Aiai:
Aiai son of the fishing god, had just gotten married to a wonderful, beautiful, and fun wife named, Ka-ua, daughter of the chief of Honolulu on the island of Oahu. *** A long time past and Aiai wanted to visit his father. So Aiai asked everyone he saw," Have you ever met a fisherman named Ku-ula? " Everyone answered, " No." Later one day a traveler from Maui returned and Aiai asked him the same question. That person who returned from Maui answered, " Yes, I have seen a lonely man named Ku-ula. I have seen him waiting for his seabird." Now Aiai, son of the fishing god, said good-by to his lovely wife, Ka-ua, and set sail to Maui. As he was paddling to Maui, he thought about his father's seabird and the seabird bringing the pearl fish hook from the heavens. Finally, when Aiai saw land he automatically shouted out, " Ku-ula , Ku-ula! Ku-ula, my father!" There was a silent second. "Aiai, my son," Ku-ula called out. "Is that you father? " asked Aiai. "Yes, it is my son, " answered Ku-ula. Then Aiai saw a sad and lonely man standing on the reef standing doing nothing. Later on Aiai's father asked, " Aiai, every time I try to fish for aku, I don't catch any. Could you find my pearl fish hook because it was stolen? Take my seabird along with you because he might remember what the pearl fish hook looked like." When he returned to Oahu with the seabird, Aiai found out that his wife really wanted to eat aku so he went out fishing with his father-in-law, the chief of Oahu. To his surprise he saw that his father-in-laws was catching a lot of aku. The seabird and Aiai knew it could only be the pearl fish hook that could bring up that many fish. How was he to get the fish hook back from his father-in-law? When Aiai went home, he found his wife disappointed that he had not brought home any aku. This is when he got an idea. He asked his wife to borrow the pearl fish hoof from her father. This she did and her father loaned it to her. Early the next morning, Aiai and the seabird went out with the pearl fish hook and caught four aku. Aiai was satisfied with his catch. He then held the fish hook out for the seabird to take hold of. The seabird returned the hook to the rightful owner, Ai's father. Kama-pua'a: Once upon time there was a woman who gave birth to a pig named Kama-pua'a, a Hawaiian god. Since his father did not like him, he was taken to live with his grandmother on Oahu. His grandmother accepted him and said a chant telling Kama-pua'a of his power to turn into anything like a humu-humu-nuku-nuku-a-pua'a, a boy, a huge, strong pig, or a leaf of a kukui tree. While she was saying the chant, Kama-pua'a turned into a boy. His grandmother warned him not to overeat because a pig who overeats is helpless. One day he was looking down on a village and some chickens. That night he stole two chickens. The following night he stole a big rooster which he did not know belonged to the chief. The chief sent his men to find the thief. For a moment the men saw him, but then he was no where to be seen. Only a pig was found. The chief learned from his kahuna that the boy must be Kama-pua'a. The next night Kama-pua'a stole more chickens. The chief's men followed the feathers and found a pig sleeping so they tied him up. Kama-pua'a called out to his grandmother to make him into the biggest pig in the universe. Kama-pua'a grew bigger and bigger. He and his grandmother ran away with the chief and his warriors right behind. Finally, Kama-pua'a came to a cliff. When he got over that cliff, his back left a deep gouge in the mountain letting water flow down. That's how Sacred Falls was formed. They continued on to Wahiawa where they stayed with relatives. His cousins enjoyed climbing on him. The chief's rooster was also hidden here. The angry chief asked another kahuna from Kauai what was Kama-pua'a's weakness was. In the meantime, he tied up his first kahuna. All the people gathered food for Kama-pua'a since they now knew that his big appetite was his weakness. When he came to eat some food, he got so full he could not move. The warriors tied him up with the first kahuna so they could sacrifice them. The next morning Kamapua'a got his strength back and turned into a monster with 8 eyes and 8 legs. The chief and his men were so scared that they could not run away and were turned into stone. Kama-pua'a and the kahuna walked away together. Hog God: Kama Pua'a was born at Kaluanui, part of the district of Hau'ula on the island of Oahu. He was known as a very powerful chief, but also as a destructive monster, a hog god. Sometimes he had a hog's body with a human head and limbs; sometimes a hog's head rested on a human form, and other times when his brutal desires overcame him, he assumed the shape of a hog completely. Kama Pua'a was endowed with superhuman powers, according to the legends, and could shape-shift and command the rain and waters to obey him. He traveled between the islands in a magical canoe, which became a small shell that he could tuck into his loincloth when he was on land. One day he voyaged to the southeastern point of Hawaii to Cape Kumukahi. He walked over lava, through forests and over hills and finally came to Akani Kolea. From here, he could look down into Kalua Pele (the pit of Pele) where the goddess of fire lived with her people. One of her sisters looked up on this night and saw Kama Pua'a, playing a small hand drum and dancing gracefully on the