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Transcript

Pele, Hawaiian Goddess of Fire: A Journey Across the Islands · Faithfully Explore!

0:00
Laura: A package has arrived at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.
0:05
Laura: Inside the box, there is no new equipment for the park rangers, no book or letter from a classroom.
0:13
Laura: Instead, the box contains rocks?
0:17
Laura: Dark, rough pieces of lava rock.
0:20
Laura: Tucked beside them is a note, "I took these rocks home from Hawaii.
0:26
Laura: Ever since then, everything has gone wrong.
0:29
Laura: Please return them to Pele."
0:31
Laura: Packages like this really do arrive in Hawaii.
0:35
Laura: People mail back lava rocks, sand, and other objects because they believe they have been struck by something called Pele's Curse.
0:45
Laura: But is there really an ancient Hawaiian story that says Pele curses everyone who takes a rock?
0:53
Laura: Hi, explorers.
0:54
Laura: I'm Laura, and this is Faithfully Explore, the show where we discover stories, cultures, beliefs, and big ideas from around the world.
1:04
Laura: Today, we're going to meet Pele, follow her fiery journey across the Hawaiian Islands, and discover what her traditional stories actually teach.
1:16
Laura: Then, we'll solve the mystery of the returning rocks.
1:20
Faithfully Explore! Intro: Faithfully Explore!
1:21
Faithfully Explore! Intro: is the name.
1:24
Faithfully Explore! Intro: Learning together is our aim.
1:28
Faithfully Explore! Intro: Beliefs around the globe we'll track, filling up our Belief Backpack.
1:39
Laura: Aloha, explorers.
1:42
Laura: Today, we are traveling to Hawaii, a chain of volcanic islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
1:49
Laura: My brother Adam lives in Hawaii.
1:52
Laura: The last time I visited him, I was lucky enough to get to see Kīlauea, the volcano, erupting.
2:01
Laura: Learning about the volcano and ancient stories helped inspire this episode.
2:08
Laura: Hawaii is known for its green mountains, bright flowers, powerful waves, and beaches made of white, black, red, or even green sand.
2:20
Laura: But Hawaii is much more than just a beautiful place to visit.
2:26
Laura: It is the homeland of Kānaka Maoli, the native Hawaiian people with their own language, history, knowledge, and spiritual traditions.
2:39
Laura: Today's story is about Pele.
2:41
Laura: Pele is often called the Hawaiian goddess of fire.
2:45
Laura: She is associated with lava, eruptions, fire, and the volcanic forces that continue to shape the islands.
2:55
Laura: In traditional Hawaiian understanding, Pele is not simply a made-up character from an old tale.
3:03
Laura: For many Hawaiians, she is a sacred and powerful presence.
3:08
Laura: Some families regard her as ʻaumākua a respected family or deified ancestor.
3:17
Laura: That means we should approach her story with curiosity and respect.
3:24
Laura: Hawaiian stories are often called mo'olelo.
3:30
Laura: Mo'olelo can refer to stories, traditions, histories, and knowledge passed from one generation to another.
3:39
Laura: Pele's story has been shared for generations through spoken stories, chants, and even hula.
3:47
Laura: Because it's traveled through different families and communities, there is not just one version.
3:53
Laura: Some details change depending on who is telling the story.
3:58
Laura: Today, we will explore one well-known version of Pele's journey to Hawaii.
4:05
Laura: Long ago, the mo'olelo tells us Pele lived in a distant homeland called Kahiki.
4:11
Laura: Kahiki can mean a land beyond the horizon, an ancestral place somewhere across the ocean.
4:21
Laura: Pele was born into a powerful family.
4:25
Laura: Her mother was Haumea, a deity connected with the earth and new life.
4:31
Laura: Pele's oldest sister, Namakaokaha'i, was associated with water and the sea.
4:39
Laura: Fire and water, two mighty forces living in the same family.
4:47
Laura: From the time Pele was young, her family recognized the extraordinary power growing inside her.
