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Fazias4
<br /> Punalu'u heiau property.
<br /> • Sometime before 1906 another warehouse is built next to the smaller one, and the hillside
<br /> is graded. Part of the complex is destroyed.
<br /> • Early 1970's: C. Brewer buys some beach areas at Punalu'u and Hilea. Goff course is
<br /> built, fish pond is Leaned and bridged, and restaurant is built.
<br /> ? 1975: Tsunami and earthquake. Restaurant and pond destroyed. Golf course is
<br /> trashed. Punalu'u nui has been reduced to only one wall, the rest is flat.
<br /> • 1995: Heiau has four walls, and looks intact along all four walls, although one wall is taller
<br /> than the others from the ground up.
<br /> ? 1999: Sometime before this a local beachgoer bulldozes in the parking lot area and into
<br /> the hillside, reducing the Heiau further. Heiau continues to appear to be similar to 1995
<br /> observations, however a modem lele (offering) tower is present in the middle of the main
<br /> enclosure, signage has been erected.
<br /> Name Problems (Punalu'u Nui) Thrum, Stokes and others call Punalu'u heiau,
<br /> "Kane'ele'ele" (lit Black Man, or the Black God Kane) or Keone'ele'ele (lit Black sand).
<br /> (VanJames, 1995) Neither name is correct for many reasons: Localty, the name Punalu'u nui
<br /> has been used for generations. Secondly, Luakini heiaus were dedicated to the God Ku. Ku is
<br /> connected with war and fishing and other rituals and activities. In the cosmology of Hawaiian
<br /> gods, the god Kane is connected with fresh water, life, and he is depicted as having a light color
<br /> face. A Luakini heiau would never have a reference to another god, especially Kane connected
<br /> with it. Thirdly, the name Keone'ele'ele is the name of the beach and the area located in the next
<br /> bay. If the heiau was named Keone'ele'ele then d would be located in Keone'ele'ele. Further,
<br /> when I'i writes in his book Fragments of Hawaiian History, he refers to the heiau as °Punalu'u".
<br /> For all of these reasons and more, the names Kane'ele'ele and Keone'ele'ele is a misnomer.
<br /> Therefore, for the purposes of this paper, I refer to the heiau as Punalu'u nui heiau.
<br /> According to VanJames in his book Ancient Sites of Hawaii, and local people, this heiau
<br /> "is said to be two heiau set end to end: Halelau in the south and Punalu'u Nui in the north, but it is
<br /> also known as Mailekini Heiau" {VanJames, 1995) On April 17, 1999, I had an opportunity to
<br /> interview Pele Hanoa, her husband and Keola Hanoa (their daughter) ,all of them are long Gme
<br /> residents of Punalu'u, Hilea, Ninole and Kawa. They confirmed that Punalu'u nui is the name of
<br /> the heiau and that the heiau was once two heiau, Mailekini in the north and Halelau in the south.
<br /> In fact, when I asked Mark Smith of the Department of Land and Natural Resources about the two
<br /> heiau joined into one, he said, yes that is true, and that the second heiau is comprised of the 'ill 'ill
<br /> platform located on the east side.
<br /> The main walls of the heiau itself is oriented slightly Southwest to Northeast, and is in the
<br /> shape of a rectangle. Estimates of it's size is 700 feet on the longest sides and 500 feet along it's
<br /> shorter sides. Just outside of the heiau, on it's eastem side is a large rectangular area paved in
<br /> 'ilPili stone that extends outward for some distance. If you follow the line of the walls, you will
<br /> notice that the east wall is higher than the other walls. This wall is probaby more intact than the
<br /> rest. Along the western facing wall, there are lwo entrances. One looks like the original entrance,
<br /> the other looks as though it has fallen with age. A trail runs through the complex from west to
<br /> east, directly through the western wall, coming out the eastem wall. Inside the northeast wall, it
<br /> appears to be a shell or an inner wall. By the ocean, southwest of the walled in area there is a
<br /> sacrificial altar made up of 3 flat slabs of rock, the top being one piece of rock. When they
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<br /> constructed the warehouse, they discovered a pit with bones in it. According to Marion Kelley in
<br /> her b~k Majestic Ka'u: (1980)
<br /> East of the adjoining Punalu'u wharf and warehouses, which are probably built on
<br /> the heiau premises. Puehu bears 122 degrees 37, 4532 feet. This heiau
<br /> probably extended to near the edge of the cliff bordering Punalu'u bay, and its
<br /> western boundary was destroyed was destroyed when the face of the cliff was
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