Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Mauna Kea, technology, and kuleana
http://www.purplemaia.org/mauna-kea-technology-and-kuleana/By Purple Maiʻa Board and Staff: Donavan Kealoha, Olin Lagon, Kelsey Amos, Kamuela Enos, Nāpali Souza, Forest Frizzell, and Marion Ano
(note: this might be handy- online Hawaiian dictionary: http://wehewehe.org)
After watching kiaʻi mauna maintain their protection of Mauna Kea with steadfast commitment and kapu aloha on Wednesday, and knowing that the TMT LLC has tried to gain support by offering money to fund STEM education, we at Purple Maiʻa feel the need to kākoʻo the arguments that have already been eloquently made by others.
We are thinking especially of people like Bryan Kamaoli Kuwada, who points out that the fight for Mauna Kea is a fight for the future rooted in a deep understanding of ancestral practices, and Narrissa P. Spies who tells how as a Hawaiian scientist she used research to come to her own conclusions about TMT’s values and intentions, leading her to reject a TMT THINK scholarship.
What we can offer in addition to these voices are our ongoing reflections on Native Hawaiian science and technology practices. How (and why) did our ancestors develop and use technology? What does this mean for the practice of science in Hawaiʻi? And what is our kuleana going forward?
We see the need for indigenization of science as being of vital import. The ancestral scientists of these pae ʻāina had one moral prerogative embedded within their work: “How do I explicitly ensure that my people will be able to thrive in their ahupuaʻa?” All acts of “science” took place in the context of the complex set of relationships (human and natural) of an island. Deploying this methodology, which drew from both empirical rigor as well as from intuitive spiritual communion, the kupuna of this ʻāina–who revered Mauna-a-Wākea–were able to thrive on the most remote archipelago on the planet. The legacy of these ancestral scientists ranges from loko iʻa and loʻi kalo to the Kumulipo and the ahupuaʻa construct–incredible feats of physical engineering and intellectual systems thinking that were all deployed in the service of sustaining kānaka’s relationship with each other, the ʻāina around them, and the deified ancestors before them. Bringing this sentiment forward will only be of service to our contemporary society, and it is this sentiment that informs Purple Maiʻa’s vision of the future:
First of all, Hawaiians will have jobs in technology without having to sacrifice sacred sites, cultural values, and connection to community in order to get them. Right now the figures on diversity in the tech industry show that while technology may be colorblind, people of color do not have equal access to technology education and high-skilled jobs in technology. For Hawaiians and students from Hawaiʻi, leaving to pursue tech jobs and tech education is all too often a necessity. This means that many people don’t pursue technology as an extension of ancestral practices. That needs to change.
Second, our definition and understanding of what technology is will expand to recognize the value of ancestral practices and their applicability to contemporary problems. Ancestral knowledge is encoded with values and with an empowered orientation toward the world; this is a world in which we, like our ancestors, are makers of our own technological hacks, innovations, and equitable solutions. In the future, we understand that there is no contradiction between science and culture because they are embedded in each other.
Finally, technology will truly serve communities, the land, and their continued connections to each other. Rather than pursuing a project and justifying how it helps everyone and/or apologizing for how it harms others later, technology practitioners will listen and think critically about how their work impacts communities and the land before, during, and after undertaking a project.
Imagine it with us: a future where children chant to ask permission before turning on their computers but don’t have to ask anyone to fund their educations. That’s the future of technology we’re fighting for.
5 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
http://welivemana.com/articles/sacredness-mauna-kea-explained
BY:
CHRISTINE HITT
April 7, 2015
We pored over historical references, oral histories, testimonies and archaeological reports to help give you a better understanding of the profound reverence given to the wahi kapu (sacred place) of Mauna Kea. A shield volcano rising to 13,796 feet, it’s one of the most prominent landforms in Hawai‘i, but the sacredness of the mauna in Hawaiian culture goes far deeper than its physical features.
Genealogy
In Hawaiian traditions of creation, the earth mother Papahānaumoku and the sky father Wākea created the islands, with Hawai‘i Island being the first. “Mauna Kea is considered to be kupuna (elder), the first born, and is held in high esteem. In native traditions, Mauna Kea is identified as ‘Ka Mauna a Wākea’ (The Mountain of Wākea —traditional god and father of Hawai‘i—who’s name is also written as Kea),” described Pualani Kanaka‘ole Kanahele in a 1999 oral history study by Kumu Pono Associates. Because Mauna Kea was the firstborn child of Papa and Wākea, the mauna is considered the piko (navel) of Hawai‘i Island. The reference of Ka Mauna a Wākea is also seen in mele hānau (birth chants), like this one for Kauikeaouli (Kamehameha III) as written in the book, “The Echo of Our Song: Chants and Poems of the Hawaiians”:
O hānau ka mauna a Kea, (Born of Kea was the mountain,)
‘Ōpu‘u a‘e ka mauna a Kea. (The mountain of Kea budded forth.)
