Lonoikamakahiki Residence

The Lonoikamakahiki Residence is an archaeological site in Kahaluu believed to have served at different times as the residence of four great Hawaiian kings: Umi, Lonoikamakahiki, Kalaniopuu, and Kamehameha I. It is believed to have been originally built by Umi, son of Liloa, a superior chief of the island of Hawaii in the 15th century, and a direct descendant of Pili, a high chief brought from Tahiti in the 13th century. Umi is believed to have lived here after restoring the kingdom under his rule following the deaths of his father Liloa and his older brother Hakau. Lonoikamakahiki, Umi's grandson, received the Ka'u and Puna districts after the lands were divided upon the death of his father Keawe-nui-a-umi, then became ruler of the entire island of Hawaii through marriage and victories over other district chiefs. After visiting Maui with his wife Kaikilani, Lonoikamakahiki returned to Hawaii, and soon afterward the Maui king Kamalalawalu invaded with a large fleet. Lonoikamakahiki's older brother Kana-loa-kua'ana was defeated by the invaders, but Lonoikamakahiki later defeated Kamalalawalu and his army. A legend holds that Kamalalawalu was captured, taken to Ke'eku Heiau, kept impaled and alive for 10 or 11 days, then slain, his body towed out to sea for niuhi, and his remaining bones sent back to Maui with the bones of his two dogs. After unifying the island and destroying the Maui invaders, Lonoikamakahiki is believed to have spent the rest of his life in peace in Kahaluu, most probably at this residence, and to have established Ke'eku Heiau as a pu'uhonua after Kamalalawalu's sacrifice there. Later Kamehameha I dedicated Ke'eku Heiau as a luakini heiau for human sacrifice. After Captain Cook was slain at Kealakekua during his unsuccessful attempt to take Kalaniopuu hostage over a stolen longboat, Kalaniopuu moved to Keauhou, where he could surf in the waves of Kahaluu, and the residence is considered the most likely place where he and his court stayed, with hula performances held in its large kahua. Kamehameha I lived for one year in Kahaluu after moving his capital from Oahu to the Big Island in 1812, and because of its size and location this residence is believed to have been where he lived then. Although it is not known with certainty that any of these four kings lived at this exact site, each lived for a time at Kahaluu, and this was the only known establishment in the area capable of housing a king or high chief and his entourage. The site was the establishment of a king or high chief and is also known as Kapukini heiau, with a smaller eastern enclosure likely marking the heiau house. Its features included a small platform on the east side with a central pit believed to have been a fireplace, a thick high wall on the south that may have provided protection or marked the boundary between Kahaluu and Keauhou, and compartmental walls extending north to south. On the north side, a large open space served in ancient times as a kahua for assembly, sports, and entertainment. A nearby associated structure is believed to have been a men's sleeping and eating house for attendants of the chief's establishment, probably built in the same period and possibly by Lonoikamakahiki; its identification rests on its similarity to men's houses elsewhere, the exclusively male-associated artifacts found there, and pig bones, since pig was prohibited to women and women were forbidden to eat with men. Together, the residence and the men's house are archaeological structures of significance that have stood for hundreds of years.

Kahaluu-Keauhou, Hawaii · United States