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Mountain Deities |
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Kukahau’ula and Lilinoe Kukahaula [SIC] was a chief of Waimea, So. Kohala. He took to wife, Lilinoe of Kau and because his people resented her, chief Kukahaula went to dwell on Mauna Kea, above Lake Waiau. They died there and their bodies were wrapped for burial. When King Kauikeaouli (Kamehameha III) reigned, he went there to visit them and was the last ruler to see these chiefs who had practically turned to stone because there [SIC] were frozen and so remained. It was believed that they were a good likeness of themselves when they were alive except that their bodies were so stiff. After this visit of King Kamehameha III (Kauikeaouli) the bodies of Kukahaula and Lilinoe were hidden by the attendant of Kukahaula, Poheepali, who was the very last of the family of retainers who upheld their chiefs. It is said that these chiefs lived in a cave and it was in this cave that their bodies remained until Poheepali hid them away. It is said that when these chiefs lived on Mauna Kea, two strangers went up there on a visit. They became thirsty and discovering a woman wrapped in several layers of tapa, they asked where they could get some water to drink. The woman answered, "There is no water now." The sun was shining brightly at the time and they saw the reflection of water on the woman's chest. They said, "There is the water you are hiding, reflected on your chest." The woman was Lilinoe and the water she was hiding was the water of Poliahu.
Kamakau relates an account of the death and burial of the kahuna Pae, who served ‘Umi. Kamakau reports that Pae was "a descendant of Lilinoe, the woman of the mountains." Kamakau also reports that Lilinoe was an important ancestral figure in the genealogy's [SIC] of Hawai’i's ali’i (royalty), and that she was buried on Mauna Kea. He observes that in 1828 Ka’ahumanu traveled to Hawai’i to: ...attempt the recovery of the bones of Lilinoe on Maunakea where her body was said to have lain for more than a thousand years in a well-preserved condition, not even the hair having fallen out. Others deny this and say her body was too well-hidden ever to have been found. Her offspring count from Hua-nui-i-ka-la’ila’i; she was the ancestress of ruling chiefs, and from her line was born ‘Umi-ka-lani [father of the Mahi family on Hawaii], son of Keawe-nui-a-’Umi by Ho’opili-a-Hae. It is said that Ka’ahumanu did not find the bones of Lilinoe.
: : : see also: Cultural Resources Reconnaissance of the Mauna Kea Summit Region Prepared for Group 70 Dept. of Anthropology |
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