Dr. Kenneth Emory made an extensive archeological survey of Haleakala
Crater in 1920. He records 58 stone terraces and platforms, 9 groups of
open stone shelters, hundreds of _ahu_, and the paved trail of
Kihapiilani.[1] (See Numbered Points of Interest, topic 18.)
The huge structure built by Kaoao, as mentioned earlier in this chapter,
stands in the saddle above Kapalaoa, due south of Puu Maile. This is
west of the highest point on Haleakala Peak. It measures 57 x 36 feet
and has an eastern supporting wall 18 feet high. This has the appearance
of a _heiau_, possibly used for the worship of Pele. As such, it
resembles Oalalauo which was located on the rim of Kilauea Iki in the
Kilauea Section of Hawaii National Park. Oalalauo, seen in ruins in
1823, was described by the missionary William Ellis, who, probably the
first European to go to Kilauea Crater, has given us the first record of
a visit.[2]
Since the crater is a place of restricted access, it was used for burial
sites, which is quite in keeping with practice elsewhere in the Hawaiian
Islands. A curious local custom was the deposit of umbilical cords of
Kaupo babies in certain localities, principally in the Bottomless Pit
(Numbered Points of Interest, topic 13), and in Na Piko Haua, a pit 15
feet in diameter and 10 feet deep that is located northeast of Halemauu
Trail, less than a half mile east of Holua Cabin. The cord was wrapped
in a small piece of tapa, or, in recent days, in a scrap of gay calico
and tied with string. Sometimes it was placed in a bottle or other
container. This was then carefully stowed in crevices or cast into
Bottomless Pit. Reasons given for the practice vary. It was believed
that if the cord were destroyed or eaten by rats the child would become
a thief. Some claimed that proper disposition made a child strong. Some
aver that the custom persists to this day, showing, like belief in the
existence of Pele, the durability of ancient superstitions.
On the north wall above Paliku is a rock, Pohaku Palaha or Broad Rock,
which is called the "hub of East Maui." Boundary lines radiating from it
mark off the pie-shaped land divisions, _ahupuaa_, that extend in all
directions to the shores of the ocean.
It is quite natural that legends, traditions, and superstitions should
be woven in and about such a great natural feature as this crater. All
prominent places had original Hawaiian names, although some were changed
with time and some are now lost. Ka Lua o ka Oo was the residence of
Kamohoalii, the brother of Pele and the king of vapor. Between Halalii
and Ka Moa o Pele is the rim of a spatter cone, Pa Puaa o Pele, which is
30 feet square with an opening on the northwest side. It protrudes only
10 feet above later volcanic deposits. This was a place of highest
_kapu_ (taboo). Merely to disturb a single grain of sand within it will
bring fog and rain, possibly death. Emory discloses the local belief
that a stone structure, 9 x 5 feet, located 45 feet east of the rim,
holds the bones of two men and a woman who had violated this _kapu_ and
who had perished in the ensuing fog. His investigation failed to reveal
any burial within the structure. In vaguer vein, it was held that a
similar fate would be meted to those disturbing a silversword. Were the
National Park committed to a policy of nature protection through fear,
this belief would be helpful indeed.