The Category of the Associative Cultural Landscape
as a Means to Preserve
Intangible Heritage,
Especially Oral Literature.
Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park
as an Example
MASTERS THESIS
WORLD HERITAGE STUDIES
Brandenburg University of Technology
By Jessica Greis-Mills, Matrikel-Nr. 9927336
October 2007
0
Preface
6
0.1
Selection of the Topic
6
0.2
The Thesis
6
0.3
Methodology Used
7
I
Theoretical Background
8
1.
UNESCO’s Efforts towards the Preservation of Intangible Heritage
8
1.1
The Recommendation on the Safeguarding of Traditional Culture and Folklore
8
1.2
The System of Living Human Treasures
9
1.3
The Masterpieces of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity Programme
10
1.3.1
The Lakalaka Sung Speeches of Tonga as an Example of a Masterpiece
10
1.4
The Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage
11
1.5
The Eternal Problem of Intangible Heritage Preservation
12
2.
The Associative Cultural Landscape
13
2.1
The Theoretical Concept
14
2.2
The Model Case, Tongariro National Park in New Zealand
15
2.3
Associative Cultural Landscapes on the World Heritage List Today
16
2.3.1
Uluru - Kata Tjuta, Australia
17
2.3.2
Sukur Cultural Landscape, Nigeria
17
2.3.3
Royal Hill of Ambohimanga, Madagascar
17
2.3.4
Vat Phou and Associated Ancient Settlements within the Champasak Cultural Landscape,
Lao People’s Democratic Republic
18
2.3.5
Matobo Hills, Zimbabwe
18
2.3.6
Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range, Japan
18
2.3.7
Koutammakou, the Land of the Batammariba, Togo
18
2.3.8
Osung-Osogbo Sacred Grove, Nigeria
19
2.4
Characteristics of Associative Cultural Landscapes in Terms of Site Management
19
3.
The US American Approach towards Associative Cultural Landscapes
21
II
Case Study: Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park
24
1.
Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park as a Site
24
1.1
A Natural World Heritage Site
24
1.2
The Cultural Element of the Site as Officially Recognised Today
25
1.3
How the National Park is Managed
27
2.
Intangible Cultural Heritage Associated with the Volcanoes Mauna Loa and Kilauea
28
2.1
Cultural Background of Indigenous Hawai’i
28
2
2.1.1
Cultural Affiliation
28
2.1.2
Subsistence
28
2.1.3
Political Organisation
28
2.1.4
Religion
29
2.2
The Relation of Hawai’ian Culture towards Landscape
30
2.2.1
Hawai’ian Love for the Homeland
30
2.2.2
The Concept of Wahi Pana - Sacred Places
31
2.2.3
A Special Relationship
32
2.3.
The Pele Mythology
32
2.3.1
The Volcano Goddess Pele and her Family
33
2.3.2
How Pele Came to Hawai’i
33
2.3.3
Pele Replacing an Old Fire God
36
2.3.4
Pele and her Sister Hi'iaka Competing over Prince Lohiau
37
2.3.5
Pele and Kamapua'a - The Fighting Elements
40
2.3.6
Stories Related to Sled-Riding as a Typical Hawai’ian Sport
41
2.3.7
Pele and the Snow Goddess
42
2.3.8
Sacrifices to Pele
43
2.3.9
The Significance of Ohelo Berries
44
2.3.10 Burial in the Volcano
44
2.3.11 Pele Transforming People into Rocks
45
2.3.12 Generosity as a Cultural Value
46
2.3.13 A Historical Account Related to Pele
46
2.3.14 Modern Stories about Pele
47
a) Announcing Trouble
47
b) Disturbing Sacred Places
48
2.3.15 Evaluation of the Pele Mythological Cycle
49
2.4
The Hula as a Cultural Expression Associated with the Volcanoes
50
2.4.1
Description of the Dance
50
2.4.2
A Form of Oral Literature
51
2.4.3
Hula Education
51
2.4.4
The Connection between the Hula and the Pele Mythological Cycle
52
2.4.5
The Figure of Pele in the Hula
53
2.4.6
The Significance of the Hula
53
2.5
The Pele Cult
54
3.
The State of Conservation of Hawai'i's Intangible Heritage
56
3.1
The Loss of Traditional Religion
56
3.2
The Ban on Hula Dancing
57
3.3
Revival of Hawai’ian Culture
58
3.3.1
Regaining the Sacred Island Kaho’olawe
59
3.3.2
Voyaging
59
3
3.3.3
The Battle of the Bones
60
3.3.4
Traditional Hula Dancing
61
3.3.5
Hawai’ian Language & Formal Education
61
3.4
Current Status of the Hawai'ian Intangible Heritage Related to the Volcanoes
62
3.4.1
Pele in the Eyes of Modern Hawai'ians
62
3.4.2
Conservation Efforts by the National Park Service
64
3.5
Why some Important Hawai’ian Cultural Traditions are still very much Alive
65
III
Conclusion
67
1.
Does ‘Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park’ Fulfil UNESCO’s Criteria for an Associative
Cultural Landscape?
1.1
67
Does the Property Fit the Definition of Associative Cultural Landscape in the Operational
Guidelines?
67
1.2
If so, Which Criteria does it satisfy?
69
1.3
Does it satisfy the Requirements Concerning Authenticity and Integrity?
69
1.4
Does the Associative Cultural Landscape have Adequate Management Arrangements in
Place?
71
1.5
Is it of Outstanding Universal Value?
71
1.6
How Would You Identify the Boundaries?
72
2.
The Importance of Re-nominating ‘Hawaii Volcanoes National Park’ as an Associative
Cultural Landscape to the World Heritage List
73
3.
Recommendations
75
4.
Résumé
76
Appendix 1: UNESCO’s Word Heritage as Defined by the Operational Guidelines
78
Appendix 2: Hawai’ian Texts
83
Glossary of Indigenous Terms
88
Bibliographical References
92
4
The traditional Hawai’ian Greeting is 'ALOHA'
A kahai
to be kind
space
L okahi
to be inclusive
______
O hu'olu to be agreeable
breath
H a'aha'a to be humble
A honui
patience
"When you say aloha you say come, share my space, share my breath.
That's aloha."
[Puna Dawson in National Geographic, December 2002, p. 38]
5
0 PREFACE
0.1 Selection of the Topic
I chose the topic of the associative cultural landscape as a means to preserve the intangible
heritage because of my educational background as an ethnologist. The idea was to combine
my ethnological expertise with the subject of World Heritage Studies.
The topic itself arose during a block seminar on Cultural Landscapes with Dr. Mechtild
Rössler from UNESCO's World Heritage Centre. It was Mrs. Rössler who, whilst talking
about the concept of associative cultural landscapes, using Uluru Kata Tjuta in Australia and
Tongariro National Park in New Zealand as examples, mentioned that the same concept
might be applicable to National Parks in the US. This idea appealed to me immediately, since
the native cultures of North America have always been my main field of interest during my
ethnological studies. The actual idea was to do a re-evaluation of all ten natural World
Heritage sites in the US under cultural criteria as possible associative cultural landscapes. As
it turned out to be a very vast field, impossible to deal with in the frame of a Master thesis, I
decided to single out Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park as a case study for this thesis and
hopefully to deal with the other cases later on in the format of a doctoral thesis. The reason
to single out the Hawai’ian case was first of all, that the indigenous Hawai’ians belong to a
completely different cultural set than the Native Americans, namely the group of Polynesian
cultures. The second reason is the topicality of the issue, since according to Dr. Rössler, the
management of Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park was actually planning a re-nomination of
the World Heritage site under cultural criteria.
Herewith I want to thank Dr. Rössler, to whom I have explained my aim, and who has been
very helpful with some advice, the same as her colleagues at the World Heritage Centre in
Paris, Ms. Sarah Titchen and Mr. Alessandro Balsamo, who made some important
documents available to me.
0.2 The Thesis
The World Heritage category of the associative cultural landscape as defined by UNESCO in
1992 is an excellent means to preserve some of the intangible heritage of the world. This is
valid especially for the oral history and oral literature of scriptless cultures. Landscapes, in
many cultural traditions are used as starting-points in order to reveal legends and
mythologies. In Hawai’i the volcanoes Mauna Loa and Kilauea are seen by the indigenous
Hawai’ians as the home of the fire goddess Pele and her family, around which countless
6
traditions are spun. A re-nomination of the natural World Heritage site ‘Hawai’i Volcanoes
National Park, Mauna Loa and Kilauea’ under cultural criteria as an associative cultural
landscape would be a very good chance to preserve the oral traditions and at least parts of
the very valuable intangible cultural heritage of the native Hawai’ians.
0.3 Methodology Used
In order to examine the above thesis the first part of the work is dedicated to the underlying
theory. That is to describe and to review the theoretical concept of the associative cultural
landscape as defined by UNESCO as well as the general problem of preserving intangible
cultural heritage.
The second and major part of the thesis is formed by the case study, an examination and
description of native Hawai’ian cultural traditions associated with the volcanoes Mauna Loa
and Kilauea, situated in Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park.
The last part of the work naturally is the conclusion, showing up the perfect means that an
inscription as an associative cultural landscape is for the preservation of the intangible
heritage of a scriptless culture.
The approach of this work is a completely theoretical one. Out of particular reasons that I do
not wish to reveal here, unfortunately it was impossible for me to go into the field in Hawai’i
and to do my own research on site. Fortunately though, quite a lot of written material on the
oral traditions of native Hawai’i is available. I therefore decided to work on these ethnological
works as my basis, using additional material from the World Wide Web, including
documentation made available by UNESCO as well as an article in the National Geographic
magazine about the Hawai’ians reclaiming their culture in recent times.
Several scholars have dealt with Hawai’ian folklore, legends and mythology. Since in the
case of Polynesian culture all is oral tradition and none of the stories have originally been
written down by the ancient Hawai’ians, due to them not having developed a writing system
of their own, a lot of slightly differing versions of legends exist and have been noted down by
these scholars, depending on the sources and individual informants they have been drawing
from. In this work it is tried not to give all possible versions of Hawai’ian stories in detail, but
to give an overview of the main traits of Hawai’ian oral tradition in regard to the topic
concerning the cultural associations of the Hawai’ians towards the volcanoes Kilauea and
Mauna Loa.
7
I THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
This chapter gives a short overview of the development of the main implements that have
been devised by UNESCO for the protection of the world’s intangible heritage. One tool is
the concept of the associative cultural landscape, which is examined in greater detail in order
to provide the background for the case study of the Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park, and to
be able to decide whether it could qualify as a member of this relatively new and particular
World Heritage category.
1. UNESCO’s Efforts towards the Preservation of Intangible Heritage
With the adoption of the World Heritage Convention in 1972 UNESCO managed to create a
very useful and highly respected tool for the protection of natural and cultural heritage
worldwide. It turned out very soon though, that it was not enough to preserve material human
culture in the form of architecture and untouched natural landscapes, as the original natural
and cultural criteria for the World Heritage presumed. Ideas of what heritage of humankind is
worthwhile to protect have changed during the past 35 years and the convention and its
operational guidelines had to undergo several adjustments.
One of the major ideological trends, which has become even stronger with the years, was the
necessity for the recognition of oral and intangible heritage.
1.1 The Recommendation on the Safeguarding of Traditional Culture and Folklore
A first official move in the direction to acknowledge intangible heritage was undertaken in
1989 by UNESCO's General Conference proclaiming a Recommendation on the
Safeguarding of Traditional Culture and Folklore, the first international legal instrument to
protect oral heritage.
In the recommendation UNESCO defined folklore as follows:
"Folklore (or traditional and popular culture) is the totality of tradition-based creations
of a cultural community, expressed by a group or individuals and recognized as
reflecting the expectations of a community in so far as they reflect its cultural and
social identity; its standards and values are transmitted orally, by imitation or by other
means. Its forms are, among others, language, literature, music, dance, games,
mythology, rituals, customs, handicrafts, architecture and other arts."
[‘Recommendation on the Safeguarding of Traditional Culture and Folkore’ webpage]
The document states the importance of folklore for, first of all, cultural identification within a
group, then as a means of communication between different groups and therefore as an
8
integral part of the world's cultural heritage. Since folklore as defined above is very much in
danger of getting lost in a globalised world, especially oral traditions because of their obvious
elusiveness, UNESCO's General Conference adopted the recommendation for the
safeguarding of traditional culture with the following aims directed to the member states:
“1.) Identification of folklore
by creating registers and recording systems;
2.) Conservation of folklore
by establishing museums and archives;
3.) Preservation of folklore
by teaching and spreading the knowledge about folklore;
4.) Dissemination of folklore
by coming up with events, jobs and information material related to the topic;
5.) Protection of folklore
by regarding intellectual property-, as well as other rights;
and finally
6.) International cooperation in the matter.”
[‘Recommendation on the Safeguarding of Traditional Culture and Folkore’ webpage]
1.2 The System of Living Human Treasures
Following the Recommendation for the Safeguarding of Folklore, UNESCO in 1993 created a
System of Living Cultural Properties/Living Human Treasures in order to protect the
individuals responsible for the tradition of folklore.
UNESCO [1998 (5)] herewith called upon the member states to compile lists of living cultural
properties/living human treasures, which were to be added to the list of World Heritage. The
purpose of this measure was "to ensure that the bearers of the heritage continue to acquire
further knowledge and skills and transmit them to the next generations." [UNESCO 1998 (5)]
By definition of UNESCO the
"Living Human Treasures are persons who embody, who have in the very highest
degree, the skills and techniques necessary for the production of selected aspects of
the cultural life of a people and the continued existence of their material cultural
heritage."
[‘Guidelines for the Establishment of National ‘Living Human Treasures Systems’’ pdf]
9
1.3 The Masterpieces of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity Programme
Based on the idea of having a system for the protection of oral heritage, which would be
comparable to the World Heritage List, in 1997 a programme called Masterpieces of the Oral
Heritage of Humanity was initiated by the General Conference of UNESCO, that very soon
though, in 1998, was extended to be called Masterpieces of Oral and Intangible Heritage of
Humanity.
The programme was designed for "cultural spaces or forms of popular or traditional cultural
expression" and
"For the purpose of these regulations the anthropological concept of a cultural space
shall be taken to mean a place (or ‘physical space’) in which popular and traditional
cultural activities are concentrated, but also a time (or ‘temporal space’) generally
characterized by a certain periodicity (cyclical, seasonal, calendar, etc.) or by an
event. Finally, this temporal and physical space should owe its existence to the
cultural activities that have traditionally taken place there."
[UNESCO 1998 (5), Annex IV]
An international jury, elected by the Director-General of UNESCO every four years, and
assisted by the member states, was to choose the masterpieces to be proclaimed, which had
to be representatively spread
·
"· between creative workers and experts,
· in geographical distribution,
· in the representation of women and young people,
between the disciplines represented, such as music, oral literature, popular
theatre, rites, languages and the skills involved in crafts and traditional
architecture." [UNESCO 1998 (5), Annex IV]
The first 19 Masterpieces of Oral and Intangible Heritage were announced in the year 2001.
With an envisioned proclamation rota of two years, the next masterpieces were declared in
2003 and 2005. Altogether the Intangible Heritage Section of UNESCO chose 90 outstanding
examples of the world’s intangible cultural heritage as masterpieces, after careful evaluation
by various NGO’s. [‘Proclaimed Masterpieces 2005’ website]
1.3.1 The Lakalaka Sung Speeches of Tonga as an Example of a Masterpiece
One of the Masterpieces of Oral and Intangible Heritage proclaimed in 2003, the 'Lakalaka,
Sung Speeches with Choreographed Movement' of Tonga, bears great resemblance to the
Hawai’ian Hula dance, which stands in close relationship with the Hawai’i Volcanoes National
Park, as will be shown in the case study part of this thesis. Therefore a very short description
shall be given here for comparison.
The Kingdom of Tonga is an archipelago in the Pacific Ocean, and hence roughly in the
same cultural-geographic area as the Hawai’ian archipelago. Lakalaka is seen as Tonga’s
national dance, which is performed on important occasions by large groups of performers,
10
lined up in rows. The dance steps are accompanied by hand gestures, music and vocals.
The song texts are based on local history, legend, values and social structure. [‘Proclamation
of Masterpieces. Lakalaka sung Speeches with Choreogrpached Movements’ webpage]
1.4 The Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage
The most recent development in the field of intangible heritage as defined by UNESCO says
that in future no more Masterpieces of Oral and Intangible Heritage will be proclaimed.
Instead the existing ones will be included in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural
Heritage of Humanity. This list will be drawn up by an Intergovernmental Committee for the
Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, which was established by UNESCO in the
course of the adoption of the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural
Heritage in October 2003.
The intention of this Convention is:
“(a) to safeguard the intangible cultural heritage
(b) to ensure respect for the intangible cultural heritage of the communities, groups
and individuals concerned;
(c) to raise awareness at the local, national and international levels of the importance
of the intangible cultural heritage, and of ensuring mutual appreciation thereof;
(d) to provide for international cooperation and assistance.” [UNESCO 2003 (2)]
By intangible cultural heritage the Convention refers to:
“(a) oral traditions and expressions, including language as a vehicle of the intangible
cultural heritage.
(b) performing arts
(c) social practices, rituals and festive events
(d) knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe
(e) traditional craftsmanship.” [UNESCO 2003 (2)]
The 2003 Convention entered into force on the 20th of April 2006, after having been ratified
by the 50th State, making the 2005 Proclamation of Masterpieces of Oral and Intangible
Heritage of Humanity the last one of its kind. [‘Convention for the Safeguarding of the
Intangible Cultural Heritage’ webpage]
11
1.5 The Eternal Problem of Intangible Heritage Preservation
UNESCO, in its ultimate aim for global peace, has taken it upon itself as an international
institution to support a multi-cultural system in the world, which can be seen as a basic
precondition. [Pettman 2002] The broadest cultural diversity must therefore be assured. In
this major task, UNESCO faces the age-old dilemma of the trained Ethnologist – the question
of how to preserve the intangible elements of culture.
Whilst material culture can be stored and displayed in museums, essential cultural elements
such as worldviews, traditions, oral history, rituals, music and dance can only be described
and recorded as long as they are still alive or at least remembered. But to have libraries full
of documents, films and sound recordings of lost cultural traditions, whilst the rest of the
world amalgamates into one globalised form of basically European culture does not seem to
be satisfactory to those who share UNESCO’s view on the importance of cultural diversity.
How can the bearers of traditional culture, where it has managed to survive so far, be forced
to keep up their traditional lifestyle for the sake of outsiders only? When the concerned
people themselves would also like to partake in development, which might make their lives
much easier. It is not possible to fence an indigenous group in, exclude them from any
contact with the westernised world and view them as an exhibition piece in eternal
immovability.
UNESCO’s efforts to preserve intangible heritage entail the same tools that scientists
employ, by recording, describing and storing data, in addition to using them for educational
means. Apart from this, UNESCO tries to encourage main cultural traditions to be kept alive
as much as possible by giving them special status in the world community and assigning
local authorities a duty to see to their upkeep. A rather innovative move on behalf of
UNESCO was the introduction of Living Human Treasure programme, which safeguards the
cultural knowledge of living individuals, hoping to encourage these persons to pass on their
wisdom.
The question remains though, what to do if nobody wants to continue a certain tradition? Or
how much traditions are ‘allowed’ to change in order to still be seen as the original thing,
qualifying for protection? These issues seem to be widely unanswered yet.
12
2. The Associative Cultural Landscape
The recommendations, programmes and conventions described in the previous chapter are
measures the Cultural Division of UNESCO has implemented specifically for the preservation
of intangible heritage, thus complimenting the World Heritage programme that was originally
designed to protect purely tangible heritage, both natural and cultural.
Over the years it became evident though, that tangible and intangible values, as well as
natural and cultural features are not completely separate entities, but in fact very much
interrelated. The World Heritage Convention takes account of this insight and regularly
reverses its tools in order to incorporate as many aspects of heritage conservation as
possible.
The interrelatedness of nature and culture was recognized by the invention of the ‘Cultural
Landscape’ category, which was written into the Operational Guidelines for the
Implementation of the World Heritage Convention in 1992. Cultural Landscapes, as
described in the Operational Guidelines, fall into three sub-categories:
„i.
The most easily identifiable is the clearly defined landscape designed and
created intentionally by man.
This embraces garden and parkland landscapes constructed for aesthetic
reasons which are often (but not always) associated with religious or other
monumental buildings and ensembles.
ii.
The second category is the organically evolved landscape. This results from
an initial social, economic, administrative, and/or religious imperative and has
developed its present form by associations with and in response to its natural
environment. Such landscapes reflect that process of evolution in their form
and component features. They fall into two sub-categories:
- a relict (or fossil) landscape is one in which an evolutionary process
came to an end at some time in the past, either abruptly or over a
period. Its significant distinguishing features are, however, still visible
in material form.
- a continuing landscape is one which retains an active social role in
contemporary society closely associated with the traditional way of life,
and in which the evolutionary process is still in progress. At the same
time it exhibits significant material evidence of its evolution over time.
iii.
The final category is the associative cultural landscape. The inclusion of such
landscapes on the World Heritage List is justifiable by virtue of the powerful
religious, artistic or cultural associations of the natural element rather than
material cultural evidence, which may be insignificant or even absent.“
[UNESCO 2005 (3), Chapter 1, C, 39.]
13
With the last concept, the associative cultural landscape, a means of acknowledging
intangible heritage linked to tangible features, cultural or natural, was introduced into the
World Heritage programme.
2.1 The Theoretical Concept
The World Heritage category of the associated cultural landscape is identified by the use of
cultural criterion (vi) of the Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World
Heritage Convention, which is to “be directly or tangibly associated with events or living
traditions, with ideas, or with beliefs, with artistic and literary works of outstanding universal
significance…” going on to state in brackets that “(the Committee considers that this criterion
should justify inclusion in the List only in exceptional circumstances and in conjunction with
other criteria cultural or natural).” [UNESCO 2005 (3), Chapter 1, C, 24, a]
In April 1995 UNESCO and ICOMOS organized the Asia-Pacific Regional Workshop on
Associative Cultural Landscapes in Australia in order to closely define this World Heritage
category and its implementation. At this occasion the following definition of an associative
cultural landscape was coined:
“Associative cultural landscapes may be defined as large or small contiguous or noncontiguous areas and itineraries, routes or other linear landscapes – these may be
physical entities or mental images embedded in a people’s spirituality, cultural
traditions and practice.
The attributes of associative cultural landscapes include the intangible, such as the
acoustic, the kinetic and the olfactory, as well as the visual.”
[ICOMOS 1995]
One of the recommendations that resulted from the discussion was “that in applying cultural
criterion (vi), a broader rather than a narrower interpretation be used, and that in particular
oral traditions should not be excluded.” [ICOMOS 1995]
The workshop also recognized, that a distinction has to be made between inspirational
landscapes, which inspire works of art, and traditional indigenous cultural landscapes.
[ICOMOS 1995]
The associative cultural landscape category was very clearly, inter alia, created with the idea
of opening up the World Heritage List for the inclusion of the cultural heritage of indigenous
groups all over the world, but especially in Africa and the Pacific, which was and still is very
underrepresented. The so-called indigenous cultures often do not have architectural
traditions of a very grand and permanent nature, like the ones that make up for the vast
majority of World Heritage sites. In contrast to stone monuments that persevered throughout
the centuries, indigenous societies often built small structures from perishable materials,
such as earth, wood or other plant material. Instead of practising their religion in intricate
14
temples or churches, indigenous societies often worshiped their gods in the form of nature
itself. This can be whole landscapes or landscape features, down to individual plants. The
knowledge of why and how certain natural elements are revered as having supernatural
importance in indigenous societies is mainly purported through oral traditions, songs and
often dance. And exactly these intangible elements, which are spiritually connected to the
natural surrounding of indigenous peoples, and which very much shape their sense of
identity, are to be recognized by the World Heritage programme by the means of the
associative cultural landscape category.
One of the main achievements of the adoption of the approach described above is that many
landscapes, which in past centuries were seen as untouched wilderness by western society,
are now identified as land that has been lived in by indigenous people for a very long time
and which they have considerably shaped, if not physically, but at least in their minds. [See
also Buggey/Mitchell 2002]
2.2 The Model Case, Tongariro National Park in New Zealand
Tongariro National Park was inscribed onto the World Heritage List first in 1990 for natural
criteria only, recognizing the outstanding natural values of its volcanic landscape, although it
had actually already in 1986 been nominated by the State of New Zealand as a mixed
cultural and natural site. Later it became the first natural World Heritage site ever to be renominated and re-inscribed under additional cultural criteria. This happened in 1993,
immediately after the introduction of the category of the associative cultural landscape, which
was actually shaped according to the case study of Tongariro National Park.
The site was inscribed on the World Heritage List under the criterion vi. with the explanation
that
“The mountains that lie at the heart of the Tongariro National Park are of great
cultural and religious significance to the Maori people and are potent symbols of the
fundamental spiritual connections between the human community and its natural
environment.”
[UNESCO 1993 (6)]
One thing that creates a strong association between the indigenous people of New Zealand,
the Maori, who are a Polynesian people, and the landscape of Tongariro National Park, is the
history of their migration. The Maori came to New Zealand in canoes after 600 AD, probably
from Rarotonga or Tahiti. From then on until today tribal affiliation for the Maori is through
lineal descent from one of the first canoe crews. In this way the specific tribe, which has its
traditional home in Tongariro Park, traces its origin back to a very famous legendary
character, which had brought the fire to Tongariro. This connection between the Maori’s first
15
arrival in New Zealand and the place of their final settlement in Tongariro Park is still very
strong and the native people of Tongariro consider the mountains around them as ancestors.
Well-known and often recited genealogies link people to certain natural features. So is a very
important paramount chief of the Maori, Te Heuheu associated with Tongariro Mountain.
Furthermore, as much as Tongariro is part of the identification of the local people, it is
considered as so sacred, that visitors are asked not to look at it directly.
In the context of the above stands the next attribute, which stands for the associative cultural
value of Tongariro National Park. It is the extraordinary historical incidence of the paramount
chief of the area, Horonuku, in 1887 giving the land including Tongariro Mountain as a gift in
form of a sacred landscape to the British Crown, thereby making it the first National Park in
New Zealand and the fourth in the world.
This happened in the course of the tribe having to fight the European settlers for the
traditional land of the Maori. Because of the sacredness of the Tongariro landscape, in
addition to the fact that the chief’s father, Mananui Te Heuheu, had died in the mountains
and his bones were still there, it seemed impossible to give up the land to settlers just like
that. So the land was given to the State of England under the condition that it would be an
especially protected area.
