Kualoa
Kualoa Cultural Importance
Kualoa has a very significant and special cultural status, not only within the windward districts of Koʻolaupoko and Koʻolauloa, but also throughout O‘ahu and beyond. The parcel now containing Kualoa Regional Park has been studied by a variety of University students, professors and archaeology professionals for many decades. There are numerous lengthy reports available from the State Historic Preservation Division (SHPD) detailing the artifacts that have been found on site and the history and cultural significance of this special place, within the greater context of the surrounding ahupuaʻa. Kualoa is an especially significant “wahi kapu” on the island of Oʻahu (wahi kapu meaning “sacred place”), along with the Kūkaniloko birthing site near Wahiawā. Kualoa is considered so special and sacred, that canoes in ancient times would lower their sails when sailing past, in order to pay respect to the people of the area and to significant historic figures. In 1974, the entire ahupuaʻa of Kualoa was placed on the State and National Registers of Historic Places (State Site No. 50-80-06-528) as a symbol of sovereignty and independence for Oʻahu, its function as a puʻuhonua (place of refuge), and its general significance as a sacred residence and training ground for aliʻi.
According to archaeological evidence, what is now Kualoa Regional Park was first inhabited no later than 1200 A.D. and possibly before then. Several fishponds were built in the area, including Mōliʻi Fishpond, which was built by 1400 A.D. The beach area was used for burials and many ʻiwi and other artifacts have been recovered there due to the ongoing beach erosion. Artifacts from 1650 A.D. onward suggest that woodworkers and stone carvers were among the inhabitants of Kualoa.
Kualoa is said to be home to Haumea and Wakea who are credited with establishing the race of man. It is an ahupuaʻa unlike any other. It has no above ground stream flowing through it and thus relied on surrounding ahupuaʻa to supplement food and other living needs. The wide low lands of Kualoa were used as training grounds for young chiefs to build capacities for leadership and learn skills for informed decision-making and statesmanship. The area also hosted annual makahiki festivities. Evidence suggests that there may have been a priesthood to the god Lono.
There is a famous tradition of lowering sails when vessels would pass Kualoa. The place was known as a wahi kapu from ancient times and passing canoes recognized it by lowering their sails until they reached Kaʻaʻawa. There are multiple theories about how this custom came about and whether it was associated with a particular chief or just the sacredness of the place in general. Abraham Fornander, a noted ethnologist, associates the custom with a particular ruling chief named Kūaliʻi:
“During his youth Kūali‘i was brought up sometimes at Kailua, at other times at Kualoa. One of the special taboos attached to Kualoa, whenever the chief resided there, was that all canoes, when passing by the land of Kualoa, on arriving at Makawai, should lower their masts and keep them down until they had passed the sea off Kualoa and got into that of Ka‘a‘awa. I note the tabu and the custom, but I am not certain of the underlying motive. It may have been a religious observance on account of the sacred character of the “Pali o Kualoa,” or a conventional mode of deference to the high chief residing there. It was strictly observed however, and woe to the infractor of the taboo.”
Kualoa was also likely one of six puʻuhonua – or places of refuge – on the island of Oʻahu.
Kualoa is also a place with a long Makahiki tradition and may have been a premier venue for the festival, according to historical records. Community members report that it may have been the location on Oʻahu where the festival began. Makahiki celebrations were reintroduced by the community in the 1970s and continue today.
Makahiki 2015 student participants shared their thoughts on the cultural importance of Makahiki:
Makahiki marks the 4-month season from October to February honoring the god Lonoikamakahiki. During this time, there was a kapu (ban) on war, and instead it was a time of celebrating harvests, collecting taxes, worshiping Lono and participating in sports and games. There were many sports, including wrestling, surfing, , and hula, along with various religious festivities. The details about this ancient festival are somewhat debated by scholars, although they seem to agree that each island had different practices and things changed over time, depending on who was in power.
Mokoliʻi Island, part of the ahupuaʻa of Kualoa and now Kualoa Regional Park, like many other small islands and rock outcrops/volcanic stacks in Hawaiʻi, is described in ancient legends as being part of dragon-like guardians. Mokoliʻi (small lizard/dragon) represents the tail portion of the area mo‘o, traditionally the guardian of water resources, with its body metaphorically stretching across the water into the foothills below the Kualoa cliffs. Today, it is an important, though threatened, nesting ground for the endangered wedgetailed shearwater.
Kualoa is the subject of many moʻolelo – legends, oral traditions, and old stories , including tales of the Menehune (Legendary race of small people who worked at night building fishponds, roads and temples). Mōliʻi Pond is said to have been built by the Menehune. There are also tales of ghosts and nightmarchers as unusual noises can often be heard at Kualoa.
The Hawaiian language assigns many different names to the types of winds and rains, some of which are particular to one place. Holopali, the name of the Kualoa wind is translated as “running along the cliff.”
The people of Kualoa and Hakipuʻu recognize how significant a place Kualoa was and still is in terms of its cultural history. Many families feel strong ties to the land and an ardent sense of kuleana and aloha ʻāina. Our community outreach revealed that many local residents and kūpuna still have great respect for this important wahi kapu and would therefore like to see culturally appropriate projects, programs and facilities implemented here that shed light on the importance of this special place and share its living Hawaiian culture.