Hawaiian religionHawaiian religion refers to the indigenous religious beliefs and practices of native Hawaiians, also known as the kapu system. Hawaiian religion is based largely on the tapu religion common in Polynesia and likely originated among the Tahitians and other Pacific islanders who landed in Hawaii between 500 and 1300 AD. It is polytheistic and animistic, with a belief in many deities and spirits, including the belief that spirits are found in non-human beings and objects such as other animals, the waves, and the sky.
Kohala (mountain)Kohala is the oldest of five volcanoes that make up the island of Hawaii. Kohala is an estimated one million years old—so old that it experienced, and recorded, the reversal of Earth's magnetic field 780,000 years ago. It is believed to have breached sea level more than 500,000 years ago and to have last erupted 120,000 years ago. Kohala is in area and in volume, and thus constitutes just under 6% of the island of Hawaii. Kohala is a shield volcano cut by multiple deep gorges, which are the product of thousands of years of erosion.
KahoʻolaweKahoolawe (Hawaiian: kəˈhoʔoˈlɐve), anglicized as Kahoolawe (kɑːˌhoʊoʊˈlɑːweɪ,_-veɪ), is the smallest of the eight main volcanic islands of the Hawaiian Islands. Unpopulated, it lies about southwest of Maui. The island is long by wide, with a total land area of . Its highest point is the crater of Lua Makika, at the summit of Puu Moaulanui, about above sea level. Kahoolawe is relatively dry, with an average annual rainfall of less than resulting from a combination of being too low to generate much orographic precipitation from the northeastern trade winds and lying in the rain shadow of eastern Maui's volcano, Haleakalā.
Pele (deity)In Hawaiian religion, Pele (pronounced ˈpɛlɛ) is the goddess of volcanoes and fire and the creator of the Hawaiian Islands. Often referred to as "Madame Pele" or "Tūtū Pele" as a sign of respect, she is a well-known deity within Hawaiian mythology and is notable for her contemporary presence and cultural influence as an enduring figure from ancient Hawaii. Epithets of the goddess include Pele-honua-mea ("Pele of the sacred land") and Ka wahine ʻai honua ("The earth-eating woman").
KauaiKauai (kɐwˈwɐʔi), anglicized as Kauai (ˈkaʊaɪ or kɑːˈwɑː.iː ), is geologically the second-oldest of the main Hawaiian Islands (after Niʻihau). With an area of 562.3 square miles (1,456.4 km2), it is the fourth-largest of the islands and the 21st-largest island in the United States. Nicknamed the Garden Isle, Kauai lies 73 miles (117 km) across the Kauai Channel, northwest of Oahu. It is the site of Waimea Canyon State Park and the Na Pali Coast State Park.
SeamountA seamount is a large submarine landform that rises from the ocean floor without reaching the water surface (sea level), and thus is not an island, islet, or cliff-rock. Seamounts are typically formed from extinct volcanoes that rise abruptly and are usually found rising from the seafloor to in height. They are defined by oceanographers as independent features that rise to at least above the seafloor, characteristically of conical form. The peaks are often found hundreds to thousands of meters below the surface, and are therefore considered to be within the deep sea.
LavaLava is molten or partially molten rock (magma) that has been expelled from the interior of a terrestrial planet (such as Earth) or a moon onto its surface. Lava may be erupted at a volcano or through a fracture in the crust, on land or underwater, usually at temperatures from . The volcanic rock resulting from subsequent cooling is also often called lava. A lava flow is an outpouring of lava during an effusive eruption. (An explosive eruption, by contrast, produces a mixture of volcanic ash and other fragments called tephra, not lava flows.
Mauna LoaMauna Loa (ˌmɔːnə_ˈloʊ.ə or ˌmaʊnə_ˈloʊ.ə; Hawaiian: ˈmɐwnə ˈlowə; Long Mountain) is one of five volcanoes that form the Island of Hawaii in the U.S. state of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean. The largest subaerial volcano (as opposed to subaqueous volcanoes) in both mass and volume, Mauna Loa has historically been considered the largest volcano on Earth, dwarfed only by Tamu Massif. It is an active shield volcano with relatively gentle slopes, with a volume estimated at , although its peak is about lower than that of its neighbor, Mauna Kea.
LanaiLanai (Lānai, laːˈnɐʔi, naːˈnɐʔi, ləˈnaɪ,_lɑːˈnɑːi, also USlɑːˈnaɪ,_ləˈnɑːi,) is the sixth-largest of the Hawaiian Islands and the smallest publicly accessible inhabited island in the chain. It is colloquially known as the Pineapple Island because of its past as an island-wide pineapple plantation. The island's only settlement of note is the small town of Lanai City. , the island is 98% owned by Larry Ellison, co-founder and chairman of Oracle Corporation; the remaining 2% is owned by the state of Hawaii or its privately owned homes.
Mauna KeaMauna Kea (ˌmO:nə_ˈkeɪə or ˌmaʊnə_ˈkeɪə; ˈmɐwnə ˈkɛə; abbreviation for Mauna a Wākea) is an inactive volcano on the island of Hawaii. Its peak is above sea level, making it the highest point in the state of Hawaii and second-highest peak of an island on Earth. The peak is about higher than Mauna Loa, its more massive neighbor. Mauna Kea is unusually topographically prominent for its height: its wet prominence is fifteenth in the world among mountains, at ; its dry prominence is .
