Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 5, Number 7, 1 July 1988 — Groups Visit Nioiula, Others [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Groups Visit Nioiula, Others

Office of Hawaiian Affairs Cultural Specialist Earl (Buddy) Neller, who is also an archaeologist, recently led two separate groups on field trips to Wai'anae and Kahalu'u. Neller led a Lyon Arboretum group to Nioiula Heiau in Wai'anae where they saw the ruins of a luakini temple. Human sacrifices were offered at this type of heiau. The stone walls were thick and massive and the interior of the heiau had many divisions. Several years ago mueh of the stone was taken away to build a cattle pen. Most of the walls today are just low and linear piles of rock. A kukui tree growing in the middle of the heiau makes it easier to locate the site from a distance. The heiau is overgrown with weeds and small trees, making the stone paving difficult to see in places. lt was reported Nioiula Heiau, whieh was placed on the Hawai'i Register of Historic Places in 1972, was built by the famous chief Kakuhihewa. O'ahu was sometimes referred to as "O'ahu a Kakuhihewa" because of the prosperity and peaee that existed during the reign of this popular chief. This is also the heiau where the body of the boxer killed by Kewalo was placed.

Neller and his group also visited Kamaile, Kaneaki and Kuilioloa Heiaus. In the other trip, Neller took Art Souza's anthropology class of the Academy of the Pacific to see the impressive lo'i walls along Ahuimanu Stream in Kahalu'u. Here they found the stone walled terraces are numerous, extending all the way up to the head of the valley. Neller said some of the terraces will be lost during the current phase of development in Ahuimanu Hills. The landowners are looking for community or institutional help to preserve and maintain the site. The site was placed on the Hawai'i Register of Historic Places in 1971 but removed in 1980. It is, however, still on the National Register.

Among places visited by the Lyon Arboretum group was Nioiula Heiau shown here.

These are the taro terrace walls along Ahuimanu Stream in Kahalu'u.