Bernice P. Bishop Museum—Bulletin 95
TRADITIONS OF HAWAII
Kanaloa
Kanaloa: The squid God, was looked upon with distrust. God of
the sea and in some parts of Hawai'i a rival of Kane. Kanaloa was
the leader of the first company of
spirits placed on earth after earth was separated from heaven.
These spirits,
spit out by the Gods, were not allowed to drink awa (intoxicating
liquor) and
rebelled. Naturally they were defeated and cast down into the
underworld, land
of Po, region of departed spirits. As with Kane, Kanaloa make a
man but this man
was made of stone. In revenge, Kanaloa seduced the wife
(Ke-aka-huli-lani) of
the first man made by Kane. For this, man and woman are
banished
FOREWORD
The traditions of Hawaii have many versions, one differing from
another. The accounts of the gods, of the creation, of the
foundation of the earth have many versions, not all of equal
value as given by the story-tellers. I have therefore gathered
together this and that part of the story from different sources,
correcting where necessary. Not all the stories of the gods' are
lost to the people of Hawaii. Men worshipped correctly at first,
but their descendants wandered away from the truth and worshipped
this and that created thing.
The first ancestors of the Hawaiian race came from the sky; all
versions agree in this. In the accounts of how the land of Hawaii
came to be there are differences. Some accounts are worthless,
some true. I wrote down, therefore, the most important things
told me, which perhaps are the truth.'* They are interesting
things. And in this short account of the olden times we shall see
something of our ancestors, of their lives and their deeds.
«.May there be love between us Zepherin Kuhopu Kahoalii
Kameeiamoku Kuikauwai, known as Z. Keauokalani.
DIVISION 1.
GODS, CREATION, PEOPLING OF HAWAII, THE UNDERWORLD, AND THE FLOOD
PART 1. Of THE DEEP-INTENSE-NIGHT
There was Deep-intense-night, a period of time without heaven,
without earth, without anything that is made. There was only
darkness, therefore it was called Deep-intense-night and
Long-night.
The Deep-intense-night was the darkness out of which all created
things issued.
Long-night was a darkness incomparable.
Only the gods dwelt at this period, they were Kane, Kanaloa, and
Lono. They were male gods. They were powerful gods, said the
people of Hawaii. And the nature of the Gods of Hawaii will be
explained in Part ~
*The superior figures refer to Notes, pages x68.i73.
1. Bodiless spirits: these are the spirits created by Kane
as servants to serve the gods. And perhaps because they were
without bodies, or perhaps because they do marvelous things, and
so forth, they were called gods; for Hawaiian stories are full of
boasting about the deeds done in ancient times by these spirits.
It seems to me as if the people of ancient times knew of the
character of God and of the angels.
2. The aumakua *: these are the spirits of the dead who have
passed on from this earth and are perhaps counted in this class
because they have become bodiless spirits or perhaps because of
the character of their deeds done after death. For the stories
are full of strange and terrible things done by some of the dead,
like Pamano," Ka-hala-o-puna,* and so forth.
3. The district chiefs: these ruling chiefs were put into the
class of gods because of the great power they had and the tapu
observed toward them. It was a thing to be dreaded. They had the
power over life and death. The chiefs were called "gods that
could be seen." They were held in high esteem in Hawaii,
adored, and so forth and so forth, or sometimes worshipped, like
Kahoali'i." And perhaps it was because of the great power
they wielded and because of their tapu that they were called
gods, or perhaps they were considered gods because their tapu
resembled that of the real gods.
As to the nature of the tapu of the gods and of the
chiefs, it will be explained in Parts.
God: there are many definitions for this word and here they are:
l, A great Lord above all things, that is one kind.
2. A Spirit, that is another.
3. Power, strength, knowledge, without death, without source,
that is another.
4. A Chief over all, another kind.
5. A Corpse another, a Ghost another.
6. A Slave of the lowest class, a despised people, and so on.
7. Devil, another kind.
PART 3. THE GREAT GOD
Kane, Kanaloa, Lono, this is the great Godhead of the.
forefathers of Hawaii, and these gods belong to class one. They
are male gods. They have no source. They made all things and all
power was theirs. There were no gods greater than they. And these
gods made many gods, the hosts of gods, innumerable gods to serve
them, and they, Kane, Kanaloa and Lono, made man and all things.
