Bowling Stone

A porous reddish-brown ʻulu maika (bowling stone), with thick sides and an irregular shape.

Maika was a Hawaiian bowling game widely practiced prior to European contact and played on a carefully prepared alley known as a kahua, typically measuring between 150 and 180 feet in length. Central to the game was the ʻulu maika (also called olohu on Maui and Oʻahu), a stone disk usually at least one inch thick and weighing over one pound, commonly crafted from dense coral rock and meticulously ground, polished, and oiled. Three principal forms of maika existed: contests of distance, trials of precision in which the stone was rolled between narrowly spaced upright sticks, and competitive matches in which stones were rolled against one another to test their durability. The game required significant training and was played almost exclusively by men, including chiefs and skilled athletes, often beginning in childhood. As a prominent social activity, maika drew large audiences and was frequently accompanied by organized betting.