4:55
Laura: Her uncle, Lonomakua, taught her how to understand and control fire.
5:01
Laura: He gave her a digging staff named Paoa.
5:05
Laura: With Paoa, Pele could strike and dig into the earth, searching for places where her volcanic fire could burn.
5:14
Laura: But Pele's power was difficult to control.
5:18
Laura: One day, while her uncle was away, Pele's fire escaped.
5:25
Laura: It spread across sacred lands, burning places that should not have been burned.
5:32
Laura: Her sister, Namakaokahai, was furious.
5:39
Laura: Water surged against fire.
5:41
Laura: Waves rushed toward the flames.
5:44
Laura: The sisters' fighting grew so fierce that Pele's parents told her she would have to leave and search for a new home.
5:53
Laura: Pele would not travel alone.
5:55
Laura: Her oldest brother, was a great navigator.
6:01
Laura: Other members of the family would travel with them, too.
6:05
Laura: The family climbed into a voyaging canoe named Honuākīakea.
6:16
Laura: Let's join the voyage with a simple seated movement.
6:20
Laura: Sit tall as if you are inside a voyaging canoe.
6:25
Laura: Reach one hand forward and pull it back as though you are paddling through the water.
6:30
Laura: Now the other hand.
6:32
Laura: Reach and pull.
6:34
Laura: Reach and pull.
6:36
Laura: Feel the canoe rising with the wave and settling again.
6:41
Laura: Look ahead.
6:42
Laura: You see a line where the ocean seems to touch the sky.
6:46
Laura: That is the horizon.
6:49
Laura: What might be waiting beyond it?
6:55
Laura: Kamohoaliʻi guided the canoe across the wide Pacific, but behind them came the roar of Nāmakaokahaʻi's waves.
7:08
Laura: and her family reached the northwestern Hawaiian Islands and continued southeast.
7:16
Laura: When they arrived at Kauai, Pele stepped onto the land with her digging stick, Paʻoa, in her hand.
7:23
Laura: She struck the ground.
7:28
Laura: She formed a pit, and a glow rose from the earth.
7:34
Laura: Fire reflected against the clouds.
7:37
Laura: Could this become her home?
7:42
Laura: Then came her sister, Namakaokahai.
7:46
Laura: Seawater rushed into the pit and smothered the flames.
7:51
Laura: Pele and her family continued to another island, Oahu.
7:56
Laura: There, Pele dug once more.
8:02
Laura: Again, Pele tried to make a home for her fire.
8:07
Laura: Again, water rose and drowned the flames.
8:13
Laura: The family traveled onward through the islands.
8:17
Laura: Pele searched on Molokai.
8:23
Laura: She searched on Maui.
8:28
Laura: Everywhere she went, she tested the ground with her digging stick, Pa'oa, searching for a place where her volcanic fire could remain.
8:40
Laura: At last, on the slopes of Maui, Pele and her sister Namakaokaha'i met in a tremendous fight.
8:54
Laura: Water struck against fire.
8:56
Laura: Fire flashed through the clouds of steam.
9:04
Laura: The battle continued until Namakaokaha'i appeared to defeat Pele.
9:11
Laura: The mo'olelo says Pele's body was broken and pieces of volcanic rock became known as the bones of Pele.
9:19
Laura: Namakaokaha'i believed the fight was over.
9:23
Laura: But when she looked across the water toward the island of Hawaii, she saw fire glowing above the mountains.
9:31
Laura: This can be confusing because the group of islands is called Hawaii, but the biggest island in the group is also called Hawaii.
9:41
Laura: It is sometimes called the Big Island.
9:44
Laura: That Big Island is where Namakaokaha'i was looking.
9:48
Laura: Lava was erupting from the land.
9:54
Laura: Pele's physical body may have been defeated, but her spirit and power had continued onward.
10:02
Laura: Namakaokaha'i understood that Pele had found a place where the sea could not overcome her.
10:11
Laura: On the island of Hawaii, Pele climbed toward Kilauea.
