BOOK II
LAVA:
PAHOEHOE
and
A’a
Dear Educators, Artists and Parents,
Have fun with these interactive books. There is no wrong in your interpretive
reading of them to children! Experiment, explore. The goals of this innovative
teaching of Hawaiian History are to encourage sustained engagement,
a bodily-felt mode of understanding and expression of that unique
understanding/learning. Moving is feeling, thinking, knowing.
The creative technique employed, that of having children BECOME
the content: to literally experience what it is to BE young Rahoutu,
the tectonic plates, a wayfinder, trees, stars, or living in the Season of Lono,
creates sensory feedback to the child as they listen and respond which
in turn develops critical thinking and creative problem solving - skills
that will support them throughout life.
Smooth! Jagged! Two kinds of lava
flow out of your Hawaiian volcanos:
Pahoehoe and A`a. Say Pahoehoe. Say
A`a.
On the ground all around you, feel
Pahoehoe lava. Roam your hands over a
imaginary smooth, rope-like texture.
Pahoehoe is a thin, creeping, oozing
blanket of lava.
Every once-in-a-while, it bubbles up and
creates a round shape. Lift your hands
off the ground in a rounded, bubble
shape. Another to your right, now one
your left. Some lava cools and hardens in
this bubbled shape.
Slide your hands along the floor from
behind you, up over bubble shapes,
stretching forwards, reaching, reaching.
Ah! You've reached the sea!
Hot lava meets cold water. Steam!
Slowly float your hands
skyward like steam,
say Hisssssssss-Pahoehoe.
Make a spreading,
reaching,
covering shape.
When you reach the cool sea, you harden,
becoming new land,
extending your island!
The second kind of lava is jagged A`a.
Say A`a. Jump your hands up high and
freeze in pointy shape.
A`a is like a fountain. It spews up to a
100’ in the air. Hana hou, three times,
fling your arms really high, landing in
weird shapes.
A`a hardens by the time it hits the
ground. Go! Spew!
Face a neighbor! Hana hou! Take turns
alternately, flinging hands upwards,
then gently landing and freezing in
jagged shapes on top of your neighbor’s
hands. One of you goes, then the other.
Go! Hana hou!
A`a creates big chunks of new land,
piling itself on top of itself, over and
over. Everyone hiss loudly, you are
cooling and hardening.
Hissssssss……
You Hawaiians explain this wondrous
volcanic activity in your stories of Pele,
Goddess of Fire.
Sparkle your fingers all around, like fire
glowing.
Now cup your hand to your forehead.
Look right. Look left. Look way out far
in front.
Look all over the seas.
You are Pele, looking for the perfect
island to hold your special fire.
Namakaokaha`i, your older sister, is
Goddess of the Sea.
She is chasing you with her water,
threatening to put out your powerful
fire.
Say: Na
ma
kao
kaha i.
Na-ma-kao-kaha`i
Swim your arms. Faster!
You are chasing Pele!
Now toss water on Pele’s fire.
Poor Pele.
You are a sad Pele.
Place your hands on your weary cheeks.
Where can you safely store your
precious fire?
Hurry, jump into your canoe and row to
a different island.
Row Right, Left, Right.
Hele onward! Hana Hou! Right, Left, Right.
You row past Ni`ihau. It is too small.
Hele on to Wai`ale`ale
Volcano on Kaua`i. Kaua`i is one of the
wettest spots on earth. Rain your fingers
high to low.
It is lovely, but Namakaokaha`i might reach
you here with her large wave, a Tsunami.
Say Tsunami and whoosh, push a powerful
tall wave onto the Kau’i shores. Push!
Back in your canoe, you row past Waianae
and Ko`olau Volcanos on O`ahu.
The Ko`olau range looks like wrinkly or
crenulated mountains. Say cre-nu-la-ted.
Make a wrinkly shape. Wonderful!
Hele on to Moloka`i. It’s beautiful here
but doesn’t feel right to you. Oh no! You
see why. Part of a volcano has collapsed
into the sea, leaving the steepest cliffs in
the world.
Reach your arms straight up into the air,
creating a massive mountain shape.
S-l-o-w-l-y, heavily erode,
slipping your arms down,
down to the sea.
You are smart to leave Moloka`i.
Kamakou is the only volcano that
remains. Hurrying along, you know
you’ve got to move fast. Row!
Molokai is just too narrow to hold fire!
On you go to Lana`i.
It is so close to Moloka`i, separated only
by a narrow channel of water.
Stretch your arms out in front of you,
creating a long, narrow channel shape.
You realize, that Lana’i is too flat to
store your fire. Onward!
You row on to Kaho`olawe. Oh no, this
will not do. Kaho`olawe has a 1,477 foot
crater, Lua Makika. But, this crater is
too small to hold all your precious fire.
You hele on, rowing past the luscious valleys
of Mau`i and its volcano, Haleakala. You
pass by Haleakala crater, fearful
Namakaokaha`i just may be able to get her
water splashing up to Haleakala.
Faster! Row past Mauna Kea and Mauna
Loa, the tallest and widest volcanoes in
the world.
Make the
tallest shape you can, shouting Mauna
Kea.
Now,
make the widest shape, shouting Mauna
Loa. Awesome volcanoes shapes!
Ah! Look here!
It’s Kilauea Volcano on this eighth island
called Hawai’i.
This could be the ideal place.
Say Kilauea, clasping your hands
together in hopefulness.
Grab your shovel and begin to dig out a
special crater. Toss your dirt to the left,
right, left. Keep going. Hana Hou.
You’ve got to dig 3,000 feet across and
280 feet deep. Great hana, great work.
Gently lift your sacred
fire and pour it’s lovely flames into the
bowl-shaped hole. This feels right to
you. It feels like home. Hold up your
arms in a big bowl shape. Our new home
is Halema`uma`u Crater.
Say Halema`uma`u.
It means House of Everlasting Fire.
This will remain your home, the top of
Kilauea Volcano, on the Island of Hawaii.
You have a contented Pele look on your
face!
At last, you have found the perfect place
to store your sacred fire.
No water can reach and flood you out.
My, what spirit and stamina you have in
working to find the right spot.
What power, what mana you show. Say
Mana, making a strong, powerful shape.
Bravo!
The story of pahoehoe and a’a lava and,
of your special Fire Goddess, Pele, is pau.
Say pau, moving your hands out front,
then opening to each side.
But! You have a very special secret. Lift
your torso up and raise your hands high
and shake your hands! Who could know
that you, Pele, would start an active and
sustained volcanic eruption anew in
January 1983! This is so exciting; say
cheers for Pele. 1, 2, 3 Cheers for Pele!
Follow and repeat after me the Hawaiian State
Motto:
Ua Mau Ke Ea O Ka `Aina I Ka Pono.
The life of the land
is perpetuated in righteousness.
“Ua Mau,” roll your arms around each other
“Ke Ea, unfold arms from chest to stretched front
of, you-palms up
“O Ka `Aina,” turn palms down, sweeping arms
to each side
“I Ka Pono.” tap your heart twice with both fists.