This site is to share what twelve years researching precontact (before 1778 AD) Hawaiian cultural astronomy associated with Kūkaniloko has taught me. Kūkaniloko is best known as one of two royal birthing sites in Ka Pae ‘Āina, the Hawaiian Archipelago.   More importantly for astronomy, Kūkaniloko is also the piko, the navel and center, of the island of O’ahu.

My name is Martha Noyes.  Iʻm a cultural astronomer, with an MA in Cultural Astronomy.   Graduate school taught me some things, but the most important classroom Iʻve been in is the land, its histories, and its culture.  And Kūkaniloko is the best teacher Iʻve ever had.

Iʻm not done learning, and I hope to keep learning for a long, long time. One of the things Iʻve learned is that the knowledge is not mine. It belongs to Kūkaniloko, the island of O’ahu, and the rest of Ka Pae ‘Āina. And the knowledge was never lost. It was “written” in the multiple names for each star and in the names of the places on the land where each star rises and sets.

There are many people to whom I am grateful for making the work I have done, the work Iʻm doing, and the work I hope to do, possible. First among them are Tom Lenchanko, Jo-Lin Kalimapau, Glen Kila, Alika Poe Silva, Rubellite Kawena Johnson, Will Kyselka, and Moe Keale.