Lono | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

December 1, 2023 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Oʻahu ‘Wai’ Ahupuaʻa

Kamapuaʻa had several life forms, including that of a human being and that of a hog. His home was at Kaliuwaʻa, in Kaluanui, Koʻolauloa. ʻOlopana was the king of Oʻahu at this time. (Fornander)

The Hawaiian deity Kamapuaʻa, is a part of the Lono god-force, and possessed many body forms (kinolau), representing both human and various facets of nature. He was born in pig-form to Hina (mother) and Kahiki‘ula (father) at Kaluanui in the Koʻolauloa District of O‘ahu. (Maly)

ʻOlopana, an Oʻahu Chief (and younger brother of Kahikiʻula,) was an adversary of Kamapuaʻa. It was Kamapuaʻa’s custom to go and steal the chickens from ʻOlopana’s lands at Kapaka, at Punaluu, and at Kahana

In one night all the chickens in these different places would be taken. On one of these expeditions, just before daylight while on his way home he met Kawauhelemoa, a supernatural being who had the form of a chicken, who enticed him on until he was discovered by the guards of Olopana.

When ʻOlopana heard that it was Kamapuaʻa that was robbing the hen roosts he sent word to all the people from Kahana to Kaluanui to go after Kamapuaʻa and bring him on their backs to his presence. The people who were sent on this mission numbered about eight hundred.

When they came to Kamapuaʻa, they took him and bound him with ropes, then placed him on a pole and carried him. At Kaluanui, Kamapuaʻa heard about ʻOlopana’s preparations for battle, so he made plans to escape before ʻOlopana and his men arrived.

Kaliuwaʻa is a very high cliff, impossible to climb up or down since there is no trail. The cliff is about two thirds of a mile high. Against this cliff Kamapuaʻa leaned forward and stretched his body to the top to provide a way for his parents, his older brothers, his grandmother, and their servants to escape with all their possessions.

When ʻOlopana and his men arrived at Kaluanui, Kamapuaʻa wasn’t there. ʻOlopana then searched for him , finally ending up in Waiʻanae where ʻOlopana and his men settled.

However, he still couldn’t capture Kamapuaʻa because he didn’t have a kahuna (priest) to direct his efforts. Lonoawohi (aka Lonoawohi) was ʻOlopana’s kahuna when ʻOlopana became king of O’ahu; however, Lonoawohi had been removed from office, bound with ropes, imprisoned, and sentenced to death for a transgression against the chief.

To replace Lonoawohi, ʻOlopana summoned the kahuna Malae from Kauai. Malae told ʻOlopana, to overcome his opponent, he should all the pigs, ʻawa, chickens, fish, men, and bananas you can; take these and lay them before Kamapuaʻa as offerings. These offerings will enfeeble him, and his strength will be gone.”

ʻOlopana carried out Malae’s instructions and laid the offerings before Kamapuaʻa – Kamapuaʻa became weak and feeble. The men then seized Kamapuaʻa and dragged him to Pahoa in Waiʻanae, where Lonoawohi was bound and fastened to a post. ʻOlopana intended to sacrifice him with Kamapuaʻa.

Lonoawohi knew that if Kamapuaʻa was killed, he, too, would be killed, so he directed his sons to go and speak to the men: “You two, go to the men and tell them, ‘E! The king said not to cut the pig open. Take him as he is to the sacrificial altar. It will take several days to reach ‘ʻOlopana’s place; if you kill the pig now, he will surely decay, and the king’s sacrifice will be spoiled.”

“The pig must not be dragged on the ground, either, for his skin will get bruised and damaged. The pig must be carried on poles. When you get tired, put the hog on the ground and rest.”

The men carefully carried Kamapuaʻa to ʻOlopana’s place and put him in the heiau.

That night Lonoawohi slept at the post to which he was tied, his sons with him, while the guards kept watch around the house; and Kamapuaʻa slept in the heiau, also under guard.

Late that night Lonoawohi prayed, and at the close of his prayer, the ropes which held him fell from his body and he rose and walked out of the house, where he found the guards all asleep. When he arrived at the place where Kamapuaʻa was being held, he found the guards asleep.

Lonoawohi then placed his hand at the nostrils of Kamapuaʻa and discovered he was still alive and breathing. Lonoawohi said: “Alive! I thought you might be dead, but I see that you’re not. These bones will live!”