All the existing connections between the Maori people and the landscape are visible in the
oral history of New Zealand. Some legends tell us about the formation of the land and the
people as children of Mother Earth and Father Sky, the mountains being their first offspring,
the humans the latest. There is the love-story between the volcanic mountains of the area,
which describes the creation of the specific landscape, and of course the story of how the fire
was brought to the Tongariro area by the ancestor of the native people of the area.
The nomination dossier by the State of New Zealand, for the purpose of the re-inscription of
Tongariro National Park under cultural criteria as an associative cultural landscape states:
“This place is seen by Ngate Tuwharetoa {ann. By the author: the native tribe} as
being a living landscape by virtue of its mauri {ann. by the author: life force}. This area
of active and dormant volcanoes, streaming thermal pools, forest and tussock
grassland is part of the genealogical links of Ngate Tuwharetoa to their historical
homeland in Hawaiki and their landing place in the Bay of Plenty as evidenced in
songs, carving and oral history links.” [UNESCO 1993 (6)]
[UNESCO 1993 (6)]
2.3 Associative Landscapes on the World Heritage List Today
According to Peter Fowler [2002], as published in the report of the 2002 Ferrara Conference
on Cultural Landscapes, five sites were officially inscribed as associative cultural landscapes
on the World Heritage List between 1992 and 2002. These are Tongariro National Park in
16
New Zealand, Uluru - Kata Tjuta National Park in Australia, Sukur Cultural Landscape in
Nigeria, Royal Hill of Ambohimanga in Madagascar and Vat Phou and Associated Ancient
Settlements within the Champasak Cultural Landscape in the People’s Republic of Lao.
Between the years 2003 to 2007 at least four more associative cultural landscapes were
inscribed, which carry the features of the traditional indigenous landscape. These are Matobo
Hills in Zimbabwe, Koutammakou, the Land of the Batammariba in Togo, to a certain extent
the Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range in Japan and finally
Osun-Osogbo Sacred Grove in Nigeria.
The sites mentioned above shall very briefly be introduced in this chapter for illustration of
the World Heritage category of the associative cultural landscape.
It has to be kept in mind though, that probably several other sites on the World Heritage List
could be described as associative cultural landscapes, but have not been nominated as
such. [Fowler 2003]
2.3.1 Uluru - Kata Tjuta, Australia
Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, similar to Tongariro National Park, was initially inscribed as a
purely natural site onto the World Heritage List in 1987, although the original nomination had
suggested a both natural and cultural character of the site. It was then re-nominated as a
cultural landscape, specifically an associative cultural landscape, under the criteria (v) and
(vi) in 1994, after the official implementation of this category by UNESCO.
Uluru and Kata Tjuta, the distinguishing features of the National Park are massive rockformations, hosting a significant number of sacred sites for the indigenous Australian Anangu
people. In their religion or worldview, known to them as Tjukurpa, supernatural beings once
travelled the earth and fashioned the most extraordinary landscape of the Uluru and Kata
Tjuta area. The Anangu commemorate the happenings that led to the formation of certain
landscape features in the park until today in oral traditions, songs, dances and visual arts.
[ICOMOS 1994, (9)]
2.3.2 Sukur Cultural Landscape, Nigeria
Sukur Cultural Landscape in Nigeria was inscribed as an organically evolved landscape
under criteria (iii), (v) and (vi) in 1999. The area is a plateau of terraced, agricultural
landscape including several villages and a chief’s palace. The palace, several shrines within
the landscape, as well as the terraced fields themselves are all permeated with deep spiritual
and religious meaning for the local people up until these days. [ICOMOS 1999 (7)]
2.3.3 Royal Hill of Ambohimanga, Madagascar
The Royal Hill of Ambohimanga in Madagascar was inscribed onto the World Heritage List in
2001, under cultural criteria (iii), (iv) and (vi). The site consists of a historic fortified royal
17
palace compound on a hilltop, surrounded by a cultural landscape of sacred woodland and
lakes. Because of its sacred places and the fact that it was used as a royal burial site,
Ambohimanga is closely related to ancestral worship and is until today a place of pilgrimage
and religious ritual. [ICOMOS 2001 (2)]
2.3.4 Vat Phou and Associated Ancient Settlements within the Champasak Cultural
Landscape, Lao People’s Democratic Republic
Vat Phou and Associated Ancient Settlements within the Champasak Cultural Landscape in
Lao were added to the World Heritage List in the year 2001, under criteria (iii), (iv) and (vi).
The site is a vast area, including two cities, several smaller settlements, a mountain and the
Mekong River. The whole landscape symbolizes the universe of the ancient Khmer culture,
and therewith the relationship between human beings and the natural environment,
according to Hindu world view. [ICOMOS 2001, (8)]
2.3.5 Matobo Hills, Zimbabwe
The Matobo Hills in Zimbabwe form a cultural landscape of peculiar rock formations and
were inscribed onto the World Heritage List under cultural criteria (iii), (v) and (vi) in 2003.
This site contains no architectural features and the most visible traces of human use of the
area are an abundance of ancient rock paintings. The local Mwari religion sees the area as
the seat of its god and ancestral spirits, which are in the present day still greatly worshiped at
various shrines. [ICOMOS 2003 (5)]
2.3.6 Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range, Japan
The Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range in Japan were added to
the World Heritage List in summer 2004, as a cultural landscape under criteria (ii), (iii), (iv)
and (vi). The site is an area of sacred mountains, with three major sacred sites of Buddhism
and the native Shinto religion, set in a forest landscape and linked by pilgrimage routes.
[ICOMOS 2004 (3)] It is believed that both the gods of Shintoism and Buddhism are inherent
in these mountains and the area has been essential for the Japanese spiritual culture since
centuries. [‘Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range’ website]
2.3.7 Koutammakou, the Land of the Batammariba, Togo
Koutammakou, the Land of the Batammariba in Togo was inscribed under criteria (v) and (vi)
as a cultural landscape in 2004. It is a farming and forest landscape with settlements of a
very distinctive architectural style. The area contains a number of ceremonial sites and the
natural surrounding figures greatly in the rituals and beliefs of the local people. [ICOMOS
2004 (4)]
18
2.3.8
‘Osun-Osogbo Sacred Grove, Nigeria
The Osun-Osogbo Sacred Grove in Nigeria was added to UNESCO’s World Heritage List in
the year 2005, using criteria (ii), (iii) and (vi). This site is a cultural landscape consisting of a
primary forest incorporating a river, which is traditionally seen as the seat of a local Yoruba
deity. Throughout the forest altogether 40 shrines and 9 identifiable worship points are to be
found, connected by ritual pathways. What makes this particular sacred landscape so
special, is the fact that its significance has recently, during the past 40 years, been revived
by an Austrian artist and her followers, who have created shrines and artworks situated
within the woods and now reveared by many. [ICOMOS 2005, (6)]
All the above-mentioned associative cultural landscapes demonstrate the holistic worldview
of their indigenous inhabitants. The world is seen as one entity, where all elements
interrelate and there is no clear distinction between man and environment, the spiritual and
the profane as well as culture and nature. How landscape and cultural values, especially
religious beliefs, can tie in with each other will be exemplified in detail in the case study about
the intangible heritage of Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park.
2.4 Characteristics of Associative Cultural Landscapes in Terms of Site Management
The establishment of a World Heritage site as an associative cultural landscape requires a
management that addresses a number of specific issues. These shall be explained here on
the basis of the Draft Tongariro National Park Management Plan of 2003 [Department of
Conservation 2003] and the Uluru – Kata Tjuta National Park Plan of Management from 2000
[Uluru –Kata Tjuta Board of Management 2000]. Both these sites are National Parks that
have been inscribed onto the World Heritage List initially for their outstanding physical and
natural features, before the cultural associations of their indigenous inhabitants towards the
landscape were recognised to be of outstanding universal value as well.
First and foremost the purpose for the creation of a National Park as well as a natural World
Heritage site, is the protection and preservation of valuable nature in a specific landscape.
The added World Heritage status for cultural features associated with the park’s landscape,
calls for equal protection and preservation of its indigenous values.
Apart from the responsibility to conserve natural as well as cultural heritage of a nation
and/or the world for the future, National Parks all over the world also function as recreational
grounds and informal educational facilities for a great number of visitors. In order to be able
to contribute to the economical maintenance of a park, including the financing of
19
conservation efforts and the provision of facilities for visitors, a site should ideally generate
some limited monetary income as well.
The special challenge that the great National Parks, which are inscribed onto the World
Heritage List as associative cultural landscapes, such as Tongariro National Park in New
Zealand and Uluru Kata–Tjuta National Park in Australia, face though is to assist their
indigenous inhabitants in keeping their cultural traditions, for which the parks have received
their special status, ‘alive’. This includes granting the traditional owners of the land access to
all areas of the park, especially those that are of special cultural importance or even sacred
to them, be it in order to perform religious rites or just providing for their sustenance through
traditional hunting, fishing or gathering techniques. At the same time, indigenous people of
the area should be given the opportunity to benefit from their homeland being a National
Park/World Heritage site by finding employment in the park or by doing business with the
visitors through operating shops and selling e.g. traditional arts and crafts. This means that
indigenous people must be provided with the right to obtain business concessions in the park
as well as the chance to receive adequate education in order to take up a diverse range of
jobs within the park system. Obviously, the interaction between the traditional landowners
and the park management system must be a two-way communication. The indigenous
people, whose culture the World Heritage status is aiming to preserve, are of the utmost
importance in providing the means to do so. Apart from being the stewards of the landscape
and its associated values, the traditional owners of the land can provide the scientific
community with valuable knowledge about their natural environment which they have
acquired during centuries of living on the land, which can add to conservation practices
enormously. It is the members of the indigenous cultures themselves, who are best equipped
for educating visitors on the natural and cultural values to be found on the site of the park,
and how not to destroy them.
The very best way to ensure all the objectives described above is for the park authorities to
include representatives of the indigenous group, who are the traditional landowners, in the
park management system officially. An outstanding example of how this can be implemented
is the Joint Management of Uluru–Kata Tjuta, which was begun in 1985, for which Parks
Australia and the Uluru–Kata Tjuta Board of Management have won the highest UNESCO
award, the Picasso Gold Medal. The management philosophy of Uluru–Kata Tjuta National
Park rests entirely on indigenous worldview of custodianship for their homeland. Of course
successful management of a National Park and World Heritage site has to take current
legislation and conservation requirements into account, but the Uluru–Kata Tjuta example
shows that both can be harmonised very well in the way that they both aim at the same
outcome, the preservation of the natural and cultural values of Australia’s respectively the
world’s heritage. [Uluru–Kata Tjuta Board of Management 2000]
20
The management plan for a National Park that is declared an associative cultural landscape
by UNESCO, besides addressing all other issues relevant for National Parks in general,
needs to devise a system of including the indigenous landowners in all important decision
making processes, giving them not only a strong voice, but real power in the management of
the site. Assuring a resilient and vibrant traditional culture is the best way to protect and
promote its values and ideas for posterity.
3. The US American Approach towards Associative Cultural Landscapes
The United States of America have altogether 20 World Heritage sites (including two
transboundary sites with Canada), all nominated for the World Heritage List between the
years 1978 and 1995. Of these, twelve are inscribed as purely natural sites, mostly National
Parks, and eight are inscribed as purely cultural sites. There are no mixed sites and no
official cultural landscapes. Peter Fowler [2003], in his revision of ‚World Heritage Cultural
Landscapes 1992-2002’, identified at least four of the existing US-American World Heritage
sites as possible cultural landscapes. These are the cultural sites Mesa Verde and Chaco
Culture National Historic Park, as well as the natural sites Grand Canyon National Park and
the Everglades National Park. Furthermore Fowler [2002] investigated the tentative list of
future World Heritage sites to be nominated by the US, on which he did not find any sites
officially nominated as cultural landscapes either, but three sites that could be classified as
potential cultural landscapes according to his view.
The category of the associative cultural landscape does not officially figure in connection with
US-American World Heritage sites at all so far.
Susan Buggey and Nora Mitchell [2002], who have reviewed the ‘Cultural Landscape
Management Challenges and Promising New Directions in the United States and Canada’ in
2002, do state though that the US approach to landscapes has in the past decades changed
from valuing them merely for their natural features to seeing them as being shaped by their
inhabitants and therefore having cultural value as well. The great American National Parks
for example, are nowadays recognized as being the homeland of indigenous peoples.
The National Park Service takes account of this in its cultural resource management
programme, which incoporates research about the cultural resources of peoples traditionally
associated with National Parks, planning for the integration of such information into decision
making processes and the ensurance of stewardship of these cultural resources, making
them available for the public. The NPS recognizes that it is the custodian "of many of
America's most important cultural resources" [National Park Service 2002, Chapter 5],
including, among others, ethnographic resources and cultural landscapes. Therefore one
21
management objective of the National Park Service is to "conduct a vigorous interdisciplinary
program of research into the cultural resources of each park." [National Park Sevice 2002,
5.1.1] Part of this research is the setting up of inventories and databases on cultural
resources in each park unit. Here are named, inter alia, the "Ethnographic Resources
Inventory (ERI) of places, including sites, structures, objects, landscapes and natural
resources with cultural meaning and value to associated peoples and other resource users."
[National Park Service 2002, 5.1.3.1.] and the "Cultural Landscapes Inventory of historic
designed landscapes, historic vernacular landscapes, ethnographic landscapes, and historic
sites, and the related Cultural Landscapes Automated Inventory Management System
(CLAIMS) database." [National Park Service 2002, 5.1.3.1.]
In the National Park Service’s 'Preservation Brief 36 for the Protection of Cultural
Landscapes' [‚Protection of Cultural Landscapes’ website], a cultural landscape is defined as
"a geographic area, including both cultural and natural resources and the wildlife or
domestic animals therein, associated with a historic event, activity, or person or
exhibiting other cultural or aesthetic values."
[‚Protection of Cultural Landscapes’ website]
Furthermore four general types of cultural landscapes are distinguished. One of them is the
‘ethnographic landscape’. This is defined as follows:
“A landscape containing a variety of natural and cultural resources that associated
people define as heritage resources. Examples are contemporary settlements,
religious sacred sites and massive geological structures. Small plant communities,
animals, subsistence and ceremonial grounds are often components.”
[‘Protection of Cultural Landscapes’website]
The latter definition of the ethnographic landscape could very well include the traditional
indigenous cultural landscape as defined by UNESCO. Nevertheless, it seems that the
cultural landscapes identified by the NPS are in the vast majority designed and/or historic
landscapes such as parks, playgrounds, battlefields, cemeteries, village greens, and
agricultural land. [‚Protection of Cultural Landscapes’ website] This trend also becomes
evident in the NPS programme for ‘National Heritage Areas’. These areas are designated by
the US Congress and are described as below:
“A National Heritage Area contains dynamic, evolving and multi-layered landscapes
that reflect the histories and stories of residents both past and present. A national
heritage area is a place in which the land and the local environment, over time, have
shaped traditions and cultural values in the people who live there, and where the
residents' use of the land has, in turn, created and sustained a landscape that reflects
their cultures.”
[‚National Heritage Areas’ website (2)]
Only five out of 37 National Heritage Areas designated between the years 1984 and 2007,
the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area in North Carolina, the Cane River National Heritage
Area in Louisiana, the Great Basin National Heritage Area in Utah/Nevada, the Mississippi
Gulf Coast National Heritage Area in Mississippi, and the Northern Rio Grande National
22
Heritage Area in New Mexico specifically mention the indigenous cultural heritage of Native
Americans as integral parts of these cultural landscapes’ specific value at first sight.
[‚National Heritage Areas’ website (1)-(7)]
And this is the programme that Susan Buggey and Nora Mitchell [2002] in their review say
best exemplifies the conservation of large-scale lived-in landscapes in the United States.
Conclusively, in regard to the possible World Heritage status of cultural landscapes in the
US, Buggey and Mitchell in their above mentioned report clearly state, that
“... no comprehensive inventories or theme studies of cultural landscapes have yet
been completed as a comparative basis for placing cultural landscapes on the
national tentative lists for World Heritage designation in ... the United States ...”.
[Buggey/Mitchell 2002, 92]
23
II CASE STUDY: HAWAI’I VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK
Tongariro National Park and Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park are comparable as natural and
cultural heritage sites. Both are volcanic landscapes in the geographic area of the Pacific
Islands. The indigenous societies related to the two sites, the Maori of New Zealand and the
Hawai’ians, belong to the same ethnic and cultural group, the Polynesians. Both sites are
national monuments, Tongariro National Park and Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park, as well
as natural World Heritage sites. The two landscapes both have powerful cultural associations
attached to them by their indigenous inhabitants. These have been recognised by UNESCO
for Tongariro National Park in 1993, but not for Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park thus far. In
order to get the same recognition as Tongariro, the park management of Hawai’i Volcanoes
National Park is allegedly preparing a nomination dossier for the re-nomination of the site
under cultural aspects, although this project is not to be found on the US-American tentative
list.
The following case study introduces the religious and cultural associations of the volcanoes
Mauna Loa and Kilauea, which form the essence of Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park.
It has to be taken into account that the indigenous Hawai'ian culture is very complex and its
religious system extremely intricate. Therefore it is impossible to include every detail of any
associations the Hawai'ians might have towards the Hawai'ian volcanoes in a study of this
format. Also, as an outsider, the author of this text is aware of not being able to understand
the native Hawai'ian culture to its full extent and herewith wishes to apologize to all
Hawai'ians for possible misconceptions.
1. Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park as a Site
1.1. A Natural World Heritage Site
The area of the Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park covers ca. 134,800 hectares of land in the
southeast of the Big Island of Hawai’i, incorporating the summit and south-east slope of
Mauna Loa and the summit and south-western, southern and south-eastern slopes of
Kilauea, both active volcanoes. The site first became a US National Park in 1916, being part
of Hawai’i National Park, which reached over the ocean including an area on the island of
Maui. In 1961 the National Park was restructured, and the section on the Big Island became
known as Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park. The park was declared an International
Biosphere Reserve in 1980 and a World Heritage site in 1987. [Hawai’i Volcanoes National
Park (5) website]
24
The inscription onto the World Heritage List was under what was at the time natural criterion
N (ii), and is now according to the revised version of 2005 criterion (viii), of the Operational
Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention, which is to
"be an outstanding example representing major stages of earth’s history, including the
record of life, significant on-going geological processes in the development of
landforms, or significant geomorphic or physiographic features"
[IUCN 1992]
The nomination dossier presented to UNESCO originally had put Hawai’i Volcanoes National
Park forward as a World Heritage site on the grounds of natural criteria (i), (iii) and (iv),
claiming it was an outstanding example for evolutionary history, natural beauty, as well as a
habitat for rare and endangered species. Being the evaluating institution, IUCN in 1987 found
the evidence for natural criteria (i), (iii) and (iv) (according to the definition at the time), as
presented by the National Park Service, not convincing enough for the inclusion in
comparison to other properties on the World Heritage List. The IUCN report stated that the
importance of Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park lay in the fact that volcanic activity provided
an excellent opportunity for science to study the actual process of island building. [IUCN
1992]
1.2. The Cultural Element of the Site as Officially Recognised Today
Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park provides vast tangible evidence of human occupation and
use, in part dating back to A.D. 1200. More than 14,000 archaeological remains of native
Hawai’ian culture have officially been recorded on the precincts of the National Park.
[‘Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park’ (1) website] These include individual habitation sites,
ceremonial structures, burial grounds and agricultural land, as well as cave shelters,
pathways and canoe landing spots on the coast. [IUCN 1992 and ‘Hawai’i Volcanoes
National Park’ (1) website]
One very prominent archaeological site within Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park is an area of
2 hectars of hardened lava on the southern side of Kilauea, into which altogether 23,000
images are cut. This area is known as the Pu'uloa Petroglyph Field. The petroglyphs depict
geometric forms, mostly circles and holes, as well as anthropomorphic shapes and images of
ships and other objects. According to Mara Durst [‘Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park (11)
website], an archaeologist employed by the National Park Service for Hawai'i Volcanoes
National Park, the images in the lava field mark travels, historic events, boundaries and trails,
as well as wishes for the long life and welfare of the local people. The anthropologist Martha
25
Beckwith1 e.g. described the burying of the umbilical cord of newborn babies in the area of
Pu'uloa, which went along with the carving of a symbol for the child into the lava field, as a
local practice. The struggle for interpretation of such a site shows how important the study of
oral history is for the National Park Service, especially since the Pu’uloa Petroglyph Field is
not the only one of its kind within the Park.
Another rather unusual archaeological site on the grounds of Hawai’i Volcanoes National
Park is an area of footprints fossilized in volcanic ash and sand, located in the vicinity of
Kilauea's caldera. These fossils are to be dated between AD 1500 and 1790, and show that
the inhabitants of the Big Island of Hawai'i have always used the areas of dynamic volcanic
activity, no matter how dangerous the conditions were at times. [‘Hawai’i Volcanoes National
Park (7) website]
An archaeological site of religious importance, which is mentioned in the Park’s General
Management Plan of 1975, but has in the meanwhile been destroyed by lava flows, is the
Wahaula Heiau, translated as ‘Red Mouth Temple’. It allegedly dated back to the year 1275
and seems to have been a ceremonial site, dedicated to major Hawai’ian deities and of great
importance in the archipelago. Close to the temple was the settlement site of Kailiili village,
which will have been associated to the temple in some way, possibly by sustaining it. [Hawaii
Volcanoes National Park 1975 (2)]
All the above-mentioned major archaeological remains, and a number of other cultural
resources in Hawai’i National Park, including Kilauea Crater (also known as Ka Lua O Pele)
are protected by being listed on the National Register of Historic Places, which is the United
State’s “official list of cultural resources worthy of preservation.”
[‘National Register of Historic Places’ website]
In addition, the National Park Service has identified altogether 19 areas within the Park as
cultural landscapes, which have been registered on the NPS Cultural Landscape Inventory.
[Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park 2004 (1)] According to a definition of cultural landscapes
given by Robert Page in his Cultural Landscapes Inventory Professional Procedures Guide
[National Park Service 2001] and cited on the park’s webpage on cultural landscapes, they
are seen as parts of the natural environment, which have visibly been manipulated and
created by man. [Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park (4) website] The concept of associative
cultural landscape does not feature in the US National Park Service’s Park Historic
Structures and Cultural Landscapes Program. (See ‘US American Approach to Associative
Cultural Landscapes)
Only in the past few years, an intensive study of historic and ethnographic resources has
been conducted for the National Park Service by Charles M. Langless 2, the results of which
1
Martha Beckwith 'Field Notes’ quoted in Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park webpage (11)
Charles M. Langless (2003) ‚Native Hawai’ian Use of Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park’ cited in
Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park 2004 (1)
2
26
were published in 2003. In the course of this survey the following activities where identified
as traditional use of park resources by the Native Hawai’ians in historic times (among
others): water collection, canoe building, bird hunting, salt making and of course agricultural
cultivation of soil. Langless also investigated how the park is being used by indigenous
Hawai’ians today and found that current activities predominantly include fishing, hunting and
plant collection. The latter especially refers to the collection of flowers for the production of
the traditional Hawai’ian garlands, the lei, which are imminent in Hula dance performances.
[Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park 2004 (1)]
1.3 How the National Park is Managed
The General Management Plan of the Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park, dating back to 1975,
states clearly that
“The purpose of Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park is to conserve the volcanic features,
endemic Hawai’ian ecosystems, Hawai’ian cultural and archaeological remains, and
inherent scenic values for visitor enjoyment and appreciation and for their scientific
and historic values, with minimum impairment to the resources.”
[Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park 1975 (2)]
The main themes of the National Park are identified as volcanism, ecology and archaeology,
which are all seen as interrelated because of the way the evolution of ecosystems as well as
human development in the area have been distinctively shaped by the ongoing volcanic
activity of Mauna Loa and Kilauea. [Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park 1975 (2)]
Although as a World Heritage site Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park is to date only
acknowledged for its outstanding natural features, the park’s administration clearly
recognizes the cultural values linked to the landscape by indigenous Hawai’ians. The
preservation of this cultural heritage is a definite objective, which does not stop at
preservation, but includes the perpetuation and promotion of traditional Hawai’ian culture and
values. The IUCN summary of the park’s World Heritage site nomination dossier explicitly
mentions “the cultural milieu in which the goddess of the volcano plays an important spiritual
part in the legends of the local people is a strong component in the management of the park.”
[IUCN 1992, 95]
27
2. Intangible Cultural Heritage Associated with the Volcanoes Mauna Loa and Kilauea
2.1 Cultural Background of Indigenous Hawai’i
In order to understand the indigenous ideas surrounding the volcanoes Mauna Loa and
Kilauea, the basics of native Hawai'ian culture are outlined in this chapter.
2.1.1. Cultural Affiliation
The Hawai’ian Islands have since 1893 been part of the United States of America and were
made the 50th state in the year 1959. Like the remainder of the United States, Hawai’i has its
indigenous population. The native Hawai’ians are ethnologically considered as being part of
the Polynesian cultural group. The Polynesians have always been great seafarers, travelling
the entire Pacific to find new areas for habitation, and so were the people that finally settled
on the Hawai’ian Island chain. Scholars believe that the settlers came in two main waves, the
first arriving on Hawai’i around the 5th century from the Marquesas Islands, and the second in
the 13th century, coming from the Society Islands. [Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park (6)
website]
2.1.2 Subsistence
The settlers brought animals and plants for cultivation with them to Hawai’i, in order to secure
their physical survival. The main staple food was taro, which was planted on large irrigated
plots. Other very important plants to be cultivated were sweet potatoes, breadfruit, coconut,
bananas and sugarcane. All these grew very well on the fertile volcanic ground of the
Hawai’ian Islands. As livestock the Hawai’ians kept pigs, dogs and chicken, but apart from
meat the Hawai’ians ate a lot of fish, some of which was fished in the ocean, whereas great
amounts were purposely raised in ponds on the island. [Handy 1972]
2.1.3 Political Organisation
The ancient Hawai’ians formed an agricultural society, and were politically organised along
the lines of an almost feudal system. The ordinary people were farming small, individual plots
of land and a certain fraction of their produce had to be handed over to their landlords. These
landlords were local chiefs, who were themselves organised under the rule of higher ranked
regional chiefs, which had political power over the regions. Occasionally the rulers of the
country fought each other over land control. The outcome of these wars affected land
ownership, with the victors acquiring the land of the vanquished. The chiefs granted land use
rights to people loyal to them, and in case of disloyalty this land could be taken away.
However the farmers also had the right to change their loyalty and could leave the land they
had been cultivating in order to move into the area and power of another chief.
