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1. Archaic Religion: The Emergence of Divine Kingship King Kamehameha I, standing in front of Ali'iolani Hale in Honolulu. Cast: 1881, bronze with gold leaf. Approx 8½ feet tall on a 10 foot concrete base. The pedestal has four bronze and gold leaf plaques with scenes from Kamehameha's life. Sculptor: Thomas Ridgeway Gould (1818–1881).
2. Blog Questions: Group Reflection 1. Does Bellah discuss his presuppositions and how they might affect his analysis of religion? Why does Bellah believe this is a good analysis of the evolution of religions? 2. In civilizations ruled through divine kingship, what gave the common people so much trust in the ruler that allowed them to accept their king as a god? 3. Why else would people allow others to rise above them if not because they think they will benefit? 4. Are there any rituals that are as far reaching as the Makahiki cycle or are the organizational divisions today too separate to allow this reconnection between people? Is the greatest reflection to this festival now picketing? Is Occupy Wall Street our Makahiki festival?
16. Principal Islands and Archipelagos of Polynesia Source : Patrick Vinton Kirch. The Evolution of Polynesian Chiefdoms: (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990).
24. Principle Attributes of Hawaiian Gods Colors Directions Time Nature Plants Animals Seasons Functions Source: Valero Valeri. Kingship and Sacrifice: Ritual and Society in Ancient Hawai’i. ( University of Chicago Press, 1985).
32. Distribution of Clan Segments Source : Patrick Vinton Kirch. The Evolution of Polynesian Chiefdoms: (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990).
33. Hierarchical Organization of the Protohistoric Hawaiian Chiefdom Source : Patrick Vinton Kirch. The Evolution of Polynesian Chiefdoms: (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990).
45. Legendary Hawai’i: Tradition, Translation, and Tourism http://books.google.com/books?id=lyfEoeu_LcgC&lpg=PP4&dq=legendary%20hawaii&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q=legendary%20hawaii&f=false
46. Legendary Hawai’i: Tradition, Translation, and Tourism http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBcgLwlwohw&feature=related http://aso.gov.au/titles/documentaries/hula-girls/clip1/?nojs
Editor's Notes
Taro: Hawaii's Rootsby Leilehua Yuen TaroMost Hawaiian grown taro is allocated to four major uses: Poi, table taro, taro chips, and luau leaf. Taro for poi is cultivated by both the dryland and wetland methods. Varieties commonly used are the Lehua Maoli, `Maui' Lehua, and Moi. The Chinese Bun Long is used as table taro, luau (taro leaf), and - the delight of local yuppies - taro chips. Dasheen or araimo, Japanese taro, also is used as a table taro. The Samoan Niue is primarily used as a table taro.Like other farming, taro cultivation is demanding and the financial return can be low at times. Farmers work bent over in knee deep water and mud, from sun up to sun down. Areas suitable for taro cultivation are often far from conveniences such as decent roads, schools, hospitals, and shopping. Yet the number of people interested in raising taro is slowly rising. In 1990, the Big Island had 86 commercial taro farms. In 1994 there were 105.A lot of Hawaiian culture is based on taro cultivation, for example, you cannot fight when the bowl of poi is open. By ancient Hawaiian custom, it is considered disrespectful to fight in front of an elder. One should not raise the voice, speak angrily, or make rude comments or gestures. How is this connected to an open poi bowl? Because Haloa (Taro) is the elder brother of humans. The ancient Hawaiians identified so strongly with taro that the Hawaiian term for family, `ohana, is derived from the word `oha, the shoot or sucker which grows from the taro corm. As the young shoots grow from the corm, people grow from the family.While varieties of taro grow in almost all tropical regions of the world, Hawai`i seems to have some of the strongest taro traditions. According to Native Planters in Hawaii, by Handy and Handy, taro ". . . is a plant of unique and distinctive character which was brought by planters to a higher state of cultivation in old Hawaii than anywhere else in the world. . . . Native cultivation of taro in Hawaii had created a greater number of varieties adaptable to varying conditions of locale, soil, and water than are to be found anywhere else in Polynesia or, we believe, in the world. "Varieties of taro available today are much different than in ancient times. Many of the ancient varieties have disappeared through lack of cultivation, and immigrants and commercial cultivators have brought new varieties.The problems of taro farmers also have changed. In ancient times, drought, hurricane and warfare were the major calamities farmers faced.Today, introduced diseases, loss of arable land due to various kinds of development, water rights, pollution, and the world economy all must be factored into the farmer's business plan.But also, as the world has changed, farmers are changing their ways of dealing with it. They are banding together in associations to share knowledge and other resources. As more is learned about taro, ways to combat diseases should be found. Already, much research has been done in tissue culture for taro, providing disease free plants.Over the years, people from around the world have come to Hawai`i, and some have become taro farmers. Some, like the Chinese and Japanese, have brought their own varieties and cultivated them. Others began to cultivate the Hawaiian and introduced varieties already here. Taro varieties and knowledge were traded and contributed to modern Hawaii's famous blending of cultures, helping to make all of Hawai`i one `ohana.In the Beginning Before there were people, there were the gods. They had descent and genealogy, like people. Some were more like humans, and some were less. Among the more human-like were Wakea - the Sky Father, and Papa - the Earth Mother. They lived in a place which floated about between the clouds. Even now, people who look carefully at the clouds will see some which look solid, like islands in the sky. They are the cloud-island homes of gods and goddesses.Wakea was tall and strong, with broad shoulders and strong arms from hours at surfing. His legs were well muscled from striding about his cloud-island home, which looked much like Hawai`i. He had curling black hair and eyes the color of polished kukui. Papa was almost his height, with a lovely back, straight as a cliff, and a soft full bosom. Her hair was the color of polished koa, and rippled in the light. Her legs were shapely, but strong, and she could walk as far and as fast as Wakea. Her eyes glittered like stars. They were beautiful in the way of humans, and had the same desires as humans.Wakea wold bury his nose in Papa's long sweetly scented hair and inhale its fragrance. She would turn her head and press noses with him, sniffing gently in the honi, the Hawaiian kiss."This flower is blooming,” Wakea would say."Then let us enjoy it before it wilts," Papa would reply. Hand in hand they would retire to a kipuka floored with soft ferns, or perhaps to a stream with banks covered in soft moss. As the only creatures like themselves on their cloud-island, they had all of it for their private garden and could go where they pleased and do as they wished.Soon, all of this ho`oipoipo had the usual result, and children were born. Many children were born. When Wakea walked up behind Papa to press his nose against her neck, instead of "Let us enjoy this flower before it wilts," Papa was as likely to say "The baby is hungry. Go catch more fish." Disgruntled, Wakea would take his net and go.Wakea Sees Ho`ohoku-ka-laniWakea did not have much use for babies and spent more and more time away from home. He was away so much that he did not notice when the babies were not babies any more. One day, Wakea noticed a beautiful young woman walking in the forest. He followed her."You, you look familiar," he told her."I am your youngest daughter, Ho`ohoku-ka-lani," she replied. Wakea followed her home and saw his wife and daughter together.Ho`ohoku's back was as straight as a cliff. Papa's was bent from reaching down to pick up babies. Ho`ohoku's bosom was full and soft. Papa's was flattened and stretched from nursing. Ho`ohoku could stride through the forest as fast as Wakea. Papa took short steps, from years of keeping pace with the short legs of children. Ho`ohoku's hair was the color of polished koa and rippled in the light. Papa's hair was the color of burned out firewood which had given up its light. Ho`ohoku's eyes were like stars. In Papa's eyes, the stars had died when Wakea ceased to look into them.Wakea began to spend more time at home again, and Papa was glad. He took his stone adz into the forest and cut dead wood for cooking fires. He cut good strong wood for house posts and new `umeke, as well as wood for a new canoe. He sat in front of the work shed and carved.Papa paused in her tapa beating and looked fondly over at him. "It is good to have you spend more time with me," she told him. "Now that the children are grown, we can enjoy those flowers more often." Papa rinsed the wauke slime from her hands, stood up, and stretched. She walked over beside Wakea and sat down, then leaned over and put her nose to his for a tender honi. Wakea responded, but his thoughts were on Ho`ohoku.Wakea burned with desire for Ho`ohoku-ka-lani. He began to develop a deceitful plan.Wakea's Plan"Papa," he said one afternoon. "Now that we have so many children, this place is becoming crowded. They do not respect us, they do not respect each other. We are gods. It is not right for us to waste our mana in this undisciplined behavior. We need rules. It will teach them discipline." Papa nodded and continued weaving."I have decided it is necessary for men and women to spend certain times apart from one another, to preserve their mana," Wakea said. "I think that men and women, being different, need different foods. I will build a hale for us men to eat in, and another for you women to eat in." Papa accepted the plan. Men did not always act in ways she found appetizing.Wakea took a deep breath. "It is also necessary for men and women to sleep apart on certain days each month. This will let them preserve their mana for days when they must work hard. I will build separate hale for these special times."Papa stopped her weaving. "Are you sure that is necessary, Wakea?" He looked at her a long time. True, she no longer looked as she did when they first met. But, it was because she had borne his children. And she had done so over and over, for love of him. But she had turned away from him and devoted herself to the children when he had wanted her for himself. True, she now had a quiet, regal beauty. She had not been that way when she was younger, and Ho`ohoku would not be that way for years, if ever. She was stronger than he remembered. It attracted him, but it also frightened him. "Yes," he replied. "It is necessary."On the first night of the new kapu, Wakea lured Ho`ohoku out of the women's sleeping hale. He led her to a secret place and kept her there almost until dawn. Then he allowed her to return to the women's hale, cautioning her to slip in quietly so no one would know she had been out.Each kapu night Wakea had Ho`ohoku meet him. Many months went by, and Papa was none the wiser. Occasionally she remarked on Ho`ohoku's sleepiness some days. "Wakea," she would say, "Does our Ho`ohoku seem healthy to you? She has been listless the past three days. Her tapa does not stick together well when she pounds it because there is no strength in her arm." Wakea would reassure her."It is nothing. She is young and has not developed her full strength. You worry too much because she is your baby." Papa would nod and relax.DiscoveryAt last the inevitable happened, and Ho`ohoku was pregnant. When she no longer went to the women's hale to spend the time of her ma`i, Papa knew what had happened.Curses, kapa beaters, and chunks of soggy wauke flew. Papa cried, she cursed, she wept. "How could you do this? Why? Away! Go away from me!" All of the love she had felt for Wakea was turned immediately to hate.Wakea loaded his new canoe with all of the things he would need for a long sea voyage. He directed Ho`ohoku to weave a sail.He filled his ipu-wai from a clean spring. Thoroughly oiled and plugged with a pu stopper, they would keep the water clean and fresh for a long time. `Ulu and `uala were packed to eat. The `ulu were pounded into a thick paste. Some was fermented and some was allowed to dry. If one kind went bad on the voyage, the other kind might last. The `uala were allowed to air dry with their fine coating of lepo to absorb any moisture which might settle on them.Young food plants carefully wrapped for protection against the salt spray were added to the load. If there was no food where Wakea was headed, he would have to be able to grow his own.For meat, pigs, chickens, and dogs were caged and loaded on the canoe. At last he fetched Ho`ohoku and set out.A New LandThe fine lauhala sail which Ho`ohoku had plaited caught the wind, and the couple was sailing from the land between the clouds to the ocean below. The narrow bow of the canoe sliced through wavelets as it skimmed across the water. Soon, they reached Hawai`i.They sailed by various shores and at last found a valley which could be their home. Wakea beached the canoe and set about building a hale for himself and Ho`ohoku.First he selected the site. Then Wakea went to the beach and carried rocks to build the lower wall. He went to the forest and used his stone adz to cut trees for the house posts. He put the bases into holes in the ground and built the stone wall up around them. Then he added the roof poles. He had to cut many fine saplings to make enough ribs to tie the thatching to.While he built the frame, Ho`ohoku collected ti leaves and tied them into bundles for the thatch. Wakea spread `ili`ili for the floor and covered them with fine sand.Ho`ohoku plaited lauhala to make a floor covering to go over the sand. She trimmed the thorns from the leaves with her sharp bamboo knife. She softened the leaves by pulling them back and forth over the dull side of her knife. She coiled them one way and then the other. Then she began to coil them into wheels, with the diameter the same size as the length of her forearm. When she had enough wheels of leaves, she sorted them by color and decided on a pattern for her mat. Then, with her fingernails she stripped the leaves into long narrow pieces and began to weave.At last the hale was complete.Whether it was because of the stress of the sea voyage, her mother's curses, or some other reason, Ho`ohoku began her labor too soon. It was long and painful, and Ho`ohoku did not have her mother there to help her, but she did not scream or cry. At last the baby was born.This first child was premature, a legless, armless, formless lump of flesh. Ho`ohoku and Wakea named him Haloa-naka, but he still died. Wakea buried Haloa-naka at the East corner of the house. Each day Ho`ohoku tended the burial site. She carried water in Wakea's ipuwai and gave Haloa-naka a drink. She stirred the mud as if she were tucking a blanket around her baby. She kept the area clean and free of weeds and animals. In a few days, a tightly furled green leaf poked up through the mud. "Oh, Wakea," she called, "Look at our son! See how he grows? He stands already!" Ho`ohoku continued to care for her firstborn son, who grew into a large and handsome taro plant.Later, Ho`ohoku gave birth to a human child. He also was named Haloa. He was perfect in form, intelligent, and handsome. He grew like any boy, and became a man. He became the ancestor of humans. He was taught to honor, respect, and care for his elder brother so that his brother always would watch over and care for him.So now, even today, the descendants of Haloa-the-elder provide nourishing food for the descendants of Haloa-the-younger.
Powerful beings in the beginning; they created the Dawn People, dwell in a “sky village” near the sun rise, after death, people go to the sky village, and become powerful beings Through ritual and music, the powerful people become now and us; Account of way things are, not rules or charter to be followed Rites of passage Power of PB ambiguous Blog Questions Does Bellah discuss his presuppositions and how they might affect his analysis of religion? Why does Bellah believe this is a good analysis of the evolution of religions? In civilizations ruled through divine kingship, what gave the common people so much trust in the ruler that allowed them to accept their king as a god? Why else would people allow others to rise above them if not because they think they will benefit? Are there any that are as far reaching as the Makahiki cycle or are the organizational divisions, today, too separate to allow this reconnection between people? Is the greatest reflection to this festival now picketing? Is OccupyWallStreet our Makahiki festival?
Coyote housed evil spirits, one species of bird could make snow, and another fog Animal spirits coulh help the Klamath cure disease, spirit: Yayaya-ash, form of one-legged man, and lead a medicine man to the home of the animal spirits
Coyote housed evil spirits, one species of bird could make snow, and another fog Animal spirits coulh help the Klamath cure disease, spirit: Yayaya-ash, form of one-legged man, and lead a medicine man to the home of the animal spirits
Coyote housed evil spirits, one species of bird could make snow, and another fog Animal spirits coulh help the Klamath cure disease, spirit: Yayaya-ash, form of one-legged man, and lead a medicine man to the home of the animal spirits
Coyote housed evil spirits, one species of bird could make snow, and another fog Animal spirits coulh help the Klamath cure disease, spirit: Yayaya-ash, form of one-legged man, and lead a medicine man to the home of the animal spirits
Coyote housed evil spirits, one species of bird could make snow, and another fog Animal spirits coulh help the Klamath cure disease, spirit: Yayaya-ash, form of one-legged man, and lead a medicine man to the home of the animal spirits
Coyote housed evil spirits, one species of bird could make snow, and another fog Animal spirits coulh help the Klamath cure disease, spirit: Yayaya-ash, form of one-legged man, and lead a medicine man to the home of the animal spirits
Coyote housed evil spirits, one species of bird could make snow, and another fog Animal spirits coulh help the Klamath cure disease, spirit: Yayaya-ash, form of one-legged man, and lead a medicine man to the home of the animal spirits
Coyote housed evil spirits, one species of bird could make snow, and another fog Animal spirits coulh help the Klamath cure disease, spirit: Yayaya-ash, form of one-legged man, and lead a medicine man to the home of the animal spirits
Coyote housed evil spirits, one species of bird could make snow, and another fog Animal spirits coulh help the Klamath cure disease, spirit: Yayaya-ash, form of one-legged man, and lead a medicine man to the home of the animal spirits
Coyote housed evil spirits, one species of bird could make snow, and another fog Animal spirits coulh help the Klamath cure disease, spirit: Yayaya-ash, form of one-legged man, and lead a medicine man to the home of the animal spirits
There is respect and admiration for the gods. Egalitarianism not left behind Symbolic action which indicates an assymmetrical relationship.
There is respect and admiration for the gods. Egalitarianism not left behind Symbolic action which indicates an assymmetrical relationship.