After a while he again said to Kamapuaʻa: “E! The wai lands of Oʻahu are mine.”

The meaning of the request was this: Lonoawohi wanted all the lands containing the word “wai,” such as, Waiʻanae, Waialua and so on.

Lonoawohi knew, through his great powers, that ʻOlopana would be killed, and that Kamapuaʻa would conquer and possess the island of Oʻahu. This was the reason he made this request.

After this exchange between Lonoawohi and Kamapuaʻa, the kahuna returned to his place and sat down. For the rest of the night, he prayed to his god because at dawn he was to be placed on the sacrificial altar with Kamapuaʻa.

In the morning ʻOlopana and the priest Malae began the ceremonies performed before a human sacrifice was offered. The two went and climbed onto the terrace (ʻanuʻu) of the sacrificial stand (lele) and prayed; before the prayer ended, Kamapuaʻa rose above them and opened his eyes.

When Malae and ʻOlopana saw Kamapuaʻa standing above them, they froze with fear and awe. Kamapuaʻa prayed and invoked his many bodies and all his gods. At the close of the prayer the heiau was surrounded by the gods and pigs. Kamapuaʻa then called out to the priest Lonoawohi .

Then, Lonoawohi appeared and raised a kapa banner to mark off an area of kapu; those who entered this area would be saved from death. After this, the slaughter began and the only one who survived Kamapuaʻa’s wrath was Makaliʻi. This was how Kamapuaʻa killed ʻOlopana and conquered Oʻahu. (KCC)

When Kamapuaʻa started to divide the land, one of the notable aspects of the tradition of Kamapuaʻa is that, Lonoawohi, his priest, asked for and received the lands whose names begin with the word “wai” (i.e. Waikiki, Waianae, Waiawa, Wailupe, etc.) Thus, the priests of the Lono class received the “wai” lands. (Maly) This gave a monopoly of well-watered lands on Oʻahu. (Landgraf)

Kamapuaʻa missed his parents, so he transformed to a fish and traveled to Molokai; he convinced his parents to return to O‘ahu. Satisfied that his parents were home, Kamapuaʻa turned into his fish body for a final journey to Kahiki, the ancestral homeland. (Dye) Later, the lands were redistributed. (Landgraf)

In Hawai‘i and essentially in all cultures – water meant life and growth. In Hawai‘i – “Wai” – fresh water – is a life force – it meant abundance and wealth and was a consistent theme in native traditions, practices, land use and historical accounts.

(Lots of information here is from Fornander, Westervelt, KCC and Maly; the image is a collage of a wooden carving of the demi-god Kamapuaʻa – at Bailey House Museum.)

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A collage of a wooden carving of the demi-god Kampua’a – at Bailey House Museum

November 3, 2023 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Mo‘o-kahuna

There were two orders of temple priests, known as kahuna (experts), or kahuna pule (experts in praying). These were the priests of Ku, the war god, and the priests of Lono, the rain god who was lord of agriculture and of peace.

Each order or ‘school’ of priests had its distinctive genealogy, the mo‘o-Ku and the mo‘o-Lono. These were priests in charge of temple worship. As a caste, the priests of both gods were the mo‘o-kahuna.

Malo describes the two orders of the priesthood as follows: ‘There were two rituals which the king in his eminent station used in the worship of the gods; one was the ritual of Ku, the other that of Lono.’

‘The Ku ritual was very strict (oolea), the service most arduous (ikaika). The priests of this rite were distinct from others and outranked them.’

‘They were called priests of the order of Ku, because Ku was the highest god whom the king worshipped in following their ritual. They were also called priests of the order of Kanalu, because that was the name of their first priestly ancestor. These two names were their titles of highest distinction.’

‘The Lono ritual was milder, the service more comfortable. Its priests were, however, of a separate order and of an inferior grade. They were said to be of the order of Lono (mo‘o-Lono), because Lono was the chief object of the king’s worship when he followed the ritual. The priests of this ritual were also said to be of the order of Paliku.’ (Malo)

The priesthood of Lono traced its origin to Paliku, the great erect cliff (pali-ku) of the massive promontory named Kane-hoa-lani at the midpoint of the windward coast of Oahu.

