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Mahalo nui loa to Ku for posting this from today's Star-Bulletin - 2/17/06
Vandals strike Hawaiian altar at Mauna Kea summit
The memorial held items of 2 soldiers from Hawaii who were killed in Iraq
By Rod Thompson
rthompson@starbulletin.com
HILO ยป A Hawaiian altar at the summit of Mauna Kea used for spiritual
purposes since 1997 was knocked down Tuesday by unknown vandals, according to a Big
Island activist.
The altar also had been used as a resting place for personal items of two
soldiers from Hawaii killed in Iraq.
"It's customary practice to place things of the deceased in high places,"
said Kealoha Pisciotta, who has criticized observatory expansion on Mauna Kea.
Breaking into tears, she added, "They lost their sons. It's obviously
hurtful and disrespectful."
Honolulu attorney Allen Hoe, whose son Nainoa was killed by a sniper in
Mosul, Iraq, last year, said he felt "blown away" by the desecration. "Talk about
hateful acts," he said.
Amid the rocks of the altar, Hoe had placed a written version of his son's
genealogy, his son's Army "Ranger tab," a kind of badge, and other items.
The family of the second man with items in the altar did not want to be
identified.
Pisciotta said people should try to avoid anger at the desecration. "We have
to remember that Mauna Kea is for peace," she said.
The altar was erected in 1997 by the Royal Order of Kamehameha "to help
provide a focus of reverence," Pisciotta said.
It was a time when old plans for astronomy on Mauna Kea were ending, new
plans were being proposed and some people were angered by feelings that the
biological and cultural resources of the summit were mismanaged.
The Royal Order built a "lele," a wooden skeleton of an altar 6 feet high
with posts in four corners, Pisciotta said. To anchor it, rocks were placed at
the base, beginning an "ahu," or stone altar. More stones were added by
visitors over time.
The lele stands barely a yard from a U.S. Geological Survey marker showing
the true summit of the mountain, which is a few hundred feet from the closest
observatories.
The day after it was built, 115-mph winds raked the summit, but the lele was
undamaged, Pisciotta said.
On Tuesday a patrolling Mauna Kea ranger saw the lele still standing in the
morning but knocked down in the afternoon, said Bill Stormont, director of the
Office of Mauna Kea Management of the University of Hawaii at Hilo.
A machete might have been used, Pisciotta said. "It looks like it was hacked
down," she said.
Stormont said he has five rangers under his command, but only two at a time
are on duty and they have no enforcement powers. A bill to give them that
power failed in the Legislature last year and is pending this year, he said.
There might be no law to enforce, since the lele is not a historic
structure, and there might be no law protecting a new religious structure, Stormont
suggested.
Rangers count cars going to the summit area but do not take license plate
numbers, he said.
The Mauna Kea management structure calls for Stormont to be guided by a
group of Hawaiians called the Kahu Ku Mauna Advisory Council.
Some members feel that a lele is traditionally built to serve for a specific
purpose and time and then should be removed, he said. After more than eight
years, some felt that the time to remove it had come, he said. But there is no
information on who knocked it down.
Hoe said the nature of the structure has changed with time from a temporary
lele to a permanent ahu. It "absolutely" has a right to remain, he said.
"A lot of other Hawaiians have adopted that as a kind of special place for
tributes to their ancestors," he said. "It is the highest point of our cultural
being."
[Note: The article contains a picture of the lele/ahu.]
starbulletin.com/2006/02/1...ory03.html
Vandals strike Hawaiian altar at Mauna Kea summit
The memorial held items of 2 soldiers from Hawaii who were killed in Iraq
By Rod Thompson
rthompson@starbulletin.com
HILO ยป A Hawaiian altar at the summit of Mauna Kea used for spiritual
purposes since 1997 was knocked down Tuesday by unknown vandals, according to a Big
Island activist.
The altar also had been used as a resting place for personal items of two
soldiers from Hawaii killed in Iraq.
"It's customary practice to place things of the deceased in high places,"
said Kealoha Pisciotta, who has criticized observatory expansion on Mauna Kea.
Breaking into tears, she added, "They lost their sons. It's obviously
hurtful and disrespectful."
Honolulu attorney Allen Hoe, whose son Nainoa was killed by a sniper in
Mosul, Iraq, last year, said he felt "blown away" by the desecration. "Talk about
hateful acts," he said.
Amid the rocks of the altar, Hoe had placed a written version of his son's
genealogy, his son's Army "Ranger tab," a kind of badge, and other items.
The family of the second man with items in the altar did not want to be
identified.
Pisciotta said people should try to avoid anger at the desecration. "We have
to remember that Mauna Kea is for peace," she said.
The altar was erected in 1997 by the Royal Order of Kamehameha "to help
provide a focus of reverence," Pisciotta said.
It was a time when old plans for astronomy on Mauna Kea were ending, new
plans were being proposed and some people were angered by feelings that the
biological and cultural resources of the summit were mismanaged.
The Royal Order built a "lele," a wooden skeleton of an altar 6 feet high
with posts in four corners, Pisciotta said. To anchor it, rocks were placed at
the base, beginning an "ahu," or stone altar. More stones were added by
visitors over time.
The lele stands barely a yard from a U.S. Geological Survey marker showing
the true summit of the mountain, which is a few hundred feet from the closest
observatories.
The day after it was built, 115-mph winds raked the summit, but the lele was
undamaged, Pisciotta said.
