By Leilehua Yuen, the mural at the Maunakea Visitor Information Station is an artistic interpretation of the Hawaiian night sky at midnight on November 17. It is on the eastern wall of the presentation area, showing the portion of the sky we would see, were the wall and the puʻu (cinder cones) beyond invisible.
The November 17 sky was chosen because it is the harbinger of the Makahiki, the new year. We stand at the edge of a new era of exploration and human understanding. To navigate this new era, we need to carry with us all of the wisdom of our ancestors. This wisdom is symbolized in the star lines overhead, guiding us, should we choose to follow them.
The mural appears to change with the changing light, just our understanding of the cosmos changes as we shed the light of knowledge on our world. The north and south edges of the mural are unfinished, as our journey is unfinished.
Our journey continues through time and space.
The star lines shown are among those used today by Hawaiian navigators. November 17 was chosen because it is on that night that we look to Nā Wahine o Makaliʻi, or Makaliʻi, rising just after sunset as a sign that the new year will soon begin.
After Makaliʻi rises, we begin to look for the first slim crescent of the new moon rising in the dawn sky. In 2018, that will be December 9. That night, Makahiki, the Hawaiian New Year, begins.
The lines, themselves, were painted using a traditional decorating technique of dipping a piece of hand-crafted rope made in the style called “hilo.” The rope is dipped in the dye or paint, and then pressed onto the surface to be decorated. This leaves a spiral-like design. This method was selected to incorporate traditional Polynesian techniques, and to symbolize the continuity, like a long rope, of our culture from the past through the present, and beyond. The “hilo” style of rope was selected to honor the great Polynesian navigator, Hilo.
The stars were stamped onto the wall in designs based on a traditional kapa stamp often called “hāʻukeʻuke.”
In the lower left, a voyaging canoe sails through the night, illuminated by the starshine of Iʻa, the Great Fish, (aka Milky Way). Two people sit on the pola (deck), representing the voyagers who traversed the largest ocean on Earth and populated these lands.
For more information on this mural, monthly Hawaiian cultural programs, and other Hawaiian cultural projects at the VIS, visit the IFA website VIS programs page. You can also keep up with the programs on Facebook: facebook.com/KiloHokuHawaii.
People already are taking selfies in front of the mural. Add your selfies to the thread!
General Resources
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