The restored walls and platforms of the sanctuary
and the mortuary of ancient chiefs, features of the Pu'uhonua o Honaunau
National Park.
Pu'uhonua were sanctuaries where fugitives could
find safety from those pursuing them. Little is known about the conditions and
terms which governed them, but it's believed that after some penance or
adjudicated reconciliation a fugitive could depart without fear. The best known
is Pu'uhonua o Honaunau, the sanctuary at Honaunau Bay, within the Ahupua'a of
Honaunau, in the South Kona district of Hawai'i Island, now partially restored
and preserved as the Pu'uhonua o Honaunau National Park.