Pu'u Loa, Hawaii:
Where Rock Art and Motherhood Meet
By Kathy Krebs-Dean
Photo of a Pu'u Loa petroglyph
from Spirit of Place by Dr. Gerogia Lee; used with permission.
Copyright 2004, all rights
reserved
Pu'u Loa is an inhospitable, arid, windy place on the flanks
of Kilauea Volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii. It is essentially
barren with the exception of a few errant o'hia trees, patches
of dried grasses, and a few scattered plants. Water is nonexistent.
It is the antithesis of what most people would expect to find
on a Pacific tropical island yet it is an exceptionally
captivating place, particularly for those who have a penchant
for petroglyphs, arcane rituals, and children.
Pu'u Loa is an especially intriguing place for families and
makes an ideal side trip when touring Hawaii Volcanoes National
Park, where it is located. Visiting Pu'u Loa is like going to
a museum without walls, where children can have fun exploring
ancient Polynesian culture and history. The essence of Pu'u Loa
is about empowering families, especially children.
In Pilgrims' Footsteps
Pu'u Loa means "Hill of Long Life." It was a significant
pilgrimage site for ancient Hawaiian families who traveled there
to deposit the umbilical cord stumps (piko) of their children.
They believed that Pu'u Loa embodied tremendous spiritual power,
which Hawaiians refer to as mana.
The ancient island dwellers felt they could tap into this
power by grinding their children's piko into the hardened black
lava covering the land, thus blessing their offspring with good
health and longevity. Just as a child is connected to his or
her mother through the naval, a child would similarly be connected
to the mana inherent in this sacred land through this ritual.
Archaeologist Georgia Lee, who along with Edward Stasack completed
the most recent and systematic mapping of the site in the mid-1990s,
says "Mana is / was power, spiritual power, directly from
the gods. The chiefs had access to this by birth. [Mana] was
absolutely significant to ancient Hawaiians, and was the basis
for their society." (Jan. 26, 2004, personal communication.)
The sheer volume of piko repositories, known as cupules or
pukas, is astonishing. Lee and Stasack have recorded 23,566 petroglyphs
(rock markings or art) at Pu'u Loa, 84 percent of them cupules.
The other petroglyphs are of human, animal, pictorial, and geometric
forms. In Lee's estimation, "No other site in Hawaii has
anything remotely of that proportion."
Geological and ethnographic evidence suggests Pu'u Loa was
used as early as 1450 A.D. through the late 1800s. Anthropologist
Martha Beckwith interviewed a mother and son from the area in
1914 who confirmed the occurrence of the piko ritual. The mother
recounted the story of how her mother had buried her piko at
Pu'u Loa. The son talked about how families would store up the
umbilical cords in gourds, then make the trek to Pu'u Loa, where
a hole was made for each piko. The holes were arranged together
to identify them as a family unit.
An Easy Hike
The hike is surprisingly easy to do, even with small children,
although strollers and wheelchairs cannot be navigated through
the uneven, often bumpy lava trail. The mile-and-half round-trip
hike can easily be completed in about one hour. Although the
hike involves a slight hill, it is not especially challenging.
Sunscreen and water are essential to making this hike safe and
comfortable, as are closed-toed shoes.
A few minutes into the hike, an astonishing number of petroglyphs
appear directly on and around the trail itself. The petroglyphs
are abundant, crowded, and juxtaposed much like the graffiti-dense
stage wall at 924 Gilman, the Punk Venue Project in Berkeley.
The images at Pu'u Loa are far from profane, yet like 924 Gilman,
they reflect a wide range of craftsmanship and skill, and they
are a vivid expression of a distinct cultural milieu.
A raised wooden viewing platform built over the trail provides
an exceptional vantage point to see many petroglpyhs and prevents
them from being trampled on, which causes them to erode. My own
children were thrilled to spot a lone sea turtle carved into
the smooth lava, for they had encountered Hawaiian Green Sea
Turtles while snorkeling along the Big Island's Kohala Coast
a couple of days earlier. While some of the petroglpyhs are mysterious,
many readily resonate with even the most casual visitor, young
and old alike, especially the numerous human forms and occasional
Hawaiian sailing canoe.
