Talk about lack of respect! The Royal Order of Kamehameha erected a lele (Hawaiian altar) atop Mauna Kea in 1997, which is one of the most sacred places in the 'aina. Up until recently, the lele had been left untouched.
Not only was the altar used for religious purposes by the kanaka maoli, but it contained mementoes of 2 Hawaii born soldiers who were killed in Iraq, one of whom was Nainoa Hoe, the decorated Iraq vet who died last year.
"...The Royal Order built a "lele," a wooden skeleton of an altar 6 feet high with posts in four corners, Pisciotta said. To anchor it, rocks were placed at the base, beginning an "ahu," or stone altar. More stones were added by visitors over time.
The lele stands barely a yard from a U.S. Geological Survey marker showing the true summit of the mountain, which is a few hundred feet from the closest observatories.
The day after it was built, 115-mph winds raked the summit, but the lele was undamaged, Pisciotta said.
On Tuesday a patrolling Mauna Kea ranger saw the lele still standing in the morning but knocked down in the afternoon, said Bill Stormont, director of the Office of Mauna Kea Management of the University of Hawaii at Hilo...."
"...Some members feel that a lele is traditionally built to serve for a specific purpose and time and then should be removed, he said. After more than eight years, some felt that the time to remove it had come, he said. But there is no information on who knocked it down.
Hoe said the nature of the structure has changed with time from a temporary lele to a permanent ahu. It "absolutely" has a right to remain, he said.
"A lot of other Hawaiians have adopted that as a kind of special place for tributes to their ancestors," he said. "It is the highest point of our cultural being."
Why would anyone want to desecrate a sacred altar? What was the intention of the person who wielded the machete that brought the altar down when 115 mph winds would not? I believe in karma, and I pity the person who committed the desecration. I think he will eventually get his reward, in ways he is not going to be expecting.
Miulang
Not only was the altar used for religious purposes by the kanaka maoli, but it contained mementoes of 2 Hawaii born soldiers who were killed in Iraq, one of whom was Nainoa Hoe, the decorated Iraq vet who died last year.
"...The Royal Order built a "lele," a wooden skeleton of an altar 6 feet high with posts in four corners, Pisciotta said. To anchor it, rocks were placed at the base, beginning an "ahu," or stone altar. More stones were added by visitors over time.
The lele stands barely a yard from a U.S. Geological Survey marker showing the true summit of the mountain, which is a few hundred feet from the closest observatories.
The day after it was built, 115-mph winds raked the summit, but the lele was undamaged, Pisciotta said.
On Tuesday a patrolling Mauna Kea ranger saw the lele still standing in the morning but knocked down in the afternoon, said Bill Stormont, director of the Office of Mauna Kea Management of the University of Hawaii at Hilo...."
"...Some members feel that a lele is traditionally built to serve for a specific purpose and time and then should be removed, he said. After more than eight years, some felt that the time to remove it had come, he said. But there is no information on who knocked it down.
Hoe said the nature of the structure has changed with time from a temporary lele to a permanent ahu. It "absolutely" has a right to remain, he said.
"A lot of other Hawaiians have adopted that as a kind of special place for tributes to their ancestors," he said. "It is the highest point of our cultural being."
Why would anyone want to desecrate a sacred altar? What was the intention of the person who wielded the machete that brought the altar down when 115 mph winds would not? I believe in karma, and I pity the person who committed the desecration. I think he will eventually get his reward, in ways he is not going to be expecting.
Miulang
Comment