The Wailua Bell Stone, or Pohaku Kani (lava rock sound) is a fairly flat, oblong-shaped stone of roughly 12 square feet in area that produces a bell-like tone when struck with an object such as a hard piece of wood or a stone.
For most of its existence, reaching back in time into Hawaiian antiquity, it was located on the backbone of Kalaeokamanu Ridge, makai of the Poliahu Heiau, and within walking distance of the heiau.
However, at some point in time, Kauai resident Andrew Kane (1923-1991) took it upon himself to remove the Bell Stone from its historic location and bring it to his home, where he kept it for some time.
Later, while employed as a maintenance man at the Coco Palms Hotel (1953-1992), Kane gave it to the hotel’s manager, Grace Buscher Guslander (1910-2000), who placed it in the hotel’s grove of coconut palms.
Then, in 2011, historian and historic preservationist Randy Wichman, concerned that the Bell Stone might be stolen from the grove of the then shut down Coco Palms Hotel, brought it to the Kauai Historical Society (KHS), where it was stored in the Society’s vault for safe keeping.
Today, the Kauai Museum is in possession of the Bell Stone.
It has been written that the Bell Stone was struck during religious ceremonies by Hawaiian kahuna (priests) of old to produce a loud resonant sound that would reverberate up and down Wailua Valley to signal the Malae Heiau by the mouth of the Wailua River, or to announce the birth of royal infants, or to warn commoners to keep away from land they’d declared kapu to them.
But, acclaimed archaeologist Dr. William Kenji “Pila” Kikuchi (1935-2003) once stated that the Bell Stone being used as a far-reaching signal is probably not true since it actually doesn’t ring loudly.
Also, in 1824, Kaahumanu (1832-1868), queen regent of all of the Hawaiian Islands, sent Huleia, a former kahuna converted to Christianity, to destroy all vestiges of the old Hawaiian religion on Kauai by burning wooden idols and tearing down the rock temples.
In doing so, Huleia chipped the Bell Stone.
