Kualoa:

The mountains that lead down to Kualoa point. One of the two bumps Kalani mentions is obscured by cloud in the center. The small cone just offshore on the right is actually an island, Mokoli‘i.

“Kualoa is probably the most sacred place on the island,” Kalani remarks. “One reason is that in profile and in terms of historical reckoning, is a giant sacred mo‘o [reptile] of Hāloa. In addition, there are two humps. Up on the profile, there are two high points, two humps that represent two important deities. One deity is Kānehoalani, who is the father of Pele. And the other is a representation of Luanu‘u. Now Luanu‘u is the father of this island. And Papa, his wife, Papa, the goddess Papa-hānau-moku, who creates islands, she’s out in the bay. There’s that little island called Kapapa. That’s a representation of Papa. So right there on and in the bay you have the two cosmic parents of this island.

“One of the Hawaiian accounts of the creation of the Hawaiian islands is that Papa and Wākea—Earth Mother Papa and Sky father, Wākea—conceived the Big Island. That was their firstborn. The Big Island has a number of names, Hawai‘i-nui-ākea is one of them. So Hawai‘i for short, but nui ākea together meaning ‘mighty.’ So it’s Mighty Hawai‘i. And an older name of Hawai‘i is Lononuiākea. So the island was named for the God Lono, showing the importance of Lono as the island itself. And there are other names for the Big Island.

“The second born of the two primary cosmic creators was Maui. And after the second born, then Papa decided she was tired, and she wanted to go visit her family, so she went back down south. While she was gone, Wākea had a dalliance, first with the Goddess Hina. And from that union came Moloka‘i—full name Moloka‘i-nui-a-Hina, ‘Great-Moloka‘i-offspring of-(the Goddess)-Hina.’ And secondly, Wākea had a dalliance with Kaulawahine, another goddess, and from that union was born Lāna‘i-a-Kaulawahine.

“By this time, word had gotten back to Papa down south, and she came back up here and decided that she was going to get even. And so she had a dalliance with the God Lū-a-nu‘u, and so was born O‘ahu-nui-a-Lūanu‘u, the full name of O‘ahu. And here they are, right here in Kāne‘ohe Bay.

“So for these reasons, Kualoa—the mountain—is considered so sacred. That in addition to all the cave burials in the mountain—there are these long, old caverns in the mountain and ali‘i nui were buried, canoe burials in the mountain. That is another reason of its sacredness. So custom declared that any canoe passing by Kualoa would have to lower its sails, in deference, to salute the sacredness of the mountain, including Kamehameha when he sailed by. And right there at the Kualoa the beach area, is where the sperm whales would beach and here’s a treasure trove of a whale ivory.”

Pacific Worlds > He‘eia, O‘ahu > Arrival > Legendary Setting