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Hawaiian - Legend Of Paka‘A
Rice version. Paka‘a is the son of the head steward of Keawenui-a-Umi and of La‘a-ma‘oma‘o, daughter of a chief at Kapa‘a on Kauai [note the play on the name], whom the steward marries incognito and leaves with child upon return to his master, without revealing to the family his high rank but bestowing upon the mother the customary tokens of his paternity. The fatherless boy is despised by the mother's family. He invents the use of a sail and wins a racing contest. The mother gives him a finely polished calabash containing the bones of his grandmother Loa, who in her life had controlled the winds of every district from Hawaii on the east to Kaula on the west of the group, and teaches him how to open the calabash and call the name of whatever wind he desires, and she then sends him to seek his father.
The boy is recognized by the tokens and at his father's death succeeds to his father's offices of chief councilor, diviner, treasurer, and navigator for the chief. Jealous enemies conspire against him and the office of navigator is taken from him. He leaves the ruler in anger and hides himself on a remote coast of Molokai [at a spot where the foundation of his house is pointed out today] and there takes a wife and engages in agriculture against the coming of his chief. To his son Kuapaka‘a he teaches all his own lore of the winds and rains [some hundreds of which are quoted in the Fornander version]. When Keawe comes seeking his favorite, he conceals himself, but the boy calls up a storm and brings the party ashore, where the chief is entertained in the old style and becomes even more wistful over the loss of his old friend and servant, until finally the navigators who have usurped his place are drowned in a storm and the chief himself is constrained to put to death the others who have plotted against him. 21
The account makes no claim for Paka‘a as a personified wind god and it is only through material possession of the ancestral bones and the no less important oral recitation of the sacred names that godlike power becomes his. All this is in line with definite priestly training and has nothing to do with allegory.
Wind imprisonment by noted magicians occurs in other South Sea areas. 22 Cloud shapes, rainbows, and other such appearances are, like the stars, definitely connected with chief families and their comings and goings. There is no attempt to dramatize the phenomena themselves save in relation to the human action in which they play a part in the service of the family to which they belong. Stories in which nature spirits are the actors represent them as marrying, fighting, giving birth, exactly like human beings, but colored with the attributes of the forms they represent. Poliahu, goddess of the snow-covered mountain, who vamps the lovers of the lady of Paliuli, wears a white mantle and cold is her attribute. It is often to secure the powers obviously belonging to the object, or to some other object, generally analogous in name or attribute, whose nature it is believed to share, that natural objects are worshiped as gods.
For this reason stones in general have a potential power. Kane-poha(ku)-ka‘a (Rolling stone Kane) is the subordinate Kane god who presides over stones. He was never represented by an image but came to his worshipers in dreams in human form with a head of stone. He was invoked by warriors to bless their weapons and make them "strong as rocks," and by farmers to bless their fields. The saying is, "He ola ka pohaku a he make ka pohaku," that is, "There is life in the stone and death in the stone," because stones are used as missiles to kill and as ovens in cooking. Stone working was a chiefly art, and an elaborate differentiation of stones suitable for working was known to the adept. Malo lists fifty-eight varieties and believes "there are many other stones that have failed of mention."
To secure a god to preside over games, large stones were selected and wrapped in tapa, and ceremonies were performed over such a stone in the heiau. If the owner of the god was unsuccessful more than once or twice, the stone god was thrown away. Rocks have sex: the solid rock, columnar in shape, is male; the porous rock, loaf-shaped or split by a hollow, is female. Chiefs and priests worshiped these rocks and poured awa over them as representatives of the god. If a stone of each sex was selected, a small pebble would be found beside them which increased in size and was finally taken to the heiau to be made a god. Iliili-hanau-o-Koloa (Birth pebble of Koloa) is the mother of rocks for Kau district, referring to the porous pebbles found especially at the beach of Koloa, Kau district, on Hawaii. Such stones were supposed to grow from a tiny pebble to a good-sized rock and to reproduce themselves if watered once a week. Care had to be taken lest they be stepped upon or otherwise treated with disrespect. Hence they were carefully wrapped in tapa and laid away on a high rafter of the house. At a child's naming day or on other special occasions such as marriages, wars, and fishing expeditions they were taken down and arranged on ti leaves, together with awa root, upon a mat or table and their wisdom and blessing invoked. Afterwards some member of the family would have a dream favorable or unfavorable to the project in hand and this was regarded as sent from the god. A similar idea is found in Tonga, where black volcanic pebbles and white pebbles of coral, buried together, are believed to increase. 23
According to Fornander, a priest consulted by a person who wished to steal the property of another would divine the result of the undertaking by a process of "odd or even" with a pile of some fifty pebbles. If the would-be thief chose a pile containing an odd number of stones and the pile left over for the owner was even, the expedition would be lucky; if the re-verse, unlucky. An odd number or an even number for both sides was "bad." Pebbles used in the game of kimo (jack-stones) and in the game of konane (a kind of checkers) are regarded with that sanctity which surrounds the objects sacred to the use of chiefs. 24
Special stones are regarded as sacred because of a traditional connection with old ancestors. They are gods (akua) and it is bad luck to disturb them. According to Mrs. Pukui, near the old Hawaiian hotel at Waikiki is a row of rocks called Pae-ki‘i to which it was the custom in old days to take strangers caught along the coast and suspected of a war trip or a search for a human victim for their gods, and hold their heads under water until they were drowned. This method of putting to death was called kai he‘e kai. An old Hawaiian who was asked to point them out refused lest "our lives should pay the forfeit."
