Na Pohaku Ola Kapaemahu A Kapuni:

Waikiki’s Healing Stones

By :Denetra Kalinowski

The Island of O’ahu, and Hawai’i in general, has a rich cultural heritage. Ancient Polynesian

seafarers first came to the Hawaiian islands around 1500 years ago. These ancient people lived in harmony with the Earth. They left few sites that could scar the Earth. One of the few remnants that remain of these early travelers are the Na Pohaku

Ola Kapaemahu A Kapuni, or Waikiki’s Healing Stones.

Na Pohaku Ola Kapaemahu A Kapuni

Today the stones sit, somewhat obscured by overgrown landscaping,

on the world famous public access beach at

Waikiki.

According to legend 4 very powerful healers traveled from Tahiti to the Hawaiian islands and settled in what is today known as Waikiki. These 4 healers became known throughout the islands and people would travel to see them, but they never intended to stay. When they decided it was time to return to their homelands, they wanted to leave the Hawaiian people with a gift. They requested that the people of the island travel to the Kaimuki quarry, almost 2 miles away, to retrieve 4 large volcanic basaltic stones. This was done at night under the full moon. Legend says that the process took only one night, because the healers said they had to travel this way. Thousands of people arrived to help carry the heavy stones by hand. The healers claimed to have then imbued the stones with a portion of their mana, or life force, which would remain on the island and contain their healing powers. Each of the four healers, Kapaemahu, Kahaloa, Kapuni, and Kinohi chose their stone very carefully. They then had a huge celbration that lasted for one full lunar cycle. During the next full moon, when the moon was at its highest, the healers left the islands for their home.

The marshes, which is what Waikiki beach was back then, slowly reclaimed the sand and soil under the large stones over the next several hundred years. Though the legends of their healing power remained.

Governor Archibald Cleghorn discovered 2 of the stones on his property, and the other 2 on an adjacent property where they were building the Moana Hotel in 1901. Having heard the stories and recognizing them for what they were, he had them excavated and placed together on his vast estate. This original excavation lasted was overseen by the governor himself & until 1903. Not much else is known about the excavation. In 1941 the estate was leased to a man who wanted to put a bowling alley on the property. Not knowing, or caring to enquire, about what the stones were, he used them in the foundation of the building of his bowling alley. Upon the demolition of the bowling alley in 1958, the stones were identified and re-excavated from the foundation and repaired.

Archibald Cleghorn with his wife, Hawaiian Princess Likelike

The Moana hotel is now known as the Moana Surfrider and still stands, but has expanded to include the original governor’s estate. This is

where the stones originally stood. Below you can see both the old and new sections of the hotel, which occupies an entire city block.

In 1963 the stones were mover to Kūhiō Beach to make way for new construction in the now booming tourist area of Waikiki. They were shifted another fifty feet towards the mountains in 1980 for yet more construction. In 1997 The great great grandson of Archbald Cleghorn, a cultural historian named Manu Boyd, said that “The value and meaning of the stones had faded over time with the changing values and mores of the day. Then, their importance was remembered and embraced by people who wanted to restore them” (Reynolds 2012). With the help of the Queen Emma Foundation, the stones were moved one last time to a small fenced off area on Waikiki beach, where they still stand. Two plaques were placed with the stones. One in the native Hawaiian language, and one in English.

The well-known statue of native Hawain Duke Paoa Kahanamoku, who won three gold, two silver, and

one bronze Olympic metals between 1912 and 1922, stands on Waikiki beach within 50 feet of the

healing stones. Duke is known as the Father of International Surfing. Even on the overcast

December morning I took this photo dozens of people crowded around this statue for a picture

with Duke. There is rarely, if ever a moment when there is not a line to see Duke.

Yet only a few feet away the Healing stones of Waikiki sit unceremoniously neglected in a small

fence. Most visitors to the area walk right past the stones with no knowledge of what they are. The faded plaques are difficult to read, and if not for the leis placed there by locals looking for healing and success, few would ever stop to notice them.

These stones are the earliest tangible proof of human inhabitation of the Hawaiian Islands that we

have, and yet few people have heard of them or their legends outside of the local population.

Wakiki beach is one of the most crowded places on the island. Thousands upon thousands of tourists

flock to this beach every year. This photo was taken from the stones themselves, just last week. There is no reason that more people don’t know about the significance these stones have to the islands. With better signage and landscaping these stones could

be returned to glory. They could be such a wonderful tool to interest people in the history of Hawaii and all of the Polynesian culture if just a little more attention were paid to how they are

presented.

References

dukekahanamoku.com. (2014). Duke Kahanamoku. Retrieved from http://www.dukekahanamoku.com/

Hawaiian Encyclopedia. (2013). First Polynesians, First Hawaiians. Retrieved from Hawaiian Encyclopedia:http://www.hawaiianencyclopedia.com/first-polynesians-first-hawaii.asp

Reynolds, K. (2012, April 2). Wakiki Magazine.