PU'UKOHOLA HEIAU NHS • KALOKO-HONOKOHAU NHP • PU'UHONUA O HONAUNAU NHP A Cultural History of Three Traditional Hawaiian Sites on the West Coast of Hawai'i Island

CHAPTER IX:
PU'UHONUA O HONAUNAU NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK (continued)

F. Description of Resources: Pu'uhonua Area (continued)

3. Hale-o-Keawe

     a) Early Descriptions

John Papa I'i, who frequently saw the Hale-o-Keawe while it was still functioning, provided the firsthand description of the structure and associated ceremonials presented earlier. Ellis's account, the most detailed historical description of this carefully built house, thatched with ti leaves, surrounded by a fence, and protected by guardian deities in the enclosed courtyard and vicinity, remains the primary source of information on the early appearance of this structure. Additional descriptions by Bloxam and Macrae of the Blonde, along with sketches made by members of that party, provide important information on the appearance of the building and its surrounding courtyard. The furnishings of the Hale-o-Keawe removed by crew members of the Blonde included such relics as carved wooden images, spears, calabashes, and other items of lesser importance to the Hawaiians than the bones of their ancestors. Although a very important temple because of its association with Kamehameha and his ancestors, the Hale-o-Keawe was fairly small (fifty feet square) compared to other temple complexes. [84]

Because so little information is available, many questions remain about the Hale-o-Keawe. These include the number of times it was rethatched, how often the frame was replaced, and what additions or alterations were made over the years. Apple believes the temple described by early visitors such as Ellis was one that Kamehameha renovated about 1812. This was the temple the NPS later reconstructed in 1967 and 1968 and represents, he thinks, the most elaborate state of the mausoleum. In addition, it might differ from its 1812 appearance if some of the sacred images from other destroyed temples had been added to it after 1819. Apple supports this conjecture by pointing out that the well-carved image with a baby in its arms that Lord Byron saw in 1825 was not mentioned by Ellis in 1823 even though it was a most unusual form. [85]

     b) Function

As mentioned earlier in this report, the bones of ancient royalty were always carefully guarded and usually concealed secretly in caves. Exceptions to this practice involved the establishment of royal mausolea — special buildings for the care of royal remains that were guarded by keepers. Some additional protection was ensured by their association with places of refuge. Coverings for the remains consisted of fiber caskets, possibly with shell identification tags attached. [86] Early descriptions of these burial places indicate that not all bones were prepared in the same manner, some being put in woven fiber baskets, others wrapped in kapa. [87] The process of interment in these places consisted of encasing the bones of defied chiefs in woven, sennit caskets that were moulded over the skull. These were given pearl-shell eyes and the entire object was placed in bundles in the Hale. [88] The Hale-o-Keawe symbolizes one method of Hawaiian burial practices, the one reserved for high ali'i corpses being deified. Bones of lesser chiefs were kept there also but received little preparation and were stacked in a corner of the temple. [89]

The Hale-o-Keawe definitely served as a heiau, the bones it contained being objects of veneration and its having in addition a hereditary guardian and all the other accoutrements found at a state temple, including images, offerings, altars, a refuse pit, and a palisade. [90] If it had been merely a resting place for family bones, there would be remains of women present. The supernatural protection provided by deifying the chiefs whose bones it contained ensured the sanctity and inviolability of the refuge for all time. The erection of the Hale-o-Keawe, also called Ka-'iki-'Ale'ale'a ("the little 'Ale'ale'a"), probably resulted in discontinuance of the use of 'Ale'ale'a as the pu'uhonua heiau. After that time, according to modern-day informants, 'Ale'ale'a became a structure that the chiefs used for recreation rather than as a sacred ceremonial place. [91]

The last deification of a chief at Hale-o-Keawe is said to have been that of a son of Kamehameha, named Kaoleioku, and occurred in 1818.

     c) Traditional Stories Surrounding the Hale-o-Keawe

Kamehameha is linked to the Hale-o-Keawe in several ways, both as its builder, as Barrère suggests, and as a suppliant to this source of great mana for the Kamehameha dynasty. Some traditional stories describe secret nightly visits by Kamehameha to the Hale-o-Keawe. One mentions his landing in the bay and entering the room containing the sacred bones of Keawe. The guardian of the temple saw him, and, by exclaiming at his presence, precipitated Kamehameha's hasty retreat. A similar tale tells of Kamehameha, possibly sometime in the 1 770s before he had gained power, disturbing the temple guard, who was stretched sleeping across the doorway, during a possible attempt to steal Keawe's bones, possession of which would mean possession of Keawe's mana or strength. [92]

     d) Human Sacrifices

Another question concerning the Hale-o-Keawe is whether human sacrifices were a part of deification ceremonies there. Indications are that both voluntary and involuntary sacrifices took place. Professor W. D. Alexander stated

