History
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After the seer Kapoukahi prophesied that building a heiau on Pu'ukohola, the hill of the whale, and dedicating it to a war god would bring rule over the islands, Kamehameha began construction there in 1790. Workers carefully set tons of waterworn lava rock in place without mortar, and Kamehameha labored with them. Only his brother was excused because he would preside over deciation rituals at Pu'ukohola Heiau and had to remain ceremonially clean, since the heiau had to be ritually perfect to please the war god. By the summer of 1791, the temple was complete. Soon Kamehameha ruled Hawai'i, then Maui, Lāna'i, Moloka'i, and O'ahu, and when he added Kaua'i through peaceful negotiations in 1810, the prophecy was fulfilled and Kamehameha the Great ruled all of the Hawaiian Islands.
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Puako, Hawaii · United States
