Laie (,āʻ ) is a census-designated place (CDP) located in the Koolauloa District on the island of Oahu () in Honolulu County, Hawaii, United States. In Hawaiian, means " leaf" ( is a climbing screwpine: Freycinetia arborea). The population was 5,963 at the 2020 census.
History
Historically, was a , a sanctuary for fugitives. While a fugitive was in the , it was unlawful for that fugitive's pursuers to harm him or her. During wartime, spears with white flags attached were set up at each end of the city of refuge. If warriors attempted to pursue fugitives into the , they would be killed by sanctuary priests. Fugitives seeking sanctuary in a city of refuge were not forced to permanently live within the confines of its walls. Instead, they were given two choices. In some cases, after a certain length of time (ranging from a couple of weeks to several years), fugitives could enter the service of the priests and assist in the daily affairs of the . A second option was that after a certain length of time the fugitives would be free to leave and re-enter the world unmolested. Traditional cities of refuge were abolished in 1819.
The history of began long before European contact. The name is said to derive from two Hawaiian words: meaning "leaf", and referring to the (red-spiked climbing screwpine, Freycinetia arborea), which wreaths forest trees of the uplands or regions of the mountains of the Range behind the community of . In Hawaiian mythology, this red-spiked climbing screwpine is sacred to , god of the earth, god of life, and god of the forests, as well as to , the patron goddess of the hula.
The name becomes more environmentally significant through the Hawaiian oral history () entitled . In this history, the term , which means "in the water", also belongs to the food-producing tree called . The tree was planted in a place called 's garden, which is closely associated with the spiritual home, after her birth and relocation of . According to Hawaiian oral traditions, the planting of the tree in the garden of is symbolic of the reproductive energy of male and female, which union in turns fills the land with offspring. From its close association with nature through its name, and through its oral traditions and history, the community of takes upon itself a precise identification and a responsibility in perpetuating life and in preserving all life forms. Sometimes the land itself provided sanctuary for the Hawaiian people. was such a place. The earliest information about states that it was a small, sparsely populated village with a major distinction: "it was a city of refuge". Within this city of refuge were located at least two , traditional Hawaiian temples, of which very little remains today. was destroyed, but its remains can be found in taro patches (seaward) of Laie Hawaii Temple belonging to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Towards the mountain (), the remains of can be found on a small ridge. All that is left of is a coral platform.
Between 1846 and 1848, the traditional Hawaiian feudal ownership of land by the king, the , and his leading chiefs or was changed through the Great , or major land division. The at the time was King Kamehameha III, and his (leading chief) for was (which means "The Chief without Riches"); the wife to this descended directly from the of named Kakuiewa, making his wife of higher rank than he. The result of the was not in compliance with the original intent of Kamehameha III. The result was that the chiefs received about , the king kept about , which were called crown lands, and about were set aside as government lands.
The land of the itself was cut up into parcels, much like the traditional Hawaiian land divisions, centering on the , which followed a fairly uniform pattern. Each parcel was shaped roughly like a piece of pie with the tip in the mountains, the middle section in the foothills and coastal plain, and the broad base along the ocean front and the sea. The size and shape of the varied. However, the purpose of these remained the same. The village of is located in the of . As such, followed the general pattern of life in the , but only the valleys in the foothills had ample water. There were ten streams that flowed through the of before 1865 (see 1865 map). Their names were , , , , , , , , , and . There were more streams flowing through the of than through any of the other surrounding , including and to the southeast and , , and to the northwest.