As we learn from a memorandum made by Mr. Chamberlain, "At the setting of every post and the placing of every rafter, and at the thatching of every 'wa' (or intervening space), a human sacrifice had been offered." Human sacrifices had also been offered for each chief whose remains were deposited there, at each stage of the process of consecration, viz., at the removal of the flesh, at the putting up of the bones, at the putting on of the tapa, at the winding on of the sennit, etc. [93]

This implies that the priests supervising the construction of the Hale-o-Keawe determined there should be no doubts about the sanctity of these premises. It has been stated that as many as eighty-four human sacrifices went into this building, the idea being that the more sacrifices made, the greater the structure's importance and sacredness, the greater the feeling of kapu, and the more protection extended to the refuge. [94] Barrère points out that this number of sacrifices seems highly implausible because the dedication rites of a luakini the most exacting ritual, required only a few. [95]

Barrère believes that traditions suggest that sacrifices were made here prior to Kamehameha's rule, that they were offered but not required. The first sacrifice in prehistoric times that traditional sources mention was that of Keawe 'Ai, a relative of King Keawe-i-kekahi-ali'i-o-ka-moku who offered to die at the time of construction to provide added mana. Laura Judd relates an account she heard of a sacrifice probably in the late 1780s or early 1790s of a small boy, a favorite servant of Kapi'olani, as retribution for her breaking kapu by eating a variety of banana forbidden to women. A priest supposedly strangled the child on the altar of the Hale-o-Keawe. [96] Upon the death of Kalani'opu'u, ruling chief of Hawai'i Island, in 1782, sacrifices might have been made while his body lay in state at Honaunau prior to deposition in the Hale-o-Keawe.

In addition, anyone pursuing a refugee into the pu'uhonua was killed, whether by priests and their adherents, the king's executioner, or the king's soldiers is unclear. It would make sense that any bodies acquired in this way would be sacrificed to Keawe and his ancestors and descendants as retribution for violation of their protection. [97] Apple has concluded from his studies that the bones of these human sacrifices were among those kept at the Hale-o-Keawe, that the offering of human sacrifices to the deified chiefs was a way of propitiating them in addition to prescribed prayers and other rituals. [98]

Another historical account states that one of the events leading to the battle of Moku'ohai involved Kiwala'o, heir to the government after Kalani'opu'u's death, sacrificing some of Kamehameha's followers on an altar at Honaunau, perhaps as his late father's companions in death. [99] Kamakau states that Kamehameha authorized Hale-o-Keawe and the pu'uhonua as a place for human sacrifices, probably early in his career, immediately after winning the battle of Moku'ohai. [100]

The Reverend Henry Cheever, visiting the area in 1849, stated

The last human sacrifices are said to have been made at this place in 1818. One man was then sacrificed for putting on the malo, girdle of a chief, one for eating a forbidden article of food, one for leaving a house that was tabu and entering one that was not, and a woman was put to death for going into the eating-house of her husband when intoxicated. On the authority of natives, former kings have immolated eighty victims at once, as in the days of Umi, whose blood-thirsty god, after one of his victories, kept calling from the clouds, "Give, give," until the priest and himself were all that remained of his train. [101]

One of the indications of human sacrifices and other offerings are the refuse pits associated with luakini. Samuel Hill made the first historical reference to such a feature here, noting "a cavern imperfectly covered by an enormous block of lava, but in which, we were informed, still remained the bones of several of the ancient kings of the island." [102] Hitchcock, who sketched a plan of the refuge in 1889, identified that cover and commented on the deep hole beneath the stone that was one foot thick, six feet in diameter, and contained bones. This stone appears on the topographic map made by Wingate in 1966. During the 1902 restoration, a large flat stone lying at the water's edge was thought to be the cover of the bone pit and to have formerly sat level with the pavement of the main platform near its eastern edge. During the 1902 work, an arched cavity was found containing human bones. [103] Other human bones were found in the northern side of the platform in 1902, and others were taken from the northwest corner of the platform about 1960. [104] Local informants stated that this refuse pit was used to rot bones, after which they were cleaned and hung in bundles from the roof of the Hale-o-Keawe. One informant stated these were the bones of sacrificial victims, not of chiefs. [105] Apple points out, however, that the base of the east wall of the pu'uhonua extended under the platform built in 1902 and that human bones have been found in other portions of the Great Wall and in similar cavities in the 'Ale'ale'a Heiau platform. Again, these are considered intrusive, historic-period burials. [106]

