Kūkaniloko View Corridor
Cultural Astronomy from Kūkaniloko na MARTHA H. NOYES ...repetition of meanings occurs often in pre-contact astronomy, especially in place names for the rise/set of celestial objects. Before I did research on oral cultures and found out that repetition is common, even typical in oral cultures where it was a kind of fail-safe recording of orally transmitted knowledge. I called it “magnificent redundancy.” I still like that term, and think in a way that redundancy and repetition, abundant in oral cultures, are magnificent because they provide multiple memory devices/triggers.”
Mintaka, the piko of Wākea, sets at Mauna Kaala,Waianae Range, Oʻahu, Hawai`i Islands
Literally: Mauna Kaala – The Iliahi fragrant mountain.
The name Mauna Kaala is often translated as:
ka (the) ala (fragrant) mauna (mountain) for the many ever so fragrant Iliahi (sandalwood) trees that once grew there.
Poetically: Mauna Kaala - Unceasingly belonging to the awakening.
The name Mauna Kaala is translated as: mau (unceasing); na (belonging to); ka (the); ala (awakening)
Astronomically: Mauna Kaala
The name Mauna Kaala refers to the la (sun).
Several of these five meanings are repetitions, but we will take the meanings one at a time:
1) kaa (turn) la (sun): The first, turn sun, refers to the annual journey of the sun as understood to be in the shape of a diamond, with the June solstice at the northern narrow end, the December solstice at the southern narrow end, and both equinoxes at the wide corners. This conception, this understanding, is recorded and present in the Piko stone of Kukaniloko.
2) ka (the) ala (path) of the la (sun): This refers to the ecliptic, the astronomical path, of the sun.
3) kaa (the thread/line) of the la (sun) - kaa (in charge): This variation refers to the ecliptic in its pre-contact name, Ke ala a ke kuukuu (the path of the spider).
4) kaa (to radiate as rays) of the la (sun): This is initially obvious – the sun’s rays radiate from the sun. Metaphorically, though, this radiation, this radiality, is related to the sun/Kane as a center, in this case meaning not the center of the sky but the central and Highest Chief of the Sky, and the rays reaching out from the sun/Kane are or may be genealogical lineages beginning with Kane (and all High Chiefs had to be able to claim descent from Kane) as well as the points/places of the sun’s rises and sets throughout the year.
5) Kaa (the cross-shape) of the la (sun): The fifth and last is a reference specific to the equinoxes, the two times each year when the sun is at the intersection of the ecliptic and the celestial equator.
Mintaka, the piko of Wākea, sets at Mauna Kaala,Waianae Range, Oʻahu, Hawai`i Islands
Literally: Mauna Kaala – The Iliahi fragrant mountain.
The name Mauna Kaala is often translated as:
ka (the) ala (fragrant) mauna (mountain) for the many ever so fragrant Iliahi (sandalwood) trees that once grew there.
Poetically: Mauna Kaala - Unceasingly belonging to the awakening.
The name Mauna Kaala is translated as: mau (unceasing); na (belonging to); ka (the); ala (awakening)
Astronomically: Mauna Kaala
The name Mauna Kaala refers to the la (sun).
Several of these five meanings are repetitions, but we will take the meanings one at a time:
1) kaa (turn) la (sun): The first, turn sun, refers to the annual journey of the sun as understood to be in the shape of a diamond, with the June solstice at the northern narrow end, the December solstice at the southern narrow end, and both equinoxes at the wide corners. This conception, this understanding, is recorded and present in the Piko stone of Kukaniloko.
2) ka (the) ala (path) of the la (sun): This refers to the ecliptic, the astronomical path, of the sun.
3) kaa (the thread/line) of the la (sun) - kaa (in charge): This variation refers to the ecliptic in its pre-contact name, Ke ala a ke kuukuu (the path of the spider).
4) kaa (to radiate as rays) of the la (sun): This is initially obvious – the sun’s rays radiate from the sun. Metaphorically, though, this radiation, this radiality, is related to the sun/Kane as a center, in this case meaning not the center of the sky but the central and Highest Chief of the Sky, and the rays reaching out from the sun/Kane are or may be genealogical lineages beginning with Kane (and all High Chiefs had to be able to claim descent from Kane) as well as the points/places of the sun’s rises and sets throughout the year.
5) Kaa (the cross-shape) of the la (sun): The fifth and last is a reference specific to the equinoxes, the two times each year when the sun is at the intersection of the ecliptic and the celestial equator.