Historic Hawaiian
land given as
gift to state

The 16.4-acre parcel contains
at least 29 recorded sites,
including the home of
Chiefess Keakealaniwahine

By Debra Barayuga
Star-Bulletin

First Hawaiian Creditcorp today announced it is donating to the state a 16.4-acre parcel in Kona containing one of Hawaii's most significant archaeological sites.

Keakealaniwahine Complex, about 23/4-miles south of Kailua-Kona, contains at least 29 recorded sites containing heiau or religious temples, platforms, stone walls and archaelogical deposits, and the home of Chiefess Keakealaniwahine. Some walls, 10 feet high and 4 feet thick, are still standing.

"We are donating the land to make sure that this priceless cultural site is protected and sustained in perpetuity, so that generations to come can appreciate the wealth of Hawaii's history contained in the Keakealaniwahine complex," said Don Horner, chairman of First Hawaiian Creditcorp, which acquired the property through foreclosure last year.

Mike Wilson, chairman of the Board of Land and Natural Resources, applauded First Hawaiian's gift as an example of private landowners turning over lands to the state to preserve cultural sites.

"Along the shores of Kailua-Kona on the Big Island are found perhaps the highest density of native Hawaiian sites in the island chain," Wilson said. "The donation of this parcel will ensure that this important site is preserved for the enrichment of Hawaii's people and visitors to our islands."

The Department of Land and Natural Resources hopes to develop the site and the adjacent Keolonahihi State Historical Park into a larger cultural center.

The most impressive structure in the Keakealaniwahine complex is a walled enclosure described as the home of Keakealaniwahine, highest ranking ali'i of her generation, and great-great-grandmother of Kamehameha I. The residence is believed to have been built about 1650. Keakealaniwahine and her mother, Keakamahana, are recognized as the only two women to rule the Big Island.

Keolonahihi, makai of Keakealaniwahine, is a 12-acre site acquired by the state in 1980 and contains five heiau sites, a house site, a pond and springs, and other structural features.

Traditional history associates the Keolonahihi and Keakealaniwahine complexes with at least five generations of the highest ranking ali'i on the Big Island.

The major sites on these two parcels were once part of an ali'i compound in Holualoa - one of seven used by the ali'i along the Kona coast.

The department's plan for Keakealaniwahine calls for stabilizing and restoring cultural sites, but it will be a challenge.

Stone features on the site have suffered from natural deterioration and intrusion by cattle and the public.

Areas are overgrown, and roots of large trees have disrupted the foundations of some walls and platforms. Portions have been also disturbed by bulldozers, evidence of encroaching urban development.