Ekahi, Elua, Ekolu, Eha, and Elima:
In the days when man-eating spirits roamed the islands, 5 fishermen from Kauai went out to fish on Niihau. Their names were Ekahi, Elua, Ekolu, Eha, and Elima. Every day when they fished, their catch was a good one. One evening they went on shore and ate the fish then lay on the beach to sleep. When the sun rose, everyone yelled, "Elima has vanished. The spirits have eaten him. We have to leave or we will get eaten too." Their leader Ekahi said, "No, he just probably went off fishing. We will wait for him." So they waited until night came but still no sign of Elima. They fell asleep. The next morning Eha was now missing. Only 3 of them were left. "This is an evil place," said Ekolu. "Yes, we must leave but we are fishermen. We must kill those evil things," said Ekahi. They decided to sleep together. The next morning they saw Ekolu struggling to get out of the hands of a flying, man-eating creature and with one gulp Ekolu disappeared . Ekahi had a plan which he told Elua. The plan was to build a log house and inside that log house would be two wooden images that would look like men. Each image had 2 eyes made of mussel shells. So they set to work. When they were done, they waited for the evil spirits to come. When the the two evil spirits came, they saw the house built and saw 2 men with their eyes opened. They waited and waited hoping that the two men would go to sleep. When the could wait no longer, they went inside and attacked the 2 wooden images. To their surprise, they found the men tough and stringy like wood! While the two spirits continued their struggle, Elua threw a fire torch at them. Now there were no more man-eating spirits to haunt the fishermen of Kauai and people can now fish on Niihau. |
Kahala:
One day in a valley of Manoa a woman had a baby and called her Kahala-o-Puna. Kahala was always surrounded by birds. She had a guardian named Pueo. Whenever she was in trouble, Pueo would help Kahala. When she was young, her parents said, "You'll be married to Kauhi , the high Chief's son. She asked her parents, "Will Kauhi be the strongest husband?" Her people said he was a great warrior in the valley. Kauhi waited for the day when she would see her husband to be. "You have to be patient my dear, "Kahala's father said. Kauhi dreamed of Kahala's love. Kauhi was too shy to speak and too shy to let her see him. One day Kauhi went fishing with his two friends. The two friends were talking about Kahala. Kauhi asked his two friends,"Who is the beautiful girl in Manoa. "They both said,"KAHALA!""You should know kahala,"they said and laughed. Kauhi had an evil thought his mind. Kahala must be punished. She promised to me alone. Kauhi was running place to place looking for Kahala. He found her taking a bath at the bottom of a waterfall where birds and fishes were playing. Kahala walked towards Kauhi with a branch in his hands. Kauhi said to Kahala, "Follow me." He commanded her kneel and close her eyes. Kauhi raised the branch which was a club and fell a furious blow. Kauhi dug her grave with his bare hands. The Pueo had been watching. When Kauhi left, Pueo flew down and brushed the leaves aside with his strong wings. Carefully, the Pueo gripped her and few away into the mountains. All the owls were getting healing herbs for her. The Pueo said to the other owls, "Tomorrow she will live again." All the owls kept their eyes on her. The next morning the owls and Kahala were talking about what happened. "I've been dreaming about him for a long time." Kahala got the powder from a flower. She found Kauhi and told him that she loved him. But he didn't listen. Again, Kauhi took her to the top of the mountain and did the same thing. One more time Kahala followed. Kauhi raised his club and hit Kahala. Six times Kauhi killed her and six times Pueo saved her life. The last time Kauhi put her body under an ohia tree and covered her with huge rocks. All the owls came to push the huge rocks away but couldn't. All of a sudden Elepaio, a native bird came. He said, "I'll save Kahala." Pueo asked, "How can you save her?" Elepaio answered, "I have special powers." Elepaio went to a certain man named Mahana. Mahana asked, "Who are you?" The bird answered, "I'm Elepaio. Do you see where the rainbow ends? A beautiful maiden waits for somebody to save her. Come or it'll be too late." Elepaio showed him the way. When they arrived, the owls were getting the healing herbs for Kahala. Mahana lifted her up and Kahala was alive again. When she got home, she asked her parents if she could marry Mahana instead of Kauhi. "OK," they said, "Mahana, you shall build a house for Kahala and protect her." One night Kauhi came and told Mahana that he killed Kahala many times and that she was really a ghost woman. The chief, Kauhi's father, said that if Kauhi was lying, then he must die. But if he was telling the truth, then Kahala and Mahana must die. They called all of the kahuna to decide who should die. They decided that Kahala and Mahana should die. Just as they were about to announce their decision, many pueo came flying towards the village. The kahuna knew that the Pueo was the guardian of Kahala so they quickly changed their minds. They would rather rule against the chief than against the gods. That night Kauhi died in the fire. Just as he died, a man spotted a shark that seemed to have the same cold appearance as Kauhi. On a sunny day Kahala went swimming in the ocean and didn't return to land. Mahana was so frantic he searched everywhere for her. On the third day Mahana found her shell wristlet on the beach. He was so sad because he knew that he lost her to Kauhi. Mahana went into the mountains and stood where the rainbow ended. There Elepaio told him that he must go on living and share Kahala's warm spirit of aloha with all living things just as she would have done. When it rains in Manoa today, the Hawaiians believe that the drops are the tears from the gods as they cry for Kahala-o-Puna. |