Officials
label remains of
Kauai’s heiau

The identification signs
educate visitors and encourage
preservation

By Trish Moore
Star-Bulletin

WAILUA, Kauai -- Walk by the jumble of boulders looking over Wailua Bay.

There is some order to them, almost a configuration. Were they part of something?

Thanks to a series of interpretive signs installed by state parks officials, people know the boulders are what's left of Hiinakaala Heiau, where ancient Hawaiians would celebrate the dawning of a new day.

Hiinakaala in Hawaiian means "rising of the sun," and the heiau's location at the mouth of the Wailua River is where the sun's rays first greet the shores of Kauai.

The five signs are the second in a series planned for the four heiaus scattered throughout the park.

Developed by the Department of Land and Natural Resources, the signs are to educate tourists about Hawaii's cultural history, as well as to encourage protection and preservation of these cultural resources, according to the department head, Michael Wilson.

In ancient times, Wailua was one of two religious and political centers on Kauai -- the home of ali'i nui, Kauai's paramount chiefs.

Signs point out ancient fish ponds, taro fields, petroglyphs and canoe landing and surfing spots.

Hiinakaala, believed to have been built in the 1300s, hasn't withstood the passage of time very well, said Hawaiian studies specialist E. Kalani Flores.

"It kind of reflects how the Hawaiian people have been fragmented and impacted by contact with various peoples but are still standing in some capacity," Flores said.

Hiinakaala was once a massive, rectangular enclosure, described by walls 6 feet high, in some places 11 feet thick, and encompassing an acre of land.

Sometime after the traditional Hawaiian religion was banned in 1819, a garden of sweet potatoes and coconut trees was planted within the heiau walls.

Early in this century, most of the rocks were carted off and used in roadbeds, and the defunct Kapaa to Ahukini railroad ran through the site, Flores said.