Kānaka Maoli: the Hawaiian kingdom and its places

The journey in one line

8 places on this journey in United States so far. The first rung is 4 of them, and the list keeps growing.

Kānaka Maoli, Native Hawaiians, are the Indigenous people of these islands. Hawaiʻi was a recognised kingdom with treaties, embassies and near universal literacy, and it was overthrown in 1893 by American businessmen backed by United States marines. This journey goes to the places where that history is held: the palace where Queen Liliʻuokalani was imprisoned in her own house, the puʻuhonua where a person who broke kapu could be absolved, the heiau Kamehameha built to unite the islands, and a valley run by a Native Hawaiian trust. The luau at the resort is not on this list.

In 1993 the United States Congress passed a joint resolution apologising for the overthrow and acknowledging that the Hawaiian people never directly relinquished their claims to sovereignty. That is not a settled question, and you will see the kingdom flag flying upside down or on its own at several of these places. Hawaiian language was banned as a medium of instruction from 1896 and came close to dying. It is now taught from preschool up, and the diacritics matter: the ʻokina and the kahakō change the meaning of a word. Using them is the least a visitor can do.

Four of these are on Hawaiʻi Island, two in Honolulu on Oʻahu and one on the north shore. ʻIolani Palace runs guided and self led tours and sells out. The national park sites open early and are quiet in the morning. Sites on the Kona coast are hot and exposed with little shade. Bring water and sun cover. Some heiau sit on lava with sharp footing.

Where it goes

The places on this journey

What a visit means here. A visit means the public grounds, museum or park visitor area. It is not a claim to any ancestry or to any position on Hawaiian sovereignty.

1. 1

   ʻIolani Palace

   Hale Aliʻi ʻIolani

   Honolulu, Oʻahu, United States

   

   The only royal palace on American soil, built for King Kalākaua in 1882 with electric light and telephones before the White House had either. After the overthrow, Queen Liliʻuokalani was tried and held under guard in an upstairs room for eight months. The Friends of ʻIolani Palace, a Native Hawaiian led nonprofit, restored and run it.

   What counts as a visit

   The palace interior tour and the grounds in downtown Honolulu.

   Access

   Guided and audio tours are ticketed and often sell out. Closed some days each week. Checked 2026-09-16.

   A place of reflection

   Check access · last checked September 16, 2026

2. 2

   Puʻuhonua o Hōnaunau National Historical Park

   Puʻuhonua o Hōnaunau

   Hōnaunau, Hawaiʻi Island, United States

   

   A puʻuhonua was a place of refuge. A person who broke a kapu faced death, unless they reached this ground, where a priest could absolve them and send them home. The Great Wall, built around 1550, is over three metres high and still standing, and the kiʻi carved figures guard the shore. Cultural practitioners work on site.

   What counts as a visit

   The park grounds, the Great Wall and the royal grounds at Hōnaunau Bay.

   Access

   Park entrance fee. Stay off the walls and platforms and away from any offerings. Checked 2026-09-16.

   A place of reflection

   Check access · last checked September 16, 2026

3. 3

   Bishop Museum

   Honolulu, Oʻahu, United States

   

   Founded in 1889 by Charles Reed Bishop in memory of his wife Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop, the last direct descendant of Kamehameha I, and built around her family's heirlooms. It holds the largest collection of Hawaiian and Pacific material anywhere. It is a private museum rather than a Native Hawaiian institution, and it works with Hawaiian practitioners on how the collection is cared for.

   What counts as a visit

   The Hawaiian Hall, Pacific Hall and the museum grounds.

   Access

   Open most days with paid admission. Checked 2026-09-16.

   Check access · last checked September 16, 2026

4. 4

   Puʻukoholā Heiau National Historic Site

   Puʻukoholā

   Kawaihae, Hawaiʻi Island, United States

   

   Kamehameha I built this heiau around 1790 after a prophecy that it would let him unite the islands. Stones were passed hand to hand in a human chain from Pololū Valley, about twenty five miles away. Within four years he controlled Hawaiʻi Island, and by 1810 the whole chain. Hawaiian cultural groups still hold ceremonies here.

   What counts as a visit

   The park trail and the viewpoints over the heiau. The heiau platform itself is not entered.

   Access

   Free entry. The heiau is closed to entry and viewed from the trail. Hot and exposed, with little shade. Checked 2026-09-16.