Coyote housed evil spirits, one species of bird could make snow, and another fog Animal spirits coulh help the Klamath cure disease, spirit: Yayaya-ash, form of one-legged man, and lead a medicine man to the home of the animal spirits
Tapu: punishable by gods, fishless expedition,illness, death Mana: supernatural electricity, success, efficacy, natural extension of shamanism Tapu formalized the chief’s specialness Islands: talking chief, substitute Organizing feasts, armies, maintaining roads and irrigation systems State: government handles punishment Chiefdoms: punishment through retaliation, job of victims of kin Prestiges, rights, and circumstances determined destiny in afterlife. Hostility toward kin could be punished with illness Division of labor, government (ours) Chiefs retained lots ofwives; ate in luxury (meats, protein); Lavish medical care Human sacrifice Tautai, head fisherman Samoa
Coyote housed evil spirits, one species of bird could make snow, and another fog Animal spirits coulh help the Klamath cure disease, spirit: Yayaya-ash, form of one-legged man, and lead a medicine man to the home of the animal spirits
Ku – Ancient Tiki God of War In Hawaiian mythology Ku is one of the four great gods along with the ancient tiki gods, Kanaloa, Kane, and Lono. He was the husband of the goddess Hina (Beckwith 1970:12), suggesting a complementary dualism as the word ku in the Hawaiian language means "standing up" while one meaning of 'hina' is 'fallen down.' Ku is worshipped under many names, including Ku-ka-ili-moku, the "Seizer of Land" (a feather-god, the guardian of Kamehameha). Rituals included human sacrifice, which was not part of the worship of the other gods. Ku, Kane, and Lono caused light to shine in upon the world. They are uncreated gods who have existed from eternity (Tregear 1891:540). Lono – Ancient Tiki God of Fertility and Peace In Hawaiian mythology, Lono is a fertility and music god who descended to Earth on a rainbow to marry Laka. In agricultural and planting traditions, Lono was identified with rain and food plants. He was one of the four gods (with Ku, Kane, and his twin brother Kanaloa) who existed before the world was created. Lono was also the god of peace. In his honor, the great annual festival of the Makahiki was held. During this period (from October through February), all unnecessary work and war was kapu (taboo). This is also the season of taxes, olympic like games and when chiefs regrouped their forces (and organized campaigns ironically). Lono and the death of Captain Cook Some Hawaiians believed that Captain James Cook was Lono returned and indeed this fact may have ultimately contributed to Capt. Cook's death (see James Cook - Third voyage (1776-1779)). However, it is uncertain whether Captian Cook was taken for the god Lono or one of several historical or legendary figures who were also referred to as Lono-i-ka-Makahiki. According to Beckwith, there was indeed a tradition that such a human manifestation of the god [Lono] had actually appeared, established games and perhaps the annual taxing, and then departed to "Kahiki," promising to return "by sea on the canoes ‘Auwa’alalua" according to the prose note. "A Spanish man of war" translates the queen, remembering a tradition of arrival of a Spanish galleon beaten out of its course in the early days of exploration of the Pacific; "a very large double canoe" is Mrs. Pukui's more literal rendering, from ‘Au[hau]-wa’a-l[o]a-lua. The blue-sailed jellyfish we call "Portuguese man-of-war" Hawaiians speak of, perhaps half in derision, as ‘Auwa’alalua. The mother honored Keawe's son, perhaps born propitiously during the period of the Makahiki, by giving him the name of Lono-i-ka-Makahiki, seeing perhaps in the child a symbol of the tiki god's promised return.” (Beckwith 1951). Kane– Ancient Tiki God of Light and Life In Hawaiian mythology, Kane Milohai is the father of the tiki gods Ka-moho-ali'i, Pele (whom he exiled to Hawaii), Kapo, Namaka and Hi'iaka by Haumea. He created the sky, earth and upper heaven and gave Kumu-Honua the garden. He owned a tiny seashell that, when placed on the ocean's waves, turned into a huge sailboat. The user of the boat had merely to state his destination and the boat took him there. In agricultural and planting traditions, Kane was identified with the sun. The word Kane alone means "man". As a creative force, Kane was the heavenly father of all men. As he was the father of all living things, he was a symbol of life in nature. In many chants and legends of Ancient Hawaii, Kane is paired with the god Kanaloa, and is considered one of the four great Hawaiian divinities along with Kanaloa, Ku, and Lono.Alternatively known as Kane, Kane-Hekili ("thunderer" or "lightning breaking through the sky"), Kane Hoalani. Kanaloa – Ancient Tiki God the Sea Kanaloa is one of the four great gods of Hawaiian mythology, along with Kane, Ku, and Lono. He is the local form of a Polynesian deity generally connected with the sea. Roughly equivalent deities are known as Tangaroa in New Zealand, Tagaloa in Samoa, and Ta'aroa in Tahiti. In the traditions of Ancient Hawaii, Kanaloa is symbolized by the squid, and is typically associated with Kane in legends and chants where they are portrayed as complementary powers (Beckwith 1970:62-65). For example: Kane was called upon during the building of a canoe, Kanaloa during the sailing of it; Kane governed the northern edge of the ecliptic, Kanaloa the southern; Kanaloa points to hidden springs, and Kane then taps them out. In this way, they represent a divine duality of wild and taming forces like those observed (by Georges Dumezil, et al.) in Indo-European chief god-pairs like Odin-Tyr and Mitra-Varuna, and like the popular yin-yang of Chinese Taoism.Interpretations of Kanaloa as a god of evil opposing the good Kane (a reading that defies their paired invocations and shared devotees in Ancient Hawaii) is likely the result of European missionary efforts to recast the four major divinities of Hawaii in the image of the Christian Trinity plus Satan. Taro: Hawaii's Rootsby Leilehua Yuen TaroMost Hawaiian grown taro is allocated to four major uses: Poi, table taro, taro chips, and luau leaf. Taro for poi is cultivated by both the dryland and wetland methods. Varieties commonly used are the Lehua Maoli, `Maui' Lehua, and Moi. The Chinese Bun Long is used as table taro, luau (taro leaf), and - the delight of local yuppies - taro chips. Dasheen or araimo, Japanese taro, also is used as a table taro. The Samoan Niue is primarily used as a table taro.Like other farming, taro cultivation is demanding and the financial return can be low at times. Farmers work bent over in knee deep water and mud, from sun up to sun down. Areas suitable for taro cultivation are often far from conveniences such as decent roads, schools, hospitals, and shopping. Yet the number of people interested in raising taro is slowly rising. In 1990, the Big Island had 86 commercial taro farms. In 1994 there were 105.A lot of Hawaiian culture is based on taro cultivation, for example, you cannot fight when the bowl of poi is open. By ancient Hawaiian custom, it is considered disrespectful to fight in front of an elder. One should not raise the voice, speak angrily, or make rude comments or gestures. How is this connected to an open poi bowl? Because Haloa (Taro) is the elder brother of humans. The ancient Hawaiians identified so strongly with taro that the Hawaiian term for family, `ohana, is derived from the word `oha, the shoot or sucker which grows from the taro corm. As the young shoots grow from the corm, people grow from the family.While varieties of taro grow in almost all tropical regions of the world, Hawai`i seems to have some of the strongest taro traditions. According to Native Planters in Hawaii, by Handy and Handy, taro ". . . is a plant of unique and distinctive character which was brought by planters to a higher state of cultivation in old Hawaii than anywhere else in the world. . . . Native cultivation of taro in Hawaii had created a greater number of varieties adaptable to varying conditions of locale, soil, and water than are to be found anywhere else in Polynesia or, we believe, in the world. "Varieties of taro available today are much different than in ancient times. Many of the ancient varieties have disappeared through lack of cultivation, and immigrants and commercial cultivators have brought new varieties.The problems of taro farmers also have changed. In ancient times, drought, hurricane and warfare were the major calamities farmers faced.Today, introduced diseases, loss of arable land due to various kinds of development, water rights, pollution, and the world economy all must be factored into the farmer's business plan.But also, as the world has changed, farmers are changing their ways of dealing with it. They are banding together in associations to share knowledge and other resources. As more is learned about taro, ways to combat diseases should be found. Already, much research has been done in tissue culture for taro, providing disease free plants.Over the years, people from around the world have come to Hawai`i, and some have become taro farmers. Some, like the Chinese and Japanese, have brought their own varieties and cultivated them. Others began to cultivate the Hawaiian and introduced varieties already here. Taro varieties and knowledge were traded and contributed to modern Hawaii's famous blending of cultures, helping to make all of Hawai`i one `ohana. In the Beginning Before there were people, there were the gods. They had descent and genealogy, like people. Some were more like humans, and some were less. Among the more human-like were Wakea - the Sky Father, and Papa - the Earth Mother. They lived in a place which floated about between the clouds. Even now, people who look carefully at the clouds will see some which look solid, like islands in the sky. They are the cloud-island homes of gods and goddesses.Wakea was tall and strong, with broad shoulders and strong arms from hours at surfing. His legs were well muscled from striding about his cloud-island home, which looked much like Hawai`i. He had curling black hair and eyes the color of polished kukui. Papa was almost his height, with a lovely back, straight as a cliff, and a soft full bosom. Her hair was the color of polished koa, and rippled in the light. Her legs were shapely, but strong, and she could walk as far and as fast as Wakea. Her eyes glittered like stars. They were beautiful in the way of humans, and had the same desires as humans.Wakea wold bury his nose in Papa's long sweetly scented hair and inhale its fragrance. She would turn her head and press noses with him, sniffing gently in the honi, the Hawaiian kiss."This flower is blooming,” Wakea would say."Then let us enjoy it before it wilts," Papa would reply. Hand in hand they would retire to a kipuka floored with soft ferns, or perhaps to a stream with banks covered in soft moss. As the only creatures like themselves on their cloud-island, they had all of it for their private garden and could go where they pleased and do as they wished.Soon, all of this ho`oipoipo had the usual result, and children were born. Many children were born. When Wakea walked up behind Papa to press his nose against her neck, instead of "Let us enjoy this flower before it wilts," Papa was as likely to say "The baby is hungry. Go catch more fish." Disgruntled, Wakea would take his net and go.Wakea Sees Ho`ohoku-ka-laniWakea did not have much use for babies and spent more and more time away from home. He was away so much that he did not notice when the babies were not babies any more. One day, Wakea noticed a beautiful young woman walking in the forest. He followed her."You, you look familiar," he told her."I am your youngest daughter, Ho`ohoku-ka-lani," she replied. Wakea followed her home and saw his wife and daughter together.Ho`ohoku's back was as straight as a cliff. Papa's was bent from reaching down to pick up babies. Ho`ohoku's bosom was full and soft. Papa's was flattened and stretched from nursing. Ho`ohoku could stride through the forest as fast as Wakea. Papa took short steps, from years of keeping pace with the short legs of children. Ho`ohoku's hair was the color of polished koa and rippled in the light. Papa's hair was the color of burned out firewood which had given up its light. Ho`ohoku's eyes were like stars. In Papa's eyes, the stars had died when Wakea ceased to look into them.Wakea began to spend more time at home again, and Papa was glad. He took his stone adz into the forest and cut dead wood for cooking fires. He cut good strong wood for house posts and new `umeke, as well as wood for a new canoe. He sat in front of the work shed and carved.Papa paused in her tapa beating and looked fondly over at him. "It is good to have you spend more time with me," she told him. "Now that the children are grown, we can enjoy those flowers more often." Papa rinsed the wauke slime from her hands, stood up, and stretched. She walked over beside Wakea and sat down, then leaned over and put her nose to his for a tender honi. Wakea responded, but his thoughts were on Ho`ohoku.Wakea burned with desire for Ho`ohoku-ka-lani. He began to develop a deceitful plan.Wakea's Plan"Papa," he said one afternoon. "Now that we have so many children, this place is becoming crowded. They do not respect us, they do not respect each other. We are gods. It is not right for us to waste our mana in this undisciplined behavior. We need rules. It will teach them discipline." Papa nodded and continued weaving."I have decided it is necessary for men and women to spend certain times apart from one another, to preserve their mana," Wakea said. "I think that men and women, being different, need different foods. I will build a hale for us men to eat in, and another for you women to eat in." Papa accepted the plan. Men did not always act in ways she found appetizing.Wakea took a deep breath. "It is also necessary for men and women to sleep apart on certain days each month. This will let them preserve their mana for days when they must work hard. I will build separate hale for these special times."Papa stopped her weaving. "Are you sure that is necessary, Wakea?" He looked at her a long time. True, she no longer looked as she did when they first met. But, it was because she had borne his children. And she had done so over and over, for love of him. But she had turned away from him and devoted herself to the children when he had wanted her for himself. True, she now had a quiet, regal beauty. She had not been that way when she was younger, and Ho`ohoku would not be that way for years, if ever. She was stronger than he remembered. It attracted him, but it also frightened him. "Yes," he replied. "It is necessary."On the first night of the new kapu, Wakea lured Ho`ohoku out of the women's sleeping hale. He led her to a secret place and kept her there almost until dawn. Then he allowed her to return to the women's hale, cautioning her to slip in quietly so no one would know she had been out.Each kapu night Wakea had Ho`ohoku meet him. Many months went by, and Papa was none the wiser. Occasionally she remarked on Ho`ohoku's sleepiness some days. "Wakea," she would say, "Does our Ho`ohoku seem healthy to you? She has been listless the past three days. Her tapa does not stick together well when she pounds it because there is no strength in her arm." Wakea would reassure her."It is nothing. She is young and has not developed her full strength. You worry too much because she is your baby." Papa would nod and relax.DiscoveryAt last the inevitable happened, and Ho`ohoku was pregnant. When she no longer went to the women's hale to spend the time of her ma`i, Papa knew what had happened.Curses, kapa beaters, and chunks of soggy wauke flew. Papa cried, she cursed, she wept. "How could you do this? Why? Away! Go away from me!” All of the love she had felt for Wakea was turned immediately to hate.Wakea loaded his new canoe with all of the things he would need for a long sea voyage. He directed Ho`ohoku to weave a sail.He filled his ipu-wai from a clean spring. Thoroughly oiled and plugged with a pu stopper, they would keep the water clean and fresh for a long time. `Ulu and `uala were packed to eat. The `ulu were pounded into a thick paste. Some was fermented and some was allowed to dry. If one kind went bad on the voyage, the other kind might last. The `uala were allowed to air dry with their fine coating of lepo to absorb any moisture which might settle on them.Young food plants carefully wrapped for protection against the salt spray were added to the load. If there was no food where Wakea was headed, he would have to be able to grow his own.For meat, pigs, chickens, and dogs were caged and loaded on the canoe. At last he fetched Ho`ohoku and set out.A New LandThe fine lauhala sail which Ho`ohoku had plaited caught the wind, and the couple was sailing from the land between the clouds to the ocean below. The narrow bow of the canoe sliced through wavelets as it skimmed across the water. Soon, they reached Hawai`i.They sailed by various shores and at last found a valley which could be their home. Wakea beached the canoe and set about building a hale for himself and Ho`ohoku.First he selected the site. Then Wakea went to the beach and carried rocks to build the lower wall. He went to the forest and used his stone adz to cut trees for the house posts. He put the bases into holes in the ground and built the stone wall up around them. Then he added the roof poles. He had to cut many fine saplings to make enough ribs to tie the thatching to.While he built the frame, Ho`ohoku collected ti leaves and tied them into bundles for the thatch. Wakea spread `ili`ili for the floor and covered them with fine sand.Ho`ohoku plaited lauhala to make a floor covering to go over the sand. She trimmed the thorns from the leaves with her sharp bamboo knife. She softened the leaves by pulling them back and forth over the dull side of her knife. She coiled them one way and then the other. Then she began to coil them into wheels, with the diameter the same size as the length of her forearm. When she had enough wheels of leaves, she sorted them by color and decided on a pattern for her mat. Then, with her fingernails she stripped the leaves into long narrow pieces and began to weave.At last the hale was complete.Whether it was because of the stress of the sea voyage, her mother's curses, or some other reason, Ho`ohoku began her labor too soon. It was long and painful, and Ho`ohoku did not have her mother there to help her, but she did not scream or cry. At last the baby was born.This first child was premature, a legless, armless, formless lump of flesh. Ho`ohoku and Wakea named him Haloa-naka, but he still died. Wakea buried Haloa-naka at the East corner of the house. Each day Ho`ohoku tended the burial site. She carried water in Wakea's ipuwai and gave Haloa-naka a drink. She stirred the mud as if she were tucking a blanket around her baby. She kept the area clean and free of weeds and animals. In a few days, a tightly furled green leaf poked up through the mud. "Oh, Wakea," she called, "Look at our son! See how he grows? He stands already!" Ho`ohoku continued to care for her firstborn son, who grew into a large and handsome taro plant.Later, Ho`ohoku gave birth to a human child. He also was named Haloa. He was perfect in form, intelligent, and handsome. He grew like any boy, and became a man. He became the ancestor of humans. He was taught to honor, respect, and care for his elder brother so that his brother always would watch over and care for him.So now, even today, the descendants of Haloa-the-elder provide nourishing food for the descendants of Haloa-the-younger.
Figure of the war god Ku-ka'ili-mokuHawai'i, probably AD 1790-1810'snatcher of land'This large and intimidating figure was erected by King Kamehameha I, unifier of the Hawaiian islands at the end of the eighteenth and the beginning of the nineteenth century. Kamehameha built a number of temples to his god, Ku-ka'ili-moku ('Ku, the snatcher of land'), in the Kona district, Hawai'i, seeking the god's support in his further military ambitions. The figure is likely to have been a subsidiary image in the most sacred part of one of these temples: not so much a representation of the god as a vehicle for the god to enter.The figure is characteristic of the god Ku, especially by his disrespectful open mouth, but his hair, incorporating stylized pigs heads, suggests an additional identification with the god Lono. The pigs heads are possibly symbolic of wealth.J.C.H. King (ed.), Human image (London, The British Museum Press, 2000) Principal god of the king, brillainet Ku – Ancient Tiki God of War In Hawaiian mythology Ku is one of the four great gods along with the ancient tiki gods, Kanaloa, Kane, and Lono. He was the husband of the goddess Hina (Beckwith 1970:12), suggesting a complementary dualism as the word ku in the Hawaiian language means "standing up" while one meaning of 'hina' is 'fallen down.' Ku is worshipped under many names, including Ku-ka-ili-moku, the "Seizer of Land" (a feather-god, the guardian of Kamehameha). Rituals included human sacrifice, which was not part of the worship of the other gods. Ku, Kane, and Lono caused light to shine in upon the world. They are uncreated gods who have existed from eternity (Tregear 1891:540). KU and Hina, male or husband (kane) and female or wife (wahine), are invoked as great ancestral gods of heaven and earth who have general control over the fruitfulness of earth and the generations of mankind. Ku means "rising upright," Hina means "leaning down." The sun at its rising is referred to Ku, at its setting to Hina; hence the morning belongs to Ku, the afternoon to Hina. Prayer is addressed to Ku toward the east, to Hina toward the west. Together the two include the whole earth and the heavens from east to west; in a symbol also they include the generations of mankind, both those who are to come and those already born. Some kahunas teach a prayer for sickness addressing Ku and Hina, others address Kahikina-o-ka-la (The rising of the sun) and Komohana-o-ka-la (Entering in of the sun). Still others call upon the spirits of descendants and ancestors, praying toward the east to Hina-kua (-back) as mother of those who are to come, and toward the west to Hina-alo (-front) for those already born. The prayer to Ku and Hina of those who pluck herbs for medicine emphasizes family relationship as the claim to protection. All are children from a single stock, which is Ku.Ku [or Hina], listen! I have come to gather for [naming the sick person] this [naming the plant] which was rooted in Kahiki, spread its rootlets in Kahiki, produced stalk in Kahiki, branched in Kahiki, leafed in Kahiki, budded in Kahiki, blossomed in Kahiki, bore fruit in Kahiki. Life is from you, O God, until he [or she] crawls feebly and totters in extreme old age, until the blossoming time at the end. Amama, it is freed. 