Hawaiian Perspectives:Geology Through a Cultural Lens

Presented by:

Kapōmaikai Stone, Iāsona Ellinwood, & Lindsey Spencer

Kahua A o: A Learning Foundationʻ

Ka Moʻolelo O Hiʻiakaikapoliopele

The Epic Tale of Hi iakaikapoliopeleʻ

The story of Pele and her family as they travel down the Hawaiian chain

Associated with rejuvenation stage volcanism

Various sites scattered throughout the islands

Particularly Ni ihau, Kaua i, and ʻ ʻO ahuʻ

(Awaiaulu.org)

Ka Mo‘olelo o Hi‘iakaikapoliopele, by Ho‘oulumāhiehie, pg. 2-3From Ka Na'i Aupuni, 2 June and 4 June, 1906.

I ka ha‘alele ‘ana aku o Pele a me kona po‘e a pau iā Tahiti, ua hō‘ea maila lākou i ka mokupuni ‘o Ka‘ula...Ha‘alele ihola ‘o Pele mā iā Ka‘ula, ne‘e maila i Ni‘ihau, a no ka loa‘a ‘ole o kahi kūpono o nei mokupuni e hiki ai i ua mō‘ī wahine nei o ke ahi a me kona ‘ohana ke noho iho, ua pae loa maila lākou no ka mokupuni ‘o Kaua‘i…I ka hiki ‘ana o Pele mā i Kaua‘i, ua lehulehu loa nā wahi a Pele i ho‘ā‘o ai e ‘eli i wahi nona a me kona po‘e e noho ai ma ia mokupuni, a ‘o Kīlauea kahi hope loa āna i kā ai, a no ka pāpa‘u, ha‘alele nō ‘o ia a me kona po‘e i ia mokupuni, a ‘au maila i ke kai ‘o Ka‘ie‘iewaho, a hō‘ea ana i O‘ahu nei... hele ka‘apuni a‘ela ma nā wahi lehulehu o ka mokupuni ‘o O‘ahu nei e ‘imi ai i wahi no lākou e noho ai, eia na‘e, ‘a‘ohe loa‘a.

When Pele and all of her people left Tahiti, they came to the island of Ka‘ula...Pele and company departed Ka‘ula, moving on to Ni‘ihau, but because no appropriate place could be found where the queen of fire and her family could reside, they went on to land on the island of Kaua‘i…When Pele and company arrived on Kaua‘i, she attempted in many places to carve out an area for her and her people to dwell on that island, Kīlauea being the last place that she tried. Because it was shallow there, she and her followers left that island and sailed through the Ka‘ie‘iewaho Channel until reaching O‘ahu…She journeyed all around O‘ahu, visiting many places in search of a site for their home, but nothing could be found.

Sites & Stories of OʻahuRejuvenation Stage Volcanism: Āliapa akaiʻ

Pele’s first stop on the island of O ahuʻ

Arrived from Kaua i with her sister, Hi iakaʻ ʻBrought salt and red dirt with them

Both dug in the ground to make a new home

Discovered that it was too shallow, and encountered sea water

Ua ‘eli ‘o Pele iā Āliapa‘akai ma Moanalua a‘e nei, a loa‘a ‘ē nō ke kai, ha‘alele i ia wahi. Pēlā nō iā luna o Pūowaina, Lae‘ahi, a me

kekahi mau wahi ‘ē a‘e o O‘ahu nei; a no ka pāpa‘u o ia mau wahi, loa‘a ‘ē nō ke kai, no laila, ha‘alele lākou

iā O‘ahu nei, a ne‘e akula i Moloka‘i; mai laila aku, hō‘ea i Kaho‘olawe.

Pele dug the crater of Āliapa‘akai at Moanalua, but soon reached sea water and

left there. She also dug atop Pūowaina, Lae‘ahi, and some other sites here on O‘ahu, and because the earth was shallow in those

places, sea water was again soon encountered, so they departed from O‘ahu and proceeded on to Moloka‘i. From there

they moved on, arriving at Kaho‘olawe.

Ka Mo‘olelo o Hi‘iakaikapoliopele, by Ho‘oulumāhiehie, pg. 2-3From Ka Na'i Aupuni, 2 June and 4 June, 1906.

