My family set off on this day to see the Birthing Stones of Kukaniloko and the goal was to appreciate the ancient historical site. Parking is limited, but the hike is only 5 minutes. After walking on the dirt road, you enter the entrance of Kukaniloko. The entrance is marked by 36 stones, 18 on the left, 18 on the right. These stones were put here by DLNR and represent all the chiefs who would witness the birth. However, there were more than 36 chiefs on Oahu, so not sure where they got the number.
This place is so sacred that only royalty was able to set foot on this ground in Ancient Oahu. The stones are located in the Wahiawa area at the intersection of Whitmore Ave. and Kamehameha Hwy.
After the entrance are all these stones. Some have indentions in them. Legend says that women didn’t give birth on the stones, rather they squatted and people who helped her were the ones who based their feet on the stones as she needed to get her balance while giving birth.
After the birth, the mother would go to a nearby Heiau where a ceremony would take place. After we took a tour around the birthing stones, we left. At the same time, many tourist came to check out the birth stones. The post hike meal was at Molly’s Smokehouse. The poor server had to do everything. The food was good, but the collard greens were sour and bitter.