Just beyond the wooden platform, following the existing trail,
more petroglyphs abound. I was especially drawn to the triangular
female human forms identifiable by the opening at the base of
the torso. Some of the female forms have a cupule within or just
below the torso, or are accompanied by tiny human forms. Lee
and Stasack believe these to be probable pregnancy and birth
images. These maternal renditions and the special treatment of
the children's umbilical chords make this the "mother of
all hikes" in my book!
600 to 800 Years Ago
According to Lee and Stasack, the pahoehoe lava flows found
at this site date back to AD 1200-1450, which means the site
is 600 to 800 years old. Pu'u Loa was not a place where people
lived permanently, but rather a temporary, if popular, destination
along an ancient trail running between Puna and Kau on the southwestern
part of the island.
The Hawaiians who came here were no doubt a hardy people,
given the scarcity of food and water. They camped in small, shallow
caves and scattered throughout the site. While it is likely that
kahunas, or spiritual leaders, conducted many of the rituals
that took place here, others were done by ordinary, low-caste
families.
Kilauea, which has been continuously erupting since the mid-1970s,
has a reputation as one of the world's most visitor-friendly
volcanoes, because it is one of the few places in the world where
ordinary people can gather to watch hot molten lava pouring out
of the earth's crust. Although the flows tend to be slow rather
than explosive, the lava is nonetheless powerful, taking down
anything in its path which is likely to include Pu'u Loa
some day.
"A few miles east of Pu'u Loa, recent lava flows have
covered over several other petroglyph sites," says Lee.
So if you put Pu'u Loa on your to-do list, make a point to seeing
it soon.
Pu'u Loa can be visited with or without a park ranger. The
site can be accessed 24 hours a day, every day of the year, including
holidays. It is 20 miles from the Visitor Center on Chain of
Craters Road. The park's entrance fee is $10 per car and is good
for seven consecutive days.
I asked Lee what she wanted people to know about Pu'u Loa.
She said, "Pu'u Loa was sacred for ancient Hawaiians; the
site had power and mana. Walk softly, take pictures, absorb the
power and meaning of the site." By all means, she added,
do not take rubbings or walk on the petroglyphs, both of which
damage them.
As you hike the Pu'u Loa trail, you and your family are following
in the footsteps of ancient Hawaiians, experiencing in much the
same way they did centuries ago.
Kathy Krebs-Dean, M.A., is a San Francisco
Bay Area-based writer, applied anthropologist, and mother of
three children, Piper, age 1, Hunter, 4, and Zoë, 7. She
specializes in family-centered adventures.
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If You Go
General park information:
Hawaii Volcanoes National
Park is located 30 miles from Hilo on Route 11, and 110 miles
from Kailua-Kona via Route 19, on the Big Island of Hawaii. Call
(808) 985-6000 or visit www.nps/gov/havo
for information about the park, including the current status
of volcanic eruptions.
Places to stay: To add to the sense of exploration
and adventure, consider staying at the Namakani Paio Cabins in
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. The cabins sleep up to four;
$45/day for single or double occupancy, and $8 each for additional
persons. You must provide your own charcoal and cooking equipment.
Sheets, pillows, a towel, and a blanket are provided, but it
is advisable to bring a sleeping bag, as the cabins are not heated.
Alternatively, you can book
a room at the Volcano House Hotel, also located within the park.
Rates range from $90 to $195 per night, double occupancy; add
$15 more for third and fourth persons. Children under age 12
are free. To make reservations for the cabins or hotel, e-mail
volcanohouse@earthlink.net
or call (808) 967-7321.
Places to eat: Buffet-style breakfast ($9.50/adult,
$5.50/child) and lunch ($12/adult, $7.50/child) are available
at the Kaohelo Restaurant in the Volcano House. The Kaohelo Restaurant
dinner prices range from $17.50 to $26 an entree. The Volcano
House also has a Snack Shop and a lounge which serves cafeteria-style
foods like salads, hot dogs, and hamburgers.
Useful books to read: Petroglyphs of Hawaii by Georgia Lee and Edward Stasack
(Easter Island Foundation, 1999); Ancient Sites of Hawaii
by Van James (Mutual Publishing, 1995); and Hawaiian Mythology
by Martha Beckwith (1970). They are usually available at the
Kilauea Visitor's Center.
General Big Island travel
resources: Hawaii:
The Big Island Revealed (3rd Edition) by Andrew Doughty &
Harriet Friedman. Also useful is the Big Island Visitors' Forum
at www.konaweb.com, a good
place to get opinions from other Big Island visitors.
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