“Ancient Hawaiians had many types of heiau, each with their own distinct function and use by particular segments of society. Heiau ranged in size from single upright stones to massive and complex structures.”
“Larger heiau were built by ali’i (chiefs), but the largest and most complex, the luakini heiau (sacrificial temple), could only be constructed and dedicated by an ali‘i ‘ai moku.”
“Luakini heiau were reserved for rituals involving human or animal sacrifice and were generally dedicated to the war god Ku. Rituals performed at a luakini heiau highlighted the ali‘i ‘ai moku’s spiritual, economic, political, and social control over his lands and his authority over the life and death of his people. (NPS)
“According to her genealogical chant, passed down orally from generation to generation of kahuna nui in her family, [Mo‘okini Heiau in Kohala] as built in the year 480 by her ancestor, Kuamo’o Mo’okini.”
“The ancient chant reveals that her people came to Hawaii from the shores of Kapakapauaakane in the Persian Gulf. Wherever the migrating Mo‘okini priests stopped, they built a temple to house their god, then continued on.” (Momi Lum; Pitzer, Kahuna)
Kuamo’o Mo’okini accompanied the high chief Mo‘ikeha, famous for his trip and sojourn to another Polynesian island group in the South Pacific and who returned to Hawai‘i to become the ruling chief of Kauai Island and whose numerous descendants became famous in their own rights. (NPS, National Register)
“’We have two bloodlines in the family, the priestly line and the kingly line,’ she says. ‘The kingly line is secondary to the kahuna line.’”
“‘We belong to the highest order of the priesthood, the order of Ku. We have to be masters of everything.’” (Momi Lum; Pitzer, Kahuna)
“Mo‘okini Luakini, located near the northernmost tip of the Big Island, is the largest ancient temple of its type in Hawaii – a war heiau, dedicated to the god Ku. Here the kings and ruling chiefs fasted, prayed and offered human sacrifices.” (Pitzer, Kahuna)
“The well-preserved walls and interior paving and platforms, built without mortar, testify to skills of ancient Hawaiian stonemasons and their ability to assemble unworked basalt rocks into massive and complex structures.”
“Hawaiian oral literature and Western historical accounts indicate Mo‘okini was the principal temple for centuries in the Big Island district of Kohala; associated with ruling chiefs and their high priests; and was of the class of temples called luakini, the highest class, and which required regular human sacrifices.” (NPS, National Register)
“This masonry structure is an irregular parallelogram in plan, about 267 feet (8l meters) on the west side; 250 feet (76 m) on the east side; 135 feet (41 m) on the north side; and 112 feet (34 m) on the south.”
“This ancient Hawaiian temple features an open paved stone court that is enclosed on four sides “by stone walls, which in 1977 vary in height from about seven feet (2 meters) to l4 feet (4 m). The original walls may have been as high as 20 feet (6 meters).”
“The walls are of basalt boulders; stacked and without mortar; with bases as thick as ten feet (almost 3 meters). The enclosing walls have tapered sides, both exterior and interior.”
“Hawaiian oral tradition says that the boulders were passed hand to hand from Niuli‘i, about 10 miles (l6 kilometers) distant for the construction, possibly involving as many as 15,000 men standing in line.”
“The ground-level entrance, wide enough to pass one person at a time, is in the middle of the west wall. Inside and across the northerly end is a raised stone platform, three or four stones high, which once held images, fires, the altar and perhaps wooden towers.”
“Detached stone platforms, one or two stones high, are scattered within the courtyard and once held thatched temple buildings.” (NPS, National Register)
“It was typical of ancient Hawaiian settlement patterns for a ruling chief’s housing complex to be near and associated with a Luakini class heiau. This is one of the few cases in Hawai’i when the exact locations of the temple and its associated housing complex are known.”
“Over the centuries, Kapakai as a royal housing complex served as the residence of ruling chiefs and their associates when ceremonies were conducted in Mo‘okini Heiau. Nothing would have been permitted to intrude visually between these two associated areas of sacred land.”
“Temple ceremonies lasted several nights and days. During this time, ruling chiefs and high priests would leave the temple for short periods to return to their housing complexes, still under some restrictions as to their behavior.” (NPS, National Register)
“Alapa‘i probably conducted pre-war ceremonies in Mo‘okini before his invasion of Maui ca. 1753. It was during this ceremonial period that Kamehameha was born in the Kapakai housing complex. Later, Kamehameha, and still later his son Liholiho, probably stayed at Kapakai while they led rituals in Mo‘okini.:
“Mo‘okini temple was last active as a war temple for Kamehameha the Great in the last two decades of the 18th century. It is said to have housed the Kamehameha family war god, Ku-ka-‘ili-moku, and this feathered god transferred to Pu’ukohola Heiau, Kawaihae, Kohala District, Hawai’i Island, in 1791, when Kamehameha the Great built this new war temple to assure his conquest of all the Hawaiian Islands.”
“Mo‘okini Heiau was one of the luakini and other state temples used regularly by Kamehameha the Great’s son and heir, Liholiho, in the second decade of the 19th century.”
“It was Liholiho, who as Kamehameha II, abolished in 1819 that part of the ancient religion that depended on such temples as Mo‘okini. He ordered the destruction of the temples. The walls and platforms of Mo‘okini were not destroyed.”
“On all islands, platforms of a number of temples as important as Mo‘okini were not disturbed in spite of royal orders. Mo‘okini and the others had acquired a spiritual significance (mana) which protected them against human destruction, a significance which has been retained, in part, through today. (NPS, National Register)
“Throughout the centuries, Mo‘okini descendants have continuously acted as its guardian / priests . Currently, Oliver Lum and his daughter, Mealani are the guardians and before them Oliver’s mother Leimomi Lum, her father Dewey Lum and her uncle Heloke.” (Wizinowich)
“My father Dewey Oliver Mookini was the assistant chief of police, my husband Alexis Theodore Lum was the state adjutant general, and I was the first policewoman in Hawaii.”
“Growing up with the Sacred Hearts sisters in Catholic school helped form me in my faith. Going to church with my parents and receiving the Holy Eucharist every Sunday and on holy days is important to me. Being brought up a Catholic is something no one can take from me.” (Momi Lum, Hawaii Catholic Herald)
“Some question how I can be the kahuna nui of the Mookini heiau and also a Catholic? As a kahuna, I respect what the kahunas believe in. I respect Kuamo‘o Mo‘okini from the year 480 A.D. I respect my uncle’s beliefs in his religion, the Hawaiian religion.”
“If not for my bloodline, I would not be here. However, I was raised by the nuns and love my parents for the way they brought me up. I don’t think I would be as strong as I am today, otherwise.” (Momi Lum, Hawaii Catholic Herald)
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