One of the oldest inhabited and most sacred places in all Hawai‘i is an area that begins where the Wailua River empties into Wailua Bay, and extends inland up the Wailua River Valley for about 2 miles on the southern and 3 miles on the northern side of the river.
Legends tell us that people from Tahiti first settled on Kaua‘i at Wailua during the 12th century, and sailed between Wailua and Tahiti during the 12th and 13th centuries.
Wailua was the home of Kaua‘i’s ruling ali‘i for centuries.
Along the makai side of the Wailua River bridge, and usually submerged in the Wailua River under sand that ocean and river currents deposit over them, are a cluster of 61 stones, sacred to the ancient Hawaiians, of which eight are marked with petroglyphs.
It is believed that these petroglyphs were cut into the stones not long after Tahitians settled in Wailua.
Further inland, on the Coco Palms property, is a lagoon that had once been divided into a series of walled-up fishponds of varying degrees of saltiness.
During the 1830s and 1840s, Queen Deborah Kapule had used them to fatten fish, and her large, thatched houses, situated nearby, served as a hospitable inn for travelers of the time.
Important he‘iau were built at Wailua.
Next to Lydgate Park, and about 45 yards makai of the Wailua River bridge, are the ruins of the Hikina‘akala He‘iau, a portion of which is Hauola, the Place of Refuge.
Those who’d committed offenses could attempt to flee to Hauola to seek safety and avoid punishment behind its walls and later be granted freedom to leave.
And the Malae He‘iau overlooking the Wailua River is Kaua‘i’s largest.
Not far into the valley is the Holoholoku He‘iau, a place of monthly human sacrifice in ancient times.
Further on are the Birthstones, where the kings of Kaua‘i were born, including Kaua‘i’s last king, Kaumuali‘i, born there about 1780.
High above the valley near the ‘Opaeka‘a Falls Lookout is mysterious Poli‘ahu, where legends say the gods met each month on the night of Kane.
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Hank Soboleski has been a resident of Kauai since the 1960s. Hank’s love of the island and its history has inspired him, in conjunction with The Garden Island Newspaper, to share the island’s history weekly. The collection of these articles can be found here: https://bit.ly/2IfbxL9 and here https://bit.ly/2STw9gi Hank can be reached at hssgms@gmail.com