‘O Wākea ke kāne, ‘o Papa, (Wakea was the husband, Papa)
‘o Walinu‘u ka wahine, (Walinu‘u was the wife.)
Hānau Ho ‘ohoku he wahine, (Born was Ho‘ohoku, a daughter,)
Hānau Hāloa he ali‘i, (Born was Hāloa, a chief,)
Hānau ka mauna, he keiki mauna na Kea… (Born was the mountain, a mountain-son of Kea…)
Lake Waiau
The water of Waiau is associated with the god Kāne, and it’s been documented that its water is used in ongoing practices by native healers. Its water is collected, used for ceremonies and for healing. In 1881, Queen Emma visited Waiau and swam across its waters “on a journey of spiritual and physical well-being.” Interviews have also been conducted with residents who reported that it was a practice to take a child’s piko (or umbilical cord) to Waiau.
Burials
In the uppermost zones of Mauna Kea, one pu‘u, or cinder cone, has been confirmed to contain burials—Pu‘u Mākanaka, which literally means “hill crowded with people.” Four other pu‘u are also considered likely to contain burials. Oral histories passed down through families have also shared that there are burials on the slopes of Mauna Kea. Alexander Kanani‘alika Lancaster in the 1999 oral history report by Kumu Pono Associates mentions that he went up the mountain “for ceremonial. They go up there bless the whole mountain for all our ancestors who’s buried up there… the old folks always said, ‘Our family is up there.’”
Piko deposition also occurs in the form of a burial on Mauna Kea, and it’s become a practice for some people to scatter the cremated remains of loved ones on the mountain.
Gods and goddesses
Within the Mauna Kea Science Reserve (roughly 11,215 acres centered around the summit), there are “263 historic properties, including 141 ancient shrines,” according to the 2010 Final Environmental Impact Statement for the TMT Telescopes. While the intended purposes of each historic property is unclear, the Mauna Kea Science Reserve Archaeological Inventory Survey (AIS) speculates that they could be related to gods and goddesses on the mountain: “It now seems likely that the simple shrines were built and used by small family groups as originally thought, but that the larger, more complex structures were built and maintained by a priesthood … First, on the assumption that each upright stands for a separate god, the larger number of uprights on these sites points to a larger pantheon of gods (major and minor gods) that probably most Hawaiians would not have known.” The AIS report also suggests that some of the historic sites mentioned could be related to “astronomical phenomena” and uses the above photo of the shrines facing out towards Haleakalā on Maui as an example idea that needs to be investigated further.
Place names on Mauna Kea, like the many pu‘u, are also named after these gods and goddesses. Westervelt, in his book “Hawaiian Legends of Volcanoes,” mentions that Poli‘ahu was one of four snow goddesses. Līlīnoe was her younger sister and Waiau is also mentioned in legends as a goddess. The summit area is also called Kūkahau‘ula and is referenced as being the name for the husband of Līlīnoe.
(This is a very brief and incomplete review of the subject. For further information, direct references in countless mele will give a much deeper understanding.)
[URL=
.html][IMG]
[/IMG][/URL]
This image shows historic properties (black triangles), traditional cultural properties (gray areas) and find spots (red circles). The find spots are defined as modern features.
Source: AIS of the Astronomy Precinct in the Mauna Kea Science Reserve, Ka'ohe Ahupua'a, Hamakua District, Hawai'i Island, Hawai'i.
The summit of Kūkahau‘ula
Early accounts from the mid-19th century by William Ellis, James Jarves and James Macrae write that their Hawaiian guides would not go near Mauna Kea’s summit due to “superstitious dread of the mountain spirits or gods.” The Mauna Kea Science Reserve’s AIS supports references to the top of the mauna as being kapu (forbidden) and only accessible to the highest chiefs or priests by noting the lack of evidence of human activity at the summit in relation to lower elevations.
In the 1999 Kumu Pono Associates’ oral history study, Pualani Kanaka‘ole Kanahele stated: “Mauna Kea was always kupuna to us … And there was no wanting to go to top. You know, just that they were there … was just satisfying to us. And so it was kind of a hallowed place that you know it is there, and you don’t need to go there. You don’t need to bother it … And it was always reassuring because it was the foundation of our island … If you want to reach mana, that [the summit] is where you go.”
BY:
CHRISTINE HITT
April 7, 2015
We pored over historical references, oral histories, testimonies and archaeological reports to help give you a better understanding of the profound reverence given to the wahi kapu (sacred place) of Mauna Kea. A shield volcano rising to 13,796 feet, it’s one of the most prominent landforms in Hawai‘i, but the sacredness of the mauna in Hawaiian culture goes far deeper than its physical features.
