The Name Ahuʻailāʻau For Fissure 8 Explained, With Uncle Keone Kalawe

Fissure 8 has officially been renamed Ahuʻailāʻau. Uncle Keone Kalawe, a Heiau architect from Puna, joins us beside Ahuʻailāʻau to discuss the name’s meaning and explain a little bit about the Hawaiian deity; Ailāʻau. Uncle Keone was involved with the naming process from the beginning, is back again on Hawaii Tracker, the same day the name was officially selected to share his manaʻo. The name Ahuʻailāʻau was first talked about while the 2018 eruption of Kilauea was still on going, and became the frontrunner in the Board of Geographic Names selection process for officially designating a name to the eruption’s most prominent feature. After many community meetings and over a dozen names proposed, the community was able to reach a concensus. “I encourage each and everyone of you to go and seek the information. There is a lot of information out there on Ailāʻau, get acquainted with him, because he’s back” ~ Keone Kalawe