Vi. The Water Of Life Of Ka Ne : VI THE WATER OF LIFE OF KA-NE A LEGEND OF OLD HAWAII "When the moon dies she goes to the living water of Ka-ne, to the water which can restore all to life, even the moon to the path in the sky."--"Maori Legend of New Zealand". THE Hawaiians of long ago shared in the belief that somewhere along...
I. The Migration Of The Hawaiians : I THE MIGRATION OF THE HAWAIIANS THE fountain source of the Mississippi has been discovered and rediscovered. The origin of the Polynesian race has been a subject for discovery and rediscovery. The older theory of Malay origin as set forth in the earlier encyclopdias is now recognized as untenable...
Ix. The Legendary Origin Of Kapa : IX THE LEGENDARY ORIGIN OF KAPA Note: Dr. Brigham, the director of the Bishop Museum in Honolulu, well says, "Kapa (tapa) is simply ka (the) and pa (beaten) or the beaten thing." The cloth used for centuries by the Hawaiians and some other Polynesians was "the beaten thing" resulting from beating...
Ii. Legendary Places In Honolulu : II LEGENDARY PLACES IN HONOLULU HO-NO-LU-LU is a name made by the union of the two words "Hono" and "lulu." Some say it means "Sheltered Hollow." The old Hawaiians say that "Hono" means "abundance" and "lulu" means "calm," or "peace," or "abundance of peace." The navigator who gave the definiti...
Introduction : INTRODUCTION The ancient Hawaiians were not inventive. They did not study new methods of house-building or farming. They did not seek new tools or new weapons. They could live comfortably as their ancestors lived. But they were imaginative and therefore told many a wonderful tale of gods...
Xi. The Chief With The Wonderful Servants : XI THE CHIEF WITH THE WONDERFUL SERVANTS A CERTAIN chief who lived on the island of Oahu in the very misty memory of long, long ago thought he would travel over his lands and see their condition. So pleased was he that he boasted of his wide domain when he met a fellow-traveller. The man said, "I...
Foreword : FOREWORD The legends of a people are of interest to the scholar, the thinker, and the poet. The legends tell us of the struggles, the triumphs, and the wanderings of the people, of their thoughts, their aspirations; in short, they give us a twilight history of the race. As the geologist finds...
Xiv. The Canoe Of The Dragon : XIV THE CANOE OF THE DRAGON KOA-TREES, out of which the finest and most enduring calabashes of the old Hawaiians were made, grew near the ocean's sandy shore, but the koa-trees from which canoes were carved and burned were, according to some wise plan of Providence, placed on rough precipitous...
V. The Gods Who Found Water : V THE GODS WHO FOUND WATER FOUR great gods with a large retinue of lesser gods came from Kahiki to the Hawaiian Islands. "Kahiki" meant any land beyond the skies which came down to the seas around the Hawaiian group. These gods settled for a time in Nuuanu Valley, back of the lands now known...
Xxi. Pikoi The Rat Killer : XXI PIKOI THE RAT-KILLER LONG, long ago in the Hawaiian Islands, part of the children of a chief's family might be born real boys and girls, while others would be "gods" in the form of some one of the various kinds of animals known to the Hawaiians. These "gods" in the family could appear as hum...
X. Creation Of Man : X CREATION OF MAN THE KAMAKAU LEGEND Note: Mauka of Honolulu rises a cloud-capped range. Beyond this is the place where Kamakau, a native historian of about sixty years ago, says that the Hawaiian gods created the first inhabitants of these islands. The story has been repeated in several Hawaii...
Xviii. The Owls Of Honolulu : XVIII THE OWLS OF HONOLULU PUEO HERE are three celebrated "owl" localities in the suburbs of Honolulu, one in Manoa Valley, the second near the foot of Punchbowl Hill, and one at Waikiki. In Manoa the owl-god lived, and at Waikiki the famous "battle of the owls" was fought. Manoa Valley is one...
Xx. Iwa, The Notable Thief Of Oahu : XX IWA, THE NOTABLE THIEF OF OAHU IN ancient Hawaii thieving was an honorable profession. It required cultivation as well as natural ability. Even as late as the days of Captain Cook and his discovery of the Hawaiian Islands there is the record of a chief whose business was to steal successfully...
Appendix. Polynesian Language : APPENDIX POLYNESIAN LANGUAGE "A few words should be added on the peculiar genius and structure of the Polynesian language in general and of the Hawaiian dialect in particular. It is the law of all Polynesian languages that every word and syllable must end in a vowel, so that no two consonants are...
Iv. Legend Of The Bread Fruit Tree : IV LEGEND OF THE BREAD-FRUIT TREE THE wonderful bread-fruit tree was a great tree growing on the eastern bank of the rippling brook Puehuehu. It was a tabu tree, set apart for the high chief from Kou and the chiefs from Honolulu to rest under while on their way to bathe in the celebrated...
Xii. The Great Dog Ku : XII THE GREAT DOG KU KU-ILIO-LOA KU, the dog-man, decided to come down from the clouds and visit mankind, so he assumed the form of a little dog and went around almost unnoticed. Ku saw a group of three rainbows moving from place to place or resting for a long time above the home of a high chief...