1 Ku is therefore the expression of the male generating power of the first parent by means of which the race is made fertile and reproduces from a single stock. Hina is the expression ofp. 13female fecundity and the power of growth and production. Through the woman must all pass into life in this world. The two, Ku and Hina, are hence invoked as inclusive of the whole ancestral line, past and to come. Ku is said to preside over all male spirits (gods), Hina over the female. They are national gods, for the whole people lay claim to their protection as children descended from a single stock in the ancient homeland of Kahiki.The idea of Ku and Hina as an expression of common parentage has had an influence upon fiction, where hero or heroine is likely to be represented as child of Ku and Hina, implying a claim to high birth much like that of the prince and princess of our own fairy tales. It enters into folk conceptions. A slab-shaped or pointed stone (pohaku) which stands upright is called male, pohaku-o-Kane; a flat (papa) or rounded stone is called female, papa-o-Hina or pohaku-o-Hina, and the two are believed to produce stone children. So the upright breadfruit (ulu) tree is male and is called ulu-ku; the low, spreading tree whose branches lean over is ulu-hapapa and is regarded as female. These distinctions arise from analogy, in the shape of the breadfruit blossom and of the rock forms, with the sexual organs, an analogy from which Hawaiian symbolism largely derives and the male expression of which is doubtless to be recognized in the conception of the creator god, Kane.The universal character of Ku as a god worshiped to produce good crops, good fishing, long life, and family and national prosperity for a whole people is illustrated in a prayer quoted by J. S. Emerson as one commonly used to secure a prosperous year:O Ku, O Li! (?) Soften your land that it may bring forth. Bring forth where? Bring forth in the sea [naming the fishing ground], squid, ulua fish. . . .Encourage your land to bring forth. Bring forth where? Bring forth, on land, potatoes, taro, gourds, coconuts, bananas, calabashes.Encourage your land to bring forth. Bring forth what? Bring forth men, women, children, pigs, fowl, food, land.p. 14Encourage your land to bring forth. Bring forth what? Bring forth chiefs, commoners, pleasant living; bring about good will, ward off ill will. 2Here again, in the antithesis between sea and land, is another illustration like that between male and female of the practical nature of prayer, which sought to omit no fraction of the field covered lest some virtue be lost. The habit of antithesis thus became a stylistic element in all Hawaiian poetic thought. Imagination played with such mythical conceptions of earth and heaven as Papa and Wakea (Awakea, literally midday). Night (po) was the period of the gods, day (ao) was that of mankind. Direction was indicated as toward the mountain or the sea, movement as away from or toward the speaker, upward or downward in relation to him; and an innumerable set of trivial pairings like large and small, heavy and soft, gave to the characteristically balanced structure of chant an antithetical turn. The contrast between upland and lowland, products of the forest and products of the sea, and the economic needs dependent upon each, shows itself as a strong emotional factor in all Hawaiian composition. It was recognized economically in the distribution of land, each family receiving a strip at the shore and a patch in the uplands. It was recognized in the division of the calendar into days, months, and seasons, when those at the shore watched for indications of the ripening season in the uplands and those living inland marked the time for fishing and surfing at the shore. It modified the habits of whole families of colonizers, some of whom made their settled homes in the uplands and in the forested mountain gorges. It determined the worship of functional gods of forest or sea, upon whom depended success in some special craft.A great number of these early gods of the sea and the forest are given Ku names and are hence to be regarded as sub-ordinate gods under whose name special families worshiped the god Ku, who is to be thought of as presiding over them all. As god of the forest and of rain Ku may be invoked as:p. 15Ku-moku-hali‘i (Ku spreading over the land)Ku-pulupulu (Ku of the undergrowth)Ku-olono-wao (Ku of the deep forest)Ku-holoholo-pali (Ku sliding down steeps)Ku-pepeiao-loa and -poko (Big- and small-eared Ku)Kupa-ai-ke‘e (Adzing out the canoe)Ku-mauna (Ku of the mountain)Ku-ka-ohia-laka (Ku of the ohia-lehua tree)Ku-ka-ieie (Ku of the wild pandanus vine)[paragraph continues] As god of husbandry he is prayed to as:Ku-ka-o-o (Ku of the digging stick)Ku-kulia (Ku of dry farming)Ku-keolowalu (Ku of wet farming)[paragraph continues] As god of fishing he may be worshiped as:Ku-ula or Ku-ula-kai (Ku of the abundance of the sea)[paragraph continues] As god of war as:Ku-nui-akea (Ku the supreme one)Ku-kaili-moku (Ku snatcher of land)Ku-keoloewa (Ku the supporter)Ku-ho‘one‘enu‘u (Ku pulling together the earth)[paragraph continues] As god of sorcery as:Ku-waha-ilo (Ku of the maggot-dropping mouth)[paragraph continues] These are only a few of the Ku gods who play a part in Hawaiian mythology. Lono – Ancient Tiki God of Fertility and Peace In Hawaiian mythology, Lono is a fertility and music god who descended to Earth on a rainbow to marry Laka. In agricultural and planting traditions, Lono was identified with rain and food plants. He was one of the four gods (with Ku, Kane, and his twin brother Kanaloa) who existed before the world was created. Lono was also the god of peace. In his honor, the great annual festival of the Makahiki was held. During this period (from October through February), all unnecessary work and war was kapu (taboo). This is also the season of taxes, olympic like games and when chiefs regrouped their forces (and organized campaigns ironically). Lono and the death of Captain Cook Some Hawaiians believed that Captain James Cook was Lono returned and indeed this fact may have ultimately contributed to Capt. Cook's death (see James Cook - Third voyage (1776-1779)). However, it is uncertain whether Captian Cook was taken for the god Lono or one of several historical or legendary figures who were also referred to as Lono-i-ka-Makahiki. According to Beckwith, there was indeed a tradition that such a human manifestation of the god [Lono] had actually appeared, established games and perhaps the annual taxing, and then departed to "Kahiki," promising to return "by sea on the canoes ‘Auwa’alalua" according to the prose note. "A Spanish man of war" translates the queen, remembering a tradition of arrival of a Spanish galleon beaten out of its course in the early days of exploration of the Pacific; "a very large double canoe" is Mrs. Pukui's more literal rendering, from ‘Au[hau]-wa’a-l[o]a-lua. The blue-sailed jellyfish we call "Portuguese man-of-war" Hawaiians speak of, perhaps half in derision, as ‘Auwa’alalua. The mother honored Keawe's son, perhaps born propitiously during the period of the Makahiki, by giving him the name of Lono-i-ka-Makahiki, seeing perhaps in the child a symbol of the tiki god's promised return.” (Beckwith 1951). Kane– Ancient Tiki God of Light and Life In Hawaiian mythology, Kane Milohai is the father of the tiki gods Ka-moho-ali'i, Pele (whom he exiled to Hawaii), Kapo, Namaka and Hi'iaka by Haumea. He created the sky, earth and upper heaven and gave Kumu-Honua the garden. He owned a tiny seashell that, when placed on the ocean's waves, turned into a huge sailboat. The user of the boat had merely to state his destination and the boat took him there. In agricultural and planting traditions, Kane was identified with the sun. The word Kane alone means "man". As a creative force, Kane was the heavenly father of all men. As he was the father of all living things, he was a symbol of life in nature. In many chants and legends of Ancient Hawaii, Kane is paired with the god Kanaloa, and is considered one of the four great Hawaiian divinities along with Kanaloa, Ku, and Lono.Alternatively known as Kane, Kane-Hekili ("thunderer" or "lightning breaking through the sky"), Kane Hoalani. Kanaloa – Ancient Tiki God the Sea Kanaloa is one of the four great gods of Hawaiian mythology, along with Kane, Ku, and Lono. He is the local form of a Polynesian deity generally connected with the sea. Roughly equivalent deities are known as Tangaroa in New Zealand, Tagaloa in Samoa, and Ta'aroa in Tahiti. In the traditions of Ancient Hawaii, Kanaloa is symbolized by the squid, and is typically associated with Kane in legends and chants where they are portrayed as complementary powers (Beckwith 1970:62-65). For example: Kane was called upon during the building of a canoe, Kanaloa during the sailing of it; Kane governed the northern edge of the ecliptic, Kanaloa the southern; Kanaloa points to hidden springs, and Kane then taps them out. In this way, they represent a divine duality of wild and taming forces like those observed (by Georges Dumezil, et al.) in Indo-European chief god-pairs like Odin-Tyr and Mitra-Varuna, and like the popular yin-yang of Chinese Taoism.Interpretations of Kanaloa as a god of evil opposing the good Kane (a reading that defies their paired invocations and shared devotees in Ancient Hawaii) is likely the result of European missionary efforts to recast the four major divinities of Hawaii in the image of the Christian Trinity plus Satan. Taro: Hawaii's Rootsby Leilehua Yuen TaroMost Hawaiian grown taro is allocated to four major uses: Poi, table taro, taro chips, and luau leaf. Taro for poi is cultivated by both the dryland and wetland methods. Varieties commonly used are the Lehua Maoli, `Maui' Lehua, and Moi. The Chinese Bun Long is used as table taro, luau (taro leaf), and - the delight of local yuppies - taro chips. Dasheen or araimo, Japanese taro, also is used as a table taro. The Samoan Niue is primarily used as a table taro.Like other farming, taro cultivation is demanding and the financial return can be low at times. Farmers work bent over in knee deep water and mud, from sun up to sun down. Areas suitable for taro cultivation are often far from conveniences such as decent roads, schools, hospitals, and shopping. Yet the number of people interested in raising taro is slowly rising. In 1990, the Big Island had 86 commercial taro farms. In 1994 there were 105.A lot of Hawaiian culture is based on taro cultivation, for example, you cannot fight when the bowl of poi is open. By ancient Hawaiian custom, it is considered disrespectful to fight in front of an elder. One should not raise the voice, speak angrily, or make rude comments or gestures. How is this connected to an open poi bowl? Because Haloa (Taro) is the elder brother of humans. The ancient Hawaiians identified so strongly with taro that the Hawaiian term for family, `ohana, is derived from the word `oha, the shoot or sucker which grows from the taro corm. As the young shoots grow from the corm, people grow from the family.While varieties of taro grow in almost all tropical regions of the world, Hawai`i seems to have some of the strongest taro traditions. According to Native Planters in Hawaii, by Handy and Handy, taro ". . . is a plant of unique and distinctive character which was brought by planters to a higher state of cultivation in old Hawaii than anywhere else in the world. . . . Native cultivation of taro in Hawaii had created a greater number of varieties adaptable to varying conditions of locale, soil, and water than are to be found anywhere else in Polynesia or, we believe, in the world. "Varieties of taro available today are much different than in ancient times. Many of the ancient varieties have disappeared through lack of cultivation, and immigrants and commercial cultivators have brought new varieties.The problems of taro farmers also have changed. In ancient times, drought, hurricane and warfare were the major calamities farmers faced.Today, introduced diseases, loss of arable land due to various kinds of development, water rights, pollution, and the world economy all must be factored into the farmer's business plan.But also, as the world has changed, farmers are changing their ways of dealing with it. They are banding together in associations to share knowledge and other resources. As more is learned about taro, ways to combat diseases should be found. Already, much research has been done in tissue culture for taro, providing disease free plants.Over the years, people from around the world have come to Hawai`i, and some have become taro farmers. Some, like the Chinese and Japanese, have brought their own varieties and cultivated them. Others began to cultivate the Hawaiian and introduced varieties already here. Taro varieties and knowledge were traded and contributed to modern Hawaii's famous blending of cultures, helping to make all of Hawai`i one `ohana. In the Beginning Before there were people, there were the gods. They had descent and genealogy, like people. Some were more like humans, and some were less. Among the more human-like were Wakea - the Sky Father, and Papa - the Earth Mother. They lived in a place which floated about between the clouds. Even now, people who look carefully at the clouds will see some which look solid, like islands in the sky. They are the cloud-island homes of gods and goddesses.Wakea was tall and strong, with broad shoulders and strong arms from hours at surfing. His legs were well muscled from striding about his cloud-island home, which looked much like Hawai`i. He had curling black hair and eyes the color of polished kukui. Papa was almost his height, with a lovely back, straight as a cliff, and a soft full bosom. Her hair was the color of polished koa, and rippled in the light. Her legs were shapely, but strong, and she could walk as far and as fast as Wakea. Her eyes glittered like stars. They were beautiful in the way of humans, and had the same desires as humans.Wakea wold bury his nose in Papa's long sweetly scented hair and inhale its fragrance. She would turn her head and press noses with him, sniffing gently in the honi, the Hawaiian kiss."This flower is blooming,” Wakea would say."Then let us enjoy it before it wilts," Papa would reply. Hand in hand they would retire to a kipuka floored with soft ferns, or perhaps to a stream with banks covered in soft moss. As the only creatures like themselves on their cloud-island, they had all of it for their private garden and could go where they pleased and do as they wished.Soon, all of this ho`oipoipo had the usual result, and children were born. Many children were born. When Wakea walked up behind Papa to press his nose against her neck, instead of "Let us enjoy this flower before it wilts," Papa was as likely to say "The baby is hungry. Go catch more fish." Disgruntled, Wakea would take his net and go.Wakea Sees Ho`ohoku-ka-laniWakea did not have much use for babies and spent more and more time away from home. He was away so much that he did not notice when the babies were not babies any more. One day, Wakea noticed a beautiful young woman walking in the forest. He followed her."You, you look familiar," he told her."I am your youngest daughter, Ho`ohoku-ka-lani," she replied. Wakea followed her home and saw his wife and daughter together.Ho`ohoku's back was as straight as a cliff. Papa's was bent from reaching down to pick up babies. Ho`ohoku's bosom was full and soft. Papa's was flattened and stretched from nursing. Ho`ohoku could stride through the forest as fast as Wakea. Papa took short steps, from years of keeping pace with the short legs of children. Ho`ohoku's hair was the color of polished koa and rippled in the light. Papa's hair was the color of burned out firewood which had given up its light. Ho`ohoku's eyes were like stars. In Papa's eyes, the stars had died when Wakea ceased to look into them.Wakea began to spend more time at home again, and Papa was glad. He took his stone adz into the forest and cut dead wood for cooking fires. He cut good strong wood for house posts and new `umeke, as well as wood for a new canoe. He sat in front of the work shed and carved.Papa paused in her tapa beating and looked fondly over at him. "It is good to have you spend more time with me," she told him. "Now that the children are grown, we can enjoy those flowers more often." Papa rinsed the wauke slime from her hands, stood up, and stretched. She walked over beside Wakea and sat down, then leaned over and put her nose to his for a tender honi. Wakea responded, but his thoughts were on Ho`ohoku.Wakea burned with desire for Ho`ohoku-ka-lani. He began to develop a deceitful plan.Wakea's Plan"Papa," he said one afternoon. "Now that we have so many children, this place is becoming crowded. They do not respect us, they do not respect each other. We are gods. It is not right for us to waste our mana in this undisciplined behavior. We need rules. It will teach them discipline." Papa nodded and continued weaving."I have decided it is necessary for men and women to spend certain times apart from one another, to preserve their mana," Wakea said. "I think that men and women, being different, need different foods. I will build a hale for us men to eat in, and another for you women to eat in." Papa accepted the plan. Men did not always act in ways she found appetizing.Wakea took a deep breath. "It is also necessary for men and women to sleep apart on certain days each month. This will let them preserve their mana for days when they must work hard. I will build separate hale for these special times."Papa stopped her weaving. "Are you sure that is necessary, Wakea?" He looked at her a long time. True, she no longer looked as she did when they first met. But, it was because she had borne his children. And she had done so over and over, for love of him. But she had turned away from him and devoted herself to the children when he had wanted her for himself. True, she now had a quiet, regal beauty. She had not been that way when she was younger, and Ho`ohoku would not be that way for years, if ever. She was stronger than he remembered. It attracted him, but it also frightened him. "Yes," he replied. "It is necessary."On the first night of the new kapu, Wakea lured Ho`ohoku out of the women's sleeping hale. He led her to a secret place and kept her there almost until dawn. Then he allowed her to return to the women's hale, cautioning her to slip in quietly so no one would know she had been out.Each kapu night Wakea had Ho`ohoku meet him. Many months went by, and Papa was none the wiser. Occasionally she remarked on Ho`ohoku's sleepiness some days. "Wakea," she would say, "Does our Ho`ohoku seem healthy to you? She has been listless the past three days. Her tapa does not stick together well when she pounds it because there is no strength in her arm." Wakea would reassure her."It is nothing. She is young and has not developed her full strength. You worry too much because she is your baby." Papa would nod and relax.DiscoveryAt last the inevitable happened, and Ho`ohoku was pregnant. When she no longer went to the women's hale to spend the time of her ma`i, Papa knew what had happened.Curses, kapa beaters, and chunks of soggy wauke flew. Papa cried, she cursed, she wept. "How could you do this? Why? Away! Go away from me!” All of the love she had felt for Wakea was turned immediately to hate.Wakea loaded his new canoe with all of the things he would need for a long sea voyage. He directed Ho`ohoku to weave a sail.He filled his ipu-wai from a clean spring. Thoroughly oiled and plugged with a pu stopper, they would keep the water clean and fresh for a long time. `Ulu and `uala were packed to eat. The `ulu were pounded into a thick paste. Some was fermented and some was allowed to dry. If one kind went bad on the voyage, the other kind might last. The `uala were allowed to air dry with their fine coating of lepo to absorb any moisture which might settle on them.Young food plants carefully wrapped for protection against the salt spray were added to the load. If there was no food where Wakea was headed, he would have to be able to grow his own.For meat, pigs, chickens, and dogs were caged and loaded on the canoe. At last he fetched Ho`ohoku and set out.A New LandThe fine lauhala sail which Ho`ohoku had plaited caught the wind, and the couple was sailing from the land between the clouds to the ocean below. The narrow bow of the canoe sliced through wavelets as it skimmed across the water. Soon, they reached Hawai`i.They sailed by various shores and at last found a valley which could be their home. Wakea beached the canoe and set about building a hale for himself and Ho`ohoku.First he selected the site. Then Wakea went to the beach and carried rocks to build the lower wall. He went to the forest and used his stone adz to cut trees for the house posts. He put the bases into holes in the ground and built the stone wall up around them. Then he added the roof poles. He had to cut many fine saplings to make enough ribs to tie the thatching to.While he built the frame, Ho`ohoku collected ti leaves and tied them into bundles for the thatch. Wakea spread `ili`ili for the floor and covered them with fine sand.Ho`ohoku plaited lauhala to make a floor covering to go over the sand. She trimmed the thorns from the leaves with her sharp bamboo knife. She softened the leaves by pulling them back and forth over the dull side of her knife. She coiled them one way and then the other. Then she began to coil them into wheels, with the diameter the same size as the length of her forearm. When she had enough wheels of leaves, she sorted them by color and decided on a pattern for her mat. Then, with her fingernails she stripped the leaves into long narrow pieces and began to weave.At last the hale was complete.Whether it was because of the stress of the sea voyage, her mother's curses, or some other reason, Ho`ohoku began her labor too soon. It was long and painful, and Ho`ohoku did not have her mother there to help her, but she did not scream or cry. At last the baby was born.This first child was premature, a legless, armless, formless lump of flesh. Ho`ohoku and Wakea named him Haloa-naka, but he still died. Wakea buried Haloa-naka at the East corner of the house. Each day Ho`ohoku tended the burial site. She carried water in Wakea's ipuwai and gave Haloa-naka a drink. She stirred the mud as if she were tucking a blanket around her baby. She kept the area clean and free of weeds and animals. In a few days, a tightly furled green leaf poked up through the mud. "Oh, Wakea," she called, "Look at our son! See how he grows? He stands already!" Ho`ohoku continued to care for her firstborn son, who grew into a large and handsome taro plant.Later, Ho`ohoku gave birth to a human child. He also was named Haloa. He was perfect in form, intelligent, and handsome. He grew like any boy, and became a man. He became the ancestor of humans. He was taught to honor, respect, and care for his elder brother so that his brother always would watch over and care for him.So now, even today, the descendants of Haloa-the-elder provide nourishing food for the descendants of Haloa-the-younger.
Growth, horticulture, and rain Lono was the God of Fertility. Bestowing offspring on mankind and was said to come down from the skies in rain to make crops grow. One of the favorites of the major gods. ORIGINAL: British Museum, London PROVENANCE: Rarotonga, Cook Islands HEIGHT: 14 " INCHES Ku – Ancient Tiki God of War In Hawaiian mythology Ku is one of the four great gods along with the ancient tiki gods, Kanaloa, Kane, and Lono. He was the husband of the goddess Hina (Beckwith 1970:12), suggesting a complementary dualism as the word ku in the Hawaiian language means "standing up" while one meaning of 'hina' is 'fallen down.' Ku is worshipped under many names, including Ku-ka-ili-moku, the "Seizer of Land" (a feather-god, the guardian of Kamehameha). Rituals included human sacrifice, which was not part of the worship of the other gods. Ku, Kane, and Lono caused light to shine in upon the world. They are uncreated gods who have existed from eternity (Tregear 1891:540). Lono – Ancient Tiki God of Fertility and Peace In Hawaiian mythology, Lono is a fertility and music god who descended to Earth on a rainbow to marry Laka. In agricultural and planting traditions, Lono was identified with rain and food plants. He was one of the four gods (with Ku, Kane, and his twin brother Kanaloa) who existed before the world was created. Lono was also the god of peace. In his honor, the great annual festival of the Makahiki was held. During this period (from October through February), all unnecessary work and war was kapu (taboo). This is also the season of taxes, olympic like games and when chiefs regrouped their forces (and organized campaigns ironically). Lono and the death of Captain Cook Some Hawaiians believed that Captain James Cook was Lono returned and indeed this fact may have ultimately contributed to Capt. Cook's death (see James Cook - Third voyage (1776-1779)). However, it is uncertain whether Captian Cook was taken for the god Lono or one of several historical or legendary figures who were also referred to as Lono-i-ka-Makahiki. According to Beckwith, there was indeed a tradition that such a human manifestation of the god [Lono] had actually appeared, established games and perhaps the annual taxing, and then departed to "Kahiki," promising to return "by sea on the canoes ‘Auwa’alalua" according to the prose note. "A Spanish man of war" translates the queen, remembering a tradition of arrival of a Spanish galleon beaten out of its course in the early days of exploration of the Pacific; "a very large double canoe" is Mrs. Pukui's more literal rendering, from ‘Au[hau]-wa’a-l[o]a-lua. The blue-sailed jellyfish we call "Portuguese man-of-war" Hawaiians speak of, perhaps half in derision, as ‘Auwa’alalua. The mother honored Keawe's son, perhaps born propitiously during the period of the Makahiki, by giving him the name of Lono-i-ka-Makahiki, seeing perhaps in the child a symbol of the tiki god's promised return.” (Beckwith 1951). Kane– Ancient Tiki God of Light and Life In Hawaiian mythology, Kane Milohai is the father of the tiki gods Ka-moho-ali'i, Pele (whom he exiled to Hawaii), Kapo, Namaka and Hi'iaka by Haumea. He created the sky, earth and upper heaven and gave Kumu-Honua the garden. He owned a tiny seashell that, when placed on the ocean's waves, turned into a huge sailboat. The user of the boat had merely to state his destination and the boat took him there. In agricultural and planting traditions, Kane was identified with the sun. The word Kane alone means "man". As a creative force, Kane was the heavenly father of all men. As he was the father of all living things, he was a symbol of life in nature. In many chants and legends of Ancient Hawaii, Kane is paired with the god Kanaloa, and is considered one of the four great Hawaiian divinities along with Kanaloa, Ku, and Lono.Alternatively known as Kane, Kane-Hekili ("thunderer" or "lightning breaking through the sky"), Kane Hoalani. Kanaloa – Ancient Tiki God the Sea Kanaloa is one of the four great gods of Hawaiian mythology, along with Kane, Ku, and Lono. He is the local form of a Polynesian deity generally connected with the sea. Roughly equivalent deities are known as Tangaroa in New Zealand, Tagaloa in Samoa, and Ta'aroa in Tahiti. In the traditions of Ancient Hawaii, Kanaloa is symbolized by the squid, and is typically associated with Kane in legends and chants where they are portrayed as complementary powers (Beckwith 1970:62-65). For example: Kane was called upon during the building of a canoe, Kanaloa during the sailing of it; Kane governed the northern edge of the ecliptic, Kanaloa the southern; Kanaloa points to hidden springs, and Kane then taps them out. In this way, they represent a divine duality of wild and taming forces like those observed (by Georges Dumezil, et al.) in Indo-European chief god-pairs like Odin-Tyr and Mitra-Varuna, and like the popular yin-yang of Chinese Taoism.Interpretations of Kanaloa as a god of evil opposing the good Kane (a reading that defies their paired invocations and shared devotees in Ancient Hawaii) is likely the result of European missionary efforts to recast the four major divinities of Hawaii in the image of the Christian Trinity plus Satan.
