Mauna Kea

Hawaiian cosmology places Mauna Kea at the intersection of earth and heaven, the first-born child of Sky Father and Earth Mother. Archaeological evidence confirms human activity for at least 600 years.

In Hawaiian cosmology, Mauna Kea is Mauna a Wakea, the Mountain of Wakea. Wakea, the Sky Father, and Papa, also known as Papahanaumoku, the Earth Mother, were the progenitors not only of this mountain but of the Hawaiian people themselves. Mauna Kea is their first-born mountain child, making the mountain a sibling to humanity in the most literal sense that genealogy allows. The mountain is the piko of Hawaii Island, the umbilical cord connecting the land to the heavens and establishing the sacred relationship between the Hawaiian people and their divine ancestors. Poliahu, the snow goddess, is a legendary daughter of Wakea who dwells at the summit. Her name means Cloaked Bosom or Temple Bosom, and she is noted as Hawaii's most beautiful goddess. Her ongoing rivalry with Pele, goddess of volcanoes, shapes the island's geography. One origin story tells of Poliahu sledding on the mountain when a beautiful stranger challenged her. The stranger revealed herself as Pele and opened lava streams to defeat Poliahu, but the snow goddess retreated to the summit, regained her strength, and threw snow at the lava, freezing it and confining volcanic activity to the southern part of the island. Poliahu's consort is Ku-ka-hau-ula, the pink-tinted snow god, who appears with the rising and setting sun. The pink glow on the summit snow at dawn and dusk represents their eternal embrace. Archaeological evidence confirms human activity on the mountain dating to at least 1420-1480 AD based on radiocarbon dating from the Pohakuloa Gulch area. The mountain contains an extensive adze quarry where basalt was extracted for tool-making, a practice with its own ceremonial dimensions. The 263 documented historic properties include shrines, burials, altars, and offering platforms, representing centuries of sacred use.