Official Statement for the December 10th protest-petition widget

To:

Bernard P. Carvalho, Jr.

Mayor, County of Kauai
4444 Rice St., Suite 235
Lihue, HI 96766

From:

Ka La'a Aina Coalition

4417 Maka Road

Kalaheo, Hi 96741

332-0341

kad2009@ymail.com

And various undersigned herewith 

Dear County of Kaua'i Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr., 

RE:

Kauai Bike Path Inc.  also known as Ka Hele Makalae.


We the undersigned hereby protest any construction of a bikepath that would in anyway come near any sacred areas of the entire Wailuanuiha'oano Complex, or encourage any more traffic to any of these sacred areas.

This would of course include any alignments that would take the path onto Alio Sands, (Wailua Beach), which we most strongly disagree with, and protest.

Hauloa South bank of Wailua rivermouth

Likely included a pu‘uhonua (place of refuge)

Hikina-a-ka-lā Part of Hauloa (religious center)

395 feet (120 m) long;

56 to 80 feet (17 to 24 m) wide

Kukui Heiau North bank of Wailua rivermouth

Across rivermouth from Hauloa

Na Ki‘i Pōhaku (Petroglyphs) South bank of Wailua rivermouth

Sometimes covered with sand

Canoe Landing East bank of Wailua river mouth

Loko i‘a (Fishponds) Near Wailua river mouth.

Māla‘e Heiau West side of Kūhiō Highway (Hwy. 56)

Dimensions: 273 by 324 feet (83 by 99 m)

Walls were up to 10 feet (3 m) high,

Holoholokū Heiau South side of Kuamo‘o Road (Hwy. 580).

Hauloa Heiau

Hauloa (“Dew of life”[vi]) is a large heiau (sacred place of worship) located at the mouth of the Wailua River, and is thought to have included a pu‘uhonua (place of refuge). The religious center at Hauloa was  

Hikina-a-ka-lā (“Rising of the sun”[vii]), located at the point where the sunlight first touches the island of Kaua‘i’s eastern shore each morning.

In the 1800s, the sacred area of Hauloa was abandoned as far as religious uses, and coconut palms and sweet potatoes were planted. In the 1900s the heiau’s rocks were taken away and used for road beds, leaving only the loose outline of the foundations stones that may be seen there today. Formerly at the site were many great slabs of stone set on end in a double row.

In 1962, Hikina-a-ka-lā and other Wailua heiau were designated National Historic Landmarks. A bronze plaque commemorates the heiau as “Hauola, City of Refuge.”

Located next to the plaque is an adze grinding stone as well as two flat, stone salt pans. Toward the beach are some petroglyphs known as Na Ki‘i Pōhaku, which are often covered by shifting sands.

Across Wailua Bay, on Alakukui Point, are the grass-covered remains of the foundation stones of Kukui Heiau.

[Hauola Heiau, end of Lydgate Beach parking lot near Wailua rivermouth.]

Māla‘e Heiau

Māla‘e Heiau is located near the mouth of the Wailua River, about 45 feet (12 m) from Kūhiō Highway (Hwy. 56), on the mauka (mountain) side of the road. Thought to be one of Kaua‘i’s oldest heiau and also the largest, Māla‘e Heiau encompasses about 2 acres (.8 ha).

The stone structure measures 273 by 324 feet (83 by 99 m), with walls up to 10 feet (3 m) high and 8 to 13 feet (2.4 to 4 m) thick. A 6-foot by 2-foot (1.8-m by .6-m) stone ledge lined the inside of the wall, providing a place for people to sit and watch the proceedings.

According to legend, Māla‘e Heiau was built by menehune about 1,500 years ago. The heiau is said to be an example of the menehune trait of forming a single line of people many miles long to pass rocks from one person to the next. (See Menehune section, Chapter 3.)

Māla‘e Heiau was converted into a cattle pen by Deborah Kapule (the last queen of Kaua‘i as the wife of King Kamuali‘i) after she converted to Christianity.

