use as well.
So,in that,perhaps the area was known and developed under the people indigenous of the area, or "dagger" people, or tribe is my fantasy.

Community begins with Aloha

[The Mexican]

P.A.H.O.A.

"PA" an important character in the once-banned masterpiece, Huckleberry Finn. "A" an article like "the" and "el" also, if you are in C major, a note to follow "so"

"HO" a name I-call-my-wife fa', a longer way to row

X

[ElysianWort]

Ok I'm not sure of this but I think I heard a legend of King Kamehameha as a youth going to battle to defend his wounded uncle with a dagger against an enemy force in the area.

[bananahead]

'Law of the Splintered Paddle'....

Kamehameha was hit in the head by a paddle in Puna... that is all...

"During a raid on Puna, Kamehameha pursued several fishermen and his foot got stuck in a rock crevice. Realizing the chief's disadvantage, one of the fisherman struck him on the head with a paddle which splintered. As the first fisherman prepared to strike Kamehameha again, the other fisherman made a plea to his companion to spare Kamehameha. Deeply moved by this incident, Kamehameha later proclaimed a law to protect the defenseless and to ensure the safety of travelers. A version of the law was incorporated into the state constitution in 1978."

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save our indigenous and endemic Hawaiian Plants... learn about them, grow them, and plant them on your property, ....instead of all that invasive non-native garbage I see in most yards... aloha

[punafish]

Interesting story, I've heard it before.

But please bear with me here, as I'm not the sharpest dagger in the drawer: what does a splintered paddle and laws to protect the defenseless have to do with how Pahoa got its name?

I did find a reference to "pahoa" (spelled "paoa") in the Pele and Hi’iaka Legend:

Ka-moho-alii turned his canoe
To rescue lad Kane from Nihoa.
Anon the craft lies off Nihoa’s coast;
They shout to the lad, to Kane-apua,
Come aboard, rest with us on the pola.
Ka-moho-alii turns now his prow,
He will steer for the fertile Niihau.
He sets out the wizard staff Pa(h)oa,
To test if Kauai’s to be their home;
But they found it not there.
Once more the captain sails on with the rod,
To try if Oahu’s the wished for land:
They thrust in the staff at Salt Lake Crater,
But that proved not the land of their promise.

No idea if Nathaniel Emerson is considered a legit source, but here's what he has to say:

“One Hawaiian says [paoa] should be pahoa. (Paulo Hokii.) The pa(h)oa mentioned in verse eight was a divining rod used to determine the suitability of any spot for Pele’s excavations. The land must be proof against the entrance of seawater. It also served as a spade in excavating for a volcanic crater…When a suitable place was finally discovered on Hawaii, the Paoa staff was planted in Panaewa and became a living tree, multiplying itself until it was a forest.”

This doesn't explain how Pahoa got its name, but I'm happy to agree that the gods named it and leave it at that, because it's definitely my kind of heaven.

Thanks everyone for posting, and sorry for burdening you all with my confusion.

[Pilgrim]

I heard that the railroad turnaround by the lumber mill was a spur, which looked like a dagger on the rail line from above. The heyday of Pahoa happened in the railroad times when they shipped sugar, 'ohi'a, (for railroad ties to California- which were never even used - auwe!) and coffee out of Puna.

{edited for typos}

[pahoated]

Pahoa also means axe. Kalai-pahoa is the poison god of the pre-contact Hawaiians and his legend outdates all the other stories. Kalai-pahoa is a poison tree in the forests of Molokai and Kalai-pahoa means shaped by the axe. The area seems to have been called Pahoa in pre-contact times so it might be associated with the Kalai-pahoa legends.

"Mahalo nui Pele, 'ae noho ia moku 'aina" - kakahiaka oli