Sites & Stories of OʻahuRejuvenation Stage Volcanism: Āliapa akaiʻ

(ArcGIS Online)

Sites & Stories of OʻahuRejuvenation Stage Volcanism: Lē ahi (Diamond Head)ʻ

Pele resided here for a short time with her sister, Hi iakaʻ

The “brow of the ahi”

Dug again in search of fire

Encountered water once again, and her fire was drowned by the water below

Sites & Stories of OʻahuRejuvenation Stage Volcanism: Lē ahi (Diamond Head)ʻ

Sites & Stories of OʻahuKohelepelepe (Koko Crater)

“traveling vagina”

A rejuvenation vent, but more well-known for another Pele story

Goddess Kapo exposed herself to save her sister, Pele

Kamapua a was in pursuit of Pele while on O ahuʻ ʻ

Kapo’s diversion worked

Pele successfully escaped

Sites & Stories of Oʻahu

(Hanauma Bay Education Program)

Sites & Stories of OʻahuPele’s Chair

Sometimes referred to as Pele’s Throne

Associated as the last place that Pele resided on O ahuʻ

After western contact Considered by missionaries to be a pagan symbol

Sites & Stories of OʻahuPele’s Chair

Does the story fit?Honolulu Volcanic Series

(Drawing by S. Rowland, adapted from Macdonald et al., 1983)

Does the story fit?Honolulu Volcanic Series

Ages of vents from our story (right)

Also…

Every place that Pele dug, she encountered water

Hydromagmatic eruptions

(Ozawa et al., 2005)

Kaimukī

Koko rift

Puowaina

Does the story fit?

YES!

Research ConnectionsDonald Swanson (HVO)

Hawaiian oral tradition describes 400 years of volcanic activity at Kīlauea (2008)

The Hawaiian Perspective

“This traditional history presented the world in such a way that values, meaning, and morality were of greater importance than, or at least equal to, the physical events being chronicled.”

- Van James (Ancient Sites of O ahuʻ )

Nūpepa ʻŌlelo HawaiʻiHawaiian Language Newspapers

Printed during 1834 – 1948 100 different newspapers

125,000 pages printed

Articles were reader-submitted

Today: 75,000 searchable online

Available at nupepa.org and papakilodatabase.com

Rise of Literacy in Hawaiʻi

1820: Arrival of American missionaries

1822: First printing in Hawaiian

1825: King Kauikeaouli Kamehameha III declares, “ O ko u aupuni, he aupuni palapala ko u”ʻ ʻ ʻ

1834: First Hawaiian language newspaper

1839: Hawaiian Bible published

Literacy Rate in 1861

From the writings of missionary Laura Fish Judd: “The proportion is estimated as greater than in any other country in the world, except Scotland and New England”

Missionary Press

Independent Press

Current Research & Awareness

Papakū MakawaluDescribes the Hawaiian worldview of the foundations of life

Categorizes all systems of life within the universe

3 houses of knowledge Papahulilani – the heavens

Papahulihonua – the earth

Papahānaumoku – everything that gives life

Current Research & Awareness

Kahua A o: A Learning Foundationʻ

Using Hawaiian Language Newspaper Articles for Place and Culture-based Geoscience Teacher Education and Curriculum Development

Website: manoa.hawaii.edu/kahuaao

Lessons that discuss Rejuvenation Stage Volcanism Hawaiian Volcanoes and Rejuvenation Stage Volcanism: No

Nā Lua Pele

Geology and Meteorology of Hanauma Bay: He Huaka i I ʻHanauma

References(2013). Geology. Kahua A o: A Learning Foundationʻ . Retrieved November 25, 2013,

from http://manoa.hawaii.edu/kahuaao/geology.html.

(2013). Papaku Makawalu. Edith Kanaka ole Foundationʻ . Retrieved November 25, 2013, from http://www.edithkanakaolefoundation.org/current-projects/papaku-makawalu/.

Becket, J. & Singer, J. (1999). Pana O ahuʻ . Honolulu, Hawai i: University of Hawai i ʻ ʻPress.

James, V. (1991). Ancient Sites of O ahuʻ . Honolulu, Hawai i: Bishop Museum Press.ʻ

Ka Mo olelo O Hi iakaikapoliopele. ʻ ʻ Awaiaulu. Retrieved November 25, 2013.

Ozawa et al. (2005) Unspiked K–Ar dating of the Honolulu rejuvenated and Ko olau ʻshield volcanism on O ahu, Hawai i. ʻ ʻ Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 232, pp. 1-11.

Place Names Map. Place Names of Hanauma. Retrieved November 25, 2013.

Sterling, E. P. and Summers, C. C. (2008). Sites of Oahu. Honolulu, Hawai i: Bishop ʻMuseum Press.

Questions?