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THE BONES OF PELE

The people of Hawaii nei were master storytellers who told tales and legends about every prominent land feature. Among the most fascinating are the legends connected to the hill called Ka Iwi O Pele, the Bones of Pele, which is located along the road between Hotel Hana-Maui and its swimming beach at Hamoa, to the south of Kauiki Head.

It was here that Pele, goddess of the volcano, fought a titanic battle with her sister Namaka-o-ka-hai, the goddess of the sea. In several versions of the story, there was a great rivalry between the two goddesses. Namaka, bearing a great grudge, pursued Pele as the volcano goddess tried to make her home on each of the larger islands of Hawaii. Namaka rushed in each time, spoiling the work by dousing out Pele's fires. The conflict came to a head on this hill, it is said.

One version of the story says that Pele was living in the area when Namaka journeyed there looking for champions (opponents) to fight. Pele was offended by her sister's purpose and the two fought until Pele was weakened. Her mortal body was taken and the bones then stripped of flesh, according to the custom. The bones were then buried in the ground. They were exhumed by dogs and placed in a pile and that is why this hill was named.

In any case, Namaka left Maui believing she had destroyed her sister. However, Pele's spirit rose from the battlefield and left for Kilauea, on the Big Island, where the volcano goddess continued to exist in spirit form.

A gentler version of the story says Pele spent some time on Maui building Haleakala, and then decided that she preferred to make her home on the Big Island. Before she left Maui, however, Pele decided to leave her mortal remains behind and continue in spirit, apparently transcending the need for a physical body. It was on the hill in Hana where she left her old body.

Whatever the explanation, the hill was held as sacred to Pele.

One day, a young Molokai chief visited Hana to take place in the regular surfing contests held by the Maui chiefs at Hamoa. His friends pointed to the hill and told him the legends that made the hill sacred. The Molokai chief was skeptical and he kicked the hill, saying, "There is no truth in your story of the sacred hill of Pele."

As soon as he said that, a great peal of thunder was heard and lightning flashed over the hill. Before the startled eyes of his friends the young chief was transformed into a gigantic eel. As the other chiefs watched, the eel that had been their friend slithered off into the sea, leaving behind a deep track, which may still be seen.

(There is, of course, yet another explanation for the long, slithery-looking track of a ribbon of lava at the water's edge that fishermen tell. This story is connected to a supernaturally competent fisherman of ancient times named Kuula who many say was the god of fishing. Kuula lived near the hill where Pele's transcendence took place. But, that is another story....)

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Standard English: I'm sorry. Have we met before?
Braddah-Nics: Ummm...I know you?

Standard English: Oh, of course you know Reginald! He was that very short, crude man my younger sister used to date.
Braddah-Nics: Aw, you know! Reginald, that poh-toht uji guy my baby sistah went go with.

Standard English: How rude!
Braddah-Nics: Oh wow, li' dat!

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SHREDDED MANGO
Yield: 1 Servings

Ingredients:

6 c Green mangoes (about 9 whole mangoes)
1 1/2 ts Hawaiian salt
2 tb Water
1 c Brown sugar, firmly packed
1 ts Red food coloring
1/4 ts Chinese five spices

Instructions:

Peel green mangoes and slice into 1/4 inch strips. Sprinkle with salt and let stand overnight. Drain. Combine syrup ingredients and bring to a boil over a high flame. Add the drained mangoes and cook for 5-8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Cool. Place sliced mango mixture on
paper towel in flat baking pan. Bake at 170-200 for 1 hour or until dried. Yield: 1-1/2 cups shredded mango. Note: Shredded mango mixture may be dried out in the sun for one day.


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Hana

One popular slogan adorning tourist t-shirts proclaims, "I survived the road to Hana." Tourists heading out that way are frequently advised that the "journey is the thing." Often, they rush through the winding road, get to the end of their motion sickness-inducing trek, and stand around complaining that there's no "there" there.

The thing about Hana is it's a real place. People live, work and die there, and they really are not into the tourist thing much. The beauty and tranquility of the place is real, the history is acknowledged and appreciated but not made much of, and the sense of family, community and neighborliness is not a put-on show.

During the 1920s Hana was the urban center for an estimated population of 12,000 people living in small villages along this part of the coast. When the sugar mills closed down after World War II, many folks had to leave to find other work. Around that time, a San Francisco entrepreneur, Paul Fagan, bought plantation land and set a herd of Hereford cows to graze in the old cane fields. His ranch is still there and so are the cows. Fagan also opened one of Hawaii's earliest non-Waikiki resorts. Both the ranch and the resort, now called Hotel Hana-Maui, are Hana's economic backbone.

Hana gets more than 90 inches of rain every year -- more than enough to keep it lush and green. Bamboo, fruit trees, wild gingers and other tropical flowers and ferns abound along the road to Hana, as do the freshets and towering waterfalls all along the ravines and cliffs.

The modern, cliff-hugging road, which wends its way through more than 600 twists and turns, over 54 mostly one-lane bridges that mark the streams and ravines, and through lush ginger-scented rain forests, fern-covered rugged cliffs and bamboo groves, was opened in the late 1920s. It was pretty much "unimproved" for a long time. Now the road's mostly graded and paved highway and it isn't such a trick to survive it.

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