Finding the Ku Stone

In Hawaiian mythology, the builder of the first Hawaiian fishpond was Ku‘ula-kai, “Ku of the abundance of the sea,” a member of the Ku family of (land) and the (gods). Shrines at fishponds honored Ku–god of war, fishing and canoe building–and his wife, Hina. Built at the eastern end of the pond, a Ku shrine was often an erect stone symbolizing the rising of the sun, procreation and the protection of the fish in the pond. A Hina shrine–a flat stone symbolizing the setting of the sun, growth and procreation–was placed at the western end of the pond.