This ki’i (carved wooden image) is in display at the visitors center of Pu’uhonua o Honaunau, the Place of Refuge. If a Hawaiian broke the kapu (law) the only way to avoid the penalty of death was to evade the guards and reach the nearest pu’uhonua, which was a sanctuary.

Pu’uhonua o Honaunau National Historical Park on the island of Hawai’i, also known as the Place of Refuge, preserves one such sanctuary.