Category: Native

Liliʻuokalani at Kīlauea

USGS image

No, Liliʻuokalani did not start the custom of tossing gin into Kīlauea. That was Mr. George Lycurgus, some years later. Following is a description of her visit to Kīlauea in 1800, when she was still Princess, extracted from her autobiography, Hawaiʻi’s Story by Hawaiʻi’s Queen.

Chapter XI
Mauna Loa

IN the year 1880 Miss Helen Aldrich of Berkeley, Cal., made me a visit. She was the daughter of Mr. W. A. Aldrich, a banker, who had married a first cousin of my husband, Elizabeth, the child of Mr. R. W. Holt. Shortly after her arrival we took a trip to the largest of our islands, Hawaii, on which is situated that volcano called with truth one of the greatest natural wonders of the modern world.

I was attended by my retainers, and after a short and pleasant voyage we arrived at the port and chief city, Hilo. As though to illuminate in honor of my visit, on the night preceding our ascent of the mountain a bright glow was seen on the top of Mokuaweoweo. This was the portent which preceded that great flow of lava which soon commenced from Mauna Loa, and took its course down the sides of that mountain towards the city of Hilo. We were thus witnesses from the very beginning of one of the most extensive and long-continued eruptions which has ever been recorded in history, for it was protracted over a period of eleven months.

Early on the morning following we started on horseback on our journey to the crater of Kilauea, where we arrived about five o’clock the same evening. This is not, as some strangers suppose, a mountain by itself, totally distinct from the general volcanic system of Mauna Loa. That word in our language signifies the great long mountain, and the nature of the elevation well deserves the term; for in height, 13,700 feet, it is exceeded by few in the world, while in extent it includes about one-third of our largest island.

The eruptions are not usually from the summit, but generally through fissures in its sides. One of these is the crater lake of Kilauea, a region of perpetual fire, of an activity more or less pronounced, yet never entirely extinct, and situated some twenty miles or so east from the summit, at an elevation of about four thousand feet. It is one of the few, if not the only one, of the volcanoes in the world which can be visited at the periods of its greatest displays without the least danger to the observer; because it is always possible to watch its bubbling fires from a higher point than their source. It is not the lava from the burning lake which makes its way down the mountain, but that from other places where the concealed fires of Mauna Loa burst forth.

There is now a modern hotel at a spot commanding a good view of the points of interest; but at the date of this visit we were received and made very comfortable in a large grass house with thatched roof, under which some forty persons could have been accommodated. Here we were most hospitably received, our tired horses were cared for and sheltered near to our resting-place, and we did ample justice to the evening meal which had been provided for our company.

After our refreshment, darkness quickly succeeded the setting of the sun (there being no long twilight, as in more northern climates); so we spent the evening in watching the fiery glow in the crater, the brilliance of which seemed to be spreading along the level floor of the pit. From a flooring of light and heat the surface changed at times to billows of actual fire; then jets burst up or fountains played high in air, standing by themselves a moment like burning columns; then steam intervened to stifle the flames. Mist following this, the crater was for a while hidden from our sight, and nature’s gorgeous fireworks suspended.

At one of these intervals we retired for the night; but at two o’clock we were all awakened by our host to see an exhibition such as has seldom been furnished for the inspection of any of the many tourists who visit that region. This was a most brilliant illumination at the summit of Mauna Loa itself; and far from lessening, its manifestation seemed to render more vivid, the fires of the crater of Kilauea. The mists had cleared away in that direction, and we thus had the good fortune to watch on one and the same occasion the outbursts of light at the summit and the jets of dancing flame in the sides. It was a night never to be forgotten by any of our party, and well worth the time and labor of the journey, were there no more to be enjoyed. That which was nearest to us, the rising, boiling sheet of liquid fire, seemed to show no abatement by reason of the vent at the mountain-top, but in its agitations disclosed each moment sights more and more wonderful to our gaze.

