Lauahi Pele i kai o Puna, oneʻā kai o Malama
Pele swept her many fires down to Puna; seaward of Malama is a cinder heap.
in the Pukui & Elbert Hawaiian Dictionary, online at wehewehe.org :
one ʻā
nvi. Black sand or gravel made of ʻaʻā lava; volcanic cinder; to form such; gunpowder. Lauahi Pele i kai o Puna, oneʻā kai o Malama (chant), Pele swept her many fires down to Puna; seaward of Malama is a cinder heap.
Itʻs a bit of a challenge sometimes to figure out what to say and how to string thoughts together. Though I donʻt speak Hawaiian, I believe I have some understanding of themes and concepts related to things Hawaiian. As a naturalist, what knowledge I have is like the sea and its shores: sometimes somewhat deep, sometimes shallow, at times broad, and other times narrow. Because Iʻm so nīele, I often get sidetracked or distracted. But my view of learning is itʻs like assembling a jigsaw puzzle. Some pieces are connected quickly, while others sit and languish waiting to be made part of the whole.
Thereʻs been a lot of geologizing of late, and appropriately so. But the cultural aspects of the current pele sometimes falls by the wayside. I am NOT an expert in these matters, but digging around often yields bits and pieces of sometimes enlightening information. And bringing things to the surface helps inform our thinking and perceptions.
Sometimes I sit and browse through the dictionary. Wandering around, forth and back, seeing what all is in there. Yesterday, it was what became the headline above. It caught my attention because Malama is where, recently, Pele made a brief visit to the sea, just NE of MacKenzie State Recreation Area.
Some believe that Pelehonuamea and her people are the stuff of fairy tales. Others, myself included, have come to understand that she was a real person, deified because of her various powers. Her exploits have become legend. Go google and read any number of books, articles, etc. She apparently first came to the Island of Hawaiʻi at the place Keahialaka. By now that should ring familar, as itʻs the ahupuaʻa in which sits Leilani Estates. The map below, surveyed in 1922, shows a number of lua and puʻu, all constructed by Pele, as well as the ahupuaʻa Keahialaka and Malama, and the Lava Flow of 1840. It should not surprise anyone that sheʻd want to revisit those places. How many of us have favorite beaches, parks, forests, etc., to which we frequently return? Guessing quite a few...
Over the years, we mature and accumulate knowledge. Hereʻs something Mrs. Kanahele and Duke Kalani Wise penned back in 1989, perhaps an early version of her Ka Honua Ola, recently published by Kamehameha Press: KP "Ka Honua Ola"
Ka Honua Ola, Kanahele & Wise, 1989
Thanks to Scott Rowland for posting the link.
In what I think is an accessible and understandable style, Kanahele and Wise share stories and educate us about perceptions of Pele. A main point is that these understandings are current and real. Itʻs not something "Hawaiians used to do", or practices that are so often described in the past tense. Itʻs NOW. Itʻs TODAY. And itʻs been being for hundreds of years and manymany generations.
In the 1989 KHO, there is mention of "Waiakea". Not the Waiakea we know today in Hilo, but one at the shore by Kumukahi on another 1922 topo (below).
And we just learned that this morning, Pele is back visiting, and crossed HWY 137, the coast road, close to where "Kapoho School" is marked below. She was there in 1960, and nearby in 1955.
Pieces of puzzle. And a reason I get SOOO annoyed with people who seem not to be able to learn and use correct place names. "A-Bay", "Queen-K", "Camp-K"... And one of the most egregious in this Hāmākua boys estimation: "Hāmākua Coast" these days apparently starts at Wailuku River and the Singing Bridge, and goes all the way to Waipiʻo. It. Does. NOT. Hāmākua, the district, does start on that coast, but not till just past ʻOʻōkala, at Kaʻula Gulch. From there, back to the Wailuku, is Hilo Palikū (Hilo of the upright cliffs).
OK OK OK....
Up here at the summit region of Kīlauea, thereʻs pele happening too.
Yesterdays post of that spectacular breathtakingly dramatic droneage (drone footage) of Halemaʻumaʻu...Stlll WOW... Go look slowly and pause at appropriate views. See the cracks and slumping of the floor of Kaluapele, and the complex new topography of Halemaʻumaʻu. I did a totally lame calculation of the depth: measured with a ruler on my screen, the rim to old floor (2"), and rim to deepest part of floor (6"). Old depth = 280 feet (x) 3 = 840 feet. But what do I know???
I know that our ʻōlaʻi are MUCH fewer today than yesterday. See the paucity of red? The Earthquake in the target above was in Mauna Loa Estates, where I live, just to illustrate proximity.
I know that Kumu NK told us that Makuanani seem to move differently than the younger set. I think she said itʻs perhaps that we spend/spent more than them time outside swimming, planting, working the land, and so those motions are more natural to us. And that those motions are the basis for many of those in hula.
And I know that her favorite ʻami is ʻakau. And that my easiest is hema.
And I know, because I was sitting at desk in my loft, that the M5.4 ʻōlaʻi yesterday afternoon at 137p was an ʻami ʻakau. A slow ʻami ʻakau, except the entire hale was moving. And kept moving. Almost silently. An ʻami ʻakau pele. Clickclickclick the pieces come together.
And I know now that before a big emission of lehu (ash) from Halemaʻumaʻu we have more and more frequent ʻōlaʻi, hours of them, then usually a biggish one, then the lehu, then we settle and get quiet. Till the next one.
And I know that as of 555 this morning, Pelehonuamea was still at work in Keahialaka.
And I know that up here, sheʻs still at Halemaʻumaʻu, 060218, 640a
And I know how different she looks now than not so long ago, 082316, 710a
And I know that her works will continue. Below is the text of a chant, printed in the newspaper Hae Hawaii on March 21, 1860. Iʻve bolded lines with geographic references to familiar places in Puna ma kai. The url is at the top. Iʻm incapable of translating it, but do have an appreciation for the work.
As always, with aloha,
BobbyC
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