Ku – Ancient Tiki God of War In Hawaiian mythology Ku is one of the four great gods along with the ancient tiki gods, Kanaloa, Kane, and Lono. He was the husband of the goddess Hina (Beckwith 1970:12), suggesting a complementary dualism as the word ku in the Hawaiian language means "standing up" while one meaning of 'hina' is 'fallen down.' Ku is worshipped under many names, including Ku-ka-ili-moku, the "Seizer of Land" (a feather-god, the guardian of Kamehameha). Rituals included human sacrifice, which was not part of the worship of the other gods. Ku, Kane, and Lono caused light to shine in upon the world. They are uncreated gods who have existed from eternity (Tregear 1891:540). Lono – Ancient Tiki God of Fertility and Peace In Hawaiian mythology, Lono is a fertility and music god who descended to Earth on a rainbow to marry Laka. In agricultural and planting traditions, Lono was identified with rain and food plants. He was one of the four gods (with Ku, Kane, and his twin brother Kanaloa) who existed before the world was created. Lono was also the god of peace. In his honor, the great annual festival of the Makahiki was held. During this period (from October through February), all unnecessary work and war was kapu (taboo). This is also the season of taxes, olympic like games and when chiefs regrouped their forces (and organized campaigns ironically). Lono and the death of Captain Cook Some Hawaiians believed that Captain James Cook was Lono returned and indeed this fact may have ultimately contributed to Capt. Cook's death (see James Cook - Third voyage (1776-1779)). However, it is uncertain whether Captian Cook was taken for the god Lono or one of several historical or legendary figures who were also referred to as Lono-i-ka-Makahiki. According to Beckwith, there was indeed a tradition that such a human manifestation of the god [Lono] had actually appeared, established games and perhaps the annual taxing, and then departed to "Kahiki," promising to return "by sea on the canoes ‘Auwa’alalua" according to the prose note. "A Spanish man of war" translates the queen, remembering a tradition of arrival of a Spanish galleon beaten out of its course in the early days of exploration of the Pacific; "a very large double canoe" is Mrs. Pukui's more literal rendering, from ‘Au[hau]-wa’a-l[o]a-lua. The blue-sailed jellyfish we call "Portuguese man-of-war" Hawaiians speak of, perhaps half in derision, as ‘Auwa’alalua. The mother honored Keawe's son, perhaps born propitiously during the period of the Makahiki, by giving him the name of Lono-i-ka-Makahiki, seeing perhaps in the child a symbol of the tiki god's promised return.” (Beckwith 1951). Kane– Ancient Tiki God of Light and Life In Hawaiian mythology, Kane Milohai is the father of the tiki gods Ka-moho-ali'i, Pele (whom he exiled to Hawaii), Kapo, Namaka and Hi'iaka by Haumea. He created the sky, earth and upper heaven and gave Kumu-Honua the garden. He owned a tiny seashell that, when placed on the ocean's waves, turned into a huge sailboat. The user of the boat had merely to state his destination and the boat took him there. In agricultural and planting traditions, Kane was identified with the sun. The word Kane alone means "man". As a creative force, Kane was the heavenly father of all men. As he was the father of all living things, he was a symbol of life in nature. In many chants and legends of Ancient Hawaii, Kane is paired with the god Kanaloa, and is considered one of the four great Hawaiian divinities along with Kanaloa, Ku, and Lono.Alternatively known as Kane, Kane-Hekili ("thunderer" or "lightning breaking through the sky"), Kane Hoalani. KANE-HEKILI Original watercolor 12" x 16" by Joanna Carolan Framed in Bamboo Item KM_05.....$890.00Kane-hekili is one of many Hawaiian gods of thunder and lightning. He appeared to those who worshipped him as a man. One side of his body was light colored or white while the other side was dark colored or black. He stood with his feet on the earth and his head touched the clouds.The last chief to rule Maui, Kahekili, belonged to the thunder god family. Kahekili was tattooed on one side of his body to show his allegiance to the thunder go Kanaloa – Ancient Tiki God the Sea Kanaloa is one of the four great gods of Hawaiian mythology, along with Kane, Ku, and Lono. He is the local form of a Polynesian deity generally connected with the sea. Roughly equivalent deities are known as Tangaroa in New Zealand, Tagaloa in Samoa, and Ta'aroa in Tahiti. In the traditions of Ancient Hawaii, Kanaloa is symbolized by the squid, and is typically associated with Kane in legends and chants where they are portrayed as complementary powers (Beckwith 1970:62-65). For example: Kane was called upon during the building of a canoe, Kanaloa during the sailing of it; Kane governed the northern edge of the ecliptic, Kanaloa the southern; Kanaloa points to hidden springs, and Kane then taps them out. In this way, they represent a divine duality of wild and taming forces like those observed (by Georges Dumezil, et al.) in Indo-European chief god-pairs like Odin-Tyr and Mitra-Varuna, and like the popular yin-yang of Chinese Taoism.Interpretations of Kanaloa as a god of evil opposing the good Kane (a reading that defies their paired invocations and shared devotees in Ancient Hawaii) is likely the result of European missionary efforts to recast the four major divinities of Hawaii in the image of the Christian Trinity plus Satan. Taro: Hawaii's Rootsby Leilehua Yuen TaroMost Hawaiian grown taro is allocated to four major uses: Poi, table taro, taro chips, and luau leaf. Taro for poi is cultivated by both the dryland and wetland methods. Varieties commonly used are the Lehua Maoli, `Maui' Lehua, and Moi. The Chinese Bun Long is used as table taro, luau (taro leaf), and - the delight of local yuppies - taro chips. Dasheen or araimo, Japanese taro, also is used as a table taro. The Samoan Niue is primarily used as a table taro.Like other farming, taro cultivation is demanding and the financial return can be low at times. Farmers work bent over in knee deep water and mud, from sun up to sun down. Areas suitable for taro cultivation are often far from conveniences such as decent roads, schools, hospitals, and shopping. Yet the number of people interested in raising taro is slowly rising. In 1990, the Big Island had 86 commercial taro farms. In 1994 there were 105.A lot of Hawaiian culture is based on taro cultivation, for example, you cannot fight when the bowl of poi is open. By ancient Hawaiian custom, it is considered disrespectful to fight in front of an elder. One should not raise the voice, speak angrily, or make rude comments or gestures. How is this connected to an open poi bowl? Because Haloa (Taro) is the elder brother of humans. The ancient Hawaiians identified so strongly with taro that the Hawaiian term for family, `ohana, is derived from the word `oha, the shoot or sucker which grows from the taro corm. As the young shoots grow from the corm, people grow from the family.While varieties of taro grow in almost all tropical regions of the world, Hawai`i seems to have some of the strongest taro traditions. According to Native Planters in Hawaii, by Handy and Handy, taro ". . . is a plant of unique and distinctive character which was brought by planters to a higher state of cultivation in old Hawaii than anywhere else in the world. . . . Native cultivation of taro in Hawaii had created a greater number of varieties adaptable to varying conditions of locale, soil, and water than are to be found anywhere else in Polynesia or, we believe, in the world. "Varieties of taro available today are much different than in ancient times. Many of the ancient varieties have disappeared through lack of cultivation, and immigrants and commercial cultivators have brought new varieties.The problems of taro farmers also have changed. In ancient times, drought, hurricane and warfare were the major calamities farmers faced.Today, introduced diseases, loss of arable land due to various kinds of development, water rights, pollution, and the world economy all must be factored into the farmer's business plan.But also, as the world has changed, farmers are changing their ways of dealing with it. They are banding together in associations to share knowledge and other resources. As more is learned about taro, ways to combat diseases should be found. Already, much research has been done in tissue culture for taro, providing disease free plants.Over the years, people from around the world have come to Hawai`i, and some have become taro farmers. Some, like the Chinese and Japanese, have brought their own varieties and cultivated them. Others began to cultivate the Hawaiian and introduced varieties already here. Taro varieties and knowledge were traded and contributed to modern Hawaii's famous blending of cultures, helping to make all of Hawai`i one `ohana. In the Beginning Before there were people, there were the gods. They had descent and genealogy, like people. Some were more like humans, and some were less. Among the more human-like were Wakea - the Sky Father, and Papa - the Earth Mother. They lived in a place which floated about between the clouds. Even now, people who look carefully at the clouds will see some which look solid, like islands in the sky. They are the cloud-island homes of gods and goddesses.Wakea was tall and strong, with broad shoulders and strong arms from hours at surfing. His legs were well muscled from striding about his cloud-island home, which looked much like Hawai`i. He had curling black hair and eyes the color of polished kukui. Papa was almost his height, with a lovely back, straight as a cliff, and a soft full bosom. Her hair was the color of polished koa, and rippled in the light. Her legs were shapely, but strong, and she could walk as far and as fast as Wakea. Her eyes glittered like stars. They were beautiful in the way of humans, and had the same desires as humans.Wakea wold bury his nose in Papa's long sweetly scented hair and inhale its fragrance. She would turn her head and press noses with him, sniffing gently in the honi, the Hawaiian kiss."This flower is blooming,” Wakea would say."Then let us enjoy it before it wilts," Papa would reply. Hand in hand they would retire to a kipuka floored with soft ferns, or perhaps to a stream with banks covered in soft moss. As the only creatures like themselves on their cloud-island, they had all of it for their private garden and could go where they pleased and do as they wished.Soon, all of this ho`oipoipo had the usual result, and children were born. Many children were born. When Wakea walked up behind Papa to press his nose against her neck, instead of "Let us enjoy this flower before it wilts," Papa was as likely to say "The baby is hungry. Go catch more fish." Disgruntled, Wakea would take his net and go.Wakea Sees Ho`ohoku-ka-laniWakea did not have much use for babies and spent more and more time away from home. He was away so much that he did not notice when the babies were not babies any more. One day, Wakea noticed a beautiful young woman walking in the forest. He followed her."You, you look familiar," he told her."I am your youngest daughter, Ho`ohoku-ka-lani," she replied. Wakea followed her home and saw his wife and daughter together.Ho`ohoku's back was as straight as a cliff. Papa's was bent from reaching down to pick up babies. Ho`ohoku's bosom was full and soft. Papa's was flattened and stretched from nursing. Ho`ohoku could stride through the forest as fast as Wakea. Papa took short steps, from years of keeping pace with the short legs of children. Ho`ohoku's hair was the color of polished koa and rippled in the light. Papa's hair was the color of burned out firewood which had given up its light. Ho`ohoku's eyes were like stars. In Papa's eyes, the stars had died when Wakea ceased to look into them.Wakea began to spend more time at home again, and Papa was glad. He took his stone adz into the forest and cut dead wood for cooking fires. He cut good strong wood for house posts and new `umeke, as well as wood for a new canoe. He sat in front of the work shed and carved.Papa paused in her tapa beating and looked fondly over at him. "It is good to have you spend more time with me," she told him. "Now that the children are grown, we can enjoy those flowers more often." Papa rinsed the wauke slime from her hands, stood up, and stretched. She walked over beside Wakea and sat down, then leaned over and put her nose to his for a tender honi. Wakea responded, but his thoughts were on Ho`ohoku.Wakea burned with desire for Ho`ohoku-ka-lani. He began to develop a deceitful plan.Wakea's Plan"Papa," he said one afternoon. "Now that we have so many children, this place is becoming crowded. They do not respect us, they do not respect each other. We are gods. It is not right for us to waste our mana in this undisciplined behavior. We need rules. It will teach them discipline." Papa nodded and continued weaving."I have decided it is necessary for men and women to spend certain times apart from one another, to preserve their mana," Wakea said. "I think that men and women, being different, need different foods. I will build a hale for us men to eat in, and another for you women to eat in." Papa accepted the plan. Men did not always act in ways she found appetizing.Wakea took a deep breath. "It is also necessary for men and women to sleep apart on certain days each month. This will let them preserve their mana for days when they must work hard. I will build separate hale for these special times."Papa stopped her weaving. "Are you sure that is necessary, Wakea?" He looked at her a long time. True, she no longer looked as she did when they first met. But, it was because she had borne his children. And she had done so over and over, for love of him. But she had turned away from him and devoted herself to the children when he had wanted her for himself. True, she now had a quiet, regal beauty. She had not been that way when she was younger, and Ho`ohoku would not be that way for years, if ever. She was stronger than he remembered. It attracted him, but it also frightened him. "Yes," he replied. "It is necessary."On the first night of the new kapu, Wakea lured Ho`ohoku out of the women's sleeping hale. He led her to a secret place and kept her there almost until dawn. Then he allowed her to return to the women's hale, cautioning her to slip in quietly so no one would know she had been out.Each kapu night Wakea had Ho`ohoku meet him. Many months went by, and Papa was none the wiser. Occasionally she remarked on Ho`ohoku's sleepiness some days. "Wakea," she would say, "Does our Ho`ohoku seem healthy to you? She has been listless the past three days. Her tapa does not stick together well when she pounds it because there is no strength in her arm." Wakea would reassure her."It is nothing. She is young and has not developed her full strength. You worry too much because she is your baby." Papa would nod and relax.DiscoveryAt last the inevitable happened, and Ho`ohoku was pregnant. When she no longer went to the women's hale to spend the time of her ma`i, Papa knew what had happened.Curses, kapa beaters, and chunks of soggy wauke flew. Papa cried, she cursed, she wept. "How could you do this? Why? Away! Go away from me!” All of the love she had felt for Wakea was turned immediately to hate.Wakea loaded his new canoe with all of the things he would need for a long sea voyage. He directed Ho`ohoku to weave a sail.He filled his ipu-wai from a clean spring. Thoroughly oiled and plugged with a pu stopper, they would keep the water clean and fresh for a long time. `Ulu and `uala were packed to eat. The `ulu were pounded into a thick paste. Some was fermented and some was allowed to dry. If one kind went bad on the voyage, the other kind might last. The `uala were allowed to air dry with their fine coating of lepo to absorb any moisture which might settle on them.Young food plants carefully wrapped for protection against the salt spray were added to the load. If there was no food where Wakea was headed, he would have to be able to grow his own.For meat, pigs, chickens, and dogs were caged and loaded on the canoe. At last he fetched Ho`ohoku and set out.A New LandThe fine lauhala sail which Ho`ohoku had plaited caught the wind, and the couple was sailing from the land between the clouds to the ocean below. The narrow bow of the canoe sliced through wavelets as it skimmed across the water. Soon, they reached Hawai`i.They sailed by various shores and at last found a valley which could be their home. Wakea beached the canoe and set about building a hale for himself and Ho`ohoku.First he selected the site. Then Wakea went to the beach and carried rocks to build the lower wall. He went to the forest and used his stone adz to cut trees for the house posts. He put the bases into holes in the ground and built the stone wall up around them. Then he added the roof poles. He had to cut many fine saplings to make enough ribs to tie the thatching to.While he built the frame, Ho`ohoku collected ti leaves and tied them into bundles for the thatch. Wakea spread `ili`ili for the floor and covered them with fine sand.Ho`ohoku plaited lauhala to make a floor covering to go over the sand. She trimmed the thorns from the leaves with her sharp bamboo knife. She softened the leaves by pulling them back and forth over the dull side of her knife. She coiled them one way and then the other. Then she began to coil them into wheels, with the diameter the same size as the length of her forearm. When she had enough wheels of leaves, she sorted them by color and decided on a pattern for her mat. Then, with her fingernails she stripped the leaves into long narrow pieces and began to weave.At last the hale was complete.Whether it was because of the stress of the sea voyage, her mother's curses, or some other reason, Ho`ohoku began her labor too soon. It was long and painful, and Ho`ohoku did not have her mother there to help her, but she did not scream or cry. At last the baby was born.This first child was premature, a legless, armless, formless lump of flesh. Ho`ohoku and Wakea named him Haloa-naka, but he still died. Wakea buried Haloa-naka at the East corner of the house. Each day Ho`ohoku tended the burial site. She carried water in Wakea's ipuwai and gave Haloa-naka a drink. She stirred the mud as if she were tucking a blanket around her baby. She kept the area clean and free of weeds and animals. In a few days, a tightly furled green leaf poked up through the mud. "Oh, Wakea," she called, "Look at our son! See how he grows? He stands already!" Ho`ohoku continued to care for her firstborn son, who grew into a large and handsome taro plant.Later, Ho`ohoku gave birth to a human child. He also was named Haloa. He was perfect in form, intelligent, and handsome. He grew like any boy, and became a man. He became the ancestor of humans. He was taught to honor, respect, and care for his elder brother so that his brother always would watch over and care for him.So now, even today, the descendants of Haloa-the-elder provide nourishing food for the descendants of Haloa-the-younger.
Kanaloa – Ancient Tiki God the Sea Kanaloa is one of the four great gods of Hawaiian mythology, along with Kane, Ku, and Lono. He is the local form of a Polynesian deity generally connected with the sea. Roughly equivalent deities are known as Tangaroa in New Zealand, Tagaloa in Samoa, and Ta'aroa in Tahiti. In the traditions of Ancient Hawaii, Kanaloa is symbolized by the squid, and is typically associated with Kane in legends and chants where they are portrayed as complementary powers (Beckwith 1970:62-65). For example: Kane was called upon during the building of a canoe, Kanaloa during the sailing of it; Kane governed the northern edge of the ecliptic, Kanaloa the southern; Kanaloa points to hidden springs, and Kane then taps them out. In this way, they represent a divine duality of wild and taming forces like those observed (by Georges Dumezil, et al.) in Indo-European chief god-pairs like Odin-Tyr and Mitra-Varuna, and like the popular yin-yang of Chinese Taoism.Interpretations of Kanaloa as a god of evil opposing the good Kane (a reading that defies their paired invocations and shared devotees in Ancient Hawaii) is likely the result of European missionary efforts to recast the four major divinities of Hawaii in the image of the Christian Trinity plus Satan. Taro: Hawaii's Rootsby Leilehua Yuen TaroMost Hawaiian grown taro is allocated to four major uses: Poi, table taro, taro chips, and luau leaf. Taro for poi is cultivated by both the dryland and wetland methods. Varieties commonly used are the Lehua Maoli, `Maui' Lehua, and Moi. The Chinese Bun Long is used as table taro, luau (taro leaf), and - the delight of local yuppies - taro chips. Dasheen or araimo, Japanese taro, also is used as a table taro. The Samoan Niue is primarily used as a table taro.Like other farming, taro cultivation is demanding and the financial return can be low at times. Farmers work bent over in knee deep water and mud, from sun up to sun down. Areas suitable for taro cultivation are often far from conveniences such as decent roads, schools, hospitals, and shopping. Yet the number of people interested in raising taro is slowly rising. In 1990, the Big Island had 86 commercial taro farms. In 1994 there were 105.A lot of Hawaiian culture is based on taro cultivation, for example, you cannot fight when the bowl of poi is open. By ancient Hawaiian custom, it is considered disrespectful to fight in front of an elder. One should not raise the voice, speak angrily, or make rude comments or gestures. How is this connected to an open poi bowl? Because Haloa (Taro) is the elder brother of humans. The ancient Hawaiians identified so strongly with taro that the Hawaiian term for family, `ohana, is derived from the word `oha, the shoot or sucker which grows from the taro corm. As the young shoots grow from the corm, people grow from the family.While varieties of taro grow in almost all tropical regions of the world, Hawai`i seems to have some of the strongest taro traditions. According to Native Planters in Hawaii, by Handy and Handy, taro ". . . is a plant of unique and distinctive character which was brought by planters to a higher state of cultivation in old Hawaii than anywhere else in the world. . . . Native cultivation of taro in Hawaii had created a greater number of varieties adaptable to varying conditions of locale, soil, and water than are to be found anywhere else in Polynesia or, we believe, in the world. "Varieties of taro available today are much different than in ancient times. Many of the ancient varieties have disappeared through lack of cultivation, and immigrants and commercial cultivators have brought new varieties.The problems of taro farmers also have changed. In ancient times, drought, hurricane and warfare were the major calamities farmers faced.Today, introduced diseases, loss of arable land due to various kinds of development, water rights, pollution, and the world economy all must be factored into the farmer's business plan.But also, as the world has changed, farmers are changing their ways of dealing with it. They are banding together in associations to share knowledge and other resources. As more is learned about taro, ways to combat diseases should be found. Already, much research has been done in tissue culture for taro, providing disease free plants.Over the years, people from around the world have come to Hawai`i, and some have become taro farmers. Some, like the Chinese and Japanese, have brought their own varieties and cultivated them. Others began to cultivate the Hawaiian and introduced varieties already here. Taro varieties and knowledge were traded and contributed to modern Hawaii's famous blending of cultures, helping to make all of Hawai`i one `ohana. In the Beginning Before there were people, there were the gods. They had descent and genealogy, like people. Some were more like humans, and some were less. Among the more human-like were Wakea - the Sky Father, and Papa - the Earth Mother. They lived in a place which floated about between the clouds. Even now, people who look carefully at the clouds will see some which look solid, like islands in the sky. They are the cloud-island homes of gods and goddesses.Wakea was tall and strong, with broad shoulders and strong arms from hours at surfing. His legs were well muscled from striding about his cloud-island home, which looked much like Hawai`i. He had curling black hair and eyes the color of polished kukui. Papa was almost his height, with a lovely back, straight as a cliff, and a soft full bosom. Her hair was the color of polished koa, and rippled in the light. Her legs were shapely, but strong, and she could walk as far and as fast as Wakea. Her eyes glittered like stars. They were beautiful in the way of humans, and had the same desires as humans.Wakea wold bury his nose in Papa's long sweetly scented hair and inhale its fragrance. She would turn her head and press noses with him, sniffing gently in the honi, the Hawaiian kiss."This flower is blooming,” Wakea would say."Then let us enjoy it before it wilts," Papa would reply. Hand in hand they would retire to a kipuka floored with soft ferns, or perhaps to a stream with banks covered in soft moss. As the only creatures like themselves on their cloud-island, they had all of it for their private garden and could go where they pleased and do as they wished.Soon, all of this ho`oipoipo had the usual result, and children were born. Many children were born. When Wakea walked up behind Papa to press his nose against her neck, instead of "Let us enjoy this flower before it wilts," Papa was as likely to say "The baby is hungry. Go catch more fish." Disgruntled, Wakea would take his net and go.Wakea Sees Ho`ohoku-ka-laniWakea did not have much use for babies and spent more and more time away from home. He was away so much that he did not notice when the babies were not babies any more. One day, Wakea noticed a beautiful young woman walking in the forest. He followed her."You, you look familiar," he told her."I am your youngest daughter, Ho`ohoku-ka-lani," she replied. Wakea followed her home and saw his wife and daughter together.Ho`ohoku's back was as straight as a cliff. Papa's was bent from reaching down to pick up babies. Ho`ohoku's bosom was full and soft. Papa's was flattened and stretched from nursing. Ho`ohoku could stride through the forest as fast as Wakea. Papa took short steps, from years of keeping pace with the short legs of children. Ho`ohoku's hair was the color of polished koa and rippled in the light. Papa's hair was the color of burned out firewood which had given up its light. Ho`ohoku's eyes were like stars. In Papa's eyes, the stars had died when Wakea ceased to look into them.Wakea began to spend more time at home again, and Papa was glad. He took his stone adz into the forest and cut dead wood for cooking fires. He cut good strong wood for house posts and new `umeke, as well as wood for a new canoe. He sat in front of the work shed and carved.Papa paused in her tapa beating and looked fondly over at him. "It is good to have you spend more time with me," she told him. "Now that the children are grown, we can enjoy those flowers more often." Papa rinsed the wauke slime from her hands, stood up, and stretched. She walked over beside Wakea and sat down, then leaned over and put her nose to his for a tender honi. Wakea responded, but his thoughts were on Ho`ohoku.Wakea burned with desire for Ho`ohoku-ka-lani. He began to develop a deceitful plan.Wakea's Plan"Papa," he said one afternoon. "Now that we have so many children, this place is becoming crowded. They do not respect us, they do not respect each other. We are gods. It is not right for us to waste our mana in this undisciplined behavior. We need rules. It will teach them discipline." Papa nodded and continued weaving."I have decided it is necessary for men and women to spend certain times apart from one another, to preserve their mana," Wakea said. "I think that men and women, being different, need different foods. I will build a hale for us men to eat in, and another for you women to eat in." Papa accepted the plan. Men did not always act in ways she found appetizing.Wakea took a deep breath. "It is also necessary for men and women to sleep apart on certain days each month. This will let them preserve their mana for days when they must work hard. I will build separate hale for these special times."Papa stopped her weaving. "Are you sure that is necessary, Wakea?" He looked at her a long time. True, she no longer looked as she did when they first met. But, it was because she had borne his children. And she had done so over and over, for love of him. But she had turned away from him and devoted herself to the children when he had wanted her for himself. True, she now had a quiet, regal beauty. She had not been that way when she was younger, and Ho`ohoku would not be that way for years, if ever. She was stronger than he remembered. It attracted him, but it also frightened him. "Yes," he replied. "It is necessary."On the first night of the new kapu, Wakea lured Ho`ohoku out of the women's sleeping hale. He led her to a secret place and kept her there almost until dawn. Then he allowed her to return to the women's hale, cautioning her to slip in quietly so no one would know she had been out.Each kapu night Wakea had Ho`ohoku meet him. Many months went by, and Papa was none the wiser. Occasionally she remarked on Ho`ohoku's sleepiness some days. "Wakea," she would say, "Does our Ho`ohoku seem healthy to you? She has been listless the past three days. Her tapa does not stick together well when she pounds it because there is no strength in her arm." Wakea would reassure her."It is nothing. She is young and has not developed her full strength. You worry too much because she is your baby." Papa would nod and relax.DiscoveryAt last the inevitable happened, and Ho`ohoku was pregnant. When she no longer went to the women's hale to spend the time of her ma`i, Papa knew what had happened.Curses, kapa beaters, and chunks of soggy wauke flew. Papa cried, she cursed, she wept. "How could you do this? Why? Away! Go away from me!” All of the love she had felt for Wakea was turned immediately to hate.Wakea loaded his new canoe with all of the things he would need for a long sea voyage. He directed Ho`ohoku to weave a sail.He filled his ipu-wai from a clean spring. Thoroughly oiled and plugged with a pu stopper, they would keep the water clean and fresh for a long time. `Ulu and `uala were packed to eat. The `ulu were pounded into a thick paste. Some was fermented and some was allowed to dry. If one kind went bad on the voyage, the other kind might last. The `uala were allowed to air dry with their fine coating of lepo to absorb any moisture which might settle on them.Young food plants carefully wrapped for protection against the salt spray were added to the load. If there was no food where Wakea was headed, he would have to be able to grow his own.For meat, pigs, chickens, and dogs were caged and loaded on the canoe. At last he fetched Ho`ohoku and set out.A New LandThe fine lauhala sail which Ho`ohoku had plaited caught the wind, and the couple was sailing from the land between the clouds to the ocean below. The narrow bow of the canoe sliced through wavelets as it skimmed across the water. Soon, they reached Hawai`i.They sailed by various shores and at last found a valley which could be their home. Wakea beached the canoe and set about building a hale for himself and Ho`ohoku.First he selected the site. Then Wakea went to the beach and carried rocks to build the lower wall. He went to the forest and used his stone adz to cut trees for the house posts. He put the bases into holes in the ground and built the stone wall up around them. Then he added the roof poles. He had to cut many fine saplings to make enough ribs to tie the thatching to.While he built the frame, Ho`ohoku collected ti leaves and tied them into bundles for the thatch. Wakea spread `ili`ili for the floor and covered them with fine sand.Ho`ohoku plaited lauhala to make a floor covering to go over the sand. She trimmed the thorns from the leaves with her sharp bamboo knife. She softened the leaves by pulling them back and forth over the dull side of her knife. She coiled them one way and then the other. Then she began to coil them into wheels, with the diameter the same size as the length of her forearm. When she had enough wheels of leaves, she sorted them by color and decided on a pattern for her mat. Then, with her fingernails she stripped the leaves into long narrow pieces and began to weave.At last the hale was complete.Whether it was because of the stress of the sea voyage, her mother's curses, or some other reason, Ho`ohoku began her labor too soon. It was long and painful, and Ho`ohoku did not have her mother there to help her, but she did not scream or cry. At last the baby was born.This first child was premature, a legless, armless, formless lump of flesh. Ho`ohoku and Wakea named him Haloa-naka, but he still died. Wakea buried Haloa-naka at the East corner of the house. Each day Ho`ohoku tended the burial site. She carried water in Wakea's ipuwai and gave Haloa-naka a drink. She stirred the mud as if she were tucking a blanket around her baby. She kept the area clean and free of weeds and animals. In a few days, a tightly furled green leaf poked up through the mud. "Oh, Wakea," she called, "Look at our son! See how he grows? He stands already!" Ho`ohoku continued to care for her firstborn son, who grew into a large and handsome taro plant.Later, Ho`ohoku gave birth to a human child. He also was named Haloa. He was perfect in form, intelligent, and handsome. He grew like any boy, and became a man. He became the ancestor of humans. He was taught to honor, respect, and care for his elder brother so that his brother always would watch over and care for him.So now, even today, the descendants of Haloa-the-elder provide nourishing food for the descendants of Haloa-the-younger.
