About ʻIli Boundaries
Situated within an ahupuaʻa are ʻili, which are usually understood as subsections of land as part of the ahupuaʻa system. The ahupuaʻa is a land division system that typically stretches from the mountain to the end of the reef barrier, following the watershed. This system fostered abundance, as it was known that those living within a well-managed ahupuaʻa would never have to leave that area for more food.
To further ensure that the ʻāina was cared for and to contribute to this abundance, ʻili were often cared for by a single family for generations. These ʻili were sometimes named after these families or for moʻolelo to remember the significance behind the wahi pana. Historically, there were two classification with ʻili ʻāina being viewed as part of an the larger ahupuaʻa management system and ʻili kūpono (often shortened to ʻili kū) being under an the care of an aliʻi (chief).
Sources
- “Pukui, Mary Kawena, and Samuel Hoyt Elbert. “ʻIli.” In Hawaiian-English Dictionary, 1986 : Link
- Pukui, Mary Kawena, and Samuel Hoyt Elbert. “ʻIli Kūpono.” In Hawaiian-English Dictionary, 1986. : Link
- Pukui, Mary Kawena, and Samuel Hoyt Elbert. “ʻIli ʻāina.” In Hawaiian-English Dictionary, 1986 : Link
- Gonschor, Lorenz, and Kamanamaikalani Beamer. “Toward an inventory of ahupua‘a in the Hawaiian Kingdom: A survey of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century cartographic and archival records of the island of Hawai‘i.” The Hawaiian Journal of History 48 (2014): 53-87.