Hawaiian Petroglyphs Reemerging On Oahu’s Coast Are Thought of An Ancestral Message About Rising Ocean Ranges

Jan Bartek – AncientPages.com – Hawaiian petroglyphs, which date again at the very least 500 years, have just lately change into seen on Oahu for the primary time in a number of years. Seasonal ocean swells have uncovered a panel that includes over two dozen photos, primarily depicting human-like stick figures. Amongst these is a determine that some recommend could symbolize Maui, a “trickster hero” in Polynesian mythology recognized for his magical powers and infrequently considered a demigod.

Cultural practitioner Glen Kila walks across the petroglyphs carved into the rock at Pokai Bay throughout low tide, July 22, 2025, in Waianae, Hawaii. Credit score: AP Picture/Mengshin Lin

These petroglyphs could be simply noticed throughout low tide when light waves reveal them amidst slippery, neon-green algae on sandstone. This marks the primary event since their discovery 9 years in the past by guests at a bayside U.S. Military recreation heart in Waianae—about an hour from Honolulu—that your entire panel has been seen.

Glen Kila, a Native Hawaiian cultural practitioner with ancestral ties to this coastal Hawaii group, interprets the reappearance of those petroglyphs as an ancestral message about rising ocean ranges. Kila, an professional on Waianae’s tradition and historical past who’s advising the Military on defending these artifacts.

Military officers are working to discover a steadiness between preserving the petroglyphs and guaranteeing they continue to be accessible to the general public on a seaside. This entails implementing measures that shield these historic artifacts whereas permitting guests to understand their cultural significance.

In line with Kila’s research, the lineal petroglyphs appear to depict a spiritual or ceremonial narrative. He interprets the most important determine, characterised by fingers and fingers with one arm raised and the opposite lowered, as symbolizing the rising and setting solar.

Maui. Credit score: Wilhelm Dittmer – Public Area

Emphasizing Maui’s significance, “Maui performed a job in our mo’olelo right here,” he famous. The positioning of fingers from east to west symbolizes a spiritual significance akin to that of symbols just like the cross in Christianity. Mo’olelo refers to Hawaiian tales encompassing delusion, historical past, custom, and literature.

Relationship petroglyphs poses a problem, however an archaeological website close by dates again roughly 600 years, based on Laura Gilda, an archaeologist with U.S. Military Garrison Hawaii. Kila notes that Hawaiians settled in Waianae at the very least 1,000 years in the past. The seaside on this space modifications in measurement and form yearly as a result of formation of low-pressure climate techniques within the japanese Pacific from Might to November. These techniques generate waves that erode unfastened sand from the shorelines and redeposit it additional out, as detailed in an Military report on the petroglyphs. This pure course of seemingly results in their momentary publicity.

Archaeologists have recognized a complete of 26 petroglyphs on the website. Amongst these are 18 anthropomorphic stick figures; eight seem to have male genitalia whereas the gender of the others stays undetermined, based on the report. The whole panel extends roughly 115 ft (35 meters) in size, Gilda acknowledged.

Petroglyphs have reemerged on an Oahu seaside. Credit score: U.S. Military Garrison Hawaii

The petroglyphs first reappeared in July 2016 following late spring and early summer time storms—together with hurricanes—that brought on vital wave exercise sweeping away sand cowl, Gilda defined. They have been seen for a while earlier than changing into coated as soon as once more.

“So there’s been parts which have … been uncovered since then, however that is the primary summer time that the entire panel has been uncovered once more,” Gilda mentioned.

The latest discovery has sparked renewed curiosity within the historic narrative of the area. The world the place the petroglyphs are positioned was as soon as inhabited by Native Hawaiian households earlier than it was appropriated for army functions within the early twentieth century. Some residents resisted this displacement, opting to trade inland lands to remain near their ancestral coastal houses. The position of those petroglyphs alongside a seawall on the fringe of army territory symbolizes a boundary between the island’s historic roots and its modern features.

See additionally: Extra Archaeology Information

Donald Kauli’a, a Native Hawaiian initially from Waianae, captured photos of the petroglyphs. He expressed that viewing these historic carvings gives a way of affirmation in regards to the presence and heritage of their ancestors within the space.

Efforts by archaeologists and the Military goal to safeguard this website, but they acknowledge that pure forces will ultimately reclaim it. As sand shifts and tides rise, these carvings will periodically disappear from view, solely to be revealed once more with altering seasons.

Written by Jan Bartek – AncientPages.com Workers Author