On January 26, 2011, I posted a column about a piko stone at the Kukaniloko Birthing Stones site, at Wahiawa, on the island of Oahu. This particular
Piko stone is located in the Pu’uloa petroglyph field, in Volcanoes National
Park, on the island of Hawai’I, on the lower slopes of Kiluaea volcano, and is
another of the photographs given to me by Ellen Belef.
In 1914 anthropologist
Martha Beckwith recorded the following information in her field notes from
informants about this location.
“Rode out to Puuloa on
the line between Kealakomo and Apuki. Here is a large pahoehoe mound used as a
depository for the umbilical cord at the birth of a child. A hole is made in
the hard crust, the cord is put in and a stone is placed over it. In the morning
the cord has disappeared; there is no trace of it. This insures long life for
the child. Mrs. Kama, born in 1862, was a native of Kamoamoa. Her mother
brought her cord there. She had 15 children and for each one at birth a visit
was made to Puuloa. Another mound, on the southern border of Apuki, called
Puumanawalea, was similarly used.”(Lee and Stasack 2000:87)
It should be stated that Beckwith cited other informants who
essentially stated the opposite, that the cord had to stay in the hole
overnight to insure long life and happiness for the child.
“Pu’uloa means long
life, and that is why they chose Pu’uloa to deposit the piko of their children.
“You make a puka (hole) by pounding with a stone, then in the puka you put the
piko, then shove a stone in the place where the piko is placed. The reason for
putting in that stone is to save the piko from the rats.” (Lee and Stasack
2000:87)
It is not that often that we can read direct, first person
testimony about the reason for producing a rock art feature as in this case.
REFERENCE:
Lee, George, and Edward Stasack,
2000 Spirit of
Place: Petroglyphs of Hawaii, Easter Island Foundation, Los Osos, CA.
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