Pu'uhonua o Honaunau National Historical Park

Pu'uhonua o Honaunau National Historical Park is located on the South Kona coast on the island of Hawaii. It contains about 420 acres of federal lands, including the coastal areas of two ahupua'a (land divisions), Honaunau and Keokea and the upland areas of the Ki'ilae ahupua'a. The Hawaiian concept of a sanctuary, Pu'uhonua, offering people a second chance at life is the primary story at this park. In the centuries before 1819, Hawaiian people caught in extraordinary circumstances, such as being on the losing side in war or breaking kapu (sacred law) could escape the death sentence if they could physically get to the pu'uhonua and receive absolution from the kahuna pule (priest). In addition to being the site of the pu'uhonua, the ahupua'a of Honaunau was the original seat of the chiefdom of Kona and the ancestral home of the Kamehameha dynasty.