Maunakea in Hawaiian Culture

Meaning of Maunakea

Maunakea, kuahiwi, ku haʻo i ka malie.
Maunakea, standing alone in the calm.
Poliʻahu, ka wahine kapu hau anu o Maunakea.
Poliʻahu, is the goddess of snows; her home is on Maunakea.

--Mary Kawena Pukui (1983). ʻOlelo Noʻeau: Hawaiian Proverbs & Poetical Sayings. Bishop Museum Press.

Historic Upright Stones

Maunakea is a central element of Native Hawaiian creation stories. Please be respectful when visiting. Leave the mountain as you found it, stay in designated areas for visitors, and take any rubbish with you when you depart.

Maunakea: Though simply translated as “White Mountain” since at least 1823, the name Maunakea is also known in native traditions and prayers as Mauna a Wākea (Kea), “The Mountain of Wākea.” It is the first-born mountain son of Wākea and Papa, who were also progenitors of the Hawaiian race. Maunakea is symbolic of the piko (umbilical cord) of the island-child, Hawaiʻi, and that which connects the land to the heavens. (Kepa Maly and Onaona Maly. 2005. Mauna Kea-Ka Piko Kaulana o Ka ʻĀina, Mauna Kea - The Famous Summit of the Land).

Maunakea or Mauna Kea? The University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo College of Hawaiian Language, Ka Haka ʻUla o Keʻelikōlani, recommends one word, "Maunakea" as the proper Hawaiian usage. Ka Wai Ola (Vol. 25 No. 11) also identifies "Maunakea" as the traditional Hawaiian spelling. Maunakea is a proper noun—the name of the mountain on the Island of Hawaiʻi. This spelling is found in original Hawaiian language newspapers dating back to the late 1800s when the Hawaiian language was the medium of communication. "Mauna Kea" spelled as two words really refers to any white mountain — it is a common noun (vs. the proper noun). The “Mauna Kea” spelling is only used in this document where "Mauna Kea" is used in published or legal documents, such as the “Mauna Kea Science Reserve.” Civil Beat has a nice article on the topic.