28
From the beginning of the 18th century on, the whole Hawai’ian Island chain for the first time
was united under one supreme political ruler. This was King Kamehameha the First, who
was succeeded by several related monarchs, up to the time when the last Hawai’ian
sovereign queen, Lili'uokalani, was overthrown by the Americans at the end of the 19th
century. [Handy 1972]
It has to be said that politics was not to be separated from religion entirely in indigenous
Hawai’ian society. The land owning chiefs, the ali’i nui, were actually seen as being mere
trustees of the land, looking after it for the gods, who had the ultimate power over the land.
[‘Holo Mai Pele’ (2) website]
2.1.4 Religion
From a cultural point of view, the Hawai’ian Islands have always been comparatively uniform.
Religious beliefs and practices, as well as the style of arts and crafts were in general the
same on all the islands, apart from minor local variations.
The indigenous Hawai’ian religious system centred upon food consumption and laws
regulating the same. Its designation, ‘Aikapu, translates as ‘sacred eating’, whilst the word
kapu (internationally known as ‘taboo’) literally means ‘law’. According to Dr. Lilikala
Kame’eleihiwa [Holo Mai Pele (1) website], Director of the Center for Hawai’ian Studies at
the University of Hawai’i, the ‘Aikapu religion made food consumption a religious experience
by surrounding it with rituals of restriction. One of the major constraints set by native
Hawai’ian religion was that women in general had to abstain from four food items, which
were coconuts, bananas, pork and red fish. This was because these substances symbolized
the sexual power of Ku, as the god of war, Kanaloa as the god of ocean voyaging, Lono as
the god of agriculture and Ku’ulakai as the god of deep-sea fishing. And the spheres of these
gods were the areas of male activity, since the law also demanded that men work in fields
dominated by male gods, and women work in fields dominated by female gods. This resulted
in the fact that only men did the cooking in traditional Hawa’ian culture, for the reason that
food was mostly seen as male. This meant that men cooked for themselves and for the
women, but separately, as men and women were not supposed to eat together. Specific
eating houses existed for males as well as for females and in the same way as eating and
work were sexually divided, so was religious worship, which took place in separate temples.
Summed up, the Hawai’ian pantheon consisted of around 40,000 gods, akua in the native
language. The four most important gods were Kane as the god of sunlight, Ku as the god of
war, Kanaloa as the god of the ocean and Lono as the god of fertility and agriculture. These
were male gods, but they all had female counterparts, which were Kaneikawaiola as the
goddess of fresh, running water for Kane, Kuho’one’enu’u as the war goddess of Oahu for
29
Ku, Namakaokaha’i as the goddess of the ocean for Kanaloa and finally Lonowahine as the
goddess of the all important four month long Makahiki harvest festival in favour of Lono.
The traditional Hawai’ian religion had evolved around an agricultural structure, with planting
and harvesting being the foundations of the society. The purpose of the religious system was
to ensure the productivity of the land in order to feed its people.
Therefore the purpose of the gods was to determine the successful timing for agricultural
activities as well as ceremonial activities.
According to Dr. Kame’eleihiwa [‘Holo Mai Pele’ (1) website], the relationship between the
ancient Hawai’ian people and their gods was like a family relationship between the
generations. The older generation (the gods) took care of the younger generation (the
people) by providing them with food and wisdom, in return for which the young treated the
old with love, respect and obedience. One of the things the elders requested from the young
generation was to be generous, especially with food, and to live in harmony with the land.
The ideal was to live in perfect harmony with the whole universe, for which the term pono
was coined.
2.2 The Relation of Hawai’ian Culture towards Landscape
Mauna Loa and Kilauea form a distinctive part of the landscape on the Big Island of Hawai'i,
especially for those living in their immediate vicinity.
Apart from the cultural features, which are directly related to these volcanoes, an idea of the
native Hawai'ian general attitude towards the physical environment and its significance within
the culture shall be given here.
2.2.1 Hawai’ian Love for the Homeland
The indigenous Hawai’ians of old were cultivators of land. It meant that the land they lived on
was of overall importance to their traditional culture since it guaranteed their survival by
providing them with food. This is expressed by the specific term the Hawai’ian language has
for arable land, which literally means ‘that which feeds’ or the ‘feeder’ (a’ina). The term a’ina
also stands for an individual’s ‘homeland’, which is of great relevance to the Hawai’ians as a
cultural group. The bond between the indigenous inhabitants of the traditional Ka’u (in
Hawai’ian language ‚the Breast’) district on the Great Island of Hawai’i, which includes the
areas of the volcanoes Mauna Loa and Kilauea, and their a’ina seems to be especially
strong. This might not be too astonishing since life around the volcanoes is not very easy
because of the imminent danger the volcanic activity in the area poses. As the Handys
[1972] in their book ‘Native Planters in Old Hawai’i’ quite adequately observed, being able to
make a living under such difficult circumstances certainly endears the environment even
30
more to its inhabitants. Having initially migrated to the volcanic areas of the Island of Hawai’i
across the ocean from far away lands, it stands to reason that the people of K’au probably
chose the land they lived on based on good judgement. This proved to be an excellent
choice, since the lava soil is extremely nutritious and guaranteed very good harvests. The
inhabitants of K’au benefited from the volcanic activity on one hand, but in return had to put
up with the negative side effects it brought in the form of eruptions, lava flows and
earthquakes. The Handys [1972] state that the K’au people loved Pele, the cause of the
volcanicity, dearly but feared her angry outbursts at the same time. This can be seen as
comparable to some human family relationships, and it goes on to show the connection
between the people and their environment. As if to illustrate this, a certain group of people
living in the district of K’au, probably descendants of a fraction of very early settlers who
knowingly decided to live in this specific area, indeed did see themselves as relatives of
Pele, as is expressed in the way they were referred to as being of the ‘Clan of Pele’. This
shows clearly a very intimate bond between the people living around the volcanoes and their
physical surroundings, although like all emotional relationships, it is sometimes a
quarrelsome one.
2.2.2 The Concept of Wahi Pana - Sacred Places
The traditional Hawai’ian culture developed a concept of sacred places, in Hawai’ian
language wahi pana. According to one source
"The inventory of sacred places in Hawai'i includes the dwelling places of the gods,
the dwelling places of their legendary kahuna {ann. by the author: a priest with special
powers}, temples, and shrines, as well as selected observation points, cliffs, mounds,
mountains, weather phenomena, forests, volcanoes." 3
Another source adds to these "lava tubes, pu'uhonua or places of refuge and burial sites."
[Senate Indian Affairs Committee 2002]
In the case of Kaho'olawe, a whole island was considered to be a wahi pana because it was
seen as an epitome of one of the major deities, the sea god Kanaloa.
All places that were considered wahi pana were believed to have great spiritual power, in the
native Hawai’ian language mana. There existed numerous wahi pana in the Hawai’ian
Islands and they were highly respected and revered in the traditional society. Special rituals
were held at these places, consisting of offerings and prayers to the deities associated with
the place in question.
It seems that the traditional Hawai’ian wahi pana had a twofold educational value. First they
served as places to remember and explain historical or mythical events related to them.
3
[Edward Kanahele in Van James (1991) 'Ancient Sites of Oa'hu' by Van James, pp. ix.-xiii
quoted in Senate Indian Affairs Committee 2002]
31
Secondly, some of them were places in which farming and fishing were restricted.4
Accordingly they will have served in educating the younger generations not to overuse the
natural resources.
2.2.3 A Special Relationship
It seems that the indigenous Hawai’ians, like most traditional societies and especially those
based on agriculture, have a very intimate relationship with the land they live on and off. This
is accentuated by the fact that the Hawai’ian Islands on the whole are fairly isolated from
other parts of the world, and the volcanic area on the Big Island of Hawai’i in specific being
such an extraordinary place to live in.
Similar to other Native American ethnicities on the mainland of the US, the indigenous
Hawai’ians feel they have a special bond with nature that builds very much on respect, and in
contrast to modern western society, they feel they are responsible for using natural
resources in a sustainable way.
The following reflects a native Hawai’ian value given by Edward Kanahele: "The earth must
not be desecrated."5 In this very sense traditional Hawai’ians today see themselves as Ke
Kahu O Ka 'Aina - Stewards of the Land. [Theroux 2002]
On the grounds of religious traditions, which will be explored in detail in the following
chapters, specific geographical features and sites on the Hawai’ian Islands are seen as
sacred places. One of these, situated within the boundaries of Hawai’i Volcanoes National
Park, is Halema’uma’u Crater on Kilauea, the legendary homestead of the native Volcano
goddess Pele (reflected in its alternative name Ka Lua O Pele). Many Hawai’ians still revere
such places as sacred places and therefore the National Park Service treats e.g. the
Halema’uma’u Crater as an area of restricted access for visitors, guaranteeing the site to be
used in a way seen as appropriate by traditional Hawai’ians.
2.3 The Pele Mythology
The traditional native Hawai'ian spiritual associations with the volcanoes Mauna Loa and
Kilauea all focus on the extended family of the fire goddess Pele, who is believed to live in
the craters of the volcanoes. A great wealth of myths and stories relating the life and
adventures of the Pele family is recorded. This chapter recounts the most important Pele
legends as well as a few minor ones in order to give an overview of what the Hawai'ian
4
Van James (1991) 'Ancient Sites of Oa'hu' by Van James, pp. ix.-xiii quoted in Senate Indian Affairs
Committee 2002
5
[Edward Kanahele in Van James (1991) 'Ancient Sites of Oa'hu' by Van James, pp. ix.-xiii quoted in
Senate Indian Affairs Committee 2002]
32
mythology has to offer, especially about the figure of Pele and the ideas connected with the
volcanoes Mauna Loa and Kilauea.
2.3.1 The Volcano Goddess Pele and her Family
Pele is the Hawai'ian goddess of the volcano and her family controls the volcanic activities in
the crater of Kilauea. All Pele's relatives are gods and goddesses related to one or the other
natural phenomenon. Pele is the head of the family living in Kilauea and she directs the
eruptions, lava flows and earthquakes, with her brothers and sisters assisting her in this task.
According to the scholar William D. Westerveld [1963], who collected numerous Hawai’ian
myths during the 20th century, the word 'pele' in old Hawai’i stood for three things: the fire
goddess, a volcano or a fire-pit in any land, and an eruption of lava. Another scholar of
Hawai’ian mythology in the 20th century, Martha Beckwith [1970], reports that in Hawai’ian
chants, Pele is addressed by several names describing volcanic activities. One of them is
'Pele-ai-honua', meaning 'the eater of land', apparently because her activities destroyed the
countryside around her home, the area around the volcanoes Kilauea and Mauna Loa.
Volcanic activities like eruptions, lava flows and earthquakes, in traditional Hawai’ian legends
are said to be caused by Pele out of resentment. Apparently, as many stories show in great
detail, the goddess Pele is an extremely ill tempered figure. A great many of the Hawai’ian
legends about the fire goddess focus on destruction caused by Pele out of rage. Her fury
could be caused by rejected love, personal insult or jealousy arising from sportive
competition. This suggests that Pele is seen as a goddess with very human character traits.
This goes for her appearance as well, since she does not only appear in the shape of
volcanic phenomena, but often presents herself either as an extremely beautiful young
woman or alternatively as an old lady, although she can take on a variety of other nonhuman forms as well.
2.3.2. How Pele came to Hawai’i
As already mentioned above, Pele is depicted as a comparatively human-like goddess.
Hawai’ian mythology describes her extended family relations, her character and behaviour,
as well as her activities such as her migration through the Pacific Ocean before settling in the
Hawai’ian archipelago, just as the human population of the islands had done in ancient
times. Before Pele became the supreme fire goddess, dwelling in the crater of Kilauea for
ever after, stories tell of her childhood, in a land far away from Hawai’i, where she learned
the handling of flames from her uncle, Lono-makua, the keeper of the fires. [Emerson 1909]
There are different interpretations as to where Pele actually came from, and different
versions of legends as to who her parents were, the exact number of siblings she had, and
33
why she left her homeland, travelled the oceans and finally took residence on the Big Island
of Hawai’i.
At this point the author would like to quote an old song, which according to Martha Beckwith
[1970] is often recited by Hawai’ian storytellers whilst reporting Pele's migration, as an
example for one popular version of this story.
" The Coming of Pele
'The woman Pele comes from Kahiki,
From the land of Polapola,
From the ascending mist of Kane, from the clouds that move in the sky,
From the pointed clouds born at Kahiki,
The woman Pele was restless for Hawai’i.
'Fashion the canoe Honua-ia-kea,
As a canoe, O Kamohoali'i, for venturing to the island.'
Completed, equipped, is the canoe of the gods,
The canoe for (Pele)-of-the-sacred-earth to sail in.
From the straight course the heavenly one turned
And went around the island, and the multitude of the gods stepped ashore.
'Who were behind at the stern of the canoe?'
'The household of Pele and her company,
Those who bail, those who work the paddles,
On the canoe, where Ku and Lono.'
It came to land, rested there,
The island rose before them, Hi'iaka stepped ashore seeking for increase of
divinity,
Went and came to the house of Pele.
The gods of Kahiki burst into lightning flame with roar and tumult,
Lightning flames gushed forth,
Burst forth with a roar:' "
[Beckwith 1970, 169 f]
The above song describes the actual migration, the travel in the canoe across the sea and
the family that accompanied Pele. (In this version the lands where they come from, 'Kahiki'
and 'Polapola' are interpreted as to be in the group of the Society Islands).
One set of legends, that is given by several scholars of Hawai’ian Mythology, like Martha
Beckwith [1970] and William D. Westerveld [1963], includes a story where Pele was driven
away from her homeland by her sister Na-maka-o-ka-hai, a sea goddess, the reason being
jealousy over a man. In this legend Pele fled across the sea on a canoe, with the help of
relatives like the whirlwind, the current and the tide, taking with her some of her other
brothers and sisters in order to aid her. After travelling for a while, the party arrived on
Niihau, the westernmost island of the Hawai’ian chain. Here Pele used her magic shovel
(paoa) to dig a home for her family and herself, with a crater of volcanic fire opening at each
spot where the paoa was used.
Beckwith cites the beginning of a famous dance song, where Pele's digging activities were
described:
34
"The blaze trembles,
Bursts out above, below,
The spade rattles in the cleft below.
'What god is this digging?'
'It is I, Pele,
Digging a pit on Ni'ihau.' "
[Beckwith 1970, 169]
Unfortunately Pele's furious sister, the sea goddess, was still following the group and
drenched the fire-pit that Pele had dug on Ni'ihau. As a result the family had to continue to
the next island in the Hawai’ian chain, which was Kaua'i. On this island a similar incident took
place, the fire-pit was drenched by Na-maka-o-ka-hai and the Pele family continued on to
O'ahu, to Moloka'i and to Maui, where they finally seemed to be able to find a home. But
Pele's older sister, the sea goddess found them on the island of Moloka’i as well, because
she had seen the smoke rising from the crater where the family had settled. A great final
battle between the sisters Pele and Na-maka-o-ka-hai arose, in which Pele was killed and
her bones scattered, forming a hill, which can be seen in present times and which is known
as 'The Bones of Pele'. The sea goddess believed she had defeated Pele and retreated.
However, later on she had to realize that Pele's spirit had survived and travelled on to the Big
Island of Hawai’i, where she made her home in the volcano Mauna Loa. Na-maka-o-ka-hai
saw Pele's spirit body floating over Mauna Loa and understood that she could never
overcome Pele as a fire goddess and left her at peace. Hereafter Pele and her family took
their final residence in the crater of Kilauea. [Beckwith 1970, Westerveld 1963, GarbunyVogel 1999]
Besides of having the character of any popular drama, which is to portray in a very lively way
human relations and emotions like love, jealousy and hatred, the legend of Pele's coming to
Hawai’i stands for the indigenous' Hawai’ians awareness of some important historical and
geographical facts.
The first of these is that Pele's journey across the ocean and her settling in Hawai’i reflects
the Hawai’ian population's own migration in the Pacific before taking up residence in the
Hawai’ian island chain.
The second very important fact, which is depicted in Pele's migration legend, is a geological
observation. In fact, Pele's island hopping, trying to make a home for herself on each island
in the archipelago, starting with the westernmost island and finally settling on the Big Island,
reflects the exact geological formation of the Hawai’ian islands. The first island on which Pele
and her household arrived, the westernmost island Niihau, is indeed the oldest in the island
group. The formation of the islands then follows Pele's travelling from west to east with the
Big Island of Hawai’i being formed as the last one. The island of Hawai’i is the youngest of
the islands. Also reflected in the Pele story is the fact that all the Hawai’ian islands have their
volcanoes and were actually created through these. All but the volcanoes Mauna Loa and
35
Kilauea, Pele's current home, are extinct today. The two volcanoes on the Big Island on the
contrary are active. Kilauea, Pele's more permanent home is one of the most active
volcanoes in the world today. Pele's digging of fire pits on each island, which were drenched
by water later on, and her travelling from west to east from island to island, before taking up
a permanent home in a still active volcano, reflects the geological facts of island creation in
Hawai’i. [Garbuny-Vogel 1999]
In fact there are indications that Pele will move on again, since a new volcano, Lo’ihi, is
forming off the Hawai’ian coast.
2.3.3 Pele Replacing an Old Fire God
The Hawai’ian people, probably since their very first arrival on the archipelago, tried to find
explanations for the most spectacular natural surroundings on the islands, especially for the
ongoing volcanic activity.
One very old legend gives the story of the fire god Ai-lau, 'the forest-eater', as William D.
Westerveld [1963] translates his name (or 'the wood-eater' according to Martha Beckwith
[1970]). Ai-laau was supposed to have been living in the biggest of a series of craters, going
from Kilauea to the seashore, for a very long time. During this time he had produced
eruptions as well as lava flows and therefore destroyed, and at the same time created, the
landscape in the southern part of the Island Hawai’i. It is said in Hawai’ian mythology, that
one day Ai-lau moved into the main crater of Kilauea, which is where he lived when Pele
arrived on the Big Island of Hawai’i. The version William D. Westervelt [1963], in his book
‘Hawaiian Legends of Volcanoes’, gives of this occasion is as follows:
"When Pele came to the island of Hawai’i, she first stopped at a place called Ke-ahia-laka in the district of Puna. From this place she began her inland journey toward the
mountains. As she passed on her way there grew within her an intense desire to go at
once and see Ai-laau, the god whom Kilauea belonged, and find a resting-place with
him as the end of her journey. She came up, but Ai-laau was not in his house. Of a
truth he had made himself lost. He had vanished because he knew that this one
coming toward him was Pele. He had seen her toiling down by the sea at Ke-ahi-alaka. Trembling dread and heavy fear overpowered him. He ran away and was
entirely lost. When Pele came to that pit she laid out the plan for her abiding home,
beginning at once to dig up the foundations. She dug day and night and found that
this place fulfilled all her desires. Therefore, she fastened herself tight to Hawai’i of all
time."
[Westervelt 1963, 3]
Since Pele made herself at home in the caldera of Kikauea, Ai-laau was never mentioned
again and the intricate Pele mythological cycle took over. [Westervelt 1963, Beckwith 1970]
One interpretation for the story given above could be that Ai-laau was a volcano deity
revered by the earlier settlers of the Hawai’ian Islands. The second wave of Polynesian
immigrants several hundred years later then probably gained control on the islands and
brought with them the cult of the goddess Pele. This occurrence of an older cultural tradition
36
being succeeded by a younger one, could be reflected in the story of Pele driving away Ailaau from his home in the crater of Kilauea and taking control over the operation of the
volcano. [Beckwith 1970]
2.3.4 Pele and her Sister Hi'iaka Competing over Prince Lohiau
One of the best-known legends from the Pele cycle is a love story about Pele's relationship
with a Hawai’ian prince named Lohiau, whom she had met in a dream.
In the beginning of this story Pele fell asleep in a cave while she was out on a beach with her
sisters. She had told them not to wake her up, even if her sleep would last for a very long
time. During this sleep Pele's spirit wandered off to another island in the Hawai’ian chain, to
Kauai. There her spirit, in the outward appearance of a very beautiful young woman, met the
young chief Lohiau. They both fell in love with each other and Pele's spirit stayed with Lohiau
for some time at his village.
The following is an old Hawai’ian chant, given by William D. Westerveld [1963] in which
Lohiau admired Pele's beauty and compared it to Mauna Loa volcano:
"Lei of Mauna Loa, beautiful to look upon.
The mountain honored by the winds.
Known by the peaceful motion.
Calm becomes the whirlwind.
Beautiful is the sun upon the plain.
Dark-leaved the trees in the midst of the hot sun
Heat rising from the face of the moist lava.
The sunrise mist lying on the grass,
Free from the care of the strong wind.
The bird returns to rest at Palaau.
He who owns the right to sleep is at Palaau.
I am alive for your love For you indeed."
[Westervelt 1963, 77]
At the same time, while Pele's spirit enjoyed her relationship with Lohiau on Kauai, her
sisters started to get worried, because she had been sleeping for several days. Finally they
decided that Hi'iaka, the youngest sister and Pele's favourite, should wake her up, which
ended Pele’s time with Lohiau. In order to get back together with her lover from the island of
Kauai, Pele asked her sister Hi'iaka to physically travel to Lohiau’s place and to bring him
over to their home on Hawai'i. The little sister had to promise though, that she would not start
an affair with Lohiau during their travels together. Hi'iaka agreed to that, but in return made
Pele promise that she would not destroy the lehua (Ann.: a native tree) woods of her best
friend Hopoe, which surrounded Kilauea, whilst she was gone.
Hi'iaka started out on a long and dangerous journey to find Lohiau. When she finally arrived
in the village of the young chief, she discovered that he had committed suicide out of
lovesickness for Pele, who had simply disappeared from his life without a word. This
37
revelation shocked Hi'iaka, because she knew that if she would not bring back Lohiau alive to
her sister Pele, her extremely challenging journey would have been in vain and Pele would
be very disappointed and furious. Fortunately, when Hi'iaka saw Lohiau's dead body, she
was able to detect that his soul was still lingering above the body, if very faintly only. Hi'iaka
however had great spiritual powers and she performed a ritual to get Lohiau's soul back into
his body and to bring him to life again. For this purpose she drew upon several powerful
incantations. One of them is the following, as given by Padraic Colum [1937] in ‘Legends of
Hawaii’:
"Ho, comrades from the sacred plateau!
Ho, comrades from the burning gulf!
Hither fly with art and cunning:
Ku, who fells and guides the war boat;
Ku, who pilots us through dreamland;
All ye gods of broad Hawai’i;
Kanaloa, guard well your kapus;
Candle-maker, candle-snuffer;
Goddess, too, of passions, visions;
Lightning red all heaven filling Pitchy darkness turned to brightness Lono, come, thou God of Fire;
Come, too, thou piercing eye of rain;
Speed, speed, my prayer upon its quest!"
[Colum 1937, 25]
After a long and complicated procedure Lohiau indeed came back to life and was taken to
Hawai’i by Hi'iaka in order to be re-united with his lover Pele.
When the two of them arrived on the Island of Hawai’i though, Hi'iaka saw that Pele had not
kept her part of the promise. Pele had caused an eruption whilst Hi’iaka was on her journey
and had destroyed the lehua woods of Hi'iaka's friend Hopoe. Hi'iaka was devastated and did
not see any reason why she should continue to keep her own promise towards her elder
sister Pele. Hi’iaka seduced Lohiau, who already had approached her during the journey,
and made sure Pele would take notice of their relationship unfolding.
This breach of trust was too much for Pele to take and she called upon all her relatives and
helpers to kill Lohiau. The following is the chant, which Lohiau uttered when he saw the
danger coming, again according to Padraic Colum [1937]:
"All about is flame - the rock plain rent;
The coco palms that tufted the plain
Are gone, all gone, clean down to Ka-poho.
On rushes the dragon with flaming mouth,
Eating its way to Oma'o-lala.
For tinder it has the hair of the fern.
A ghastly rain blots out the sky;
The sooty birds of storm whirl through the vault;
Heaven groans, adrip, as with dragon blood!"
[Colum 1937, 37]
38
There was no way out for Lohiau and he was killed by a lava flow. This saddened Hi'iaka
very much, because she had honestly fallen in love with the young chief from Kauai.
Subsequently the sisters Hi'iaka and Pele started to fight each other with all their powers.
One day a good friend of Lohiau appeared at the crater of Kilauea in front of Pele and her
sisters, coming to visit his friend, whom he believed to be living with Pele now. When he
learnt that his friend had been killed by Pele, for the reason of having betrayed her with her
sister, he asked Pele how she could have done this, since Hi'iaka had restored Lohiau's life
earlier on. Pele had been completely unaware of this fact and only then realized that her little
sister Hi'iaka had actually done her very best in trying to please her. Thus Pele called for the
help of one of her brothers, who had the power to bring Lohiau back to life once again. In the
meanwhile the lehua groves were growing back as well and Hi'iaka was allowed to take off
with Lohiau as her lover. The 'older' gods had successfully intervened in the fight between
the sisters and the family was reconciled again. [Emerson 1909, Handy 1972, Beckwith
1970, Westerveld 1963, ‘Holo Mai Pele’ (3) website]
In trying to analyse the above myth, which in original is very long and detailed, it has to be
stated that the story has several layers and portrays various messages.
For one it is a story about the rivalry between two sisters. At the beginning the younger sister
seems to be the weaker one, being loved very much but at the same time told what to do by
the older sister. In the end though the younger sister has found that she has qualities
matching those of her older sister and both are equally powerful after all.
On this personal relationship level the story is also about trust, betrayal and revenge
amongst family members or friends. The sisters make promises to one another, which then
are not kept by one side because of lacking trust in the other. The offended sister then tries
to take revenge and a big fight between the once loving siblings ensues.
The rivalry between the sisters because of the love for a man might also purport a message
about the negative effects of jealousy. The traditional Hawai’ian society was rather open
concerning sexual relationships. Formal marriage seems not to have existed and the sharing
of lovers, especially between siblings, rather seems to have been the norm. According to
Lilikala Kame'eleihiwa, Director of the Centre for Hawai’ian Studies at the University of
Hawai'i "sexual jealousy, at least among humans, was considered extremely bad form."
[‘Holo Mai Pele’ (2) website]
On another level the legend of Pele and Hi'iaka shows up their powers of creation and
destruction, of taking and bringing back life. Pele is the one who destroys people's lives as
well as the land. Hi'iaka on the contrary has the power to bring life back to people, as in
Lohiau's case, but also to landscapes as in the case of the lehua woods, which Pele had
destroyed in her rage. The above legend depicts very vividly how both is interrelated after all.
Creation and destruction are siblings and one is a result of the other. This is exactly the fact
39
for the nature in the volcanic area of Mauna Loa and Kilauea, where Pele and Hi'iaka are at
home. The landscape with all that is growing in it is regularly destroyed by eruptions, whilst at
the same time it is the lava, which makes the ground so fertile that plants grow in abundance.