The next day was spent by our party in descending the crater to the very limits of its seething fires, but I remained at the hotel. They were all provided with some offerings to Pele, the ancient goddess of fire, reverenced by the Hawaiian people. This custom is almost universal, even to the present day. Those born in foreign lands, tourists who scarcely know our ancient history, generally take with them to the brink of the lake some coin or other trinket which, for good luck, as the saying is, they cast into the lava. Our people, the native Hawaiians, have no money to throw away on such souvenirs of the past; but they carry wreaths of the pandanus flower, leis, made like those seen aboard the steamers at the departure of friends, necklaces, and garlands of nature’s ornaments, which are tossed by them into the angry waves of the basin.

As I have mentioned this incident, my thoughts have gone back to that paragraph wherein I wrote of the overthrow of the superstitious fears of the fire-goddess through the brave acts of my aunt, Queen Kapiolani, when she defied the power of the elements at this very spot.

So, to prevent misunderstanding now, perhaps it would be well to notice that this propitiation of the volcano’s wrath is now but a harmless sport, not by any means an act of worship, very much like the custom of hurling old shoes at the bride’s carriage, or sending off the newly wedded couple with showers of rice; usages which form a pleasant diversion in the most highly cultivated and educated communities.

After a day spent in watching the activity of the crater, the party returned to our hotel, weary, hungry, and ready to enjoy the refreshment and repose of which they were in need. One night more was spent at the volcano house of the olden time, and then we all started on our ride down the mountain for the city of Hilo.

The display had not diminished in extent nor in its strange, wild beauty. The lake in the crater was still boiling, and over Mokuaweoweo the location of the opening was easily distinguished by the brilliant glow of light. But turning our backs on these natural wonders, nature was perhaps more lovely in the charms by which she lined our pathway towards the sea; for this road is justly considered to be one of the most beautiful exhibitions of the scenery of the tropics in Hawaii, and our cavalcade passed between lines of verdure or flowers enchanting to the eye and fragrant to the sense; there were the bright blossoms of the lehua, both yellow and red varieties, and other plants or trees shading and pleasing each of us as we advanced. Although we did not arrive at our destination until about five that afternoon, and were quite fatigued with our long ride, yet it had been an excursion of great enjoyment, and I am sure no one of the company was other than satisfied with it.

The great increase in the lava flow which subsequently took place had not at this time threatened the peace of the city; so our return to our friends was made the signal for a round of social pleasures. A grand entertainment in honor of the visit of the heir to the throne was given by Mr. and Mrs. Luther Severance; and it afforded me much satisfaction to show to my California cousin some examples of the generous style of the hospitality of those days, in which those of foreign or of native birth vied with each other in a friendly rivalry of good things.

Judge F. S. Lyman was then lieutenant-governor of the island, and with his amiable wife showed us all the attention in his power; then there were Judge Akao and his wife, Mr. and Mrs. Governor Kipi and their agreeable family. The family of Mr. D. H. Hitchcock, especially his wife and daughters, were also most kind and attentive to me and those who accompanied me.

If, in these reminiscences, I should fail to name those who have made such occasions pleasant, it must be accepted simply as an unintentional omission, the names I have given being but examples of that universal kindness received by me from all. Just as we were leaving our kind entertainers, Sir Thomas Hesketh arrived in the port on his own yacht for a visit to the island; he was accompanied by Hon. Samuel Parker, whom he had invited to be his guest during this excursion.

The regular steamer of passenger service between Hilo and Honolulu received me and my company for our return to Oahu, where we arrived in safety; and not long after my cousin, Miss Aldrich, took her departure for her home, with, I am sure, some very pleasant memories of the natural beauties and social pleasures of life on the Hawaiian Islands.

Hawaiʻi’s Story by Hawaiʻi’s Queen

How ʻIole Saved the Hawaiian People

by Leilehua Yuen
illustration: watercolor by Leilehua Yuen        

The Pleiades, though a tiny constellation, is striking in appearance. It is so noticeable that cultures around the world use it in navigation and to mark the seasons of the year.

