Today we visited a sacred Hawaiian site: the Kukaniloko Birthing Stones where past royalty came to give birth to future rulers. When the time came for Royalty births the woman would arrive at what was then a secret spot, and in the presence of 36 male chiefs she would position herself at certain stones to give birth while they watched. Within minutes of birth the child would be taken away and the mother would never see her child again until it was grown. First born sons were raised by the husband's relatives and first born daughters were raised by the mother's relatives. Every boy, first born or not, was taken from the woman's hut when weaned and raised in the men's hut. Never again in his lifetime would the male be allowed to eat with women, not even his mother or his wife.
