Hawaiian Traditions | Page 90 | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

May 15, 2016 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Niuhelewai

The ahupua‘a of Kapālama has two streams, the Kapālama and the Niuhelewai (“coconut going (in) water”). They merge and extend through the central fertile area also called Niuhelewai. This area drained into a pond called Kūwili II.

John Papa ‘Ī‘ī described the appearance of the trail (around the year 1810) from Nuʻuanu to Moanalua through Kapālama: “When the trail reached a certain bridge, it began going along the banks of taro patches, up to the other side of Kapālama, to the plain of Kaiwiʻula …”

While somewhat general, the ‘Ī‘ī account supports that of von Kotzebue in relating an abundance of lo‘i where the main trail crossed Nuʻuanu Stream, a relatively uncultivated plain as the trail traversed Kapālama and Kaiwi‘ula, and then more lo‘i on Kalihi Stream (Cultural Surveys)

“(O)n the south and west, spread the plain of Honolulu, having its fish-ponds and salt making pools along the sea-shore, the village and fort between u and the harbor, and the valley stretching a few miles north into the interior, which presented its scattered habitation and numerous beds of kalo in its various stages of growth …”

“Through this valley, several streams descending from the mountains in the interior, wind their way, some six or seven miles watering and overflowing by means of numerous artificial canal the bottom of kalo patches, and then, by one mouth, fall into the peaceful harbor.” (Hiram Bingham)

Haumea, the goddess of childbirth, had a home at Niuhelewai in Kapālama; Haumea, sometimes identified with Papa, or the Earth mother, was a female akua that with ‘great source of female fertility.’ She married Wākea and later married Hāloa, her husband’s son by his own daughter Hoʻohokukalani. She is considered the mother of Pele and of Pele’s siblings

In chants she is called Haumea ‘of mysterious forms, of eightfold forms, of four hundred thousand forms.’ One of her commonly known forms, however, is the breadfruit tree. There is no single word haumea in Hawaiian, but hau can mean “a ruler” and mea can mean “reddish (like red earth). (King)

Niuhelewai was the location for a famous battle between Kahekili’s forces and the O‘ahu ruling chief Kahahana.

At the time of Captain Cook’s arrival (1778,) the Hawaiian Islands were divided into four kingdoms: (1) the island of Hawaiʻi under the rule of Kalaniʻōpuʻu, who also had possession of the Hāna district of east Maui; (2) Maui (except the Hāna district,) Molokaʻi, Lānaʻi and Kahoʻolawe, ruled by Kahekili; (3) Oʻahu, under the rule of Kahahana; and (4) Kauaʻi and Niʻihau, Kamakahelei was ruler.

Kahahana was high-born and royally-connected. His father was Elani, one of the highest nobles in the ʻEwa district on Oʻahu, a descendant of the ancient chiefs of Līhuʻe. While still a child, Kahahana was sent to Maui to live with Kahekili. (Fornander)

Then, Oʻahu chiefs selected Kahahana to be their leader (this was the second island chief to be elected to rule Oʻahu; the first was Māʻilikūkahi, who was his ancestor.)

Kahahana left Maui and ruled Oʻahu. When war broke out between Kalaniʻōpuʻu of Hawaiʻi Island and Kahekili in 1779, Kahahana had come to the aid of Kahekili. Later, things soured.

“At that time Kahekili was plotting for the downfall of Kahahana and the seizure of Oʻahu and Molokaʻi, and the queen of Kauaʻi was disposed to assist him in these enterprises.” (Kalākaua)

In the beginning of 1783, Kahekili sought to add Oʻahu under his control. Kahekili invaded Oʻahu and Kahahana, landing at Waikīkī and dividing his forces in three columns (Kahekili’s forces marched from Waikīkī by Pūowaina (Punchbowl,) Pauoa and Kapena to battle Kahahana and his warriors.)

Kahahana’s army was routed, and he and his wife fled to the mountains. For nearly two years or more they wandered over the mountains, secretly aided, fed and clothed by his supporters, who commiserated the misfortunes of their former king. Kahahana was later killed.

Some of the remaining Oʻahu chiefs sought revenge and devised a wide-spread conspiracy against Kahekili and the Maui chiefs. The plan was to kill the Maui chiefs on the same night in the different districts.

