Religion was the paramount aspect of Hawaiian life, permeating every daily activity, every aspect of secular affairs, and every significant event, such as birth, marriage, death, house construction, fishing, agriculture, and war. Ancient Hawaiians worshipped a vast number of deities, of which there were two main categories. Akua represented nature's elements—they were the personifications of great natural forces. The 'aumakua were the familiar ancestral protective gods.
Over time and contact with European and Asian immigrants, religion as part of Hawaiian life and culture continued to evolve with each generation.
A note to travelers: If you visit Hawai'i and choose to visit a site of religious or spiritual importance, please approach the site or those worshiping there with respect and reverence. Always remember—take only memories, leave only footprints.
Showing results 1-9 of 9
- Fort Vancouver National Historic Site
William Kaulehelehe and Mary Kaai
- Type: Article
- Locations: Fort Vancouver National Historic Site
Explore the stories of William Kaulehelehe and Mary Kaai, a Hawaiian couple hired by the HBC to provide religious instruction and education to Fort Vancouver's Hawaiian employees.
- Type: Place
Kaunolu Village Site is located on the Island of Lanai. This ancient fishing community, occupied since at least the 1400s, consisted of a wide variety of religious structures, residences of priests, and isolated petroglyphs.
- Type: Article
- Locations: Fort Vancouver National Historic Site
- Offices: Archeology Program
The Village is a locus for exploring colonial identity and change associated with the globalized fur trade. The material culture tells us about human use of space, investment in their houses, and ceramic usage. Through archeology, we understand more about the spatial arrangement, landscape use, and development of the Village over time, the residents’ investment in and maintenance of their homes, and the relationship of ceramics to ethnicity and economic status.
- Kalaupapa National Historical Park
Heiau
- Type: Place
- Locations: Kalaupapa National Historical Park
The heiau and ahupuaʻa remind us of the peninsula's rich past. Archeological evidence shows that Hawaiians lived here 1,000 years ago, 900 years before the first patients arrived.
- Type: Place
Pi'ilanihale Heiau (also known as Hale O Pi' Ilani Heiau) is located in Kahanu Garden, a National Tropical Botanical Park near the town of Hana on the Island of Maui. The heiau (place of worship) is the largest one on the Island of Maui and is one of the most important archeological sites in the Hawaiian Islands.
- Type: Place
Loaloa Heiau is located in Kaupo, Hawaii, on the Island of Maui. The heiau (place of worship) overlooks the rural community of Kaupo and the Pacific Ocean to the south and the Manawainui Valley to the north. It is the largest and best preserved luakini heiau on the island.
- Type: Place
Hokukano-Ualapue Complex, located in the District of Kona on the Island of Molokai, is one of the most important archeological and architectural areas in the Hawaiian Islands.
- Type: Place
Kamakahonu, the residence of Kamehameha I, is located at the north end of Kailua Bay in Kailua-Kona on the Island of Hawai'i.
- Type: Place
The South Point Complex, is located at the southern tip of the Island of Hawai'i on Ka Lae (the point), 16 miles south of the town of Naalehu. It is the southernmost point in both the Hawaiian Islands and the United States and is made up of a group of sites which are among the oldest in the Islands.
Last updated: August 19, 2019