Mural II, III, IV- Ke Ali'i

The Ali'i governed the land, its resources, and the way their people engaged with it.

NPS Photo/Holiday

Quick Facts

Location:

Visitor Center Breezeway

Significance:

Artistic representation of Ancient Hawaiian Society

The Ali'i were a caste of nobles who held the kuleana (responsibility) of managing the limited land and space they had to work with. They created and abided by strict laws known as kapu that protected the natural cycles and orders of the environment and thus protected the resources that sustained their society.

• Murals 2, 3, 4- Ke Ali'i

  
  

  An introduction to who the Ali'i were, and how they governed and managed our island home.

  Credit / Author:

  NPS Photo/ Holiday

  Date created:

  10/23/2023

  Audio Transcript

  Puni ka moku o Kaialea ke kilo Naha Nuuhiwa lele Polapola O Kahiko ke kumu aina Nana i mahele kaawale na moku Moku ka aholawaia a Kahai I okia e Kukanaloa Pahu na aina na moku Moku i ka ohe kapu a Kanaloa O Haumea Manukahikele O Kalani Moikeha nana e noho - The workings of the chiefs are the division of the land and sea, and the distribution of its resources. Our chiefs are called Alii – the “little flame” – the ones such as Kaialea who separated the lands at Nuuhiwa and traveled from Polapola. The ancient source of that which feeds. Who divided and spread amongst island realms. With a keen understanding of the natural and supernatural, our alii divided the lands for cultivation, habitation, and the alignment of the heavens and earth. From an understanding built upon foundations of ancestral wisdom the kapu is established, the sacred law which kept order and maintained balance within our Oceanic world.