The birthplace of Kamapua‘a was on the uplands above Ka-lua-nui Valley, a few miles southeast of Kane-hoa-lani. (Handy and Handy)

Palikū is recognized as the place of the first heiau (traditional Hawaiian religious temple) during the time of Haumea and Wākea and associated with an ancient cultural context that later underwent significant evolution.

When a great tidal wave swept Haumea, Wākea, and all of their followers out to sea, Wākea was instructed, presumably by the god Lono, ‘to cup his hands together to represent a heiau, then he caught a humuhumu-nukunukuapua‘a fish [triggerfish with a pig-like snout] . . . and stuck it head first into the cupped hands to represent a pig’. (Handy and Handy).

The followers repeated Wākea’s actions, and then the sea washed all of them ashore.

In gratitude to Lono, a temple was constructed at Palikū, and an order of priests called Mo‘o-kuauhau-o-Lono (literally “genealogical line of Lono”) was responsible for religious proceedings at this temple. (Malo)

Handy and Handy reported that the priestly order known as Palikū formerly performed rituals at temples called māpele.

Malo explains that any heiau erected by an ali‘i nui who followed the ritual of Lono was termed a mapele. The timber used in constructing the house of worship, the storied tower (lana-nu‘u-mamao) and the enclosure, would be lama wood, a native ebony (lama was selected because the word suggests enlightenment), and ti leaf served as thatching.

Māpele is defined as ‘thatched heiau. (temple) for the worship of Lono and the increase of food’ (Lono was god of abundance as well as of rain and storm). (Handy and Handy)

“The mapele was a thatched heiau in which to ask the gods blessing on the crops. Human sacrifices were not made at this heiau; pigs only were used as offerings.”

“The timber … used in the construction of the house, the fence about the grounds, and that used in constructing the lananuu-mamao was lama, and it was thatched with the leaves of the ti plant. There were also idols.”

“Any chief in rank below the king was at liberty to construct a mapele heiau, an unu o Lono, a kukoae, or an aka, but not a luakini. The right to build a luakini belonged to the king alone. The mapele, however, was the kind of heiau in which the chiefs and the king himself prayed most frequently.”

“The luakini was a war temple, heiau-wai-kaua, which the king, in his capacity as ruler over all, built when he was about to make war upon another independent monarch, or when he heard that some other king was about to make war against him; also when he wished to make the crops flourish he might build a luakini.”

“Luakini (was a) heiau of the highest class, a war-temple, in which human sacrifices were offered; named from a pit, lua, and kini, many; into which the mouldering remains were finally cast.” (Malo)

“When the people and the priests saw that the services of the luakini were well conducted, then they began to have confidence in the stability of the government, and they put up other places of worship, such as the Mapele, the Kukoea, the Hale-o-Lono.”

“These heiaus were of the kind known as hoouluulu (hoouluulu ai = to make food grow), and were to bring rain from heaven and make the crops abundant, bringing wealth to the people, blessing to the government, prosperity to the land.” (Malo)

September 24, 2023 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

4,000 … 40,000 … 400,000 …

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 akaua, na mano o ke akua” (Invoke we now the 40,000 gods, the 400,000 gods, the 4,000 gods.) (Beckwith)

In Hawaiian culture, natural and cultural resources are one and the same. Native traditions describe the formation (literally the birth) of the Hawaiian Islands and the presence of life on, and around them, in the context of genealogical accounts.

All forms of the natural environment, from the skies and mountain peaks, to the watered valleys and lava plains, and to the shore line and ocean depths are believed to be bodily manifestations of Hawaiian gods and deities.

It was the nature of place that shaped the cultural and spiritual view of the Hawaiian people. “Cultural Attachment” embodies the tangible and intangible values of a culture – how a people identify with, and personify the environment around them.

It is the intimate relationship (developed over generations of experiences) that people of a particular culture feel for the sites, features, phenomena and natural resources etc., that surround them – their sense of place. This attachment is deeply rooted in the beliefs, practices, cultural evolution and identity of a people. (Kent)

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)

Hawaiians honored a kind of diffused hierarchy of gods, headed by Kanaloa, Kāne, Kū and Lono. Each has his areas of responsibility or “departments.” (Kanahele)

Kāne heads the areas of procreation, fresh water, forests, certain plants and animals. Kū oversees war, politics, certain fish and shrubs, and trees.

