As the geographic piko (navel) of Oʻahu, Kūkaniloko was symbolically the most powerful birth site for the island's high chiefs, among whom Kakuhihewa and Maʻilikākahi were perhaps most famous. The Hoʻolonopahu Heiau associated with the site was later destroyed, as were many others in the area, to make room for sugarcane and pineapple fields in the rich soils where sweet potato and yam once grew in abundance. Chiefly families lived along the slopes of the Waiʻanaes overlooking the plateau and along the shores of Waialua to the north, and many key battles between rivals for control of Oʻahu were also fought on the central plains surrounding Kūkaniloko.[2]