Kaualehu, The Ash Rain.
Kaualehu Cave is a small triangular cave situated on an isolated ridge in Haiku Valley.
This was one of the places where a legendary earth goddess Kameha'ikana dwelt. She would go to the ocean to pick limu and then return to her dwelling up high on the 'Ioleka'a cliffs of Haiku Valley. This cave had a connection with, and could be viewed from Kehekili Heiau below in the center of the valley. Wahinekapu was also connected to this cave.
One of my close friends works for a moving company. One day as they were driving on the H3 freeway, his coworker pointed out to him this same cave. He was told that there was a burial canoe inside of it and the canoe could actually be seen with binoculars! I've never attempted to bring anything more than my iphone while driving on the freeway to take pics. On this day I actually pulled over on the shoulder lane with my hazard lights flashing and hung out of the window to take these pictures.
The cave seems to almost be impossible to approach from any angle. Anyone that got inside must have been a true god among men, or at least a expert cliff climber. Anything deposited inside would have to have been done using the ancient Hawaiian technique of lowering it down from above the cave and then swung inside. The rope used for lowering the object would be soaked in blood, so that rats would eat the rope as it was left on the cliff side. If it was an idol or a canoe than it would be the only thing remaining in the cave. Had it been a chiefs bones, they would have been bundled with salt so that the rats would leave it alone...
I've always wanted to check this place out, but like Pohukaina--you don't want to mess with it. I've heard about the canoe and 'iwi. I've heard a story about someone who used to access the cave by a swinging hau rope from the top to malama these burials in the cave.
ReplyDeleteMy theory is that Hawaiian burials in canoes in caves are similar to the Norse funeral custom of a ship burial. Besides the Kaualehu Cave canoe burial, there's the Pohukaina cave burials, and the rumored Kamehameha I burial on the BI.
N-
My Family lived in the Valley Ioleka'a with my uncle Sam, Paul, and Vincent back in the seventies. My husband with the guidance and knowledge of Uncle Vince climbed to the Cave and saw the Canoe. He holds the knowledge to the valley.
Delete