*About a month ago I was privileged enough to spend some time on the island of Maui. Brought to the island for work, the wife and I flew out a week early and spent our 5th wedding anniversary playing tourist. The next few posts will show some of the things we saw.
Located about a quarter mile behind the Olowalu General Store in Lahaina exists the Olowalu Petroglyphs. Etched into the face of a rock wall the petroglyphs ages are unknown, although they are thought to be several hundred years old. Amongst the 70 or so cravings are many human and animal forms and even though no one knows precisely what they signify, some guess that they represent significant events in the area and/or the telling of legends. The spot was known to be used by travelers moving through the nearby ‘Iao-Olowalu Pass so I suppose this could be thought of as one of Maui’s first newspapers.
Olowalu Petroglyphs, Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii April 2010
It appears that at one time the petroglyphs were taken care of. Along the base of the rock wall there are remnants of a viewing platform, guard fence and posts for informational signs. Now, however, the site sits abandoned and unprotected. The only thing that remains is the viewing platform and its sun-bleached and rusted handrail. Everything else that might have existed was either stolen or removed or burned to the ground. With no protection to speak of the site is prone to moronic displays of vandalism from idiot locals who could care less about their ancestral history and douche bag tourists from around the world. Somebody cared once, but nobody cares anymore. Too bad.
Olowalu Petroglyphs, Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii April 2010
I spent a short amount of time this morning bouncing around various websites looking for more information on the Olowalu Petroglyphs, but I haven’t really found much. I keep coming across a book published in 1970 called, Hawaiian Petroglyphs by J. Halley Cox and Edward Stasack. If you have any further information about the site please contact me, I’d be all ears.
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