The star cluster Pleiades,  Πλειάδες in Greek, is known by many different names. In ancient India it was known as  क्रृत्तिका Kṛittika. In ancient Arabia, الثريّا al-Ṯurayyā. In English it is called The Seven Sisters, and in Irish, Streoillín. Every culture which can see them has named them in its own language. Astronomers know it as M45 is known, an open star cluster. It contains over a thousand stars that are loosely bound by gravity, but it is visually dominated by a handful of its brightest members. Each group of people who name the cluster use a name which suites the way they relate to it. Hawaiian people gave the cluster several names, depending on whether they were using it for agriculture, navigation, religious rituals, or other purposes.

Huhui – cluster, Huihui – cluster, Huihuiamakaliʻi – the cluster of Makaliʻi, Huihuikōkōamakaliʻikauiluna – the netted cluster of Makaliʻi hung above, Kahuihuiomakali’i – the cluster of Makaliʻi, Kūpuku – clustered thickly, Makaliʻi – little eyes, Nāhiku – the seven, Nāhui – the group, Nāhuihui – the collection, Nāhuihuiomakaliʻi – the collection of Makaliʻi, Nākokoamakaliʻi – the net of Makaliʻi, and other names.

Legends and myths are associated with the names. In the winter, wwe like to tell the story of how ʻIole, the Hawaiian Rat, saved the Hawaiian people from starvation. There were different chiefs named Makaliʻi. One was a great navigator. Another was a great farmer. The one in this story is a bad chief. Selfish and greedy.

Chief Makaliʻi had taxed the people so heavily that they were starving. He had taxed the fish and the fruits, the pigs and the chickens, and even the plants the people needed as seed for the next season. He so selfish that after he taxed them, he put all the food in a net which he hung high in the sky where they could not reach it.

The people were tormented, seeing the food hanging there out of reach. The entire world was angry with Chief Makaliʻi for his selfishness. At last the elementals of the world decided they would withdraw. The wind stayed away. The rain stayed away. Only the sun shone, burning down, even in the winter. It was so dry that even if there were seed plants, they would not be able to grow. The people were starving. There was not enough food for even an ʻiole, a rat.

ʻIole sat in the barren sweet potato fields and thought about this. He decided to go up to the net and get that food! He found a coconut tree and climbed it, and from there was able to grab a rope woven from moonbeams. He climbed the rope to the moon and when he was close enough to the net he chewed a hole in the side.

All of the sweet potatoes, taro, bananas, and other food tumbled back down to earth and the people, and the rats, were saved!

For a full-length version of the story, visit Leilehua’s Kindle Vella page.

Below is an image of a page from Sidereus Nuncius showing Galileo’s drawings of the stars in the Pleiades star cluster. Image courtesy of the History of Science Collections, University of Oklahoma Libraries. The image is from the History of Science Collections, University of Oklahoma Libraries – http://hos.ou.edu/galleries/17thCentury/Galileo/1610/Galileo-1610-016c-r%20-%20Version%202-image/ via Wikipedia.

History of Science Collections, University of Oklahoma Libraries - http://hos.ou.edu/galleries/17thCentury/Galileo/1610/Galileo-1610-016c-r%20-%20Version%202-image/ Image of a page from Sidereus Nuncius showing Galileo's drawings of the stars in the Pleiades star cluster. Image courtesy of the History of Science Collections, University of Oklahoma Libraries.

Learn more about the Hawaiian night sky here. 

Links:

Regarding “haole”

In response to a question about “haole” being modern slang, or a traditional Hawaiian word:

The word “haole” is actually a fully Hawaiian word pre-dating the arrival of Capt Cook. Its etymology is lost in time. What linguists do agree on is that it is not a compound word. Polynesian linguistic shifts do not support the words “hā” and ” ‘ole” morphing to “haole.”

Also, the word is found in chants which predate Capt. Cook’s 1778 arrival.