hilltop. She thought that he looked like a fine man who could be the husband of one of them and begged Pele to call him down into the crater. But Pele scorned him, for she knew of his brutal, hidden side. She sent clouds of sulfur smoke and a stream of boiling lava up toward him, but to her surprise he brushed the clouds away and stood before them unharmed. Pele was impressed and sent for Kama Pua'a. After some time, the two reconciled, married, and for a while they lived together as husband and wife. But the marriage did not endure. Kama Pua'a had too many of the habits and instincts of a hog to please Pele, and she was too quickly angered to suit the overbearing Kama Pua'a and would often burst into a fiery rage. First, they disagreed only with taunts and bitter words, but soon, Pele was determined to destroy her tormentor. She stamped on the ground, causing cracks to open in the surface and clouds of smoke and steam to rise forth, but Kama Pua'a matched her powers, and when Pele sent mighty streams of flowing lava, Kama Pua'a called for the waters of the ocean to rise up. It was the goddess of fire of Hawaii against the hog god of Oahu. Pele was driven inland with her former husband in pursuit until at last she was forced back to her spirit home in the pit of Kilauea. But Kama Pua'a was not satisfied. He gathered the waters together in great masses and hurled them into the fire pit. Pele responded with violent explosions, which tore open the sides of the crater and created great masses of fire. The lava rose in lakes and fountains, while the hog god continued to throw water into the pit, quenching the flames. Just when it seemed that the volume of water would drown Pele, she called on the gods of the underworld for help, and fierce eruptions shook the pit once more. This attack was more than Kama Pua'a could endure. As streams of lava poured out against him, he changed his body into a kind of grass now known as Kukae'pua'a, which diverted the path of the lava. But Pele, inspired by the beginning of victory, called anew upon the gods of the underworld for strong reinforcements. With more lava piling up, the grass of the hog god began to burn and he rushed down to the sea. Pele followed close behind, throwing great masses of lava at Kama Pua'a, until he finally gave up the battle, and, thoroughly defeated, changed himself into a fish. This fish is called Humuhumunukunukuapua'a and has a thick skin to withstand the boiling waves through which it had to swim out into the deep sea. The Hawaiians say that this fish has always been able to make a noise like the grunting of a small hog. Punahou: Once there was a great chief, Kaha'akea, who lived with his wife in the Ka'ala Mountains. They were very happy together and overjoyed when they learned that the chief's wife was to give birth to twins. But the labor was long and hard, and Kaka'akea's wife died that night. She left behind two beautiful newborn babies, a boy named Kauawa'ahila (which means the Wa'ahila rain) and a girl called Kauaki'owao (the mountain mist). As they grew into beautiful children, chief Kaha'akea's bond with his twins became strong and tender. But although their physical needs were well taken care of, Kaha'akea felt that the twins needed a stepmother to provide care for them. So while the twins were still very young, he remarried a woman called Hawea. When Hawea moved into the children's home, she brought with her a son from her previous marriage who was deformed and ugly. Whenever the family went out together, everyone remarked on how beautiful the twins were, while their eyes either passed over the ugly child, or glanced at him in disgust. Hawea became jealous and resentful. In her husband's presence, she pretended to be kind toward the twins. The children grew up joyfully despite their stepmother's false love, but as time passed, Hawea's resentment turned to hatred, and her bitterness swallowed her up. One day, Kaha'akea announced that he had to travel to the Big Island for a long period of time, but he felt safe in the knowledge that his wife Hawea would look after his children with loving care. But as soon as Kaha'akea departed, Hawea's true colors showed. At first, she merely expressed her contempt for the twins, who were about ten years old at that time. But before long, her abuse of them became more severe. They were denied food, water and clothing and were made to suffer much humiliation. They were sent to work in the taro fields all day, and at night they had to sleep on the hard floor of the house, while Hawea and her son enjoyed all the fruits of their labor. When the twins' mother had died, her relatives had prayed, fasted and performed rituals in order to fortify her in the afterlife so that she might look over her children. Now, in their hour of need, their mother's spirit helped and protected them as much as she could, but the persecution by their stepmother continued. Eventually they were so tired and hungry that they could endure no more, and so one night the twins escaped to the mountains. They hid above the Nu'uanu Pali on a mountain peak called Konahuanui. But Hawea was cunning and determined to track them down, and soon she found the children and dragged them home. They escaped again and ran away to the head of Manoa Valley. This was a better place to hide, and Hawea spent much time searching for them. Eventually, she began to notice that rainbows constantly