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Tuesday, July 22, 2003 |
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We learned a lot on our tour of the big island of Hawaii. Like many of our other drivers, Nalu, our guide, was full of stories. His main subject was the history of the islands, which fascinated Stephanie. As Nalu told it, the first settlers named their new habitat “Havaii” or “new found homeland”. What they didn’t know was that they inhabited “islands” that were actually the tops of underwater volcanoes. Hawaii, the youngest island, is also the biggest. In fact, were you able to pick up and drop the other seven islands on top of the island of Hawaii, you would have room left over.
Being the most newly formed island, Hawaii still has active volcanoes. It is made up of five such eruptors, with a sixth still under water and expected to eventually become part of the land mass. The volcano Mana Loa is actually overdue for an explosion. When it does eventually become active again, it will be like a pot on a hot gas stove, popping and rattling before the lid is blown off.
Volcanoes or no, the earliest peoples of Hawaii were able to live happily in their new home. They divided into six groups, each group taking only what they needed to from the land. Some of the groups lived briefly in hollow tubes caused by lava flows, (and indeed, we did walk through such a structure which was named for Lawrence Thurston, an early Hawaiian Minister of State) but, as the ground near such flows is hollow and cannot be built on, such stays were short lived. Lava flow tubes, or pu’us, are caused as thousands of pounds of pressure are trying to vent out all at once. This proves to be impossible, so tubes are created as the lava flows elsewhere, seeking release. Besides the groups that lived in such tubes, Hawaii had mountain, plain and ocean dwellers. Those who lived in the mountains began raising sandalwood for furniture making while those living in the middle section of the island raised fruits. Ocean dwellers began building fishponds to raise their own food.
Each group was governed by a high priest and a high chief. These leaders strictly enforced the “kapu” system in which certain things were expressly forbidden. Religion was a big part of the life of ancient Hawaiians with gods like Pele held up as enforcers of the law. There were even lesser gods such as the owl, the shark and the lizard. In addition to such deities, strict rules were put in place to rule everyday lives. Many of these rules concerned food. Nalu’s saying was that Hawaiians didn’t eat until they were full, they ate until they were tired which is why women wear maumaus or oversized dresses “which are like a bank. The men know that something is in there, but they don’t know how much.” All joking aside, the ancient rules regarding food were to be taken very seriously. For example, no one was allowed to eat fish that were still carrying eggs. Women could not eat bananas or pork and were not allowed to eat at all with men. The punishment for breaking the kapu was death, often at the hands of an immediate family member. However, just as there were in Old Testament times for the Hebrews, the early Hawaiians set up places of refuge. Should a lawbreaker reach one of these six places, he or she was safe for a time. Upon arriving at these shelters, the fugitive was put to work as a farmer or a fisherman to await trial. Justice was swift during this era. Most of those staying at a place of refuge found themselves sentenced within three days. Should the trial end up in their favor, the offender’s slate was wiped clean and he or she returned home completely forgiven. Ken and Stephanie were able to glimpse one of the few existing places of refuge. Pu’uhonua O Honauau was restored as a park in 1961.
There is no telling how long things would have continued in this fashion had it not been for Hawaii’s first king: Kahmehameha. Just as Arthur appeared destined to rule Britain, Kahmehameha seemed chosen to unite the Hawaiian Islands. Arthur had Excalibur and thirteen year old Kahmehameha had the Naha Stone. This Stone, owned by the Naha Brothers, was said to be impossible to lift. Whoever could accomplish this task, it was rumored, would become ruler of the Islands. Not content with the status quo, young Kahmehameha decided to give such a feat a try. He succeeded. At thirteen, he not only lifted the 2½ ton stone, he turned it over on its side before setting it back down. Weighing 260 pounds, Kahmehameha reached a height of seven feet and fought several battles to unite all eight islands before becoming Hawaii’s first King in the 1700’s. He was crowned not by his people, but by the British who were impressed with his might. King the young man may have been, but it was not a glorious rein. Explorers such as Captain Cook had introduced disease to the Islands. Someone dumped out brackish water into pristine ponds, facilitating a take over by mosquitoes. These two terrors, along with a deadly plague also brought by explorers, wiped out 97% of the area’s population. Perhaps it was such devastation that helped initiate the King’s decree to bear many children. With his twenty-one wives, the King helped do his part as well.
Kahmehameha was a big man, but his favorite wife was bigger, and stubborn. Weighing 400 pounds and standing six feet tall, this woman began to disbelieve the warnings against angering the gods. Large as she was, however, the King’s favored wife knew her place and kept to it. Faith in the ancient ways or no, she stayed away from pork and never ate with a man. After all, she may not have to obey the deities, but she did have to obey the king. In 1819, however, the King died, leaving his son Kahmehameha II to rule. Boldly, the new monarch’s stepmother staged a dinner. Sitting down beside Kahmehameha II, she not only shared a meal with him, she ate banana and pork. As they were near the ocean, every observer must have expected one of the water gods to reach out and consume the Queen herself, but nothing happened. There was no retaliation and Kahmehameha II destroyed all the places of refuge. When the missionaries arrived a year later, they found a people hungry for something to believe in. The old gods of Hawaii had been proven false and those on the Islands were receptive to the message of a loving God.