PAUMAKUA
Westervelt records in “Hawaiian Historical Legends”:

“…
PAUMAKUA was one of the great voyagers among the ocean-rovers of over eight hundred years ago. Fornander in his “Account of the Polynesian Race” says: “One of the legends relates that Paumakua, on his return from one of his foreign voyages, brought back with him to Oahu two white men said to have been priests A-ua-ka-hinu and A-ua-ka-mea, afterwards named Kae-kae and Ma-liu, from whom several priestly families in after ages claimed descent and authority.” These persons were described as:

“Ka haole nui maka ʻālohilohi
(A large foreigner, bright sparkling eyes)
A āholehole maka ʻaʻā
(White cheeks, roguish staring eyes)
Ka puaʻa keokeo nui maka ʻulaʻula!
(A great white pig with reddish eyes).”

In the later years of Hawaiian history, two of the most prominent high priests in all the islands were among the descendants of these foreigners.
…”

KUMULIPO
The word also is found in the Kumulipo:

“…
Line 505 – Hanau ke Po’ohaole, he haole kela
…”
“…
born was the stranger’s head, that was strange.
…”

KUALIʻI
In the genealogy of Kualiʻi (born around 1710), the chant states:

“…
Hoʻokahi o Tahiti kānaka, he haole
…”
“…
only one people in Tahiti, foreigners.
…”

The word began referring more commonly to North Americans during the overthrow of the Monarchy.

Sometimes translating Hawaiian can be challenging because you first have to determine if the person is actually using the word with its Hawaiian meaning, or if the person is using the word with its Pidgin meaning.

In Hawaiian, I was taught never to say ” ʻōkole” in polite company, because it can mean “anus.” In pidgin, the word generally refers to the buttocks.

Wehewehe.org Hawaiian Language Dictionary

When I was a girl, the following were in common use, with no pejorative meanings:

Hawaiian – Native Hawaiian.

Hapa [HAH-pah]- Part Hawaiian. Distinguished as hapa-haole, hapa-Keponi, hapa-Pākē, etc.

Kanaka [kah-NAH-kah] – Native Hawaiian.
(kuh-NAAK-uh and NAAK-uh were highly perjorative)

Kamaʻāina [kah-mah-ah-EE-nah / kah-mah-AI-nah] – Non-Native Hawaiian person born in Hawaiʻi or very long time resident who was adopted into Hawaiian culture.

Malihini [mah-lee-HEE-nee] – Visitor or new resident.

Maoli [maOH-lee] – Native Hawaiian.

Sometimes, people will become upset that “haole” is not capitalized the way Kepani or Pākē is capitalized. Like “hapa,” “haole” is not an ethnic group. It is a description. One would not capitalize “continental” in describing someone, though one would capitalize “French.” If one wishes to say “hapa-Pelekane” (Hawaiian-British), then, certainly “Pelekane” is capitalized.

Getting my Hā on

Up at four this morning to practice what I am calling “Hā Walea,” a technique of mindful breathing I am working on.

We have been working so much over the last several years, and not being mindful of our health, that unhealthy habits and practices have grown. Over the past decade I have developed type II diabetes, and stage two hypertension.

I sleep under such tension that my dentist tells me I grind my teeth all night. I’ve actually shattered some of my teeth and had to have them pulled!

Over the past year I have managed to get my diabetes under control through exercise and dietary changes.

The blood pressure (averaging around145/103) has not come down so easily. It has taken adding a third component to get my BP down.

I’ve tried many techniques, but none really worked for my lifestyle. But one early morning I could hear Aunty Nona’s voice, “Dahling! Remember your basics! when you have difficulty, always go back to your basics! Breathe. Breathe. Breathe.”

So, I began working on my hā, breathing the way she taught us for hula. So simple! Why did I ever mislay that?

I still let myself stress, but I am getting better.

