Ancient Hawaiian rock paintings exposed on the coast of Oahu –

Large, ancient Hawaiian rock paintings that have been hidden under the sandy beaches on the western coast of Oahu have been recreated for years due to the transfer of sediments in the waves. 1000 years ago, in front of the Pilila’au Army Entertainment Center, the rock poem was carved into Shoreline sandstone.

The U.S. Army’s cultural resources team in Hawaii recorded the rock paintings. They calculated that 26 of them were more than 131 feet from the beach. Most of the carvings are anthropomorphic stick figures, all of which have masculine traits. Others are geometric shapes or abstract shapes. The largest rock painting is over eight feet tall, eight feeds wide, and two large stick figures have fingers, which is unusual for this type of rock painting.

“When I looked at the rock text, I saw a very important rock painting. That was the one with that finger falling down, or it rose,” Hawaiian native Glen Kila said in a 2017 interview with the U.S. Army. His family can track his ancestors on this shoreline “start from the time when the first immigration begins [of Polynesians to Hawaii]. ”

“My explanation is just looking at Maui, Maui’s explanation,” Kira continued. Maui is a legend in Hawaiian mythology, known for its size and power. Using his magic fish hook, he pulled the Hawaiian Islands out of the ocean in one story and snatched the sun in another story.

“Because he played a role in our Mo’olelos [stories] Here. I say this because the way my fingers from the east is like the rising sun towards the setting sun. So this is a religious symbol. Just like what we have for Christianity, the cross, or other symbols. ”

Mo’olelo covers myths, fictional stories and non-fiction narratives of the place’s history. Before the arrival of Protestant missionaries in the 1820s, Mo’olelo spread orally because there was no written Hawaiian language until the missionaries developed the writing system using Latin letters. Rock paintings are a visual medium that conveys traditional oral history.