Early Writers View the Volcanoes

Long ago Hawai‘i’s chiefs pronounced the Polynesian gods defeated and replaced them with the Christian God, but many ancient traditions live on. And occasionally, the placid Hawaiian volcanoes remind residents of the tempers of the old gods. Sometimes earthquakes rip open great chasms in the ground where roads used to be. Eruptions build new mountains while lava flows destroy whole villages. But even these violent events leave just the tiniest impressions on the broader picture of Hawai‘i’s geology. The last few million years of the islands have seen a constant exchange between biology and geology. Vegetation takes hold almost as soon as the lava cools; although often another flow roars down to retake the same terrain. Scientists find charcoal between old lava flows, and the molds of trees surrounded and burned millennia ago. The history of these islands which goes back 75 million years or more spans most of the width of the Pacific Ocean. It is part of the story of how our planet works.

Hawaiian Traditions, Creation Myths, Pele

THE EARLY HAWAIIANS had a range of tales about the origin of their islands. Kumulipo, the great creation chant speaks, of heat in connection with the forming of the Earth. The growth of corals is also celebrated along with legendary stones that breed, producing more stones.

The Maui myth, which spread across Polynesia, has the demigod out fishing in his canoe when he hooked the bottom of the sea. With powerful jerks on the line he hauled up one island after another. But generally fire, not water, is at the center of myths about the creation of land.

Hawaiian Traditions

There are many Hawaiian traditions involving the volcanic origins of the Islands. A volcano was seen as being a living, feeling person or persons. Hawaiian historian Samuel Kamakau writes that when Kamehameha offered prayers and a sacrificial pig to the lava flows threatening his fishpond at Kiholo, “there were eyes in the lava to see Kamehameha, and ears to hear his appeals and his words of prayer, and the great blazing lava flow died down.” Kamakau also speaks of the individual spirits, ahi ‘ai honua, fires that eat the earth, which direct volcanic devastation from one place to another. But while there are many minor gods of the volcano, the greatest fire deity was, and still is, Pele.* She is said to act with complete independence but also through others, her sisters and relatives. These can take human forms, others remain spirits and can change from flesh and blood to being a spirit, and back again.
The Pele legends suggest that the goddess and her family arrived in Hawai‘i after the Islands had been formed but were still erupting. William Westervelt, who collected and translated many Hawaiian myths, recounts that she got to the Island of Hawai‘i only to find another volcano god already in place. His name was ‘Aila‘au, eater of the forest, and he lived at Kilauea amidst its fiery lava fountains.

*Ancient practices of worship continue to be conducted by Native Hawaiians (particularly those who track their genealogy back to the goddess herself).

Legend says he saw Pele coming and instantly recognized her superior power. At that point, ‘Aila‘au disappeared without confronting her.

Pele’s Voyage

Like all the early Hawaiians, the fire goddess voyaged to the Islands by canoe. Pele belonged to a family of demigods who controlled natural phenomena such as steam, rain, wind, thunder, lightning and explosions. In one legend, she arrived from the south in a canoe sailed by her brother, Kamohoali‘i, and carrying her tiny sister, Hi‘iaka. In some versions, she captained the canoe herself. Still other versions claimed that the lusty Pele was driven out of the family homeland because of an affair with a sister’s husband. After journeying to various islands in the South Pacific, Pele arrived at the distant shores of Hawai‘i.

The fire goddess immediately searched for a home by repeatedly digging in rock and looking for heat and lava. She started on Ni‘ihau, moved to Kaua‘i and on down the island chain. Various pits, caves and volcanic cones on each island were the results of Pele’s efforts. Often, she struck water – her enemy – as at the Waikapala‘e and Waikanaloa Wet Caves of Ha‘ena, and Nomilu Pond on south Kaua‘i. Her heat produced clouds of steam that made such places unsuitable, and she had to move on.

Paoa, The Digging Stick

Pele named her powerful digging stick Paoa. When she drove it into the mountains of Kaua‘i, she created the steep slope still called Pu‘ukapele. According to the story, the smoke of her activity was visible to her still-angry sister who had been cheated in love. She arrived to fight Pele, won the battle, and left the fire goddess for dead. Pele, however, survived and moved on in her quest for a home. She dug on O‘ahu at Ke-‘alia-pa‘a-kai (Salt Lake) and at Le‘ahi (Diamond Head). Neither location proved satisfactory. On the neighboring Island of Maui she again faced another battle with her sisters on the slopes of Haleakala. Pele was again defeated, this time soundly, and the remains of her lava rock skeleton can still be seen, strewn across the Kahikinui coastline. The features are still known as Na-Iwi-O-Pele, the bones of Pele. But while her body had been defeated, Pele’s spirit survived, and she finally traveled to Kilauea on the Island of Hawa‘i to make her home. Her angry sister, watching from afar, saw Pele’s spirit moving in the clouds, and realized that Pele had ascended to a new plane. No mortal would never again be able to defeat the goddess of the volcano.

Pele’s Wrath

Local legends have Pele appearing frequently in human form, often testing people she meets. Many of the lava flows sent from the volcano are viewed as expressions of her anger. According to one story, two girls were cooking breadfruit when Pele arrived in disguise. One girl was generous to the unknown visitor, but the other refused to give up her food. The first was warned and saved, but the home of the second girl was destroyed by a flow of lava.

The temperamental Pele also had legendary battles with the demigod Kamapua‘a. He could change himself into a pig, a man or a variety of plants. Like Pele, Kamapua‘a had a strong, influential family. When he courted her, and she rejected him, calling him “a pig and the son of a pig,” they fought, each calling on powerful relatives for help.

Pele sent flames and lava flows. Kamapua‘a responded with fogs and rainstorms. When she called her brothers to fight Kamapua‘a, his relatives made a beautiful woman appear and lured the brothers away. Then Kamapua‘a sent a flood into Kilauea to put out Pele’s fires. Her brothers and uncles kept the fires alive, and attacked Kamapua‘a once more. Ultimately, the two combatants became lovers, but the relationship remained volatile. They divided up the island of Hawai‘i, with Pele taking control of the hotter, drier districts of Puna, Ka‘u and Kona, where today lava flows are still common. Kamapua‘a took the wet, green lands of Hilo, Hamakua and Kohala. But their violent quarrels still occur when volcanic activity invades Kamapua‘a’s land, as when Mauna Loa flows reach into the Hilo district.

Sacrifices to Pele

Kamapua‘a, in his pig form, was believed responsible for rooting up the ground, and was used by early Hawaiians to explain deep gullies and land, apparently torn up by supernatural forces. In the worship of Pele, any forms into which the male demigod was able to change himself, preferably a pig, are acceptable sacrifices. It was common when visiting the volcano to make offerings to Pele whenever one took something from an area controlled by her. For example, if ‘ohelo berries were collected a few would be tossed into Kilauea crater for the goddess, but one hearsay account illustrated a powerful break. In 1824, the chiefess Kapi‘olani, who had been converted to Christianity, was said to have dealt a terminal blow to the common worship of Pele. She confronted the volcano goddess, read from the Bible, ate ‘ohelo berries without making an offering and threw stones into Kilauea crater. After she waited for Pele to respond, the volcano remained silent, and Kapi‘olani was unhurt. Pele was declared defeated.