However, before they could carry out their plan, Kalanikūpule found out their intentions and informed his father, Kahekili. Messengers were sent to warn the other chiefs, who overcame the conspirators and killed them. (Apparently the messenger to warn the chiefs in Waialua was too late and the Maui chiefs there were killed.)

Gathering his forces together, Kahekili overran the districts of Kona and ʻEwa, and a war of extermination ensued. This event was called Kapoluku – “the night of slaughter.” (Newell)

Men, women, and children were massacred; all the Oahu chiefs were killed and the chiefesses tortured. (Kamakau) The waters of the Niuhelewai stream were turned back, the stream being dammed by the corpses. (Fornander)

Kalaikoa, one of the Maui chiefs, scraped and cleaned the bones of the slain and built a house for himself entirely from the skeletons of the slaughtered situated at Lapakea in Moanalua. The skulls of slain Oʻahu chiefs adorned the doorways of the house. The house was called “Kauwalua.” (Lots of information here is from Fornander, Kamakau and Cultural Surveys.)

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Niuhelewai-Fish_Ponds_at_Honoruru,_Oahu,_by_John_Murray,_after_Robert_Dampier-(WC)-1836

May 14, 2016 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

ʻĪmaikalani

Although he was blind, his hearing was keen. He also had two “birds” (guards) who give warning when anyone approached. He reigned in the time of ʻUmialīloa; ʻĪmaikalani was the first chief of Kaʻū who is said to have control over parts of Puna.

ʻĪmaikalani was famed for his stroke that never misses. Famous for his strength and skill in warfare, several chiefs were killed by him in battle.

He had a left thrust and a right thrust which were terrible, and if he threw a long spear to the right or to the left hand there was a roaring as of thunder, and flashes as of lightning, and a rumbling sound as of an earthquake; and if be twirled his spear at his back the dust arose in volumes as whirlwinds. (Fornander)

ʻUmialīloa feared ʻĪmaikalani.

Whenever a bird cried, there was a man. ‘Where is his club?’ Imaikalani asked. ‘On the right side.’ ‘A left stroke will get him.’ When the other lashed he missed, but when the blind man lashed, his opponent was struck from head to abdomen. (Kamakau)

ʻUmi ordered Omaokamau to go and fight Imaikalani. When Omaokamau heard this he proceeded to the home of Imaikalani. When Omaokamau was drawing near the home of Imaikalani the birds sounded a note.

At this note of warning from the birds ʻĪmaikalani said to his men: ‘Say, there is a man.’ The men said: ‘There is nobody.’ ʻĪmaikalani remarked: ‘Watch out.’

While the two men were watching, Omaokamau soon after appeared. The men then said to ʻĪmaikalani: ‘Yes, there is a man, he is coming, and he carries a war club in his hand.’

ʻĪmaikalani said: ‘That is Omaokamau, one of the warriors of ʻUmi; he is well versed in the art of throwing the spear; his main strength is in his right arm, his left is weak; watch him and see when he twirls his war club.’

When Omaokamau came up to the men he stood and twirled his war club. When the two men saw this, they said to ʻĪmaikalani: ‘The man is twirling his club.’ (Kamakau)

When ʻĪmaikalani heard the report of his two men, he stood up and began twirling his club. Omaokamau struck his club to his right, but somehow ʻĪmaikalani warded off the blow by the use of his club and the first blow aimed by Omaokamau missed.

They again twirled their clubs and after a time Omaokamau struck to his left, but again his blow was warded off and he again missed ʻĪmaikalani. After this second miss Omaokamau turned around and returned to Umi.

When he came up to ʻUmi, Omaokamau said ‘The eyes of ʻĪmaikalani are both sightless but his thinking powers are faultless. I fought him for a time, but he warded off my blows so skillfully that I was afraid of him and so I came back.’

While Omaokamau was reporting to ʻUmi, Koi then started off and went as far as the place where the birds were stationed. When he heard the birds give the note of warning, which was also heard by ʻĪmaikalani, ʻĪmaikalani sent his two men to go and see who it was.

