I read the Aug. 21 edition of West Hawaii Today and was embarrassed when I read the front page article titled “Safety and sacred meet on Mauna Kea.” Being that I too am a Native Hawaiian, I would like to inform the world that not all of us Hawaiians believe as those who testified in Judge Ronald Ibarra’s court revealing their “communion with ancestors, ancestral guides and divine beings.”
In fact, most of us understand that when Queen Kaahumunu defied the kapu system and ate with the men, it confirmed that the old Hawaiian gods of sticks and stones were powerless. Of course, there remained those who desperately held on to those old beliefs because it gave them power over those who remained superstitious. The rest of the Hawaiians celebrated the new found freedom when it became evident that the long held beliefs were just superstition based on self gratification.
I suspect that when the Hawaiians first set sail to explore the vast Pacific Ocean, there were those, as in the days of Columbus, who wouldn’t venture out beyond the reef for fear of falling off the end of the Earth. Those who were “thinkers” and “adventurers” set out and settled in “The Loveliest Fleet of Islands that lies Anchored in any Ocean.” (Mark Twain)
Some of us were brought up to understand that the first Hawaiians who came to Hawaii did believe in a God that was portrayed as Hina (white haired or ancient) and Ku (foundational and consistent). This explains why that God says “Come unto me all ye who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest.”
The divine beings, referred to in the WHT article, require that rituals be performed at site-specific locations that may be revealed at the last moment on Mauna Kea. In all of my years interacting with our alive, mainstream kupuna, I have never heard it mentioned that there was anyone who believed in this manner. It makes me wonder if this required site-specific ritual became a ritual specifically to interfere with the construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope.
It was interesting to read that one of the rituals was the welcoming of the sun by this group on one specific day. The rest of us understand the rotation of the Earth on its axis while following an orbit around the sun and are thankful for every day we live on this Earth.
The Hawaiian equivalent for “good morning” is aloha ka kahi aka. To understand the term, one must separate the words. Aloha is comprised of two words, “alo” depicts a scene of two people facing each other. “Ha” refers to breath or life. The word “ka” is equivalent to the English word “the” or calling attention to. The word “kahi” is the act of scraping away something and “aka” is the Hawaiian word for “shadow.”
Putting it all in English, aloha ka kahi aka means: I face you with life when the shadows are being scrapped away, referring to the period of time that night turns to day. To have a real live experiential understanding of this term, be in the district of Ka‘u where you are able to see Hilina Pali or at Kamaoa where you can observe the hill above Waiohinu. As the sun rises, it literally scrapes away the shadows in rapid succession, bringing life to the land. It happens every morning yet is never duplicated in awesomeness.
The testifiers in Ibarra’s court justified their position by making a comparison that I think is very far off. They compared the Christian celebration of the Resurrection at a sunrise service, an event that took place 2,000 years ago, with them being on Mauna Kea at equinox, which takes place twice a year, every year, to do some ritual at some site-specific location that may be revealed at the last moment.
In the days of old, Mauna Kea provided the Hawaiians with the best material to make stone adzes. Today, Mauna Kea provides us, the world, with the best site from which to view the heavens. While the stone tools of old are now precious artifacts, we as a people, now utilize stainless steel knives, the microwave, the chainsaw and other modern conveniences to enhance our lives. However, there are still those who choose the gods of sticks and stones to suppress greater understanding of our universe.
Leningrad Elarionoff is a resident of Waimea.
Viewpoint articles are the opinion of the writer and not necessarily the opinion of West Hawaii Today.