10:15
Laura: At the volcano's summit, she lifted Pa'oa and struck the ground one more time.
10:23
Laura: Here, deep within the volcanic earth, her fire could live.
10:31
Laura: Pele made her home at a crater within the summit of Kilauea.
10:37
Laura: The long search was over.
10:41
Laura: The story of Pele is filled with destruction, but destruction is only part of her power.
10:49
Laura: When lava flows across the land, it can burn forests, cover roads, and destroy homes.
10:56
Laura: People and animals may have to escape quickly.
11:00
Laura: The heat and volcanic gases can be dangerous.
11:05
Laura: But when lava cools, it becomes rock, and that rock becomes new land.
11:11
Laura: Slowly, sometimes over hundreds of years, plants begin growing in cracks.
11:18
Laura: Forests may eventually rise where there was once only dark lava.
11:23
Laura: Pele destroys, but she also creates.
11:27
Laura: She is not simply a frightening figure throwing fire and anger.
11:32
Laura: She represents a force that continually transforms the land.
11:37
Laura: The story of Pele holds these two truths together.
11:41
Laura: The Earth can take away, and the Earth can create.
11:45
Laura: There is another fascinating part of Pele's journey.
11:49
Laura: Think about the direction she traveled.
11:53
Laura: Pele and her family moved along the Hawaiian island chain from the older northwestern islands like Kauai toward the younger southeastern islands like Maui, Molokai, and Oahu.
12:05
Laura: Her journey finally ended on the island of Hawaii, where active volcanoes continue to shape the land.
12:13
Laura: Geologists explain that the Hawaiian Islands formed as the Pacific Plate, which is an enormous piece of the Earth's crust, slowly moved over a hotspot beneath it.
12:26
Laura: Volcanoes formed one after another.
12:29
Laura: As the plate continued moving, older islands traveled away from the hotspot while new volcanoes formed above it.
12:39
Laura: That is why islands such as Kauai are older, while the islands of Hawaii is younger and still has active volcanoes.
12:48
Laura: Pele's journey through the islands follows this same general direction.
12:52
Laura: That does not mean the mo'olelo is merely a disguised science lesson.
12:58
Laura: It carries spiritual, cultural, family, historical, and environmental meanings.
13:05
Laura: It reminds us that storytelling traditions can come from careful observations of the land.
13:11
Laura: The people who told these stories knew the islands deeply.
13:16
Laura: They noticed the ages and shapes of volcanoes, the places where fire had once burned, the power of waves, and the way lava could destroy a forest before creating new ground.
13:29
Laura: Their knowledge traveled through generations in moʻolelo's chants and hula.
13:36
Laura: Now, let's return to our mysterious package of rocks.
13:41
Laura: You may have heard someone say, "Never take a rock from Hawaii, or Pele will curse you with bad luck."
13:48
Laura: According to the popular story, someone who takes a lava rock, sand, or another natural object from Hawaii will experience accidents, illness, broken appliances, lost money, or other misfortunes until the object is returned.
14:06
Laura: People sometimes call this Pele's curse.
14:10
Laura: But here is the important truth.
14:13
Laura: That curse story is not part of the traditional Pele moʻolelo we just heard.
14:19
Laura: It is not considered an ancient native Hawaiian teaching.
14:24
Laura: One often repeated story says that around 1946, a park ranger began warning tourists about a curse because he was frustrated by visitors carrying away lava rocks.
14:38
Laura: Other versions say tour guides or bus drivers helped spread the idea.
14:43
Laura: We do not know with certainty that one particular person invented it on one particular day.
14:50
Laura: Stories often grow as people repeat and change them.
14:54
Laura: What we can say is that the curse is a modern tourist legend, not one of the traditional stories about Pele.
15:05
Laura: That difference matters.
15:07
Laura: If we describe the curse as an ancient Hawaiian belief, we give people incorrect information about Hawaiian culture.
15:17
Laura: We also make Pele into a spooky character whose main job is chasing tourists and ruining vacations.