Kanaloa – Ancient Tiki God the Sea Kanaloa is one of the four great gods of Hawaiian mythology, along with Kane, Ku, and Lono. He is the local form of a Polynesian deity generally connected with the sea. Roughly equivalent deities are known as Tangaroa in New Zealand, Tagaloa in Samoa, and Ta'aroa in Tahiti. In the traditions of Ancient Hawaii, Kanaloa is symbolized by the squid, and is typically associated with Kane in legends and chants where they are portrayed as complementary powers (Beckwith 1970:62-65). For example: Kane was called upon during the building of a canoe, Kanaloa during the sailing of it; Kane governed the northern edge of the ecliptic, Kanaloa the southern; Kanaloa points to hidden springs, and Kane then taps them out. In this way, they represent a divine duality of wild and taming forces like those observed (by Georges Dumezil, et al.) in Indo-European chief god-pairs like Odin-Tyr and Mitra-Varuna, and like the popular yin-yang of Chinese Taoism.Interpretations of Kanaloa as a god of evil opposing the good Kane (a reading that defies their paired invocations and shared devotees in Ancient Hawaii) is likely the result of European missionary efforts to recast the four major divinities of Hawaii in the image of the Christian Trinity plus Satan. Taro: Hawaii's Rootsby Leilehua Yuen TaroMost Hawaiian grown taro is allocated to four major uses: Poi, table taro, taro chips, and luau leaf. Taro for poi is cultivated by both the dryland and wetland methods. Varieties commonly used are the Lehua Maoli, `Maui' Lehua, and Moi. The Chinese Bun Long is used as table taro, luau (taro leaf), and - the delight of local yuppies - taro chips. Dasheen or araimo, Japanese taro, also is used as a table taro. The Samoan Niue is primarily used as a table taro.Like other farming, taro cultivation is demanding and the financial return can be low at times. Farmers work bent over in knee deep water and mud, from sun up to sun down. Areas suitable for taro cultivation are often far from conveniences such as decent roads, schools, hospitals, and shopping. Yet the number of people interested in raising taro is slowly rising. In 1990, the Big Island had 86 commercial taro farms. In 1994 there were 105.A lot of Hawaiian culture is based on taro cultivation, for example, you cannot fight when the bowl of poi is open. By ancient Hawaiian custom, it is considered disrespectful to fight in front of an elder. One should not raise the voice, speak angrily, or make rude comments or gestures. How is this connected to an open poi bowl? Because Haloa (Taro) is the elder brother of humans. The ancient Hawaiians identified so strongly with taro that the Hawaiian term for family, `ohana, is derived from the word `oha, the shoot or sucker which grows from the taro corm. As the young shoots grow from the corm, people grow from the family.While varieties of taro grow in almost all tropical regions of the world, Hawai`i seems to have some of the strongest taro traditions. According to Native Planters in Hawaii, by Handy and Handy, taro ". . . is a plant of unique and distinctive character which was brought by planters to a higher state of cultivation in old Hawaii than anywhere else in the world. . . . Native cultivation of taro in Hawaii had created a greater number of varieties adaptable to varying conditions of locale, soil, and water than are to be found anywhere else in Polynesia or, we believe, in the world. "Varieties of taro available today are much different than in ancient times. Many of the ancient varieties have disappeared through lack of cultivation, and immigrants and commercial cultivators have brought new varieties.The problems of taro farmers also have changed. In ancient times, drought, hurricane and warfare were the major calamities farmers faced.Today, introduced diseases, loss of arable land due to various kinds of development, water rights, pollution, and the world economy all must be factored into the farmer's business plan.But also, as the world has changed, farmers are changing their ways of dealing with it. They are banding together in associations to share knowledge and other resources. As more is learned about taro, ways to combat diseases should be found. Already, much research has been done in tissue culture for taro, providing disease free plants.Over the years, people from around the world have come to Hawai`i, and some have become taro farmers. Some, like the Chinese and Japanese, have brought their own varieties and cultivated them. Others began to cultivate the Hawaiian and introduced varieties already here. Taro varieties and knowledge were traded and contributed to modern Hawaii's famous blending of cultures, helping to make all of Hawai`i one `ohana. In the Beginning Before there were people, there were the gods. They had descent and genealogy, like people. Some were more like humans, and some were less. Among the more human-like were Wakea - the Sky Father, and Papa - the Earth Mother. They lived in a place which floated about between the clouds. Even now, people who look carefully at the clouds will see some which look solid, like islands in the sky. They are the cloud-island homes of gods and goddesses.Wakea was tall and strong, with broad shoulders and strong arms from hours at surfing. His legs were well muscled from striding about his cloud-island home, which looked much like Hawai`i. He had curling black hair and eyes the color of polished kukui. Papa was almost his height, with a lovely back, straight as a cliff, and a soft full bosom. Her hair was the color of polished koa, and rippled in the light. Her legs were shapely, but strong, and she could walk as far and as fast as Wakea. Her eyes glittered like stars. They were beautiful in the way of humans, and had the same desires as humans.Wakea wold bury his nose in Papa's long sweetly scented hair and inhale its fragrance. She would turn her head and press noses with him, sniffing gently in the honi, the Hawaiian kiss."This flower is blooming,” Wakea would say."Then let us enjoy it before it wilts," Papa would reply. Hand in hand they would retire to a kipuka floored with soft ferns, or perhaps to a stream with banks covered in soft moss. As the only creatures like themselves on their cloud-island, they had all of it for their private garden and could go where they pleased and do as they wished.Soon, all of this ho`oipoipo had the usual result, and children were born. Many children were born. When Wakea walked up behind Papa to press his nose against her neck, instead of "Let us enjoy this flower before it wilts," Papa was as likely to say "The baby is hungry. Go catch more fish." Disgruntled, Wakea would take his net and go.Wakea Sees Ho`ohoku-ka-laniWakea did not have much use for babies and spent more and more time away from home. He was away so much that he did not notice when the babies were not babies any more. One day, Wakea noticed a beautiful young woman walking in the forest. He followed her."You, you look familiar," he told her."I am your youngest daughter, Ho`ohoku-ka-lani," she replied. Wakea followed her home and saw his wife and daughter together.Ho`ohoku's back was as straight as a cliff. Papa's was bent from reaching down to pick up babies. Ho`ohoku's bosom was full and soft. Papa's was flattened and stretched from nursing. Ho`ohoku could stride through the forest as fast as Wakea. Papa took short steps, from years of keeping pace with the short legs of children. Ho`ohoku's hair was the color of polished koa and rippled in the light. Papa's hair was the color of burned out firewood which had given up its light. Ho`ohoku's eyes were like stars. In Papa's eyes, the stars had died when Wakea ceased to look into them.Wakea began to spend more time at home again, and Papa was glad. He took his stone adz into the forest and cut dead wood for cooking fires. He cut good strong wood for house posts and new `umeke, as well as wood for a new canoe. He sat in front of the work shed and carved.Papa paused in her tapa beating and looked fondly over at him. "It is good to have you spend more time with me," she told him. "Now that the children are grown, we can enjoy those flowers more often." Papa rinsed the wauke slime from her hands, stood up, and stretched. She walked over beside Wakea and sat down, then leaned over and put her nose to his for a tender honi. Wakea responded, but his thoughts were on Ho`ohoku.Wakea burned with desire for Ho`ohoku-ka-lani. He began to develop a deceitful plan.Wakea's Plan"Papa," he said one afternoon. "Now that we have so many children, this place is becoming crowded. They do not respect us, they do not respect each other. We are gods. It is not right for us to waste our mana in this undisciplined behavior. We need rules. It will teach them discipline." Papa nodded and continued weaving."I have decided it is necessary for men and women to spend certain times apart from one another, to preserve their mana," Wakea said. "I think that men and women, being different, need different foods. I will build a hale for us men to eat in, and another for you women to eat in." Papa accepted the plan. Men did not always act in ways she found appetizing.Wakea took a deep breath. "It is also necessary for men and women to sleep apart on certain days each month. This will let them preserve their mana for days when they must work hard. I will build separate hale for these special times."Papa stopped her weaving. "Are you sure that is necessary, Wakea?" He looked at her a long time. True, she no longer looked as she did when they first met. But, it was because she had borne his children. And she had done so over and over, for love of him. But she had turned away from him and devoted herself to the children when he had wanted her for himself. True, she now had a quiet, regal beauty. She had not been that way when she was younger, and Ho`ohoku would not be that way for years, if ever. She was stronger than he remembered. It attracted him, but it also frightened him. "Yes," he replied. "It is necessary."On the first night of the new kapu, Wakea lured Ho`ohoku out of the women's sleeping hale. He led her to a secret place and kept her there almost until dawn. Then he allowed her to return to the women's hale, cautioning her to slip in quietly so no one would know she had been out.Each kapu night Wakea had Ho`ohoku meet him. Many months went by, and Papa was none the wiser. Occasionally she remarked on Ho`ohoku's sleepiness some days. "Wakea," she would say, "Does our Ho`ohoku seem healthy to you? She has been listless the past three days. Her tapa does not stick together well when she pounds it because there is no strength in her arm." Wakea would reassure her."It is nothing. She is young and has not developed her full strength. You worry too much because she is your baby." Papa would nod and relax.DiscoveryAt last the inevitable happened, and Ho`ohoku was pregnant. When she no longer went to the women's hale to spend the time of her ma`i, Papa knew what had happened.Curses, kapa beaters, and chunks of soggy wauke flew. Papa cried, she cursed, she wept. "How could you do this? Why? Away! Go away from me!” All of the love she had felt for Wakea was turned immediately to hate.Wakea loaded his new canoe with all of the things he would need for a long sea voyage. He directed Ho`ohoku to weave a sail.He filled his ipu-wai from a clean spring. Thoroughly oiled and plugged with a pu stopper, they would keep the water clean and fresh for a long time. `Ulu and `uala were packed to eat. The `ulu were pounded into a thick paste. Some was fermented and some was allowed to dry. If one kind went bad on the voyage, the other kind might last. The `uala were allowed to air dry with their fine coating of lepo to absorb any moisture which might settle on them.Young food plants carefully wrapped for protection against the salt spray were added to the load. If there was no food where Wakea was headed, he would have to be able to grow his own.For meat, pigs, chickens, and dogs were caged and loaded on the canoe. At last he fetched Ho`ohoku and set out.A New LandThe fine lauhala sail which Ho`ohoku had plaited caught the wind, and the couple was sailing from the land between the clouds to the ocean below. The narrow bow of the canoe sliced through wavelets as it skimmed across the water. Soon, they reached Hawai`i.They sailed by various shores and at last found a valley which could be their home. Wakea beached the canoe and set about building a hale for himself and Ho`ohoku.First he selected the site. Then Wakea went to the beach and carried rocks to build the lower wall. He went to the forest and used his stone adz to cut trees for the house posts. He put the bases into holes in the ground and built the stone wall up around them. Then he added the roof poles. He had to cut many fine saplings to make enough ribs to tie the thatching to.While he built the frame, Ho`ohoku collected ti leaves and tied them into bundles for the thatch. Wakea spread `ili`ili for the floor and covered them with fine sand.Ho`ohoku plaited lauhala to make a floor covering to go over the sand. She trimmed the thorns from the leaves with her sharp bamboo knife. She softened the leaves by pulling them back and forth over the dull side of her knife. She coiled them one way and then the other. Then she began to coil them into wheels, with the diameter the same size as the length of her forearm. When she had enough wheels of leaves, she sorted them by color and decided on a pattern for her mat. Then, with her fingernails she stripped the leaves into long narrow pieces and began to weave.At last the hale was complete.Whether it was because of the stress of the sea voyage, her mother's curses, or some other reason, Ho`ohoku began her labor too soon. It was long and painful, and Ho`ohoku did not have her mother there to help her, but she did not scream or cry. At last the baby was born.This first child was premature, a legless, armless, formless lump of flesh. Ho`ohoku and Wakea named him Haloa-naka, but he still died. Wakea buried Haloa-naka at the East corner of the house. Each day Ho`ohoku tended the burial site. She carried water in Wakea's ipuwai and gave Haloa-naka a drink. She stirred the mud as if she were tucking a blanket around her baby. She kept the area clean and free of weeds and animals. In a few days, a tightly furled green leaf poked up through the mud. "Oh, Wakea," she called, "Look at our son! See how he grows? He stands already!" Ho`ohoku continued to care for her firstborn son, who grew into a large and handsome taro plant.Later, Ho`ohoku gave birth to a human child. He also was named Haloa. He was perfect in form, intelligent, and handsome. He grew like any boy, and became a man. He became the ancestor of humans. He was taught to honor, respect, and care for his elder brother so that his brother always would watch over and care for him.So now, even today, the descendants of Haloa-the-elder provide nourishing food for the descendants of Haloa-the-younger.
Members of a ceremonial procession present gifts to the Hawaiian god Lono during the hookupu protocol presentation of a Makahiki festival at Bellows Air Force Station in Waimanalo, Hawaii, Nov. 20. Lasting from October until February, the Makahiki season honors Lono, the guardian of peace and health, as he arrives for the transition from Ku, a time of war, politics and construction, to Lono, a time of relaxation and celebration of life. Ku – Ancient Tiki God of War In Hawaiian mythology Ku is one of the four great gods along with the ancient tiki gods, Kanaloa, Kane, and Lono. He was the husband of the goddess Hina (Beckwith 1970:12), suggesting a complementary dualism as the word ku in the Hawaiian language means "standing up" while one meaning of 'hina' is 'fallen down.' Ku is worshipped under many names, including Ku-ka-ili-moku, the "Seizer of Land" (a feather-god, the guardian of Kamehameha). Rituals included human sacrifice, which was not part of the worship of the other gods. Ku, Kane, and Lono caused light to shine in upon the world. They are uncreated gods who have existed from eternity (Tregear 1891:540). Lono – Ancient Tiki God of Fertility and Peace In Hawaiian mythology, Lono is a fertility and music god who descended to Earth on a rainbow to marry Laka. In agricultural and planting traditions, Lono was identified with rain and food plants. He was one of the four gods (with Ku, Kane, and his twin brother Kanaloa) who existed before the world was created. Lono was also the god of peace. In his honor, the great annual festival of the Makahiki was held. During this period (from October through February), all unnecessary work and war was kapu (taboo). This is also the season of taxes, olympic like games and when chiefs regrouped their forces (and organized campaigns ironically). Lono and the death of Captain Cook Some Hawaiians believed that Captain James Cook was Lono returned and indeed this fact may have ultimately contributed to Capt. Cook's death (see James Cook - Third voyage (1776-1779)). However, it is uncertain whether Captian Cook was taken for the god Lono or one of several historical or legendary figures who were also referred to as Lono-i-ka-Makahiki. According to Beckwith, there was indeed a tradition that such a human manifestation of the god [Lono] had actually appeared, established games and perhaps the annual taxing, and then departed to "Kahiki," promising to return "by sea on the canoes ‘Auwa’alalua" according to the prose note. "A Spanish man of war" translates the queen, remembering a tradition of arrival of a Spanish galleon beaten out of its course in the early days of exploration of the Pacific; "a very large double canoe" is Mrs. Pukui's more literal rendering, from ‘Au[hau]-wa’a-l[o]a-lua. The blue-sailed jellyfish we call "Portuguese man-of-war" Hawaiians speak of, perhaps half in derision, as ‘Auwa’alalua. The mother honored Keawe's son, perhaps born propitiously during the period of the Makahiki, by giving him the name of Lono-i-ka-Makahiki, seeing perhaps in the child a symbol of the tiki god's promised return.” (Beckwith 1951). Kane– Ancient Tiki God of Light and Life In Hawaiian mythology, Kane Milohai is the father of the tiki gods Ka-moho-ali'i, Pele (whom he exiled to Hawaii), Kapo, Namaka and Hi'iaka by Haumea. He created the sky, earth and upper heaven and gave Kumu-Honua the garden. He owned a tiny seashell that, when placed on the ocean's waves, turned into a huge sailboat. The user of the boat had merely to state his destination and the boat took him there. In agricultural and planting traditions, Kane was identified with the sun. The word Kane alone means "man". As a creative force, Kane was the heavenly father of all men. As he was the father of all living things, he was a symbol of life in nature. In many chants and legends of Ancient Hawaii, Kane is paired with the god Kanaloa, and is considered one of the four great Hawaiian divinities along with Kanaloa, Ku, and Lono.Alternatively known as Kane, Kane-Hekili ("thunderer" or "lightning breaking through the sky"), Kane Hoalani. Kanaloa – Ancient Tiki God the Sea Kanaloa is one of the four great gods of Hawaiian mythology, along with Kane, Ku, and Lono. He is the local form of a Polynesian deity generally connected with the sea. Roughly equivalent deities are known as Tangaroa in New Zealand, Tagaloa in Samoa, and Ta'aroa in Tahiti. In the traditions of Ancient Hawaii, Kanaloa is symbolized by the squid, and is typically associated with Kane in legends and chants where they are portrayed as complementary powers (Beckwith 1970:62-65). For example: Kane was called upon during the building of a canoe, Kanaloa during the sailing of it; Kane governed the northern edge of the ecliptic, Kanaloa the southern; Kanaloa points to hidden springs, and Kane then taps them out. In this way, they represent a divine duality of wild and taming forces like those observed (by Georges Dumezil, et al.) in Indo-European chief god-pairs like Odin-Tyr and Mitra-Varuna, and like the popular yin-yang of Chinese Taoism.Interpretations of Kanaloa as a god of evil opposing the good Kane (a reading that defies their paired invocations and shared devotees in Ancient Hawaii) is likely the result of European missionary efforts to recast the four major divinities of Hawaii in the image of the Christian Trinity plus Satan.
