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January 7, 2018 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

The Gods Who Brought the Plants

“In view of the myth that relates the origin and descent of taro, which was identified with the god Kāne, to that of the ali‘i, or chiefs, of Hawaii, it is surprising that in the pageantry of the Makahiki, or harvest festival, the reigning aIi‘i plays the role of Lono rather than of Kāne.”

“Lono does not have any part in the creation myths of the Hawaiian Islands. This would seem to imply that Lono, with whom were identified the sweet potato, the gourd, and the hog, was a chief who came to these islands after they were already settled.”

“Had Lono come first, we should expect him to appear as a mythological character, and to find Kāne remembered, or recorded genealogically, as subsequent and subsidiary.”

“On the contrary, Kāne is primordial in the creation lore describing the origination of gods and men out of the marriage of Sky and Earth.”

“The sweet potato and gourd were suitable for cultivation in the drier areas of the islands. The cult of Lono was important in those areas, particularly in Kona on Hawaii and ‘Ulupalakua on Maui. At both of these places there were temples dedicated to Lono. The sweet potato was particularly the food of the common people.”

“The festival in honor of Lono, preceding and during the rainy season, was essentially a festival for the whole people, in contrast to the war rite in honor of Kū which was a ritual identified with Kū as god of battle.”

“It seems likely that the four chief gods of Hawaii, with each of whom particular plants and animals that were introduced were identified, represent distinct eras of colonization.”

“Because of Kāne’s place in the religion, his primordial role in the creation mythology, his pantheistic character, and his role as life-giver, it is logical to say that the first colonizers were worshipers of Kāne. With Kāne are identified the taro, sugar cane, and bamboo.”

“Our inference is, therefore, that these were introduced by the first settlers, and that it was these colonizers who established systematic agriculture in those areas that were capable of systematic development by means of irrigation …”

“… in other words, primarily the windward coasts and the valley areas on leeward sides of Kauai, Oahu, and West Maui, where stream systems coming down out of rain-drenched highlands made irrigation feasible.”

“This would have been an era of relative quiet, one of fairly isolated tribalism, before dynastic patterns and aristocratic traditions of ambitious warrior chieftains had become established.”

“Kanaloa perhaps came next after Kāne. The banana is identified with Kanaloa, as it is also in Tahiti. In Tahiti, and in Samoa and Tonga, Tangaloa (or Ta’aroa as the name is there pronounced) was the supreme god, the creator, and the ancestor of the ali‘i.”

“There is no reminiscence of this in Hawaii.”

“In all the southern islands, and as far as New Zealand, this deity is god of the ocean; and this is true also in Hawaii.”

“Here there is an interesting traditional association of Kāne and Kanaloa, in connection with the opening up of springs. Also in the mythological account of the creation of man, Kanaloa is associated with Kāne, although he does not appear at the dawn of creation as does Kāne.”

“It is because of the close association of Kanaloa with Kāne that we infer that Kanaloa and the banana came into the islands next after Kāne.”

“In New Zealand and tropical Polynesia, marine life and reptiles are identified with Tangaroa. In Hawaii this is true of marine life, but not of reptiles.”

“In Hawaii there is more lore relating to reptiles (mo‘o) than in any other island, yet there is no recollection of the relationship of reptiles to Kanaloa.”

“With the god Kū are identified the coconut tree and the breadfruit. Neither of these was planted or utilized, within historic times in Hawaii, nearly as extensively as would probably have been the case had they been in the islands for a long time.”

“It is for this reason that we have concluded that the Kū people were late comers. Kū, although not here regarded as lord of the ocean or particularly identified with it in any other way, was the patron of fishing.”

“Fishing as an organized enterprise was a prerogative of the ali’i, and everywhere in the Pacific the ali’i pre-empted the best fishing localities.”

“On the other hand, they did not by any means pre-empt the best farming localities; instead they depended upon the common people for their vegetable provender.”

“War rituals, in Hawaii as also in New Zealand, Tahiti, and the Marquesas, seem to have been derived from fishing rituals, and Kū was god of war as well as of fishing.”

“What probably happened was that as the worshipers of Kū became numerous, and rivalry over the best fishing localities such as Kona and Ka‘u brought about predatory wars, the chieftains came to realize that power depended upon population, and that population was a matter of food supply.”

“The epithet for Kū as a war god was Kū-the-Iand-snatcher, and this epithet became the symbol of conquest and the means of reduction of the farmers to the status of serfs.”

“The only one of the four major deities in Hawaii who was traditionally a human being is Lono. His apparent historical existence lends credence to the idea that he was the last of the four to come to Hawaii.”

“With Lono, as we have said, are identified the sweet potato, the gourd, and the hog. The sweet potato was taken to New Zealand by the Maori in the 14th century, and there likewise is identified with Rongo (Lono).”

“The hog was not taken to New Zealand, nor was the gourd; or at least if they were, neither survived.”