On a very immediate level the legend of Pele, Hi'iaka and Lohiau for example portrays
healing rituals being employed by Hi'iaka in the resurrection of Lohiau. Another ritual, which
figures in the story, but is not mentioned in the above version, is the traditional 'awa-drinking
ceremony. This was done on a regular basis in the indigenous society and is a way of asking
for the health of the people and the land. [‘Holo Mai Pele’ (3) website]
2.3.5 Pele and Kamapua'a - The Fighting Elements
Pele, as it was very common and absolutely respected in the traditional indigenous Hawai’ian
society, had several lovers in her life. One of them was Kamapua'a. Kamapua'a was a demigod, who was able to assume a number of different outward appearances. Legend has it that
he could take up the looks of a handsome young man, a black pig, a certain kind of fish with
a pig-like snout or a specific plant, which is said to have some characteristics in common with
pigs as well. Kamapua'a was known as the hog-god of Oahu (the second largest Hawai’ian
Island) and at the same time he was an embodiment of one of the four main gods of the
Hawai'ian culture, Lono, who is supposed to be responsible for rain. This equation possibly
arose from the resemblance of dark rain-clouds with pig-like forms. [Handy 1972]
One day Kamapua'a was travelling around the Hawai'ian islands and finally arrived on the
Big Island. There he went up to the crater of Kilauea, Pele's home. Pele herself was sleeping
at the time, but her sisters were around and took notice of the handsome man approaching
them. And Kamapua'a, assisted by Pele's sisters, was trying to get the goddess’ attention
too. Pele however already knew exactly who the man was and was not irritated by his human
shape. In one version of the legend, given by the Handy's [1972] in their book about the
'Native Planters in Old Hawai'i', Pele replied to the calls trying to awaken her: "One might
wake up for a man, but imagine waking for a hog!" [Handy 1972, 618] And so she told
Kamapua'a that she knew who he was and went on to insult him:
"You are indeed Kama,
Man of the high inland cliffs,
Man of the low-lying cliffs,
Of the sheer, inaccessible cliffs (shrouded in clouds)...
You are Kama, the hog son of Hina and her companion...
You are Kama of the noisy anus,
With the penis attached to the abdomen.
Answer, O Kama!"
[Handy 1972, 618]
But Kamapua'a did not give up easily and his answer to Pele's insults reads as follows:
"Red eyes, red eyes...
Awake! You who sleep too long...
40
Explode and fly, woman,
Down to Maku'uke'e (the land of the dead).
Pele is a hog-eating goddess,
She makes a swishing sound.
O Pele, you are so nimble!"
[Handy 1972, 618]
The reader might already be able to guess from what is known about Pele's character, that
she got very annoyed by Kamapua'a behaviour towards her in the course of the above
dialogue.
There exists a whole cycle of stories around Pele and Kamapua'a, of which there are two
major versions. Undeniably though the encounter between the two is not only one of hatred
but also of love. That is because in spite of everything Pele was enticed by Kamapua'a's
sexual attraction. At long last she did give in to the hog-gods advances and lived with him as
a partner for a while. The couple did not get on very well with each other nonetheless,
indulging in constant petty fights until Pele could not stand Kamapua'a any longer and a
serious confrontation broke out between the two. In the course of this struggle Kamapua'a
took on all his different forms whilst Pele followed him with flames, scorched his body (which
is why Hawai’ian pigs are black and have no fur on the stomach) and finally forced him into
the sea. In the water he managed to escape in his fish-form, fleeing to another island in order
to live there for the rest of his life with another woman.
Following the interpretation of the Handys [1972] in their book 'Native Planters of Old Hawai’i'
the story of Pele and Kamapua'a can be seen as an analogy of "rainstorm and verdure
versus volcanism", [Handy 1972, 618] meaning "the interplay of meteorological and
terrestrial phenomena." [Handy 1972, 618] Kamapua'a, as a form of Lono was the god of
clouds, storms and rains, it is said. The legend of the volcano goddess Pele and the rain god
Kamapua'a depicts, in the shape of a story about love and hate, what actually happens in the
natural environment of the volcanic area on the Island of Hawai’i. The storms, which bring
the rains to the southern side of the island, which is Pele's domain, come from the south just
like Kamapua'a, who came from another island in the south.
The fight between Pele and Kamapua'a describes the natural phenomena of storms and
flood following volcanic eruptions. Pele's chasing the pig-god into the sea is to be observed
in the form of lava streams flowing into the ocean and causing the water to boil. In his plant
form Kamapua'a represents the greenery that is creeping up the slopes of the volcanoes,
and is time and again destroyed by burning lava flows. [Handy 1972, Emerson 1909]
2.3.6 Stories Related to Sled-Riding as a Typical Hawai’ian Sport
Other Pele stories make interesting reading for outsiders in that they describe cultural
traditions of the Hawai’ian society, which do not exist any more, such as the following.
41
The ancient Hawai’ians not only created the sport of surfing (hee-nalu), but also sled-riding,
called heeholua in the native language. This sport was mainly a sport for the chiefs of the
Hawai’ian society, who in general were very fond of sports and games of all kinds. Most
sporting competitions were accompanied by music and dance, making the whole occasion a
festive event. In the case of sled-riding the task was to ride down grassy hillsides on a very
narrow sled, the holua, face down and lying on the chest, with the highest possible speed.
The sleds were extremely narrow, which made the task very difficult. Experienced and
talented sled-riders therefore stood in high esteem in traditional Hawai’ian society.
Pele seemed to have enjoyed this sport tremendously herself (Ann.: see story about Pele
and the snow goddess below), gliding down the steep sides of her home mountains. There is
an abundance of stories, in which Pele (always disguised) competes with people in racing.
Most of the time she gets very furious at some point of the story, because she is defeated or
cheated. In such circumstances she takes on her ‘super’-natural outward appearance and
followes her competitors with lava streams and all the rest of her usual weaponry.
The following story, noted by William D. Westerveld [1963], gives an example in which Pele,
disguised as an old woman, is not handed over the personal holua of the chief Kaha-wali,
although she had requested for it:
“Anger flashed in the face of the woman, for she had been spurned and deserted. Her
eyes were red like hot coals of fire. She stamped on the ground. The hill opened
beneath her and a flood of lava burst forth and began to pour down into the valley,
following and devastating the holua course, and spreading out over the whole plain.
Assuming her supernatural form as the goddess of fire, Pele rode down the hill on her
own papa-holua on the foremost wave of the river of fire. She was no longer the
common native, but was the beautiful young chiefess in her fire-body, eyes flaming
and hair floating back in clouds of smoke. There she stood leaning forward to catch
her antagonist, and urging her fire-waves to the swiftest possible action. Explosions of
bursting lava resounded like thunder all around her.”
[Westerveld 1963, 41 f]
2.3.7 Pele and the Snow Goddess
William D. Westerveld [1963], in his book 'Hawai'ian Legends of Volcanoes', gives a story
about Pele and one of her several natural enemies, Poliahu, the snow goddess of the
mountain Mauna Kea, north of Kilauea.
Poliahu, Westerveld reports, loved the eastern cliffs of the great island Hawai’i where she
used to mingle with the local people in sporting and gaming. One day she was indulged in
the traditional sport of sled riding, when an extremely beautiful female stranger appeared. A
racing competition started between the two women. The stranger was, as many times
described in other legends, the volcano goddess Pele. And as ever so often it happenes in
these stories, in the course of the game Pele got very angry, probably by Poliahu's
superiority in the sport. Subsequently, as Westerveld put it, "the ground began to grow warm
42
and Poliahu knew her enemy." [Westerveld 1963, 55] Pele then showed herself openly and
sent fire-fountains up the hill of Mauna Kea. Poliahu tried to cover herself and the mountain
with her legendary snow-mantle. The forces of fire and snow were fighting against each other
in a great battle. The snow goddess called for more snow and finally Pele's fires were cooled
down and the lava flows had to retreat into the mountains of Mauna Loa and Kilauea.
Westerveld [1963] mentions that Poliahu and Pele met several times in this way. And in the
end the snow goddess was always able to keep the upper part of her mountain, Mauna Kea,
firmly under her mantle of snow, but the lower hillsides towards the ocean were controlled by
Pele's warmth, therewith making the area extremely bountiful. The people of the area used to
say that for ever after "Pele's kingdom has been limited to the southern half of the island
Hawai’i, while the snow-maidens rule the territory to the north." [Westerveld 1963, 55]
This story obviously functions as an explanation for a geographical feature in the area,
reflecting the antagonism between hot volcanic character of Kilauea and the icy nature of
nearby Mauna Kea.
2.3.8 Sacrifices to Pele
Some of the traditional offerings made to Pele were pigs and the fish the Hawai’ians called
humuhumu-nu-kunuku-a-puaa‚ the grunting-angular-pig, both bodily representations of her
former lover Kamapua’a. William D. Westerveld [1963] assumed that it was for reasons of
conciliation that these were Pele’s favourite offerings. The offerings would then either be
cooked over natural hot vapour holes near the caldera of the volcano, or immediately thrown
into the boiling crater.
The practice of an offering of a pig to Pele is described in the tale of 'How Hi'iaka found
Wahine-omao', collected by Westerveld [1963].
In this legend Hiiaka, Pele’s younger sister, met a woman and befriended her. The woman
was about to sacrifice the customary gifts, a pig and a fish, to the goddess of the crater, Pele.
The woman went up the mountain of Kilauea and on getting closer to the crater felt her
strength increasing. She finally arrived in the crater area, where she found several extremely
beautiful females, being surrounded by flames, revolving around them. The woman called
out to the females:
"E Pele e! Here is my sacrifice - a pig.
E Pele e! Here is my gift - a pig.
Here is a pig for you,
O goddess of the burning stones.
Life for me. Life for you.
The flowers of fire wave gently.
Here is your pig.' - Amama."
[Westerveld 1963, 106]
43
The woman then threw her gifts, the pig and the fish into the crater. She saw them jumping
up and down on lava fountains several times, before they finally vanished in the fire. Through
this the woman knew, that Pele had accepted her offering. [Westerveld 1963]
2.3.9 The Significance of Ohelo Berries
A further typical offering the Hawai’ians used to make to Pele upon approaching Kilauea
crater was to throw ohelo berries into the fire pit, picking them from near-by bushes. Usually
these berries would be eaten when found, not on the volcano rim though. [Handy 1972]
Martha Beckwith [1970] gives us a story, explaining the significance of the ohelo berries,
which are typical for the vegetation around Kilauea volcano.
The story says that Pele came to Hawai’i with three sisters. One of them was Kaohelo. Upon
her death Kaohelo instructed her son to bury her "on the navel of your grandmother at
Kilauea" [Beckwith 1970, 187] and story continues to relate that
“...out of her (ann. Kaohelo’s) flesh springs the creeping ohelo, out of her bones the
ohelo bush; other parts of her body are thrown to Maui, Oahu, Kauai, and become
ohelo bushes on those islands. The head of Pele retains as the smoldering fire in the
volcano and Kaohelo becomes one of Pele's gods ..... Kaohelo's spirit daughter
Waialani comes to visit her relatives on Hawai’i and is given some berries to eat
which are the body of her mother. Blood flows from them as she eats and she vows
never to see Pele again on earth."
[Beckwith 1970, 187 f]
2.3.10 Burial in the Volcano
Martha Beckwith [1970] noted down a story she had heard from a resident of the traditional
Kona district, close to the volcanoes on the Island of Hawai’i:
"In old days a man's mother said she was to go to Pele in the volcano. The son took
her by the old road around through Kau called Ka-ala-Pele (The Pele road), not by
the new road, and left her at a distance along the way and said, 'If your god is a true
god she will come and take you.' As he left he looked back and there was no body to
be seen. Napela was the son's name and he lived in Pahala, Kau, in 1881."
[Beckwith 1970, 192 f]
In a local newspaper, published in Hawai’ian language in 1867, the readers found the
following story about King Kamehameha making offerings in order to appease Pele, which
also mentions the practice of some Hawai'ians joining Pele in death.
Pele had started an eruption in the estates of Kamehameha, allegedly because he was
miserly with his offerings to her. Kamehameha had to find a way of making her stop
destroying the land of his people, their basis of life. The priests had already made various
offerings and said prayers in order to soothe Pele. But nothing helped until a prophet told
Kamehameha that he had to make an offering to Pele personally to stop her anger.
Kamehameha was very much afraid though. He thought Pele would definitely kill him. The
queen and several other high officials decided to accompany Kamehameha to the crater at
44
Kilauea and if need be, die together with him. This turned out to be advantageous, because
one of the accompanying chiefly ladies had lost a child before, who's body had been offered
to Pele, making it a ghost-god and a member of the Pele family. So the king and the queen
were told they need not be afraid of Pele, since their follower's child was with her in the
volcano. And indeed when they came forward to the crater they saw a little flame dancing in
front of the large lava outburst. This, the prophets said, was their friend’s child. So
Kamehameha threw his offerings into the crater. Still the eruptions would not cede, until
Kamehameha gave some of his own hair as part of himself as an offering to Pele. Then the
outbreak came to an end. [Westerveld 1963]
The practice of throwing bodies or body parts into the crater on Kilauea volcano as a form of
burial was restricted to those Hawai’ians who regarded themselves as being relatives of
Pele. [Handy 1972] After such a burial the soul of the deceased person was believed to
become a Pele-au-makua, one of the many ancestor ghost gods living in the volcano
together with Pele, forming her entourage or court. [Beckwith 1970]
2.3.11 Pele Transforming People into Rocks
There are many legends and stories in old Hawai’i reporting incidents in which Pele turns
people into lava rocks, mostly out of jealousy.
The following is an old account, collected by Mary Kawena Pukui [1995]. It is the story about
a pretty girl called Pa'ula. Pa'ula lived in the district of Ka'u, just in the vicinity of the
volcanoes Kilauea and Mauna Loa, on the beach. She loved to play the traditional
Polynesian game of kimo, for which little stones or pebbles are used, together with her two
friends.
Pele at the time had a lover whom she tried to keep entertained as best as possible, in order
not to lose him. Nevertheless the man got bored after a while and started to wander around
on his own when he met Pa’ula on the beach. Pele's lover and Pa’ula started a game of kimo
together that lasted for three days and nights. Of course Pele was looking out for her man,
since he did not come back for a long time. When she finally found him, playing kimo with the
beautiful Pa'ula on the beach, she became very jealous and transformed Pa'ula, as well as
her lover, into rocks. Facing each other, with the pebbles they used in their game, they are
still to be seen on the beach at Kalaeokimo (Cape of Kimo) on Hawai’i. Pa'ula's beautiful
friends, who were playing kimo together a little farther down on the beach, were made to
vanish by Pele and only the pebbles were left on the spot.
A lot of geographical features, especially stone formations are explained through similar
stories of Pele being angry with people.
45
2.3.12 Generosity as a Cultural Value
Mary Kawena Pukui [1995] recorded the story below about two girls preparing breadfruit as
an offering to their favourite gods.
One of the girls favoured Laka, the other Kapo, both allegedly sisters of the fire goddess
Pele. As the girls were quarrelling over which goddess was more loveable, an old woman
appeared on the scene and asked the girls for a helping of their breadfruit and some water to
drink. The girl favouring Laka denied the request, for the reason that she had saved the food
and drink especially for the offering to her personal goddess. The other girl on the contrary
gave her fruit and water happily out to the old woman, so she could refresh herself and
gather new strength for her journey. When the old woman left the girls after she had eaten,
she told the generous girl to "Go home and tell your parents to store food in their house and
to hang up flags for ten days at the corners of the house." [Pukui & Green 1995, 23] When
the girl went home and gave the message to her parents, they immediately knew that the old
woman had been the fire goddess Pele, making it very clear to them what was going to
happen. Therefore the family did as they were told, and when ten days later the volcano
erupted and in the course many houses were destroyed, the girl's house was spared from
the lava and the family survived. [Pukui 1995]
This tale teaches generosity as a Hawai’ian cultural value, known as lokomaika’i (to share).
[‘Holo-Mai-Pele Program Booklet’ webpage] „To their ancestors, says University of Hawai'i
professor Lilikala Kame'eleihiwaha, 'generosity in all things, especially in sharing food, was
the highest mark of civilized behavior.'“ [Theroux 2002, 41]
Other traditional values include imi’ike, ‚to seek knowledge’ and laulima, ‚to work
cooperatively’. These merits are explicitly being taught today in the Hawai’ian inclusion
schools and all other institutions interested in the perpetuation of indigenuous Hawai’ian
culture. [‘Holo-Mai-Pele Program Booklet’ webpage]
2.3.13 A Historical Account Related to Pele
The considerable Pele mythology includes stories with a historical content as well. For
example there are several accounts of a historic battle between local chiefs on the island of
Hawai’i, which coincided with an eruption of the volcano Kilauea, Pele's homestead. This
happened in the years of 1789/90.
The young chief Kamehameha, who later became 'King' Kamehameha I, the first monarch to
rule of the whole Hawai’ian Island group, was advised by his priests to build a great stone
temple, a heiau for his favourite god. For this the god would reward him with the reign over
the archipelago. Consequently that was what Kamehameha did, starting to spread out his
political or rather military power. In the course of this he had to fight other local chiefs on the
Big Island of Hawai’i. One of them was Keoua, the chief of the districts Puna and Kau.
46
Kamehameha had attacked the home district of Keoua while the latter was staying in Hilo,
also on the Island of Hawai’i. Upon getting the message about the raid on his home, Keoua
gave away his fish ponds at Hilo to other chiefs and immediately set out with an army to get
to Kau. On the way they had to pass on a path along the crater of Kilauea. This was when
the volcano erupted. [Westerveld 1963]
In a native Hawai’ian newspaper in 1867 appeared an account of the event, part of which
goes as follows:
"Sand, ashes, and stones grew up from the pit into a very high column of fire,
standing straight up. The mountains of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa were below it.
The people even from Ka-wai-hae (a seaport on the opposite side of the mountains)
saw this wonderful column with fire glowing and blazing to its very top. When this
column became great it blew all to pieces into sand and ashes and great stones,
which for some days continued to fall around the sides of Kilauea. Men, women, and
children were killed. Mona, one of the army, who saw all this but who had escaped,
said that one of the chiefesses was ill and some hundreds of the army had delayed
their journey to guard her and so escaped this death."
[Westerveld 1963, 139 f]
The volcanic eruption and the fatal defeat of Keoua's army were interpreted by the people of
the time in different ways.
Keoua's priests and prophets said it happened because the chief had abandoned the district
of Hilo and given away the fish-ponds, which were producing the favourite offerings to the fire
goddess' Pele's sister Hiiaka. Kamehameha's advisors on the other hand were of the opinion
that the gods rewarded their chief for the building of the temple. In general the people of
Hawai’i clearly saw that Kamehameha was supported by Pele, which probably helped him a
great deal in actually becoming the supreme ruler of the Hawai’ian Island chain. [Westerveld
1963]
Common belief used to be that the incident described above was the exact one that caused
the fossilized footprint field in Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park. Recent scientific research
though rules this out and dates the footprints as older. [‘Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park’ (7)
website]
2.3.14 Modern Stories about Pele
Astonishingly enough, Pele legends have not all been created generations ago, but even in
relatively recent times the Hawai’ians have come up with their stories about encounters with
the volcano goddess.
The following tales were published by Roland Lalana Kapahukaniolono Gay in 1977.
a) Announcing Trouble
One day, the account says, a man drove in his car on the Island of Hawai’i. Somewhere on
the road he picked up an old lady that he did not know and gave her a lift. After riding for a
while he wanted to ask the lady where she wanted to go, but when he turned round, the seat
47
behind him was empty. Around the same time a villager reported that an old lady came to her
home asking for some water. When the woman of the house came back from fetching the
water the old lady had vanished. Several similar events were reported in these times and the
people on the Big Island around the volcanoes were sure this mysterious old lady could only
have been Pele, and it stood to reason that most probably she would cause an eruption of
Mauna Loa again in the near future. And so it happened. Soon after these reported events,
the so-called 'Aika lava flow' started down on the south side of Mauna Loa. [Gay 1977]
b) Disturbing Sacred Places
Another relatively modern story featuring Pele, reports the incident of the partial destruction
of a traditional Hawai’ian temple, a heiau, by a lava flow that went down in the Kapoho area
on the Island of Hawai’i in 1960. By means of this volcanic activity exactly one half of the
temple had been covered in lava, whereas the other half had remained undamaged. What
was especially astonishing about this partial destruction was the fact that the half of the
temple that had been damaged was built with stones from the island of Hawai’i, while the unharmed half of the temple had been built with stones from the island of Kauai. This was
because it was believed that the water of the warm springs in the vicinity of the heiau was a
sister to the water in the wet caves at Haena on the island of Kauai. Accordingly the temple
in Kapoho on Hawai’i was considered to consist of a brother half and a sister half. And the
explanation for only the sister half of the heiau being destroyed by the volcanic outburst, as it
was given by the people of the area, was that the volcano goddess Pele was annoyed by the
commercialisation of that area on the island of Hawai’i through tourism. The brother half of
the temple, built with stones from the island Kauai was not destroyed by Pele, because the
area of their origin was undisturbed.
Since the heiau was not to be used any more, but the stone slabs from the brother half of the
temple were in good shape, somebody had the idea to re-use them as picnic tables in the
parks around. Local people had issued out a warning, that this activity would sure not be
appreciated by Pele. And indeed, within a short period of time all workers who had taken part
in building the picnic tables out of the temple stones had died in rather mysterious ways. The
people responsible for the building came to realize the mistake they had made by taking the
stones away from the temple. They consulted a Hawai’ian elder, asking whether the stones
should be taken back to the destroyed temple. The answer they were given was not to touch
the stones any more, because they were still powerful. [Gay 1977]
It can be assumed that the temple in question was considered a wahi pana, a sacred place
by the indigenous Hawai’ians, as most or all heiaus were. Mentioned as well is the spiritual
power, the mana of the stone slabs used as building material for the temple. Hence it can be
assumed that the above story reflects the traditional people's idea of what happens if a
sacred place, a wahi pana is disturbed and desecrated.
48
The modern stories about Pele, collated by Roland Gay [1977] show that even in the 20th
century indigenous Hawai’ians have tried to explain volcanic activity and mysterious events
with the doings of Pele, just as their forebears have done over the centuries living on the
Island of Hawai’i.
2.3.15 Evaluation of the Pele Mythological Cycle
The Pele Mythology consists of a vast number of accounts, stories, myths, chants, songs
and poems, relating events from the volcano goddess’ own life cycle and her influence on life
in the Hawai’ian archipelago, in numerous different versions. According to H. Arlo Nimmo
[1987], a scholar from California State University who has dealt with the topic extensively, the
first versions of Pele stories to be published appeared in the work of William Ellis in 1823.
Altogether Arlo Nimmo has counted more than 600 literary sources dealing with Pele in
English language alone. It has to be kept in mind though that the majority of all published
versions, especially the ones in languages other than Hawai’ian, do not fully correspond to
the original stories. They are often shortened and simplified, and interpreted from a Western
point of view, giving merely a rough idea of the traditional Hawai’ian narratives.
The Pele stories in this chapter are meant to illustrate the relation of traditional Hawai’ian lore
to the most prominent landscape features of the Big Island of Hawai’i, the volcanoes Mauna
Loa and Kilauea in general and to demonstrate the themes the Pele myths deal with in
specific. Summed up, these are accounts of Pele’s family background, her career as premier
volcano goddess in Hawai’i, her character and her relationships, as well as the ways in which
she influences the life of other Hawai’ian inhabitants and shapes the islands physically.
On a comparative level, according to Arlo Nimmo [1987] and other scholars of Pacific
cultures, the Pele mythological cycle shows great resemblance to mythical traditions found
all over Polynesia. A very common motif in Polynesian myths is, among others, the story of a
mythical hero who is forced to leave his homeland because of a conflict within his family and
in consequence sets out on a journey throughout the Pacific Ocean with part of his family
members, searching for a new place to settle. These accounts are always very elaborate,
give a lot of details about the hero’s genealogy, the names of places visited during their
travels and how geological features are shaped in the course of the adventure. This motif
has been described by scholars as the ‘hero-cycle’ and is supposed to be “one of the most
characteristic literary types of Polynesia.”6 According to this, the Pele Cycle can clearly be
classified as a typical Polynesian hero-cycle. It is obvious, that these hero cycles reflect the
very similar histories of the Polynesian peoples: Explaining why a part of the population at
one point in time embarked on boats to search new settlement grounds, giving the exact
6
Katherine Luomala (1940) ‚Notes on the Development of Polynesian Hero-Cycles’, p. 367 in Journal
of the Polynesian Society 49, quoted in Nimmo (1987, 33)
49
route of a long journey, describing the difficulties that had to be overcome before finding a
suitable place to live and eventually the battle with people already living in the chosen area.
The Pele mythological cycle is further connected to the oral literature of other parts of
Polynesia by the mythological figures appearing in it. Several of them, including Pele herself,
are known in other Polynesian cultural traditions as well. The name Pele, more often Pere
(due to consonant shift between other Polynesian languages and Hawai’ian), is mentioned in
a variety of contexts, all somehow related to fire. According to Arlo Nimmo [1987], it seems
that the Pele character “was a widespread, albeit minor, deity throughout Polynesia. It is only
in the Hawai’ian archipelago though, and especially on the Big Island of Hawai’i, that Pele
developed into such a prominent deity with this kind of extensive mythology surrounding her,
which still evolves in our present time, as the modern stories about Pele show.
2.4 The Hula as a Cultural Expression Associated with the Volcanoes
A cultural constituent of major importance in the Hawai’ian Islands, which is closely
associated with the mythology of the volcano goddess Pele, and therefore with the volcanoes
of Mauna Loa and Kilauea, is the widely known Hula dance. An introduction into the tradition
of this dance and how it relates to the Pele mythology shall be given in this chapter.
2.4.1 Description of the Dance
The Handys [1972], in their book about 'The Native Planters of Hawai’i', describe the Hula as
"a treading motion of the feet accompanied by rhythmical swinging of the hips and hand
gestures which express the words of chant while the shoulders and head are held in poise"
[Handy 1972, 361] and assume that this motion might have developed from the custom of
treading the surfaces of new taro patches in order to make them hard and watertight. The
Hula as a dance was always accompanied by song, but not necessarily by instrumental
music. Furthermore the traditional Hula was not a dance for entertainment or for just anyone
to join in. Neither was it to be danced at any given time or in any chosen surrounding.
Instead, the Hula was performed by specifically trained dancers, on distinctive festive
occasions and very often in honour of local chiefs or at the king's court. There used to be a
repertoire of hundreds of different Hulas, varying greatly in character. This range went from
very solemn Hula forms, which were comparable to religious prayers, to very gay ones with a
lot of humour. From a physical point of view some Hula dances were very lively and afforded
a lot of strength, which is why they were performed by young dancers only. Other Hula
dances were rather tranquil and could be performed by older dancers in a kneeling position.