Lono is in charge of the peace, agriculture, the weather and healing. Kanaloa’s responsibilities suggest an important role of the oceans, voyaging and fishing.

In addition to these patron gods, many lesser deities were recognized who had their own responsibilities. Certain akua watched over certain professions (healers, dancers, canoe makers, tapa makers, astrologers, etc.)

There were also family gods, and gods for individuals. Each family had its own ʻaumakua (personal god) that watched over and protected them. For some it was the shark, others the pig, and so on.

It was thought that spirits could communicate to the living through dreams and often appeared in the form of the family’s ʻaumakua.

Likewise, a vast number of demigods (kupua) that took life forms and represented as part human and part god and often tell of historic and heroic struggles between different kupua.

Kupua stories tend to follow a regular pattern. The kupua is born in some non-human form, but detected and saved by his grandparents (generally the mother’s side,) who discern the divine nature. He is won over by some chief and sent to do battle with his rival. (Beckwith)

Within these various major natural forms, gods, lesser gods, ʻaumakua, kupua and even humans was ‘mana’ – a spiritual energy. It is therefore an external and internal force within and around us.

“The missionaries found that the conflict between the light of Christianity and the darkness of heathenism was no momentary struggle.” (Bingham) The Hawaiians were criticized for believing in a great many spirits, worshipping ‘false gods’ and setting up alters in their honor.

This polytheism (worship or belief in multiple deities) was not and is not unique (although modern Christians may reference it differently.) This is not to suggest the faiths are the same; there are, however, signs of similarity that should not be ignored.

A discussion on cultural beliefs helped me see that even in today’s Christian faith, while one God is ever present – Christian worshippers look to and seek guidance and assistance from others within the religion, beyond God.

Take, for example, the Catholic religion and beatification of two saints with Hawaiʻi ties, Saint Damien and Saint Marianne.

Roman Catholic canonization requires evidence of miracles attributed to that person’s intercession. People pray to the religious members for help; multiple miracles may move that member to saintly status.

Catholics pray to God; but within the religion are numerous Saints and Angels who are also looked upon and prayed to; as well as others (as former Father Damien and Mother Marianne, before their elevation to Sainthood.)

During Pope Benedict XVI’s term as Pope (2005-2013) at least 45 new saints were added to the Catholic roles; so, the list of saints continues to grow.

Likewise, look at the monumental edifices erected for worship by other religions, including Christianity. Houses of worship are not simple structures and each has an alter and other religious representations.

Again, I am not saying they are the same; however, it looks like we may all be more similar than we sometimes think.

June 22, 2019 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Hiki‘au Heiau

After sailing around the island and exploring its northern and eastern sides, Captain Cook landed at Kealakekua Bay early in 1779.

When Cook arrived at Kealakekua, “they called Captain Cook Lono (after the god Lono who had gone away promising to return).” (Kamakau)

When Cook went ashore, he was taken to Hiki‘au Heiau and was seated above the altar and covered with a cloak of red tapa like that about the images.

Both chiefs and commoners said to each other, “This is indeed Lono, and this is his heiau come across the Sea from Moa-ʻula-nui-akea (land in Raʻiatea in the Society Islands) across Mano-wai-nui-kai-oʻo!” (Kamakau)

There are a number of reasons why the people may have thought Cook was the god Lono:

He arrived during the Makahiki festival, a time when the god Lono symbolically returned from his travels
Like Lono, Cook had come to the Hawaiian people from the sea
The shapes of the English ships were reminiscent of the kapa cloth and upright standards used in the Makahiki parades
Cook’s ships had sailed around Hawai’i clockwise, the same direction followed by Lono’s processions
Kealakekua, where Cook’s ships anchored, was the site of the important Hiki‘au Heiau dedicated to Lono

When Kalani‘ōpu‘u (Ali‘i ʻAimoku (High Chief or King) of the Island of Hawai‘i) met with Cook, he treated him with hospitality, giving him hogs, taro, potatoes, bananas and other provisions.

In addition, he gave feather capes, helmets, kahili, feather lei, wooden bowls, tapa cloths and finely woven mats. Cook gave Kalani’ōpu’u gifts in return.