Therefore they were called by the people of Hawaii the great
Godhead of the first class. And the forefathers of the people of
Hawaii worshipped them.
Some people worshipped things that were called god, as we see in
this history, because all men on the earth wish to worship.
That is: Men are born with an instinct pointing to a god, to
something above all things, but this instinct which is theirs
from birth does not often see clearly, being obscured by sin,
darkened by Satan and by the teachings of others, therefore men
worship that and this worthless thing. But there are many
accounts of the nature of the gods mentioned above, differing in
that and in this. And the nature of the gods of the second class
will be explained in Part 4.
Such, I think, are the definitions of the word and such the deeds
of a god as I have heard them from the story-tellers. By putting
that and this together, therefore, I will explain the character
of God as that and this pertain to it.
In the history of Hawaii three classes of gods are to be
recognized:
1. The class of the great Gods,
2. The class of spirits who were created and of men, that is, the guardian spirits.
3. The class of things without soul.
PART 4. THE NATURE OF GOD IN CLASS TWO.
There are very many gods in class two, millions upon millions of
them, and this class is subdivided into three kinds. Here is the
first, the spirits without a body, these are the aumakua of Day,
of the light; the second, the aumakua of Night, of the darkness,
these are the dead; third, district chiefs.
PART 5. THE TAPU Of THE GODS
The tapu of the gods is one that covers all men and all chiefs, a
death tapu. The tapu of the chiefs is a tapu that covers the
commoners, with the exception of the kahuna and his people.
The nature of these tapus of the gods and of the chiefs: if Kane
and gods of his class are worshipped, then one is forbidden to
worship any other god. Here are the rules that must be observed :
1. It is not right to make an evil oath by these names (Kane,
Kanaloa, Lono).
2. One must not steal.
3. One must not commit fornication.
4. One must not kill a man.
These are the laws of Kane and of all the great gods of Hawaii.
The nature of the chiefs' tapus: there are many laws, laws of
death.
1. If one does not prostrate himself when the chief comes forth,
it is death.
2. If one does not sit when the chief's bathing water is being
carried past, it is death.
3. If one walks about while the chief's name-song is being
chanted, it is death.
These are some of the tapus of the gods and of the chiefs, f
Children and descendants. If the image belonged to the chief,
like Kihawahine'0 (the mo'o god), Kalai-pahoa (the poison
god)," Ka-ili, "The snatcher" (Kamehameha the
First's war god), and so forth, the tapu applied to the chief and
his descendants. Many tapus pertained to these images, more than
can be told. They took these idols (images) and called them Kane,
Kanaloa and Lono. They turned them into gods without source. Thus
these images which were made became gods even though they had
source But in praying to these images called Kane, Kana, and Lono
the prayer) turned from the image and was directed to the
heavens! Absurd!
In the Hawaiian story, Kane, Kana and Lono are gods without
source In some versions they were idols, in some versions they
were not idols but likenesses of Kane made as a reminder. Kane,
Kana, and Lono were god; hidden in the blue heaven. They were
gods not created, true gods, said the ancients.
Gods of classes two and three were called "gods with heads
lower," an< the true gods, thought to be Kane, Kana, and
Lono, were called "gods wit] heads high up."
As regards worship the people were divided into three classes:
the Kan worshippers, who worshipped Kane; the idol worshippers,
who worshipped images and aumakua', the lala luau [branched
faro-tops], who were godless.* In the next part will be explained
the manner of prayer and the rule applying to each class of
worship.
PART 37. THE ORIGINAL GOD Of HAWAII
Kane was originally the only god of Hawaii; there was no other
god, only Kane. This is how the one god came to be called Ku and
Lono,—here is the true account of these names. Ku is Kane,
Lono is Kane. Ku is not a different god, neither is Lono a
different god. They were Kane, and they were Kane's own names.