MakahikiThe Makahiki festival punctuated the yearly farming cycle in ancient Hawai`i. Celebrating harvest and Lono, the Hawaiian god associated with rain and fecundity, Makahiki marked a temporary halt to activities of war and occasioned lesser changes in many other daily routines. For religious reasons that coincided with seasonal weather, activities such as deep-sea fishing – associated with Ku, the god of war – were kapu, or prohibited, during Makahiki. Beginning in late October or early November when the Pleiades constellation was first observed rising above the horizon at sunset, the Makahiki period continued for four months, through the time of rough seas, high winds, storms and heavy rains.Makahiki was a time to gather and pay tithes to chiefs who redistributed the gifts of the land, a time to cease farming labors and a time to feast and enjoy competitive games. Hawaiians gave ritualized thanks for the abundance of the earth and called upon the gods to provide rain and prosperity in the future.Lono, the god of fertility and rain, was identified with southerly storms. He is sometimes referred to as the elder brother of Pa`ao, the influential priest who also arrived from the south and who instituted new rituals and beliefs in the Hawaiian religion. Lono took many forms, or kino lau. He could be seen in the black rain clouds of kona storms, in flashing eyes that resembled lightning, or in kukui, a plant associated with the pig-god Kamapua`a. Kamapua`a and Pele were both close relatives of Lono. Pele was sometimes called Lono's niece, sharing his southern origins and favoring the rainy seasons and southern coasts for her eruptions.The highest chief of the island acted as host to Lono during Makahiki, performing ceremonies to mark the beginning and end of the festival. The chief collected gifts and offerings – food, animals, kapa, cordage, feathers and other items – on behalf of Lono and redistributed them later amongst lesser chiefs and their followers. The chief declared the kapu on produce and the land which was observed as the Lono figure - a staff topped by a small carved figure and a crossbar supporting a white sheet of kapa – was carried around the island perimeter in a clockwise direction. Lono's retinue stopped at the boundary of each ahupua`a where a stone altar, or ahu, included the carved wooden pig - the pua`a - and where gifts of the district had been collected. The slow circuit of the island took several days .Once all the tribute to Lono and the chief was collected, communities gathered to celebrate with feasts and games. Chiefs and commoners competed, as well as those trained as athletes. Boxing was a favorite spectator sport. Both men and women participated in the competitions; some contests were sham battles that resulted in death. Other games included `ulu maika (a type of bowling), foot races, marksmanship with pahe`e or short javelins, puhenehene, a guessing game with pebbles that often involved sexual wagers, wrestling and hula dancing. Hula – under guidance of the goddess Laka, sister to Pele – offered many chants and dances composed specifically for Makahiki. They honored Lono, the chief, Kane (the god most closely associated with taro), and were meant to invoke rain and fertility.In addition to the games and circuit of the Lono figure, the chief observed further religious ceremonies. Makahiki rituals were the most festive of the Hawaiian religion and included dramatic pageants and other acted-out scenes. The pageant of Kahoali`i honored a mythical hero sometimes associated with the dark underworld where the sun goes at dusk. The pageant of Maoloha, or the net of Makali`i, featured a net of food symbolizing the Pleiades and a future period of prosperity. Once the proper rituals and ceremonies were performed, the chief lifted the kapu on fishing, farming and war and a basket of food was ritually set adrift on the sea, lashed to the outrigger of a wooden canoe. Normal life resumed and the farming cycle began again. Required to furnish materials The Makahiki season was the ancient Hawaiian New Year festival, in honor of the god Lono of the Hawaiian religion.It was a holiday covering four consecutive lunar months, approximately from October or November through February or March. Thus it might be thought of as including the equivalent of modern Thanksgiving and Christmas traditions. Many religious ceremonies happened during this period. The people stopped work, made offerings to the chief or aliʻi, and then spent their time practicing sports, feasting, dancing and having a good time. War during those four months was forbidden ( kapu).Today, the Aloha Festivals (originally Aloha Week) celebrate the Makahiki tradition.[1]Contents [hide] 1 Festivities2 Arrivals during the season3 Origin4 See also5 References6 Further reading [edit]FestivitiesThe Makahiki festival was celebrated in three phases. The first phase was a time of spiritual cleansing and making hoʻokupu, offerings to the gods. Th e Konohiki, a class of royalty that at this time of year provided the service of tax collector, collected agricultural and aquacultural products such as pigs, taro, sweet potatoes, dry fish, kapa and mats. Some offerings were in the form of forest products such as feathers. The Hawaiian people had no money or other similar medium of exchange. These were offered on the altars of Lono at heiau - temples - in each district around the island. Offerings also were made at the ahupuaʻa, stone altars set up at the boundary lines of each community.All war was outlawed to allow unimpeded passage of the image of Lono. The festival proceeded in a clockwise circle around the island as the image of Lono (Akua Loa, a long pole with a strip of tapa and other embellishments attached) was carried by the priests. At each ahupuaʻa (each community also is called an ahupuaʻa) the caretakers of that community presented hoʻokupu to the Lono image, a fertility god who caused things to grow and who gave plenty and prosperity to the islands. The second phase was a time of celebration: of hula dancing, of sports (boxing, wrestling, sliding on sleds, javelin marksmanship, bowling, surfing, canoe races, relays, and swimming), of singing and of feasting. One of the best preserved lava sled courses is the Keauhou Holua National Historic Landmark.[2]In the third phase, the waʻa ʻauhau — tax canoe — was loaded with hoʻokupu and taken out to sea where it was set adrift as a gift to Lono.[3] At the end of the Makahiki festival, the chief would go off shore in a canoe. When he came back in he stepped on shore and a group of warriors threw spears at him. He had to deflect or parry the spears to prove his worthiness to continue to rule. Ku – Ancient Tiki God of War In Hawaiian mythology Ku is one of the four great gods along with the ancient tiki gods, Kanaloa, Kane, and Lono. He was the husband of the goddess Hina (Beckwith 1970:12), suggesting a complementary dualism as the word ku in the Hawaiian language means "standing up" while one meaning of 'hina' is 'fallen down.' Ku is worshipped under many names, including Ku-ka-ili-moku, the "Seizer of Land" (a feather-god, the guardian of Kamehameha). Rituals included human sacrifice, which was not part of the worship of the other gods. Ku, Kane, and Lono caused light to shine in upon the world. They are uncreated gods who have existed from eternity (Tregear 1891:540). Lono – Ancient Tiki God of Fertility and Peace In Hawaiian mythology, Lono is a fertility and music god who descended to Earth on a rainbow to marry Laka. In agricultural and planting traditions, Lono was identified with rain and food plants. He was one of the four gods (with Ku, Kane, and his twin brother Kanaloa) who existed before the world was created. Lono was also the god of peace. In his honor, the great annual festival of the Makahiki was held. During this period (from October through February), all unnecessary work and war was kapu (taboo). This is also the season of taxes, olympic like games and when chiefs regrouped their forces (and organized campaigns ironically). Lono and the death of Captain Cook Some Hawaiians believed that Captain James Cook was Lono returned and indeed this fact may have ultimately contributed to Capt. Cook's death (see James Cook - Third voyage (1776-1779)). However, it is uncertain whether Captian Cook was taken for the god Lono or one of several historical or legendary figures who were also referred to as Lono-i-ka-Makahiki. According to Beckwith, there was indeed a tradition that such a human manifestation of the god [Lono] had actually appeared, established games and perhaps the annual taxing, and then departed to "Kahiki," promising to return "by sea on the canoes ‘Auwa’alalua" according to the prose note. "A Spanish man of war" translates the queen, remembering a tradition of arrival of a Spanish galleon beaten out of its course in the early days of exploration of the Pacific; "a very large double canoe" is Mrs. Pukui's more literal rendering, from ‘Au[hau]-wa’a-l[o]a-lua. The blue-sailed jellyfish we call "Portuguese man-of-war" Hawaiians speak of, perhaps half in derision, as ‘Auwa’alalua. The mother honored Keawe's son, perhaps born propitiously during the period of the Makahiki, by
Increasing differentiation and complexity; 1. oriented towards a single cosmos; maintenance of personal, social, and cosmic harmony with attaining specific goods; time out of time, an “everywhen”; identification, participation, acting out;church and society are one; 2. mythical beings more objectified; actively a controlling the world; gods; monistic worldview; men, subjects, gods, objects; communication between; hierarchically organized; divine king; individual-soceity merged in a natural-divine cosmos; rival groups, rival deities; 3. transcendental, world-rejection, strongly dualistic, above and below worlds, Heaven and Hell, God and Satan, good and evil, focus on life in another realm; goal of salvation, demythologization; monotheistic, universalistic; Buddhism: nature of man, greed, anger, must escape, Hebrew prophets: sin, heedlessness of God, obedience to Him; Islam: ungrateful man who is careless of divine compassion, submission to will of God; new religious elite claims direction relation to the divine; political and religious leadership; 4. collapse of hierarchical structuring, world-aceepting; Reformation; monks, sheiks, ascetics before; direct relation between individual and transcendent reality; antiritualist interpretation; faith! – an internal quality of person; Martin Luther; 5. personalization of the sacred, God; responsibility for the self;
Klamath, HG in Oregon Saw clouds obscuring the moon: Muash, the south wind, was trying to kill the moon, got resurrected in the end
Klamath, HG in Oregon Saw clouds obscuring the moon: Muash, the south wind, was trying to kill the moon, got resurrected in the end
Klamath, HG in Oregon Saw clouds obscuring the moon: Muash, the south wind, was trying to kill the moon, got resurrected in the end
Klamath, HG in Oregon Saw clouds obscuring the moon: Muash, the south wind, was trying to kill the moon, got resurrected in the end
Complex series of grades, P chief, subchiefs Stewatds, chiefs of lower rank: konohiki M: commoners: worked the land and paid tribute Economically self-sufficient sections ruled by diferent chiefs Ritual, economy, and poltical strategy work together: land-yield, fretility caused gods Pc rewards supporters within chiefly class K1: secular affairs K2: Makahiki: festival K3: Ku, war and conquest
The west wind was emitted by a farting dwarf-woman, about 30 inches tall, who wore a buckskin dress and hay (form of rock on a nearby mountain); blow mosquitoes away from the Pelican Bay; Whirwinds were driven by an internal spirit, Shukash S controlled by Tchitchatsa-ash or “Big Bely” whose stomach housed bones that rattled
The west wind was emitted by a farting dwarf-woman, about 30 inches tall, who wore a buckskin dress and hay (form of rock on a nearby mountain); blow mosquitoes away from the Pelican Bay; Whirwinds were driven by an internal spirit, Shukash S controlled by Tchitchatsa-ash or “Big Bely” whose stomach housed bones that rattled
Coyote housed evil spirits, one species of bird could make snow, and another fog Animal spirits coulh help the Klamath cure disease, spirit: Yayaya-ash, form of one-legged man, and lead a medicine man to the home of the animal spirits
The west wind was emitted by a farting dwarf-woman, about 30 inches tall, who wore a buckskin dress and hay (form of rock on a nearby mountain); blow mosquitoes away from the Pelican Bay; Whirwinds were driven by an internal spirit, Shukash S controlled by Tchitchatsa-ash or “Big Bely” whose stomach housed bones that rattled
The west wind was emitted by a farting dwarf-woman, about 30 inches tall, who wore a buckskin dress and hay (form of rock on a nearby mountain); blow mosquitoes away from the Pelican Bay; Whirwinds were driven by an internal spirit, Shukash S controlled by Tchitchatsa-ash or “Big Bely” whose stomach housed bones that rattled
The west wind was emitted by a farting dwarf-woman, about 30 inches tall, who wore a buckskin dress and hay (form of rock on a nearby mountain); blow mosquitoes away from the Pelican Bay; Whirwinds were driven by an internal spirit, Shukash S controlled by Tchitchatsa-ash or “Big Bely” whose stomach housed bones that rattled
Powerful beings in the beginning; they created the Dawn People, dwell in a “sky village” near the sun rise, after death, people go to the sky village, and become powerful beings Through ritual and music, the powerful people become now and us; Account of way things are, not rules or charter to be followed Rites of passage Power of PB ambiguous Blog Questions Does Bellah discuss his presuppositions and how they might affect his analysis of religion? Why does Bellah believe this is a good analysis of the evolution of religions? In civilizations ruled through divine kingship, what gave the common people so much trust in the ruler that allowed them to accept their king as a god? Why else would people allow others to rise above them if not because they think they will benefit? Are there any that are as far reaching as the Makahiki cycle or are the organizational divisions, today, too separate to allow this reconnection between people? Is the greatest reflection to this festival now picketing? Is OccupyWallStreet our Makahiki festival?
Taro: Hawaii's Rootsby Leilehua Yuen TaroMost Hawaiian grown taro is allocated to four major uses: Poi, table taro, taro chips, and luau leaf. Taro for poi is cultivated by both the dryland and wetland methods. Varieties commonly used are the Lehua Maoli, `Maui' Lehua, and Moi. The Chinese Bun Long is used as table taro, luau (taro leaf), and - the delight of local yuppies - taro chips. Dasheen or araimo, Japanese taro, also is used as a table taro. The Samoan Niue is primarily used as a table taro.Like other farming, taro cultivation is demanding and the financial return can be low at times. Farmers work bent over in knee deep water and mud, from sun up to sun down. Areas suitable for taro cultivation are often far from conveniences such as decent roads, schools, hospitals, and shopping. Yet the number of people interested in raising taro is slowly rising. In 1990, the Big Island had 86 commercial taro farms. In 1994 there were 105.A lot of Hawaiian culture is based on taro cultivation, for example, you cannot fight when the bowl of poi is open. By ancient Hawaiian custom, it is considered disrespectful to fight in front of an elder. One should not raise the voice, speak angrily, or make rude comments or gestures. How is this connected to an open poi bowl? Because Haloa (Taro) is the elder brother of humans. The ancient Hawaiians identified so strongly with taro that the Hawaiian term for family, `ohana, is derived from the word `oha, the shoot or sucker which grows from the taro corm. As the young shoots grow from the corm, people grow from the family.While varieties of taro grow in almost all tropical regions of the world, Hawai`i seems to have some of the strongest taro traditions. According to Native Planters in Hawaii, by Handy and Handy, taro ". . . is a plant of unique and distinctive character which was brought by planters to a higher state of cultivation in old Hawaii than anywhere else in the world. . . . Native cultivation of taro in Hawaii had created a greater number of varieties adaptable to varying conditions of locale, soil, and water than are to be found anywhere else in Polynesia or, we believe, in the world. "Varieties of taro available today are much different than in ancient times. Many of the ancient varieties have disappeared through lack of cultivation, and immigrants and commercial cultivators have brought new varieties.The problems of taro farmers also have changed. In ancient times, drought, hurricane and warfare were the major calamities farmers faced.Today, introduced diseases, loss of arable land due to various kinds of development, water rights, pollution, and the world economy all must be factored into the farmer's business plan.But also, as the world has changed, farmers are changing their ways of dealing with it. They are banding together in associations to share knowledge and other resources. As more is learned about taro, ways to combat diseases should be found. Already, much research has been done in tissue culture for taro, providing disease free plants.Over the years, people from around the world have come to Hawai`i, and some have become taro farmers. Some, like the Chinese and Japanese, have brought their own varieties and cultivated them. Others began to cultivate the Hawaiian and introduced varieties already here. Taro varieties and knowledge were traded and contributed to modern Hawaii's famous blending of cultures, helping to make all of Hawai`i one `ohana. In the Beginning Before there were people, there were the gods. They had descent and genealogy, like people. Some were more like humans, and some were less. Among the more human-like were Wakea - the Sky Father, and Papa - the Earth Mother. They lived in a place which floated about between the clouds. Even now, people who look carefully at the clouds will see some which look solid, like islands in the sky. They are the cloud-island homes of gods and goddesses.Wakea was tall and strong, with broad shoulders and strong arms from hours at surfing. His legs were well muscled from striding about his cloud-island home, which looked much like Hawai`i. He had curling black hair and eyes the color of polished kukui. Papa was almost his height, with a lovely back, straight as a cliff, and a soft full bosom. Her hair was the color of polished koa, and rippled in the light. Her legs were shapely, but strong, and she could walk as far and as fast as Wakea. Her eyes glittered like stars. They were beautiful in the way of humans, and had the same desires as humans.Wakea wold bury his nose in Papa's long sweetly scented hair and inhale its fragrance. She would turn her head and press noses with him, sniffing gently in the honi, the Hawaiian kiss."This flower is blooming,” Wakea would say."Then let us enjoy it before it wilts," Papa would reply. Hand in hand they would retire to a kipuka floored with soft ferns, or perhaps to a stream with banks covered in soft moss. As the only creatures like themselves on their cloud-island, they had all of it for their private garden and could go where they pleased and do as they wished.Soon, all of this ho`oipoipo had the usual result, and children were born. Many children were born. When Wakea walked up behind Papa to press his nose against her neck, instead of "Let us enjoy this flower before it wilts," Papa was as likely to say "The baby is hungry. Go catch more fish." Disgruntled, Wakea would take his net and go.Wakea Sees Ho`ohoku-ka-laniWakea did not have much use for babies and spent more and more time away from home. He was away so much that he did not notice when the babies were not babies any more. One day, Wakea noticed a beautiful young woman walking in the forest. He followed her."You, you look familiar," he told her."I am your youngest daughter, Ho`ohoku-ka-lani," she replied. Wakea followed her home and saw his wife and daughter together.Ho`ohoku's back was as straight as a cliff. Papa's was bent from reaching down to pick up babies. Ho`ohoku's bosom was full and soft. Papa's was flattened and stretched from nursing. Ho`ohoku could stride through the forest as fast as Wakea. Papa took short steps, from years of keeping pace with the short legs of children. Ho`ohoku's hair was the color of polished koa and rippled in the light. Papa's hair was the color of burned out firewood which had given up its light. Ho`ohoku's eyes were like stars. In Papa's eyes, the stars had died when Wakea ceased to look into them.Wakea began to spend more time at home again, and Papa was glad. He took his stone adz into the forest and cut dead wood for cooking fires. He cut good strong wood for house posts and new `umeke, as well as wood for a new canoe. He sat in front of the work shed and carved.Papa paused in her tapa beating and looked fondly over at him. "It is good to have you spend more time with me," she told him. "Now that the children are grown, we can enjoy those flowers more often." Papa rinsed the wauke slime from her hands, stood up, and stretched. She walked over beside Wakea and sat down, then leaned over and put her nose to his for a tender honi. Wakea responded, but his thoughts were on Ho`ohoku.Wakea burned with desire for Ho`ohoku-ka-lani. He began to develop a deceitful plan.Wakea's Plan"Papa," he said one afternoon. "Now that we have so many children, this place is becoming crowded. They do not respect us, they do not respect each other. We are gods. It is not right for us to waste our mana in this undisciplined behavior. We need rules. It will teach them discipline." Papa nodded and continued weaving."I have decided it is necessary for men and women to spend certain times apart from one another, to preserve their mana," Wakea said. "I think that men and women, being different, need different foods. I will build a hale for us men to eat in, and another for you women to eat in." Papa accepted the plan. Men did not always act in ways she found appetizing.Wakea took a deep breath. "It is also necessary for men and women to sleep apart on certain days each month. This will let them preserve their mana for days when they must work hard. I will build separate hale for these special times."Papa stopped her weaving. "Are you sure that is necessary, Wakea?" He looked at her a long time. True, she no longer looked as she did when they first met. But, it was because she had borne his children. And she had done so over and over, for love of him. But she had turned away from him and devoted herself to the children when he had wanted her for himself. True, she now had a quiet, regal beauty. She had not been that way when she was younger, and Ho`ohoku would not be that way for years, if ever. She was stronger than he remembered. It attracted him, but it also frightened him. "Yes," he replied. "It is necessary."On the first night of the new kapu, Wakea lured Ho`ohoku out of the women's sleeping hale. He led her to a secret place and kept her there almost until dawn. Then he allowed her to return to the women's hale, cautioning her to slip in quietly so no one would know she had been out.Each kapu night Wakea had Ho`ohoku meet him. Many months went by, and Papa was none the wiser. Occasionally she remarked on Ho`ohoku's sleepiness some days. "Wakea," she would say, "Does our Ho`ohoku seem healthy to you? She has been listless the past three days. Her tapa does not stick together well when she pounds it because there is no strength in her arm." Wakea would reassure her."It is nothing. She is young and has not developed her full strength. You worry too much because she is your baby." Papa would nod and relax.DiscoveryAt last the inevitable happened, and Ho`ohoku was pregnant. When she no longer went to the women's hale to spend the time of her ma`i, Papa knew what had happened.Curses, kapa beaters, and chunks of soggy wauke flew. Papa cried, she cursed, she wept. "How could you do this? Why? Away! Go away from me!” All of the love she had felt for Wakea was turned immediately to hate.Wakea loaded his new canoe with all of the things he would need for a long sea voyage. He directed Ho`ohoku to weave a sail.He filled his ipu-wai from a clean spring. Thoroughly oiled and plugged with a pu stopper, they would keep the water clean and fresh for a long time. `Ulu and `uala were packed to eat. The `ulu were pounded into a thick paste. Some was fermented and some was allowed to dry. If one kind went bad on the voyage, the other kind might last. The `uala were allowed to air dry with their fine coating of lepo to absorb any moisture which might settle on them.Young food plants carefully wrapped for protection against the salt spray were added to the load. If there was no food where Wakea was headed, he would have to be able to grow his own.For meat, pigs, chickens, and dogs were caged and loaded on the canoe. At last he fetched Ho`ohoku and set out.A New LandThe fine lauhala sail which Ho`ohoku had plaited caught the wind, and the couple was sailing from the land between the clouds to the ocean below. The narrow bow of the canoe sliced through wavelets as it skimmed across the water. Soon, they reached Hawai`i.They sailed by various shores and at last found a valley which could be their home. Wakea beached the canoe and set about building a hale for himself and Ho`ohoku.First he selected the site. Then Wakea went to the beach and carried rocks to build the lower wall. He went to the forest and used his stone adz to cut trees for the house posts. He put the bases into holes in the ground and built the stone wall up around them. Then he added the roof poles. He had to cut many fine saplings to make enough ribs to tie the thatching to.While he built the frame, Ho`ohoku collected ti leaves and tied them into bundles for the thatch. Wakea spread `ili`ili for the floor and covered them with fine sand.Ho`ohoku plaited lauhala to make a floor covering to go over the sand. She trimmed the thorns from the leaves with her sharp bamboo knife. She softened the leaves by pulling them back and forth over the dull side of her knife. She coiled them one way and then the other. Then she began to coil them into wheels, with the diameter the same size as the length of her forearm. When she had enough wheels of leaves, she sorted them by color and decided on a pattern for her mat. Then, with her fingernails she stripped the leaves into long narrow pieces and began to weave.At last the hale was complete.Whether it was because of the stress of the sea voyage, her mother's curses, or some other reason, Ho`ohoku began her labor too soon. It was long and painful, and Ho`ohoku did not have her mother there to help her, but she did not scream or cry. At last the baby was born.This first child was premature, a legless, armless, formless lump of flesh. Ho`ohoku and Wakea named him Haloa-naka, but he still died. Wakea buried Haloa-naka at the East corner of the house. Each day Ho`ohoku tended the burial site. She carried water in Wakea's ipuwai and gave Haloa-naka a drink. She stirred the mud as if she were tucking a blanket around her baby. She kept the area clean and free of weeds and animals. In a few days, a tightly furled green leaf poked up through the mud. "Oh, Wakea," she called, "Look at our son! See how he grows? He stands already!" Ho`ohoku continued to care for her firstborn son, who grew into a large and handsome taro plant.Later, Ho`ohoku gave birth to a human child. He also was named Haloa. He was perfect in form, intelligent, and handsome. He grew like any boy, and became a man. He became the ancestor of humans. He was taught to honor, respect, and care for his elder brother so that his brother always would watch over and care for him.So now, even today, the descendants of Haloa-the-elder provide nourishing food for the descendants of Haloa-the-younger.