When Captain Vancouver visited the islands in the 1790s, he provided the following description of Hiki‘au:“Adjoining one side of the Square was the great Morai (heiau,) where there stood a kind of steeple (‘anu‘u) that ran up to the height of 60 or 70 feet, …”

“… it was in square form, narrowing gradually towards the top where it was square and flat; it is built of very slight twigs & laths, placed horizontally and closely, and each lath hung with narrow pieces of white Cloth.”

“… next to this was a House occupied by the Priests, where they performed their religious ceremonies and the whole was enclosed by a high railing on which in many parts were stuck skulls of those people, who had fallen victims to the Wrath of their Deity.. . . In the center of the Morai stood a preposterous figure carved out of wood larger than life representing the . . . supreme deity. . ..”

John Papa I‘i wrote that in ca. 1812-1813, shortly after Kamehameha’s return to Hawai‘i, the king celebrated the Makahiki and in the course of doing so he rededicated Hiki‘au, “the most important heiau in the district of Kona”.

In 1819, Louis de Freycinet also visited Hiki‘au Heiau and stated: “The one [temple] of Riorio (Liholiho) in Kayakakoua (Kealakekua) was surrounded by a simple square palisade in the center of which were twelve hideous idols of gigantic proportions. …”

“Next to them rose the light wooden obelisk-like structure that we mentioned earlier and then a small terrace surrounding a wooden platform, which was supported by two stakes driven into the ground. This platform is where they sacrifice men and animals to these terrible deities.”

“… A rather large number of rocks, piled here and there without any seeming order, covered the ground. … In the center, as well as to the extreme right of the enclosure, stood wooden huts covered with palm leaves. One of these was reserved for the king during certain ceremonies and others for the priests.”

As a side note, you recall that Henry ʻŌpūkahaʻia left Hawai‘i in 1809 and sailed to the continent where he eventually inspired the first missionaries to volunteer to carry the message of Christianity to the islands.

ʻŌpūkahaʻia had wanted to join them in spreading the word of Christianity back home in Hawaiʻi, but died in 1818 of typhus fever before the first company of missionaries sailed to Hawaiʻi in 1819, landing at Kailua-Kona on April 4, 1820.

It is interesting to note that ʻŌpūkahaʻia (prior to leaving the islands) had been under the direction of his uncle, a kahuna (priest) at the Hiki‘au Heiau. It had been the hope of his uncle that Opukahaʻia would take his place as the kahuna at Hiki‘au Heiau.

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Arago_–_Iles_Sandwich_-_Vue_du_Morai_du_Roi_a_Kayakakoua-ceremonial reception of French Naval Officers in Hawaii, 1817 to 1820.

Hikiau_Heiau_illustration-William_Ellis_(Captian_Cook's_Crew)-1782

Karakakoa_Bay,_Owyhee,_Drawn_by_Thomas_Heddington,_Artist_with_Vancouver

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October 6, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Hula in Relation to Planting and Harvest

“Hula dancing was enjoyed everywhere during these festivities commemorating Lono. Some ancient hula chants may be interpreted as rain-making incantations. Here are several verses that refer to Hilo, one of the rainiest inhabited localities on the island of Hawaii: Hi‘u o Lani

“Heaven magic, fetch a Hilo-pour from heaven!
Morn’ cloud-buds, look! They swell in the East.
The rain-cloud parts, Hilo is deluged with rain,
The Hilo of King Hana-kahi.

Surf breaks, stirs the mire of Pi’ilani;
The bones of Hilo are broken
By the blows of the rain.
Ghostly the rain-scud of Hilo in heaven;

The cloud-forms of Pua-lani grow and thicken.
The rain-priest bestirs him now to go forth,
Forth to observe the stab and thrust of the rain,
The rain that clings to the roof of Hilo.”

(”Pua-Iani (Sky-flower) was the god who was seen as the rosy clouds of morning, a sign of rain.”)

“Laka, the goddess of the wildwood who was patron of the hula, was said to have been the wife and sister of Lana. The lines that follow are from the chant that dedicated the altar of the Halau Hula (Hall of Hula) in which the sacred and traditional hula was taught.”

“On the altar Laka was represented by a block of lama (which means light) wood covered by a yellow tapa cloth, and its decorations consisted of wild growth from the uplands …”

“… fragrant maile, orange-red and flamelike blossoms of ‘ie‘ie, deep red flowers of hala-pepe, scarlet blossoms of lehua which are like little pompoms, pinkish red mountain apples (‘ōhi‘a ‘ai) , many varieties of fern, flowers of hibiscus and hau, red-orange ‘ilima flowers, ti plants, bananas, and breadfruits.”