Genealogy
In Hawaiian traditions of creation, the earth mother Papahānaumoku and the sky father Wākea created the islands, with Hawai‘i Island being the first. “Mauna Kea is considered to be kupuna (elder), the first born, and is held in high esteem. In native traditions, Mauna Kea is identified as ‘Ka Mauna a Wākea’ (The Mountain of Wākea —traditional god and father of Hawai‘i—who’s name is also written as Kea),” described Pualani Kanaka‘ole Kanahele in a 1999 oral history study by Kumu Pono Associates. Because Mauna Kea was the firstborn child of Papa and Wākea, the mauna is considered the piko (navel) of Hawai‘i Island. The reference of Ka Mauna a Wākea is also seen in mele hānau (birth chants), like this one for Kauikeaouli (Kamehameha III) as written in the book, “The Echo of Our Song: Chants and Poems of the Hawaiians”:
O hānau ka mauna a Kea, (Born of Kea was the mountain,)
‘Ōpu‘u a‘e ka mauna a Kea. (The mountain of Kea budded forth.)
‘O Wākea ke kāne, ‘o Papa, (Wakea was the husband, Papa)
‘o Walinu‘u ka wahine, (Walinu‘u was the wife.)
Hānau Ho ‘ohoku he wahine, (Born was Ho‘ohoku, a daughter,)
Hānau Hāloa he ali‘i, (Born was Hāloa, a chief,)
Hānau ka mauna, he keiki mauna na Kea… (Born was the mountain, a mountain-son of Kea…)
Lake Waiau
The water of Waiau is associated with the god Kāne, and it’s been documented that its water is used in ongoing practices by native healers. Its water is collected, used for ceremonies and for healing. In 1881, Queen Emma visited Waiau and swam across its waters “on a journey of spiritual and physical well-being.” Interviews have also been conducted with residents who reported that it was a practice to take a child’s piko (or umbilical cord) to Waiau.
Burials
In the uppermost zones of Mauna Kea, one pu‘u, or cinder cone, has been confirmed to contain burials—Pu‘u Mākanaka, which literally means “hill crowded with people.” Four other pu‘u are also considered likely to contain burials. Oral histories passed down through families have also shared that there are burials on the slopes of Mauna Kea. Alexander Kanani‘alika Lancaster in the 1999 oral history report by Kumu Pono Associates mentions that he went up the mountain “for ceremonial. They go up there bless the whole mountain for all our ancestors who’s buried up there… the old folks always said, ‘Our family is up there.’”
Piko deposition also occurs in the form of a burial on Mauna Kea, and it’s become a practice for some people to scatter the cremated remains of loved ones on the mountain.
Gods and goddesses
Within the Mauna Kea Science Reserve (roughly 11,215 acres centered around the summit), there are “263 historic properties, including 141 ancient shrines,” according to the 2010 Final Environmental Impact Statement for the TMT Telescopes. While the intended purposes of each historic property is unclear, the Mauna Kea Science Reserve Archaeological Inventory Survey (AIS) speculates that they could be related to gods and goddesses on the mountain: “It now seems likely that the simple shrines were built and used by small family groups as originally thought, but that the larger, more complex structures were built and maintained by a priesthood … First, on the assumption that each upright stands for a separate god, the larger number of uprights on these sites points to a larger pantheon of gods (major and minor gods) that probably most Hawaiians would not have known.” The AIS report also suggests that some of the historic sites mentioned could be related to “astronomical phenomena” and uses the above photo of the shrines facing out towards Haleakalā on Maui as an example idea that needs to be investigated further.
Place names on Mauna Kea, like the many pu‘u, are also named after these gods and goddesses. Westervelt, in his book “Hawaiian Legends of Volcanoes,” mentions that Poli‘ahu was one of four snow goddesses. Līlīnoe was her younger sister and Waiau is also mentioned in legends as a goddess. The summit area is also called Kūkahau‘ula and is referenced as being the name for the husband of Līlīnoe.
(This is a very brief and incomplete review of the subject. For further information, direct references in countless mele will give a much deeper understanding.)
[URL=
.html][IMG][/IMG][/URL]
This image shows historic properties (black triangles), traditional cultural properties (gray areas) and find spots (red circles). The find spots are defined as modern features.
Source: AIS of the Astronomy Precinct in the Mauna Kea Science Reserve, Ka'ohe Ahupua'a, Hamakua District, Hawai'i Island, Hawai'i.
The summit of Kūkahau‘ula
Early accounts from the mid-19th century by William Ellis, James Jarves and James Macrae write that their Hawaiian guides would not go near Mauna Kea’s summit due to “superstitious dread of the mountain spirits or gods.” The Mauna Kea Science Reserve’s AIS supports references to the top of the mauna as being kapu (forbidden) and only accessible to the highest chiefs or priests by noting the lack of evidence of human activity at the summit in relation to lower elevations.
In the 1999 Kumu Pono Associates’ oral history study, Pualani Kanaka‘ole Kanahele stated: “Mauna Kea was always kupuna to us … And there was no wanting to go to top. You know, just that they were there … was just satisfying to us. And so it was kind of a hallowed place that you know it is there, and you don’t need to go there. You don’t need to bother it … And it was always reassuring because it was the foundation of our island … If you want to reach mana, that [the summit] is where you go.”