Read this article in ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi
Greetings, oh friends of this column. We are looking at the prophesies about Kamehameha and his unification of the islands into a single nation.
Perhaps we know about Puʻu Koholā (Kohola), the temple that Kamehameha built. Perhaps we don’t know of the reason for the temple as Moʻokini was the major heiau at the time of Alapaʻi when Kamehameha was yet an adolescent.
Here is the reason: Haʻaloʻu, the daughter of Hāʻae-of-Mahi, traveled to Kauaʻi to find Kapoukahi, a seer, prophet, and friend to Kāneikaheilani, her grandmother. Haʻaloʻu asked Kapoukahi about the reasons for the transfer of the government to her leader, Kamehameha.
Kapoukahi answered thusly, “Here is how the whole nation of Hawaiʻi will be obtained by Kamehameha by erecting a home for his god. Build it big and make its boundaries complete and well done.”
Haʻaloʻu then asked where should this heiau be built, and Kapoukahi answered, “ʻPuʻu Koholā…this will soon be the home of the god [Kūkāʻilimoku] of your lord, of all the islands. There will be no “skin” that is hurt. It will be the sluice gate for the tiger shark to enter and satiate (the gods). Of the enemy, the thorn in the eye [Keōuakūʻahuʻula] will perish; there will be rejoicing at night. Hawaiʻi is consumed.”
In the story of Kekūhaupiʻo, the orators and advisors counseled Kamehameha to build his god-house at Puʻu Kohola (not Koholā) because there was a shallow shoal before the heiau site. If the shoal waters are shallow then warfare will be easy. If the sea is deep (as are the waters off Moʻokini) then warfare will be difficult. The prophecy of Kapoukahi and the advisors was fulfilled. Puʻu Kohola/Koholā is there to this day.
Kauaʻi and Niʻihau were never conquered by Kamehameha. Here is a prophecy for that. After the battle of Jumping-mullet in upper Nuʻuanu, Kamehameha rested for a while on Oʻahu to attack the kingdom of Kaumualiʻi of Kauaʻi.
Some time before, while Kamehameha was waging war on Hawaiʻi Island, a priest by the name of Lonohelumoa warned him: “Do not go on your trip [to Kauaʻi], but let us stay on Hawaiʻi as there is food in the uplands and fish in the sea, heaven is above, earth is below, and Hawaiʻi is where we should stay.