Taro: Hawaii's Rootsby Leilehua Yuen TaroMost Hawaiian grown taro is allocated to four major uses: Poi, table taro, taro chips, and luau leaf. Taro for poi is cultivated by both the dryland and wetland methods. Varieties commonly used are the Lehua Maoli, `Maui' Lehua, and Moi. The Chinese Bun Long is used as table taro, luau (taro leaf), and - the delight of local yuppies - taro chips. Dasheen or araimo, Japanese taro, also is used as a table taro. The Samoan Niue is primarily used as a table taro.Like other farming, taro cultivation is demanding and the financial return can be low at times. Farmers work bent over in knee deep water and mud, from sun up to sun down. Areas suitable for taro cultivation are often far from conveniences such as decent roads, schools, hospitals, and shopping. Yet the number of people interested in raising taro is slowly rising. In 1990, the Big Island had 86 commercial taro farms. In 1994 there were 105.A lot of Hawaiian culture is based on taro cultivation, for example, you cannot fight when the bowl of poi is open. By ancient Hawaiian custom, it is considered disrespectful to fight in front of an elder. One should not raise the voice, speak angrily, or make rude comments or gestures. How is this connected to an open poi bowl? Because Haloa (Taro) is the elder brother of humans. The ancient Hawaiians identified so strongly with taro that the Hawaiian term for family, `ohana, is derived from the word `oha, the shoot or sucker which grows from the taro corm. As the young shoots grow from the corm, people grow from the family.While varieties of taro grow in almost all tropical regions of the world, Hawai`i seems to have some of the strongest taro traditions. According to Native Planters in Hawaii, by Handy and Handy, taro ". . . is a plant of unique and distinctive character which was brought by planters to a higher state of cultivation in old Hawaii than anywhere else in the world. . . . Native cultivation of taro in Hawaii had created a greater number of varieties adaptable to varying conditions of locale, soil, and water than are to be found anywhere else in Polynesia or, we believe, in the world. "Varieties of taro available today are much different than in ancient times. Many of the ancient varieties have disappeared through lack of cultivation, and immigrants and commercial cultivators have brought new varieties.The problems of taro farmers also have changed. In ancient times, drought, hurricane and warfare were the major calamities farmers faced.Today, introduced diseases, loss of arable land due to various kinds of development, water rights, pollution, and the world economy all must be factored into the farmer's business plan.But also, as the world has changed, farmers are changing their ways of dealing with it. They are banding together in associations to share knowledge and other resources. As more is learned about taro, ways to combat diseases should be found. Already, much research has been done in tissue culture for taro, providing disease free plants.Over the years, people from around the world have come to Hawai`i, and some have become taro farmers. Some, like the Chinese and Japanese, have brought their own varieties and cultivated them. Others began to cultivate the Hawaiian and introduced varieties already here. Taro varieties and knowledge were traded and contributed to modern Hawaii's famous blending of cultures, helping to make all of Hawai`i one `ohana. In the Beginning Before there were people, there were the gods. They had descent and genealogy, like people. Some were more like humans, and some were less. Among the more human-like were Wakea - the Sky Father, and Papa - the Earth Mother. They lived in a place which floated about between the clouds. Even now, people who look carefully at the clouds will see some which look solid, like islands in the sky. They are the cloud-island homes of gods and goddesses.Wakea was tall and strong, with broad shoulders and strong arms from hours at surfing. His legs were well muscled from striding about his cloud-island home, which looked much like Hawai`i. He had curling black hair and eyes the color of polished kukui. Papa was almost his height, with a lovely back, straight as a cliff, and a soft full bosom. Her hair was the color of polished koa, and rippled in the light. Her legs were shapely, but strong, and she could walk as far and as fast as Wakea. Her eyes glittered like stars. They were beautiful in the way of humans, and had the same desires as humans.Wakea wold bury his nose in Papa's long sweetly scented hair and inhale its fragrance. She would turn her head and press noses with him, sniffing gently in the honi, the Hawaiian kiss."This flower is blooming,” Wakea would say."Then let us enjoy it before it wilts," Papa would reply. Hand in hand they would retire to a kipuka floored with soft ferns, or perhaps to a stream with banks covered in soft moss. As the only creatures like themselves on their cloud-island, they had all of it for their private garden and could go where they pleased and do as they wished.Soon, all of this ho`oipoipo had the usual result, and children were born. Many children were born. When Wakea walked up behind Papa to press his nose against her neck, instead of "Let us enjoy this flower before it wilts," Papa was as likely to say "The baby is hungry. Go catch more fish." Disgruntled, Wakea would take his net and go.Wakea Sees Ho`ohoku-ka-laniWakea did not have much use for babies and spent more and more time away from home. He was away so much that he did not notice when the babies were not babies any more. One day, Wakea noticed a beautiful young woman walking in the forest. He followed her."You, you look familiar," he told her."I am your youngest daughter, Ho`ohoku-ka-lani," she replied. Wakea followed her home and saw his wife and daughter together.Ho`ohoku's back was as straight as a cliff. Papa's was bent from reaching down to pick up babies. Ho`ohoku's bosom was full and soft. Papa's was flattened and stretched from nursing. Ho`ohoku could stride through the forest as fast as Wakea. Papa took short steps, from years of keeping pace with the short legs of children. Ho`ohoku's hair was the color of polished koa and rippled in the light. Papa's hair was the color of burned out firewood which had given up its light. Ho`ohoku's eyes were like stars. In Papa's eyes, the stars had died when Wakea ceased to look into them.Wakea began to spend more time at home again, and Papa was glad. He took his stone adz into the forest and cut dead wood for cooking fires. He cut good strong wood for house posts and new `umeke, as well as wood for a new canoe. He sat in front of the work shed and carved.Papa paused in her tapa beating and looked fondly over at him. "It is good to have you spend more time with me," she told him. "Now that the children are grown, we can enjoy those flowers more often." Papa rinsed the wauke slime from her hands, stood up, and stretched. She walked over beside Wakea and sat down, then leaned over and put her nose to his for a tender honi. Wakea responded, but his thoughts were on Ho`ohoku.Wakea burned with desire for Ho`ohoku-ka-lani. He began to develop a deceitful plan.Wakea's Plan"Papa," he said one afternoon. "Now that we have so many children, this place is becoming crowded. They do not respect us, they do not respect each other. We are gods. It is not right for us to waste our mana in this undisciplined behavior. We need rules. It will teach them discipline." Papa nodded and continued weaving."I have decided it is necessary for men and women to spend certain times apart from one another, to preserve their mana," Wakea said. "I think that men and women, being different, need different foods. I will build a hale for us men to eat in, and another for you women to eat in." Papa accepted the plan. Men did not always act in ways she found appetizing.Wakea took a deep breath. "It is also necessary for men and women to sleep apart on certain days each month. This will let them preserve their mana for days when they must work hard. I will build separate hale for these special times."Papa stopped her weaving. "Are you sure that is necessary, Wakea?" He looked at her a long time. True, she no longer looked as she did when they first met. But, it was because she had borne his children. And she had done so over and over, for love of him. But she had turned away from him and devoted herself to the children when he had wanted her for himself. True, she now had a quiet, regal beauty. She had not been that way when she was younger, and Ho`ohoku would not be that way for years, if ever. She was stronger than he remembered. It attracted him, but it also frightened him. "Yes," he replied. "It is necessary."On the first night of the new kapu, Wakea lured Ho`ohoku out of the women's sleeping hale. He led her to a secret place and kept her there almost until dawn. Then he allowed her to return to the women's hale, cautioning her to slip in quietly so no one would know she had been out.Each kapu night Wakea had Ho`ohoku meet him. Many months went by, and Papa was none the wiser. Occasionally she remarked on Ho`ohoku's sleepiness some days. "Wakea," she would say, "Does our Ho`ohoku seem healthy to you? She has been listless the past three days. Her tapa does not stick together well when she pounds it because there is no strength in her arm." Wakea would reassure her."It is nothing. She is young and has not developed her full strength. You worry too much because she is your baby." Papa would nod and relax.DiscoveryAt last the inevitable happened, and Ho`ohoku was pregnant. When she no longer went to the women's hale to spend the time of her ma`i, Papa knew what had happened.Curses, kapa beaters, and chunks of soggy wauke flew. Papa cried, she cursed, she wept. "How could you do this? Why? Away! Go away from me!” All of the love she had felt for Wakea was turned immediately to hate.Wakea loaded his new canoe with all of the things he would need for a long sea voyage. He directed Ho`ohoku to weave a sail.He filled his ipu-wai from a clean spring. Thoroughly oiled and plugged with a pu stopper, they would keep the water clean and fresh for a long time. `Ulu and `uala were packed to eat. The `ulu were pounded into a thick paste. Some was fermented and some was allowed to dry. If one kind went bad on the voyage, the other kind might last. The `uala were allowed to air dry with their fine coating of lepo to absorb any moisture which might settle on them.Young food plants carefully wrapped for protection against the salt spray were added to the load. If there was no food where Wakea was headed, he would have to be able to grow his own.For meat, pigs, chickens, and dogs were caged and loaded on the canoe. At last he fetched Ho`ohoku and set out.A New LandThe fine lauhala sail which Ho`ohoku had plaited caught the wind, and the couple was sailing from the land between the clouds to the ocean below. The narrow bow of the canoe sliced through wavelets as it skimmed across the water. Soon, they reached Hawai`i.They sailed by various shores and at last found a valley which could be their home. Wakea beached the canoe and set about building a hale for himself and Ho`ohoku.First he selected the site. Then Wakea went to the beach and carried rocks to build the lower wall. He went to the forest and used his stone adz to cut trees for the house posts. He put the bases into holes in the ground and built the stone wall up around them. Then he added the roof poles. He had to cut many fine saplings to make enough ribs to tie the thatching to.While he built the frame, Ho`ohoku collected ti leaves and tied them into bundles for the thatch. Wakea spread `ili`ili for the floor and covered them with fine sand.Ho`ohoku plaited lauhala to make a floor covering to go over the sand. She trimmed the thorns from the leaves with her sharp bamboo knife. She softened the leaves by pulling them back and forth over the dull side of her knife. She coiled them one way and then the other. Then she began to coil them into wheels, with the diameter the same size as the length of her forearm. When she had enough wheels of leaves, she sorted them by color and decided on a pattern for her mat. Then, with her fingernails she stripped the leaves into long narrow pieces and began to weave.At last the hale was complete.Whether it was because of the stress of the sea voyage, her mother's curses, or some other reason, Ho`ohoku began her labor too soon. It was long and painful, and Ho`ohoku did not have her mother there to help her, but she did not scream or cry. At last the baby was born.This first child was premature, a legless, armless, formless lump of flesh. Ho`ohoku and Wakea named him Haloa-naka, but he still died. Wakea buried Haloa-naka at the East corner of the house. Each day Ho`ohoku tended the burial site. She carried water in Wakea's ipuwai and gave Haloa-naka a drink. She stirred the mud as if she were tucking a blanket around her baby. She kept the area clean and free of weeds and animals. In a few days, a tightly furled green leaf poked up through the mud. "Oh, Wakea," she called, "Look at our son! See how he grows? He stands already!" Ho`ohoku continued to care for her firstborn son, who grew into a large and handsome taro plant.Later, Ho`ohoku gave birth to a human child. He also was named Haloa. He was perfect in form, intelligent, and handsome. He grew like any boy, and became a man. He became the ancestor of humans. He was taught to honor, respect, and care for his elder brother so that his brother always would watch over and care for him.So now, even today, the descendants of Haloa-the-elder provide nourishing food for the descendants of Haloa-the-younger.
Taro: Hawaii's Rootsby Leilehua Yuen TaroMost Hawaiian grown taro is allocated to four major uses: Poi, table taro, taro chips, and luau leaf. Taro for poi is cultivated by both the dryland and wetland methods. Varieties commonly used are the Lehua Maoli, `Maui' Lehua, and Moi. The Chinese Bun Long is used as table taro, luau (taro leaf), and - the delight of local yuppies - taro chips. Dasheen or araimo, Japanese taro, also is used as a table taro. The Samoan Niue is primarily used as a table taro.Like other farming, taro cultivation is demanding and the financial return can be low at times. Farmers work bent over in knee deep water and mud, from sun up to sun down. Areas suitable for taro cultivation are often far from conveniences such as decent roads, schools, hospitals, and shopping. Yet the number of people interested in raising taro is slowly rising. In 1990, the Big Island had 86 commercial taro farms. In 1994 there were 105.A lot of Hawaiian culture is based on taro cultivation, for example, you cannot fight when the bowl of poi is open. By ancient Hawaiian custom, it is considered disrespectful to fight in front of an elder. One should not raise the voice, speak angrily, or make rude comments or gestures. How is this connected to an open poi bowl? Because Haloa (Taro) is the elder brother of humans. The ancient Hawaiians identified so strongly with taro that the Hawaiian term for family, `ohana, is derived from the word `oha, the shoot or sucker which grows from the taro corm. As the young shoots grow from the corm, people grow from the family.While varieties of taro grow in almost all tropical regions of the world, Hawai`i seems to have some of the strongest taro traditions. According to Native Planters in Hawaii, by Handy and Handy, taro ". . . is a plant of unique and distinctive character which was brought by planters to a higher state of cultivation in old Hawaii than anywhere else in the world. . . . Native cultivation of taro in Hawaii had created a greater number of varieties adaptable to varying conditions of locale, soil, and water than are to be found anywhere else in Polynesia or, we believe, in the world. "Varieties of taro available today are much different than in ancient times. Many of the ancient varieties have disappeared through lack of cultivation, and immigrants and commercial cultivators have brought new varieties.The problems of taro farmers also have changed. In ancient times, drought, hurricane and warfare were the major calamities farmers faced.Today, introduced diseases, loss of arable land due to various kinds of development, water rights, pollution, and the world economy all must be factored into the farmer's business plan.But also, as the world has changed, farmers are changing their ways of dealing with it. They are banding together in associations to share knowledge and other resources. As more is learned about taro, ways to combat diseases should be found. Already, much research has been done in tissue culture for taro, providing disease free plants.Over the years, people from around the world have come to Hawai`i, and some have become taro farmers. Some, like the Chinese and Japanese, have brought their own varieties and cultivated them. Others began to cultivate the Hawaiian and introduced varieties already here. Taro varieties and knowledge were traded and contributed to modern Hawaii's famous blending of cultures, helping to make all of Hawai`i one `ohana. In the Beginning Before there were people, there were the gods. They had descent and genealogy, like people. Some were more like humans, and some were less. Among the more human-like were Wakea - the Sky Father, and Papa - the Earth Mother. They lived in a place which floated about between the clouds. Even now, people who look carefully at the clouds will see some which look solid, like islands in the sky. They are the cloud-island homes of gods and goddesses.Wakea was tall and strong, with broad shoulders and strong arms from hours at surfing. His legs were well muscled from striding about his cloud-island home, which looked much like Hawai`i. He had curling black hair and eyes the color of polished kukui. Papa was almost his height, with a lovely back, straight as a cliff, and a soft full bosom. Her hair was the color of polished koa, and rippled in the light. Her legs were shapely, but strong, and she could walk as far and as fast as Wakea. Her eyes glittered like stars. They were beautiful in the way of humans, and had the same desires as humans.Wakea wold bury his nose in Papa's long sweetly scented hair and inhale its fragrance. She would turn her head and press noses with him, sniffing gently in the honi, the Hawaiian kiss."This flower is blooming,” Wakea would say."Then let us enjoy it before it wilts," Papa would reply. Hand in hand they would retire to a kipuka floored with soft ferns, or perhaps to a stream with banks covered in soft moss. As the only creatures like themselves on their cloud-island, they had all of it for their private garden and could go where they pleased and do as they wished.Soon, all of this ho`oipoipo had the usual result, and children were born. Many children were born. When Wakea walked up behind Papa to press his nose against her neck, instead of "Let us enjoy this flower before it wilts," Papa was as likely to say "The baby is hungry. Go catch more fish." Disgruntled, Wakea would take his net and go.Wakea Sees Ho`ohoku-ka-laniWakea did not have much use for babies and spent more and more time away from home. He was away so much that he did not notice when the babies were not babies any more. One day, Wakea noticed a beautiful young woman walking in the forest. He followed her."You, you look familiar," he told her."I am your youngest daughter, Ho`ohoku-ka-lani," she replied. Wakea followed her home and saw his wife and daughter together.Ho`ohoku's back was as straight as a cliff. Papa's was bent from reaching down to pick up babies. Ho`ohoku's bosom was full and soft. Papa's was flattened and stretched from nursing. Ho`ohoku could stride through the forest as fast as Wakea. Papa took short steps, from years of keeping pace with the short legs of children. Ho`ohoku's hair was the color of polished koa and rippled in the light. Papa's hair was the color of burned out firewood which had given up its light. Ho`ohoku's eyes were like stars. In Papa's eyes, the stars had died when Wakea ceased to look into them.Wakea began to spend more time at home again, and Papa was glad. He took his stone adz into the forest and cut dead wood for cooking fires. He cut good strong wood for house posts and new `umeke, as well as wood for a new canoe. He sat in front of the work shed and carved.Papa paused in her tapa beating and looked fondly over at him. "It is good to have you spend more time with me," she told him. "Now that the children are grown, we can enjoy those flowers more often." Papa rinsed the wauke slime from her hands, stood up, and stretched. She walked over beside Wakea and sat down, then leaned over and put her nose to his for a tender honi. Wakea responded, but his thoughts were on Ho`ohoku.Wakea burned with desire for Ho`ohoku-ka-lani. He began to develop a deceitful plan.Wakea's Plan"Papa," he said one afternoon. "Now that we have so many children, this place is becoming crowded. They do not respect us, they do not respect each other. We are gods. It is not right for us to waste our mana in this undisciplined behavior. We need rules. It will teach them discipline." Papa nodded and continued weaving."I have decided it is necessary for men and women to spend certain times apart from one another, to preserve their mana," Wakea said. "I think that men and women, being different, need different foods. I will build a hale for us men to eat in, and another for you women to eat in." Papa accepted the plan. Men did not always act in ways she found appetizing.Wakea took a deep breath. "It is also necessary for men and women to sleep apart on certain days each month. This will let them preserve their mana for days when they must work hard. I will build separate hale for these special times."Papa stopped her weaving. "Are you sure that is necessary, Wakea?" He looked at her a long time. True, she no longer looked as she did when they first met. But, it was because she had borne his children. And she had done so over and over, for love of him. But she had turned away from him and devoted herself to the children when he had wanted her for himself. True, she now had a quiet, regal beauty. She had not been that way when she was younger, and Ho`ohoku would not be that way for years, if ever. She was stronger than he remembered. It attracted him, but it also frightened him. "Yes," he replied. "It is necessary."On the first night of the new kapu, Wakea lured Ho`ohoku out of the women's sleeping hale. He led her to a secret place and kept her there almost until dawn. Then he allowed her to return to the women's hale, cautioning her to slip in quietly so no one would know she had been out.Each kapu night Wakea had Ho`ohoku meet him. Many months went by, and Papa was none the wiser. Occasionally she remarked on Ho`ohoku's sleepiness some days. "Wakea," she would say, "Does our Ho`ohoku seem healthy to you? She has been listless the past three days. Her tapa does not stick together well when she pounds it because there is no strength in her arm." Wakea would reassure her."It is nothing. She is young and has not developed her full strength. You worry too much because she is your baby." Papa would nod and relax.DiscoveryAt last the inevitable happened, and Ho`ohoku was pregnant. When she no longer went to the women's hale to spend the time of her ma`i, Papa knew what had happened.Curses, kapa beaters, and chunks of soggy wauke flew. Papa cried, she cursed, she wept. "How could you do this? Why? Away! Go away from me!” All of the love she had felt for Wakea was turned immediately to hate.Wakea loaded his new canoe with all of the things he would need for a long sea voyage. He directed Ho`ohoku to weave a sail.He filled his ipu-wai from a clean spring. Thoroughly oiled and plugged with a pu stopper, they would keep the water clean and fresh for a long time. `Ulu and `uala were packed to eat. The `ulu were pounded into a thick paste. Some was fermented and some was allowed to dry. If one kind went bad on the voyage, the other kind might last. The `uala were allowed to air dry with their fine coating of lepo to absorb any moisture which might settle on them.Young food plants carefully wrapped for protection against the salt spray were added to the load. If there was no food where Wakea was headed, he would have to be able to grow his own.For meat, pigs, chickens, and dogs were caged and loaded on the canoe. At last he fetched Ho`ohoku and set out.A New LandThe fine lauhala sail which Ho`ohoku had plaited caught the wind, and the couple was sailing from the land between the clouds to the ocean below. The narrow bow of the canoe sliced through wavelets as it skimmed across the water. Soon, they reached Hawai`i.They sailed by various shores and at last found a valley which could be their home. Wakea beached the canoe and set about building a hale for himself and Ho`ohoku.First he selected the site. Then Wakea went to the beach and carried rocks to build the lower wall. He went to the forest and used his stone adz to cut trees for the house posts. He put the bases into holes in the ground and built the stone wall up around them. Then he added the roof poles. He had to cut many fine saplings to make enough ribs to tie the thatching to.While he built the frame, Ho`ohoku collected ti leaves and tied them into bundles for the thatch. Wakea spread `ili`ili for the floor and covered them with fine sand.Ho`ohoku plaited lauhala to make a floor covering to go over the sand. She trimmed the thorns from the leaves with her sharp bamboo knife. She softened the leaves by pulling them back and forth over the dull side of her knife. She coiled them one way and then the other. Then she began to coil them into wheels, with the diameter the same size as the length of her forearm. When she had enough wheels of leaves, she sorted them by color and decided on a pattern for her mat. Then, with her fingernails she stripped the leaves into long narrow pieces and began to weave.At last the hale was complete.Whether it was because of the stress of the sea voyage, her mother's curses, or some other reason, Ho`ohoku began her labor too soon. It was long and painful, and Ho`ohoku did not have her mother there to help her, but she did not scream or cry. At last the baby was born.This first child was premature, a legless, armless, formless lump of flesh. Ho`ohoku and Wakea named him Haloa-naka, but he still died. Wakea buried Haloa-naka at the East corner of the house. Each day Ho`ohoku tended the burial site. She carried water in Wakea's ipuwai and gave Haloa-naka a drink. She stirred the mud as if she were tucking a blanket around her baby. She kept the area clean and free of weeds and animals. In a few days, a tightly furled green leaf poked up through the mud. "Oh, Wakea," she called, "Look at our son! See how he grows? He stands already!" Ho`ohoku continued to care for her firstborn son, who grew into a large and handsome taro plant.Later, Ho`ohoku gave birth to a human child. He also was named Haloa. He was perfect in form, intelligent, and handsome. He grew like any boy, and became a man. He became the ancestor of humans. He was taught to honor, respect, and care for his elder brother so that his brother always would watch over and care for him.So now, even today, the descendants of Haloa-the-elder provide nourishing food for the descendants of Haloa-the-younger.