They were what Kane, the god, was called in the chants. They (the
chanters) knew that Kane is a god that stands eternally,
therefore they called him by the name of Ku Kane, meaning a god
that stands eternally. And because the ancients knew that Kane
was a powerful god, one who heard, therefore Kane was renamed
Lono Kane, meaning a god that heard. And thus it was said that
Kane, Ku, Lono were the names that the ancestor of the Hawaiian
people named his god. And there are a great many meanings to the
name. But Kanaloa was not a god, he was a servant of Kane. Pokuea
(Pogue) made a great mistake in placing Kanaloa in the class of
the gods, and the people who informed him were wrong. Kanaloa was
a servant of Kane. Let us look at Part 38.
PART 38. CONCERNING KANALOA
Kanaloa was a child belonging to the Na-wao race (I do not know
where this race lived). He was a high priest for Kane, and
Kane-apua was his younger brother. Here is their story:—The
god Lono wanted his race of people to go to the fend that Kane
gave to the race. Therefore he sent Kaneapua to take the people
to a certain very rich land, and Kane-apua went in company with
his older brother Kanaloa. But they were oppressed by a certain
bad chief named "The-chief-with-a-big-mouth," Waha-nui,
meaning a chief who is oppressive.". He was a chief for Kona
district on Hawaii. Such was the story as told by different
informants and such were the people who belonged to Kona district
on Hawaii. But in the prayer chants, the invocations, the chants,
and in the account itself of this story he was not a chief of the
Hawaiian people but of Kahiki-Honua-Kele.
The story is as follows: God consulted with Kane-apua to lead the
people, and God gave to Kane-apua power and intrusted to him the
care of the people in the world. Then Kane-apua withdrew men and
went away from the evil chief to the land that God pointed out to
Kane-apua. And Kane-apua told them that it was a command from
God. The chief jeered at Kane-apua and abused him in order that
the power of God might be made clear. Thus the chief did.
Lono was angry. He withdrew the rain and famine came upon the
land.
After that the chief let the people go and they went. The common
people went as far as the beach, there they met with trouble
because the evil chief sought them with wicked intent. The people
were troubled, they wept and were angry with Kane-apua and
Kanaloa.
Kane-apua prayed, "0 God, 0 Lono, see the trouble because of
which the Na-wao are complaining! It is an abusive, a wicked
people that I am leading." God answered, "Smite a
pathway." Kane-apua chanted thus: Strike away, strike
gently, Strike where? strike gently, Strike seaward, strike
gently.
Then God answered above on the cloud, "Smite your rod on the
surface of the water." Kane-apua smote with a cane, the
water parted exposing the land, the Na-wao went over and escaped
without trouble.
The chief Waha-nui pursued them and all his people were killed.
Then Kane-apua chanted again:
Strike away, strike gently, Strike where? strike gently, Strike
landward, strike gently.
That race of men went on, they held to their wicked ways. They
trod the land called "The bosom of
Kane"—Ka-houpo-o-Kane. The families entered the
wilderness and after a time they became very thirsty. Then
Kane-apua thrust at the stone twice with his staff and water
flowed. Because he thrust twice he did wrong to Lono, for this
Kane-apua was an irreverent person. The name means a person
"saved by God."
Kane-apua and Kanaloa were called gods because the people
regarded them as gods becauae of the number of miracles they
performed.
This is only a half of the story that I have shortened, the whole
story belongs to that of Kumuhonua.
PART 39. TUB PRAYER-CHANT 0f KANALOA
This is the prayer chant of Kanaloa to Lono in regard to the
departure, the death of the oppressors in the sea, and the escape
of his own people.
l. I have gone on to break the high place,
The house of peace is touched by grief,
My white swimming bird
Of the uplands perhaps, of the sea perhaps, I
have caught it.
The portion above is to be explained as showing the people
weeping for weariness.
1. Give us a way, Lono, protector of Islands, A fish for the
upland plain, for the sea plain, At sea is the Mkuu bird, Sway,
continue swaying.
This portion is to be explained as the departure of all the
people before Lono, their God.