Illustration 174. Ground plan of Hale-o-Keawe platform and vicinity. Plate III in Ladd, "Hale-o-Keawe Temple Site," p. 166. (click on image for an enlargement in a new window)

Illustration 175. Reconstructed Hale-o-Keawe, showing courtyard images and offering tower. NPS photo, 1989.

     e) Hale o Lono

His 1919 informant mentioned to Stokes that on Lot 20 mauka of Hale-o-Keawe there existed a house referred to as "Hale o Lono." It stood on a low platform about twenty-one feet from the mauka wall of the refuge and extended east for about fifty feet. Its width was about twenty-five feet. According to this person, tidal waves had destroyed the platform many years earlier. He described the Hale-o-Lono as being a portion or continuation of the Hale-o-Keawe platform. At the time of that interview, he said the site was on the waterfront, partly encroached upon by a recently planted coconut grove. The house on the platform had been of ohi'a posts with ti leaf covering. It had a lanai on the front facing the sea on the north, as well as four doors in the front, four in back, and one at either end. South of this structure was a small house where Keawe kept his coconuts. [107]

     f) Decline of the Mausoleum

After 1829, maintenance of the Hale-o-Keawe ceased and it was left to the ravages of decay and natural forces. The structure had disappeared by 1851. Tidal waves and high seas over successive years damaged the masonry platform as well as the adjacent pu'uhonua walls. By 1902 those actions had reduced the platform and nearby area to a heap of rubble. The 1902 restoration work is considered fairly inaccurate, based solely on limited and questionable oral information. Hawai'i County crews performed further repair and maintenance work in the vicinity of the platform after the county leased the refuge as a park in the 1920s. [108]

     g) The NPS Undertakes Reconstruction of the Mausoleum

In 1963 the NPS decided to reconstruct for the first time a building associated with ancient Hawaiian culture. No guidelines or precedents existed for such a project. The major problem revolved around trying to build an authentic thatched house, a structural style virtually unknown to modern-day Hawaiians. Data gathering included a literature search for structural data in the Bishop Museum in an attempt to find specific data on the Hale-o-Keawe as well as general information on Hawaiian structures. Specific construction details needed for the temple were supplied using the general body of information about Hawaiian structures that had been assembled. [109]

The federal government funded several studies to learn more about Hale-o-Keawe, its physical development and its purpose. One was the Natural and Cultural History of Honaunau mentioned earlier, done in 1957 under contract to the Bishop Museum. Park Service employees also undertook a number of studies. Russell Apple analyzed both ethnohistorical and historical data for a pre-restoration study in 1966, and Edmund Ladd conducted a pre-salvage report in 1969, having completed excavations and restoration on the platform in 1967. Ladd discovered the original dry masonry platform side and top, which he restored, plus adjacent features. He found that Wall had fortunately not disturbed any of the underlying foundations of the prehistoric structure but had actually protected them by adding platforms to the side, front, and top. [110]

Although there had been disagreement among early visitors as to the actual size and location of the temple platform, Ladd found outlines of the original platform and its upper surface and was able to establish the approximate dimensions and orientation of the temple on it. The Ellis drawing was selected as the truest depiction of the structure. The complete restoration of the complex included the ti leaf thatched temple, carved images, an elevated altar, and a wooden palisade. This work, combined with Ladd's restored platform, seawalls, and nearby terrain resulted in a major interpretive feature at the park. The surface restoration project began August 28, 1967, and ended June 28, 1968. [111]

At the same time a small model of the Hale was built in 1968 to show the public how the temple was constructed. Over the next few years, the wooden images and palisades deteriorated to the extent that a second reconstruction was needed by 1982. That project included a new framework for the temple, rethatching with dried ti leaves, recarving of images, and replacement of the palisade. [112]

4. Hale o Puni

Stokes mentioned a pile of rubble immediately west of the Hale-o-Keawe that, when cleared, revealed edges of a rectangular platform. Some informants told him that was the site of the priests' quarters. [113] Notes from Stokes's interview with a local informant suggest that makai of the Hale-o-Keawe terraces there formerly existed a large stone platform fenced with kauila posts "of such a height that they obscured the view of the Hale O Keawe from the west." The posts supposedly kept the platform stones in position. Chiefs and their families used the platform for social activities (possibly as entertainment structures where boxing or wrestling, for instance, could be watched by an audience seated on the surrounding ground). [114]