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KOKUA OF KEALAKOWA'A HEIAU |
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Written by Heiau Council
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Under preservation next to the Kona Outdoor Circle Educational Center lies the historic Kealakowa'a ("the way for dragging canoes") heiau. This ritual site, built in the 1600's in the time of King Umi, was used for blessing canoes and can be seen from both the highway and the Center's parking lot. The 1.5 acre area contains a group of platforms including a heiau for the high priest to officiate, an astrological temple to study omens and navigational stars, the foundation of the high priest's house, and the foundation of a house in which were held council meetings of the seers and chiegs. The sacred site is positioned along an ancient trail that led from the upland forests of acacia trees on Mt. Hualalai down to the Pacific Ocean at Holualoa Bay. After a propitious tree was selected and felled in the forest, the log was hewn into the shape of a canoe and then dragged down to the heiau for blessing ceremonies. From there it was dragged on down to the water for completion and launching.
The Polynesians were master canoe builders and supreme navigators, and thus they were able to survive the lengthy voyages required for their early migrations. The canoe was a focal point of their life and customs. The canoe gave them access to the ocean near their shores and the world beyond. The canoe was an "ancestral space ship" and their choices of clothing, food sources, plants and animals, rituals and astronomy were all influenced by the presence of the canoe in the culture. More information about the early Hawaiians is available in the Historic Kealakowa'a Heiau Preservation Council office located in the Kona Outdoor Circle Educational Center building.
Future projects include a canoe shed on the site where canoe-making demonstrationscan be staged for school children and other visitors. These projects will further KOC's vision to make the heiau a community resource and to retain the quality of the area around the heiau, consistent with its history as a once very lively and vital site. |
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Written by Anna Hickcox
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ORCHIDS: SPECIES OF PERU by Harry Zelenko and Pablo Bermudez
Orchids: Species of Peru has more than 1,600 photographs that range from Aa to Zygosepalum. The book is an interweaving of many elements, not one of which is more important than then other. Even the caption for a photograph is as important as the photograph above it, since it must be correct in every detail with the species name and the photographers’ name. Approximate flower dimensions are included in the captions because most books with photographs of orchids give no clue as to flower size.
Peru has 2,873 described orchids with new species being found almost daily. Taxonomy has taken new directions in recent years with molecular research, that offers definitive answers to age-old taxonomic questions. Many of the species in this reflect the latest applied knowledge gleaned from DNA.
A simplified format manages photographs of different dimensions and shapes, taken by 42 photographers. This book also shows orchids never before published in color photographs. Cogent English and Spanish texts are arranged alphabetically for 175 genera. The book has been designed with textbook discipline…no fancy frills or colored backgrounds, so that the work of the many photographers remains primary.
This is the most comprehensive book produced to date about the orchids of Peru.
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Coming from the North (airport):
- Take Highway 19 (Queen Kaahumanu Highway) going South.
- Pass sign that says "Kailua 1 mile" (this is Hualalai Road)
- Watch for sign that says "Kuakini Highway"
- (Hwy.11 intersects Hwy. 19) Turn right, then keep to left side and head toward the "Stop" sign.
- Continue to the left on what seems to be a frontage access road.
- Kona Outdoor Circle Educational Center is on the right. (marble sign)
Park in the upper lot for the office, rental hall & gardens and lower lot for the KOC Thrift Shop
Coming from the South (Captain Cook):
- Take Kuakini Highway (Highway 11) going North.
- Pass three traffic lights (Kamehameha III Road, Seaview Circle and Lako Street).
- After Lako, travel short distance until reaching sign that says "Kuakini Highway".
- Turn left, then keep in left side and head toward the "Stop" sign.
- Continue to the left on what seems to be a frontage access road.
- Kona Outdoor Circle Educational Center is on the right. (marble sign)
Park in the upper lot for the office, rental hall & gardens and lower lot for the KOC Thrift Shop
Click here to go to mapquest to Get Driving Directions
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Sadie Seymour Botanical Gardens |
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Descending in a palm-accented sweep from the Kona Outdoor Circle Educational Center lie the verdant Sadie Seymour Botanical Gardens. Designed by landscape architect, Scott Seymour and named in honor of his mother, the founding president of the Kona Outdoor Circle, the gardens are arranged in easily accessed terraces. Each terrace exhibits trees and plants native to a particular part of the world which are commonly grown in Hawaii.
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Read more...
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Under the guidance of curator Anna Hickcox, the Kealakowa’a Heiau Council is moving forward with the construction of several new structures and many other activities to enhance the heiau. These include a hale maiu, or viewing platform, where the community members can sit and study the heiau platforms, or merely sit and enjoy the solitude the area provides. A hale wa’a (canoe shed) will also be constructed on the site in the southeastern corner of the heiau.
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