2. A land (for those) fleeing death, A kahuna directs to harbor,
grieving for love, Hasten, run, Come swiftly, racing hither,
Hastening hither,
3. Do not wander from the harbor of Ku and his companions, The
harbor of Lono and his companions, The harbor of Lono and his
companions, Of the God, amama I of your God, amama!
In this chant some allusions are made which may explain the
Flood-of Hina-the-chief and Kanaloa's being mistaken for a god.
The chant tells of a terrible death, not one escaped of that
large number of pursuers,—all went destroyed by the ocean.
GENEALOGY OF THE FIRST-FROM-THE-INTENSE-DARKNESS From
"The Hawaiian Earthly Paradise and the Creation of Heaven
and Earth," manuscript in the Poepoe collection, Library of
B. P. Bishop Museum.
THE MAKING OF HEAVEN AND EARTH
Kane, Lono, Kanaloa were the Gods who made Heaven and Earth.
These three Gods were one in their nature as God, that is, a very
holy OneGod-in-three, Akua-kahi-kolu.
Before them there was no Heaven and no Earth. There was a thick
darkness, weird, black, tumultuous darkness. The place where they
lived was a flat sandy land called the bosom of Kane, ka houpo o
Kane. The light on that flat sandy place where they lived was the
light of their beauty and only there was this light of their
beauty held apart and sacred under a very holy tabu.
And after living in the thick black darkness they resolved to
carry out an important undertaking which they had thought out and
talked over together. First of all they made heaven and earth.
There was no heaven and earth at the time, only thick black
darkness. They said, "The brightness that floats above the
sand, that is the light," and they caused it to unite with
the darkness.
They saw the light and the darkness and they were good. They
separated the light into broad day and the thick black darkness
into night. They saw that these things were good according to
their wish. They called the light day and the darkness night.
This was the first thing that they made.
They said, "Let us make black clouds above the dark clouds,
gray clouds and the fine smoke-like clouds and the rain-clouds,
and separate them one from the other." They saw that it was
done and they made the shining black clouds into heaven and the
fine smoke-like clouds into water. They saw the beauty and
excellence of the thing that they had made, and they called it a
sky. This was the second exercise of their skill.
They said, "Let us take the fine grains of sand here in the
bosom of Kane and the grains of soil and the tiny drops of water
and mix them into one and cause them to become mud in order to
separate the water from the dry land." They saw that what
they willed to do was good. They called the dry place land and
the water that came out of the mud they called the wide ocean,
and these really became land and the wide sea
.
They said, "Let us plant growing things on the broad
earth." They gathered up grains of white sand and grains of
black sand, mixed them in one place and threw them over the
smooth surface of the wide earth, and so it really happened. The
earth produced grass and plants that bore seed
...down earth and each expelled his breath from his mouth and it
became woman. They looked at the things which they had made and
they were 1. They ceased making the earth and blessed it. This
was the sixth period.
It was altogether completed, the heavens, the wide earth and all
the things with which it was filled, and during the seventh
period they dropped heir labor. They said, "Let us allow
this day to be a day of rest." That the first Sabbatical
year. And they blessed all their work. After establishing the
heaven and the earth they saw that the sandy mound where they
lived was flattened out, that is, the bosom of Kane, and because
it was so very flat they renamed it "Earthly
Heaven,"—0 Lani tua. Kane said, "Let us lengthen
the name of this flat land and make place for the very first man
that we have made to live on, and we will it and cause to grow
all kinds of fruit in this garden (called) Earthly iven of
Kane-huna-moku. They grew rich foods of every kind in that Jen,
streams flowed, and all man had to do was to eat. They placed the
first people they had made to live in that garden, the
earthly-Heaven-of-Kane-huna-moku," and named the man
First-from-the-intense-darkness and the woman
Standing-forth-from-the-deep-darkness, that
Akahi-ka-po-manomano and Ku-ka-po-lipolipo, and from these two
came the generations after them.
(Unfinished.) G. M. Keone, T. C.Polikapa, Committee.
