Case file · Folklore / legend
Kapiʻolani defies Pele
In December 1824 the Christian high chiefess Kapiʻolani walked to the rim of Halemaʻumaʻu crater, ate sacred ʻōhelo berries without offering them to Pele, and survived, defying the goddess before a crowd.
1824 CE · 19.41, -155.28 · status: official
The account
Missionaries made the act famous as a triumph of Christianity; Alfred Tennyson wrote a poem about it. Many Hawaiians continued to honour Pele, and her worship revived openly in the 20th century.
The sceptical view
A documented public act; its meaning depends on whose history is told.