50
[Handy 1972] These seated dances mainly consisted of hand and arm gestures that went
along with chanting and percussion.
In the standing Hula the dancing was done by one group of performers, the ‘olapa, whilst the
chanting and musical accompaniment were carried out by the ho’opa’a. The traditional
instruments employed in Hula were drums of different sizes, rattles, sticks and pebbles that
were used like castagnettes, as well as whistles, pipes and a nose flute. As the Hula
instruments were mostly of a percussive nature, the movement of feet primarily went along
with their rhythmic pattern, whereas the hand and arm gestures, of which there were only a
limited number, were interpreting the text of the chants. [Stillman 1998]
2.4.2 A Form of Oral Literature
The chants accompanying the traditional form of Hula are not to be seen as simple song
texts to go along with a nice melody, but as a recital of poetry, in Hawai’ian mele. These are
divided into the categories of mele pule, which are prayers, mele inoa, which are name
chants (to memorize important people, mainly chiefs), mele ho’oipopo, which are love songs
and mele ‘aina, which are songs praising the land. [Stillman 1998]
The verses for the songs/chants were in the past generally composed by a professional
group of particularly talented poets and singers, the haku mele, and the creation of mele,
was a highly revered form of art. Composing as well as singing the traditional verses was all
the more difficult since there was no possibility to put them down in writing during the times
before the European culture took hold of Hawai’i. Instead, even very long texts had to be
memorized by heart. In this way they were carried on from one generation to another over
the centuries. [Stingl 1985]
All Hula performances in the past however were conveying stories of important events or
feelings from native Hawai’ian history and mythology. [‘Holo Mai Pele’ (1) website]
2.4.3 Hula Education
In order to reveal the cultural weight of the traditional Hula, not only as a form of art but at the
same time as a form of religious ceremony, a description of the meticulous professional
training of the Hula performers in historic times is given.
The art of the Hula was taught in specific Hula schools, through teachers who were priests of
the goddess Laka, respectively Kapo (ann. this will be explained in the next chapter). These
schools were started by way of the teacher, the kumu, choosing the most talented pupils,
mostly from the Hawai’ian high-society. Then the sacred dancing hall, the halau Hula,
dedicated to the goddess Laka was built by teachers and pupils together, having chosen the
wood carefully especially for the purpose and cutting it according to a specific ceremony.
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Nathanial B. Emerson [1909] has put down the following prayer of dedication of a halau Hula
to Laka:
“In the forests, on the ridges
Of the mountains stands Laka;
Dwelling in the source of the mists.
Laka, mistress of the hula...
Woman, she by strife gained rank in heaven.
That the root may grow form the stem,
That the young shoot may put forth and leat,
Pushing up the fresh enfolded bud...
To show the might of the god,
The power (mana) of the goddess.
Of Laka, the sister
To Lono, join heaven and earth!
Thine alone are the pillars of Kahiki.
Warm greeting (aloha), beloved one,
We hail thee! (E ola, e: Let there be life.)”
[Emerson 1909, 18]
Within the halau an altar was put up and a symbol of Laka placed there, making her
physically present in the dancing hall. Laka was represented by an un-carved block of a
special kind of wood considered sacred, and wrapped up in yellow tapa, the traditional
Hawai’ian bark cloth. Furthermore the altar was decorated with an abundance of flowers,
greens and fruits.
The training of the Hula pupils was very hard, both physically and mentally. The time spent in
the Hula school was almost like a time spent in a convent. The learning was interwoven with
prayer and religious rituals, and the young people had to abstain from a lot of pleasures like
sex and certain foods. Laka was asked to inspire the students and if she was very generous
the students were able to learn up to 200 different Hula dances during their apprenticeship
that lasted for about one year.
At the end of this, the Hula students had to undergo an exam period. During these days the
pupils were not allowed to speak, but had to stay completely silent and hide their faces under
a hood. On the last day the apprentices were led out onto the beach at midnight where they
took a bath in the sea, as a form of ritual cleansing. Thereafter followed a big festivity with
eating and performances of the most beautiful and intricate Hula dances for all the relatives
of the graduates, who had come for this occasion. After graduation the Hula dancers formed
a kind of guild and spread all over the Hawai’ian Islands in order to perform as professional
artists at the courts of the political rulers. [Stingl 1985]
2.4.4 The Connection between the Hula and the Pele Mythological Cycle
The art of Hula had a divine patron, which was worshipped by those performing, learning and
teaching the ceremonial dance. It was the goddess of the wildwoods, the wife and sister of
52
the rain-god Lono. Her name is given as Laka most of the time, though some people give
Kapo as the revered deity of the Hula. The Handys [1972] in their book 'Native Planters of
Hawai’i' say it is the same person whilst others say they are different individuals and
worshiped by distinct groups of Hula dancers. The majority of the sources though recognize
both Laka and Kapo as (a) sister(s) of the volcano goddess Pele, being the first one in
Hawai’ian mythology to ever perform the Hula, and especially for her, Pele, upon her
request. Therefore a generic association between the mythological cycle of the Pele legends
and the art of the Hula dance exists.
2.4.5 The Figure of Pele in the Hula
Apart from the generic association between the art of the Hula and the mythological cycle of
Pele, owing to the familiar relationship between the 'goddess of Hula' and the goddess of the
volcano, the Pele mythology itself forms the background for a number of Hula dances. The
'Hula Pele' was regarded by the native Hawai’ians as an especially important one and it was
only performed at very special and rather solemn occasions, for example the reverence of a
king or other local rulers. [Emerson]
Nathanial B. Emerson [1909] in his monography 'The Unwritten Literature of Hawai’i',
provides a great deal of details on the Hula Pele. Before the dance started, a prayer and a
sacrificial amount of salt and taro leaf were dedicated to Pele. According to Emerson the
traditional Pele Hula was performed without instrumental music and only sparce dancing
movements. Instead it consisted of a variety of gestures underlining the words of the
numerous songs (mele) the complete Hula Pele was made of.
The songs of the Hula Pele which are given by Emerson [1909] deal with the theme of Pele's
arrival in the Hawai’ian Islands and her love-story with prince Lohiau. (Ann.: These texts are
to be found in the annexe of this work.)
Pele motives and stories figure in other Hula dances as well. For example the song about
Pele digging her pit that is part of the ‘Hula Pa-ípo’ or ‘Ku-ólo’. (Ann.: See annexe). Another
Hula in which Pele appears is the ‘Hula Pua'a’, a dance about Pele's other prominent lover,
the pig-god Kama-pua'a. [Emerson, 1909] (Ann.: See annexe)
2.4.6 The Significance of the Hula
The traditional Hula is not simply a dance as a form of rhythmic body movement going along
with music. Elaborate sung verses accompany every single dance and are an integral part of
what makes the Hula. There cannot be a Hula without a story. In fact the dance is merely a
dramatic illustration of the text conveyed in the song or chant. The content of the mele oli, the
chants, were originally mostly of a spiritual nature, purporting information about the Hawai’ian
pantheon of gods and native religious ritual. Furthermore cultural values such as the right
53
social behaviour and the love and respect for nature and the land were conveyed through the
Hula. Another important aspect was the transmittal of historic events, not only about the life
of important individuals, but about major environmental events as well.
Pualani Kanaka’ole Kanahele [‘Holo Mai Pele’ (4) website], a prized traditional Hula teacher
in 7th generation of a family who are acknowledged guardians of Pele chants and dances,
reports that some Hula refer to natural phenomena such storms, tidal waves, earthquakes or
volcanic eruptions. Furthermore she reveals that the mele oli, which refers to different voice
techniques used in singing the verses, literally imitate the sounds of nature, for example
wind, water, birds and volcanic activity. Even the specific, low and very energetic movement
style of ‘Halau o Kekuhi’, the Hula school of the Kanahele family, is described as symbolic for
being rooted in the ground and for Pele’s impulsive character. In their school the Kanahele
sisters celebrate the generation of life from the volcanic character of the land, which is
according to them the responsibility of Pele. The mythological cycle of Pele, as narrated in
the lengthy ‘Holo Mai Pele’, which is a Hula performance based on the ancient myth and
developed in its recent form by the Kanaheles, explains how elements of nature interrelate
by describing them as mystical personae. Pele, all her family members and the other figures
she encounters in the stories evolving around her are embodiments of natural phenomena.
It can be said that Hula is a means to pass on fundamental knowledge in a very illustrative
way. Pualani Kanaka’ole Kanahele describes Hula as “... an esoteric form of history.” [‘Holo
Mai Pele’ (4) website]
2.5 The Pele Cult
Evidence suggests that the idea of the volcano goddess Pele was brought to the Hawai'ian
archipelago from other parts of Polynesia, where similar figures, stories and even variations
of Pele's name exist. [Westerveld 1963, Fornander 1981] In its distinctive form however the
Pele cult was mainly developed on the Island of Hawai'i.
In native mythology Pele had set foot on every single Hawai'ian island before settling in
Kilauea on the Big Island. Hence the southern slopes of each Island's volcano, which are the
leeward and dry parts, are seen as Pele's realm. [Handy 1972]
Only in Ka'u and maybe Puna though, the areas immediately surrounding Kilauea and
Mauna Loa, her current homestead, was Pele traditionally revered as a deity of major
importance to the local people. According to Martha Beckwith, "The worship of Pele was not
taught in the schools of the priesthood nor was her body deified. Pele's descendants alone
worship her. Only actual relatives invoke her and become keepers." [Beckwith 1970, 192]
54
A number of temples (heiau) dedicated to Pele seemed to exist in the vicinity of Kilauea
crater and other places where volcanic activity was apparent, such as lava flows etc.
[Beckwith 1970] Ellis7 reports, that a Pele temple he came across contained stone idols
wrapped in cloth and small offerings such as flowers or sugar cane, left there by passers-by.
Furthermore he reports that the Pele priests (kahuna in Hawai'ian) once a year celebrated a
feast with large offerings of fruit and pigs brought along by the local people, when they
carried out specific rituals in order to keep Pele's destructive powers at bay. In general the
Pele priests were in charge of any offerings to Pele, but there seemed to be prophets,
soothsayers and mediums (in Hawai'ian haka) as well, through which Pele communicated
with her followers.8
The following is a description of a ceremony performed at the Halema’uma’u Crater as late
as 1925, initiated by the Hawai’i Visitors Bureau in order to lure Pele back into action after a
period of inactivity for the sake of the tourism industry in the area. Still, it can be deduced that
this ritual was in accordance with indigenous religious tradition, since several old Hawai’ian
priests and kahunas (revered elders and teachers) took part in the ceremonies, and it shall
therefore serve as an example.
The ceremony began at the crater rim at dawn, with a procession of two groups approaching
a platform. One group of participants were the kahunas and priests, the other were the
chanters and Hula performers. All were dressed in traditional clothing, either long cloaks in
red or yellow, or in ti skirts. Some carried spears and wore feather helmets. The priest and
kahunas then went up to the platform and performed offering rites, accompanied by prayers
and chants. Offerings such as specific plants, pork and flowers were thrown into the crater
and the participants would wait for signs of acceptance by Pele. The whole ritual was
accompanied by very solemn religious Hulas and a slow rhythm of drums and gourds, in
addition to the chanting of very old meles. [Nimmo 1987]
Pualani Kanaka'ole Kanahele [Holo Mai Pele (4)] is a well known and much respected Hula
teacher today, the family of whom belongs to the Clan of Pele in Ka'u on the Island of
Hawai'i. According to her, individual families of the Pele Clan had specific roles within the
Pele cult. About her own family tradition she said in an interview:
"Our family's connection to that deity has to do with the songs and the dances, and
retelling some of the stories that the eruption puts forth. So when there is a eruption, it
is our responsibility then to make a song about that eruption, so that particular
eruption will be kept and will be remembered and will be sung in honor years from
now." [‘Holo Mai Pele’ (4) website]
7
William Ellis (1825) ‚Journal of William Ellis’, p. 194 quoted in Handy (1972, 335f)
Hiram Bingam (1847) ‚Residence of Twenty-One Years in the Sandwich Islands’ p. 226 cited in
Handy (1972, 615)
8
55
The above account by Ms. Kanahele reinforces the Handys assumption that the cycle of Pele
chants that is so prominent in the art of Hula was in fact compiled by the Pele priesthood.
[Handy 1972]
The Pele family are said to be special patrons of the art of Hula as well as the art of sorcery
(pule pale), both of which are interrelated. Martha Beckwith [1970] says that Hula
practitioners had to be trained in the art of sorcery at least to the point of knowing the
appropriate protective rituals against it, whereas sorcery priests (kahuna 'ana'ana) were
priests of Pele at the same time. In Westerveld's work we find it mentioned that it was
through the deceased relative, which had been buried in the crater of Kilauea and herewith
become an ancestor ghost-god, that people thought to they received the power to pray their
enemies to death. [Westerveld 1963]
3. The State of Conservation of Hawai'i's Intangible Heritage
3.1 The Loss of Traditional Religion
At the beginning of the 19th century the indigenous pantheistic Hawai’ian religion began to
crumble and was soon to be almost completely replaced by Christianity. Interestingly enough
though, this did not happen merely by the force of Christian mission. In fact the traditional
Hawai’ian society was undergoing severe transformation before the first Christian
missionaries ever arrived on the Islands of Hawai’i.
This transformation was initiated through two high ranking native women, Kaahumanu and
Keapuolani, both widows of King Kamehameha, shortly after his death. It was their idea to
abolish the traditional belief and therefore all the kapu (taboos) that were created in the name
of religion. The strategy to achieve this goal was to break major kapus for themselves in
order to show the Hawai’ian people that such behaviour would not cause punishment by the
traditional gods, and in the course of this proving the deities’ unimportance, or even their
non-existence. The first kapu that was officially broken by Keapuolani, the mother of King
Kamehameha’s successor Liholiho, was the so called ‘sio noa’, which said women were
never to eat together with men. For neglecting this strong kapu the women could have been
put to death in the past. After initial hesitation the regent Liholiho himself started to take
meals together with his mother and his aunt Kaahumanu, thereby sanctioning the action and
pledging for the abolishment of traditional religion. Some traditionalists fought the new ideas
with weapons, but the party of the reformers won, mainly because they were using guns as
opposed to indigenous arms. In the course of this battle most manifestations of traditional
religion on the Hawai’ian islands were destroyed and the whole native belief system, strongly
56
intertwined with social order regulated through the kapus, collapsed. And exactly at this
stage of time, after all this had happened already, the first Christian missionaries (Calvinists),
arrived in Hawai’i. As can be imagined, for the Christian missionaries it was an easy job to
convert the natives to Christianity, offering them a new religious system to replace the old
one and thereby filling the void that existed in the society at the time of their arrival. And
again, it was Kaaumanu and Keapuolani, the Great King Kamehameha’s widows, who were
the forerunners in this development. They were among the first to adopt Christianity for
themselves. [Stingl 1985]
Another high ranked woman to have adopted Christianity very early in the 1820s, was
Kapiolani, the wife of a chief on the Great Island. Clearly not the whole population of the
Hawai’ian islands had abolished traditional religion and taken to Christianity, but there were
still a number of people holding on to the old beliefs, especially priests and other religious
practitioners. It was Kapiolani’s aim to convince the traditionalists about her newly found
religion. She as well succumbed to the strategy of breaking taboos in order to show the
impotence of the old gods. As on the Big Island of Hawai’i the volcano goddess Pele was the
most powerful and revered deity, Kapiolani decided to climb Mount Kilauea and challenge
Pele in her home, the crater of Halema’uma’u. Two of the kapus connected with Pele and the
volcano crater were eating ohelo berries and throwing stones into the crater. Both were
thought to arouse Pele’s anger and as a result cause the outbreak of the volcano. Kapiolani
broke both taboos ostentatiously, which called the priestess of a nearby heiau (temple)
dedicated to Pele, on to the plan. The priestess pleaded with Kapiolani to stop her extremely
annoying behaviour by producing a letter from Pele, in which the fire goddess herself
demanded Hawai’ians to keep their belief in her alive. Otherwise they would feel the outcome
of her revenge. Kapiolani was unimpressed though, showing the Pele priestess the Bible as
a written message from her god. She argued that her god was stronger than Pele, which
would be proven by her not being harmed by the volcano goddess. And as indeed no
volcano outbreak or any other natural disaster followed Kapiolani’s public challenging of Pele
on the volcano, this did undeniably convince many Hawai’ians into finally adopting
Christianity for themselves. [Stingl 1985]
3.2 The Ban on Hula Dancing
As soon as Christian missionaries had gotten a stronghold on the Hawai’ian Islands, having
built churches and Christian communities, they started to educate native people not only in
the teachings of the Bible, but also in Christian morals. This was quite a big task, since the
ways of traditional Hawai’ian culture were very different from Christianity’s understanding of
decency. Polygamy was the rule, at least on the top level of society (King Kamehameha had
57
21 wives), as was the easiness regarding sexual relations in general. Sex before marriage
was the norm and spouses were not supposed to be jealous over extramarital affairs of their
partners. Because of the tropical climate in the Pacific Islands, clothing was minimal for
women just the same as for men.
The tradition of Hula dancing was affected by the moral ideas of the missionaries as a
consequence of the above. The dancers used to be half naked during performances and the
typical swinging movement of the hips seemed very indecent to the Westerners at the time.
Whether the missionaries understood the cultural background of the Hula is not clear.
Nevertheless, they either tried to abandon Hula dancing altogether or at least they forced the
female dancers to wear a long, high-necked and long-sleeved cotton dress, in which some
performers allegedly literally sweated to death. [Stingl 1985]
Another restriction was to let girls perform the Hula by sitting down, only using their hands
and thereby eliminating the hip movement, as Gladys Brandt, a revered Hawai’ian kupuna
(teacher/elder) remembers still having been practised in schools in the 1960s. But somehow
the Hula survived, probably because the Hawai’ians continued to practice it in remote rural
areas, far away from the surveillance of Christian missionaries. [Theroux 2002]
The first time the Hula was performed again officially, was in 1874 on the occasion of the
enthronement of King David Kalakaua, also called ‘the Merry Monarch’. [Theroux 2002]
Kalakaua was a widely educated man who had travelled the world. But despite all the
modern and foreign cultures he had seen he was very self-confident about his own native
culture and made a considerable effort during his reign to revive Hawai’ian traditions and
arts. Not only was his enthronement a real traditional Polynesian festival with play, music and
dance but he initiated 'Ka hale naua - the House of Wisdom', so to speak a traditional society
for science. [Stingl 1985]
The art of Hula underwent some development during the reign of Kalakaua though, being
merged with western musical and performance influences. Part of this was the introduction of
the ukulele and the steel guitar into the music accompanying the Hula. Today, the Hula style
adopted during that era is known as hula ku'i, which stands for old and new elements being
joined together in this dance form. [Griffin 2003]
3.3 Revival of Hawai’ian Culture
A real renaissance of Hawai’ian self-esteem and traditional culture took shape in the 1960s,
when Native Hawai’ians started to insist on more political independence from the U.S. The
main issues were claims to land and the ability to practice traditional culture. Major
movements showing the strong force with which native Hawai’ians were re-claiming and
58
indeed newly developing their indigenous culture were the fight for winning back the
sovereignty of the island Kaho’olawe, the so-called ‘Battle of the Bones’, as well as the
revival of paramount Hawai’ian cultural features such as voyaging, Hula dancing and the
Hawai’ian language.
3.3.1 Regaining the Sacred Island Kaho’olawe
Kaho'olawe is the smallest of the Hawai’ian islands, situated off Maui and has great
symbolical meaning for the native Hawai'ians. The island is seen as a bodily representation
of Kanaloa, the god of the ocean. It served as an important reference point in navigation for
the Polynesian voyagers, which is why it is referred to as navel (piko) as well. [Theroux 2002]
For these reasons Hawai'ians view the island as a sacred place, a wahi pana (Ann.: See
chapter 'Wahi pana'). Radio carbon dating shows that the earliest settlements on the island
date from A.D. 1000. During an archaeological survey carried out in 1981, altogether more
than 500 archaeological sites, ranging from house sites and earth ovens (imu), to large
ceremonial structures like fishing shrines and temples (heiaus), were recorded. An especially
interesting structure is the so-called ‘Navigator’s chair’ on a hilltop in the uplands of the island
Kaho’olawe. It is a mould in stone on the rock ground, from which a seated person would
have a total overview of the island and its surrounding seas. Traditional Hawai’ian chants tell
of a navigational school, which in effect was a heiau, being situated on the summit of Pu’u
Moa’ulaiki, where the art of celestial navigation was taught. [‘Kaho’olawe’ website]
The island of Kaho'olawe has been uninhabited for some time, which led the US government
to hand it to the Navy for use as a bombing range after the attack of Pearl Harbour in 1941.
For the native Hawai'ian population this was completely unacceptable and their rising political
self-esteem allowed them to start massive protests against the misuse of the island in the
1970s, and this resulted in the Project ‘Kaho’olawe Ohana’ being created in 1976. In the
1990s the American State gave in to the native claims and finally signed the island of
Kaho'olawe over to the people of Hawai’i in 1994. The Kaho’olawe Island Reserve
Commission was founded and a future use plan, including campsites, trails, educational
centres, as well as cultural and natural reserves, was created. Since then Hawai'ians and
other people interested in traditional Hawai'ian culture are visiting Kaho'olawe again,
performing religious rites. Altars and ancient house sites have been restored and nature is
being helped to take its original character. [‘Kaho’olawe’ website]
3.3.2 Voyaging
A major role in the renaissance of traditional Hawai'ian culture was played by the re-birth of
voyaging. The ancient Polynesians possessed astonishing abilities in navigation and general
seafaring, enabling them to populate the Hawaiian Islands. For centuries after settling on the
59
archipelago they continued to cruise the ocean on double-hulled canoes, going back and
forth between other pacific islands and Hawai'i. During the last centuries though the
Hawai'ians stopped travelling the oceans in this way and the art of navigating by the stars
alone was eventually lost. Fortunately in other parts of Polynesia some people were still
practicing their legendary seamanship and a few Hawai'ians decided to learn the art again,
thought by a traditional seaman from the Caroline Islands. This navigator guided the first
replica of an old voyaging canoe, the 'Hokule'a', from Hawai'i to Tahiti in 1976. Since then
several modern voyaging canoes have been built to travel across Oceania and skilled
navigators are teaching high-school students and their teachers not only in Polynesian
seamanship but also in Hawai'ian history, culture and traditional values such as responsibility
and help. [Theroux 2002]
3.3.3 The Battle of the Bones
The term ‘Battle of the Bones’ refers to an initiative to re-inter the bones of Hawai’ians which
were unearthed during building construction that took place on the sites of old burial grounds.
The indigenous belief of the Hawai’ian people is that the spiritual power (mana) of humans
resides in their bones. In a traditional burial therefore the bones of the deceased are cared
for by wrapping them in valuable bark cloth (kapa) and placing them within stone mounds,
laid in baskets made from pandanus leaves. The initiative to re-inter bones from disturbed
burial sites in the traditional way in Hawai’i was sparked by the building of the Ritz-Carlton
hotel on Maui in the late 1980s. The hotel had been planned along the oceanfront, on an old
Hawai’ian burial ground. This plan was finally averted after massive protests from native
Hawai’ian activists, forcing the building site to be moved towards the back, farther away from
the seaside and the cemetery. Such success is not granted in every case of construction on
the Hawai’ian Islands though and many traditional burial grounds had already been disturbed
during the 20th century especially, before indigenous people managed to convince builders to
respect their dead. Therefore the re-claiming of ancient Hawai’ian human remains which
have been taken from the setting in which they have originally been buried and their proper
re-burial is ongoing, in line with the Native American Graves Repatriation act issued in 1990.
[‘National NAGPRA’ website]
The practice of reburial in traditional Hawai’ian style, as a side effect, brought about the
revival of a native craft. The art of making bark cloth (kapa) in which the bones are wrapped
had been neglected completely. The initiators of the project therefore not only had to re-learn
the production process, but even had to re-cultivate the mulberry tree, the bark of which is
used, and re-create the traditional tools used in the art of kapa-making. [Theroux 2002]
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3.3.4 Traditional Hula Dancing
Since the annexation of Hawaii's by the US in 1893, the traditional Hawai'ian culture in all its
tangible and intangible forms was nearly lost. However some traces of this culture like the
original ancient Hula tradition, today known as hula kahiko and the dancing style developed
during King Kalakaua's time in the late 19th century, the hula ku'i managed to survive. The
Hula stepped into public awareness again in the early 20th century, after Nathanial Emerson
published his monography 'Unwritten Literature of Hawai'i' in 1909 and the tourism industry
discovered Hawai'i together with its attractive dance. The Hula that became very popular
then was an artificial westernised and romanticized kitsch version, widely appearing in
Hollywood films as well.
The real, traditional Hula, the hula kahiko, was revived again in the 1970s, during the
'Hawai'ian Renaissance'. The revival of the Hula culminated in the 'Merrie Monarch Festival',
so called after King Kalakaua, which was originally created in 1963, but is performed in its
current form since 1969. This event has functioned as a platform for the performance of the
ancient hula kahiko, as well as for what is known today as the hula 'auana, a modern version
of the dance. The Merrie Monarch Festival takes place on an annual basis for one week
each April in Hilo, on the Big Island of Hawai’i. It is the world’s biggest Hula event, in which
Hula schools (hula halau) from all over the Hawai’ian Islands compete in the categories
wahine kahiko (women’s traditional), wahine ‘auana (women’s modern), kane kahiko (men’s
traditional), kane ‘auana (men’s modern) as well as overall women’s and overall men’s and
Miss Aloha. [Merrie Monarch Festival webpage] Visitors and interested Hula practitioners
come from all over the world and people from the mainland U.S., Canada, Israel and Japan
seem to be especially interested in the Hula. In Japan there are allegedly over 100 Hula
schools today, the idea having been brought there by Japanese visitors to Hawai’i during the
1970s, and the industry is said to be worth several million US Dollars. [Starbulletin 19/04/04]
In Hawai’i itself the cultural renaissance, especially in regard to the art of Hula is ongoing.
The indigenous dance is as popular as ever, and widely seen as constituting the essence of
being Hawai’ian.
3.3.5 Hawai’ian Language and Formal Education
The Hawai’ian language was officially replaced with English language at the end of the 19 th
century when the United States of America took over political control of the islands.