“The fact that the sweet potato went to New Zealand in the 14th century does not imply that it may not have been in Hawaii at an earlier date. It is possible that it was transported from Hawaii to New Zealand.” (Handy, Handy & Pukui)

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Planter-Herb Kane
Planter-Herb Kane

Filed Under: Hawaiian Traditions Tagged With: Lono, Ku, Lane, Plant, Hawaii, Kanaloa

October 16, 2016 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Akua

A distant place lying in quietness
For Kū, for Lono, for Kāne, together with Kanaloa

“The Hawaiian Kumulipo is a genealogical prayer chant linking the royal family to which it belonged not only to primary gods belonging to the whole people and worshiped in common with allied Polynesian groups, not only to deified chiefs born into the living world within the family line …”

“… but to the stars in the heavens and the plants and animals useful to life on earth, who must also be named within the chain of birth and their representatives in the spirit world thus be brought into the service of their children who live to carry on the line in the world of mankind.” (Beckwith)

Hawaiian mythology recognizes a pre-human period before mankind was born when spirits alone peopled first the sea and then the land, which was born of the gods and thrust up out of the sea.

Gods are represented in Hawaiian story as chiefs dwelling in far lands or in the heavens and coming as visitors or immigrants to some special locality in the group sacred to their worship. The four great gods worshiped throughout Polynesia were Kāne, Kanaloa, Kū and Lono. (Beckwith)

It seems likely that the four chief gods of Hawaii, with each of whom particular plants and animals that were introduced were identified, represent distinct eras of colonization in the Islands.

It is believed that the first colonizers in the Islands were worshipers of Kāne. With Kāne are identified the taro, sugar cane, and bamboo.

Therefore, that these were introduced by the first settlers, and that it was these colonizers who established systematic agriculture in those areas that were capable of systematic development by means of irrigation.

This was primarily the windward coasts and the valley areas on leeward sides of the islands, where stream systems coming down out of rain-drenched highlands made irrigation feasible.

This would have been an era of relative quiet, one of fairly isolated tribalism, before dynastic patterns and aristocratic traditions of ambitious warrior chieftains had become established. (Handy, Handy & Pukui)

Kanaloa perhaps came next after Kāne. The banana is identified with Kanaloa. In the Islands there is an interesting traditional association of Kāne and Kanaloa, in connection with the opening up of springs.

Also in the mythological account of the creation of man, Kanaloa is associated with Kāne, although he does not appear at the dawn of creation as does Kāne. It is because of the close association of Kanaloa with Kāne that we infer that Kanaloa and the banana came into the islands next after Kāne.

With the god Kū are identified the coconut tree and the breadfruit. Neither of these was planted or utilized, within historic times in Hawai‘i, nearly as extensively as would probably have been the case had they been in the islands for a long time.

It is for this reason that the Kū people were late comers. Kū, although not regarded as lord of the ocean or particularly identified with it in any other way, was the patron of fishing.

Fishing as an organized enterprise was a prerogative of the aliʻi, and everywhere in the Pacific the aliʻi pre-empted the best fishing localities.

War rituals, in Hawaii seem to have been derived from fishing rituals, and Kū was god of war, as well as of fishing. What probably happened was that as the worshipers of Kū became numerous, and rivalry over the best fishing localities brought about predatory wars. (Handy, Handy & Pukui)

The chiefs came to realize that power depended upon population, and that population was a matter of food supply. The description for Kū as a war god was Kū-the-land-snatcher, and this became the symbol of conquest and the means of reduction of the farmers.

The only one of the four major deities in Hawaii who was traditionally a human being is Lono. His apparent historical existence lends credence to the idea that he was the last of the four to come to Hawai‘i.

Lono is identified with the sweet potato, the gourd and the hog. Lono was the god of rain and storms, and as such the ‘father of waters.’

Fresh water as a life-giver was not to the Hawaiians merely a physical element; it had a spiritual connotation. In prayers of thanks and invocations used in offering fruits of the land, and in prayers chanted when planting, and in prayers for rain, the “Water of Life of Kane” is referred to over and over again.

Kane – the word means ‘male’ and ‘husband’ – was the embodiment of male procreative energy in fresh water, flowing on or under the earth in springs, in streams and rivers, and falling as rain (and also as sunshine), which gives life to plants.

There are many prayers in which “the Water of Life of Kāne” is referred to. Occasionally, you will also see the “Water of Life” of Kanaloa, of Lono and of Kū, and even of Hiʻiaka, sister of Pele, a healer.

The old priests were inclined to include in their prayers for rain and for fertility the names of the four major deities, Kāne, Kanaloa, Kū and Lono, whose roles, while on the whole distinct, overlapped in many areas of ritualistic and mythological conceptions.

The religion of the folk-planters and fishers-was sectarian to some extent; some worshiped Kāne, some Kū, some Lono, and some Kanaloa. Regardless of all such distinctions, life-giving waters were sacred. (Handy, Handy & Pukui)

When Hawaiians prayed, in order to include all aspects of God (not to omit or offend any of the akua,) they added to the prayer the words, “E Hoʻoulu ana I kini o ke akua, ka lehu o ke akua, na mano o ke akua” (Invoke we now the 40,000 gods, the 400,000 gods, the 4,000 gods.) (Beckwith)

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Waterfalls-forest-mist
Waterfalls-forest-mist

Filed Under: Hawaiian Traditions Tagged With: Kanaloa, Lono, Ku, Kane, Akua, Kumulipo

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