HAWAII: City of Refuge

One of our trips was to the City of Refuge ... a native town which was divided into the Alii side and the sanctuary side ... by a 10' thick wall. People who had been sentenced to death for breaking kapu (law) fled to this section to seek refuge, often by swimming across the entire bay. Other men, women and children, those weak and ill, those defeated in battle, or those who were non-combatants in battle but on the losing side also came. Once the petitioner arrived, the kahuna pule (priest) would be obligated to offer them sanctuary and absolution, under pain of his own death should he refuse to do so. Often the petitioner would be freed within hours to resume a normal life. These people had been given a second chance for life itself. This was not a place teeming with hardened criminals. This was a sacred place on which life began anew for the ancient Hawaiians.

These are two replica huts .. the smaller is a living hut and the larger is where they built their boats, etc. With tropical weather, there's really no need for four walls.




Outside the church compound ... the shelf was where food and supplies were left by the villagers for the priests and those in sanctuary.






The indentations in this lava rock on the beach is where they prepared some of the foods. They hammered them out and built fires in the holes.





A lot of the trees in Hawaii have multiple root systems because of the lava or sandy nature of the islands. This tree in the village is a good example. Because roots can't go very deep, they multiply for stability.




This is one of the many local turtles resting in one of the village bays. I wonder if they ate turtle in the olden days?






There are two ponds within the compound .. one was to keep fish for the Alii (royalty) ... in the other pond we found these fish .. each guarding its own nest. Each circle has a fish sentry. It was fascinating watching them chase off intruders.