“According to Kawena Pukui there were five of the above which must be used without fail : (1) ‘Ōhi‘a lehua (branch and blooms); (2) hala pepe (branch and blossom); (3) maile (any kind); (4) ‘ie‘ie (branch with blossom); and (5) palapalai fern. Other foliage and flowers were used when available.”

“Possibly the origin of hula dancing, which is fundamentally a treading motion of the feet accompanied by rhythmical swinging of the hips and hand gestures …”

“… which express the words of the chant while the shoulders and head are held in poise, is to be found in the treading (hehi) of the earth in a newly made taro patch, or lo‘i (to make it hard and watertight) as described by Kamakau.”

“The day chosen for the treading was a holiday. Men, women and children attended. The owner of the patch provided beforehand an abundance of vegetables, pork, and fish. On the day of treading the new loti was flooded.”

“No one, not even the chief or chiefess, was too kapu (sacred) to tread the soil in the patch. It was a festive day-every man, woman and child decked himself with leaves and worked with all his might, tramping here and there, stirring the mud with his feet, dancing, rejoicing, shouting, reveling, and indulging in all sorts of sport.”

“This tramping and hardening of the surface was done so that the water would not sink away into the soil, but remain to circulate around the stalks of the taro when planted. The planting was done next day, for by then the mud had settled to the bottom of the lo‘i.”

“Laka is sometimes referred to as male, sometimes as female. Such contradictions are not inconsistent in Hawaiian thinking, for a nature god may be male in one form and female in another.”

“Ku-ka-‘ōhi‘a-laka is male. He is embodied in the ‘ōhi‘a lehua trees in the rain forest, and was worshiped as a rain god. He was also ‘god of the hula dance’, ‘He is the male god worshiped in the hula dance.”

“That is why the altar in the dance hall is not complete without a branch of red lehua blossoms.’ But as we have seen above, Laka on the hula altar, a block of lama wood, was a woman, the sister and wife of Lono.”

“Emerson identifies Lono (the god of rain) with Laka, Laka’s body, it is said, was the fragrant foliage of the mountains, the wild ginger, the fern, the maile, the ilima ti.”

“It is obvious that Laka, Lono’s wife, and hula dancing were intimately associated with the idea of rain and abundance of growing things.”

“Kane, with whom taro planting and the origin of taro were associated, was, along with Ku, Lono, and Laka, identified with rain.”

“In a series of prayers used at the decorating of the hula altar with greenery from the uplands: ‘On the highest pinnacle great Lono-of-Kane (Lono-nui-a -Kane) will hear.’”

“Later the prayer addresses Kane-of-Lono (Kane-o-Lono). Kane is also addressed as Kane-i-ka-pahu‘a, which may be translated “Kane-the-thruster” or “Kane-the-dancer.” Kane-i-ka-pahu-wai is “Kane with-a-calabash-of-water,” which he pours out on the earth below. This of course is “Kane-of-the-water-of-life,” who was invoked in prayers of the harvest festival.”

“Hula dances and recitatives were performed in honor of the high chief or mo‘i, and in honor of his first-born. It was the mo‘i who played the role of Lono in the Makahiki festival, and during the Makahiki the mo‘i was entertained with hula dancing and chanting.”

“We have an interesting description of a hula performed by planters, the Hula pu niu. This is a hula for farmers. It is done thus …”

“… In the evening the men are all told that they are going to farm, then in the early morning the kumu hula begins his dance, at the time of dancing there are some gourd instruments and the puniu (coconut drum) covered with the skin of the kala fish.”

“These are played at the hula and then taken to the field. Sometimes the larger instruments are taken, sometimes only the puniu, covered with the skin of the kala fish.”

“While the men work they are silent, and after they are finished they have another hula. The men go to the mountain for maile, palai ferns, awapuhi, and ‘ie‘ie.”

“When they return home, a banner (pahu hae) is taken ahead and the men walk in single file behind it. Thus they go till they reach the hula house. And because of this it is called a farmer’s hula.” (All from Handy, Handy & Pukui)

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