Indigenous Hawai'ians were discouraged from using their native language altogether, which
resulted in the fact that today only about 1.000 people can state Hawai'ian as their mother
tongue. [Ethnologue] However, probably inspired by the new popularity of traditional Hula,
Hawai'ians are re-discovering their native language and are very determined to revive it. For
61
this purpose immersion schools have been introduced since the 1980s, where classes are
taught in Hawai'ian language. [Theroux 2002]
In addition to this the University of Hawai'i Hilo, provides a number of graduate programmes,
including a B.A. in Hawai'ian Studies, an M.A. in Hawai'ian Language and Literature, a Ph.D.
in Hawai’ian and Indigenous Language Revitalization, as well as an Indigenous Teacher
Education Programme. Offered are courses in Culture, Economics, Politics, Sociology,
Linguistics, Music, Anthropology, Biology, Geography, History, as well as Dance, which in
part are being taught in Hawai'ian language. [‘Kualono’ & ‘Graduate Studies at Hilo’
webpages]
The initiative of bringing back Hawai'ian as an everyday, living language is extremely
successful, inspiring young native Hawai'ian parents to learn their ancestral language for the
first time, together with their children in primary school. [Theroux 2002, ‘Ethnologue’ website]
3.4 Current Status of the Hawai'ian Intangible Heritage related to the Volcanoes
This chapter takes a look at the role the Pele mythology plays in Hawai'ian society and those
who get in contact with it, at the beginning of the 21st century and what efforts are
undertaken by the US National Park service to preserve the cultural traditions associated
with the Hawai’ian volcanoes Mauna Loa and Kilauea.
3.4.1 Pele in the Eyes of Modern Hawai'ians
"The Goddess Pele is the heart and life of Hawai'ian religious beliefs and practices
today and is indispensable to particular Hawai'ian traditional cultural beliefs and
practices." [Bernbaum 1997, 203]
The above is an official statement made in an unpublished paper by the ‘Pele Defense Fund’,
an organization the mission of which is the “education and perpetuation of native rights,
customs and practices and protection of the natural environment.” [‘North American
Association for Environmental Education’ website]. It shows clearly that up to today, almost
200 years after the official abolition of traditional Hawai'ian religion and the adoption of
Christianity, some native people still worship Pele as a deity. For these people, plans for the
geothermal development of Kilauea, which were drawn up by power companies supported by
the state, were a real sacrilege. In the view of her followers, the volcano is Pele's dwelling
place and the volcanic activity is her expression of life. Any physical manipulation of the
volcano crater is seen as actual damage to Pele and her power. Along the lines of the native
Hawai'ians' experience with Pele over the centuries, hurting Pele would have extremely
negative consequences. Angered, Pele causes massive destruction on the Big Island and
disabling her would mean the disruption of her positive influence on the life of the islanders,
62
which is not to be forgotten. In addition to the immediate damage that would be done to
Pele's powers, her worshippers feared for the disruption of their ability to perform rituals on
Kilauea. The destruction of the natural environment in the form of flora and fauna would
furthermore mean harm to other smaller deities affiliated with Pele, whose embodiments they
are. In their legal fights to prevent the geothermal exploitation of Pele's home Kilauea, one
main argument was that it "would put undue burden on their freedom to practice religion, a
freedom guaranteed by the First Amendment." [Bernbaum 1997, 203]
Modern belief in Pele is not part of a pantheistic religious system in its traditional form with its
own temples and priesthood, but manifests itself in rituals of varying scale with the aim of
securing the goddess’ benevolence, performed by individuals as well as groups and even
institutions. These can be small offerings of traditional items such as Ohelo berries or pork,
or rather modern items such as tobacco, alcohol (Madame Pele seems to prefer Gin) or
money. Even a small number of cases where human bones were deposited in the volcano
crater have been reported to have taken place in the middle of the 20th century. Rituals in the
favour of the volcano goddess occasionally are performed as major ceremonies, involving
prayers, chants and Hula performances. [Nimmo 1987]
Apart from those native Hawai'ians who worship Pele in a very serious way as a deity of
major importance, it seems that a lot of Hawai'ians, natives as well as non-natives, have
some kind of belief or superstition in regard to Pele. Edwin Bernbaum [1997] in his book
‘Sacred Mountains' mentions that visitors to the Hawai'i Volcanones National Park often, as
tourists tend to do, take home pieces of lava or stones, only to return them to the National
Park Service later on because they have a feeling that it effects them negatively. Stories
where people face accidents or other ill fate after the removing of rocks from the volcanoes
abound. All is attributed to Pele, who obviously does not appreciate this kind of behaviour.
[Bernbaum 1997, Arlo 1987]
Because of all the extremely popular stories about Pele's legendary anger, the inhabitants of
the Big Island of Hawai'i seem to have adopted a kind of vigilant behaviour towards Pele and
her volcanoes, be they serious believers or not. Nobody really wants to risk finding out
whether there might be some truth behind all the lore. After all, the threat of volcanic activity
is very real and visible to every person on the island. Both Bernbaum [1997] and Arlo Nimmo
[1987] even report that the Lions Club in the vicinity of Kilauea made Pele the first and only
female member after there had been serious danger by an earthquake.
Apart from the scare mongering stories about the danger of arousing Pele’s fury through
disrespectful behaviour towards herself and her homeland, modern reports of personal
encounters with the goddess of the volcanoes, Madame Pele - as she is supposed to be
addressed these days - also abound, frequently circulated by the media. These stories often
take the shape of the ones given in chapter 2.3.14 a) about an old woman asking for a ride or
63
some food, and are of a rather positive nature in that Pele functions as a prognosticator of
dangerous volcanic activity and rewarding kindness towards her through protection from
potential harm.
Most of the perpetuation of the Pele myth on Hawai'i is for the benefit of tourism though. The
idea of the volcano goddess inspires the imagination of visitors to the island, and therefore it
'sells'. Pele imagery is very present on the Hawai’ian Islands and in everything that refers to
Hawai’i. She appears in all categories of art, such as literature, poetry, theatre, music, film
and of course the fine arts, painting and sculpture, not to mention all sorts of memorabilia
produced for the tourist trade. [Nimmo 1987]
3.4.2 Conservation Efforts of the National Park Service
The management at Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park evidently is very aware of the cultural
heritage associated with the park. Therefore the official website has during the last few years
seen further development to include pages on the volcano goddess Pele and the stories
revolving around her figure and her home in Kilauea and Mauna Loa, as well as other native
cultural elements, a process that seems to be ongoing.
The Park’s management does not rely on the work of their professional staff alone in order to
assure cultural preservation, but it regularly consults a Kupuna Committee, consisting of a
group of native Hawai’ian elders. It is this Committee, which in 2004 selected an artist to
design and create a Hawai’ian cultural sculpture that the Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park
would be commissioning. This prominent sculpture was to be erected outside the visitor
centre at Kilauea and should represent the idea of the Kilauea and Mauna Loa area being a
sacred place (wahi kapu) for the native Hawai’ians. The Kupuna Committee had given a very
precise outline of what the sculpture, that was to be designed by an artist as the result of a
public competition, was supposed to look like:
“Lava is flowing from Mauna Loa like a river. The upper part of a woman's body is
visible in the lava flow—it's Pele riding down the flow, her eyes staring in anticipation,
looking in the direction she's going to go. The body of Pele is not the whole body or
like we think of a body. It's the upper torso only. Her hair is filling in behind her, also
riding the flow, and she's looking out at the ocean. The lava flow, the image of the
woman, is the volcano goddess who has come to show us, the people, her power.“
[Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park (3) a. website]
Local Hawai’ian artist Kalewa John Matsuhita was eventually chosen by the Kupuna
Committee to create the significant Pele sculpture, which was unveiled in March 2007.
According to the sculptor, his piece of art is “to convey Pele’s presence, power and beauty,
but also share her cultural significance and history.” [Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park (3) b.
website] This history refers not only to Pele’s past and present life in Hawai’i, but to her
future as well. [Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park (3) b., c. website]
64
One of the other means by which Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park is trying to promote
Native Hawai’ian Culture is the Hawai’i Volcanoes Annual Cultural Festival that has been
taking place since the 1980s. The motto of the 27th festival in the year 2007 was: ‘E Hula Mai,
Come Hula!’. At these events Hawai’ian music and Hula are performed, traditional crafts and
skills are demonstrated, as well as indigenous food is offered. It is meant to be an event in
which native Hawai’ians and ‚newcomers’ should come together and enjoy the local cultural
heritage. [Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park (9) website]
In addition to this annual event, Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park organises a programme
called ‚After Dark in the Park’, a sequence of educational events for the public on the nature
as well as the culture of the area. [Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park (8) website]
Closely related to the Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park through a cooperative agreement with
the National Park Service and by its location within the park, namely on Kilauea volcano, is
the Volcano Art Center. The VAC is an educational organization that operates since 1974
and its mission is “... to promote, develop, and perpetuate the artistic and cultural heritage of
Hawai’i’s people and environment through activities in the visual, literary and performing
arts.” [‘Volcano Art Center’ webpage] This includes the activities to conserve the art of Hula.
For this purpose the VAC has built a Hula stage on the very spot where, according to the
story, Hi’iaka, Pele’s sister, revived her lover Lohi’au. The dancing platform in close vicinity
faces the rim of the crater, Halema’uma’u, Pele’s dwelling. This Hula platform is available to
everyone who wants to perform the traditional Hula, the hula kahiko. The VAC organises its
own series of Hula performances on a regular basis there as well, named Na Mea Hawai’i
Hula Kahiko. Apart from this the VAC offers workshops on several traditional Hawai’ian arts
and crafts. [‘Volcano Art Center’ webpage]
3.5 Why some Important Hawai’ian Cultural Traditions are still very much Alive
The indigenous Hawai’ian culture underwent a historic development very similar to that of the
indigenous cultures on the mainland of the US. After the Hawai’ian Islands had been
discovered and conquered by Western civilization, their traditional culture and religion was all
but wiped out. It is only since the second half of the 20th century, that indigenous people have
regained pride and interest in their origin, and are trying to revive their cultural traditions and
language. The efforts to re-introduce elements of traditional Hawai’ian culture, such as
voyaging, the art of the Hula and the Pele myth into modern-day society are helped by the
fact that these are visually and emotionally attractive to people from all kinds of cultural
backgrounds and add to the Hawai’ian Islands’ physical appeal as a spectacular holiday
destination.
65
This holds especially true for the fact that it is the volcano goddess Pele, who has not only
outlived all other deities in the formerly vast pantheon of indigenous Hawai’i, but has even
gained importance since historical times. It seems that still today many people are so
overwhelmed by the ongoing volcanic activity at Mauna Loa and Kilauea that scientific
reasoning does not suffice. And the Pele mythology provides elucidation, beauty and drama.
This makes the character of Pele, the volcano goddess and cultural features related to her,
such as the Hula, vital ingredients of contemporary Hawai’ian worldview.
[Nimmo 1987]
66
III CONCLUSION
1. Does ‘Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park’ fulfil UNESCO’s Criteria for an
Associative Cultural Landscape?
In order to find out whether ‘Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park’ fulfils UNESCO’s Criteria for
an associative cultural landscape, an evaluation method shall be followed, which was used
by the participants of the 1995 ‘Asia-Pacific Regional Workshop on Associative Cultural
Landscapes’ on examples of associative cultural landscapes of World Heritage potential for
testing the workshop outcomes. This involves the following questions:
1. Does the property fit the definition of associative cultural landscape in the Operational
Guidelines?
2. If so, which criteria does it satisfy?
3. Does it satisfy the requirements concerning authenticity and integrity?
4. Does the associative cultural landscape have adequate management arrangements in
place?
5. Is it of outstanding universal value?
6. How would you identify the boundaries?
[ICOMOS 1995]
1.1 Does the Property fit the Definition of Associative Cultural Landscape in the
Operational Guidelines?
The intricate oral tradition that has evolved on the Big Island of Hawai’i, around the active
volcanoes Kilauea and Mauna Loa, provides a wonderful insight into the worldview of a
people that has actively chosen an extreme natural environment, which is both dangerous
and bountiful, as their homeland. The mythology of the volcano goddess Pele and her
extended family, which lives in and operates the craters of Mauna Loa and Kilauea,
exemplifies a particularly strong spiritual bond between the local inhabitants and the
landscape. As seats of powerful deities, whose activities can be observed on a daily basis,
the mountains Kilauea and Mauna Loa are highly sacred places to the indigenous
Hawai’ians. The crater of Kilauea as the most active volcano (Halema’uma’u), and Pele’s
permanent home, is a place that is to be approached with great respect and reverence,
where small and large rituals are regularly held either to appease the goddess’ destructive
power or in order to ask for her assistance. High respect for the power of the volcano
goddess Pele is found throughout the Hawai’ian Islands. In addition the traditional inhabitants
67
of the area immediately surrounding Mauna Loa and Kilauea have an especially intimate
relationship towards ‘their’ goddess, which they see as a relative and their homeland, which
they literally call ‘the breast’ that feeds them. This family relationship between the local
inhabitants and the local goddess was epitomized in the tradition of throwing the bones of
deceased Pele clan members into the crater, where they would become helpers of the
goddess and ghost-gods themselves.
The Hawai’ian religion has created a large set of beautiful and poetic lore revolving around
the volcano goddess and her relationship to the Hawai’ian landscape, as well as its divine
and human population, relating how all natural phenomena interact with each other. The
myths and stories fulfil a range of educational functions in an originally scriptless indigenous
society and can be understood on different levels, from transmitting very practical traditional
knowledge to complicated philosophic and religious correlations. Especially fascinating is the
way in which the Pele mythology parallels the geological formation and the human settlement
history of Hawai’i.
The landscape of the Hawai’ian volcanoes Mauna Loa and Kilauea can be seen as a giant
picture book, along the images of which traditional knowledge is transferred from one
generation to another within the indigenous society of Hawai’i. The way in which knowledge
is transferred is through an oral tradition that consists of prosaic narratives and elaborate
poetry as well as the most wonderful song and dance ritual of the Hula, which has become
the epitome of Hawai’ian cultural identity and is still widely practised today.
Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park harbours some archaeological evidence of indigenous
Hawai’ian use of the area around Mauna Loa and Kilauea, which emphasizes the long-time
presence of a very dedicated cultural tradition that made its living in an extremely adverse
and contradictory natural environment. The oral traditions and the custom of the Hula dance
though, which in the indigenous Hawai’ian mind are so intricately interwoven with the
volcanic landscape, cannot be traced through any other tangible element than through the
landscape itself.
Regarding the detailed description of the Pele cult given in the case study part of this work, it
can be said that Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park fits UNESCO’s definition of an associative
cultural landscape as laid down in the Operational Guidelines, by powerful religious, artistic
and cultural associations of the indigenous Hawai’ian culture being attached to the natural
element of the mountain landscape, rather than material cultural evidence to its intangible
values.
68
1.2 If so, Which Criteria does it Satisfy?
First of all, according to the Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World
Heritage, Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park is to be categorized as a site, in that it is the
combined work of nature and man (including archaeological sites) and is of outstanding
universal value from the ethnological point of view. [UNESCO 2005 (3), Chapter 1, C., 23]
UNESCO in 1987 has validated Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park as a World Heritage site
under natural criterion (ii) – today criterion (viii) - of the Operational Guidelines, confirming it
to
"be an outstanding example representing major stages of earth’s history, including the
record of life, significant on-going geological processes in the development of
landforms, or significant geomorphic or physiographic features;"
[IUCN 1992]
In addition to that, Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park should qualify as an associative cultural
landscape, as it satisfies cultural criterion (vi) as well, for being directly associated with the
living tradition of the Hula and the closely related belief in the volcano goddess Pele, which is
expressed in a large body of important oral traditions. [Compare UNESCO 2005 (3), Chapter
1, C., 24. a]
1.3 Does it Satisfy the Requirements Concerning Authenticity and Integrity?
The Operational Guidelines demand that cultural landscapes meet the test of authenticity in
their distinctive character and components. [UNESCO 2005 (3), Chapter 1, C., 24. b. i.] In
regard to the natural landscape of the Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park UNESCO’s
requirements are guaranteed to be met by the site’s status as a National Park, an
International Biosphere Reserve and a natural World Heritage site.
As for the associative cultural landscape aspect of Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park, the
question of authenticity and integrity is not so easy to answer, for a number of reasons.
First, the notion of what the terms authenticity and integrity actually mean in regard to
intangible values, beliefs and ideas is difficult to grasp and has been discussed within
UNESCO and among heritage experts in general since years. The Nara document on
authenticity, which resulted from an expert meeting in 1994, made an important statement by
saying that authenticity is subject to individual cultural interpretation and the test of
authenticity for each cultural property must be passed in its own cultural context. [UNESCO
1994 (7)]
In an ICCROM position paper on authenticity and integrity from 1998, Jukka Jokilehto and
Joseph King state, “the test of authenticity should verify that the ideas are really associated
69
with the site” and that “integrity refers to completeness, and unimpaired condition.” [ICCROM
1998] During an expert meeting on authenticity and integrity in an African context, held in
Zimbabwe in the year 2000, Jokilehto and King presented the above mentioned position
paper, but went further in expressing their views that not only every place had its own
authenticity and integrity, but that these were also flexible since values changed with time.
[UNESCO 2000 (1)]
Very precise definitions on how authenticity and integrity, especially in the case of intangible
values, are to be measured have not been laid down as yet and may never be.
The second difficulty in regard to answering the question whether Hawai’i Volcanoes
National Park as an associative cultural landscape satisfies the requirements concerning
authenticity and integrity lies in the quality of the information this study is based on. In order
to convincingly discuss the issue of actually how much alive the beliefs and intangible
traditions related to Mauna Loa and Kilauea really are in the lives and thoughts of the
indigenous Hawai’ians today, an ethnogical survey would have to be carried out on site in
Hawai’i.
Judged by the available material it can be concluded though that Hawai’i Volcanoes National
Park would pass the test of authenticity and integrity as an associative cultural landscape
upon closer inspection as well. The fact that an unspoilt natural landscape is an integral part
of an authentic associative cultural landscape, and Hawai’i National Park has passed the test
of authenticity in regard to this as a natural World Heritage site already, accounts for one
element of the whole being guaranteed for. As for the cultural element, the beliefs, oral
traditions and intangible cultural traditions like the Hula, it can be said that these have
undergone change during the last centuries, especially since the first arrival of Westerners in
Hawai’i. The religious belief system, of which the cult of the volcano goddess Pele was part,
does not play the same role in indigenous Hawai’ian society any more as it originally did.
Nevertheless, certain elements of the native religion, especially the belief in Pele as well as
the related Hula dance tradition, have survived and in view to the deity even gained in
importance in comparison to the past. A distinction has to be made though between rituals in
connection with Pele and the Hula being performed in their original, authentic, spiritual
context and those, which are merely show elements being performed for tourism’s sake and
without any underlying deeper meaning or understanding of the traditional cultural
background. It does appear though that a fair number of indigenous Hawai’ians are very
serious in their attempts to pursue and preserve their cultural traditions, especially in regard
to the Hula and Pele, even drawing ‘newcomers’ into taking these up as important parts of
their lives. Both the volcano goddess and the Hula dance seem to have become the very
symbols of indigenous Hawai’ian cultural identity today, almost in a political sense.
70
1.4 Does the Associative Cultural Landscape have Adequate Management
Arrangements in Place?
The Operational Guidelines demand that cultural landscapes “have adequate legal/or
traditional protection and management mechanisms to ensure the conservation” of the site.
[UNESCO 2005 (3), C.24.b.ii.]
As a National Park, an International Biosphere Reserve and a natural World Heritage site,
the natural features of Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park are protected and preserved
according to an array of national and international legal instruments and the site is
professionally managed by the US National Park Service in regard to conservation, planning
and visitor management. Although so far only the natural values of the landscape around the
volcanoes Mauna Loa and Kilauea are recognised in the area’s status, the management of
Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park is very much aware of the site’s tangible as well as
intangible cultural features and values, their preservation being an official management
objective. Part of the park management’s efforts to handle traditional indigenous values on
site appropriately, is the regular consultation of a Kupuna Committee consisting of Hawai’ian
elders, who take decisions on sensitive cultural issues on site. Furthermore the visitor centre
on Kilauea is responsible for the education of visitors in regard to the park’s natural and
cultural heritage.
1.5. Is it of Outstanding Universal Value?
In order to determine the universal value of Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park as an
associative cultural landscape, the site needs to be looked at in comparison to other sites of
the same category, which might bear similar features. At closer inspection of the cultural
background, this leaves only Tongariro National Park, which is the first World Heritage site
that was initially inscribed by UNESCO for its natural features alone and was later
recognized as an important associative cultural landscape. The Maori culture that is
associated with the landscape of Tongariro National Park belongs to the Polynesian group
and is therefore related to the Hawai’ian culture. In addition to the cultural connection
between the Maori and the Hawai’ians, Tongariro National Park bears some resemblance to
Hawai’i National Park, in that it is the powerful spiritual relationship between the indigenous
people and the volcanic mountains, which are regarded as sacred, that constitutes the
associative value of the natural landscape. In both cases the people’s affiliation with the
landscape is couched in oral traditions and is strongly related to their history of migration
through the Pacific and final settlement on the respective islands.
71
There are major differences though between the cultural associations of the Maori with
Tongariro, and the ideas and traditions the Hawai’ians associate with the Hawai’ian
volcanoes. The most obvious difference is that Mauna Loa and Kilauea are active volcanoes,
forming a dynamic physical environment and with that an oral history that is still evolving
through the creation of new stories in the course of a changing landscape.
The mountains at Tongariro are of religious importance to the Maori, just as Mauna Loa and
Kilauea are to the Hawai’ians, but not as the seat of a specific deity like the volcano goddess
Pele. The emphasis in New Zealand is more on a spiritual connection between the
landscape and their ancestors, which are of great importance to the Maori. The relation to
ancestors also exists in the Pele cult on Hawai’i, but the emphasis is rather on a group of
important deities that reside in the volcanoes and control their activities.
There is no example of a site on the World Heritage List, where this kind of connection
between active volcanic mountains and a deity that is very much alive, with an evolving
personal history, is portrayed.
A truly outstanding cultural tradition that is associated with the Hawai’ian volcanoes Mauna
Loa and Kilauea is the Hula as a religious art form. Up until today no site on the World
Heritage List is explicitly connected with an intangible value such as this. Music, song and
dance are safeguarded by UNESCO mainly within the frame of the ‘Masterpieces of Oral and
Intangible Heritage of Humanity Programme’, one example of which, the Lakalaka dance of
Tonga, shows interesting parallels to the Hawai’ian Hula.
1.6. How would You Identify the Boundaries?
In view to intangible values it is in general hard to identify exact geographical boundaries,
defining where ideas end. Since the beliefs and traditions around the volcano goddess Pele
and the Hula are mainly associated with the active volcanoes Mauna Loa and Kilauea on the
Great Island of Hawai’i though, and these two mountains are the main elements of Hawai’i
Volcanoes National Park, it seems perfectly suitable to define the exact boundaries of the
National Park as the boundaries of the proposed associative cultural landscape.
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2. The Importance of Re-nominating ‘Hawaii Volcanoes National Park’ as an
Associative Cultural Landscape to the World Heritage List
On the basis of the information presented in the case study on the cultural values associated
with Mauna Loa and Kilauea and the outcome of the evaluation in the previous chapter, it
can be deduced that Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park fulfils UNESCO’s requirements to
qualify as an associative cultural landscape and that its existing status as a purely natural
World Heritage site could be extended to include cultural criterion (vi). The author’s opinion
that the site should be re-nominated is supported by the acknowledged imbalance of the
World Heritage List in regard to several aspects.
In the year 2007 the World Heritage List consists of 851 inscribed properties, 660 of which
are recognized for their cultural values alone, 166 only for their natural values and merely 25
sites that are considered as mixed sites, featuring a combination of natural and cultural
values. This shows a clear imbalance of the three main categories, an issue that UNESCO
explicitly tries to work against by encouraging state parties to put forward more nominations
in the underrepresented categories. The imbalance of the World Heritage List is also visible
in the geographic distribution of properties, with the majority of all inscribed properties being
situated in Europe and therewith in the Europe and North America region as defined by the
World Heritage Centre. UNESCO is very aware of the problem and is supporting state
parties from underrepresented areas to establish tentative lists and set up nominations.
[‘Global Strategy’ webpage]
Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park is located in Hawai’i, which politically is a state within the
United States of America. Geographically though, the Hawai’ian Islands are situated in the
Pacific and therefore rather belong to UNESCO’s Asia-Pacific region. Taking a closer look at
this region, it becomes apparent that the Pacific is hugely under-represented on the World
Heritage List. Apart from Australia, which has 17 World Heritage sites (two cultural, eleven
natural and four mixed), and New Zealand, which has three World Heritage sites (two natural
and one mixed), only one other ‘non-Asian’ state -the Solomon Islands- is represented on the
World Heritage List at all, with one natural property. From a geographical point of view there
are altogether eight World Heritage sites that can be considered to be literally situated in the
Pacific, which incidentally makes up for 40% of the Earth’s surface [‘World Heritage Centre
News Archive’ website] These are the Great Barrier Reef and Lord Howe Island, both
belonging to Australia; Cocos Island, which belongs to Costa Rica; Galapagos, belonging to
Ecuador; Henderson Island, which belongs to the UK; Rapa Nui, belonging to Chile; East
Rennell in the Solomon Islands; and finally Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park as a US
property. All Pacific World Heritage sites, besides Rapa Nui as a cultural site, are
categorized as purely natural sites. Taken all into consideration, the whole Asia-Pacific
73
region has nine World Heritage sites that combine natural and cultural values, six that are
connected with indigenous cultures and two, Tongariro National Park and Rapa Nui National
Park, that are associated with cultures of Polynesian origin. A major find in regard to the
imbalance of the World Heritage List, which was established by a large ICOMOS study, was
that it is not only biased in regard to Europe as a region and the category of architectural
sites, but specifically in favour of Christianity when associated with religion. Traditional
cultures and religions on the other hand are stated to be hugely underrepresented.
One element of UNESCO’s 1994 ‘Global Strategy for a Balanced, Representative and
Credible World Heritage List’ was the conducting of thematic studies and conferences in
order to develop specific recommendations for underrepresented regions and categories.
