Astronomy in Hawai'i

by Rubellite Kawena Johnson

There were two important tasks that drew on ancient Hawaiians’ understanding of space and time. One was constructing a ritual calendar for determining the length of the day, week, month, and year; the other was navigating on the seas between island destinations.

The first, calendrics, was the responsibility of the priests, among whom were stargazers called kilo hoku, from kilo (to observe or to watch), and hoku (star). The same stargazers, however, observed more than stars. They knew the sun's motions and those of the moon and the planets, but the stars were the most challenging….

read … Astronomy in Hawai’i

Related: 

Nā inoa hōkū : A catalogue of Hawaiian and Pacific star names

Kahoʻolawe's Potential Astro-archaeological Resources