The history of Hawaii was only many of the subjects that Nalu engaged us in. For example, do you know how to tell a shallow part of the ocean from a deep one? There are two ways. The first is to take the temperature of the water. Warmer water is shallower than cooler. Also, deeper parts of the ocean are bluer in color than shallow waves. Can you name the three main industries of the Hawaiian Islands? Agriculture used to number one during the days of the sugar cane and pineapple farms, but, despite the fact that the State of Hawaii still exports 10 ½ tons of bananas a year, agriculture has slipped to third on the list of regional industries and eucalyptus farms are replacing sugar cane plantations. Tourism is now number one with government spending in the second slot.
Nalu also taught us a bit about Hawaiian nature. He began by telling us that the hibiscus flower has 5,000 variations and that it takes 300 pounds of pressure to crack a macadamia nut so most are rolled over with a machine in order to open them. Other interesting facts relayed to us by Nalu were that it takes fifteen years for a macadamia nut tree to mature, that you truly can live off the land and the sea for one doesn’t need a permit to fish in the ocean if the catch is to be used in the home and that Hawaii has eleven of the thirteen climate regions found in the world. We drove through the only tropical rainforest in the United States and studied the “violin ferns” or “sunseekers”, so named because the leaves curl up in the shape of a violinist’s fingers. To reach the sun, these plants can grow as high as thirty feet.
In the Hawaiian Islands, the temperature can get as hot as 150 degrees or cold enough to snow. Rainfall levels also vary throughout the region and indeed on the “Big Island” of Hawaii, some areas receive as little as six inches of rain per year while Hilo can measure 125 inches. Flora and fauna also greatly vary and are often an intrigal part of Hawaiian life. Bamboo, for example has 900 uses.
Through our bus window we spotted several varieties of a common Hawaiian flower. The ginger plant ranges in color from white to red and reminded Stephanie of the main character of -Charlotte’s Web- in that the mother ginger has her babies and dies, leaving five small blooms to take her place. There are many types of Hawaiian ginger, but the Kahili species was carried by early Hawaiian warriors to announce the arrival of the King.
In addition to the stories that he told us, Nalu guided us to some fascinating sites. From the windows of our bus, we spied KaLae, the Southernmost Tip of the United States, which is 150 miles further South than Key West. We stopped and strolled around the Black Sand Beach, which Nalu informed us is actually made up of disintegrated lava or cinder that is round like bearings. This Beach is home to a Turtle Sanctuary for endangered species. We did see a turtle, but by law we could only get within fifteen feet of him. Another common animal in Hawaii is the donkey. Herds of them were turned loose to roam wild in the hills after the military sold their surplus equipment to farmers and planters for hauling and loading at the end of the Second World War. They now emerge every morning to spend the day at the ocean, returning to the hills at night. As a result, actual “donkey crossing” signs are visible on the main roads. Despite these warnings, accidents and collisions still occur. We also visited Rainbow Falls, which is made up entirely of rainwater flowing into the Wailuku River.
We walked around the Southwest Rift, caused by a 1924 volcano. This area is the closest to the surface of the moon than any other on earth. A volcano also shaped the Pu’uohoh Vent. Four hundred of its six hundred and twenty feet collapsed into the ocean following an eruption. After visiting the Thomas A. Jagger Seismic Center (where we were able to see for ourselves the volcanic activity still present in Hawaii today through eruptions and earthquakes), we drove to Hale Ma’uma’u. This area was Ken’s favorite because we were actually walking around on a volcano. We were not allowed to go too far, but we were able to stand next to the sulfur coming up from the cracks in the earth. Several of the children in our tour group placed their faces and hands (and feet) over the rising columns in order to feel the heat.
One of the more powerful stories that Nalu related to us concerned an answer to prayer. In 1983, Mauna Loa began erupting. This was not unusual, as Hawaii is a young island and has active volcanoes. What was strange is that the lava flows headed not north to south, as they had in the past, but east, toward Hilo. Now, Hilo is a town that lost some of its population on April 1, 1946 when an earthquake caused a tsunami and some of the townspeople got caught as they went out to the beach to gather stranded fish. Perhaps remembering this past tragedy, perhaps fearing future destruction, several denominations of Hilo’s churches got together and began praying. For twenty-two days, Hilo’s people prayed and prayed until the lava stopped…four miles from town. The sad ending to the story however is that the volcano continued to act up. For fifteen more years it erupted before stopping in 1997.
To end our trip to Hawaii, Nalu taught us about Hawaiian graffiti. Much of the areas we drove through are black from volcanic eruptions (the blacker the lava, the younger it is). So, enterprising young people will use this lava for a background, bringing white coral from the beach and placing it in the shape of letters. We saw messages of love, phone numbers advertising things for sale and simple “Johnny was here” affirmations. Nalu said that it is best to put your message further back. If you place your coral near the road, it is expected that someone will come along and change your statements. This made Stephanie laugh. It was a good way to end our trip.