by Karee Carlucci

Lahaina -- Former Capital of the Hawaiian Kingdom

What do a pond guarded by a sacred lizard goddes, Hawaiian Royalty, a baseball field and a parking lot have in common? They are the site, past and present, of one of the most significant archaelogical finds in all of Hawai`i.

The Royal complex at Moku`ula was Lahaina's "Sacred Island" situated in the middle of the 14 acre Mokuhinia Pond. Located across the street from the ocan and 505 Front Street Shopping Center (near the intersection with Shaw Street), Moku`ula was both the sacred place for the seat of government and a sanctuary for the Hawaiian Royal families.

From recent archaelogical excavations, researchers found several well-preserved features, such as wooden dock and stone wall structures, as well as evidence of human habitation which is considered to be among the earliest recorded in the Hawaiian Islands. A very high water table and the existence of an underground fresh water stream that reaches the ocan across the street has led the research team to conclude that the surrounding area, called Loko O Mokuhinia, is a natural pond, well over a thousand years old.

The site has seen, over the centuries, the wars of inter-island unification (from King Kahekili II to the great Kamehameha II), the coming of the Missionaries, and the early days of the Kingdom of Hawai`i, Moku`ula, the island within the fishpond (loko), may have been a residence ofr the royalty of Maui as far back as the late sixteenth century.

The island was connected to Front Street by a causeway which was guarded by snetries. Moku`ula became a symbol for the Hawaiians asw the traditional source of power. The sacred lizard Goddess Mo`o Akua, guarded the pond and was frequently sighted there.

Such sacred beliefs tended to keep most people away from the King's sanctuary at Moku`ula. But Kamehameha III would see shosen visitors and entertain special guests there. The King and his new wife spent much of their time on cool pili grass houses or under hau tree bowers at this moated compound.

By 1845, it was clear that the focus of power, trade and finance was shifting to Honolulu on O`ahu. The Royal Court left Lahaina, but occasionally still visited Moku`ula. By the 1860's, the mausoleum was in good condition, but the Mokuhinia Pond was shrinking and the water was becoming stagnant. The demands of the sugarcane plantations had diverted much of the ater which had formerly fed the ponds.

In 1913, Lahaina businessmen, including the heads of Pioneer Mill and the Pioneer Hotel, initiated a public project which would fill in Mokuhinia Pond with coral rubble dredged from Lahaina Harbor. By Executive Order of the Territory of Hawaii in 1918, the newly-filled pond was turned over to the County fo Maui for use as Malu`ulu`olele Park.

Eighty years later, enter the Friends of Moku`ula, a nonprofit organization comprised of Hawaiian Cultural Specialists and members of the West Maui community. Their goal is to preserve and ultimately restore Moku`ula Island and the Ponds of Mokuhinia, by re-creating the royal compound, including a traditional Hawaiian village, conducive to an authntic interactive experience of the Hawaiian culture.

With your help, this project, which includes launching Phase II of the archaelogical research and a Cultural Mapping Program, will eventually become a reality. We'd like to see Moku`ula, once again, represent the Hawaiian culture.