appeared at the head of Manoa Valley, as they always do in the presence of rain and mist. She remembered the children's names and instantly knew where to look. Again, the children were discovered, and again they escaped. This time, the young twins made their way to Kukao'o Hill where they found a well-hidden cave. Near the cave they found a sweet potato patch and edible greens and they tended these, eating them with grasshoppers for sustenance. The children were still young, but they were smart and resourceful. They cooked the greens using the puholoholo method of rolling them around in a covered gourd with hot stones in order to steam them. At that time, men and women had to dine separately, and so the brave young Kauawa'ahila dug a deep double imu (oven), so they could cook their food separately. He also built a wall to divide the cave into two separate areas. Their peace was not to last long, however, for as their new crops began to ripen, Hawea managed to find them again, driving them from their hideaway and taking all the crops for herself. This time, the children found a home in the rocky hills just behind Punahou. There were two caves close to one another and they settled into these, hoping that their days of fleeing their cruel stepmother were at an end. Untiringly resourceful, they cleared the land, began to harvest fruits, flowers and shoots and caught grasshoppers and occasionally a wild duck to eat. Everything seemed to be going well – the only thing they lacked was a body of water. Kauaki'owao longed to have a bath and asked her brother to look for water. Kauawa'ahila knew of a large pond fed by the rain called Kanawai, but it was too far east of their hiding place, and it would be dangerous for the siblings to trek there. However, while out searching he met the Kakea water god who was a maternal ancestor of his and who appeared as a lizard. Since this god controlled the water sources of the Makiki and Manoa Valleys, Kauawa'ahila asked him if he could help in opening a watercourse from the pond to a place near the caves in which he and his sister resided. The god agreed to help and even divided the water supply of Wailele spring so that it would run into Kauawa'ahila's watercourse in order to give it a continuous supply of water. To create the watercourse, the water god opened an underground passage from the Kanawai pond and Kauawa'ahila dove in and swam through the passage until the water burst up through the ground. Then he excavated a pond in time for his sister to swim in it when she awoke from her afternoon nap. Kauaki'owao loved her bathing pond, but that was not all the new watercourse was used for. Her brother grew taro and the area's fertility became evident. People were attracted to the land and settled nearby. More taro patches sprung up and the area developed into a little village called Ka Punahou, taking its name from the twins' spring. It was at this time that chief Kaha'akea returned from his trip. When he heard how his wife had treated the twins and how they had suffered, he was furious and heartbroken. He killed Hawea and then himself. To this day, the presence of the twins' spirits (rain and mist) can be seen in each of the areas where they took refuge; Ka'ala, Konahuanui and the upper Manoa Valley. |
Kul'ihi:
A group of menehune sat in a forest looking down at Mount Hualalai and talking together in low voices. "Let us take the top of that mountain," someone said. "Why should we take that?" the others exclaimed. "Where should we put it?" "On Ku'ili, the smaller hill, so it looks like a helmet." Everyone laughed. "A helmet for Ku'ili." The chief said, "That is a good plan. When the Hawaiians see it , they will see that we menehune have power like the gods." The menehune gathered by the hundreds and started digging with their digging sticks. The cock crowed so now they stopped their work. It was their law to stop working at night once the rooster crowed in the morning. "Morning!" the little people yelled. "But the stars are still out. That must be a bad cock. We must go and kill it," said one of the menehune. That they did. The next day while the cock was in the imu, they went to dig more. Again a cock crowed. One of the men said, "Didn't you kill both of them?" They said, "We didn't know that there were two of them." Since the menehune had to stop working, they went back home looking forward to the crow that was in the imu. When they opened the imu, the crow was gone. The menehune felt angry because their dinner was gone. They were so disappointed that they didn't try to put the helmet on Ku'ili again. They thought that the god Kane found out what they were doing and ordered his sacred cock to crow to stop their work. When Kane found out that the menehune had killed his crow, he poured the water of life on the cock and set it free. Then that crow crowed at twelve o'clock midnight to stop the menehune's work for the last time. The menehune were not able to prove themselves to be mightier than the gods.ere to edit. Keanahaki and the Fish: Many years ago in Namakalele (meaning "the flying eyes") was a married couple - Keawe and his wife Keanahaki. They lived happily on a small plot of land in Moanalua Valley on Oahu. Keawe was a very busy man. Every day he went to the mountains to cut wood, gather plants and do other chores. When this work was completed, he hurried home to deposit the wood and food and then