Petroglyphs abound about the islands, some as pictographs, a good many representing crude outlines of the human figure. The most interesting are in the form of cup-markings surrounded by one or two rings. Those which occur on the boundaries of Apuki land division in Puna are used by the old Puna people as depositories for the child's navel cord. The subject has been studied by Baker, 25 Stokes, 26 Ellis, 27 and mentioned by Dibble. 28
Stones, as shown in the story of Kuula, are often worshiped as fish gods. Stories of fish gods and fish transformations are common, since, as a Fornander informant somewhat enigmatically remarks, "some of the beings who inhabited this world were gods and some were fishes, and this fact remains to this day." 29 Fish altars were built to a number of fishing gods besides Ku-ula, the great god of the fishing stations; to Kane-makua, Kini-lau (Multitude), Ka-moho-ali‘i (Shark god of the Pele family), Kane-koa, Kane-kokala, and others. 30
Birds are notably potential gods or spirit beings. In the machinery of romance migratory birds or those which nest in high cliffs are messengers for the high chiefs in the story. Thus plover (kolea), wandering tattler (ulili), tropic bird (koae), turnstone (akekeke, akikeehiale) are sent by the divine chiefs of the story, generally in pairs, to act as scouts or to carry messages from island to island. The plover, accompanied by the tattler, remains in Hawaii or flies on south from August until the following May or June, when it migrates to Alaska for nesting, leaving behind immature birds and cripples. Cartwright reports watching flights of these birds for two or three days at a time from the deck of an ocean steamer going south to Samoa. 31
According to a Tongan story, Hama followed the tropic bird to sea to find out where it got its food and discovered the island of Ata. 32 In New Zealand thousands of birds assemble on Spirits Bay, where the spirits of the dead take their departure for the reinga (heavens), and leave New Zealand for northern Siberia. A Maori song runs, Whilst the fleet of canoes o‘er the ocean are paddled
The flocks of gods are above in the heavens flying. The godwit (kuaka) arrives in October and leaves in March by way of Norfolk, New Hebrides, Solomon Islands, New Guinea, Timor, Celebes, Japan, China, to Siberia. "Who can tell of the nests of the kuaka?" is a Maori proverb. 33 On Ellis Island frigate birds are used by native pastors to send messages. Formerly natives sent pearl fishhooks in this way from island to island. The birds are kept on perches and fed fish. When they see another similar perch they alight upon it. 34 In Samoa the plover (Tuli) is the messenger of Tangaloa-a-lagi. 35 In a Marquesan legend the tropic bird (Kotae) and the swallow (Kopea) are sent to secure songs. 36
In Hawaiian story subordinate deities and even the great gods appear in bird bodies. The spirits of relatives serve their descendants in this form. In Haleole's romance the chiefess of Paliuli is served by birds and rests upon their wings. Her house is thatched with royal yellow feathers. The notes of birds mark her progress. The story reads: "When rings the note of the oo bird I am not in that sound, or the alala, I am not in that sound; when rings the note of the elepaio then am I making ready to descend; when the note of the apapane sounds, then I am without the door of my house; if you hear the note of the iiwipolena, then I am without your ward's house; seek me, you two, and find me without."
The elepaio bird (Chasiempis sandwichensis) or flycatcher is a goddess worshiped by canoe makers. When a canoe was to be built, a priest would go to the forest, select a tree, and pray to the gods of the woods to bless it, then wait for an elepaio bird to alight on the trunk. If it merely ran up and down, the trunk was sound; but where it stopped to pick at the bark, that spot was sure to be found rotten and the builder would run a risk in making use of the trunk. 37
Mythical birds called Halulu, Kiwa‘a, Iwa appear in the stories as bearers overseas or to the heavens. 38 The kiwa‘a is said to be the pilot bird which conducts the navigator in to the canoe shed at the landing place. Halulu in the Aukelenui legend is the man-eating bird from Kahiki who can also take human form. The heiau of Halulu at Kaunolu on Lanai was the most important on that island. Of the reference in the Kumulipo, "This is the landing-place of the bird Halulu," Hawaiians say that the name was given to a chief, also called Hoolulu, brought here from foreign lands, who landed at Kona on Hawaii and from whose line Beckley's grandmother stems. The feathers that rise and fall on the heads of images in answer to a kahuna's petition are said to come from the mythical birds Halulu and Kiwa‘a--"Wonderful feathers," says Kamakau, "made out of particles of water from the dazzling orb of the sun." 39 By Malo they are said, more prosaically, to come from the iwa or man-of-war bird (Fregata aquila) found on the small islands off Kauai, Kaula, and Nihoa. 40 Individuals of this species are worshiped under particular names. The bird Ka-iwa-kalameha is a great bird ancestress with dwelling places in all the islands and in Kahiki. 41 Kiha-haka-iwa-i-na-pali is a great bird sent by Lonopele to vomit over the canoe of Paao and sink it in the waves. 42
A fourth seabird known in myth as the Aaia-nukea-nui-a-Kane (Great white albatross of Kane), also written with the termination a-ku-lawaia (standing fishing), is the white albatross (Diomedea immutabilis) which used to be seen commonly along the island coasts and was called "Kane's bird." 43 So in Tahiti the common albatross is spoken of as the "shadow" of Ta‘aroa. 44
Species of birds which are habitants of the islands hence appear in myth as kindred and servants of gods who are worshiped as family guardians, or the god himself may manifest himself on earth in bird form and be worshiped under the name of his particular manifestation.
