|
Pu'ukohola Heiau
Kamehameha's Cornerstone
of Rule
and Once The Site of Human Sacrifices
by Steve Graves
Overlooking the village of Kawaihae in North Kohala
sits the ancient religious structure called Pu'ukohola
Heiau, meaning, "hill of the whale". The massive
rock structure which is the last temple to be built
by the ancient Hawaiians in the islands, was constructed
by Kamehameha I between the years of 1790 and 1791.
The heiau was built due to a prophecy received by Kamehameha
that is he built the temple for his war god, Ku-ka'ili-moko,
his goal of conquering the islands would be met. So
from the careful placement of smooth waterworn lava
rocks handed up from hand to hand from the ocean's edge
the raised rock platform was erected within a year's
time. Prayer towers, altars, wooden images of Hawaiian
gods and other temple furnishings were also put up in
honor of he different gods. note: (The print on the
front cover, first drawn by William Ellis in 1779, is
a good example of the wooden images carved for the gods.
The scene in all probability was taken from a point
near Kealakekua Bay, if not the Place of Refuge.)
In the years leading up to and during the construction
of the Pu'ukohola heiau Kamehameha was able to ward
off attacks by conspiring chiefs from the islands of
Maui, Lanai, Molokai, Oahu and Kauai who were attempting
to break Kamehameha's rise to power. In the summer of
1791 the temple was completed and in an effort to make
peace with his enemy and cousin Kaoua Ku'ahu'ula, who
controlled the other half of Hawaii, Kamehameha invited
him to the dedication of the temple. Keoua Ku'ahu'ula,
who saw the completion of the temple as a sign from
the gods that Kamehameha would become the ruler of the
islands, prepared to offer himself for sacrifice not
knowing that Kamehameha's intentions were to bring peace
between the two. Upon the ceremonial arrival an altercation
broke out between the rival parties, which resulted
in the death of the Keoua Ku'ahu'ula. The body of the
chief was then offered up as the principal sacrifice
to Kamehameha's war god.
With the fall of Kamehameha's long time enemy on the
island of Hawaii and the completion of the temple Kamehameha
was compelled by these good omens to set out in his
attempt to conquer the other islands and become Hawaii's
first sole ruler. By 1795 Kamehameha, through extensive
battles had gained control of the islands of Maui, Lanai,
Molokai and Oahu. Through a peace accord in 1810 with
the king of Kauai, Kamehameha united the islands for
the first time under the king.
In 1819 Kamehameha became ill and at his death refused
the offering of a human sacrifice, which was ceremonial
practice after the death of a great chief. Because of
Kamehameha's plea of no sacrifice, his son Liholiho
abandoned the religious traditions and ordered the destruction
of Pu'ukohola and all other heiaus as well as the wooden
structures in honor of the Hawaiian gods.
In the years following the abandonment of the temples
and religious beliefs Westerners such as Isabella Bird
began arriving in Hawaii to document the stories left
behind by the rituals that took place in these Hawaiian
temples of worship. In her 1875 writing of Six Months
in the Sandwich Islands, Bird makes these remarks about
the Pu'ukohola Heiau, which she came upon during a horseback
exploration from Kaiwaihae to Waipio Valley.
The chief object of interest on this ride is the great
heiau, which stands on a steep hill above the sea, not
easy of access. It was the last heathen temple built
on Hawaii. On entering the huge pile, which stood gaunt
and desolate in the thin red air, the story of the old
bloody heathenism of the islands returned to my memory.
The entrance is by a narrow passage between two high
walls, and it was by this that the sacrificing priests
dragged the human victims into the presence of Tairi,
a hideous wooden idol, crowned with a helmet, and covered
with red feathers, the favorite war-god of Kamehameha
the Great, by whom this temple was built, before he
proceeded to the conquest of Oahu.
The shape is an irregular parallelogram, 224 feet long,
and 100 wide. At each end, and on the mauka side, the
walls, which are very solid and compact, though built
of lava stones without mortar, are twenty feet high,
and twelve feet wide at the bottom, but narrow gradually
towards the top, where they are finished with a course
of smooth stones six feet broad. On the sea side, the
wall, which has been partly thrown down, was not more
than six or seven feet high, and there were paved platforms
for the accommodation of the alii, or chiefs, and the
people in their orders. The upper terrace is spacious,
and paved with flat smooth stones which were brought
from a considerable distance, the greater part of the
population of the island having been employed on the
building. At the south end there was an inner court,
where the principal idol stood, surrounded by a number
of inferior deities, for the Hawaiians had "gods
many, and lords many." Here also was the anu, a
lofty frame of wickerwork, shaped like an obelisk, hollow,
and five feet square at its base. Within this, the priest,
who was the oracle of the god, stood, and of him the
king used to inquire concerning war or peace, or any
affair of national importance. It appears that the tones
of the oracular voice were more distinct than the meaning
of the utterances. However, the supposed answers were
generally acted upon.
On the outside of this inner court was the lele, or
altar, on which human and other sacrifices were offered.
On the day of the dedication of the temple to Tairi,
vast offerings of fruit and dogs were presented, and
eleven human beings were immolated on the altar. These
victims were taken from among captives, or those who
had broken Tabu, or had rendered themselves obnoxious
to the chiefs, and were often blind, maimed, or crippled
persons. Sometimes they were dispatched at a distance
with a stone or club, and their bodies were dragged
along the narrow passage up which I walked shuddering;
but oftener they were bound and taken alive into the
heiau to be slain in the outer court. The priests, in
slaying these sacrifices, were careful to mange the
bodies as little as possible. From two to twenty were
offered at once. They were laid in a row with their
faces downwards on the altar before the idol, to which
they were presented in a kind of prayer by the priest,
and, if offerings of hogs were presented at the same
time, these were piled upon them, and the whole mass
was left to putrefy.
The only dwellings within the heiau were those of the
priests, and the "sacred house" of the king,
in which he resided during the seasons of strict Tabu.
A doleful place this heiau is, haunted not only by the
memories of almost unimaginable terrors, but by the
sore thought that generations of Hawaiians lived and
died in the unutterable darkness of this ignorant worship,
passing in long procession from these grim rites into
the presence of the Father whose infinite compassions
they had never known.
The remains of Pu'ukohola heiau are now a National
Historic Site in Kawaihae. To learn more about this
ancient Hawaiian temple, visitors are welcome to a self-guided
tour of the grounds around the heiau. A wealth of information
also exists with the curators at the park, who are in
daily attendance at the visitor's center.
"Readers
may submit editorial comments to any of our stories
by sending an email to les@lbdcoffee.com.
We would be happy to attach your comments and feedback
to anything we publish online. Thank you for your interest.":
Story appeared originally in Coffee Times print magazine and appears online for archival purposes only. Any use or reprinting of these stories without the expressed written consent of the author is prohibited.
|
