A Windswept Heiau of Worship and Sacrifice

On the northern tip of Hawai’i island in Kohala country lies Moʻokini Heiau, where tens of thousands of Hawai’ans were sacrificed to the war god Ku. It was quiet and windy after the morning rains. There’s a road that leads to an airport which quickly turns un-navigable for a standard vehicle.

After a long walk along the cliffs, we arrived. Moʻokini Heiau, past the bramble, consists of 20 foot walls composed of stones carried from Pololu valley miles away. We had just missed some kind of ceremony and found dozens of flowers and leis inside the heiau.

We didn’t spend much time here, but the walk was pleasant and the locale oddly memorable.