Saturday, July 11, 2026
5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Moʻokini Heiau, Hawaiʻi
Aloha mai kākou! On July 11, 2026, from 5:30pm to 9:30pm ʻOhana Kilo Hōkū (OKH) is hosting an 'Ohana Stargazing event at Moʻokini Heiau by invitation of Kahuna Nui Leimomi Lum. If you are interested in attending the event, please fill out this form. For more information about Moʻokini and the event activities, please continue reading. A full agenda for the event can be found at the bottom of the event description.
Message from Kahuna Nui Leimomi Lum: Hawaiʻi's Message to the World
Hawaiʻi has been blessed with more than a near-perfect climate and exquisite landscape. It also shares the beauty of a culture centuries in the making and a spiritual legacy that comes to us generation by generation.
At Moʻokini Luakini Heiau this spiritual legacy has been preserved, to be shared with generations yet to come, with an inspired message of aloha, respect, and cultural continuity.
Moʻokini Luakini Heiau is not a museum. It is a living, functioning temple, a reminder of the wisdom we've inherited and of values that are timeless. Once a place of human sacrifice, it has been rededicated to the children of the world as a place of peace, understanding, and renewal. This is what I hope you experience when you visit this very sacred place, where silence speaks louder than words.
As steward of this temple and its traditions, and as its Kahuna Nui, its high priest, I welcome you, hoping you will be touched by the spirit of the past and its message of hope and enlightenment for the future.
-Leimomi O Kamahae Kuamoʻo O Moʻokini Lum
Activities: The primary activities of the event will be happening on the temple grounds within the wall surrounding the temple, but not within the heiau itself. There will be moʻolelo, star stories, and telescopes for celestial viewing. Opening protocol with Hālau Kawehileimamoikawēkiu'oKōhala will begin at 5:30pm followed by tours of the heiau, talk story with cultural practitioners and experts and hands-on activities hosted by various community organizations including the Maunakea Observatories. Sunset is at 7pm. Stargazing and telescope viewing will begin soon after.
Moʻokini Etiquette: It is customary to place an offering of a closed lei on the altar, as your gift. As a sacred site, respect should be paid by proper behavior. Visitors must stay off of the rocks and not move or remove anything from the temple. Take all litter with you, including something somebody else might have left behind. When inside the heiau, please remain respectfully quiet and listen....to the silence...to the wind...to the muffled sound of waves upon the shoreline and to the pōhaku, the lava rock of the heiau.
Logistic Details: Please feel free to bring your ʻohana, food, and a blanket. During the day there is no shade. You may bring shade that does not need to be planted in the ground. Please also bring a red flashlight or headlamp as it will be dark and we want to protect everyone's night vision with red lights. There is no cell or internet reception in the area. Please arrive down the Old Coast Guard Road between mile marker 18 and 19 on Akoni Pule Highway. There will be signage to guide you to the parking area immediately southwest of the heiau site. The road to get to the heiau is very rough so please be careful! This dirt road is usually closed to the public, but will be open for this event so folks may drive right up to the surrounding heiau walls.
Agenda 05:30pm - 09:30pm
05:30pm - Opening protocol with Hālau Kawehileimamoikawēkiu'oKōhala
06:00pm - Guided heiau tours and ʻohana activities on the lawn
07:00pm - Sunset
07:30pm - Moʻolelo / storytelling with Cultural Practitioners
08:00pm - Telescope viewing (ongoing until 9:30pm) and guided star tour
08:30pm - Moʻolelo / storytelling with Cultural Practitioners
09:00pm - Guided star tour
09:30pm - Pau
Saturday, March 22, 2025
7 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Poliʻahu Heiau, Kauaʻi
Join ʻOhana Kilo Hōkū and our partners, the Kauaʻi Educational Association for Science & Astronomy (KEASA), the Institute for Astronomy, and Gemini Observatory for an evening of fun under the stars.
Kumu Leileihua Yuen and Aunty Sabra Kauka will share moʻolelo (stories) while telescope enthusiasts from KEASA and the Institute for Astronomy will have various telescopes available to view astronomical bodies.
If you would like to help support programs like ʻOhana Stargazing, please consider donating by clicking here.
Saturday, October 12 2024
6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
SALT at Our Kakaʻako
Saturday, December 16 2023
3 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Pōkaʻī Bay Beach Park
Join ʻOhana Kilo Hōkū, our hosts Nā Keiki o Ka Mōʻī Canoe Club and the Royal Order of Waiʻanae, as well as our partners, the Institute for Astronomy, Gemini Observatory, and the Maunakea Observatories for an afternoon and evening of fun under our closest star, the Sun, and under the stars as the sun sets.
The Royal Order will start the event with Makahiki Protocol and forming an ahu to Lono who presides over the Makahiki Season. We will then start the Makahiki games, crafts, science demos, and solar viewing until sunset. After sunset, we will have moʻolelo under the stars and star viewing through telescopes at the heiau.
Feel free to bring hats, sunscreen, tents for shade (Waiʻanae is usually very sunny), and an offering to Lono of a lei or hoʻokupu.
If you would like to help support programs like ʻOhana Stargazing, please consider donating by clicking here.
We are excited to announce our participating community organizations:
the Royal Order of Waiʻanae
Astrophotographers: Davin Carvalho and Travis Shak
Polynesian Voyaging Society
Saturday, July 22, 2023
5 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Mo‘okini Heiau
745F+55 Waimea, Hawai‘i
Link to google map pin for Mo‘okini Heiau can be found on registration form or you can click below:
If the button does not work please try this:
https://www.google.com/maps/place//@20.2569551,-155.877484,345m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1?entry=ttu
Kahuna Nui Leimomi Lum has invited us to enjoy an evening of ‘ohana fun at Mo‘okini Heiau, the temple to the children of the world. Join us to visit the heiau, hear ancestral stories, connect with celestial enthusiasts, ask astronomers your burning hōkū questions, explore with telescopes, marvel at space’s beauty, and chart our wayfinders’ celestial guideposts.
Activities: The primary activities of the event will be happening on the temple grounds within the wall surrounding the temple, but not within the heiau itself. There will be moʻolelo, star stories, and telescopes for celestial viewing. A schedule of events will be forthcoming. There will be opportunities to tour inside the heiau and learn more about its history.
Moʻokini Etiquette: It is customary to place an offering of a closed lei on the altar, as your gift. As a sacred site, respect should be paid by proper behavior. Visitors must stay off of the rocks and not move or remove anything from the temple. Take all litter with you, including something somebody else might have left behind. When inside the heiau, please remain respectfully quiet and listen....to the silence...to the wind...to the muffled sound of waves upon the shoreline and to the pōhaku, the lava rock of the heiau.
Logistic Details: Please feel free to bring your ʻohana, food, and a blanket. During the day there is no shade. We will have some tents, but feel free to bring shade that does not need to be planted in the ground. Please also bring a red flashlight or headlamp as it will be dark and we want to protect everyone's night vision with red lights. There is no cell or internet reception in the area. Please arrive down the Old Coast Guard Road between mile marker 18 and 19 on Akoni Pule Highway. There will be signage to guide you to the parking area immediately southwest of the heiau site. The road to get to the heiau is very rough so please be careful!