THE PEOPLING OF THE EARTH
When Kane, Lono, and Kanaloa made the heaven and the wide earth n
all things were made; there was nothing that was not made by
them. They caused people to dwell (there). They placed people to
dwell on land as man and wife and they made the first man and the
first woman the time of Makalii during the wet season and placed
them in the land :pared for them in the Earthly
Paradise-in-the-Bosom-of-Kane,—Laniinua-ka-Houpo-o-Kane.
This was a very holy land. Every kind of icious fruit and food
grew there of itself, streams flowed there. The first inhabitants
whom they made for that land were Akahi-ka-po.nomano, that is,
First-from-the-intense-darkness, and Ku-ka-po-lipolipo, It is,
Standing-forth-from-the-deep-darkness. They were given everything
that holy land, all the food on the land. Nothing was forbidden
to them. was made free to them to eat and drink.
3. ABOUT THE SEA OF HINA THE CHIEF
Given %y Moanauli in the Hawaiian newspaper Ke Alakai o Hawaii,
June 5, 1930, from information handed down by an old man who was
about seventy-two years old in the time of Kamehameha II.
(1819-24).
It is said that Pe-le brought "the sea of Hina the
chief." Her mother was Ka-Hi-na-'li'i and her father
Ka-ne-Ho-a-La-ni and she was a sister to Ka-Mo-ho-A-lii and
Ka-Hu-i-la-o-ka-La-ni ("The-Shark-Chief" and "The
Lighning-of-the-Heavens"). She was born at Ha-pa-ku-e-la, a
land lying close to the clouds to the southwest of us. There she
lived with her parents until her marriage, and to the two were
born La-ka, the daughter, and Me-nehu-ne, the son. Wa-hi-e-lo-a,
Pe-le's husband, was their father.
They lived there happily until Pe-le-Ku-mu-Ho-nu-a stole the
affection of Pe-le's husband. Then Pe-le complained and rose up
and departed because of her great love for her husband.
It is said that in ancient times the sea was not known here.
There was not even fresh water, but with the coming of Pe-le the
sea came also. It was thus that Hawaii got the sea. Her parents
gave it to her and she brought it in her canoes to the land of
Pa-ku-e-la and thence to the land of Ka-na-lo-a, and at this
place she poured the sea out from her head. That is how Hawaii
got its sea. But when the sea burst forth her brothers chanted: A
sea I a sea!
The sea bursts forth, The sea bursts forth on Ka-na-lo-a. The
borders of the sea reach to the hills, Gone is the restless sea,
Twice it breaks forth Thrice it breaks forth, The sea borne on
the back of Pe-le, The sea turns and rends the earth, The sea
borne on the shoulder to Ki-lau-e-a, A sea leaning on the arm of
Pe-le, The sea of Pe-le grown to maturity, The sea borne in front
of Pe-le, The voice of the sea. rings out at Pa-pa-Lau-a-hi, The
sea rises above A-ka-ni-Ko-le-a, The sea rises up to the edge of
Wa-hi-ne-Ka-pu, The sea of Pe-le, of the goddess, Let profound
peace now rest upon us.
When the sea rolled in it came up to a level with the earth and
higher still, but the land did not entirely disappear. Some
places remained, such as the tops of Ha-le-a-ka-La, Mau-na-Ke-a,
Mau-na-Lo-a. This sea was named after the mother of Pe-le,
Ka-Hi-na-a'li'i because it was she who owned the sea and Pe-le
who carried it away and it was she who made it go down as
we see it today. So from that time the Pe-le family deserted
Ha-pa-ku-e-la and sailed to Hawaii.
When the brothers reached Ka-na-lo-a, Pe-le had arrived at Kauai,
and again the brothers chanted this song:
Pe-le sailed to the land of Kauai,
Canoes landed at Mo'o-ki-ni,
Pe-le and her company paused at the boundary,
Rested on the sea of Pe-le,
There Pe-le offered a prayer,
The journey continued,
Pe-le moved on,
To the cape of Le-le-l-wi,
Smelled the fragrance of the hala,
The le-hu-a blossoms of Mokaulele,
Ku-u-la (wanton are) the le-hu-a blossoms of Pu'u-o-Lo-a,
Ki-lau-e-a is a long house,
A sleeping-house is Pa-pa-Lau-a-hi,
Pe-le fell down from the heavens,
The thunder of the earthquake,
The constant fall of the fine rain.