Vegetable growth is regarded by Hawaiians with more religious awe than animal life because it is not so intimately associated with man. All life other than human springs from the gods since it is out of control of man. It is therefore alive with spirit force. Plants are thought of as transformation bodies of gods and as such take their place in myth.
In folk belief the wind god Makani-keoe (Makani-kau), one of the many gods of love named in Hawaiian lore, has control over plants and can himself take the form of a tree or cause plants to grow. A branch from his transformation form will serve as a love charm, but only a brave person can secure such an amulet because of the voices and visions which will pursue him. The sisters of Makani-keoe are Lau-ka-ieie, who owns the cowry shell Leho-ula, and Lau-kiele-ula, who becomes wife of Moanaliha-i-ka-waokele, one of the remote ancestors of the Kane line and father of the Maile sisters in the romance of Laieikawai. One turns into the sacred pandanus vine called ieie, the other into the sacred sweet-scented kiele blossom of the uplands. A folktale from Kau district on Hawaii tells how Makani-kau takes pity on a young husband turned out of the house by his wife's family because of his indolence, and reconciles the couple by conjuring up food for his protégé when all the land suffers from famine. Today in Kau when there is a family quarrel folk say, "Makani-keoe is gone from home," or "has come back" when the quarrel is patched up. 45
Hawaiians are extravagantly fond of perfume, and fragrant plants are invariably associated with deity. Color is also indicative of divine rank, yellow and red being the colors sacred to chiefs. Yellow seems to be primarily the Kane color. The use of flower wreaths and decorations of woodland plants for a dance hall carries with it a sense of divinity which strengthens the emotional satisfaction with which such things are regarded. Certain red flowers are sacred to the gods and those whom they love. Like the red iiwi bird, so is the red iiwi blossom of the vine sacred. No one not beloved of the gods will dare to pick and wear it lest he be haunted by a headless woman carrying her head under one arm.
Awa drink from the shrub of the pepper family (Piper methysticum) is invariably used in sacrifice to Kane gods. Different varieties are distinguished by their color and markings and by the size of the root sections. Babies were given the juice of the nene variety as a soothing syrup. "This is a fretful (onene) child and must be given the awa nene," is the saying. Only the most common variety could be used by the commoner; the rarer kinds were reserved for the chiefs. For the gods and on ceremonial occasions the moi (royal), hiwa (black), and papa (recumbent) were used, the papa, from which the moi was often an offshoot, being specially offered to female deities. The most highly prized was that which sprouted upon trees so that the roots to be gathered grew exposed on the tree. It was called awa "resting on trees" (kau laau) or "planted by the birds" (a ka manu).
Awa offered to a god was either poured or sprinkled over the image, or, if there was no image, the kahuna sprinkled it in the air and drank the remainder in the cup. The cups used were always made of polished coconut shells cut lengthwise in the shape called kanoa. The cups were never placed on the floor itself but on a piece of bark cloth spread before the priest or server, and never where they might be stepped over or otherwise desecrated. As soon as the ceremony was over, they were washed, placed in a net (koko), and hung from the rafters. The strainer was also carefully washed and hung in a tree to dry. The order of serving also was important. At the entertainment of a guest, it was considered an insult to the host if the guest refused the cup or passed the cup handed to him, as guest of honor, to an inferior chief. Before a war especially all chiefs drank together a cup of awa, which passed from hand to hand in order of rank. In passing the cup to a chief it was customary to utter some appropriate re-mark or sing a chant, but no particular form was fixed by tradition.
The preparation of the awa did not differ from the methods described for other groups. The young boys and girls who chewed the chiefs' awa were especially selected from the chief class for their perfect teeth. The peculiar sense of sacredness which associated the awa with the body of a god be-
cause of its narcotic effect was still further strengthened by this ceremonial restraint and the exclusiveness put upon its use. 46
Coconut groves are among "those things on earth which are worshiped." The grove at Kalapana was in old days tapu to all but the descendants of a certain family of chiefs of whom the following story is told:
Hawaiian Mythology, by Martha Beckwith, Yale University Press [1940, copyright not renewed] and is now in the public domain.
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