When the men came out they saw a man, so they reported to ʻĪmaikalani: ‘It is a large man with dark skin and the hair on his head is curly.’ ʻĪmaikalani replied: ‘That is Koi; he is also very skillful in the use of the war club, but he is strong in the left arm and weak in the right; he is just like Omaokamau.’

When Koi came up to his opponents he began twirling his war club; after attempted strikes, Koi saw that he could not get the best of ʻĪmaikalani and he turned around and returned to ʻUmi – telling him, ‘No warrior can stand before ʻĪmaikalani”.

While Koi was giving his account of the encounter, Piimaiwaa spoke up to Koi: “The bones of a youngster-like you could not be old enough; here are the bones that are well matured.” But, he, too, was unable to best his opponent.

After the lapse of some tens of days, Omaokamau met a man who asked ‘Why is it that ʻĪmaikalani has not been slain by your people?” Omaokamau answered: ‘I don’t know why.’ The man said: ‘He can be slain, it can be done easily. It will not take much of an exertion.’

The man (one of ʻĪmaikalani’s kahili bearers) then told Omaokamau, ‘The birds which sit on the outside are his eyes, and it is by them that he is warned of the approach of any person. On hearing this warning he prepared himself for the conflict.’

‘The men with him are also his eyes; they are the ones who tell him when the enemy is near and this gives him a chance to use his wits and to defend himself. But if the birds and the men are first killed then ʻĪmaikalani can be slain, he will not escape.’

When Omaokamau heard this from the man, he stood up and started off to carry out the advice given him. When he came up to the place where the birds generally sat he crept up cautiously and struck them with his club, killing them. He then turned to ʻĪmaikalani and poked him in the stomach with the point of his club, killing him.

In explaining to ʻUmi how he killed ʻĪmaikalani, Omaokamau said “to kill ʻĪmaikalani, you must first kill the birds and the two watchmen, who are ʻĪmaikalani’s guards and who give him warning of the approach of any person. Kill the birds and the men, then you will be able to kill ʻĪmaikalani. That is how I was able to kill him.” (Fornander) (The image shows Imaikalani, drawn by Brook Parker.)

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Imaikalani-Brook_Parker

May 10, 2016 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Olonā

The ancient Hawaiians made use of a considerable range of fiber plants. Some of these they brought with them; others were discovered in the new island home.

Naturally available to the Hawaiians were a variety of vines, grasses, and tree barks that could be used as cord with little or no modification, but they found that, with a bit more effort, they could produce string, twine, or rope that was easier to handle and lasted a longer time.

First among the Hawaiians’ cordage resources, however, was an endemic forest plant, olonā. Its excellence made olonā cordage a highly valued item, not only among the Hawaiians themselves but also, later, among Western sailors, and its virtues enabled Hawaiians to create some of the finest pre-contact handcraft in the Pacific. (Abbott)

“Olonā was a thing highly prized by one and all. It was very valuable and planters raised it extensively. … There were, however, few places where olonā would grow and hence, not all people cultivated.”

The ancient Hawaiians undoubtedly discovered the valuable fiber of this plant at a very early time. They were intimately familiar with the local flora and its economic utilization. The olonā is mentioned in many of the old songs and legends.

“It grew in rainy districts and in marsh lands and in those parts of the mountain which were saturated with moisture; it did not grow on bare mountain sides but on those ridges where bananas grew and water ran constantly and where there was plenty of moisture. It throve on the windward side of the islands and few places besides.”

“When people in old days planted olonā they first looked for a good place in the mountains to plant, a valley where it was fertile and flat, perhaps below a cliff in the bed of a stream.”

“Here they cut down the pulu ferns, chopped down the trees and cleared out the weeds. The planting was done like the planting of the wauke from the young shoots or cuttings from the ground stem.”

“A field of olonā that grew uniformly with every stalk and every leaf alike was the planter’s delight, and if it grew on a level, two or three acres or more of it, his joy knew no bounds. It all grew up like the hairs on the head, with straight stalks and rounded leaves. In a year or more it was full-grown and the leaves began to turn yellow.” (Kamakau; Bishop Museum)

Special interest is attached to the olonā fiber as it is generally recognized to be the strongest and most durable fiber in the world. No other fiber is recorded to exceed it in these two important characteristics.