Kau-me-a-i-ku was pleased,
The woman in the wet clouds.
Reach forth, Pe-le I Wait I Wait!
Here we are, prophets of the north,
Dig, rest here.
Note
The story down to the third line of the first chant is identical
with Porbes's early account given in Thrum (68, pp. 16-38).
In this legend the "Sea of Hina the chief" seems to be
one of fire. Pele is represented as fleeing over seas to Hawaii
out of wounded love for an unfaithful husband. The gift of her
mother (fire) she carries with her as a woman bears a child in
her arms, the words amo, kalele i ka lima, hi'i i ka alo being
commonly applied to the different ways of carrying children. The
impatience of the child as they travel may be compared with that
of the child Kau-i-ici in a legend of that famous hill of Maui
recorded in Kt Alakai o Hawaii for June, 1930. Pele touches first
at the island of Kauai and then proceeds to Hawaii, where the
places named, Papalauahi, Akanikolea, Wahine-tapu, are all to be
identified. The deep forests about the volcano of Kilauea on the
slopes of the mountain are the favorite haunts of Laka, goddess
of vegetation and of coordinated movement, hence of the dance,
and of the mysterious little people called Menehune who build the
stone-work of Hawaii. In this journey to deposit the fire-child
no doubt Pele is originally the child and Hina the wandering
mother. When attention became fixed upon the idea of a
water-flood the tradition as the record of a fire-flood seems to
have been forgotten.
For the Pele legend compare: Ellis (17, pp. 183-187; 220-223);
Pomander (28, vol. S, P. 576); Thrum (68, pp. 36-42); Kalakaua
(49, PP. 139-1541 481-507); Green (34, PP. 3-9; 19-27); Rice (60,
pp. 7-17); Westervelt (71); Emerson (23).
4. HIDDEN ISLANDS OF KANE
As given by Kilinahi Kaleo, an old fisherman of Hana, Maui, July,
1930.
Kane-huna-moku, "Kane's hidden island," is a land which
belongs to Hawaii but has disappeared and is not visible to man.
It is a spirit land where live Kane and Kanaloa. The spirits of
all those who are religious go to this land. Only those who have
kept the tapu are admitted. Human beings can not go there; it is
a mistake to think one can go in the flesh. On this land are to
be seen fine growing things, houses, pigs, dogs, chickens,
everything as in life. Only those can sec it who have eyes to
see.
This land floats in the sea and appears at dawn at the eastern
points of the various islands. It touches at one island and goes
on to the next. In the old days it was seen during the tapu
periods, but today we do not know when those occur. There is a
story about it but it is forbidden to tell this story.
Kane-huna-moku has its birth from another land called
Ni'lftma-hiki, "Long-coconut-that-travels." This land
belongs to Hawaii but is farther away and docs not come to
Hawaii. It is a land of the gods. Here Kane, Lono and Kanaloa
first made land, then they made man there. Ni'u-roa-hiki is the
name of the path by which one reaches that land. It is a land of
sacred coconuts. Only the gods are there.
Note
Kilinahi thinks that Ulu (or Uala)-ka'a, the
"Rolling-breadfruit" or -"potato," is not an
island of Hawaii but belongs to the Samoan group. (See Green 34,
p. 115, and Rice 60, p. 19.) Mrs, Olmsted adds that about thirty
years ago the Kaleo family believed that at a certain date the
island would pass by and take them on it. They sold out and
waited at the point for the island to appear. A storm was to be
one of the manifestations of its approach, and sure enough there
was a violent storm and the cloud effect afterwards resembled an
island. There was great excitement. This Kaleo family now live
down on the point which forms the eastern extremity of the
island. Other members of the family live inland. They believe
that although it is a mistake to think that one can go to the
island in the flesh, after death they will be admitted.
Once an old Hawaiian woman who was near death 'told her family
that she was going to the sacred island. She walked out of the
house 'and they never saw her again or found her body.