Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 5, Number 8, 1 August 1988 — About Hawaiian Sites [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

About Hawaiian Sites

By Clarence F. T. Ching Trustee, O'ahu

Like many other Hawaiian children, I grew up in an extended family, one that covered three generations. There were also the usual assortment of aunts, cousins and other ohana who would stop in when visiting from off island. Others would stay with us from time to time.

When visitors eame, it was a signal that eonversations would turn to reminiscing about past times and practices. Sometimes, there were stories about old and mysterious things — about people dying and of their ghosts, about kahuna, their sorcery, and aumakua, about kapu and sacred places — things that should not be mentioned to friends on the street. After all, they were outsiders. They wouldn't understand anyway. The heiau and other ancient sites were described as spooky places where no one in his right mind would dare go. They were KAPU and one would be maha'oi to even approach these places. Of course, going by at night was definitely out of the question. To visit them, to study them, or even to be familiar with them was intruding. After all, weren't these places so bad that many of them were destroyed by the haoles? But why did terrible things happen to the desecraters in the stories? After my early introduction to Hawaiian sites, I realized that the structures put together by the ancients were well engineered and were aeeompiished by a lot of hard work. The stories about the hard-working menehunes, those remarkable workers who, no matter what task they chose to do, always completed the work on time — before the next day dawned — added an interesting twist to the whole picture. By the time I became an adult, my whole outlook had changed. 1 discovered archaeology, anthropology and all of those other -o!ogies and I have begun to enjoy these sites as important parts of my Hawaiian heritage and culture. But the places continue to be sacred, all aeeompanied by differing degrees of attached mana. And when I visit these sites, permission by the spirit to enter is usually given when it is asked for in sincerity. While it may be that others may feel differently than I do about our sites. That's OK, too. I will respect your feelings if you respect mine. Because of my present feelings about heiau and other structures from our collective past, I often find myself closely associated with archaeologists, students and preservationists of our sacred sites. Time, the elements and "man," who is noteworthy as the great destroyer, continue their efforts to reduce every one of our structures, unless protected in some way, into just "another pile of rocks." It becomes up to us whether these sites will continue to exist or not. Recently, I attended a meeting and leamed about a seemingly mysterious site on the Big Island. The people I had talked to and who had visited the site were very vague in describing its location. Even my consultant archaeologist had failed to find it some time ago. So on my last trip to Hawai'i, 1 was determined to locate the site and to share in the feelings that I hoped would be there. Through research, the facts about Kukuipahu Heiau located in the Upolu Point area of Kohala became clearer. The description I ran across said: This heiau is an unusual temple in that it has apparent Marquesan and Tahitian influences, including dressed stone and in one instance keyed stone. The details of the stone dressing and the complexity of the courts and

terraces indicate that it was the product of a high degree of social organization of labor and engineering skill. The massive red tuff blocks along one end of the rear wall are reminiscent of the Marquesan use of similar materials in religious structures and some of the construction techniques in the use of grey basalt are similar to Tahiti. Through the help of an expert in the area, I discovered that the heiau's loeahon was privately controlled and that permission to visit was available by asking the owner's land manager. Niee and very cooperative, the land manager drew a map for me and loaned me a key to get through a gate on the road to the heiau. Henry Ah Sam, my fe!low explorer and brother-in-law, and I followed the road leading to the heiau. The high weeds on the heiau side of the road meant that we had to look through them every now and then to watch for indications of the heiau. The cows, sometimes curious and at other times nervous, kept on moving ahead. We finally eame to a fenced-in area that turned out to be the site we were trying to find. lt was beginning to get hot. When the heiau was finally located, it was sad to see the condition it was in. Although there was a fence around most of the site, cattle in the surrounding area had entry through a eouple of openings, but only to those parts that were not choked with weeds. In exploring the site, squat walking, sometimes on hands and knees, was frequent while squeezing through the lantana that constantly reached out and grabbed at one's clothing. Although we were perspiring liberailly , the experience was wonderful. There is a difference of opinion about our Hawaiian sites. Some feel that vandals would not stoop to bother those sites that are overgrown and not maintained at all. Others feel that every site needs to be respected, cared for and malama-ed, even though vandals may somehow locate them and desecrate them. I am a member of the second group. As for Kukuipahu, hopefully, a Hawaiian organization or group will hear its calls for help. Others will hear the calls of other sites. We may even encoutage the practices of the old days when certain families took care of what went on at certain sites. It doesn't matter how it happens, as long as these sites get the tender loving care they need. After all, this former plaee of worship, and other places like it, are monuments that have survived the passage of time and the threats of the bulldozers of progress. Other heiau, however, have had the recent good fortune of acquiring caretakers. It is wonderful that conscientious people, even non-Hawaiians, have taken an interest in caring for our sacred Hawaiian sites. We should all have the respect and dignity that people like these are showering on our sites. On Oahu, Ulupo in Kailua, has been adopted by the Kailua Hawaiian Civic Club; Pahukini, above Kawainui Marsh, is being cared for by the Lani-Kai-lua Business & Professional Women's Club and Ameron-HC&D; and Pahua, in Hawaii Kai, is being restored under the leadership of the Hawaii Kai Outdoor Circle.