This fiber is the best of all fibers known at the present time. The three dominant features are (1) the great tensile strength (about three times the strength of commercial Manila – about eight times as strong as hemp;) (2) its great resistance to deterioration in salt water; and (3) its pliability, and thus its adaptability for spinning by hand.

Among the Hawaiians it was put to a great variety of uses. All fishing lines and nets of the best quality were invariably made of olonā, because of its high resistance to the action of salt water. (MacCaughey, 1918)

Fishing lines and nets made from this fiber by expert Hawaiians present an appearance of so uniform a caliber and twist that it would lead one to believe that the fiber had been made by the most intricate machinery.

Olonā lines and nets which have been in more or less constant use for over a century are almost as good as new, and are handed down from generation to generation as precious objects. Most of the natives are very unwilling to part with any of their fishing gear that is made of olonā.

The very serviceable carrying-nets, koho, in which the wooden calabashes and other objects were borne, were commonly made of olonā fiber. Olonā was not used for making the bark-cloth or kapa itself, but threads and cords of olonā were used for sewing the kapa.

A stout cord of olonā was usually attached to the wooden war-clubs and dagger-like swords, for suspending the weapon from the wrist. This prevented the loss of the weapon during the fray. For fastening the stone adz, ‘o‘o, to its wooden handle, olonā was always the preferred fiber.

It was used for the very fine and pliable netting which served as a groundwork for the feathers, in the construction of the splendid garments and insignia of the ancient royalty and ali‘i. The brilliant scarlet and yellow feathers were skillfully woven by the women upon the imperishable framework of olonā. (MacCaughey, 1918)

“Olonā is so universally the basis of Hawaiian feather cloaks, that feathers mounted on any other substance would be at once classed as foreign to the group.” The fineness of the net varies as does the size of the thread used for cloaks.

In featherwork, feathers are mounted and tied with olonā cordage to nets made of well twisted, closely netted olonā. Feathers are inserted in rows and bound by two or three turns of the olonā threads. (Brigham)

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Shark fish-hook made of bone, twine, cord (olona fibre)-BritishMuseum

Olona

Olona_Cordage-NMA

Detail of reverse of a cloak, showing olona fibre netting-BritishMuseum

Swivel-headed adze made of wood, olona, and polished stone used primarily for working on the interior of canoe-BM

Shark fish-hook made of bone, twine, olona fibre cord-BritishMuseum

Olona-Cordage-NMA

hawaiian-soul-scoop-nets-mauimagazine

WLA_haa_Lei_Niho_Palaoa_Neck_Ornament-Carved sperm whale tooth, braided human hair, olona cordage

May 3, 2016 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kamakahonu

“The view of the king’s camp was concealed only by a narrow tongue of land, consisting of naked rocks, but when we had sailed round we were surprised at the sight of the most beautiful landscape.”

“We found ourselves in a small sandy bay of the smoothest water, protected against the waves of the sea; on the bank was a pleasant wood of palm-trees, under whose shade were built several straw houses …”

“… to the right, between the green leaves of the banana-trees, peeped two snow-white houses, built of stone after the European fashion, on which account this place has the mixed appearance of a European and Owhyee village”.

“(T)o the left, close to the water, on an artificial elevation, stood the morai (heiau) of the king, surrounded by large wooden statues of his gods, representing caricatures of the human figure.” (Kotzebue, visiting in 1816)

Several large and densely populated Royal Centers were located along the shoreline between Kailua and Hōnaunau. One such center was located along the north end of Kailua Bay at Kamakahonu.

Kamakahonu (lit. turtle eye) was possibly established as early as the sixteenth century by ʻUmi-a-Līloa. It was during the early nineteenth century that Keawe a Mahi, a kahu of Keaweaheulu presided over Kamakahonu, and upon the death of Keawe a Mahi, Kamakahonu became the residence of Kamehameha I.

During Kamehameha’s tenure at Kamakahonu several structures were erected using both traditional materials and techniques and more “modern” materials and techniques.

Kamehameha first moved into the former residence of Keawe a Mahi. He then built another house on the seaward side of that residence, that was referred to as hale nana mahina ‘ai.

