Kūkahauʻula and Lilinoe

An undated account from the archive collections of the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, translated by Mary Kawena Pukui, provides us with further details regarding Lilinoe, and her husband Kūkahauʻula (Kukahaula). The narrative also records that Kauikeaouli (King Kamehameha III) visited the graves of Lilinoe and Kūkahauʻula (Kukahaula), and tells us that Pōheʻepali, a descendant of the retainers of Kūkahauʻula, hid their bodies following the visit of Kamehameha III,

A Tale of a Royal Couple who Froze on Mauna Kea
Kukahaula was a chief of Waimea, So. Kohala. He took to wife, Lilinoe of Kau and because his people resented her, chief Kukahaula went to dwell on Mauna Kea, above Lake Waiau. They died there and their bodies were wrapped for burial.

When King Kauikeaouli (Kamehameha III) reigned, he went there to visit them and was the last ruler to see these chiefs who had practically turned to stone because they were frozen and so remained. It was believed that they were a good likeness of themselves when they were alive, except that their bodies were so stiff.

After this visit of King Kamehameha III (Kauikeaouli) the bodies of Kukahaula and Lilinoe were hidden by the attendant of Kukahaula, Poheepali, who was the very last of the family of retainers who upheld their chiefs. It is said that these chiefs lived in a cave and it was in this cave that their bodies remained until Poheepali hid them away.

It is said that when these chiefs lived on Mauna Kea, two strangers went up there on a visit. They became thirsty and discovering a woman wrapped in several layers of tapa, they asked where they could get some water to drink. The woman answered, “There is no water now.” The sun was shining brightly at the time and they saw the reflection of water on the womanʻs chest. They said, “There is the water you are hiding, reflected on your chest.” The woman was Lilinoe and the water she was hiding was the water of Poliahu. (Bishop Museum, Hawaiian Ethnological Notes; Legends Vol. II:149)