In the spring of 1819 King Ka-me-ha-me-ha I died after reigning for a peaceful decade over the first unified Kingdom of Hawai'i.  His young son, Li-ho-li-ho, became Ka-me-ha-me-ha II, but effective control of the government was inherited by the old king's favorite wife, Ku-hina Nui [Queen Regent], Ka'a-hu-ma-nu. 

That fall, under the queen's influence and that of Ke-opu-o-lani, his high chiefess mother, Li-ho-li-ho was forced to agree to the abandonment of the native Ha-wa-ii-an religion.

Five months later, amid the ensuing confusion, the first contingent of Calvinist missionaries arrived . It was a death sentence to the 1600 year old Ka-na-ka Ma-oli culture; the culmination of an attack which had begun shortly after Capt. James Cook's discovery of the Islands 42 years earlier.

It is said that Chief Ka-we-lo stood at the top of mount Ko-na-hu-a-nui on O-a-hu and flung his spear arcing over the me-hu-ne taro fields in upper Ma-no-a Valley.  It landed upright atop an old lava flow; but in flight it had miraculously transformed into an 'o'o--a farmer's digging stick.

Today, on that spot stands the last intact he-i-au (temple) in Ma-no-a.  It is called Ku-ka-'o'o.  In the old dictionaries ku-ku means upright and kuka means to council or discuss. Ku-ka-o'o is the ancient Hawaiian god of husbandry, so in toto, the modern name Ku-ka'o'o suggests that agricultural ka-hu-na conferred in this sacred place overlooking one of the largest a-hu-pu-a'a [native plantation] on Oahu. The breadbasket for the ali'i' (royalty) playground at Wa-i-ki-ki.  

As in most valleys, Ma-no-a has several distinct climates, each suited to the growth that prospered there.  Far in the back the rain forest provided wood for canoes, building materials, weapons, clothes and tools.  Closer in, the slopes were green with sweet potato vines. The almost flat valley floor was a patchwork of flooded taro loi with clumps of sugar cane and banana stalks bordering the narrow paths separating them.