User:Evanmcdonald/Ahupuaʻa

An ahupua'a is a unit of land that extends from the mountains to the sea and generally includes one or more complete watersheds and marine resources. The predominant traditional system in the eight high islands of the Main Hawaiian Islands was based on the ahupua’a. Each ahupua‘a contained a cross section of island resources and they were managed within a complex social system associated with each area. The general belief is that each ahupua‘a met the needs of the local population with an excess for tribute and trade. Each ahupua`a contained resources the Hawaiian community needed like koa wood to build homes or food like fish and taro.