Hilo Bay: In the days of Kamehameha

In the days of Kamehameha, the Hilo Bay area included major sacred, political, and agricultural places tied to chiefly residence and long-established Hawaiian land divisions. Kānoe Heiau was one of six major lauakini, or sacrificial heiau, on Hawai'i Island dating to ancient times. At Naha Stone, near Pinao Heiau, a large stone associated with the Naha line of chiefs was used to demonstrate warrior prowess and to foretell the future of royal-born children, and Kamehameha was said to have lifted it as a young warrior. Seven ahupua'a began at Hilo Bay and extended into the upper forests, with early settlement concentrated near the coast, fields scattered along the slopes, and 'auwai carrying water from upland springs for drinking and farming. The region also included Hilo Palikū to the north with high sea cliffs, Hilo One along the bay's sandy beach, and Kaipalaoa near the mouth of the Wailuku River, where a chiefly compound and an important heiau stood and where Kamehameha and other ali'i were known to reside. Waiolama was a wetland fed by springs and intermittent flow from Alenaio Stream, transformed into fishponds and wetland agriculture called kipi, where reeds and mud were mounded into floating islands planted with kalo and other crops. South of the bay, Hilo Hanahahi was named for an early chief and known for groves of hala. Pi'opi'o, an 'ili of the Waiākea ahupua'a, was considered an ipukai, or food bowl, because its people controlled the rich royal ponds of the Wailoa River estuary, and it was favored by chiefly residents from ancient times; Keōua, father of Kamehameha I, died there in the 1750s while with the court of the paramount chief Alapa'inu, Pi'opi'o later went to Ka'ahumanu after Kamehameha's death, became the site of a residence for Princess Ruth Ki'ilikōlani in the 1860s, passed into the Estate of Bernice Pauahi Bishop in 1883, and was traded to the Territory of Hawai'i in 1948 during redevelopment after the 1946 tsunami. Moku'ola was an important wahi pana in Hilo, serving as a pu'uhonua, or place of refuge, and as a place of healing rituals into the early 20th century; today it is called Coconut Island. Maka'okū contained the Waihonu fishponds known for turtles, and a heiau there was dedicated to the god Kū.

Hilo, Hawaii · United States