This house was built high on stones and faced directly upland toward the planting fields of Kūāhewa. Like an observation post this house afforded a view of the farm lands and was also a good vantage point to see canoes coming from South Kona and from the Kailua vicinity. (Rechtman)

Much of the following is from John Papa ‘Īʻi’s book, ‘Na Hunahuna no ka Moʻolelo Hawaii’ (Fragments of Hawaiian History;) he was a member of the Kamehameha household.

‘I‘i describes that the “King erected three houses thatched with dried ti leaves,” a sleeping house (hale moe) and separate men’s (hale mua) and women’s (hale ‘āina) eating houses. The hale ‘āina belonged to Kaʻahumanu, and as ‘I‘i described:

“This house had two openings in the gable end toward the west, and close to the second opening was the door of the sleeping house. A third opening was in the end toward the upland.”

“There were three openings in the sleeping house. The one in the middle of the west end, one which served as a window on the upland side of the southwest corner, and one mauka of the window. This window lay beyond the men’s house (mua) on the south. The door mauka of the window was the one entered when coming from the men’s house.”

“The door of the men’s house closest to the sleeping house was the one used to go back and forth between these two houses. There was also a door in the end wall on the west side of this house, and two small openings in the south seaward corner, one in the upper side and one on the lower side of the corner.”

“These faced the many capes of Kona and took in the two extremities of this tranquil land and the ships at anchor. However, should the ships be more to the ocean side, only the masts were visible.”

“A fifth opening was a little on the seaward side of the northeast corner, where the upland side of the men’s house extended a little beyond the sleeping house, and it was only through this entrance that the men went in and out. It was near the door that was used to enter from the sleeping house.”

“Near the door facing westward in the mua, was the king’s eating place. On the upper side were large and small wooden containers that served as bowls and platters, together with a large poi container always filled with poi from the king’s lands.”

“The men’s eating house, the sleeping house, and the women’s eating house were at the end of a 7- to 8-foot stone wall that ran irregularly from there to the shore at the back of the hale nana mahina ‘ai. Outside of the wall was the trail for those who lived oceanward of Kamakahonu. Immediately back of the wall was the pond of Alanaio, where stood some houses.”

“Two eating houses were built for Kaheiheimālie and her daughter, Kekāuluohi, opposite the three houses thatched with ti leaves. They stood back of the kou trees growing there at Kamakahonu, both facing northwest.”

“Kaheiheimālie’s eating house had two doors, but Kekāuluohi’s had but one door. In front of her house was a bathing pool, at the upper bank of which were some small houses and that of the king.”

“A stone house was built between the three houses thatched with ti and those of these chiefesses. Its builder was either a Frenchman or a Portuguese named Aikona. He was skilled in such work…”

“When Aikona began building the end and side walls of the house at Kamakahonu he built a third wall between them and arranged stones in the center of this middle wall to from a door.”

“The walls rose together until the house, from one end to the other, was finished. When Aikona later removed the stones set up in the doorway of the center wall, the doorway looked like the fine arched bridge of Pualoalo at Peleula in Honolulu.”

“As he removed the stones, Aikona explained that had they been piled inexpertly, the whole house might have collapsed. This house was well completed.”

“In the stone house were stored the king’s valuables and those of Aikona’s. These valuables were kegs of rum and gunpowder and guns, of which the guns and powder were placed on the inside near the inner wall. “

“Later, another storehouse was built in Kamakahonu, on the north side of the hale nana mahina ‘ai. It had stone walls and was constructed like a maka halau. The upper of its two stories was for storing tapa, pa‘u, malos, fish nets, lines, and olona fiber; and all other goods went into the lower story.”

“The thatching was of sugar-cane leaves, the customary thatching on the house along that shore. Dried banana trunk sheaths were used for the inside walls and were cleverly joined from top to bottom. Banana trunk sheaths were also used in the hale nana mahina ‘ai.”

“After these houses were built, another heiau house, called Ahuʻena, was restored (ho‘ala hou). This house stood on the east side of the hale nana mahina ‘ai, separated from it by about a chain’s distance.”

