The Hawaiian islands were born from fire. Even today, on the largest island, lava flows down the flanks of Kīlauea and Mauna Loa, creating new land and destroying roads and villages. For the ancient Hawaiians this power had a name and a face: Pele, the goddess of volcanoes. And the highest way to tell her story, honour her and remember her was hula, the sacred dance accompanied by chant.
Pele, she who shapes the land
Pele is one of the most famous figures of the Hawaiian pantheon. The traditions describe her as a woman of fiery temperament, capable of great passion and sudden anger, who may appear as a beautiful young woman or as a lone old woman by the roadside.
According to the stories, Pele came to Hawaii from Kahiki, the ancestral land beyond the ocean, travelling by canoe with her family. She sought a home where her fire could burn without being extinguished, digging craters from island to island, from northwest to southeast. She was pursued by her elder sister Nāmakaokahaʻi, goddess of the sea, who flooded her fire pits.
In the end Pele found her home in the Halemaʻumaʻu crater, in the caldera of Kīlauea. It is interesting that the direction of her legendary journey matches the geological age of the islands: the oldest lie to the northwest, the youngest to the southeast.
Hiʻiaka and the birth of hula
Among Pele's sisters the most beloved is Hiʻiakaikapoliopele, "Hiʻiaka in the bosom of Pele", the youngest. The epic of Hiʻiaka is one of the great Hawaiian narrative cycles: it tells of the young goddess's journey across the islands to bring Pele the man the goddess had loved in a dream, the chief Lohiʻau of Kauaʻi. The story is full of trials, encounters with dangerous creatures, betrayals and chants.
According to one tradition, it was Hiʻiaka, or her friend Hōpoe, who first danced hula for Pele. Another tradition regards Laka as the patron goddess of hula, honoured with altars in dance schools and with forest plants such as ʻōhiʻa, fern and the maile vine.
What hula is
Hula is not a dance of entertainment, at least in its ancient form. It is a way of telling with the body what the chant says in words: genealogies of chiefs, deeds of the gods, names of places, winds, rains and flowers. Every hand gesture has a precise meaning, linked to the text of the chant, called mele or oli.
| Element | Name | Role |
|---|---|---|
| teacher | kumu hula | guardian of knowledge and discipline |
| school | hālau | community of learning and practice |
| chant | mele, oli | the poetic and sacred text |
| instruments | ipu, pahu | struck gourd, drum |
Training was rigorous and accompanied by rules of conduct. Dancers were subject to ritual restrictions during their training, and the concluding moment, a kind of graduation, was a solemn ceremony.
Between prohibition and revival
With the arrival of Protestant missionaries in the 1820s, hula was considered immoral and pagan. During the first half of the century public performances were discouraged or banned, and the dance survived in narrower circles, kept by families and teachers.
A turning point came with King Kalākaua, on the throne in the last decades of the nineteenth century, nicknamed the "Merrie Monarch". He promoted the revival of hula and traditional chants, having them performed on official occasions. The hula festival that bears his nickname is held every year in Hilo, on the island of Hawaii.
Today a distinction is made between hula kahiko, tied to ancient chants and traditional instruments, and hula ʻauana, more modern, accompanied by string instruments and Western-style songs.
Respect for Pele today
In contemporary Hawaii too, Pele remains a living presence. Many Hawaiians bring offerings to the edges of craters, such as flowers, fruit and chants. It is said that those who take lava rocks away as souvenirs bring bad luck upon themselves: this belief has spread in recent times, but it expresses well an ancient idea, that of a land belonging to the goddess, not to be plundered.
In short
- Pele is the goddess of the Hawaiian volcanoes, who came from Kahiki and settled in the Halemaʻumaʻu crater.
- The epic of her sister Hiʻiaka is one of the great narrative cycles of Hawaii.
- Hula is a sacred story told with the body, linked to mele and oli chants and to the goddess Laka.
- Discouraged by missionaries, it was revived by King Kalākaua.
- Today ancient hula kahiko and modern hula ʻauana coexist.
