Kīkīaola

{{Use American English|date=July 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}} {{Infobox NRHP | name = Kīkīaola | nrhp_type = | image = Kauai-Waimea-Menehune-ditch-tunnel.JPG | caption = | location = Menehune Rd., Waimea, Hawaii | coordinates = {{coord|21|58|31|N|159|39|35|W|display=inline,title}} | locmapin = Hawaii | area = | architect = | architecture = | added = November 16, 1984 | refnum = 84000270<ref name=nris>{{NRISref|2008a}}</ref> }}

'''Kīkīaola''' is a historic irrigation ditch (''{{okina}}auwai'') located near Waimea on the island of Kauai in the U.S. state of Hawaii. Also known as "Menehune Ditch" or "Peekauai Ditch," it was added to the National Register of Historic Places on November 16, 1984.<ref name=nris /> It is purported to have been built by the Menehune.<ref>{{cite speech | title = The Menehune | first = Manly W. | last = Mumford | date = 1988-01-11 | location = The Chicago Literary Club, Chicago, IL, USA | url = http://www.chilit.org/MUMFORD4.HTM | access-date = 2008-02-16}}</ref>

thumb|Kīkīaola facing stones|left|upright=1.5 Hawaiians built many stone-lined ''{{okina}}auwai'' to irrigate ponds for growing taro (''kalo''), but very rarely employed dressed stone to line ditches. The 120 finely cut basalt blocks that line about 200 feet of the outer wall of the Menehune Ditch make it not just exceptional, but "the acme of stone-faced ditches" in the words of archaeologist Wendell C. Bennett.<ref name="Kirch">{{cite book |last = Kirch |first = Patrick Vinton |chapter = ''ʻAuwai'' at Waimea (The "Menehune Ditch") |title = Legacy of the Landscape: An Illustrated Guide to Hawaiian Archaeological Sites |publisher=University of Hawaii Press |year=1996 |location = Honolulu |page = 22 |isbn = 0-8248-1739-7 }}</ref>

The site shares its name with a harbor near Waimea.

==References== {{reflist}} {{commonscat}}

Category:Canals on the National Register of Historic Places in Hawaii Category:Buildings and structures in Kauai County, Hawaii Category:Canals in Hawaii Category:National Register of Historic Places in Kauai County, Hawaii