Kà «kaniloko Birth Site, also known as the Kà «kaniloko Birthstones State Monument, is one of the most important ancient cultural sites on the island of Oûahu. In 1973, it was first listed on the National Register of Historic Places and its boundaries were increased in 1995, after of land which included the site became a state park in 1992. The site was the location for some of Hawaiûi's royal births, and may have served an astronomical function.
Kà «kaniloko lies in the WahiawàPlateau between Oûahu's two mountain ranges: the Waiûanae to leeward, and the Koûolau to windward. It also lies at the intersection of two major paths of foot travel: the Waialua Trail between the North Shore and ûEwa Beach, and the Kolekole Trail through the Waiûanae Range.
The site is not only the place from which the history and power of the island was birthed, known as a piko, but its placement across from the Waiûanae Range may have been used as a calendar. The sun has used by observing its position at Kà «kaniloko using certain markers.
The present day location is near the intersection of Kamehameha Highway and Whitmore Avenue, just north of WahiawÃÂ, Hawaiûi.
Kà «kaniloko, meaning "to anchor the cry from within," is the geographic piko of Oûahu. Kà «kaniloko was symbolically the most powerful birth site for the island's high chiefs, among whom Kakuhihewa and Maûilikà «kahi were perhaps most famous. At this site, women gave birth to aliûi children, surrounded by ali'i witnesses. At the Kà «kaniloko birthstone, children born were required to learn the traditions and leaderships of their ancestors in the sites and surroundings.
The Hoûolonopahu Heiau associated with the site was later destroyed, as were many others in the area, to make room for sugarcane and pineapple fields in the rich soils where sweet potato and yam once grew in abundance. Chiefly families lived along the slopes of the Waiûanae overlooking the plateau and along the shores of Waialua to the north, and many key battles between rivals for control of Oûahu were also fought on the central plains surrounding Kà «kaniloko.
In 1925, a group called the Daughters of Hawaii recognized and protected the Kà «kaniloko Birthstones site. In 1960, Kà «kaniloko was passed to Hawaiian Civic Club of WahiawÃÂ.
In August 2023, the site was threatened by a nearby wildfire.
From as early as 1100 until the mid-1600s, fathers and 35 other chiefs would witness the birth of a chief at Kà «kaniloko, which was announced by the playing of sacred drums. These 36 witnesses are symbolized by 36 stones in the complex. The newborn chief would then be taken to a nearby temple for purification, severing of the umbilical cord, and a reading of the newborn's genealogy.
The wide view of the skies from Kà «kaniloko might also have made it akin to a Hawaiian Stonehenge. In April 2000, a team from the University of Hawaiûi Institute for Astronomy recorded designs and shapes on the stones that could have been used to track the movements of celestial objects for calendrical purposes.