03-04-2017, 08:40 AM
Here's a comment posted to https://sites.coloradocollege.edu/indige...mauna-kea/
Don says:
April 14, 2013 at 10:00 am
I was born in Hilo and grew up there, including graduating from Hilo High in 1960. So I’m not some outsider in this matter. My family were hunters and I knew Mauna Kea well from the time I was a boy. I climbed to the summit from Hale Pokahu more times than I can count — this long before any roads and any telescopes were there.
I can assure you that there was no altar at the summit. There was an ahu, a pile of stones, and in it a mayonnaise jar with a pencil and notebook. You could write your name and the date of your ascent.
The current altar went into place sometime in the 1990s. And, interestingly enough, the last time I was at the summit — 2012 — it was in a state of disrepair.
I never saw a Native Hawaiian on Mauna Kea. Certainly, absolutely, there was no one climbing to the summit to perform rituals. In the past? I don’t know. Of course Native Hawaiians had an important presence at Keanakakoi, the Cave of the Adzes, where adze-making basalt was quarried. But that site fell into disuse even as far back as the 18th century.
As for shrines — I never saw one. Not surprisingly, they’ve been popping up all over of late. For example, there never was a shrine at Hale Pokahu when that place was, indeed, nothing but a “Stone House.” This was long before it was the visitor center, and long before any paved road led there.
The altar that can be seen near the silverswords was put in place somewhere around 2009 or 2010. Hardly traditional. In the same way, near the Saddle Road at Pu’u Huluhulu an altar appeared in 2010 or 2011. Never there before.
There’s no doubt that Mauna Kea is culturally important. But at the same time, there’s little or no evidence that Native Hawaiians used it ritually in anything resembling recent times.
Don says:
April 14, 2013 at 10:00 am
I was born in Hilo and grew up there, including graduating from Hilo High in 1960. So I’m not some outsider in this matter. My family were hunters and I knew Mauna Kea well from the time I was a boy. I climbed to the summit from Hale Pokahu more times than I can count — this long before any roads and any telescopes were there.
I can assure you that there was no altar at the summit. There was an ahu, a pile of stones, and in it a mayonnaise jar with a pencil and notebook. You could write your name and the date of your ascent.
The current altar went into place sometime in the 1990s. And, interestingly enough, the last time I was at the summit — 2012 — it was in a state of disrepair.
I never saw a Native Hawaiian on Mauna Kea. Certainly, absolutely, there was no one climbing to the summit to perform rituals. In the past? I don’t know. Of course Native Hawaiians had an important presence at Keanakakoi, the Cave of the Adzes, where adze-making basalt was quarried. But that site fell into disuse even as far back as the 18th century.
As for shrines — I never saw one. Not surprisingly, they’ve been popping up all over of late. For example, there never was a shrine at Hale Pokahu when that place was, indeed, nothing but a “Stone House.” This was long before it was the visitor center, and long before any paved road led there.
The altar that can be seen near the silverswords was put in place somewhere around 2009 or 2010. Hardly traditional. In the same way, near the Saddle Road at Pu’u Huluhulu an altar appeared in 2010 or 2011. Never there before.
There’s no doubt that Mauna Kea is culturally important. But at the same time, there’s little or no evidence that Native Hawaiians used it ritually in anything resembling recent times.