Auntie Hannah Kīhalani Springer shares the story of Pele’s arrival in Kona during the rise of Kamehameha. It’s a tale rooted in landscape, genealogy, and the deep responsibilities of living well with the land.

In this moʻolelo, Pele crosses Kekaha and arrives at the Pāʻaiea fishpond, drawn by the sails of fishing canoes out at sea. Hungry, she asks for food but is told everything belongs to Kamehameha. Turned away, she heads mauka where a man named Kapulau welcomes her in and shares what little he has. She quietly tells him to mark the corners of his home with lepa, warning of what is to come.

Further upslope, she meets two girls roasting breadfruit. One offers her ʻulu in honor of Pele, the other prepares hers for another patron deity. Pele accepts the offering and instructs them to mark the home of Pāhinahina, the girl who fed her.

That night, fire breaks across the flanks of Hualālai. At first it might have looked like bird catchers or timber cutters, but soon it’s clear something greater is at work. The eruption at Puhiapele changes the land forever.

Some say Pele destroyed the fishpond and the breadfruit grove out of anger at being denied. Others believe it was a reminder that not even Kamehameha stood above the gods, or the land itself.

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