Kukaniloko Birth Site


Kūkaniloko Birth Site, also known as the Kūkaniloko Birthstones State Monument, is one of the most important ancient cultural sites on the island of Oahu. It was first listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973 and its boundaries were increased in 1995, after of land which included the site became a state park in 1992.

Geography

Kūkaniloko lies in the Wahiawā Plateau between Oahu's two mountain ranges: the Waianaes to leeward, and the Koolaus to windward. It also lies at the intersection of two major paths of overland travel: the Waialua Trail between the North Shore and ʻEwa Beach, and the Kolekole Trail through the Waianae Range.
The site is not only the piko of the island, but its placement across from the Waiʻanae Range could have been used as a calendar. The sun could be observed at Kūkaniloko by using certain markers.
The present day location is near the intersection of Kamehameha Highway and Whitmore Avenue just north of Wahiawā, Hawaii.

History

Kūkaniloko, meaning "to anchor the cry from within," is the geographic piko of Oahu. Kūkaniloko was symbolically the most powerful birth site for the island's high chiefs, among whom Kakuhihewa and Maʻilikākahi were perhaps most famous. Although, not every chief or royal was allowed to enter the site; only those who participated in human sacrifices . The Hoolonopahu Heiau associated with the site was later destroyed, as were many others in the area, to make room for sugarcane and pineapple fields in the rich soils where sweet potato and yam once grew in abundance. Chiefly families lived along the slopes of the Waianaes overlooking the plateau and along the shores of Waialua to the north, and many key battles between rivals for control of Oahu were also fought on the central plains surrounding Kūkaniloko.
The wide view of the skies from Kūkaniloko might also have made it a sort of Hawaiian Stonehenge. In April 2000, a team from the University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy recorded designs and shapes on the stones that could have been used to track the movements of celestial objects for calendrical purposes.

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