David K. Kahookele was chaplain, vice-president, and on the Music Committee during the founding years of the Maui Historical Society and Hale Hoikeike. In those early years members wrote papers on Hawaiian history and presented reports at the meetings. The Kahookele family was from Nahiku. David's father built the model canoe on display in the canoe house for Dr. Jim Fleming. We have a piece of olona fiber, for which Nahiku was famous, from David Kahookele.
All terminology is from the original text.
The koa canoe was very important to the early Hawaiian people. The canoe builders were highly honored for their ability and held in high esteem. The trees for the canoes were carefully selected from the koa trees in the forests. The tree had to be straight and tall with a trunk that was round from the bottom to a point where the necessary length could be cut. The trees varied from twelve to sixty feet in length and were found growing at their best in the lowlands and along the slopes of the mountains.