Archeology and History
Kaho`olawe archeological and historical resources are valuable state, national, and international treasures that provide insight into the island's past. These resources are unique and, currently, extremely fragile and vulnerable. Ancient religious structures include ko`a (shrines), ku `ula (stones used to attract fish), and heiau (temples); petroglyphs; work areas, including agricultural areas and rock quarry sites; settlement areas; and fishing grounds. (KICCR, 58)

Historical resources include shipwrecks, settlements areas, and infrastructure mostly associated with the penal colony, ranching and military eras. Currently, more than 540 archeological and historical sites and more than 2300 features have been identified on the island. (KICCR, 59)

An Island Named Kanaloa
Kaho`olawe is only one of the traditional names that this island has carried. Literally translated, "Kaho`olawe" means "to be caused to be carried away" or "to be brought together." Some believe that this is a reference to ocean currents between Maui, Lani`i, and Hawai`i that converge at the island and bring a great assortment of drift materials to its shores. Prior to western contact, Kaho`olawe had other names that indicate its significance as a wahi pana and pu `uhonua. The name that sets the island apart from others in Hawai`i and indeed, the Pacific, is Kanaloa, the name of one of the four principal gods honored throughout Polynesia. Kanaloa is associated with all things of the sea, but also has affinities with the land and the heavens. At least three of the chants that record the origin of the Hawaiian Islands and their people reveal the name of Kanaloa for the island of Kaho`olawe. (KICCR, 17)

The earliest accounts of Kaho`olawe have been passed from generation to generation through chants and storytelling. Chants attributed to kahuna of Kamehameha I indicate that Papa gave birth to Kaho`olawe in association with the creation of the other major Hawaiian islands. The 19th century Hawaiian historian, David Malo, subscribed to this account; however, the Swedish adventurer and collector of Polynesian lore, Abraham Fornander, recorded a different version of Kaho`olaweÕs creation. Fornander wrote that all of the Hawaiian islands, except Kaho`olawe came from the relationship between Wakea--the mythical ancestor of all Native Hawaiians--and Papa and that Kaho`olawe came from the Hawaiians--and Papa that Kaho`olawe came from the Hawaiian goddess Hina, famous for her affiliations with another Hawaiian island, Moloka`i. (KICCR, 17-18)

Pele, Hawai`i's fire goddess, also played a predominant role in Kaho`olawe's legends. The 19th century Hawaiian historian, Kepelino, recounts how Pele brought fourth the sea around Hawai`i from Kaho`olawe. It had been given to her by her parents, and she brought it to Hawai`i, to Kaho`olawe, where she emptied it onto the land and created the oceans around the islands. (KICCR, 18)

According to Hawaiian legends, as each of the Hawaiian islands was discovered and settled by humans, the spirits fled to other uninhabited islands. After its creation, Kaho`olawe was a place where only gods, goddesses, and spirits. It became the last bastion for dwellers of the spirit world. Traditional literature abounds with other references to Kaho`olawe in relation to the exploits of many of Hawai`i's other gods, goddesses, and spirits. (KICCR, 18)

Legends and Traditions.
Like its sister islands, Kaho`olawe's unique legends and traditions offer important insights into Hawaiian culture and the role the island played within that culture. Noted historian and archeologist Dorothy Barrere has identified four distinct historical periods that form a framework for research in Native Hawaiian myths and legends. These four periods include: Cosmogonic Period, or creation myths and legends; Heroic Period, or myths and legends dealing with the heroic feats of Hawaiian gods and demigods; Settlement Period, or those myths and legends telling of the migrations of Polynesians to Hawai`i Nei and their settlement of the Hawaiian Islands; and the Dynastic Period, an era that continues to the present day through ali`i families and their forbears. Kaho`olawe is aptly represented in all four of these historical sequences, which neatly tie contemporary history to creation of the island. (KICCR, 55)

KICCR: Kaho`olawe: Restoring a Cultural Treasure. Final Report of the Kaho`olawe Island Conveyance Commission to the Congress of the United States. March 31,1993.