“The foundation of Ahuʻena was a little more than a chain from the sand beach to the westward and from the rocky shore to the eastward. Right in front of it was a well-made pavement of stone which extended its entire length and as far out as the place where the waves broke.” (ʻĪʻi, Na Hunahuna no ka Moʻolelo Hawaiʻi’ (Fragments of Hawaiian History))

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Kamakahonu map by Rockwood based on Ii-Rechtman

kamehameha_at_kamakahonu-HerbKane

Temple_on_the_Island_of_Hawaii_by_Louis_Choris_ink,ink_wash_and_watercolor_over_pencil_1816

Map of Kailua Bay-Kekahuna-BishopMuseum

Kailua_Bay-Landing-Map-Wall-Reg2560 (1913)-Kamakahonu_site_on_left

Kailua-Bay-Kamakahonu-Ka_Hale_Pua_Ilima_Foundation-HenryEPKekahuna-BishopMuseum-SP_201853

James_Gay_Sawkins,_England,_1806-1878,_Kailua-Kona_with_Hualalai,_Hulihee_Palace_and_Church-Kamakahonu is at left_1852

Hale ʻIli Maiʻa, the Royal storehouse of King Kamehameha I, Kailua, Kona, Hawaii.

Kamakahonu-DMY

Kamakahonu_DMY

Kamakahonu_Cove-1954 (Ahuena Heiau Inc)

Kamakahonu,_Kona

Kamakahonu DMY

Kailua Bay aerial 1960s

Kailua Bay aerial 1940s

King_Kamehameha_Hotel-(the_former_hotel)-1960s-1970s

April 25, 2016 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Nanaue

Puʻumano (Shark Hill) is in the ahupuaʻa of Kainalu on the south-western side of the Island of Molokai. There is a shallow ravine leading up the slope to the summit – tradition suggests this was caused when Nanaue was dragged by Unauna.

Let’s look back …

During the time of ʻUmi, there was a beautiful girl from Waipiʻo named Kalei. She was an expert swimmer, a good diver and noted for the neatness and grace with which she would ‘lelekawa’ (jump from the rocks into deep water without any splashing of water.)

Kalei was very fond of shell-fish, and frequently went to the coast for her favorite food. She generally went in the company of other women, but if the sea was a little rough, and her usual companion was afraid out, she very often went alone.

In those days, the Waipiʻo River emptied over a low fall into a basin partly open to the sea. (The forces of nature have since filled the pool with rocks.) Back then, it was a deep pool and a favorite bathing place.

The shark-god, Kamohoaliʻi, also used to visit this pool.

Kamohoaliʻi was the King-shark of Hawaiʻi and Maui. It was the belief of the ancient Hawaiians that several of these shark-gods could assume any shape they chose, even the human form, when occasion demanded.

Kamohoaliʻi had noted the charms of the beautiful Kalei, and took a liking to her. Knowing he couldn’t court her in his shark form, he assumed the form of a very handsome man, and waited for the girl to show up at the beach.

It was a rough day and Kalei came alone; caught in a wave (raised by the god himself,) the handsome stranger came to Kalei’s rescue. The acquaintance was established and Kalei met the stranger from time to time – finally becoming his wife.

Some little time before she expected to become a mother, her husband, who all this time would only come home at night, told her his true nature, and informing her that he would have to leave her, gave orders in regard to the bringing up of the future child.

He particularly cautioned the mother never to let him be fed on animal flesh of any kind, as he would be born with a dual nature, and with a body that he could change at will.

In time, Kalei delivered a healthy boy named Nanaue; he was apparently the same as any other child, but he had, besides the normal mouth of a human being, a shark’s mouth on his back between the shoulder blades.

Kalei had told her family of the kind of being her husband was, and they all agreed to keep the matter of the shark mouth on the child’s back a secret.

The old grandfather, far from heeding the warning given by Kamohoaliʻi in the matter of animal diet, as soon as the boy was old enough to come under the tabu in regard to the eating of males, and had to take his meals at the hale mua (men’s eating house,) took special pains to feed him on dog meat or pork.

When he became a man, Nanaue’s appetite for animal diet, indulged in childhood, had grown so strong, that the ordinary allowance of a human being would not suffice for him.

The old grandfather had died in the meantime, so that he was dependent on the food supplied by his stepfather and uncles, to feed his shark-like appetite. This gave rise to the common native nickname of a ‘manohae’ (ravenous shark) for a very gluttonous man, especially in the matter of meat.

People were curious as to why Nanaue always kept a kihei (a loose garment of tapa thrown over one shoulder and tied in a knot) on his shoulders.

