​Kūkaniloko Marking Time and Place​
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Ki`i na Vicki Pakele

 
mea ola kanaka mauli… living human beings imbued with the spirit of I‘o - utilized the sun, moon, planets and stars relative to features upon the landscape to mark time and place.  Here at Kūkaniloko, the rising and setting of the sun upon the pu‘u, peaks, along the Ko‘olau and the Wai‘anae mountain ranges were observed and used to mark time.  Some of the stones at Kūkaniloko may have been used as reference points to observe the setting sun upon Mauna Ka‘ala during the Spring and Fall Equinoxes as well as the Summer and Winter Solstices. 

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​​Was the birth of an ali‘i also relative to this practice?
 


Knowledge of the heavens is key to mea ola kanaka mauli navigation for traveling vast distances over the oceans.  Circa 1200 A.D. Makali‘i, the Pleiades, passed directly over Kūkaniloko once each day.  Such an event may have been used to mark the location of islands.  The shadows cast by the fluted edges on some of the stones may have also served as a pointer, similar to a compass, for navigation throughout Oceania and the world.                                                    

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        “...e kūkaʻawe i nā kapu o Kūkaniloko nō ka mea aloha nō hoʻi kākou iā lākou i nā kau a kau..."                            “...to guard the kapu of Kūkaniloko because we love them for all time…”    

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Onsite Signage Y2K