Do you have any information on the folklore about taking lava rock as
a souvenir. I'm interested in information regarding the myth of bad
luck, etc., from taking lava from it's original locations in Hawaii.
Timothy
Hartley
Hi Tim
About 10 years ago there was an article in our local paper about
the fact that the National Park Service had done some research into the
myth about bad luck following those who took rocks from Kilauea. They
were wondering about it because they get boxes and boxes of rocks, most
with really heart-wrenching stories included. For a while there was even
a display at park headquarters with some of the rocks and associated
stories. Anyway, they were unable to find any evidence that there was an
old Hawaiian myth about taking the rocks. The park service figured that
some tour bus driver got tired of lugging boxes of rocks around and made
up the story.
Less than a year ago a book of stories and photos was published by two
women here in Honolulu (I can't remember their names or the title of the
book). It said that they also had been unable to find a basis for the myth.
It is still un-cool to take rocks out of the national park, and kind of
bad to be taking them anyway (since people after you would like to see
the place un-scarred). However, the myth seems to be only a myth of a myth.
Sincerely,
Scott Rowland, University of Hawaii
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