Welcome to the Park of the Week Newsletter for March 21, 2024. This week’s park protects one of the most sacred sites in all of Hawaii.
Pu‘uhonua O Hōnaunau National Historic Park
Location
Hōnaunau Bay, Big Island, Hawaii, United States
Claim to fame
Pu‘uhonua O Hōnaunau National Historic Park is one of the most sacred spaces in Hawaii. The pu‘uhonua for which the park was named was once a refuge for women, children, and the elderly during times of war. It was also a refuge for those who had broken kapu, meaning that they had committed acts punishable by death. Within the Great Wall of the pu‘uhonua, Hawaiians could find a second chance at life. There were several pu‘uhonua among the islands of Hawaii, but the one at Hōnaunau is the most well-preserved and most famous.
Adjacent to the pu‘uhonua are the royal grounds and Hale o Keawe, a royal mausoleum that once housed the bones of 23 chiefs. The chiefs were full of spiritual energy, called mana, and their bones retained it, imbuing the site with divine power. The bones were removed in the early 1800s and the original temple torn down, but the reconstructed mausoleum still holds mana that is felt and honored by Hawaiians and visitors from around the world.
Reason to visit
Pu‘uhonua O Hōnaunau National Historic Park is still a refuge, a place where visitors from around the world can immerse themselves in Hawaiian culture. Visitors can explore the park’s sacred sites and hike the two-mile 1871 Trail which navigates oceanside cliffs, stunning scenery, and the historic Kiʻilae Village.
Ki’i–carved wooden statues depicting important gods–are found throughout the site. The sacred Hale o Keawe or royal mausoleum was rebuilt by the park, and is the only representation of a traditional consecrated house on the Big Island. Religious ceremonies are still carried out here.
The park has another tie to history–it’s home to the only Mission 66-era visitor center in Hawaii. Mission 66 was a period of increased funding and development within the US National Park Service, and the park’s visitor center is now a part of that national heritage.
Wild Fact
Geraldine Kenui Bell was the first Native Hawaiian woman to be the superintendent (park manager) of a US national park site. She eventually became the superintendent of two parks at once–Pu‘uhonua O Hōnaunau and Kaloko-Honokōhau National Historic Park.
Born on Maui and passionate about her native culture, Bell had a 43-year career in the NPS, rising in the ranks from a park receptionist to one of the most influential managers in the early days of both these historic parks. She oversaw the land aquisition that formed Kaloko-Honokōhau and nearly doubled the size of Pu‘uhonua O Hōnaunau, adding land that includes the Kiʻilae Village.
Bell retired from the NPS in 2010 after a career of honoring Hawaiian heritage. She is one of over 60 women profiled in a UC Davis study of women’s contributions to US national parks.
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