Hina:
On nights of the full moon the villagers said that someone lived on the moon. But how did they know that someone really did lived in the moon? The story began when Hina helped everybody in her village make tapa. She made tapa for her villagers by pounding the bark and making beautiful designs on it. She made the finest tapa ever. She made breakfast, lunch, and dinner for her husband. Her husband was lazy. After a while Hina got tired of living in her village where so many things were forbidden for women to do. She could not pray with her husband or eat the same things he did or go on adventures with him. She started looking for a place where she could enjoy life and enjoy making her tapa. First she thought she might like living on top of Mauna Kea. As she climbed the mountain, it started to get colder and colder. Finally, when she got to the top of Mauna Kea, it was so cold that she came down. Next she climbed the rainbow to get to the sun but it was too hot so she fell down and said that the sun was too strong. When she came home, she drank all the water then packed her things in a calabash. That night she saw a moon boy and decided that the moon is where she wanted to live. She started to climb. Her husband tried to pull at her feet but he couldn't stop her. She kept on climbing up to the moon. She liked it so much that she stayed there. Children say that when it rains, Hina is sprinkling joy and happiness. When there is thunder, she is putting rocks on her tapa so it wouldn't blow away. When lightning comes, they say Hina is shaking out the folds of her cloth. When they see a full moon, they can see the carving of Hina in the moon. Maui: There was a month in which the days were sometimes warm and sometimes cool. On a day that was not windy, Maui decided to make a kite. Since the kite wouldn't fly, he went to the Cave-of-the-Winds. The Keeper-of-the-Winds came out. Maui asked if he could use the Ipu Iki. He said, "Okay," and released the gentle breezes from the calabash. Maui was having a grand time for the gentle breezes of the Ipu Iki blew his kite here and there. After a while he thought his kite could handle the stronger winds so the Keeper-of-the-Winds let go of the stronger winds from the Ipu Nui, the other calabash. Maui's kite went out of control, so the Keeper-of-the-Winds called the winds back. Everybody got mad at Maui because all the tapa were blown away and all the taro fields were washed away. Maui stopped flying his kite and started watching the weather. Soon he could tell if there was going to be a storm or a nice day and he became a great help to his village. The people stopped calling him Maui-kite-flyer-who-brought-the-great-storm. Instead they called him Maui-whose-kite-foretells-the-weather. Pour Some Gin For Pele: If you want to protect yourself and your family from the lava flow, you have to pay your respects to Pele, the volcano goddess. According to local legends, if you see a beautiful woman with long, flowing hair or an older woman with long, white hair, you must greet her with aloha and offer her help or respite. To really get on her good side, however, you have to visit her at Halemaʻumaʻu crater and give offerings of food, flowers, and gin. Yes, gin -- apparently Pele is a fan. Don't Take Pork Across The Pali: Pele's influence is everywhere in Hawaii, but perhaps the strangest manifestation of her wrath is the myth that you can't take pork over the Pali Highway, which connects Honolulu with the windward side of Oahu. Apparently Pele and the demigod Kamapua‘a (a half-man-half-pig) had a bad breakup and agreed never to visit each other. If you try to bring pork over the Pali, you are symbolically trying to bring Kamapua'a from one side of the island to the other and Pele will stop you. If you do try, according to legend, your car will stop at some point on the journey and an old woman will appear with a dog. You have to feed the pork to the dog in order to continue through. Don't Make Eye Contact With The Night Marchers: Be careful if you plan on doing any night hikes or midnight beach strolls. The night marchers are ghosts of ancient Hawaiian warriors and they're said to roam the islands at night visiting old battlefields and sacred sites. If you hear chanting, drums or marching or if you see torches, you're best bet is to run indoors or to lie quietly on your stomach -- if you make eye contact with the night marchers, you'll die and be forced to march with them for all of eternity. If you happen to have an ancestor marching, however, no one in the procession can harm