The 1,500 year old Mo'okini heiau on the Big Island suffered extensive damage during the Oct. 15 earthquake. Experts estimate that it would cost around $200,000 to find qualified kanaka maoli rock wall builders to restore the heiau.
But the current guardian of the heiau, kahu Leimomi Mookini Lum, has stated that she does not want the dislodged rocks to be disturbed:
Ah, to have the grace and the wisdom to know when it's OK to let something age (and deteriorate) in its own time and not try to fix it.
The Haida Indians on their native homeland in the Queen Charlotte Islands (Haida Gwai'i) have the same philosophy. Their ancestors carved incredible totem and funerary poles in ancient times. When the villages were abandoned, the totems were allowed to disintegrate into the mist rather than be salvaged and put into museums somewhere.
Miulang
But the current guardian of the heiau, kahu Leimomi Mookini Lum, has stated that she does not want the dislodged rocks to be disturbed:
"It has been here 1,500 years," she said. "I'm not going to change it. I'm 80. I don't look that good, but I looked good when I was 20."
The Haida Indians on their native homeland in the Queen Charlotte Islands (Haida Gwai'i) have the same philosophy. Their ancestors carved incredible totem and funerary poles in ancient times. When the villages were abandoned, the totems were allowed to disintegrate into the mist rather than be salvaged and put into museums somewhere.
Miulang
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