He also didn’t participate in the games and pastimes of the young people (for fear that the wind or some active movement might displace the kapa mantle, and the shark-mouth be exposed to view.)

About this time children, and eventually grown-ups, began to mysteriously disappear.

Nanaue had one good quality that seemed to redeem his apparent unsociability; he was almost always to be seen working in his mother’s taro or potato patch when not fishing or bathing. People going to the beach would pass by, and it was Nanaue’s habit to ask where they were going.

If they answered ‘to bathe in the sea’” or for ‘fishing,’ he would answer, ‘take care or you may disappear head and tail.’ Whenever he so confronted anyone, it would not be long before some member of the party so addressed would be bitten by a shark. If it should be a man or woman going to the beach alone, that person would never be seen again.

The shark-man would immediately follow, and watching for a favorable opportunity, jump into the sea. Having previously marked the whereabouts of the person he was after, it was an easy thing for him to approach quite close and changing into a shark, rush on the unsuspecting person and drag him or her down into the deep, where he would devour his victim.

This was the danger to humanity which his king-father foresaw when he cautioned the mother of the unborn child about feeding him on animal flesh, as thereby an appetite would be evoked which they had no means of satisfying, and a human being would furnish the most handy meal of the kind that he would desire.

Eventually, while he was in human form, folks managed to remove his kihei and see the shark mouth on his back. The news of the shark-mouth and his characteristic shark-like actions were quickly reported to the King.

The King was told of the disappearance of so many people in the vicinity of the pools frequented by Nanaue; and of his pretended warnings to people going to the sea, which were immediately followed by a shark bite or by their being eaten bodily, with every one’s surmise and belief that Nanaue was the cause of all those disappearances.

ʻUmi asked the priests and shark kahunas to make offerings and invocations to Kamohoaliʻi that his spirit might take possession of one of his ‘hakas’ (medium devoted to his cult,) and so express to humanity his desires in regard to his bad son, who had presumed to eat human beings, a practice well known to be contrary to Kamohoaliʻi’s desires.

The shark-god manifested himself through a ‘haka’ and expressed his grief at the action of his wayward son. He told them that the grandfather was to blame for feeding him on animal flesh contrary to his orders.

Then the shark-god, promised they would be forever free from any persecutions on account of their unnatural son, and Nanaue left the island of Hawaii, crossed over to Maui and, later on to Molokai.

It was not very long before he was at his old practice of observing and accosting people, giving them his peculiar warning, then following them into the sea in his human shape, then seizing one of them as a shark and pulling the unfortunate one to the bottom, where he would devour his victim.

This went on for some time, until the frightened and harassed people in desperation, went to consult a shark kahuna, as the ravages of the man-eating shark had put a practical tabu on all kinds of fishing. It was not safe to be anywhere near the sea, even in the shallowest water.

Following the instructions of the kahuna, the people overpowered Nanaue and started a fire to burn him (it was well known that only by being totally consumed by fire that a man-shark can be thoroughly destroyed, and prevented from taking possession of the body of some harmless fish shark, who would then be incited to do all the pernicious acts of a shark-man.)

The people also called to their aid the demi-god Unauna, who lived in the mountains of upper Kainalu. It was then a case of Akua vs. Akua.

Nanaue was finally conquered and hauled up on the hill slopes of Kainalu to be burnt. The shallow ravine left by the passage of his immense body over the light yielding soil of the Kainalu hill slope, can be seen to this day.

The place was ever afterwards called Puʻumano (Shark Hill,) and is so known to this day.

Unauna ordered the people to cut and bring for the purpose of splitting into knives, bamboos from the sacred grove of Kainalu. The shark flesh was then cut into strips, partly dried and then burnt; but the whole bamboo grove had to be used up before the big shark was all cut up.

The God Mohoaliʻi, (another form of the same God Kamohoaliʻi) father of Unauna, was so angered by the destruction of the grove, that he took away all the edge and sharpness from the bamboos of this grove forever.

To this day they are different from the bamboos of any other place or grove on the islands in this particular, that a piece of them cannot cut any more than any piece of common wood. (This summary comes completely from The Legend of the Shark-Man Nanaue, by Mrs Emma M Nakuina.)

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