In 1997 a global strategy meeting was held on the Identification of World Heritage properties
in the Pacific, organised by the World Heritage Centre and attended by, besides experts from
advisory bodies, representatives of several Pacific states including Australia, New Zealand
and the United States. During this meeting it was emphasized that the unique heritage value
of the Pacific as a whole lies in the spiritual connections that exist between nature and
culture, which are expressed in oral traditions that demonstrate links between the very
diverse cultures of the area. It was therefore suggested that transnational serial sites and
layered cultural landscapes should be given priority in nominations for the World Heritage
List. These could be associated with the history of migration and settlement, which is where
Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park as a cultural site would fit in very well, especially alongside
Tongariro National Park, being related to the same subject. [See UNESCO 1997 (18)] On a
wider geographical scale, the re-nomination of Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park as an
associative cultural landscape would be an especially interesting example in a series of
thematically linked sites demonstrating the close interaction between humans and volcanic
landscapes, that can be observed wherever people live in close vicinity of, especially active,
volcanoes. [See UNESCO 2000 (16)]
In the year 2003 the World Heritage Report # 12 on the ‘State of Word Heritage in the Asia
Pacific Region’ [UNESCO 2004 (9)] still listed, among others, cultural landscapes and sacred
mountains as types of underrepresented categories in the Asia-Pacific region. Hawai’i
Volcanoes National Park represents both categories, as it is an associative cultural
landscape centering on sacred mountains.
Considering though that Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park geographically and culturally
belongs to the Pacific, but legally to the United States, its status as a World Heritage site
needs to be seen in comparison to the other US sites on the World Heritage List as well. The
US, in the year 2007, features with altogether 20 sites on the World Heritage List, twelve of
which are natural sites and eight are cultural. No mixed sites are to be found in the US, and
none is officially recognized as a cultural landscape. Of the eight cultural World Heritage
74
sites in the US, four are dedicated to indigenous cultures, but only one of them to a living
tradition although the United States of America host a large population of very diverse
indigenous peoples. The Native American cultures are renowned for their spirituality and
their close relationship to the natural environment. All natural World Heritage sites in the US
are big National Parks that have been established on the grounds of the traditional homeland
of a number of indigenous peoples, which are still around. The US National Park Service is
aware of the links between park landscape and native people, but in most cases thorough
research into the matter is still outstanding. It cannot be ruled out thus, that after close
inspection of the topic, a number of the US natural World Heritage sites might turn out to
have significant associative cultural landscape values. As for Hawai’i Volcanoes National
Park, this study tries to show that evidence in the case of this site is quite convincing and it
would be a good start for the US to revise the values of their natural World Heritage sites in
order to take cultural elements related to living indigenous cultures more into consideration
and give them the universal appreciation that they deserve.
3. Recommendations
On the basis of this study the author recommends that the US National Park Service should
commission a concise research project on the Big Island of Hawai’i in order to ascertain the
potential of Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park as an associative cultural landscape of
outstanding universal value and upon a positive result re-nominate the site for the World
Heritage List with the additional cultural criterion (vi) as being directly associated with the
living traditions of the Hula and with the belief in the volcano goddess Pele.
In the case that the inscription of Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park on the World Heritage List
should be extended so as to recognize it as a mixed site in the category of associative
cultural landscapes related to the traditional culture of indigenous Hawai’i, the management
system of the park would need to be adjusted in certain ways according to its new status.
Given that Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park is a natural World Heritage site already, the
natural element is very well managed in all regards. The park management clearly
recognizes the value of the cultural heritage associated with the park and its conservation is
an explicit objective, but almost certainly the preservation efforts would need to be
intensified.
In view to this, the US National Park Service would benefit from looking towards the way in
which Uluru – Kata Tjuta National Park in Australia is run, where the traditional owners of the
landscape are very much involved in all aspects of the management of the World Heritage
site. It seems a beginning towards this direction has been made by Hawai’i Volcanoes
75
National Park in consulting an indigenous Hawai’ian Kupuna (Elders) Committee for certain
decisions in regard to cultural values. Nevertheless, the indigenous Hawai’ian community
could be even more and essentially involved in the whole park management.
An institutionalised participation of representative members of the traditional Hawai’ian
society would guarantee that the cultural values associated with the landscape of the
Hawai’ian volcanoes Mauna Loa and Kilauea would be preserved as a living tradition for the
future as well as possible. Only those people who have been brought up in the area around
the volcanoes, with the local oral history and formal Hula education having accompanied
their whole upbringing, can fully understand the underlying religious meaning of the traditions
related to Mauna Loa and Kilauea. They need to pass this knowledge on to their own
offspring and to visitors in order to keep it alive. This is the best way to preserve these
intangible traditions. The indigenous people with the traditional knowledge are the ones who
need to make the final decisions in the park management in regard to cultural values and
also develop strategies on how to communicate these to the unrelated public. The
Hawai’ians are the traditional owners of the Hawai’ian landscape and they ought to manage
it according to their values.
4. Résumé
The World Heritage category of the associative cultural landscape is an excellent
preservation tool that offers the opportunity to tie the safeguarding of intangible heritage,
especially oral traditions, to specific locations.
Ethnic minority cultures still do not receive enough attention in the world, particularly if they
have no significant architectural heritage to show. The intellectual ideas of the great ‘civilized’
nations are either written down or can be construed from a wealth of artworks. The ideas,
beliefs and histories of the so-called ‘primitive’ cultures in comparison are to be read from
landscapes.
In scriptless societies landscapes function as illustrated history books since historical and
mythical events, which are often intertwined, are tangibly related to specific landscape
features, and can be recalled by looking at the landscape. Oral traditions do not only relate
history though, but also function as literature for peoples without writing. And the underlying
purpose of oral traditions and legends is to teach elemental cultural and social behaviour to
the next generation.
In order to keep the very rich and beautiful oral traditions of the indigenous societies of this
world alive, they need to be held in high esteem, not only by keeping them written down in
76
scholarly books and stored away in archives. Instead they have to be made visible to
everyone, including those who do not read books about ethnology and mythology.
The intricate relation of nature and culture is mostly forgotten in the modern world, although
the life of human beings has since time immemorial been interwoven with the landscape
surrounding them.
Through the means of inscribing associative cultural landscapes that are connected with
indigenous societies onto the World Heritage List, visitors from a globalised society are
introduced to the ways of traditional education and worldview in the societies of ethnic
minorities.
Since indigenous societies are increasingly endangered through globalisation, if they are not
vanished already, it becomes the more important to establish memorials to their thoughts.
This is especially relevant to the native people within the Unites States of America, whose
traditional cultures suffer enormously from the modern, westernised society surrounding
them. It is vital to counteract cultural traditions being turned into stereotypical tourist
attractions, and instead to encourage the cultural self-awareness of people from ethnic
minorities and therewith supporting cultural diversity.
Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park serves as a very good example to this end. The area of
Mauna Loa and Kilauea is of value as cultural heritage because it is a very good example of
how people in the oddest and most difficult natural surroundings of this world survive, make a
living and arrange themselves mentally with their environment.
The Pele myth cycle is an intangible monument of the Hawai’ians to the creation of the
islands (and specific landforms), their survival through agriculture (by the family relationship
to the rain and harvest gods), their fear for survival (through nature catastrophes), major
cultural features (e.g. the hula), the migration history of the people (as the volcano goddess
Pele herself came from the far away island of Kahiki), and finally the education of children,
transmitting values such as generosity, helpfulness and care for the enviroment.
At Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park the intangible cultural values, which would constitute its
World Heritage status as an associative cultural landscape, perfectly parallel its existing
status as natural World Heritage in that they both depict the ongoing process of island
development in the Hawai’ian archipelago through volcanic activity.
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APPENDIX 1
UNESCO World Heritage as Defined by the Operational Guidelines
“II.A Definition of World Heritage
Cultural and Natural Heritage
45. Cultural and natural heritage are defined in Articles 1 and 2 of the World Heritage Convention.
Article 1
For the purposes of this Convention, the following shall be considered as "cultural heritage";
- monuments: architectural works, works of monumentalsculpture and painting, elements or structures
of an archaeological nature, inscriptions, cave dwellings and combinations of features, which are of
outstanding universal value from the point of view of history, art or science;
- groups of buildings: groups of separate or connected buildings which, because of their architecture,
their homogeneity or their place in the landscape, are of outstanding universal value from the point of
view of history, art or science;
- sites: works of man or the combined works of nature and of man, and areas including archaeological
sites which are of outstanding universal value from the historical, aesthetic,
ethnological or anthropological points of view.
Article 2
For the purposes of this Convention, the following shall be considered as "natural heritage":
- natural features consisting of physical and biological formations or groups of such formations, which
are of outstanding universal value from the aesthetic or scientific point of view;
geological and physiographical formations and precisely delineated areas which constitute the habitat
of threatened species of animals and plants of outstanding universal value from the point of view of
science or conservation;
- natural sites or precisely delineated natural areas of outstanding universal value from the point of
view of science, conservation or natural beauty.
Mixed Cultural and Natural Heritage
46. Properties shall be considered as "mixed cultural and natural heritage" if they satisfy a part or the
whole of the definitions Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage
Convention 14 of both cultural and natural heritage laid out in Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention.
Cultural landscapes
47. Cultural landscapes are cultural properties and represent the "combined works of nature and of
man" designated in Article 1 of the Convention. They are illustrative of the evolution of human society
and settlement over time, under the influence of the physical constraints and/or opportunities
presented by their natural environment and of successive social, economic and cultural forces, both
external and internal.
Annex 3
Movable Heritage
48. Nominations of immovable heritage which are likely to become movable will not be considered.
Outstanding universal value
49. Outstanding universal value means cultural and/or natural significance which is so exceptional as
to transcend national boundaries and to be of common importance for present and future generations
of all humanity. As such, the permanent protection of this heritage is of the highest importance to the
international community as a whole. The Committee defines the criteria for the inscription of properties
on the World Heritage List.
50. States Parties are invited to submit nominations of properties of cultural and/or natural value
considered to be of "outstanding universal value" for inscription on the World Heritage List.
51. At the time of inscription of a property on the World Heritage List, the Committee adopts a
Statement of Outstanding Universal Value (see paragraph 154) which will be the key reference for the
future effective protection and management of the property.
52. The Convention is not intended to ensure the protection of all properties of great interest,
importance or value, but only for a select list of the most outstanding of these from an international
viewpoint. It is not to be assumed that a property of national and/or regional importance will
automatically be inscribed on the World Heritage List.
53. Nominations presented to the Committee shall demonstrate the full commitment of the State Party
to preserve the heritage concerned, within its means. Such commitment shall take the Operational
Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention 15 form of appropriate policy,
78
legal, scientific, technical, administrative and financial measures adopted and proposed to protect the
property and its outstanding universal value.
II.B A Representative, Balanced and Credible World Heritage
List
54. The Committee seeks to establish a representative, balanced and credible World Heritage List in
th
conformity with the four Strategic Objectives adopted by the Committee at its 26 session (Budapest,
2002).
Budapest Declaration on World Heritage (2002) at http://whc.unesco.org/en/budapestdeclaration
The Global Strategy for a Representative, Balanced and Credible World Heritage List
55. The Global Strategy for a Representative, Balanced and Credible World Heritage List is designed
to identify and fill the major gaps in the World Heritage List. It does this by encouraging more countries
to become States Parties to the Convention and to develop Tentative Lists as defined in paragraph 62
and nominations of properties for inscription on the World Heritage List (see
http://whc.unesco.org/en/globalstrategy)
The report of the Expert Meeting on the "Global Strategy" and thematic studies for a
representative World Heritage List (20-22 June 1994) was adopted by the World Heritage Committee
at its 18th session (Phuket, 1994).
The Global Strategy was initially developed with reference to cultural heritage. At the request of
the World Heritage Committee, the Global Strategy was subsequently expanded to also include
reference to natural heritage and combined cultural and natural heritage.
56. States Parties and the Advisory Bodies are encouraged to participate in the implementation of the
Global Strategy in cooperation with the Secretariat and other partners. Regional and thematic Global
Strategy meetings and comparative and thematic studies are organized for this purpose. The results
of these meetings and studies are available to assist States Parties in preparing Tentative Lists and
nominations. The reports of the expert meetings and studies presented to the World Heritage
Committee are available at the following Web address: http://whc.unesco.org/en/globalstrategy
57. All efforts should be made to maintain a reasonable balance between cultural and natural heritage
on the World Heritage List.
58. No formal limit is imposed on the total number of properties to be inscribed on the World Heritage
List.
Other measures
th
59. To promote the establishment of a representative, balanced Resolution adopted by the 12
Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention 16 and credible
World Heritage List, States Parties are requested to consider whether their heritage is already well
represented on the List and if so to slow down their rate of submission of further nominations by:
General Assembly of States Parties (1999).
a) spacing voluntarily their nominations according to conditions that they will define, and/or;
b) proposing only properties falling into categories still under-represented, and/or;
c) linking each of their nominations with a nomination presented by a State Party whose heritage is
underrepresented;
or
d) deciding, on a voluntary basis, to suspend the presentation of new nominations.
60. States Parties whose heritage of outstanding universal value is under-represented on the World
Heritage List are requested to:
a) give priority to the preparation of their Tentative Lists and nominations;
b) initiate and consolidate partnerships at the regional level based on the exchange of technical
expertise;
c) encourage bilateral and multilateral co-operation so as to increase their expertise and the technical
capacities of institutions in charge of the protection, safeguarding and management of their heritage;
and,
d) participate, as much as possible, in the sessions of the World Heritage Committee.
th
Resolution adopted by the 12 General Assembly of States Parties (1999).
61. The Committee has decided, on an experimental and transitory basis, to apply the following
th
mechanism at its 30 session (2006):
a) examine up to two complete nominations per State Party, provided that at least one of such
nominations concerns a natural property; and,
b) set at 45 the annual limit on the number of nominations it will review, inclusive of nominations
deferred and referred by previous sessions of the Committee, extensions (except minor modifications
of limits of the property), transboundary and serial nominations,
c) the following order of priorities will be applied:
Decisions 24 COM VI.2.3.3, 28 COM 13.1 and 7 EXT.COM 4B.1
79
Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention 17
i) nominations of properties submitted by States Parties with no properties inscribed on the
List;
ii) nominations of properties from any State Party that illustrate un-represented or less represented
categories of natural and cultural categories;
iii) other nominations;
iv) when applying this priority system, date of receipt of full and complete nominations by the
Secretariat shall be used as secondary determining factor within the category where the number of
nomination fixed by the Committee has been reached.
…
II.D Criteria for the assessment of outstanding universal value
These criteria were formerly presented as two separate sets of criteria - criteria (i) - (vi) for cultural
heritage and (i) - (iv) for natural heritage.
The 6th extraordinary session of the World Heritage Committee decided to merge the ten criteria
(Decision 6 EXT.COM 5.1)
77. The Committee considers a property as having outstanding universal value (see paragraphs 4953) if the property meets one or more of the following criteria. Nominated properties shall therefore :
(i) represent a masterpiece of human creative genius;
(ii) exhibit an important interchange of human values, over a span of time or within a cultural area of
the world, on developments in architecture or technology, monumental arts, town-planning or
landscape design;
(iii) bear a unique or at least exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to a civilization which is
living or which has disappeared;
(iv) be an outstanding example of a type of building, architectural or technological ensemble or
landscape which illustrates (a) significant stage(s) in human history;
(v) be an outstanding example of a traditional human settlement, land-use, or sea-use which is
representative of a culture (or cultures), or human interaction with the environment especially when it
has become vulnerable under the impact of irreversible change;
(vi) be directly or tangibly associated with events or living traditions, with ideas, or with beliefs, with
artistic and literary works of outstanding universal significance.
(The Committee considers that this criterion should preferably be used in conjunction with other
criteria) ;
(vii) contain superlative natural phenomena or areas of exceptional natural beauty and aesthetic
importance;
(viii) be outstanding examples representing major stages of earth's history, including the record of life,
significant on-going geological processes in the development of landforms, or significant geomorphic
or physiographic features;
(ix) be outstanding examples representing significant ongoing ecological and biological processes in
the evolution and development of terrestrial, fresh water, coastal and marine ecosystems and
communities of plants and animals;
(x) contain the most important and significant natural habitats for in-situ conservation of biological
diversity, including those containing threatened species of outstanding universal value from the point
of view of science or conservation.
78. To be deemed of outstanding universal value, a property must also meet the conditions of integrity
and/or authenticity and must have an adequate protection and management system to ensure its
safeguarding.
II.E Integrity and/or authenticity
Authenticity
Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention 21
79. Properties nominated under criteria (i) to (vi) must meet the conditions of authenticity. Annex 4
which includes the Nara Document on Authenticity, provides a practical basis for examining the
authenticity of such properties and is summarized below.
80. The ability to understand the value attributed to the heritage depends on the degree to which
information sources about this value may be understood as credible or truthful.
Knowledge and understanding of these sources of information, in relation to original and subsequent
characteristics of the cultural heritage, and their meaning, are the requisite bases for assessing all
aspects of authenticity.
81. Judgments about value attributed to cultural heritage, as well as the credibility of related
information sources, may differ from culture to culture, and even within the same culture.
80
The respect due to all cultures requires that cultural heritage must be considered and judged primarily
within the cultural contexts to which it belongs.
82. Depending on the type of cultural heritage, and its cultural context, properties may be understood
to meet the conditions of authenticity if their cultural value (as recognized in the nomination criteria
proposed) are truthfully and credibly expressed through a variety of attributes including:
• form and design;
• materials and substance;
• use and function;
• traditions, techniques and management systems;
• location and setting;
• language, and other forms of intangible heritage;
• spirit and feeling; and
• other internal and external factors.
83. Attributes such as spirit and feeling do not lend themselves easily to practical applications of the
conditions of authenticity, but nevertheless are important indicators of character and sense of place,
for example, in communities maintaining tradition and cultural continuity.
84. The use of all these sources permits elaboration of the specific artistic, historic, social, and
scientific dimensions of the cultural heritage being examined. "Information sources" are defined as all
physical, written, oral, and figurative sources, which make it possible to know the nature,
specificities, meaning, and history of the cultural heritage.
85. When the conditions of authenticity are considered in preparing a nomination for a property, the
State Party should Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention 22
first identify all of the applicable significant attributes of authenticity. The statement of authenticity
should assess the degree to which authenticity is present in, or expressed by,
each of these significant attributes.
86. In relation to authenticity, the reconstruction of archaeological remains or historic buildings or
districts is justifiable only in exceptional circumstances. Reconstruction is acceptable only on the basis
of complete and detailed documentation and to no extent on conjecture.
Integrity
87. All properties nominated for inscription on the World Heritage List shall satisfy the conditions of
integrity.
Decision 20 COM IX.13
88. Integrity is a measure of the wholeness and intactness of the natural and/or cultural heritage and
its attributes. Examining the conditions of integrity, therefore requires assessing the extent to which
the property:
a) includes all elements necessary to express its outstanding universal value;
b) is of adequate size to ensure the complete representation of the features and processes which
convey the property’s significance;
c) suffers from adverse effects of development and/or neglect.
This should be presented in a statement of integrity.
89. For properties nominated under criteria (i) to (vi), the physical fabric of the property and/or its
significant features should be in good condition, and the impact of deterioration processes controlled.
A significant proportion of the elements necessary to convey the totality of the value conveyed by the
property should be included. Relationships and dynamic functions present in cultural landscapes,
historic towns or other living properties essential to their distinctive character should also be
maintained.
Examples of the application of the conditions of integrity to properties nominated under criteria (i) - (vi)
are under development.
90. For all properties nominated under criteria (vii) - (x), biophysical processes and landform features
should be relatively intact. However, it is recognized that no area is totally pristine and that all natural
areas are in a dynamic state, and to some extent involve contact with people. Human activities,
including those of traditional societies and local communities, often occur in natural areas. These
activities may be consistent with the outstanding universal value of the Operational Guidelines for the
Implementation of the World Heritage Convention 23 area where they are ecologically sustainable.
91. In addition, for properties nominated under criteria (vii) to (x), a corresponding condition of integrity
has been defined for each criterion.
92. Properties proposed under criterion (vii) should be of outstanding universal value and include
areas that are essential for maintaining the beauty of the property. For example, a property whose
scenic value depends on a waterfall, would meet the conditions of integrity if it includes adjacent
catchment and downstream areas that are integrally linked to the maintenance of the aesthetic
qualities of the property.
81
93. Properties proposed under criterion (viii) should contain all or most of the key interrelated and
interdependent elements in their natural relationships. For example, an "ice age" area would meet the
conditions of integrity if it includes the snow field, the glacier itself and samples of cutting patterns,
deposition and colonization (e.g. striations, moraines, pioneer stages of plant succession, etc.); in the
case of volcanoes, the magmatic series should be complete and all or most of the varieties of effusive
rocks and types of eruptions be represented.
94. Properties proposed under criterion (ix) should have sufficient size and contain the necessary
elements to demonstrate the key aspects of processes that are essential for the long term
conservation of the ecosystems and the biological diversity they contain. For example, an area of
tropical rain forest would meet the conditions of integrity if it includes a certain amount of variation in
elevation above sea level, changes in topography and soil types, patch systems and naturally
regenerating patches; similarly a coral reef should include, for example, seagrass, mangrove or other
adjacent ecosystems that regulate nutrient and sediment inputs into the reef.
Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention 24
95. Properties proposed under criterion (x) should be the most important properties for the
conservation of biological diversity. Only those properties which are the most biologically diverse
and/or representative are likely to meet this criterion. The properties should contain habitats for
maintaining the most diverse fauna and flora characteristic of the bio-geographic province and
ecosystems under consideration. For example, a tropical savannah would meet the conditions of
integrity if it includes a complete assemblage of co-evolved herbivores and plants; an island
ecosystem should include habitats for maintaining endemic biota; a property containing wide ranging
species should be large enough to include the most critical habitats essential to ensure the survival of
viable populations of those species; for an area containing migratory species, seasonal breeding and
nesting sites, and migratory routes, wherever they are located, should be adequately protected.”
[UNESCO ‘Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention’, p 23-27
& 29-34]
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APPENDIX 2
HAWAI’IAN TEXTS
The Hula Pele
“A Song - The first song of the hula Pele
From Kahiki came the woman, Pele,
From the land of Pola-pola,
From the red cloud of Kane,
Cloud blazing in the heavens,
Fiery cloud-pile in Kahiki.
Eager desire for Hawai’i seized the woman, Pele;
She carved the canoe, Honua-i-a-kea,
Your canoe, O Ka-moho-alii.
They push the work on the craft to completion.
The lashings of the god's canoe are done,
The canoe of Kane, the world-maker.
The tides swirl, Pele-honua-mea o'ermounts them;
The god rides the waves, sails about the island;
The host of little gods ride the billows;
Malau takes his seat;
One bales out the bilge of the craft.
Who shall sit astern, be steersman, O, princes?
Pele of the yellow earth.
The splash of the paddles dashes o'er the canoe.
Ku and his fellow, Ono,
Disembark on solid land;
They alight on a shoal.
Hiiaka, the wise one, a god,
Stands up, goes to stay at the house of Pele.
Lo, an eruption on Kahiki!
A flashing of lightning, O Pele!
Belch forth, O Pele!
Song
To Kauai, lifted in ether,
A floating flower at sea of Wailua That way Pele turns her gaze,
She's bidding adieu to Oahu,
Loved and of new wine of the palm.
There comed a perfumed waft - mokihnana The bath of the maid Hiiaka.
Scene it was once of Pele's contention,
Put by for future attention.
Her foot now spurns the long-backed wave;
The phosphor burns like Pele's eye,
Or a meteor-flash in the sky.
Finished the prayer, enter, possess!
They bear the god's ax up the mountain;
Trampling the mire, like waves from Kahiki
That beat on the front of Kilauea.
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The people with offerings lift up a prayer;
A woman strings wreaths in Olaa Lehua grove mine bord'ring He-ela.
And now Kukuena, mother god,
Covers her loins with a pa-ú of ti leaf;
She mounts the altar; she sits,
Behold us, you conclave of priests.
Enter in, possess us!
Song
Ho! Mountain of vapor-puffs,
Now groans the mountain-apple tree.
Alas! I burn in the deathless flame,
That is fed by the woman who snores
On a lava plate, now hot, now cold;
Not 'tis a canoe full-rigged for sea;
There are seats at the bow, amidships, abaft;
Baggage and men - all is aboard.
And now the powerful thrust of the paddle,
Making mighty swirl of wat'ry yeast,
As of Nihéu, the mischief-maker A mighty swirl of the yeasty wave,
In heaven's name, come aboard!
Song
Alas, there's no stay to the smoke;
I must die mid the quenchless flame Deed of the hag who snores in her sleep,
Bedded on lava plate oven-hot.
Now it taked the shape of canoe;
Seats at the bos and amidships,
And the steersman sitting astern;
Their stroke stirs the ocean to foam The myth-craft, Kau-meli-eli!
Now look, the white gleam of an eye It is Nihéu, the turbulent one An eye like the white sandy shore.
Amen, possess me!
A Prayer to Pele
CANTO I
Lo, Pele's the god of my choice:
Let heaven and earth in silence wait.
Here is awa, potent, sacred,
Bitter sea, great Hiiaka's root;
'Twas cut at Mauli-ola Awa to the woman forbidden,
Let it tabu be!
Exact be the rite of your awa,
O Pele of the sacred land.
Proclaim it, mother, Haumea,
Of the goddess of Kilauea;
She who dug the pit world-deep,
And Mau-wahine and Kupu-ena,
Who prepare the awa for drink.
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A health to the stranger gods
CANTO II
Bedeck now the board for the feast;
Fill up the last bowl to the brim;
Then pour a draught in the sun-cave
Shall flow to the mellow haze,
That tints the land of the gods.
All hail to the stranger gods!
This my offering, simply a voice,
Only a welcoming voice.
Turn in!
Lo, the feast!
Song
Yours, doubtless, this name,
Which people are toasting
With loudest acclaim.
Now raise it, aye raise it,
Till it reaches the niches
Of Kí-lau-éa.
Enshrined is there my kinsman,
Kú-núi-akéa.
Then give it a place
In the temple of Pele; {In the original given as Hale-mau-mau} *1
And a bowl for the throats
That are croaking with thirst.
Knock-kneed eater of land, *2
O Pele, god Pele!
O Pele, god Pele!
Burst forth now burst forth
Launch a bolt from the sky!
Let thy lightnings fly!
*1 Used figuratively of the mouth, whose hairy fringe - moustache and beard gives it a fancied resemblance to the rough lava pit where Pele dwelt. The figure, to us no
doubt obscure, conveyed to the Hawai’ian the idea of trumpeting the name and making it
famous.
*2 Pele is here figured as an old, infirm woman, crouching and crawling along; a character
and attitude ascribed to her, no doubt, from the fancied resemblance of a lava flow, which,
when in the form of a-á, rolls and tumbles along over the surface of the ground in a manner
suggestive fo the motions and attitude of a palsied crone.”
[Nathanial B. Emerson, Chapter XXIV - 'The Hula Pele', p. 186-201]
The hula mele about Pele digging her pit
“Song
A pit lies (far) to the East,
Pit het by the Fire-queen Pele.
Heaven's dawn is lifted askew,
One edge tilts up, one down, in the sky;
The thud of the pick is heard in the ground.
