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Friday Slide Show: The Menehune
29 September 2023
Earthquakes, fires, floods, hurricanes, tornadoes. What used to be a rare event has become common. We've noticed ourselves avoiding news of new disasters.
But people are no less affected by them for our avoidance. And we ourselves have suffered through earthquakes and floods, so we know how it hurts.
TV news loves a disaster. It draws viewers fascinated by the devastation. That fascination, however, always fades quickly as the cameras move on to the next alarming event.
But the people affected by any of these disasters don't move on quite so quickly. And they never recover, however "strong" they portray themselves. Some of them may build again but they know they can never get back what they had.
Paradise isn't what it used to be. Let's just say.
Once upon a time, we visited Maui and Lahaina. We were doing post graduate work in political science at the University of Hawaii in Manoa. Took a short break to accompany a friend.
Maui's devastation may be hard to comprehend from a few narrow camera angles. But it isn't hard to comprehend what a tough situation its residents are in. And how long the ones who still want to live there will continue to suffer.
We were happy to see This Old House spend some time in Paradise after it burned down. A season. But that was a rare attempt to follow up on a disaster with a look at what comes next. It was revealing.
Paradise isn't what it used to be. Let's just say.
And Maui won't be either. Or any other community on the face of this planet that has been ravaged by disaster. That's why we call it disaster.
In the days when Hawaii was a favorite spot for conventions, Dad brought home this little lava carving of a Menehune.
What Leprechauns are to Ireland, Menehune are to Hawaii.
According to Wikipedia:
The Menehune are described as superb craftspeople. They built temples (heiau), fishponds, roads, canoes, and houses. Some of these structures that Hawaiian folklore attributed to the Menehune still exist. They are said to have lived in Hawaiʻi before settlers arrived from Polynesia many centuries ago. Their favorite food is the maiʻa (banana), and they also like fish. Legend has it that the Menehune appear only during the night hours to build masterpieces. But if they fail to complete their work in the length of the night, they will leave it unoccupied. No one but their children and humans connected to them can see the Menehune.
It will take a lot of Menehune to rebuild Maui. And the world, tired of the disaster story and not interested in the recovery, will busy itself following the latest fires, the latest floods, the latest earthquakes and hurricanes and tornados.
If these disasters are ever overcome in some way, it is through a miracle explained only by something like the Menehune who bravely build under cover of darkness in the face of devastation.
Our slideshow today salutes those dealing with disaster. Whether it happened today or years ago. May your struggle, not forgotten here, be aided by a few Menehune while you rest.
