Mo'okini Heiau at Pu'uepa, North Kohala District, on the Big Island of Hawai'i, the birthplace of Kamehameha I, built in A.D. 460, represents a classic example of the walled type. A large stone called Pohakuhanauali'i, the afterbirth of Kamehamhema is located near this heiau.

Human sacrifice was routinely practiced here, taking the mana (spiritual strength) from the victim to insure victory in war. The captives, usually chiefs captured in battle, would be hung upside down on wooden racks, where the their sweat would be collected to anoint the Kahuna (priests). Next the victims would have their bones and flesh pounded to soften the meat. The victims would then be disembowled and either cooked or eaten raw by the Kahuna and the Ali'i (Chiefs) seeking the mana from the captives. According to legend, at Mo'okini, the last human sacrifices were made in the late 1870's.

Upon the completion of the Heiau, Kamehameha invited his rival, Chief Keoua, from the south end of the island at Ka'u, to "celebrate" the new temple to their mutual guardian God of War, Ku. Keoua traveled by canoe from Ka'u to Kona where he bade farewell to his Ohana (family) there. He had a sense of pending doom. Keoua then paddled with some of his men to Kawaihae. As he stepped ashore, he was run through with a spear. Keoua's body was taken up to the great Heiau, sacrificed and eaten by Kamehameha and his chiefs.

British explorer Vancouver lost three of his seamen to the human sacrificial at Puu-o-Mahuka Heiau in about 1795.

The noted Hawaiian Historian, S.M. Kamakau at Ka Moolelo o Na Kemehameha, Kuokoa, Nov. 16, 1867 stated: "The lands to the Kahunas (priests) were Waimea, Pupukea, Waiahole and Hakipu'u. These lands belong to the priests from ancient times down to that of Kahahana. In the time of Kahekili and Kalanikupule, these were given to their Kahunas and so also in the reign of Kamehameha I  Pupukea belonged to the priests of Kua'ali'i (Kuali'i)". (see Sterling, 1978, Sites of O'ahu)

Very limited archeological study has been done on this Heiau. It was dedicated to the war God Ku. The site is aligned with the winter solstice and was used in conjunction with Ku temple worship on the Island of Kaua'i, 75 miles to the north west. The entire structure encloses an area of more than 120,000 square feet of rock paved flooring. Native Hawaiian practitioners continue to use this temple for religious purposes today.

Hale-o-lono was not designed for human sacrifice on a regular basis, however, at the beginning of the Makahiki, human offerings were made where a fish and a human were offered, the Kahuna plucking out the eyeball of both victims; then eating the eyeball's raw, would begin the celebrations and ensure good harvest and fishing in the coming year.

Kamakapele confirms story re George Moa. Ku and Hina were visible in McAllister's time, but since then the Navy dredging activities have changed conformation of area and Ku and Hina are no longer visible, being in deep water. (According to Kamakapele they still "live" because this is so. ) Barrere, D. March 1, 1952

BASIC TERMS

As first described by Cooke: "seeing a man with a small parcel fastened with a string to his fish-hook, Cooke asked what it was and was told it was human flesh.....Cooke was asked by a native if the white men ate the people they killed...and was told that if the sailors were killed on shore, they would be eaten....in offering human sacrifice it was the custom for the officiating priest to pluck out the left eye of the victim and make pretense of eating it....evidently the relic of some old cannibalistic rite...."

In 1779, when Cooke was killed, his heart was eaten by three children who happened to be on the beach at the time. By 1843, in his "History of the Sandwich Islands" the Rev. S. Dibble writes: "the practice was not common, and it is due to the Hawaiians to say that those few instances that did exist were looked upon by most of the people with horror and detestation". Dibble saw life through the white man's eyes and did not take the time to understand the meaning of the act.