On Tuesday a patrolling Mauna Kea ranger saw the lele still standing in the
morning but knocked down in the afternoon, said Bill Stormont, director of the
Office of Mauna Kea Management of the University of Hawaii at Hilo.
A machete might have been used, Pisciotta said. "It looks like it was hacked
down," she said.
Stormont said he has five rangers under his command, but only two at a time
are on duty and they have no enforcement powers. A bill to give them that
power failed in the Legislature last year and is pending this year, he said.
There might be no law to enforce, since the lele is not a historic
structure, and there might be no law protecting a new religious structure, Stormont
suggested.
Rangers count cars going to the summit area but do not take license plate
numbers, he said.
The Mauna Kea management structure calls for Stormont to be guided by a
group of Hawaiians called the Kahu Ku Mauna Advisory Council.
Some members feel that a lele is traditionally built to serve for a specific
purpose and time and then should be removed, he said. After more than eight
years, some felt that the time to remove it had come, he said. But there is no
information on who knocked it down.
Hoe said the nature of the structure has changed with time from a temporary
lele to a permanent ahu. It "absolutely" has a right to remain, he said.
"A lot of other Hawaiians have adopted that as a kind of special place for
tributes to their ancestors," he said. "It is the highest point of our cultural
being."
[Note: The article contains a picture of the lele/ahu.]
starbulletin.com/2006/02/1...ory03.html
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FWD from Ku: Uncrushed. Returning the lele to the mountain
Wed, February 22, 2006 - 6:32 PMMahalo nui loa to Ku for this update, and to all who were on the mountain in very harsh weather conditions, rebuilding the lele at the summit!
--------
Today, Tuesday, February 21, we stopped at the kuahu at Pu'uHuluhulu - just off Saddle Road, Hawai'i island - on the way to Mauna Kea, our sacred mountain. We were led by Paul Neves of the 'real' Royal Order of Kamehameha I.
Things kept on going well as we arrived at HalePohaku - close to the elevation of Hupou O Kane - The Breast of Kane (with godlike characteristics) on the other side of the mountain - where a little stream springs from the mountain and makes its meandering way daintily down the otherwise dry mountain - like nourishing milk gushing from a nipple - a study in contrasts. HalePohaku - where the Visitor's Center is - where we asked the gods of the mountain to permit us to ascend further - and to do what we were there for. There were 17 of us - a core of Kanaka Maoli - accompanied by friends.
The word was that (the snow goddess) Poliahu was manifesting herself on the summit - but the fact did not daunt those who were focussed to ascend to do their sacred work.
And, as we left the HalePohaku area - Lilinoe (another goddess), in all her glory, was starting to envelope us with her foggy mists. Waiau (yet another goddess) was quiet - perched in her "lake" manifestation on the other side of the pu'u at 13,000 feet.
It was like getting ready to enter the gates of heaven. But steel yourselves - better be prepared for all possibilities.
We arrived at the summit - Kukahau'ula - in excellent spirits. Little did we know that each of us was to be tested before our work - not to be completed - was interrupted.
Going down to the saddle from where the vehicles were parked - on the way to the summit - was fairly easy going. The sandy, cindery earth was quite damp - and not frozen. Then, on the bottom, we got onto the snow - Yep - the white stuff - that we would have to negotiate all the way to the top. It was slick enough so that everyone was required to take careful, measured steps, with an occasional rest to gain one's breath - sometimes a step back with every two steps forward and upward - before we finally got to the top.
And, seemingly following us, was the wind. It was reported that the chill factor was minus 5 degrees. It was all of that. So as we worked our way up the hill - we were buffeted by strong and regular gusts of wind - and snow. We were in a Mauna Kea winter blizzard.
And, oh, the wind was blowing. Occasionally, groups of 4 and 5 of us would stop - putting our arms around each other to catch our collective breaths and trying to conserve the little bit of warmth that we could - from each other. Gusts of an estimated 50 miles per hour peppered us with snow and bb-shot sized particles of ice - ice that had melted on the snow's surface - then frozen. It all added up to a test - a test of concentrated pono-ness - despite the numbness of almost frost-bitten body parts - driving to successfully ascend the summit to carry up the new materials for our new lele - to replace the one that desecrators - at least two of them by my reckoning - had disappeared just a week ago.
We decided to place the legs of the new lele in the same positions as those of the old one - maintaining the alignments of the original legs that were so carefully placed.
And Isaac Harp, who discovered the dastardly deed the week before, ended up on his hands and knees digging out the places for those new legs to stand.
Little did the desecrators realize that these sacred symbols of our culture, among other things, commemmorate the sacred land on which they are placed - this time at the top of a very special mountain - and, in this case, also to act as a transitional connection between the earth and the sky - us and our gods.
They (the desecrators) just don't realize that as they destroy these symbols - we will rise up at each challenge - undo their evil work - strengthening each time and resolving en mass to maintain who we are - the builders of lele and kuahu - a special and unique people.
But - the wind kept on being a challenge - that we weren't able to overcome.
In a short period of time - others - maybe even some of those who were there with us, will be retracing our steps, in increasing numbers the next time, whereby the collective ownership of this great undertaking - will be spread across the community - and the lele will be completed.
So - each of us, experiencing the tears and feelings welled up inside - retreated back down the mountain - returning to our homes and the sometimes mundane regularity of our daily lives - a Job Well Done.
ku
