Alekoko, the Menehune Fishpond

The Alekoko, or Menehune, Fishpond is situated near the Huleia National Wildlife Refuge, on Hulemalu Road, about a half-mile inland from Nawiliwili Harbor. The fishpond gets its name from legends that say the large pond was built some 1,000 years ago by hundreds of very small Hawaiian people called Menehune. It is said the pond, which is constructed from a stonewall 900 feet long and five feet high, was completed in one night. They managed this amazing feat by lining up in a double row that extended 25 miles to the village of Makaweli and passing stones hand-to-hand to build the pond. Though Menehune legends abound, some say the word may have derived from the Tahitian word manahune meaning commoner, or small in social standing, not in physical size.

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