Mokuʻula is a tiny island now buried beneath a present-day baseball field in Maluʻulu o Lele Park, Lahaina, Hawaiʻi. It was the private residence of King

Kamehameha III Kamehameha III (born Kauikeaouli) (March 17, 1814 – December 15, 1854) was the third king of the Kingdom of Hawaii from 1825 to 1854. His full Hawaiian name is Keaweaweula Kīwalaō Kauikeaouli Kaleiopapa and then lengthened to Keaweaweula K� ...

from 1837 to 1845 and the burial site of several Hawaiian royals. The island was and continues to be considered sacred to many Hawaiians as a ''piko'', or symbolic center of energy and power. According to author P. Christiaan Klieger, "the moated palace of Mokuʻula...was a place of the "Sacred Red Mists," an oasis of rest and calm during the raucous, rollicking days of Pacific whaling." When the capital of Hawaiʻi moved from Lahaina to Honolulu, Mokuʻula fell into disrepair. By 1919, the county turned the land into a park. A non-profit group was later established to restore the site. Mokuula

It was added to the

Hawaiʻi Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

State Register of Historic Places on August 29, 1994, and to the National Register of Historic Places on May 9, 1997, as King Kamehameha III's Royal Residential Complex.

Loko o Mokuhinia

Mokuʻula was surrounded by Mokuhinia, a spring-fed, wetland

pond A pond is an area filled with water, either natural or artificial, that is smaller than a lake. Defining them to be less than in area, less than deep, and with less than 30% emergent vegetation helps in distinguishing their ecology from th ...

. The pond was reported to be the home of Kihawahine, a powerful ''

moʻo Moʻo are shapeshifting lizard spirits in Hawaiian mythology. Description Moʻo often take the forms of monstrous reptiles, tiny geckos, and humans. They were revered as ʻaumakua, and could have power over the weather and water. They are amphib ...

'' or lizard goddess. According to myth, the moʻo was a reincarnation of

Piʻilani Piʻilani ("ascent to heaven") (born ca. 1460) ruled as Mōʻī of the island of Maui in the later part of the 15th century. At the time Maui was an independent kingdom within the islands of Hawaii. He was the first ''Aliʻi'' to unite the isl ...

's daughter, the chiefess, Kalaʻaiheana. Hawaiians cultivated loʻi, or

taro Taro () (''Colocasia esculenta)'' is a root vegetable. It is the most widely cultivated species of several plants in the family Araceae that are used as vegetables for their corms, leaves, and petioles. Taro corms are a food staple in Africa ...

patches, and

fishponds Fishponds is a large suburb in the north-east of the English city of Bristol, about from the city centre. It has two large Victorian-era parks: Eastville Park and Vassall's Park (once the Vassall Family estate, also known as Oldbury Court). T ...

within Mokuhinia.

Restoration

The Friends of Mokuʻula, a non-profit organization dedicated to restoration of the sacred site, formed in 1990 but is no longer active. From 1992 to 1995 and in 1999, archaeologists from

Bishop Museum The Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, designated the Hawaii State Museum of Natural and Cultural History, is a museum of history and science in the historic Kalihi district of Honolulu on the Hawaiian island of Oʻahu. Founded in 1889, it is the lar ...

and Heritage Surveys surveyed the site and documented its features and boundaries.

References

External links

Friends of Mokuʻula Official SiteLahaina's_Invisible_Island_''Maui_No_Ka_'Oi_Magazine
''_Jan/Feb_2009..html" ;"title="Maui No Ka 'Oi Magazine">Lahaina's Invisible Island ''Maui No Ka 'Oi Magazine
'' Jan/Feb 2009.">Maui No Ka 'Oi Magazine">Lahaina's Invisible Island ''Maui No Ka 'Oi Magazine
'' Jan/Feb 2009. {{DEFAULTSORT:Moku'ula Geography of Maui Archaeological sites in Hawaii History of Maui Former islands of the United States Cemeteries in Hawaii Royal residences in Hawaii [ ategory:Lahaina, Hawaii Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Hawaii

Loko o Mokuhinia

Restoration

References

Further reading and resources

External links