In traditional times, the coastal plain where you now stand was known as Kālia. Water from streams into the ocean through what is now the world-famous Waikīkī Beach. The Kālia area was served by Pi‘inaio Stream and several freshwater springs. Early Hawaiian farmers developed complex irrigation systems that converted the marshes into lo‘i kalo (taro patches) and loko i‘a (fishponds). Taro is still the staple food and spiritual center for Native Hawaiians. The productive fishponds and the abundant coral reefs meant fresh seafood was always available. Ho‘okipa, the Hawaiian concept of hospitality, maintained that passers-by, whether friends or strangers, were always welcome and fed.

In the early 19th century, social and political fights about Western contact altered the intricate Hawaiian way of life. Foreign diseases and epidemics decimated the native population. By 1866, Mark Twain would note that Waikīkī was a “historic area,” with the remnants of a traditional village site. Over the next century. Waikīkī evolved into a resort area. When industrialist Henry J. Kaiser opened the Hawaiian Village in 1955, the complex of twenty-four thatched roof guest houses featured three ocean water swimming pools and a long house, a common area modeled after Polynesian chiefs’ dwelling.