Hawaiian Milu and Lua-o-Milu

Record summary

Milu is described in Hawaiian traditions as a ruler or destination associated with the dead, while Lua-o-Milu is commonly rendered as Milu’s pit or cavern. The material is relevant to comparisons of death geography, ritual passage and the relationship between an otherworld and volcanic or subterranean landscapes. Modern discussions often combine accounts recorded by nineteenth-century Hawaiian-language newspapers, informants and later compilers. The principal uncertainty concerns how much of the surviving picture reflects precontact tradition, Christian-era reinterpretation or antiquarian systematization.