(Loʻaloʻa)
| Feature: | Heiau |
| Comments: | Massive heiau on the western cliff above Manawainui Valley. Radiocarbon dating by archaeologist Michael Kolb suggests the heiau dates to the 1500s. Historian Samuel Kamakau linked Loaloa to chiefs Kekaulike and Kamehameha I in "Ka Moolelo o Kamehameha I", published in the Ka Nupepa Kuokoa in the 1860s. Oct. 20, 1866: "E noho ana oia ma Kaupo, e kukulu ana i mau luakini no kona mau akua. O Kanemalohemo ma Popoiwi, o Loaloa, me Puumakaa." (He [Maui chief Kekaulike] was living at Kaupo, building temples to his gods: Kanemalohemo at Popoiwi, Loaloa, and Puumakaa.) July 20, 1867: "Hoala ae la o Kamehameha i mau hale no ke akua—O Maulili ma Kipahulu, o Kanemalohema a me Puumaka a me Loaloa ma Kaupo." (Kamehameha reconsecrated temples—Maulili at Kipahulu, and Kanemalohema, Puumaka and Loaloa at Kaupo.) Footprints in lava (likely carved) in Kahikinui are ascribed in legends to menehune carrying rocks to build Loaloa, 13 miles away. Described by archaeologist Winslow Walker following a survey of Kaupo in 1929: "This is the great heiau of the district, long regarded as the larges heiau on Maui. But this honor must be awarded to Piilanihale near Hana. Loa-loa, however, is the longest, measuring 510 feet from east to west. It is 100 feet wide." |
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| Further reading: | Loaloa Heiau (Ulukau.org) |