you. Don't Pluck The Red Lehua Blossom: The Ohia tree is often the first plant to grow on new lava flows, but don't even think of picking it's beautiful, red Lehua blossom as a souvenir. Both the tree and flower are rooted in Hawaiian legend. Ohia and Lehua were young lovers: he was a handsome trickster and she was the most beautiful and gentle girl on the island. But, one day Pele came across Ohia and wanted him for herself. When he refused her, she turned him into a twisted, ugly tree. Pele ignored Lehua's pleas to change him back, but the other gods felt sorry for the young girl. They couldn't reverse Pele's magic, but they did turn Lehua into a beautiful red flower and placed her on the tree so that the two young lovers would never again be apart. It is said that as long as the flowers remain on the tree, the weather is sunny and fair. But when a flower is plucked from the tree, rain falls like tears since Lehua still cannot bear to be separated from her beloved husband Ohia. Keep An Eye Out For The Menehune: The menehune are said to be dwarf-like people who live in the forests and hidden valleys of Hawaii and hide from humans. Legend has it that they lived in Hawaii even before the Polynesian settlers and that they were excellent craftsmen, completing astounding engineering feats like the Menehune Fish Pond on Kauai. They are also said to have constructed an aqueduct called the Menehune Ditch on Kauai, which was built prior to Western contact and is considered an engineering masterpiece because the rocks are carefully squared and smoothed to create a watertight seal. Oh yeah, and they are said to have built it in one night. |
Laka:
Laka, a boy, finished cutting his tree down for his canoe and was going home to rest. Then the strangest thing happened. The tree, which he had been cutting down, stood straight and tall like it was the other day. So Laka set back to work and fell the tree once more and set for home. Finally, Laka decided to stay at the forest to see who was making his tree stand. Then he heard the voices of little children coming. He saw little men. He jumped out from his hiding place and shouted, "You there! That tree is mine." The menehune made a bargain that if they made the canoe, Laka had to catch shrimp for them to eat. After the menehune made the canoe, Laka came back with a basket filled with shrimp. The menehune ate the shrimp and went back into the forest. Laka was grateful to have a canoe. Punia: One day Punia was thinking how to trick Kaialeale, the shark king, and the other sharks who guarded the lobster cave. First he yelled out to the sharks that he was going to dive in and take two lobsters. Next he threw a rock into the water. As he expected, Kaialeale and his followers swam to it. Meanwhile, Punia swiftly swam to the cave and got two lobsters from the cave and swam back out without Kaialeale and his followers knowing. Safely on shore, Punia yelled out, "Kaialeale, I stole two lobsters. The shark with the skinny tail told me how. " Immediately, Kaialeale killed his fellow shark. Punia said, "You killed your own friend". That night Punia and his mother enjoyed the lobsters with 'uala, sweet potato. The next day Punia again yelled to the sharks that he was coming down to get lobsters. Again he threw a stone to fool the sharks. After getting his lobsters, Punia yeled out that the shark with the big stomach told him what to do. Again, Kaialeale killed his shark friend. Punia kept tricking Kaialeale until only Kaialeale himself was left. Now Punia had to figure out a way to kill the king shark. Once he had an idea, he gathered kapa,two long sticks, two short sticks of hau, coconut fiber, food, and an opihi shell. Punia then tricked Kaialeale into opening his mouth so he could just walk in. That he did. As soon as he got in, he stuck the two long sticks in the mouth to hold the jaws open. To keep the water out, Punia spread the kapa across the back of the shark's throat. Once inside the stomach, he took the two short hau sticks and rubbed them together until he started a fire. He took the sparks and lit the coconut fibers. The fire made Kaialeale's stomach hurt. Now the shark king was in pain. Next Punia took the opihi sheel and scraped off some meat from the shark's stomach and cooked it over the fire. Finally, Punia tricked Kaialeale to swim towards land where the fishermen beat the shark to death. Later that night Punia cut a hole in the kapa mat that was blocking Kaialeale's throat and crawled out. He returned home and carried on the work of growing 'uala as his father had