“The first thing you will hear is drums in the distance, then you will smell a foul and musky odor, and you will hear a conch shell being blown, for fair warning to get out of the way, and you will see torches getting brighter and brighter as they get closer.”
“Your best chance is to have an ancestor that recognizes you, they will call out,’Na‘u!’ which means mine. But if you are in the night marchers’ bloodline no one in the procession can harm you.”
“No matter what you build in their path they go straight through it. The night marchers are the vanguard for a sacred chief or chiefess who unusually have a high station in life.” (Kapanui)
Here’s a recount …
“One night just after nightfall about seven or eight in the evening, he was on his way when of a sudden he saw a long line of marchers in the distance coming toward him. He climbed over a stone wall and sat very still.”
“As they drew near he saw that they walked four abreast and were about seven feet tall nor did their feet touch the ground. One of the marchers stepped out of the line and ran back and forth on the other side of the wall behind which he crouched as if to protect him from the others.”
“As each file passed he heard voices call out ‘Strike!’ and his protector answer ‘No! no! he is mine!’ No other sounds were to be heard except the call to strike and the creak of a ma-ne-le (string hammock.) He was not afraid and watched the marchers closely.”
“There were both men and women in the procession. After a long line of marchers four abreast had passed there came the ma-ne-le bearers, two before and two behind. On the litter sat a very big man whom he guessed at once to be a chief. Following the litter were other marchers walking four abreast. After all had passed his protector joined his fellows.”
“A month later the same young man went to call on some friends and was returning home late at night. Not far from the spot where he had met the marchers before was a level flat of ground and drawing near to the spot he heard the sound of an ipu drum and of chanting.”
“He came close enough to see and recognize many of the men and women whom he had seen on the previous march as he had sat behind the stone wall.”
“He was delighted with the chanting and drumming, with the dancing of the ala‘apapa by the women and the mokomoko wrestling and other games of the past by the men.”
“As he sat watching he heard someone say, ‘There is the grandson of Kekuanoi!’ – ‘Never mind! we do not mind him!’ said another. This was the name of a grandfather of his who lived on the beach and he knew that he himself was being discussed.”
“For a couple of hours he sat watching before he went home. His grandfather at home had sun it all; he said, ‘I know that you have been with our people of the night; I saw you sitting by watching the sports.’”
“Then he related to his grandfather what he had seen on the two nights when he met the chiefs and warriors of old.” (Kona resident, as told by Pukui in Kepelino’s Traditions; Beckwith)
The sight of the procession of Ka huaka‘i o ka Pō (‘Marchers of the Night’) “is said to be fatal unless one has a relative among the dead to intercede for him.”
“If a man is found stricken by the roadside a white doctor will pronounce the cause as heart failure, but a Hawaiian will think at once of the fatal night march.” (Pukui, Kepelino’s Traditions; Beckwith)
“The time for the march is between half after seven when the sun has actually set and about two in the morning before the dawn breaks.”
“It may occur on one of the four nights of the gods, on Ku, Akua, Lono, Kane, or on the nights of Kaloa. Those who took part in the march were the chiefs and warriors who had died, the aumakua, and the gods, each of whom had their own march.” (Pukui, Kepelino’s Traditions; Beckwith)
“There are several types of Marchers. The gods may be distinguished by a wind that blows through the forests or shrubbery. The wind snaps off branches of great trees to clear the path for the gods.”
“The march of the gods is led by a row of six who carry blazing red torches. Three of the torch carriers are females and three are males. The sound clearly heard within their ranks is the chanting of their names and chants of praise.”
“Kane is the night on which the Marchers in the Night most often consist of dead chiefs, chiefesses, priests and their close attendants. Again, a Hawaiian conceals himself for it is death to be seen by the Marchers.”
“The chief’s procession are lighted by torches, but the light of the torches is not as great as that of the gods. A warlike chief is apt to march in the procession between two warriors.”
“In all these processions, a man who had held a similar position in life, marches at the head of the column calling kapu to warn the living to get out of the way. It is his duty to execute any living being caught in the path.”
“Many Hawaiians have never seen the processions but they have heard the music of the flute, the beating of the drums and the chanting which goes on at the heiau at the end of a procession.”
“Sometimes the procession of chiefs will end on a level piece of ground which in ancient days served as a place for sports tourneys. There the chiefs and attendants play their favorite old games to the loud sound of laughing and cheering.”
“Ancient Hawaiians knew just where the paths were located which were the favorite courses of the Marchers in the Night.” (Taylor)
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