Morning Petroglyph Part 3

On Friday morning I found myself with some spare time while riding to work in the morning. So I decided that instead of riding my normal route past Kaiser Hospital into Aiea. I went into Moanalua Valley and rode up to the spot where Pohaku Ka Luahine rests beside Moanalua Stream.

I have already covered this pohaku in an earlier post about Moanalua Valley's historical hike. There is an information board on the opposite side of the stream overlooking Pohaku Kaluahine. Explaining it's earlier known legends and touching briefly on it's similarity to those of the bird men of Rapa Nui. Most times, petroglyphs have no explanation or pattern that can be exactly deciphered to reveal an ancient truth to us modern day witnesses of them.  

There are some bird headed huminoid figures carved into this pohaku. On the Hawaii Tourism info board, they show two other pokahu. One found deeper in the valley that I have not yet seen. The other, a smaller pohaku that was found near the stream and presently located at the Bishop Museum.

 The smaller pohaku in Bishop Museum depicts two humanoid figures protruding outward from the stone's surface. Unlike most others found in the Hawaiian archipelago. All others being carved into the stone instead of coming outward. The Tourist information board justly relates the images to those found at Rapa Nui because of that similar style. Sites on Easter Island, one of the the furthest points of the Polynesian triangle. Reveal outward petroglyphs that are painstakingly carved from around the subject matter. As apposed to the image itself being carved into the surface.

Who were the bird men of Rapa Nui and why is this style of petroglyph in Moanalua Valley? You must delve deeper in time to form a hypothesis...

This past Thursday at Olelo Hawaii Class, Kumu Kaipo'i brought out a National Geographic book from his classroom book shelf. This book about planets has a section showing the dwarf planets Haumea and Makemake. Orbiting our solar system far off in the Kuiper Belt past Pluto, in vastness of space terms.

Haumea is familiar to Hawaiians. Makemake though, we have words in the Hawaiian language that could give you our meaning of it like, desire. He aha ka makemake, what do you desire?

Makemake was a god to the Tangata Manu at Rapa Nui. Their petroglyphs depict makemake as a humanoid figure for the most part. Rapa Nui's Makemake is very similar to Hawaii's, I'o. Rapa Nui's indigenous people sometimes claim that they come from "Hawaiki". As Hawaii relates they come from "Kahiki". If we look back at the stories passed down from Rapa Nui. The first settler of the island was a navigator by the name of Hotu Matua that landed his waka at Anakena in Rapa Nui. From Hiwa, the Marquesas Islands. The first wave of people to have come to Hawaii were to have come from the Marquesas too. 

Rapa Nui has a strong background with the culture of the banana. They still practice events which look similar to our Holua slide, but instead they used Banana tree stumps. There is also a written language that emerged from Rapa Nui, Rongorongo. Using an organic style hieroglyph, but still more similar to that of a petroglyph of Hawaii. It is said to have evolved from writing on Banana leaves. The only evidence of them are a small number of wooden artifacts scattered throughout private collections across the world originating at Rapa nui.

In ancient times, Hawai'i was said to have had a race of men called the Mū ʻai maiʻa, The Banana eating Mu. Mu can mean silent, gather, an executioner, a konane game (a konane board is also pecked into Pohaku Ka Luahine), animals like the big eye emporor fish, a small yellow bird, and a destructive wood eating insect.

The Mu were considered a secretive group that could have been the builders of the first fishponds and heiau. They are spoken of in legends as close as Nuuanu during the war with another menehune group named the Wa. They quarreled over possession of the Pohaku Umeume which is said to still reveal the hand prints of both parties as they struggled over it.  The menehune are also credited with building famous a fishpond in Kauai. A study was conducted with people from a certain area in Kauai that claimed descent from the Menehune and they were proven to actually be related to that line. So there, some of the Mu must have stayed in Hawaii to share the knowledge they brought from far away lands. 

On the opposite side of the coin. The Mu were sometimes chosen to be the ones that were sacrificed. The legends of drowning at Kewalo for sacrifice at Puowaina. May have been them being sacrificed. This takes eveything covered so far into account. You see, at the time of the navigators of this Banana eating group arriving in the lands of Rapa Nui, and even said to be at Aotearoa. Another group and practice of a different religion was arriving in Hawaii. Pa'ao and his religion of sacrifice and kapu. 

Could it be that the cultures worshiping I'o and Makemake were desendants of those that fled human sacrifice? This would finalize what would later be known as the Polynesian triangle. Hawaii, New Zealand, and Easter Island.

For some light, "heavy" reading please refer to these debating theories of the connection of Supreme gods in Hawaiian culture with these two links [1], [2]

(the second one sounds like a good argument besides the part where he mentions, "Speaking of the Maori tribes “most priests of 'Io believed revealing this knowledge meant death!” (Perpetuated in Righteousness p.65) Why would turning people to a true worship have such a penalty, the fact is the Bible says the opposite about knowing the true God." 

Umm, as history has proved. People are killed all of the time in the name of religion. Especially when you tell a group that you know a the true god. which may not be the one they are worshiping...

I'm sure all of this is a pill too hard to swallow. My knowledge on this subject is elementary at best. But if you put all of these stories together. You could formulate a unifying theory of the Pacific for yourself...

I just figured I'd come here and collect my thoughts. Which have been bouncing around in my head for three weeks now...

The last time my brain was so harshly jumbled was when Kaipo'i mentioned the spider theory of Kaneho'owa'a. The spider in the sky with the moth and caterpillar guiding travels across the Pacific. Did I mention Rapa nui is the shape of a caterpillar...

If I ever get all of this all gathered in a little better explanation I will let you know. I'll try and keep to finding stones with stories for now! Aloha!