The Healer Stones of Kapaemahu

On Kuhio Beach stand four stones ranging up to head height, fenced and tended, that honor four mahu, healers of dual male-female spirit, who according to Hawaiian tradition came from Tahiti centuries ago and brought the healing arts to Waikiki. Their names were Kapaemahu, Kahaloa, Kinohi, and Kahaimoelea; before leaving, they laid the stones down and transferred their healing power into them, and the people fed and cared for the stones in return.

The stones were moved and buried through the development of Waikiki, rediscovered in the twentieth century, and restored to honor; recent decades brought the story back into public view through the Bishop Museum exhibition and the film and scholarship that reclaimed the mahu identity from decades of euphemism. Offerings and leis are still left, and the site is an active point of Hawaiian respect in the middle of the tourist beach.

Visiting

Kuhio Beach Park, Kalaimoku St frontage, Waikiki; public beach park, open always; approach with respect. See the Bishop Museum for the story.

Photo: [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kapaemahu_(The_Stones_of_Life).jpg), CC BY-SA.