Ku'ilioloa Heiau

Site 153. Kuilioloa heiau, on the extreme tip of Kane’ilio Point.

The heiau is surrounded on three sides by water. It has three platforms, with evidence of terracing. The most important platform, evidently is at the end of the point. It is the highest, and terraces once marked the three sides toward the sea. Sand and dirt have been filled in between large stones. The second platform is lower than the first and is slightly wider. The pavement is similar to the first and, like the first, the walls were made by standing large pieces of lava on end and filling in. The walls have a flat, even facing. The third platform is lower than the second and can only be distinguished from the ground to the north and west by a row of stones in the grass. It is evenly paved with sand and may possibly have been used for house sites, as suggested by Thrum.

The kilokilo Hoku, or astrologers. To preserve the folk-lore of their homeland, Oahu, the exiled high class priests or kahunas founded a school at Pokai bay for instructing the youth of both sexes in history, astronomy, navigation, and the genealogies of their ancient chiefs and kings; romance and sentiment hovers round Mount Kaala (the mount of Fragrance), and three valleys extending from its western base to the Waianae shore, Makaha, the valley of robbery; Pokai, the valley of the dark sea; Lualualei, the valley of the flexible wreath, is the meaning given in Hawaiian dictionaries. This is a vague definition, the true meaning is a cryptical allegory relating to the clever strategy of the famous Maile-kukahi, a high chief of Oahu, whose flexible flanks of warriors surrounded four invading armies from Hawaii and Maui at the great battle of Kipapa (Kipapa, paved) where the corpses of the slain paved the bottom of this ravine, about A. D. 1410. Kaala, is adored and named--Kaala nani 0 ahu melemele a Kane, Beautiful Kaala. Oh! (with) the golden cloak of Kane, the sun Kane was the first deity of the Hawaiian pantheon. Kaala was the guardian or sentinel of the Komohana or west--Kaala was a resting place on the great road of Death, Ke ala nui o ka make, along which the spirits of the dead returned to their former homeland. The Komohana or west is where the tired sun lies down to sleep. The west is Kane ne’ene'e, the departing son. The west is the much traveled road of Kanaloa, Ke ala nui maa-we-ula a Kanaloa (the second deity of the Hawaiian pantheon.)