This am, I awoke with a BP of 136/88, which is just below stage 1 hypertension. After a 20 minute session of Hā Walea my BP is now 119/78, right at the top of normal. No medications.

If you would like to join me in this journey to hula back to health (Or as one friend calls it “Leilehua’s Ol Fut Remedial Hula”) I would be honored.

Participating in Hā Walea and warmups is free.
Gather 11:00 am Mondays in the lobby of the Naniloa. This class is on hold until after the Christmas holidays. It will resume 9 January, 2017.

Indigenous Traditions could be New Resource Management Model

This excellent op-ed piece by ʻOhu Gon  needs to be shared with many.
By Sam ‘Ohu Gon
September 4, 2016

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) recently unveiled a groundbreaking map of Central America that illustrates the critical role indigenous people play as caretakers of the region’s natural resources.

The map depicts Central America’s forest and marine ecosystems, along with the names, populations and locations of its indigenous peoples, who occupy almost 40 percent of the land and water area. And what the map clearly shows is telling: The best preserved natural resources are found where indigenous people live.

“You cannot talk about conservation without speaking of indigenous peoples and their role as the guardians of our most delicate lands and waters,” said Grethel Aguilar, a regional IUCN official. “They depend on those natural resources to survive, and the rest of society depends on their role in safeguarding those resources for the well-being of us all.”

The IUCN has made previous motions acknowledging indigenous people in conservation. But at this year’s World Conservation Congress, now underway in Honolulu, members will vote on a motion drafted by the cultural committee of the Hawai‘i Conservation Alliance that asks them to take additional steps toward integrating indigenous values, knowledge and approaches into efforts to address the world’s conservation challenges.

Why look to indigenous peoples?

Renowned philosopher Noam Chomsky says indigenous peoples have not commodified their relationship with the natural world. Their relationship is reciprocal: they care for their resources because their survival depends on it. Such a philosophy is desperately needed in Western societies today.

Prior to Western contact, Hawaiians embraced a reciprocal relationship with all elements of the natural world, regarding them as elders and physical manifestations of ancestors and gods.

Living on islands, with finite natural resources, they developed a mountains-to-sea system of resource management.

Within each ahupua‘a, or land division, there was an individual — the konohiki — trained from childhood to know the ahupuaa resources intimately, and who had the authority to set kapu — restrictions — when those resources were threatened, thereby bringing the resources back into balance.

The konohiki knew when each mountain tree was fruiting, when the birds of land or sea were nesting and when runs of fish were moving through the ahupua‘a — events that were extremely important to daily life.

Western approaches supplanted old relationships, disrupted ecological processes, commodified natural resources and essentially destroyed self-sufficiency.

Today, 85 to 90 percent of our food and other goods are imported from elsewhere, and the average citizen in Hawaii has little connection to the resources around them, much less a sense of kuleana — responsibility — for their care.

While we can’t easily return to the ancient ahupua‘a system, we can work to re-establish meaningful connections between people, places and resources that were its foundation. When people know and love their place and its resources, everyone benefits. The movement toward community-based marine management in Hawaii is all about this.

In rural areas like Haena on Kauai, Moomomi on Molokai, Kipahulu on Maui, and Kaupulehu on Hawaii island, indigenous communities, many of them lineal descendants of the land, are combining traditional Hawaiian approaches and modern science to restore their near-shore reefs and fisheries.

The idea is that if you engage the people of a place, who know the resources best, align them with the best of modern science and offer them an active and meaningful role in the conservation of those resources, good things happen.

Throughout the world, there is growing recognition that a new model of resource use and management is needed.

How do we achieve a more sustainable future for the planet?

The answer may lie in the caring, reciprocal relationship that indigenous people have with their resources and the natural world around them.

Sam ‘Ohu Gon, Ph.D., is a senior scientist and cultural adviser with The Nature Conservancy of Hawaii. He also is chairman of the Hawai‘i Conservation Alliance, whose cultural committee drafted IUCN Motion 83, affirming the role of indigenous cultures in conservation globally.