On the northern edge of Kauai where Kuhio Highway terminates and the Na Pali coast begins is the birthplace of hula. Above Kee Beach, along the shoreline cliff trail, legend has it that the fire goddess Pele made her eternal
On the northern edge of Kauai where Kuhio Highway terminates and the Na Pali coast begins is the birthplace of hula.
Above Kee Beach, along the shoreline cliff trail, legend has it that the fire goddess Pele made her eternal home. Hiiaka and Laka, her deity sisters, began the dance and song that Hawaiians used to preserve and teach their heritage, oral traditions and culture. The art form to express this knowledge is the hula and its chants.
The ancient sites are found by following the Na Pali trail a few hundred feet beyond the road’s end to where it turns uphill and opens onto the stone complex of Ka-Ulu-o-Pa’oa (the inspiration of Paoa) Heiau. It is unknown whether this was a luakini heiau (sacrificial temple) or a fisherman’s shrine. Beyond and above it is an earthen terrace set against a vertical cliff face called Ke Ahua Laka (the altar of Laka).
In ancient times, a temporary structure would be built on the terrace called a halau hula (school of hula). This is where the kumu hula (teacher) would train the haumana hula (students). When the training period was over, the structure would be taken down and the graduates would perform what they had learned. The next class of students would erect another temporary structure and begin their training.
Because the chants and hula were the means of preserving and transmitting the history, cultural values and knowledge of the Hawaiian people, students were required to dedicate themselves totally to their studies. Celibacy was required. Outside interference or interruptions were not permitted. It is said that before a student could graduate, the channel between the school and the reefs must be swum. A shark would eat any student who hadn’t trained to perfection.
Another site near the school is a boulder called Kilioe. Hawaiians would make holes in the stone and deposit their babies’ piko (umbilical cord). By this act, parents hoped they would receive heavenly protection and long life for their children.
Near the beginning of the Na Pali trail is the house of Lohiau. He was Kauai royalty. Handsome and a great dancer, legend has it that Pele and then her sister Hiiaka fell in love with him. This triangle resulted in disaster for Lohiau, who was killed by a jealous Pele. But the story does not end with his death.