   A place of reflection

   Check access · last checked September 16, 2026

5. 5

   Kaloko-Honokōhau National Historical Park

   Kaloko-Honokōhau

   Kailua-Kona, Hawaiʻi Island, United States

   

   A whole Hawaiian settlement rather than a single monument: fishponds with hand built seawalls, house platforms, a holua sledding track and fresh water pools in the lava. The Kaloko fishpond wall is being rebuilt using traditional dry stack methods by Hawaiian practitioners working with the park.

   What counts as a visit

   The park trails, the fishponds and the Hale Hoʻokipa visitor contact station.

   Access

   Free entry. Trails cross open lava with no shade, and the honuʻea and honu resting on the beach must not be approached. Checked 2026-09-16.

   A place of reflection

   Check access · last checked September 16, 2026

6. 6

   Huliheʻe Palace

   Huliheʻe

   Kailua-Kona, Hawaiʻi Island, United States

   

   Built in 1838 by Governor John Adams Kuakini and used as a holiday home by Hawaiian royalty, especially King Kalākaua. It is run by the Daughters of Hawaiʻi, an organisation founded in 1903 by women who were born in the kingdom, to keep Hawaiian places and language from being erased.

   What counts as a visit

   The palace rooms and lanai on Aliʻi Drive.

   Access

   Open a few days a week with paid admission. Closures follow repairs and storm damage. Checked 2026-09-16.

   Check access · last checked September 16, 2026

7. 7

   Hānaiakamālama, Queen Emma Summer Palace

   Hānaiakamālama

   Honolulu, Oʻahu, United States

   

   The mountain retreat of Queen Emma, King Kamehameha IV and their son Prince Albert, in the cooler Nuʻuanu Valley. Emma founded the hospital that became The Queen's Medical Center after losing her son at four years old. The house holds her furniture, feather work and the cradle made for the prince, and is kept by the Daughters of Hawaiʻi.

   What counts as a visit

   The house museum and grounds in Nuʻuanu.

   Access

   Open most days with paid admission and docent tours. Checked 2026-09-16.

   Check access · last checked September 16, 2026

8. 8

   Waimea Valley

   Waimea

   Haleʻiwa, Oʻahu, United States

   

   A wahi pana, a storied place, given to the kahuna nui of Oʻahu in 1090 and lived in continuously until the nineteenth century. The valley is now run by Hiʻipaka LLC, a nonprofit created by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, so the money stays in Native Hawaiian hands. Hale o Lono heiau sits near the entrance and the botanical collection holds rare native plants.

   What counts as a visit

   The valley trail, the cultural sites and the botanical gardens.

   Access

   Open daily with paid admission. Swimming at the waterfall depends on water quality and weather. Checked 2026-09-16.

   Check access · last checked September 16, 2026

Respect and access

Do not climb on or enter heiau platforms, walls or ahu. They are religious structures, and offerings left at them are not souvenirs. At Puʻuhonua o Hōnaunau stay on the marked paths. Do not take rocks or sand. Ask before photographing cultural practitioners at work. If a place is closed for a ceremony, that decision is not yours to weigh against your itinerary.

A place of reflection

This is a memorial or a site of atrocity. Visitors are asked to be quiet, to follow the custodian's guidance on photography, and to treat it as somewhere people grieve.

Opening times, prices, permits and eligibility change. Nothing on this page is a statement about today. Follow the Check access link on a place before you plan around it.

Sources

• iolanipalace.orghttps://www.iolanipalace.org/ · checked September 16, 2026
• bishopmuseum.orghttps://www.bishopmuseum.org/ · checked September 16, 2026
• nps.govhttps://www.nps.gov/puho/index.htm · checked September 16, 2026
• nps.govhttps://www.nps.gov/puhe/index.htm · checked September 16, 2026
• nps.govhttps://www.nps.gov/kaho/index.htm · checked September 16, 2026
• daughtersofhawaii.orghttps://daughtersofhawaii.org/hulihee-palace/ · checked September 16, 2026
• daughtersofhawaii.orghttps://daughtersofhawaii.org/queen-emma-summer-palace/ · checked September 16, 2026
• waimeavalley.nethttps://www.waimeavalley.net/ · checked September 16, 2026

TravelDay selected and grouped these places. Naming a custodian, a government agency or UNESCO as a source is not a claim that any of them endorsed this journey.