The question is asked by Wakea,
What god 's this a-digging?
It is I, it is Pele,
Who dug Niihau deep down till it burned,
Dug fire-pit re-heated by Pele.
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Night's curtains are drawn to one side,
One lifts, on hangs in the tides.
Crunch of spade resounds in the earth.
Wakea 'gain urges the query,
What god plies the spade in the ground?
Quoth Pele, 'tis I;
I mined to the fire neath Kauai,
On Kauai I dug deep a pit,
A fire-well flame-fed by Pele.
The heavens are lifted aslant,
One border moves up and one down;
There's a stroke of o-ó 'neath the ground.
Wakea, in earnest, would know.
What demon's a-grubbing below?
I am the worker, says Pele:
Oahu I pierced to the quick,
A crater white-heated by Pele.
Now morn lights one edge of the sky;
The light streams up, the shadows fall down;
There's a clatter of tools deep down.
Wakea, in passion demands,
What god this who digs 'neath the ground?
It is dame Pele who answers;
Hers the toil to dig down to fire,
To dig Molokai and reach fire.
Now morning peeps from the sky
With one eye open, one shut.
Hark, ring of the drill 'neath the plain!
Wakea askes you to explain,
What imp is a-drilling below?
It is I, mutters Pele:
I drilled till flame shot forth on Lanai,
A pit candescent by Pele.
The morning looks forth aslant;
Heaven's curtains roll up and roll down;
There's a ring of o-ó 'neath the sod.
Who, asks Wakea, the god,
Who is this devil a-digging?
'Tis I, 'tis Pele, I who
Dug on Maui the pit to the fire:
Ah, the crater of Maui,
Red-glowing with Pele's own fire!
Heaven's painted one side by the dawn,
Her curtains half open, half drawn;
A rumbling is heard far below.
Wakea insists he will know
The name of the god that tremors the land.
'Tis I, grumbles Pele,
I have scooped out the pit Hu'e-hu'e,
A pit that reaches to fire,
A fire fresh kindled by Pele.
Now day climbs up to the East;
Morn folds the curtains of night;
The spade of sapper resounds 'neath the plain:
The goddess is at it again!”
[Nathanial B. Emerson, Chapter X. - 'The Hula Pa-ípu, or Kuólo', p. 86 ff.]
86
The Hula Pua'a
“Song
Ax of broadest edge I'm hight;
The island groups I've visited,
Islands of Mala-la-walu,
Seat of Ka-maulu-a-niho,
Grandam of Kama, the swine-god.
I have seen Pi'i-lani's glory,
Whose fame spreads over the islands.
Enamored was I of Pele;
Her beauty holds court at the fire-pit,
Given to ravage the plains of Puna.
Mischievous son of Ku, and of Hina,
Whose cloud-bloom hangs in ether,
The pig-shaped cloud that shadows Haupu.
An impulse comes to return to Kahiki The chains of the pit still gall me,
The tabu cliff of Ka-moho-alii,
The mount that is ever ablaze.
I thought to have domiciled with her;
Was driven away by mere shame The shameful abuse of the goddess!
Go thou, go I - a truce to the shame.
It was your manners that shamed me.
Free to you was the house we lived in.
These were the deeds of Broad-edged-Ax,
Who has seen the whole group of islands.
Olopana's firstborn am I,
Nursed in the arms of Ku-ula;
Hers were the roosts for the gamecocks.
The wilds of Ka-liu-wa'a my home,
That took my craft back to Kahiki;
This my farewell to Hawai’i,
Land of the God's immigration.
Strangers we came to Hawai’i;
A stranger thou, a stranger I,
Called Broad-edged-Ax:
I 've read the cloud-omens in heaven.
It curls, it curls! His tail - it curls!
Look, it clings to his buttocks!
Faugh, faugh, faugh, faugh, uff!
What! Ka-haku-ma'a-lani your name!
Answer from heaven, oh Kane!
My song it is done!”
[Nathanial B. Emerson, Chapter XXXIII. - 'The Hula Pua'a', p. 228 ff.]
87
GLOSSARY OF INDIGENOUS TERMS
‘Aikapu – Traditional Hawai’ian religion
A’ina – Hawai’ian term for land, homeland
Ai-lau – Old Hawai’ian fire god, predecessor of Pele
Akua – Generic term for the Hawai’ian gods
Ali’i nui – Land owning chiefs in traditional Hawai’ian society
Anangu – Traditional owners of Uluru – Kata Tjuta National Park in Australia
‘Awa – Traditional Hawai’ian drink used for ceremonial purpose
Haena – Place on the island of Kauai
Haka – Traditional Hawai’ian phrophets / mediums / sothsayers
Haku mele – Traditional Hawai’ian poets of high esteem
Halau hula – Sacred Hula dance hall
Heeholua – Traditional Hawai’ian sport of sled-riding
Hee-nalu – Traditional Hawai’ian sport of surfing
Heiau – Traditional Hawai’ian temple
Halema’uma’u – Crater of Kilauea Volcano, main home of Pele
Hi’iaka – Sister of Pele
Holo Mai Pele – Modern Hula performance based on the Pele myth
Holua – Hawai’ian sled, traditional sporting instrument
Ho’opa’a – Hula performers, singers and musicians
Hopoe – Friend of Pele’s sister Hi’iaka
Hula – Hawai’ian dance
Hula 'auana – Modern form of HUla
Hula halau – Hula school
Hula kahiko – Original ancient Hula tradition
Hula ku'i – Variety of Hula, developed during the reign of King Kalaukala
Humuhumu-nu-kunuku-a-puaa – Fish, traditional offering to Pele
Imi’ike – Traditional Hawai’ian value ‚to seek knowledge’
Imu – Traditional Hawai’ian earth oven
Ka hale naua – ‚The House of Wisdom’, academy created by King Kalaukala
Kahiki – Mythical homeland of the Hawai’ians
88
Kahuna – Traditional Hawai’ian priests / elders
Kahuna 'ana'ana – Sorcery priests
Kamehameha I– Hawai’ian monarch (1758-1819)
Kane – Hawai’ian god of sunlight
Kaohelo – Sister of Pele
Kapa – Traditional Hawai’ian barkcloth, made from mulberry
Kapo – Sister of Pele, associated with the Hula
Kapoho – Area on the Big Island of Hawai’i
Ka’u – District on the Big Island of Hawai’I, surrounding the volcanoes
Kauai – Hawai’ian island
Kamapua’a – Hawai’ian hog god of Oahu, lover of Pele
Kanaloa – Hawai’ian god of the ocean
Kaneikawaiola – Hawai’ian goddess of fresh, running water
Kapu – Taboo, literally ‘law’ in Hawai’ian language
Kaho’olawe – Hawai’ian Island
Keoua – Historic figure, chief of the districts Puna and Kau
Kilauea – Volcano on the Big Island of Hawai’i
Kimo – Traditional Hawai’ian game, played with pebbles
Ku – Hawai’ian god of war
Kuho’one’enu’u – Hawai’ian war goddess of Oahu
Kumu – Traditional Hawai’ian Hula teacher
Kupuna – Hawai’ian elder
Ku’ulakai – Hawai’ian god of deep-sea fishing
Laka – Sister of Pele, patron of the Hula
Laulima – Traditional Hawai’ian value ‚to work cooperatively’
Lehua – Hawai’ian tree
Lei – Hawai’ian flower garland
Lohiau – Hawai’ian prince, Pele’s lover
Lo’ihi – New volcano forming off the coast of Maui
Lokomaika’i – Traditional Hawai’ian value, ‘to share’
Lono – Hawai’ian god of agriculture and fertility
89
Lonowahine – Hawai’ian goddess of the Makahiki festival
Makahiki – Annual Hawai’ian harvest festival
Mana – Spiritual power in Hawai’ian
Maori – Indigenous people of New Zealand
Maui – Hawai’ian island
Mauna Kea – Mountain on the Big Island of Hawai’i, north of Kilauea
Mauna Loa – Volcano on the Big Island of Hawai’I
Mele – Traditional Hawai’ian poetry
Mele ‘aina –Songs praising the land
Mele ho’oipopo – Love songs
Mele inoa – Name chants, memorizing personalities
Mele pule –Prayers,
Moloka’i – Hawai’ian island
Namakaokaha’i – Hawai’ian goddess of the ocean
Ni’ihau – Hawai’ian island
Oahu – Hawai’ian island
Ohelo – Hawai’ian plant
‘Olapa – Hula performers, dancers
Pandanus – Plant, the leaves of which are used to make traditional baskets in Hawai’i
Paoa – Pele’s magic showel
Pele – Volcano goddess residing in Kilauea and Mauna Loa
Pele-au-makua – Ghost-god living with Pele in the crater of Kilauea
Piko – ‚Navel’ in Hawai’ian language, reference point in Polynesian voyaging
Poliahu – Hawai’ian snow goddess of mount Mauna Kea
Pono – Traditional Hawai’ian ideal of living in harmony with the universe
Pule pale – Sorcery, related to Hula
Puna – District on the Big Island of Hawai’I, in the vicinity of the volcanoes
Pu’uloa – Petroglyph field in Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park
Sio noa – Hawai’ian religious regulation, saying that men and women are not to eat together
Tapa – Bark cloth, traditional Hawai’ian clothing item
Taro – Main subsistence plant in Hawai’I
90
Ti – Hawai’ian plant with big leaves, used to make skirts worn in Hula
Tjukurpa – Philosophy of the Anangu in Australia
Ukulele – Traditional Hawai’ian musical instrument
Wahi kapu / wahi pana – Sacred place
Wahine – Woman in Hawai’ian language
91
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES
Articles
Buggey, Susan and Nora Mitchell
‘Cultural Landscape Management Challenges and Promising New Directions in the United States and
Canada’
In: World Heritage Papers 7; Cultural Landscapes: The Challenges of Conservation
World Heritage 2002; Shared Legacy, Common Responsibility; Associated Workshops
11-12 November 2002, Ferrara, Italy
Fowler, Peter
(1)
‘World Heritage Cultural Landscapes, 1992-2002: a Review and Prospect’
In: World Heritage Papers 7; Cultural Landscapes: The Challenges of Conservation
World Heritage 2002; Shared Legacy, Common Responsibility; Associated Workshops
11-12 November 2002, Ferrara, Italy
(2)
‘World Heritage Cultural Landscapes 1992–2002. A Review.’
Paris, UNESCO World Heritage Centre, 2003
Nimmo, H. Arlo
(1)
‚Pele's Journey to Hawai'i: An Analysis of the Myths’
In: Pacific Studies 11, no. 1, 1987
(2)
‚Pele, Ancient Goddess of Contemporary Hawaii’
In: Pacific Studies 9, no. 2, 1986
(3)
‘The Cult of Pele in Traditional Hawai’i’
In: Bishop Museum Occasional Papers, Vol. 30, June 1990
Pettman, Ralph
‘Defining World Heritage. What’s in the past and who is it there for?’
The Second International Conference on Cultural Policy Research 2002
Wellington, New Zealand 2002
Senate Indian Affairs Committee
‘Testimony of Noa Emmett Aluli, M.D.’
In: Oversight Hearings on Protection of Sacred Places
June 4, 2002
Stillman, Amy Ku’uleialoha
‘Hula’
In: Cohen, Selma Jeanne et al., eds
International Encyclopedia of Dance
New York, 1998
Theroux, Paul
‚The Hawaiians’
In: National Geographic Magazine
Washington D.C., December 2002
Books
Beckwith, Martha
‚Hawaiian Mythology’
Honolulu, Hawai’i, 1970
92
Bernbaum, Edwin
‚Sacred Mountains of the World’
Berkeley, LA, London, 1997
Colum, Padraic
‚Legends of Hawaii’
New Haven, 1937
Emerson, Nathanial Bright
‚Unwritten Literature of Hawaii. The Sacred Songs of the Hula’
In: Smithonian Institution, Bureau of American Ehtnology, Bulletin 38
Washington, D.C., 1909
Garbuny Vogel, Carol
‚The Hawaiian Islands. Pele, the Hawaiian Goddes of Fire. An Aukelenuiaiku Legend’
In: Legends of Landforms. Native American Lore and the Geology of the Land
Brookfield, Conneticut, 1999
Gay, Roland L.
‚Hawaii. Tales of Yesteryear. A Collection of Legends & Stories’
Honokaa, Hawaii, 1977
Handy, E.S. Craighill and Elizabeth Green Handy with the collaboration of Mary Kawena Pukui
‚Native Planters in Old Hawaii. Their Life, Lore, and Environment’
Honolulu, Hawaii; 1972
Pukui, Mary Kawena with Laura C.S. Green
‚Folktales of Hawai'i. He Mau Ka'ao Hawaii’
Honolulu, Hawai'i, 1995
Stingl, Miloslav
‚Hawaii. Auf den Spuren einer alten Kultur’
Leipzig, 1985
Westerveld William D.
‚Hawaiian Legends of Volcanoes’
Tokyo, 1963
Documents
Department of Conservation. Te Papa Atawhai:
‘Tongariro National Park Management Plan. Draft’
Tongariro/Taupo Conservation Management Planning Series 4;
Department of Conservation, Te Papa Atawhai, Tongariro/Taupo Conservancy, Private Bag, Turangi
January 2003
Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park, Hawai’i
(1)
‘Environmental Assessment Wildland Fire Management Plan’
November 2004
(2)
‘General Management Plan’
November 1975
ICCROM
‘Positon Paper on Authenticity and Integrity’
by Jukka Jokilehto and Joseph King
Amsterdam, 1998
93
ICOMOS
(1)
‘Asia-Pacific Regional Workshop on Associative Cultural Landscapes’
A Report by Australia ICOMOS to the World Heritage Committee
Syndney Opera House and Jenolan Caves, Blue Mountains, New South Wales, Australia
27- 29 April 1995
(2)
‘Evaluation of the Ambohimanga (Madagascar) Nomination as World Heritage Site’
No 950
ICOMOS, September 2001
(3)
‘Evaluation of the Kii Mountain Range (Japan) Nomination as World Heritage Site’
No 1142
ICOMOS, March 2004
(4)
‘Evaluation of the Koutammakou (Togo) Nomination as World Heritage Site’
No 1140
ICOMOS, March 2004
(5)
‘Evaluation of the Matobo Hills (Zimbabwe) Nomination as World Heritage Site’
No 306 rev
ICOMOS, March 2003
(6)
‘Evaluation of theOsun-Osogbo Sacred Grove (Nigeria) Nomination as World Heritage Site’
No 1118
ICOMOS, April 2005
(7)
‘Evaluation of the Sukur (Nigeria) Nomination as World Heritage Site’
No 938
ICOMOS, September 1999
(8)
‘Evaluation of the Vat Phou (Laos) Nomination as World Heritage Site’
No 481rev
ICOMOS, September 2001
(9)
‘Evaluation of the Uluru – Kata Tjuta (Australia) Nomination as World Heritage Site’
No 447rev
ICOMOS, October 1994
IUCN
‘Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park (USA) World Heritage Nomination – IUCN Summary
No 409
IUCN, January 1992
National Park Service
‘NPS-28: Cultural Resource Management Guideline’
Chapter 10: Management of Ethnographic Resources
16 August, 2002
Uluru – Kata Tjutu Board of Management, Parks Australia
‘Uluru – Kata Tjuta National Park Plan of Management’
Commonwealth of Australia 2000
UNESCO
(1)
‘Bureau of the World Heritage Committee. Twenty-fourth Session’
Synthetic Report of the Meeting on «Authenticity and Integrity in an African context», Great Zimbabwe
National Monument, Zimbabwe, 26-29 May 2000
WHC-2000/CONF.202/INF.13
Paris, 15 June 2000
94
(2)
‘Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage’
MISC/2003/CLT/CH/14
Paris, 17 October 2003
(3)
‘Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention’
Intergovernmental Committee for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage
World Heritage Centre; WHC 05/2
2 February 2005
(4)
‘Recommendation on the Safeguarding of Traditional Culture and Folklore’
In: Records of the General Conference Twenty-fifth Session, Volume 1 Resolutions; Annex 1 B
Paris, 17 October to 16 November 1989
(5)
‘Report by the Director-General on the Precise Criteria for the Selection of Cultural Spaces or Forms
of Cultural Expression that Deserve to be Proclaimed by UNESCO to be Masterpieces of the Oral and
Intangible Heritage of Humanity’
Executive Board, Hundred and fifty-fifth Session; 155 EX/15
Paris, 25 August 1998
(6)
‘Tongariro National Park World Heritage Nomination Dossier’
World Heritage Centre Doc. 421rev
New Zealand, 26 July 1993
(7)
th
‘World Heritage Committee, 8 Session’
NARA Document on Authenticity. Experts Meeting 1-6 Nov. 1994
WHC-94/CONF.003/INF.008
Phuket, Thailand 21 November 1994
(8)
‘World Heritage Committee. Twenty-fourth Session’
Synthesis Report of the Meeting on “Cultural Landscapes: Concept and Implementation”, Catania,
Italy, 8-11 March 2000
WHC-2000/CONF.204/WEB.3
Paris, 13 October 2000
(9)
‘World Heritage Reports 12’
The State of World Heritage in the Asia-Pacific Region 2003’
Paris, 2004
(10)
rd
‘3 Global Strategy Meeting’
Identification of World Heritage properties in the Pacific
UNESCO World Heritage Centre in association with the Fidji Museum
Suva, Fidji 15-18 July 1997
Web Documents
‘College of Hawai’ian Language’
www.olelo.hawaii.edu/khuok/ (23/08/07)
‘Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage’
UNESCO, Culture
www.unesco.org/culture/ich (01/10/07)
‘Ethnologue: Languages of the World. HAWAIIAN: a language of USA
www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=HWI (14/08/07)
‘Global Language Viability. Causes, Symptoms and Cures for Endangered Languages’
By Barbara F. Grimes
www.sil.org/sociolx/ndg-lg-grimes_article.html (14/08/07)
95
‘Global Strategy’
UNESCO World Heritage Centre
whc/unesco.org/en/globalstrategy (14/08/07)
‚Guidelines for the Establishment of National „Living Human Treasures Systems“’
UNESCO
portal.unesco.org/culture/en/file_download.php/1422690320114549c199903cf8ba93f9Guidelines_lht.
pdf (14/08/07)
‘Graduate Studies at UH Hilo’
University of Hawai’i Hilo
www.uhh.hawaii.edu/academics/graduate/ (23/08/07)
‚Hawai’i Volcanones National Park’
National Park service
OLD WEBSITE: www.nps.gov/archive/havo/home.htm (01/10/07) NEW: www.nps.gov/havo (01/10/07)
(1)
‘Archaeology’
www.nps.gov/archive/havo/history/archeology/arch.htm (01/10/07)
(2)
‚Hawai’i Volcanoes’
National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park, Hawai’i
www.nps.gov/havo/resource/resources.htm(2004factsupdate.pdf) (05/04/05)
(3)
a.
‘Hawai’i Volcanoes News Release’, February 06, 2004: Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park Seeks
Hawaiian Cultural Sculpture
www.nps.gov/havo/news/pr_20040206.htm (14/08/07)
b.
‘Hawai’i Volcanoes News Release’, August 09, 2004: Kalewa John Matsushita to Create Wahi Kapu
Sculpture
www.nps.gov/havo/news/pr_20040809.htm (14/08/07)
c.
‚Hawai’i Volcanoes News Release’, February 27, 2007: Community Invited to Join in Unveiling of Wahi
Kapu Sculpture
www.nps.gov/havo/parknews/upload/havo_pr_20070227wahikapu.pdf (01/10/07)
d.
th
‘Hawai’i Volcnaoes News Release’, June 26, 2007: Hawai’i Volcanoes 27 Annual Cultural Festival
Celebrates the Hula’
www.nps.gov/havo/parknews/upload/havo_pr_20070626_culturalfest2.pdf (24/08/07)
(4)
‘History and Culture. Cultural Landscapes’
www.nps.gov/archive/havo/history/landscapes/intro.htm (01/10/07)
(5)
‘History and Culture. History of Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park by Dwight Hamilton’
www.nps.gov/archive/havo/history/parkhistory.htm (01/10/07)
(6)
‘History and Culture. People of the Islands’
www.nps.gov/archive/havo/history/people.htm (01/10/07)
(7)
‘Keonehelelei - The Story of the Footprints Area’ by: Jadelyn J. Moniz-Nakamura, Ph.D.’
www.nps.gov/archive/havo/history/archeology/footprints.htm (01/10/07)
(8)
‘News and Events. After Dark in the Park’
www.nps.gov/havo/afterdark/adip.htm (01/10/07)
(10)
‘News and Events. National Parks are Special Places’
www.nps.gov/archive/havo/news/news_events.htm (01/10/07)
(11)
‘Puuloa Petroglyph Field’
www.nps.gov/archive/havo/history/archeology/puuloa.htm (01/10/07)
96
‚Holo Mai Pele’
www.pbs.org/holomaipele/ (04/04/05)
(1)
‘Hawai’ian Mythology’
Lilikala Kame/eleihiwa, Ph.D.
www.pbs.org/holomaipele/myth1.html (04/04/05)
(2)
‘History of Hawaiian Culture and Society Prior to Western Contact’
Lilikala Kame'eleihiwa, Ph.D.
Director, Center for Hawaiian Studies
University of Hawai'i at Manoa
www.pbs.org/holomaipele/culture.html (04/04/05)
(3)
‘Holo Mai Pele: The Story’
www.pbs.org/holomaipele/story.html (04/04/05)
(4)
‘The History of Hula’
www.pbs.org/holomaipele/hula1.html (04/04/05)
‚Holo-Mai-Pele Program Booklet’
Halau O Kekuhi, Edith Kanaka’ole Foundation
www.edithkanakaolefoundation.org/halau/holo_mai_pele.htm (14/08/07)
‚Hula, Hawaii’s Art and Soul’
by Pat Griffin
www.aloha-hawaii.com/ (27/07/04)
‘Kaho’olawe’
Bishop Museum
www.bishopmuseum.org./research/cultstud/kaho/index.htm (14/08/07)
‘Kualono’
University of Hawai’i Hilo', Ka Haka ‘Ula O Ke’elikōlani, College of Hawai’ian Language
www.olelo.hawaii.edu/khuok/ (01/10/07)
‘National Heritage Areas Program’
National Park Service, US Department of the Interior:
(1)
’National Heritage Areas’
www.nps.gov/history/heritagareas/ (01/10/07)
(2)
‘More about Heritage Areas’
National Park Service, US Department of the Interior
www.nps.gov/heritageareas/FAQ/prgrm.htm (01/10/07)
(3)
‘Blue Ridge National Heritage Area’
www.nps.gov/blrn (21/08/07)
(4)
‘Cane River National Heritage Area’
www.nps.gov/crha (21/08/07)
(5)
‘Great Basin National Heritage Area’
www.greatbasinheritage.org/ (21/08/07)
(6)
‘Mississippi Gulf Course National Heritage Area’
www.nps.gov/history/heritageareas/AREAS/MISS.HTM (21/08/07)
(7)
‘Northern Rio Grande National Heritage Area’
www.nps.gov/history/heritageareas/AREAS/NORG.HTM (21/08/07)
97
‘National NAGPRA’
National Park Service, US Department of the Interior
www.cr.nps.gov/nagpra/INDEX.HTM (14/08/07)
‘National Register of Historic Places’
www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com (14/08/07)
‚North American Association for Environmental Education’
eelink.net/GAIN/HI.dir/entry.341.html (14/08/07)
‘Proclamation of Masterpieces. Lakalaka Sung Speeches with Choreographed Movements’
UNESCO, Culture
www. unesco.org/culture/intangible-heritage/masterpiece.php?id=76&lg=en (04/04/05)
‚Proclaimed Masterpieces 2005. Third Proclamation of Mastepieces of the Oral and Intangible
Heritage of Humanity’
UNESCO, Culture
www.unesco.org/culture/intangible-heritage/index.htm (01/10/07)
‘Protection of Cultural Landscapes. Planning, Treatment and Management of Historic Landscapes’
By Charles A. Birnbaum
Preservation Brief 36, web version
National Park Service, Technical Preservation Services, Heritage Preservation Services
www.cr.nps.gov/hps/tps/briefs/brief36.htm (14/08/07)
‚Recommendation on the Safeguarding of Traditional Culture and Folkore adopted by the General
Conference at its twenty fifth session. Paris, 15 November 1989’
UNESCO
www.unesco.org/culture/laws/paris/html_eng/page1.shtml (14/08/07)
‘Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range’
www.kippo.or.jp/isan_e/kii.html (14/08/07)
‘Starbulletin.com’
The Internet edition of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin
www.starbulletin.com (05/04/05)
‚World Heritage Centre News Archive’
Workshop Discusses World Heritage Nomination of Central Pacific Islands And Atolls from Kiribati
22 October 2004
whc.unesco.org/pg.cfm?cid=82&id_news=87 (24/04/05)
‚Volcano Art Center’
http://www.volcanoartcenter.org (14/08/07)
Unpublished Paper
Pele Defense Fund
‚Native Hawaiian Position Paper on Geothermal Development’
(Dr. Emmet Aluli and Palikapu Dedman, leaders of organization; 1989)
98
FURTHER READING
Bingham, Hiram
‘Residence of Twenty-One Years in the Sandwich Islands’
New York, 1847
Bingham, William T.
‚Kilauea and Mauna Loa: Volcanoes on the Island of Hawaii’
In: Memoirs of the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum of Polynesian Ethnology and Natural History, Vol.
II
Honolulu, 1906-1909: reprint New York, 1974
Ellis, William
‚Journal of Willian Ellis: Narrative of a Tour of Hawaii, or Owhghee: With Remarks on History,
Traditions, Manners, Customs, and Language of the Inhabitants of the Sandwich Islands’
1825, Reprint 1979
Fornander, Abraham
‚An Account of the Polynesian Race: Its Origins and Migrations, and the Ancient History of the
Hawaiian People to the Times of Kamehamehaa I’
Reprint 1981
Langless, Charles M.
‘Native Hawaiian Use of Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park. A Historical and Ethnographic Overview’
University of Hawai’i at Hilo, Hawai’I, 2003
Luomala, Katherine
‘Notes on the Development of Polynesian Hero-Cycles’
In: Journal of the Polynesian Society 49
New York, 1940
Taswell, Ruth
‚Geothermal Development in Hawaii Threatens Religion and Environment’
In: Cultural Survival Quarterly 10, no. 1
1986
Van James
‚Ancient Sites of Oa’hu’
1991
99
From the east the woman Pele arrives
From the land of Polapola,
From the red rising mist of Kane,
From the blazing clouds in the heaven,
From the billowing clouds of the
sunrise,
The woman Pele erupts in Hawai'i.
[Holo Mai Pele]
100