PO‘IPU — The 16-foot tall Ki‘i that tower over Po‘ipu were taken down for maintenance last week, but they will be back up soon.
The Ki‘i, representative of the Hawaiian gods, will be termite treated, pressure washed and painted to help preserve the wood.
“When we take them down, we usually cover their eyes because they’re going to go rest,” said Rupert Rowe. “And when we put them back up, we take the bandana off of their eyes, because they’re back to life again.”
This will be the first time the statues have been serviced since they were placed and dedicated in July 2013.
“You don’t want them to fall down,” said Rowe, on the need for repairs. “They’re part of the culture and the energy that they preserve.”
He expects that the statues will return in 3-4 months.
The Ki‘i are part of the Kaneiolouma Ancient Hawaiian Village Restoration Project, a cultural site containing the remnants of an ancient Hawaiian multi-purpose complex.
This 13-acre complex contains enclosed sections or chambers for living, cultivation, sporting, and religious gathering purposes, including hale sites, fishponds, taro fields, auwai irrigation systems, and a makahiki arena.
The site dates back to the mid 1400s.
In 2012, the County of Kaua‘i granted formal stewardship of the site to Hui Malama O Kaneiolouma, a local 501(c)(3) non-profit cultural organization.
The group has a mission to protect, restore, interpret, and share Kaneiolouma as a public cultural resource, recruiting cultural experts from various Hawaiian disciplines to assist in this endeavor.
“What we’re trying to do is bring a thing back to life as it was in the past,” said Rowe.
The group has a planned restoration of inner walls, fish ponds, and hale sites and later intends to open the interior village space for cultural events visitors and tours, along with enhanced pedestrian shoreline access and a visitors’ center.
• Info: kaneiolouma.org/about