went straight out to sea to fish. His days were always filled in this way and he had little time for his family, which was steadily increasing. When their sixth child was born, Keanahaki decided that her husband should not be away for so long every day and she said to him: "You go to the mountains, and I will fish." Keawe agreed and then went to the mountains as usual, and Keanahaki went down to the sea. What Keawe did not know, however, was that his wife was not like other women and had strange and unusual powers. When Keanahaki got to the shore, she began to chant, telling her right eye to fly to the sea and bring certain fish, then to her left eye to fly in another direction out on the water and catch other fish. She stood on the beach for some time, and then she called her eyes to return. Her right eye fluttered back, bringing many fish. Her left eye did the same. At first, Keanahaki divided the fish into portions for her husband, children and herself. But her greed overtook her, and after she had eaten her share, she continued eating until only one fish remained. The powerful woman took the lone fish back home and when her husband saw this small catch, he was very disappointed. He asked Keanahaki if this was all she was able to catch, and she said yes, so he presumed that this was because it was her first day of fishing and that things would improve with practice. But day after day, Keanahaki went down to the beach and returned with only one fish, and Keawe began to get suspicious. He was sure that a person could not continually have such bad luck. Then one day, he learned from a friend that his wife was not a normal person. He was told that she had unusual powers and that she could send her eyes out to sea to fish and that she always came back with plentiful supplies. Keawe was angry and disappointed. He asked how he could catch his wife and was told to gather leaves from the ipu 'awa'awa (a type of gourd, with bitter pulp, grown on a vine). If he followed his wife to the shore, he could catch her eyes and preserve them in the leaves. So one day, Keawe pretended to go to the mountains as usual, then waited and watched for his wife to go fishing. When she did, he followed her. As soon as Keanahaki got to the shore, she again chanted for her right eye to fly over the sea and fish for certain fish and for her left eye to fly in another direction and bring in other fish. Watching her, Keawe was astounded. He walked silently behind his wife, and she did not see him because without her eyes, she was blind. When enough time had passed, she called to her eyes to return, but Keawe caught them as they flew back with the fish and carefully wrapped each eye in the leaves of the ipu 'awa'awa. Then he gathered the fish and went home, while Keanahaki stood on the shore calling for her eyes and wondering why they did not return. When Keawe reached his grass hut, his hungry children gathered and were proud of the large catch their father had brought in. He left them admiring the fish and went to hide the eyes of his wife. Five of the children were too preoccupied by the fish to notice, but the sixth saw him take the small bundle and place it on a high ledge out of reach. In the meantime, Keanahaki had been waiting a long time on the beach for her eyes to return and soon she became suspicious of what had occurred. Stumbling and groping, she slowly found her way back up the path to her home. She asked her children if their father had returned. They said that he had come back with a big bag of fish. She asked if he had come with anything else – something smaller. Five of them said that they had seen nothing more, but the smallest told his mother that he had seen his father with a small bundle wrapped in leaves and took her to the place where it was hidden. After groping about Keanahaki found and restored her eyes to their sockets. After that day, Keanahaki still went to the beach to fish, but she always brought home the plentiful supply her eyes had caught, for fear that she would be left blind on the seashore again. Puna and the Dragon Goddess: A long time ago in the old Hawaii, there were two goddesses who were worshipped in the temples, Kihawahine and Haumea.When it was time for Haumea to marry, she took Puna, the chief of Oahu, as her husband. What Haumea did not know, however, was that Kihawahine wanted to take chief Puna for herself. One day Puna and his people were traveling around the island looking for a good surf spot. They found a fine surf place where a beautiful woman, Kihawahine, was floating on the sea. She called to the chief and said that it was not a good place for surfing, but that if he followed her, she would take him to the perfect place far outside the reef. Thus, the goddess lured Puna out to sea, far out of sight of his people and even the sharp peaks of the mountains of Oahu, all the way to Molokai. Here, the couple lived together in a cave for a long time. Kihawahine took care of him and prepared his food, and although life was not difficult for him there, Puna was, in essence, a prisoner, as leaving the island would surely mean death for him. His new wife and captor was in fact a dragon goddess and could be very cruel if she was angered. Puna missed life by the sea and begged Kihawahine to let him go down to the water. Eventually, she granted his request and Puna was allowed to leave the cave and go to the ocean. Down on the