15:25
Laura: The traditional moʻolelo gives us a much bigger understanding.
15:31
Laura: Pele is connected with fire, family, migration, creation, destruction, and the living volcanoes.
15:40
Laura: For many Hawaiians, she is a revered deity or ancestor, not a souvenir security guard.
15:49
Laura: So does that mean it's fine to fill your pockets with lava rocks when in Hawaii?
15:54
Laura: Absolutely not.
15:56
Laura: You do not need to fear a curse to leave the rocks where they belong.
16:01
Laura: Removing rock, sand, or other natural materials from Hawaii national parks is actually illegal.
16:09
Laura: Hawaii also has laws protecting sand and coral around the islands.
16:14
Laura: The most respectful choice is simple.
16:17
Laura: Observe natural objects and leave them where you found them.
16:22
Laura: There are cultural reasons too.
16:25
Laura: Many native Hawaiians have deep relationships with the land that sustains and nourishes them.
16:32
Laura: Pōhaku, or stones, can carry cultural, spiritual, and practical importance.
16:39
Laura: Many people understand lava as a physical form of Pele.
16:45
Laura: A rock that looks like a small souvenir to a visitor may be part of a living landscape that someone else considers sacred.
16:55
Laura: There are environmental reasons as well.
16:58
Laura: One person taking one tiny object may not seem important, but millions of people visit Hawaii.
17:06
Laura: If every visitor removed a rock or handful of sand, entire places could be changed.
17:14
Laura: The lesson is not leave the rock because something terrible will happen to you.
17:20
Laura: The lesson is leave the rock because it belongs to the island.
17:26
Laura: That is respect based on responsibility, not fear.
17:33
Laura: Let's cross our Friendship Bridge.
17:37
Laura: Around the world, people have different ways of understanding their relationship with the land.
17:42
Laura: Some see mountains, rivers, forests, animals, and stones as relatives.
17:48
Laura: Some care for natural places because they believe the earth was entrusted to human beings.
17:55
Laura: Some protect the environment because every living thing depends upon healthy land and water.
18:01
Laura: These traditions are not all identical.
18:05
Laura: Each comes from its own culture and history, but they can help us ask a shared question.
18:12
Laura: When we enter a place that is not ours, how should we behave?
18:17
Laura: We can enter as collectors, looking for something to take, or we can enter as respectful guests, ready to observe, listen, and learn.
18:31
Laura: The next time you visit a beach, forest, desert, mountain, or park, try creating a memory without removing anything.
18:41
Laura: Take a photograph.
18:42
Laura: Draw what you see.
18:44
Laura: Write down the colors.
18:46
Laura: Record the sound of the wind.
18:48
Laura: Learn the name of a plant.
18:50
Laura: Tell someone the story of the place.
18:53
Laura: A memory does not have to fit inside your pocket.
18:58
Laura: What's inside our belief backpack this week?
19:05
Laura: Let's place today's lesson in our Belief Backpack.
19:08
Laura: Today, we are carrying this.
19:11
Laura: Respect means learning the true story and leaving a place whole.
19:17
Laura: Pele's Mo'olelo tells of a powerful journey across the Hawaiian Islands, a journey of fire and water, destruction and creation, conflict and homecoming.
19:30
Laura: The popular story about Pele cursing rock collectors came much later.
19:36
Laura: It is a tourist story, not a traditional Hawaiian story.
19:41
Laura: We still leave the rocks, sand, plants, and other treasures where they belong, not because we are afraid of bad luck, but because the land is not a gift shop, because other people will come after us, because some places
19:57
Laura: and objects are sacred, and because being a respectful explorer means knowing that we do not have to own something to appreciate it.
20:07
Laura: This has been Laura from Faithfully Explore.
20:10
Laura: Until next time, stay curious, stay kind, and keep exploring that wonderful world around you.
20:17
Laura: Aloha, explorers!
20:19
Faithfully Explore! Outro: Faithfully Explore!
20:22
Faithfully Explore! Outro: is about you.
20:27
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