The important thing is that  Kekaa was the birthplace of Kaululaau (son of Kakaalaneo), the famous one who traveled all over Lana’i fighting the numerous ghosts there and made it a land fit to be inhabited by human beings as it is at the present time.

 

Concerning the great amount of human bones at this place. On account of the great number of people at this place there are numerous skeletons*, as if thousands of people died there ; it is there that the Lahainaluna students go to get skeletons for them when they are studying anatomy. The bones are plentiful there ; they completely cover the sand.

 

    This is also a ghostly place. Some time a number of people came from  Kaanapali (from other side) going to Lahaina during dark . When they came to Kekaa stones rolled down from the top of the hill without any cause. Listening to it, it seemed as if the hill was tumbling down ; the people going along were startled and they explained, « Kekaa is ghostly ! Kekaa is ghostly ! »
Certainly it is a strange thing for this hill to do.

 

 

    It is said that when a person dies his spirit journeys to Kekaa; if he has a friend there who had previously died, that one would drive it away when the spirit is nearing Kekaa. Sometimes the spirit of a person would return and re-enter the body, and cause it to come to life again ; that is what has happened to those who are living again. Many souls came to this place, Kekaa. It is called the Leina-a-ka-uhane, the leaping place of the soul. Only the spirits of subjects (makaaina) go to Kekaa ; the souls of farmers* and the souls of chiefs go to the volcano when they die? If they have friends there some of them are driven back (whenever they reenter the body) and live again.
*This was the vicinity of several bloody battles
*Nowhere else is the idea presented of the souls of the lopa -the low farming class- being admitted to the same realm as those of the chiefs. On the contrary, lacking aumakua to aid them, their spirits were doomed to a wandering friendless sphere.


Puu Kekaa and Chief Kahekili
    This famous dark lava rock promontory is named Puu Kekaa in Hawaiian which translates as the « rolling hill ». To this day, it is reverred as a sacred spot known as «  ka leina a ka uhane »- the place where a soul leaps to eternity.
One of Maui’s most acclaimed high chiefs was Kahekili (ruled circa 1766-1793) who excelled in the game of « lele kawa » or cliff jumping. He gained respect from many warriors for his leaps from Puu Kekaa as most were frightened of the spirits who lived in the area.

 extraits de:« sites of Oahu », compiled by Elsphet P. Sterling and Catherine C. Summers

Catégories : articles in english
KAPALUA
STONES AT KEKAA
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