Mahalo to Danielle Bauler for sharing this neat Aloha Friday Photo that she took from Maui. The young man in this photo is blowing a pu, which is also known as a conch shell. The blowing of the pu has a long tradition in Hawaiian culture. It signifies an arrival, start of an event or other significant happening.
In Danielle’s photo, the pu is most likely being blown to announce tiki torch lighting at sunset. Several Hawaii hotels have a torch lighting ceremony with a pu announcement. Also, it’s common to have a pu blowing at the start of luau.
On a visit to Molokai in 2013, we experienced an authentic Hawaiian protocol of arrival and requesting permission to approach that started with a pu announcement. Here’s what I wrote about that experience:
We followed our guide Gregory Kawaimaka Solatorio and his cousin Sean towards the valley. As we approached, Gregory blew the pu (conch shell) to announce our presence and approach. From a distance, we waited until we heard a response also by pu. This response meant that it was okay to approach so we walked closer.
Once the two parties could see and hear each other — approximately 50 yards apart, Keoho chanted in Hawaiian to tell the landowner who she was by ancestry and the purpose of our visit.
The landowner, Pilipo Solatorio, reverently and more affectionally called Anakala (uncle) Pilipo, chanted in Hawaiian. Though I understood very little of his chant, I did hear him saying, “E komo mai” which is the Hawaiian phrase for welcome. With this permission, we walked closer to Anakala Pilipo surrounded by his grandchildren practicing this traditional with him.
Happy Aloha Friday!
Sheila Beal
