Museum returns sandstone artifacts to Moloka'i
By Christie Wilson
Advertiser Neighbor Island Editor
Three sandstone slabs that legend says bear ancient footprints foretelling the arrival of westerners to the Hawaiian Islands have been returned to Moloka'i almost a century after they were removed for safekeeping.
The Kalaina Wawae (the feet of Kalaina) are on display on a bluff above Mo'omomi Bay on northwest Moloka'i, overlooking the area where they were carved out of the ground in 1909 by Bishop Museum staff member J.F.G. Stokes.
The 10-inch-thick slabs of lithified sand contain oblong depressions said to have been made by a prophetess named Kalaina, who had recurring dreams of strangers coming and taking the land from the Hawaiians. The depressions have square heels and lack toe marks, similar to footprints made by the boot-wearing foreigners who would arrive centuries later.
Kelson "Mac" Poepoe, 53, who has been fishing at Mo'omomi Bay since he was a boy, said he recalls old women talking about the legendary footprints. Poepoe, a Vietnam veteran and retired firefighter, is a member of Hui Malama O Mo'omomi, caretakers of the area.
"It's a secretive place. There are not too many stories that people know about Mo'omomi," he said. "(The slabs) are part of the history of the place."
The Kalaina Wawae — the largest of which is 51 inches by 54 inches — were shipped to Moloka'i in March and now reside under a pavilion next to a native plant garden on Department of Hawaiian Home Lands property that is open to the public.
Signs provided by the Bishop Museum that describe the slabs' cultural significance should be installed in a matter of days, Poepoe said. The museum also will be providing money to train docents to share information about the Kalaina Wawae with schoolchildren and other visitors, said Bishop Museum President William Y. Brown.
Unlike another recent actions to repatriate items of cultural significance to Native Hawaiian groups, the Bishop Museum's return of the Kalaina Wawae has not been subject to controversy.
In a case likely headed to federal court, the museum three years ago turned over to Hui Malama I Na Kupuna O Hawai'i Nei dozens of artifacts taken from a Big Island cave in 1905. The artifacts fall under the federal Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, which is administered by the National Park Service and provides for the return of human remains and other significant cultural items to Native American and Native Hawaiian groups.
Other Hawaiian groups are claiming cultural ties to the Big Island artifacts, and a federal committee recommended the museum take back the items. Hui Malama I Na Kupuna O Hawai'i Nei has said that they were returned to the cave and shouldn't be disturbed again.
The Kalaina Wawae are a different matter because there is no question about the right of possession, Brown said, because the land on which the footprints were located and the Bishop Museum both are linked to the royal Kamehameha family.
The Moloka'i land once belonged to the family, and the last descendant of the dynasty was Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop, whose husband, Charles Reed Bishop, founded the museum as a memorial to her in 1889.
At the time the slabs were removed, the property belonged to Moloka'i Ranch, whose manager, George P. Cooke, gave the museum permission to preserve the slabs to prevent further damage by livestock.
Although Bishop Museum records indicate the slabs were framed and readied for display at some point, no one is quite sure when they were last exhibited.
Hui Malama I Na Kupuna O Hawai'i Nei and others had requested their return, and even though Brown said the slabs do not fall under the federal repatriation act, it was an easy decision to send them back to Moloka'i.
"This is a good thing to have those things at Mo'omomi Beach near where they came from," he said.
The Kalaina Wawae are the Bishop Museum's only "concrete presence" on Moloka'i, he said, and returning them to the island is part of a larger directive to share the museum's vast collection with the public throughout the state.
Bishop Museum is in discussions with hotels, the Norwegian Cruise Line and other parties to provide displays of more common artifacts the museum has in abundance, such as fishhooks, poi pounders and kapa.
"This is the beginning of what I hope will be a significant, well-secured placement of objects of the Bishop Museum for enjoyment and respectful cultural enrichment on the other islands," Brown said.
Reach Christie Wilson at cwilson@honoluluadvertiser.com or (808) 244-4880.