shore, he happened upon his brother-in-law Hinole, who recognized him and invited him to his house to eat and talk. Hinole told Puna of the true nature of Kihawahine and explained how he could escape her. He was to send her to Mauna Kea for water, but put a small hole in the water jar so that she would be delayed and Puna would have time to escape. Puna went back to his cave and instead of announcing his presence with a loud shout, as the dragon goddess had instructed him to do, he approached quietly, as Hinole had suggested, and thus he saw Kihawahine in her true form, covered in scales with a long tail and huge claws. Puna was trembling and breathing hard, and his wife found him and cursed him, calling him evil and threatening to eat his eyes. Puna stayed quiet, fearing for his life, but soon the anger passed over her and she was calm again. Soon, Puna decided to try Hinole's plan. One day he began to breathe hard, as if he was sick, and when Kihawahine asked him what was wrong, he explained that he needed the special ice water of Poliahu on Mauna Kea, the snow-covered mountain of Hawaii. He knew that Kihawahine considered herself strong and independent, so he finished by saying: "I cannot ask you to go, this is a long and difficult journey, not fit for a woman." As he expected, the dragon goddess agreed to get the water for him. She took the water jar, at the bottom of which Puna had made a small hole, and left the cave. Her husband rose as soon as she was out of sight. He found a canoe and crossed to Maui. Then he found another boat going to Hawaii and at last landed at Kau. He went up and stood on the edge of the pit of the fire goddess Pele. Those who were living in the crater saw him and knew that he was Haumea's husband. He quickly went down into the crater and stayed with them. He told them all about his journey and they took pity on him. In the meantime, Kihawahine went to Poliahu, but could not fill the water jar. She poured the water in and filled the jar, but when the jar was lifted it became light. She looked back and saw the water leaking out of the jar, and she knew she had been tricked. Angry, she called all the dragons of Molokai, Lanai, Maui, Kahoolawe and Hawaii, and they flew to the pit of Pele and stood on the edge of the crater. She called all the people below, telling them to give her her husband. They refused to give Puna up, calling her a mischief-maker and telling her to find her own husband, rather than taking that which did not belong to her. The dragons threw their drooling saliva into the pit, almost destroying the small fire they had down there, but the fire rose up with great strength, burning the dragons and killing some of them on the spot. They tried to hide in between the rocks, which opened up as earthquakes shook the crater, but fire followed the earthquakes and the fleeing dragons. Kihawahine managed to escape and leaped down the precipice into the fishpond Lokoaka (the shadow lake), named after the shadow, or aka, of the dragon. Here she was imprisoned for some time, until she went back to Molokai. On Molokai, she tracked down Hinole, meaning to kill him for helping Puna to escape, but Hinole saw the trouble coming so he leaped into the sea, becoming a fish in the ocean. Kihawahine dived under the waves after him and tried to find him in the coral caves, but could not catch him. He became the Hinalea, a fish still dearly loved by the fishermen of the islands. The dragon goddess continued seeking, swimming swiftly from place to place. Ounauna saw her passing back and forth and offered advice. He told her to make a basket from the vine, inalua, and lower it into the ocean. After a while, she could dive down and find Hinole in it. Kihawahine followed these instructions, but each time she dived down, Hinole was swimming beside the basket, but was not in it. When she went back to Ounauna, she was angry and threatened to kill him, but he said: "I forgot to tell you that you must get some sea eggs and crabs, pound and mix them together and put them inside the basket." (This is the way the Hinalea is caught to this day.) Sure enough, the trap worked, but as she was about to kill Hinole, he persuaded her to set him free, on the condition that he retain his fish form forever. Kihawahine then went to Maui where she dwelt in a deep pool near Lahaina. After Puna had escaped the dragons, he returned to Oahu and saw his first wife, Haumea, and they were very happy together living in the mountains above Kalihi-uka. One day Haumea went out fishing for crabs, and Puna walked until he came to a banana plantation. There he ate, lay down to rest and fell fast asleep. The plantation belonged to the new chief of Oahu, Kou, and when his watchmen found Puna they tied his hands behind his back and brought him to their chief, who killed him and hung the body in the branches of a breadfruit tree. When Haumea returned and heard of the death of her husband, she ran down to Wai-kahalulu and found Puna hanging on the branches. She was so upset that she commanded the breadfruit tree to open, stepped inside the tree and bade it close about her. The fat of the body of Puna fell down to the ground through the branches, and it was eaten by the dogs below the tree. One of these dogs belonged to the chief Kou, and it is said that the dog came back to his house, played with the chief, then leaped, caught him by the throat and killed him. |