Title Page : HAWAIIAN LEGENDS OF OLD HONOLULU collected and translated from the Hawaiian by W. D. WESTERVELT Boston, G.H. Ellis Press [1915] {Scanned , January, 2002} {p. vii}
Untitled : HAWAIIAN LEGENDS OF OLD HONOLULU by W. D. WESTERVELT Boston, G.H. Ellis Press [1915] Title Page Foreword Table of Contents Introduction Pronunciation I. The Migration of the Hawaiians II. Legendary Places In Honolulu III. The God of Pakaka Temple IV. Legend of the Bread-Fruit Tree V. The Gods Who...
Pronunciation : PRONUNCIATION "A syllable in Hawaiian may consist of a single vowel, or a consonant united with a vowel or at most of a consonant and two vowels, never of more than one consonant. The accent of five-sixths of the words is on the penult, and a few proper names accent the first syllable. In Hawaii...
Xxiii. Chief Man Eater : XXIII "CHIEF MAN-EATER" "CHIEF MAN-EATER," the cannibal, lived in the Hawaiian Islands. He was also one of the inhabitants of mistland. Legends gathered around him like clouds. Facts also stood out like tall trees through the clouds. He was a real cannibal, of whom the Hawaiians are not proud...
Iii. The God Of Pakaka Temple : III THE GOD OF PAKAKA TEMPLE PAKAKA was a heiau, or temple. There are several legends connected with this heiau. One of the most interesting is that which tells how the god of the temple came into being. The story of the god of this temple is a story of voyages and vicissitudes. Olopana had sailed...
Xv. The Wonderful Shell : XV THE WONDERFUL SHELL NEAR Niolapa, on the eastern side of Nuuanu Valley, is the stone where Kapuni rested when he came after the shell known as the Kiha-pu. Kapuni was a child of Kauhola, who was said to have been a chief, who was born, was walking and had grown up, had become a father...
Viii. A Shark Punished At Waikiki : VIII A SHARK PUNISHED AT WAIKIKI AMONG the legendary characters of the early Hawaiians was Ka-ehu--the little yellow shark of Pearl Harbor. He had been given magic power and great wisdom by his ancestor Ka-moho-alii the shark-god, brother of the fire goddess Pele. Part of his life had been spent...
Xxii. Kawelo : XXII KAWELO MANY Kawelos are named in the legends of the islands of Oahu and Kauai, but one only was the strong, the mighty warrior who destroyed a gigantic enemy who used trees for spears. He was known as Kawelo-lei-makua when mentioned in the genealogies. Kawelo's great-uncle, Kawelo-mahamahal...
Xix. The Two Fish From Tahiti : XIX THE TWO FISH FROM TAHITI STRANGERS to Hawaiian history should know that to the Hawaiians Tahiti meant any far-away or foreign land. Tahiti belongs to the Society Islands. Centuries ago it was one of the points visited by the Vikings of the Pacific, the Polynesian sea-rovers, among whom cert...
Xxv. Kamapuaa Legends : XXV KAMAPUAA LEGENDS LEGENDS OF THE HOG-GOD SOME of the most unique legends of the nations have centered around imagined monsters. Centaurs, half man and half horse, thronged the dreams of Rome. The Hawaiians knew nothing about any animals save the fish of the seas, the birds of the forests...
Xvi. The Ghost Dance On Punchbowl : XVI THE GHOST DANCE ON PUNCHBOWL KA HULA O NA AUMAKUA PUNCHBOWL lies back of Honolulu. It is an extinct volcano. Inside the crater rim is a basin whose sides are grass-covered, with groups of trees here and there. The little houses and small gardens of squatters show that there is no longer any...
Vii. Mamala The Surf Rider : VII MAMALA THE SURF-RIDER "KOU" was a noted place for games and sports among the chiefs of long ago. A little to the cast of Kou was a pond with a beautiful grove of coconut-trees belonging to a chief, Hono-kau-pu, and afterward known by his name. Straight out toward the ocean was the narrow...
Xiii. The Cannibal Dog Man : XIII THE CANNIBAL DOG-MAN Note: The Menehunes were the fairies of Hawaii. The goblins and gnomes of valley or woodland were called the eepa people, while monsters having the power of appearing in different kinds of bodies were called kupuas. These usually had cruel and vindictive characters...
Xvii. The Bird Man Of Nuuanu Valley : XVII THE BIRD-MAN OF NUUANU VALLEY NAMAKA was a noted man of the time of Kalaniopuu. He was born on Kauai, but journeyed forth to find some one whom he would like to call his lord. He was skilled in managing land (Kalai-aina), an orator (Kakaolelo), and could recite genealogies (Kaauhau). He...
Xxiv. Lepe A Moa : XXIV LEPE-A-MOA THE CHICKEN-GIRL OF PALAMA STRANGE things are sometimes imagined in the Hawaiian legends of ancient time. The story of Lepe-a-moa is an illustration of the blending of the Hawaiian idea of supernatural things with the deeds of every-day life. It is one of those old legends handed...
