HO'OKUPU

Ho‘okupu Lei — Kīlauea Nui (photo, 1981, Kepā Maly)

KĪLAUEA

HE WAHI MO‘OLELO NO KA ‘ĀINA A KE AKUA I NOHO AI

(TRADITIONS FROM THE LANDS WHERE THE GODDESS RESIDES)

Mele Kāhea No Pele

Hele ho‘i ke ala mauka o Ka‘ū

Hele ho‘i ke ala makai o Puna

O ka ma‘ema‘e la o ka pua lei

Aloha ka pi‘ina i Kūkalā‘ula

Ho‘opuka aku la i ka Pu‘ulena

‘Āina a ke akua i noho ai

Ka‘u makana ‘ia o ka leo

O ka leo wale nō ē—

A Chant to Call Upon Pele

The path passes through the uplands of Ka‘ū

The path also passes along the coast of Puna

I am here like a fresh flower lei

Respect the ascent at Kūkalā‘ula

The Pu‘ulena wind comes forth

Blowing from the land of the goddess

The only gift I have to offer you is my voice

Only my voice—

(Mele from Kupuna Ho‘ohila Kawelo – 1974)

Traditional mele (chants) like the one above, describe the long journey that one makes in traveling via the uplands of Ka‘ū or from the lowlands of Puna to Kīlauea, and across Kūkalā‘ula (the “sun-parched plains”), while on a pilgrimage to honor Pele. The traveler is borne upon the Pu‘ulena breeze which blows from the land in which the goddess lives. The chanter acknowledges personal imperfections, but shares that the voice and prayerfulness are pure and presented as a lei. In humility, one asks, what else could be offered to the goddess? There is nothing, nothing but a voice, simply a voice.

This mele is one of thousands that describe the landscape of Pele Honuamea (Pele of the Red or Sacred Earth) as more than a single spot or a mere piece of land. The landscape is alive and spans the ‘āina (lands) of Puna and Ka‘ū, reaching through the depths of the papa honua (earth strata) and up to the farthest reaches of the lewa lani (heavens).

Native Hawaiians have many names or epithets for Pele that are found throughout Hawaiian literature of the last two hundred years. Among these names that honor Pele and describe the phenomena which are attributed to her and her family include, but are not limited to:

Pele Honuamea

Pele, ka wahine ‘ai honua

Pele, ka wahine ‘ai lā‘au ‘o Puna

Pele, ka wahine ‘ai pōhaku

Pele, ka wahine ha‘a i ke kula

Pele, ka wahine o ka lua

Pele, of the Red/Sacred Earth

Pele, the woman who consumes the earth

Pele, the woman who consumes the forests of Puna

Pele, the woman who consumes stones

Pele, the woman who dances on the plains

Pele, the woman of the crater

At the request of the National Park Service, Kepā and Onaona Maly of Kumu Pono Associates LLC prepared this ethnohistorical study—detailed documentary research, oral history interviews and created a digital archive of heritage resources—in support of the development of a National Register Nomination for the biocultural landscape of Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park (HAVO).

Situated on the Island of Hawai‘i, the lands of Puna, Ka‘ū, and those lands adjoining them, which are found within and adjoining the National Park, contain many significant wahi pana (storied, sacred landscapes). These same lands are also the focal point of some of the most practiced and cherished customs of the Hawaiian people, passed down from antiquity to the present-day, still being taught for the future. While it was impossible for us to collect all that might be said, believed or practiced on these ‘āina, we have endeavored to provide a culturally respectful and representative sampling of why so many Hawaiians place high spiritual and practitioner values on the ‘āina.

The narratives from primary sources and the oral history interviews which are cited, represent the legacy of kānaka in their biocultural landscape, the history of the park, including actions that led to displacing Hawaiian families from the ‘āina; and offer many of original Hawaiian language narratives as well. They provide cultural practitioners easy access to primary ‘ike kūpuna (ancestral knowledge) and may provide valuable resources for developing a strong cultural approach to management and interpretation of the landscape within the park boundaries. It is the overarching goal of this study to provide users with information that will help inform identification of Traditional Cultural Properties, and the development of a National Register Nomination for Hawai‘i Volcanoes NP. The narratives will also support preservation and stewardship initiatives, the development of interpretative themes and programs, as well as place-based/cultural literacy curricula for students and for communities who will work at and visit HAVO and its many wahi pana.

Some who read this ethnohistorical collection might be inclined to assume that because the landscape has changed (either through natural or manmade causes), and some of those places from Hawaiian history no longer exist—having been covered by Pele Honuamea or destroyed by foreign land use practices—that the ‘āina is no longer culturally important or even sacred. This point of view is foreign to the Hawaiian mind, particularly for those who have remained on the ‘āina, who have perpetuated family traditions and practices, and who have been sustained by its resources, extending from mountain to sea. While geologic and eruptive activities—believed to be physical manifestations of Pele Honuamea and those who follow her—have changed the land, covering the tangible evidence of some wahi pana, many Hawaiians believe that those storied places still exist, just in a different stratum. This belief that the mana (spiritual power and essence) remains in the honua ola is deeply ingrained in Hawaiian culture. Even in ancient accounts of Pele traveling across the land to the sea, Hawaiians always found sacredness on the landscape and called upon those named places in their practices and daily lives. Many of these stories and memories of experiences upon the ‘āina are ever-present in the lives of many Hawaiians, and they are being passed on to future generations.

Mo‘olelo ‘Ohana (Oral History Interviews)

The voices of kūpuna (elders) are among the most precious and fragile resources handed down to us from the past. Oral history interviews provide present and future readers with a unique opportunity to share in memories of the history and cultural-historical landscape of the ‘āina which are now part of Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park. While the historical and archival records, as those presented in the main volume of the study help us understand how we came to be where we are today, the voices of the elders and kama‘āina (lit. children of the land – natives) give life to the stories, and demonstrate how history and practices are handed down, and, in some cases, are fragmented with the passing of time.

As a part of this ethno-historical study, we conducted six new oral history interviews, with nine participants—most of which were recommended by Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park management or made through those original NPS recommendations. Out of our desire to review findings and confirm that our assessments reflected with some accuracy, events in the history of the park, we also conducted several informal consultation interviews with past staff and managers of Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park. Three of those informal interviews, developed from expanded hand written notes and then reviewed by the interviewees, are also included in Appendix A (Oral History Interviews).

Over the last 50-plus years, we have also been fortunate to have conducted a series of formal and informal interviews with elder kūpuna and kama‘āina who possessed personal knowledge of Native Hawaiian traditions, practices, customs, residency and land use. Five of those historical interviews are included in this section of the study as well. We have also housed in our collection two interviews conducted by others, who shared those recordings with us, and which we previously transcribed. One of those two interviewees was born in the 1870s, the other in 1913. A third interview with a kupuna born in 1893, was recorded by Maly between 1974 to 1976. These three interviews, in which personal knowledge of the Pele traditions and cultural landscape are shared, take us further back in time and help set a cultural-historical foundation for the subsequent interviews.

The early interviews offer readers glimpses into the personal knowledge and experiences of individuals with generational and cultural attachments to the honua ola (biocultural landscape), and Pele Honuamea. The more recent interviews tell us of the on-going cultural attachment to place, and demonstrate that the culture lives, is practiced, and is integral to the well-being of Native Hawaiians.

Kumu Pono Associates LLC