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, the rocks of Māla‘e Heiau were used by the sugar plantations for construction projects. This was the impetus for the founding of the Kaua‘i Historical Society by Reverend John M. Lydgate and others. More recently, the heiau has been cleared of overgrown brush by volunteers working to restore the site.

[Māla‘e Heiau, located on the west side of Kūhiō Highway (Hwy. 56), near the south bank of Wailua River.]

Holoholokū Heiau

Holoholokū Heiau is located on the south side of Kuamo‘o Road (Hwy. 580), just off the main highway. Said to be one of Kaua‘i’s oldest heiau, Holoholokū is relatively small, measuring about 20 feet by 40 feet (6 m by 12 m). Holoholokū Heiau was a luakini, where human sacrifices were performed.

A birthstone on the western side of the site is where ancient ali‘i (Hawaiian royalty) gave birth. A plaque on the stone reads “Pohaku Hoohanau Birthstone.” Another rock on the site has a plaque that reads “Pohaku Piko,” and this pōhaku (stone) was where the baby’s umbilical cord (piko) was left to ensure the child’s health.

A stairway near the heiau climbs to the top of a small hill overlooking the Wailua river. On this mound are dozens of Japanese gravesites, some marked with lava-rock gravestones.

[Holoholokū Heiau, alongside Kuamo‘o Rd. (Hwy. 580), about ¼ mile (.4 km) from Kūhiō Highway (Hwy. 56) on the left (south) side of the road.]

Poli‘ahu Heiau

Poli‘ahu Heiau is located on the south side of Kuamo‘o Road (Hwy. 580). Considered the sister heiau to Māla‘e, Poli‘ahu Heiau is 242 feet (74 m) long by 165 feet (50 m) wide, and the site of ancient religious ceremonies led by a kahuna (priest).

Structures within Poli‘ahu were dismantled after the overthrow of the kapu in 1819 (see Chapter 11, Timeline: 1819, May 20), including an ‘anu‘u (a three-story wooden oracle tower), lele (altar, or raised platform), hale pahu (temple drum house), and a hale umu, described as an “...oven house where the temple fires were kept and offerings were prepared.”[x]

Visible from Poli‘ahu is Māla‘e Heiau, and it is likely that communication took place between the two locations in ancient times. Above Poli‘ahu is Kālepa Ridge’s last peak, called Mauna-kapu (“Sacred mountain”[xi]). 

[Poli‘ahu Heiau, Kuamo‘o Road (Hwy. 580), on south side of the road just before ‘Ōpaeka‘a Falls Viewpoint, Wailua.]

It is imperative to us that absolutely no sites on this list be impacted in any way by the construction of the bike path, be they on the mauka side of the current highway or the makai side.

We insist that an alternative route be implementated.

When one sacred site is impacted they are all impacted. Increase in traffic to some heiau such as the Hikina A Ka La Heiau and the Kukui Heiau and Hau'loa Heiau have been significant. The sands at Alio should be absolutely off limits to any bikepath alignments.

The idea that somehow these are a disconnected group of structures and sacred sites is absolutely incorrect.

We pray that you will make significant adjustments and support an alignment that protects, preserves and prevents any further degradation to any of the sites on this list.

There is no site here on this list that is more important than the other. They are all interconnected both spiritually and physically to each other. A desecration of one of them is a dececration to all of them.

We strongly protest the path going up to, into, around or through, or on top of (in the case of Alio) any of these areas listed. We protest any traffic traversing them in any way except for the explicit use in most cases of a specific Hawaiian religious appropriate to that area in the case of the Heiau's, and/or cultural and appropriate uses of certain areas such as the sands at Alio, on the canoe landings.

Sincerely, the undersigned presented on this day:

December 10, 2009 at approximately 2 pm in the afternoon

To be presented to the Mayor, or his authorized representative

Mahalo, Sincerely the undersigned.

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