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: North Keokea Ahupua'a

1. Boundary Markers, Platforms, House Lots, and Graves

Near the shore on the boundary line between Honaunau and Keokea (Map 2), Emory found a petroglyph that he surmised might have been a boundary marker. Walking east along the boundary he found a large stone platform, possibly originally a foundation for houses but serving then as a cemetery and containing one concrete tomb and two other platforms. A little farther east was a natural lava column, named Pohakuloa, that functioned as a boundary marker. Much farther inland (Map 4), across the 1871 trail, and just to the south of the ahupua'a boundary, Emory noted a high wall circling a lava outcrop and forming an oval enclosure. Kekahuna believed this to be a sweet potato plot enclosed to prevent goats entering. Several hundred feet south of that was a stone platform lying against a lava bank containing a small cave in which a child's skeleton was found. [185]

Returning to the shore and proceeding inland again, Emory noted several house lots, the first one just east of the old beach road being that of Unea Akana (noted on Map 2 as "Maile Aona"). The site held the stone and plaster walls of an old house, a concrete cistern, a pavement marking an ancient house site, and a pig pen. To the south was the lot of Clara De Mello with a modern dwelling, two cattle pens to the east, as well as a wall connecting with the wall parallel to the 1871 trail. A concrete trough there was dated 1945. A windmill had been erected over a well (Waikulu) and nearby were an abandoned redwood water tank and pumphouse. (According to Frances Jackson, the De Mello family was paying taxes in Keokea by 1900, evidently for property along the coast including a saloon, some animals, some banana land, and improvements.) South of the De Mello lot lay remains of an ancient house platform and an animal pen. Inland were graves and wall remains. A house platform near the 1871 trail that also had animal pens had been used in 1945 by the U.S. Army as a firing range. [186]

Illustration 182. Map 4, "Honaunau-Keokea . . . Mauka Section." Survey and map by Bishop Museum, 1957. From Emory, "Hinterland and Keamoali'i." (click on image for an enlargement in a new window)

Illustration 183. Holua in Pu'uhonua o Honaunau NHP. Top: Figure 15.8 in Emory, "Hinterland and Keamoali'i," p. 236. Bottom: Figure 14.5 in Stokes, "Early Hawaiian Life," p. 220.

Illustration 184. View of De Mello beach house from beach road. From Devine et al., Appraisal Report, p. 30.

Illustration 185. Map 2, "Keokea . . . North Section." Survey and map by Bishop Museum, 1957. From Emory, "Hinterland and Keamoali'i." (click on image for an enlargement in a new window)

2. Oma'o Heiau

Emory described this heiau platform he found in 1957 (Map 2) as

50 by 60 ft, filled with heavy stones, and remarkable for the natural rock column which rises 10 ft above the pavement midway between the sides at the north end. The column is of lava, and has been roughly shaped into rectangular form. It occupies the position of the lananu'u (oracle tower) of heiaus, and would seem to have served the same purpose. The surface of the platform is now in rough condition, but smaller stones were observed at the south end, a facing across the platform at 20 ft from the north end and 1 ft higher, and a short section of facing along the west side framing a rough mound on its west, which may be a burial mound.

A pit in a jog at the northwest corner may have been a sacred refuse pit, or a pen, or the enclosure of a well. Naluahine, 95 years of age, gave us as the name of this heiau, Ma'o, which he said was the name of a bird, later he called it 'Oma'o. Panui, of equal age, knew of the heiau, but said he did not know the name, and doubted if Naluahine really did. . . . Stokes, in 1906, noted this Keokea structure, but obtained no information about it. [187]

The platform actually measures 62 feet by 45 feet. [188] Oma'o is smaller than Alahaka, but is composed of larger rocks. Its builders used the rocks of a volcanic squeeze-up as the basic building foundation for the solid rock platform. Alahaka, built with pao construction, has a longer, wider, and higher platform built with smaller rocks. Whether this difference is a result of different construction periods is unknown. Pacific Area (NPS) Archeologist Gary Somers suggests it is likely that the materials available in the immediate vicinity, that is, large squeeze-up rocks for Oma'o and columnar basalt for Alahaka, determined construction techniques. [189] Altogether seven features were identified on the heiau, with the dominant feature being the basalt megalith, or natural rock column, that was apparently shaped from a lava squeeze-up or pressure ridge. [190] The megalith occupying the position of the 'anu'u makes this heiau unique. It is clearly visible from the 1871 trail and offers numerous possibilities for interpretation, especially in comparing its construction to that of Alahaka.

South of Oma'o Heiau Emory noted the walls of a large enclosure that contained only one small paved house platform. [191]

Illustration 186. Oma'o Heiau, view to northwest. Note basalt megalith. NPS photo, 1989.

Illustration 187. Ground plan of Oma'o Heiau. Figure 13 in Somers, Mapping and Stabilization of Alahaka and Oma'o Heiau, p. 21. (click on image for an enlargement in a new window)