taught him. When his mother wanted lobster, he could go back any time without a fear of sharks. Maui: After Maui and his brothers got back from fishing, one of the brothers saw smoke. Maui went to see who was making the fire but when he got there the fire was out. He figured out that it must have been made by the mud hens. Two days later Maui tricked the mud hens and watched them make the fire. Maui wanted a better look but accidentally slipped on a rock. The mud hens heard it so they tried to fly away but Maui caught one of them. He tried to make the mud hen tell him the secret of fire. The mud hen made Maui do the wrong things by telling him things like rub the stick on the taro leaf stalk and rub the stick on the kukui branch. Neither way worked so Maui got very angry and choked the mud hen. The mud hen didn't like to be choked so it told Maui the real way. The mud hen told him to rub the stick on the dry hau stick.But nothing happened. The mud hen then told him to rub harder and faster. Maui finally made a fire. Before Maui released the hen he got the hot stick and touched it on the mud hen's head leaving a red mark. Till this day mud hens have a red mark on their heads. It's to tell people that the mud hens kept the fire a secret until Maui forced them to tell. Don't Take The Lava Rock Home With You: One of the most well-known myths in Hawaii is Pele's Curse, which -- it turns out -- is not an ancient myth at all. Pele's curse says that any visitor who takes rock or sand away from the Hawaii islands will suffer bad luck until the native Hawaiian elements are returned. The warning is ubiquitous in Hawaii, but it is a modern legend and some people attribute it to a disgruntled park ranger who was sick of people carting off rocks on his watch. Still others think tour guides made up the curse to discourage tourists from bringing dirt and sand onto the buses. Either way, each year hundreds of visitors send packages back to Hawaii full of rocks, sand, and other natural materials in an effort to relieve their consciences and change their luck. Put Two Naupaka Flowers Together: The naupaka is one of Hawaii's most common plants found both along the beach and in the mountains. Astute observers may notice that the flowers appear to have been torn in half. According to Hawaiian legend, Naupaka was a beautiful princess who fell in love with a commoner named Kaui. The star-crossed lovers could never marry and so Naupaka vowed to stay in the mountains while Kaui remained along the ocean. Before parting for the very last time, however, Naupaka took the flower from her hair and tore it in half, giving it to Kaui. Even the nearby plants were saddened by the scene, and the very next day they began to bloom only half flowers in honor of the separated lovers. |
Laka’s Adventure:
Wahieloa, a chief, lived at Kalaikoi, Kipahulu, Maui. He took to him a wife named Hinahawea. In due time a boy was born to them, whom Hinahowana, the mother of Hinahawea, brought up under her own care at Alaenui. She called him Laka-a-wahieloa. He was greatly petted by his parents. One day his father went to Hawaii in search of the Ala-Koiula a Kane for a toy for his son, landing at Punaluu, Kau, Hawaii, where he was killed in a cave called Keana-a-Kaualehu.
After a long absence Laka asked for his father, and his mother referred him to his grandmother, who, on being questioned, told him that his father went to Hawaii, and was supposed to be dead. Laka then asked for means by which he could search for his father.
His grandmother replied: “Go to the mountains and look for the tree that has leaves shaped like the moon on the night of Hilo, or Hoaka; such is the tree for a canoe.”
Wahieloa, a chief, lived at Kalaikoi, Kipahulu, Maui. He took to him a wife named Hinahawea. In due time a boy was born to them, whom Hinahowana, the mother of Hinahawea, brought up under her own care at Alaenui. She called him Laka-a-wahieloa. He was greatly petted by his parents. One day his father went to Hawaii in search of the Ala-Koiula a Kane for a toy for his son, landing at Punaluu, Kau, Hawaii, where he was killed in a cave called Keana-a-Kaualehu.
After a long absence Laka asked for his father, and his mother referred him to his grandmother, who, on being questioned, told him that his father went to Hawaii, and was supposed to be dead. Laka then asked for means by which he could search for his father.
His grandmother replied: “Go to the mountains and look for the tree that has leaves shaped like the moon on the night of Hilo, or Hoaka; such is the tree for a canoe.”