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Setting:
Hawaiian legends are full of stories about Pele, the
Volcano Goddess, a revered but often feared Hawaiian
deity. After a bitter quarrel with her sister Namaka,
goddess of the sea, Pele fled with her brothers and
sisters to the islands of Hawaii and using her sacred
stick, dug a warm fiery home in one of the islands for
her and her family. But her powerful sister Namaka sought
her out and drenched her fires time and again with mighty
sea waves forcing Pele to move to different islands
and begin again. Despite Namaka’s efforts to destroy
her, Pele managed to thrive so her sister finally gave
up, believing Pele could never be killed. Firmly settled,
Pele ruled the islands, and when angered, expressed
her displeasure fiercely by rumbling the earth, reddening
the sky, and flooding the land with an eruption of lava.
Therefore, people of the islands have developed a way
of life to keep from angering Pele and give her special
offerings to keep her happy and silent.
However, tranquility is
threatened when construction of a big shopping center
is brought to a halt when a bulldozer unearths a lava
tube once used for Hawaiian burials. Conflict ensues
between those who want to develop and those that want
the cultural artifacts to remain intact. Tension between
the two sides is brought to a climax when archeological
Professor Diggins announces the lava tube may be the
tomb of King Kamehameha and pushes for permission to
excavate this tomb and search for proof, insisting it
is the right of the world to know.
A variety of interested
parties have gathered to garner votes to either support
or contest this archeological request. Some of the locals
fiercely object to disturbing the lava tube, frightened
that it will awaken and upset Goddess Pele and cause
her to stamp her feet with indignation, shake the islands
and belch fire in rebellious fury, and bathe them all
in fiery lava. Others, poopoo the legends in favor of
progress and profit, and urge excavation of the lava
tube so construction of the shopping mall can be continued.
This quarrel leads to
"grave" consequences as the struggle between
modern profiteer vs. old culture ensues.
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