White Hill, Pakaoao, (see [Numbered Points of Interest, topic 6]) is of pale gray andesitic basalt that splits into slabs. On the leeward side are many enclosures built of stone, 3 or 4 feet high, which are believed to have been erected as shelters or bivouacs by the men of Kaoao, a quarrelsome chieftain who sought refuge on the mountain after he was driven out of Kaupo, early in the 18th century. Dr. Kenneth Emory of Bishop Museum has an unpublished manuscript, in Hawaiian, of a legend given to him on June 22, 1922 by Joseph V. Marciel, an old native of Maui. Copy of the translation by Maunupau of Honolulu was graciously given to me so that the story could be told here.
The South Wall: Haleakala Peak on left, Puu Kumu on right.
The heiau of Keahuamanono on Haleakala Peak was built by Kaoao, younger brother of Kekaulike, great king of Maui. The brothers were not friends. Kaoao lived on the mountain, but Kekaulike and his men lived by fishing and raising crops in Nuu, the district west of Kaupo Valley. One day Kaoao sent his men north to find food from Keanae to Hana. After they had departed, Kaoao journeyed to his brother’s house, which he found deserted since Kekaulike had gone fishing. Kaoao proceeded to pull and destroy all of his brother’s crops, and then returned up the mountain.
Kekaulike was very angry when he discovered all his crops had been destroyed. As he knew whom to blame, he ordered his men to wrap ’ala, sling stones, in ti leaves as if they were potatoes. Armed with these they marched up the mountain, and found Kaoao with his bodyguard only, for his men had not returned from the foray for food. The defenders were soon overpowered, but Kaoao jumped over a cliff in an attempt to escape. Kekaulike found him dying, and quickly put an end to him. When Kaoao’s men returned from Koolau they found that their leader had been dead many days.
ARCHEOLOGICAL STUDY
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 × 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.