The Gift of Understanding-Kahuna Garden

Pi'ilanihale-Hana, Maui

A rutted road in Hana, Maui leads to the site of Pi’ilanihale, the largest remaining heiau (temple of worship) in all of Polynesia. You must cross over a creek to get to the entrance of Kahanu Garden where the heiau was hidden from sight until 1999. It is hard to believe that this immense structure spanning three acres built of basalt rocks could be so overgrown with jungle foliage that it would go unnoticed until modern times. The side facing the sea rises steeply in five stepped terraces. Construction of the main terrace dates back to the 14^th century when remote, water-rich Hana was heavily populated by Hawaiians.

Lono -God of Agriculture

Our guide, also named Pi’ilani, one of 14 children in a blended Hawaiian family, explained that Lono, the god of fertility, was worshipped here for agricultural bounty.  She said, the Hawaiians were so embarrassed about the paganism in their past that they let the heiau become overgrown. They may have also wanted to spare it from being demolished like so many of the ancient sites were at the behest of missionaries who prohibited hula, surfing, and even the language in schools in the 1800’s. Perhaps, the gods did not want this structure trampled upon by disrespectful tourists. Regardless of why it was hidden from time, the people of Hana cut back lush jungle foliage that threatened to swallow the edifice fifteen years ago, revealing a monument to a race of industrious, ingenious and loving people.

Kahanu Garden where the Pi’ilanihale is located is a flat expanse of green overlooking a tempestuous Pacific Ocean crashing on black lava cliffs. It was a landing place of early Polynesian settlers bringing plants they would need to survive. It was chosen by the ancients to be the site of the Makahiki Festival that ran for four months from November to February.  Warring was forbidden as this time of peace that allowed warriors to practice skills with contests and games. Elders played Konana, a form of checkers, and talked story while children frolicked. The tax collectors came around at this time collecting the bounty of the common people to be given to the royal class.

 Chief Pi’ilani, who ruled here in the 16^th century was beloved by his people for uniting the warring tribes of Maui and bringing prosperity in his reign.  Under his rule the Pi’ilanihale (House of Pi’ilani) Heiau that began construction in the 1200’s was completed. Rocks from as far away as Hana Bay, seven miles away, were used to finish the task.

Wandering the grounds that boasts the largest collection of breadfruit trees in the world, as well as samplings of all of the indigenous plants brought by early settlers in double-hulled canoes, you can imagine the joyous village that thrived here under Chief Pi’ilani’s rule.  Our guide, Pi’ilani, talked to us about the many uses of the kukui nut used to keep the fires burning at night. She said the day began in the evening when the work was done and people came to share what they had gathered that day in their fish nets, in their taro gardens, and fruits from the mountain trees.

Linda, Lorraine, and Pi'ilani

 Pi’ilani generously answered all of my questions about the realities of the people of old. At the end of our tour she told me she wanted to empower me with the gift of her knowledge. Instead of correcting or judging my tale of her ancestry in my novel Wai-nani, A Voice from Old Hawai’i, she told me that she understood that my work was built on what I knew. She said that she would be happy to add her knowledge, as it was handed down to her, to my pool of understanding. We held hands while as she invited us to join her in a chant to the gods who reside at Pi’ilanihale and give thanks for the bounty of the Kahanu Garden, a gift to all who find their way there.A big mahalo to my friend Lorraine Brodek, author of Nobody in a Somebody who resides in Hana, for making this very special tour possible for me.

Linda Ballou is the author of Wai-nani: A Voice from Old Hawai'i, Lost Angel Walkabout-One Traveler's Tales and The Cowgirl Jumped Over the Moon. www.lindaballouauthor.com

Sacred Sites in Hawai'i-In the Beginning

In my research for Wai-nani: A Voice from Old Hawai'i, I learned a great deal about the significance of the numerous sacred sites scattered throughout the Hawaiian Islands. Some are well known, but others remain in relative obscurity. This post is the first of a series spotlighting historical sites with an explaination of why they are held sacred by Hawaiians.
In The Beginning:
There is controversy over when the earliest Polynesian voyagers landed on the shores of Hawai’i. It is generally accepted that they sailed in double hulled canoes from the Marquesas bringing dogs, chickens, pigs, breadfruit, taro and stow away rats with them.

Ka Lae-the southern most point of the Big Island, making it the southern most point in the nation, was the first landing place of early voyagers. Although not pretty to look at, and windy most of the time, it holds a very special place in Hawaiian history. South Point is the site of some of the oldest artifacts yet discovered in Hawaii (as early as 300AD) While it is said to be the first place the Polynesians came ashore, archaeologists believe it was a temporary fishing camp not a full-fledged village.
In nearby Pu’u Ali’i Sand Dune on Pinao Bay thousands of artifacts-that include over 2,000 fishhooks lead archeologists to believe that this was a re-current settlement for fishermen. Deep waters here provide rich fishing grounds, but currents are dangerous. The solution was to carve holes in the rocks where ropes were tied to secure drifting canoes enabling Hawaiians to catch big game fish. Some of those holes are still visible near the boat hoists at the cliffs. The cliffs with the boat hoists are not South Point. The real South Point is past the light beacon to the left of a place where a rock wall trails down to the sea. Next to the beacon is Kalaea Heiau, or temple, where offerings to the gods were placed to ensure good fishing.

Taro is the older brother that cared for all Hawaiians

Image of South Point courtesy of the Hawaiian Tourism Authority   
Image of Taro (HTA)/Tor Johnson

 Research for Wai-nani, A Voice from Old Hawai’i became a beautiful obsession that called for numerous trips to the Islands. I visited sacred sites, interviewed elders, spent nights in Waipio Valley where the bones of ancient chiefs are hidden in caves in steep walls framing the canyon. www.LindaBallouAuthor.com

Sacred Historical Sites #2-Wayfinders of Old Hawai'i

Debate over whether or not early Polynesian voyagers were able to navigate their double hulled canoes back to homelands to gather supplies and recruits to colonize the Islands raged for years. The canoes paddled by the ancients were dug out from tree trunks and made from planks sewn together with cordage of coconut fiber twisted into strands and braided for strength. Cracks and seams were sealed with coconut fibers and sap from breadfruit or other trees. An outrigger was attached to a single hull for greater stability on the ocean; two hulls were lashed together with crossbeams and a deck added between the hulls to create double canoes capable of voyaging long distances. Scholars could not believe that these canoes navigated without instruments by seafarers who depended on their observations of the ocean currents, scent on the winds, clouds in the sky and messages from birds could follow these clues to an intentional landfall. Legend has it that a migrating whale led early voyagers to the Hawaiian Islands.

In the 1970’s these doubts where overturned when the Hokule’a, named after the “Bright Star of Happiness” that rests over Hawaii, a reconstruction of an ancient voyaging canoe made the return voyage to Tahiti. This remarkable re-enactment, chronicled in An Ocean in Mind by Will Kyselka, put to rest any disbelief about the abilities of ancient Wayfinders. The Hokule’a and her crew continue to make voyages. You can learn more about them and follow the triumphant Hokule’a on the Polynesian Voyaging Society site.

Ko’a holo moana, is an ancient voyaging heiau – sometimes called the Stonehenge of the Islands. The existence of this little known site is more proof that the “people of old” knew a great deal more about navigation than once believed. The heiau that consists of a set of standing stones that led the way for ancient Polynesian sea voyagers. It is the only heiau of its kind in the Islands. It is located at Mahukona Point near mile marker 15 on the Akoni Highway on the Kohala Coast.
Get past the incongruous bagpipe opening of this informative video by Donnie MacGowen and witness this little known voyaging heiau.