Alignment of heiau with geographic features across the ‘Alenuihāhā channel between Hawai‘i and Maui islands

Authors

Keywords:

Hawai‘i, history, archaeology, Mo‘okini Heiau, Pīhana Heiau, Ka‘uiki Head, Hualālai

Abstract

The orientation of the principal (long) axis of the Mo‘okini Heiau at Kohala, Hawai‘i Island, points across the ‘Alenuihāhā Channel to the fortress on Ka‘uiki Head at Hāna, Maui. Similarly, components of Pōpōiwi Heiau at Kaupō and Pīhana Heiau at Wailuku, Maui, point at the Hualālai Summit at Kona, Hawai‘i Island. The alignments are much better than 1.0° for two of the heiau and to 2.5° for the third. Pīhana Heiau is the only one with a reliable radiocarbon date. However, in analogy with it and other dated sites all these heiau were probably reconstructed/reoriented during the late seventeenth to early eighteenth century, a time of intense conflict between Hawai‘i Island kings and their Maui rivals. Religious rites at these three heiau were likely used to direct divine power against the rival of the ruler realigning the temples.

Author Biographies

Joseph Patrick Henry, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa

Joseph Patrick Henry is an emeritus professor of astronomy at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. Henry worked at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, and the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, Hawai‘i, USA. He built instruments for and used telescopes in space and on Maunakea, Hawai‘i. His work was recognised with prizes from the American Astronomical Society and from societies in Germany and Japan.

Patrick Vinton Kirch, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa

Patrick Vinton Kirch is a professor of anthropology at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa and distinguished professor emeritus of anthropology and integrative biology at the University of California, Berkeley. In addition to extensive archaeological fieldwork in the Hawaiian Islands, Kirch has carried out research in Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Sāmoa and French Polynesia. He is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Philosophical Society. In 2018 the Polynesian Society honoured Kirch with the Nayacakalou Medal.

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Published

2025-08-09

How to Cite

Henry, J. P., & Kirch, P. V. (2025). Alignment of heiau with geographic features across the ‘Alenuihāhā channel between Hawai‘i and Maui islands. Waka Kuaka, 134(2), 235–250. Retrieved from https://www.thepolynesiansociety.org/index.php/JPS/article/view/774

Issue

Vol. 134 No. 2 (2025): Waka Kuaka: The Journal of the Polynesian Society

Section

Shorter Communications

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