Taro: Hawaii's Rootsby Leilehua Yuen TaroMost Hawaiian grown taro is allocated to four major uses: Poi, table taro, taro chips, and luau leaf. Taro for poi is cultivated by both the dryland and wetland methods. Varieties commonly used are the Lehua Maoli, `Maui' Lehua, and Moi. The Chinese Bun Long is used as table taro, luau (taro leaf), and - the delight of local yuppies - taro chips. Dasheen or araimo, Japanese taro, also is used as a table taro. The Samoan Niue is primarily used as a table taro.Like other farming, taro cultivation is demanding and the financial return can be low at times. Farmers work bent over in knee deep water and mud, from sun up to sun down. Areas suitable for taro cultivation are often far from conveniences such as decent roads, schools, hospitals, and shopping. Yet the number of people interested in raising taro is slowly rising. In 1990, the Big Island had 86 commercial taro farms. In 1994 there were 105.A lot of Hawaiian culture is based on taro cultivation, for example, you cannot fight when the bowl of poi is open. By ancient Hawaiian custom, it is considered disrespectful to fight in front of an elder. One should not raise the voice, speak angrily, or make rude comments or gestures. How is this connected to an open poi bowl? Because Haloa (Taro) is the elder brother of humans. The ancient Hawaiians identified so strongly with taro that the Hawaiian term for family, `ohana, is derived from the word `oha, the shoot or sucker which grows from the taro corm. As the young shoots grow from the corm, people grow from the family.While varieties of taro grow in almost all tropical regions of the world, Hawai`i seems to have some of the strongest taro traditions. According to Native Planters in Hawaii, by Handy and Handy, taro ". . . is a plant of unique and distinctive character which was brought by planters to a higher state of cultivation in old Hawaii than anywhere else in the world. . . . Native cultivation of taro in Hawaii had created a greater number of varieties adaptable to varying conditions of locale, soil, and water than are to be found anywhere else in Polynesia or, we believe, in the world. "Varieties of taro available today are much different than in ancient times. Many of the ancient varieties have disappeared through lack of cultivation, and immigrants and commercial cultivators have brought new varieties.The problems of taro farmers also have changed. In ancient times, drought, hurricane and warfare were the major calamities farmers faced.Today, introduced diseases, loss of arable land due to various kinds of development, water rights, pollution, and the world economy all must be factored into the farmer's business plan.But also, as the world has changed, farmers are changing their ways of dealing with it. They are banding together in associations to share knowledge and other resources. As more is learned about taro, ways to combat diseases should be found. Already, much research has been done in tissue culture for taro, providing disease free plants.Over the years, people from around the world have come to Hawai`i, and some have become taro farmers. Some, like the Chinese and Japanese, have brought their own varieties and cultivated them. Others began to cultivate the Hawaiian and introduced varieties already here. Taro varieties and knowledge were traded and contributed to modern Hawaii's famous blending of cultures, helping to make all of Hawai`i one `ohana. In the Beginning Before there were people, there were the gods. They had descent and genealogy, like people. Some were more like humans, and some were less. Among the more human-like were Wakea - the Sky Father, and Papa - the Earth Mother. They lived in a place which floated about between the clouds. Even now, people who look carefully at the clouds will see some which look solid, like islands in the sky. They are the cloud-island homes of gods and goddesses.Wakea was tall and strong, with broad shoulders and strong arms from hours at surfing. His legs were well muscled from striding about his cloud-island home, which looked much like Hawai`i. He had curling black hair and eyes the color of polished kukui. Papa was almost his height, with a lovely back, straight as a cliff, and a soft full bosom. Her hair was the color of polished koa, and rippled in the light. Her legs were shapely, but strong, and she could walk as far and as fast as Wakea. Her eyes glittered like stars. They were beautiful in the way of humans, and had the same desires as humans.Wakea wold bury his nose in Papa's long sweetly scented hair and inhale its fragrance. She would turn her head and press noses with him, sniffing gently in the honi, the Hawaiian kiss."This flower is blooming,” Wakea would say."Then let us enjoy it before it wilts," Papa would reply. Hand in hand they would retire to a kipuka floored with soft ferns, or perhaps to a stream with banks covered in soft moss. As the only creatures like themselves on their cloud-island, they had all of it for their private garden and could go where they pleased and do as they wished.Soon, all of this ho`oipoipo had the usual result, and children were born. Many children were born. When Wakea walked up behind Papa to press his nose against her neck, instead of "Let us enjoy this flower before it wilts," Papa was as likely to say "The baby is hungry. Go catch more fish." Disgruntled, Wakea would take his net and go.Wakea Sees Ho`ohoku-ka-laniWakea did not have much use for babies and spent more and more time away from home. He was away so much that he did not notice when the babies were not babies any more. One day, Wakea noticed a beautiful young woman walking in the forest. He followed her."You, you look familiar," he told her."I am your youngest daughter, Ho`ohoku-ka-lani," she replied. Wakea followed her home and saw his wife and daughter together.Ho`ohoku's back was as straight as a cliff. Papa's was bent from reaching down to pick up babies. Ho`ohoku's bosom was full and soft. Papa's was flattened and stretched from nursing. Ho`ohoku could stride through the forest as fast as Wakea. Papa took short steps, from years of keeping pace with the short legs of children. Ho`ohoku's hair was the color of polished koa and rippled in the light. Papa's hair was the color of burned out firewood which had given up its light. Ho`ohoku's eyes were like stars. In Papa's eyes, the stars had died when Wakea ceased to look into them.Wakea began to spend more time at home again, and Papa was glad. He took his stone adz into the forest and cut dead wood for cooking fires. He cut good strong wood for house posts and new `umeke, as well as wood for a new canoe. He sat in front of the work shed and carved.Papa paused in her tapa beating and looked fondly over at him. "It is good to have you spend more time with me," she told him. "Now that the children are grown, we can enjoy those flowers more often." Papa rinsed the wauke slime from her hands, stood up, and stretched. She walked over beside Wakea and sat down, then leaned over and put her nose to his for a tender honi. Wakea responded, but his thoughts were on Ho`ohoku.Wakea burned with desire for Ho`ohoku-ka-lani. He began to develop a deceitful plan.Wakea's Plan"Papa," he said one afternoon. "Now that we have so many children, this place is becoming crowded. They do not respect us, they do not respect each other. We are gods. It is not right for us to waste our mana in this undisciplined behavior. We need rules. It will teach them discipline." Papa nodded and continued weaving."I have decided it is necessary for men and women to spend certain times apart from one another, to preserve their mana," Wakea said. "I think that men and women, being different, need different foods. I will build a hale for us men to eat in, and another for you women to eat in." Papa accepted the plan. Men did not always act in ways she found appetizing.Wakea took a deep breath. "It is also necessary for men and women to sleep apart on certain days each month. This will let them preserve their mana for days when they must work hard. I will build separate hale for these special times."Papa stopped her weaving. "Are you sure that is necessary, Wakea?" He looked at her a long time. True, she no longer looked as she did when they first met. But, it was because she had borne his children. And she had done so over and over, for love of him. But she had turned away from him and devoted herself to the children when he had wanted her for himself. True, she now had a quiet, regal beauty. She had not been that way when she was younger, and Ho`ohoku would not be that way for years, if ever. She was stronger than he remembered. It attracted him, but it also frightened him. "Yes," he replied. "It is necessary."On the first night of the new kapu, Wakea lured Ho`ohoku out of the women's sleeping hale. He led her to a secret place and kept her there almost until dawn. Then he allowed her to return to the women's hale, cautioning her to slip in quietly so no one would know she had been out.Each kapu night Wakea had Ho`ohoku meet him. Many months went by, and Papa was none the wiser. Occasionally she remarked on Ho`ohoku's sleepiness some days. "Wakea," she would say, "Does our Ho`ohoku seem healthy to you? She has been listless the past three days. Her tapa does not stick together well when she pounds it because there is no strength in her arm." Wakea would reassure her."It is nothing. She is young and has not developed her full strength. You worry too much because she is your baby." Papa would nod and relax.DiscoveryAt last the inevitable happened, and Ho`ohoku was pregnant. When she no longer went to the women's hale to spend the time of her ma`i, Papa knew what had happened.Curses, kapa beaters, and chunks of soggy wauke flew. Papa cried, she cursed, she wept. "How could you do this? Why? Away! Go away from me!” All of the love she had felt for Wakea was turned immediately to hate.Wakea loaded his new canoe with all of the things he would need for a long sea voyage. He directed Ho`ohoku to weave a sail.He filled his ipu-wai from a clean spring. Thoroughly oiled and plugged with a pu stopper, they would keep the water clean and fresh for a long time. `Ulu and `uala were packed to eat. The `ulu were pounded into a thick paste. Some was fermented and some was allowed to dry. If one kind went bad on the voyage, the other kind might last. The `uala were allowed to air dry with their fine coating of lepo to absorb any moisture which might settle on them.Young food plants carefully wrapped for protection against the salt spray were added to the load. If there was no food where Wakea was headed, he would have to be able to grow his own.For meat, pigs, chickens, and dogs were caged and loaded on the canoe. At last he fetched Ho`ohoku and set out.A New LandThe fine lauhala sail which Ho`ohoku had plaited caught the wind, and the couple was sailing from the land between the clouds to the ocean below. The narrow bow of the canoe sliced through wavelets as it skimmed across the water. Soon, they reached Hawai`i.They sailed by various shores and at last found a valley which could be their home. Wakea beached the canoe and set about building a hale for himself and Ho`ohoku.First he selected the site. Then Wakea went to the beach and carried rocks to build the lower wall. He went to the forest and used his stone adz to cut trees for the house posts. He put the bases into holes in the ground and built the stone wall up around them. Then he added the roof poles. He had to cut many fine saplings to make enough ribs to tie the thatching to.While he built the frame, Ho`ohoku collected ti leaves and tied them into bundles for the thatch. Wakea spread `ili`ili for the floor and covered them with fine sand.Ho`ohoku plaited lauhala to make a floor covering to go over the sand. She trimmed the thorns from the leaves with her sharp bamboo knife. She softened the leaves by pulling them back and forth over the dull side of her knife. She coiled them one way and then the other. Then she began to coil them into wheels, with the diameter the same size as the length of her forearm. When she had enough wheels of leaves, she sorted them by color and decided on a pattern for her mat. Then, with her fingernails she stripped the leaves into long narrow pieces and began to weave.At last the hale was complete.Whether it was because of the stress of the sea voyage, her mother's curses, or some other reason, Ho`ohoku began her labor too soon. It was long and painful, and Ho`ohoku did not have her mother there to help her, but she did not scream or cry. At last the baby was born.This first child was premature, a legless, armless, formless lump of flesh. Ho`ohoku and Wakea named him Haloa-naka, but he still died. Wakea buried Haloa-naka at the East corner of the house. Each day Ho`ohoku tended the burial site. She carried water in Wakea's ipuwai and gave Haloa-naka a drink. She stirred the mud as if she were tucking a blanket around her baby. She kept the area clean and free of weeds and animals. In a few days, a tightly furled green leaf poked up through the mud. "Oh, Wakea," she called, "Look at our son! See how he grows? He stands already!" Ho`ohoku continued to care for her firstborn son, who grew into a large and handsome taro plant.Later, Ho`ohoku gave birth to a human child. He also was named Haloa. He was perfect in form, intelligent, and handsome. He grew like any boy, and became a man. He became the ancestor of humans. He was taught to honor, respect, and care for his elder brother so that his brother always would watch over and care for him.So now, even today, the descendants of Haloa-the-elder provide nourishing food for the descendants of Haloa-the-younger.
Taro: Hawaii's Rootsby Leilehua Yuen TaroMost Hawaiian grown taro is allocated to four major uses: Poi, table taro, taro chips, and luau leaf. Taro for poi is cultivated by both the dryland and wetland methods. Varieties commonly used are the Lehua Maoli, `Maui' Lehua, and Moi. The Chinese Bun Long is used as table taro, luau (taro leaf), and - the delight of local yuppies - taro chips. Dasheen or araimo, Japanese taro, also is used as a table taro. The Samoan Niue is primarily used as a table taro.Like other farming, taro cultivation is demanding and the financial return can be low at times. Farmers work bent over in knee deep water and mud, from sun up to sun down. Areas suitable for taro cultivation are often far from conveniences such as decent roads, schools, hospitals, and shopping. Yet the number of people interested in raising taro is slowly rising. In 1990, the Big Island had 86 commercial taro farms. In 1994 there were 105.A lot of Hawaiian culture is based on taro cultivation, for example, you cannot fight when the bowl of poi is open. By ancient Hawaiian custom, it is considered disrespectful to fight in front of an elder. One should not raise the voice, speak angrily, or make rude comments or gestures. How is this connected to an open poi bowl? Because Haloa (Taro) is the elder brother of humans. The ancient Hawaiians identified so strongly with taro that the Hawaiian term for family, `ohana, is derived from the word `oha, the shoot or sucker which grows from the taro corm. As the young shoots grow from the corm, people grow from the family.While varieties of taro grow in almost all tropical regions of the world, Hawai`i seems to have some of the strongest taro traditions. According to Native Planters in Hawaii, by Handy and Handy, taro ". . . is a plant of unique and distinctive character which was brought by planters to a higher state of cultivation in old Hawaii than anywhere else in the world. . . . Native cultivation of taro in Hawaii had created a greater number of varieties adaptable to varying conditions of locale, soil, and water than are to be found anywhere else in Polynesia or, we believe, in the world. "Varieties of taro available today are much different than in ancient times. Many of the ancient varieties have disappeared through lack of cultivation, and immigrants and commercial cultivators have brought new varieties.The problems of taro farmers also have changed. In ancient times, drought, hurricane and warfare were the major calamities farmers faced.Today, introduced diseases, loss of arable land due to various kinds of development, water rights, pollution, and the world economy all must be factored into the farmer's business plan.But also, as the world has changed, farmers are changing their ways of dealing with it. They are banding together in associations to share knowledge and other resources. As more is learned about taro, ways to combat diseases should be found. Already, much research has been done in tissue culture for taro, providing disease free plants.Over the years, people from around the world have come to Hawai`i, and some have become taro farmers. Some, like the Chinese and Japanese, have brought their own varieties and cultivated them. Others began to cultivate the Hawaiian and introduced varieties already here. Taro varieties and knowledge were traded and contributed to modern Hawaii's famous blending of cultures, helping to make all of Hawai`i one `ohana. In the Beginning Before there were people, there were the gods. They had descent and genealogy, like people. Some were more like humans, and some were less. Among the more human-like were Wakea - the Sky Father, and Papa - the Earth Mother. They lived in a place which floated about between the clouds. Even now, people who look carefully at the clouds will see some which look solid, like islands in the sky. They are the cloud-island homes of gods and goddesses.Wakea was tall and strong, with broad shoulders and strong arms from hours at surfing. His legs were well muscled from striding about his cloud-island home, which looked much like Hawai`i. He had curling black hair and eyes the color of polished kukui. Papa was almost his height, with a lovely back, straight as a cliff, and a soft full bosom. Her hair was the color of polished koa, and rippled in the light. Her legs were shapely, but strong, and she could walk as far and as fast as Wakea. Her eyes glittered like stars. They were beautiful in the way of humans, and had the same desires as humans.Wakea wold bury his nose in Papa's long sweetly scented hair and inhale its fragrance. She would turn her head and press noses with him, sniffing gently in the honi, the Hawaiian kiss."This flower is blooming,” Wakea would say."Then let us enjoy it before it wilts," Papa would reply. Hand in hand they would retire to a kipuka floored with soft ferns, or perhaps to a stream with banks covered in soft moss. As the only creatures like themselves on their cloud-island, they had all of it for their private garden and could go where they pleased and do as they wished.Soon, all of this ho`oipoipo had the usual result, and children were born. Many children were born. When Wakea walked up behind Papa to press his nose against her neck, instead of "Let us enjoy this flower before it wilts," Papa was as likely to say "The baby is hungry. Go catch more fish." Disgruntled, Wakea would take his net and go.Wakea Sees Ho`ohoku-ka-laniWakea did not have much use for babies and spent more and more time away from home. He was away so much that he did not notice when the babies were not babies any more. One day, Wakea noticed a beautiful young woman walking in the forest. He followed her."You, you look familiar," he told her."I am your youngest daughter, Ho`ohoku-ka-lani," she replied. Wakea followed her home and saw his wife and daughter together.Ho`ohoku's back was as straight as a cliff. Papa's was bent from reaching down to pick up babies. Ho`ohoku's bosom was full and soft. Papa's was flattened and stretched from nursing. Ho`ohoku could stride through the forest as fast as Wakea. Papa took short steps, from years of keeping pace with the short legs of children. Ho`ohoku's hair was the color of polished koa and rippled in the light. Papa's hair was the color of burned out firewood which had given up its light. Ho`ohoku's eyes were like stars. In Papa's eyes, the stars had died when Wakea ceased to look into them.Wakea began to spend more time at home again, and Papa was glad. He took his stone adz into the forest and cut dead wood for cooking fires. He cut good strong wood for house posts and new `umeke, as well as wood for a new canoe. He sat in front of the work shed and carved.Papa paused in her tapa beating and looked fondly over at him. "It is good to have you spend more time with me," she told him. "Now that the children are grown, we can enjoy those flowers more often." Papa rinsed the wauke slime from her hands, stood up, and stretched. She walked over beside Wakea and sat down, then leaned over and put her nose to his for a tender honi. Wakea responded, but his thoughts were on Ho`ohoku.Wakea burned with desire for Ho`ohoku-ka-lani. He began to develop a deceitful plan.Wakea's Plan"Papa," he said one afternoon. "Now that we have so many children, this place is becoming crowded. They do not respect us, they do not respect each other. We are gods. It is not right for us to waste our mana in this undisciplined behavior. We need rules. It will teach them discipline." Papa nodded and continued weaving."I have decided it is necessary for men and women to spend certain times apart from one another, to preserve their mana," Wakea said. "I think that men and women, being different, need different foods. I will build a hale for us men to eat in, and another for you women to eat in." Papa accepted the plan. Men did not always act in ways she found appetizing.Wakea took a deep breath. "It is also necessary for men and women to sleep apart on certain days each month. This will let them preserve their mana for days when they must work hard. I will build separate hale for these special times."Papa stopped her weaving. "Are you sure that is necessary, Wakea?" He looked at her a long time. True, she no longer looked as she did when they first met. But, it was because she had borne his children. And she had done so over and over, for love of him. But she had turned away from him and devoted herself to the children when he had wanted her for himself. True, she now had a quiet, regal beauty. She had not been that way when she was younger, and Ho`ohoku would not be that way for years, if ever. She was stronger than he remembered. It attracted him, but it also frightened him. "Yes," he replied. "It is necessary."On the first night of the new kapu, Wakea lured Ho`ohoku out of the women's sleeping hale. He led her to a secret place and kept her there almost until dawn. Then he allowed her to return to the women's hale, cautioning her to slip in quietly so no one would know she had been out.Each kapu night Wakea had Ho`ohoku meet him. Many months went by, and Papa was none the wiser. Occasionally she remarked on Ho`ohoku's sleepiness some days. "Wakea," she would say, "Does our Ho`ohoku seem healthy to you? She has been listless the past three days. Her tapa does not stick together well when she pounds it because there is no strength in her arm." Wakea would reassure her."It is nothing. She is young and has not developed her full strength. You worry too much because she is your baby." Papa would nod and relax.DiscoveryAt last the inevitable happened, and Ho`ohoku was pregnant. When she no longer went to the women's hale to spend the time of her ma`i, Papa knew what had happened.Curses, kapa beaters, and chunks of soggy wauke flew. Papa cried, she cursed, she wept. "How could you do this? Why? Away! Go away from me!” All of the love she had felt for Wakea was turned immediately to hate.Wakea loaded his new canoe with all of the things he would need for a long sea voyage. He directed Ho`ohoku to weave a sail.He filled his ipu-wai from a clean spring. Thoroughly oiled and plugged with a pu stopper, they would keep the water clean and fresh for a long time. `Ulu and `uala were packed to eat. The `ulu were pounded into a thick paste. Some was fermented and some was allowed to dry. If one kind went bad on the voyage, the other kind might last. The `uala were allowed to air dry with their fine coating of lepo to absorb any moisture which might settle on them.Young food plants carefully wrapped for protection against the salt spray were added to the load. If there was no food where Wakea was headed, he would have to be able to grow his own.For meat, pigs, chickens, and dogs were caged and loaded on the canoe. At last he fetched Ho`ohoku and set out.A New LandThe fine lauhala sail which Ho`ohoku had plaited caught the wind, and the couple was sailing from the land between the clouds to the ocean below. The narrow bow of the canoe sliced through wavelets as it skimmed across the water. Soon, they reached Hawai`i.They sailed by various shores and at last found a valley which could be their home. Wakea beached the canoe and set about building a hale for himself and Ho`ohoku.First he selected the site. Then Wakea went to the beach and carried rocks to build the lower wall. He went to the forest and used his stone adz to cut trees for the house posts. He put the bases into holes in the ground and built the stone wall up around them. Then he added the roof poles. He had to cut many fine saplings to make enough ribs to tie the thatching to.While he built the frame, Ho`ohoku collected ti leaves and tied them into bundles for the thatch. Wakea spread `ili`ili for the floor and covered them with fine sand.Ho`ohoku plaited lauhala to make a floor covering to go over the sand. She trimmed the thorns from the leaves with her sharp bamboo knife. She softened the leaves by pulling them back and forth over the dull side of her knife. She coiled them one way and then the other. Then she began to coil them into wheels, with the diameter the same size as the length of her forearm. When she had enough wheels of leaves, she sorted them by color and decided on a pattern for her mat. Then, with her fingernails she stripped the leaves into long narrow pieces and began to weave.At last the hale was complete.Whether it was because of the stress of the sea voyage, her mother's curses, or some other reason, Ho`ohoku began her labor too soon. It was long and painful, and Ho`ohoku did not have her mother there to help her, but she did not scream or cry. At last the baby was born.This first child was premature, a legless, armless, formless lump of flesh. Ho`ohoku and Wakea named him Haloa-naka, but he still died. Wakea buried Haloa-naka at the East corner of the house. Each day Ho`ohoku tended the burial site. She carried water in Wakea's ipuwai and gave Haloa-naka a drink. She stirred the mud as if she were tucking a blanket around her baby. She kept the area clean and free of weeds and animals. In a few days, a tightly furled green leaf poked up through the mud. "Oh, Wakea," she called, "Look at our son! See how he grows? He stands already!" Ho`ohoku continued to care for her firstborn son, who grew into a large and handsome taro plant.Later, Ho`ohoku gave birth to a human child. He also was named Haloa. He was perfect in form, intelligent, and handsome. He grew like any boy, and became a man. He became the ancestor of humans. He was taught to honor, respect, and care for his elder brother so that his brother always would watch over and care for him.So now, even today, the descendants of Haloa-the-elder provide nourishing food for the descendants of Haloa-the-younger.
Taro: Hawaii's Rootsby Leilehua Yuen TaroMost Hawaiian grown taro is allocated to four major uses: Poi, table taro, taro chips, and luau leaf. Taro for poi is cultivated by both the dryland and wetland methods. Varieties commonly used are the Lehua Maoli, `Maui' Lehua, and Moi. The Chinese Bun Long is used as table taro, luau (taro leaf), and - the delight of local yuppies - taro chips. Dasheen or araimo, Japanese taro, also is used as a table taro. The Samoan Niue is primarily used as a table taro.Like other farming, taro cultivation is demanding and the financial return can be low at times. Farmers work bent over in knee deep water and mud, from sun up to sun down. Areas suitable for taro cultivation are often far from conveniences such as decent roads, schools, hospitals, and shopping. Yet the number of people interested in raising taro is slowly rising. In 1990, the Big Island had 86 commercial taro farms. In 1994 there were 105.A lot of Hawaiian culture is based on taro cultivation, for example, you cannot fight when the bowl of poi is open. By ancient Hawaiian custom, it is considered disrespectful to fight in front of an elder. One should not raise the voice, speak angrily, or make rude comments or gestures. How is this connected to an open poi bowl? Because Haloa (Taro) is the elder brother of humans. The ancient Hawaiians identified so strongly with taro that the Hawaiian term for family, `ohana, is derived from the word `oha, the shoot or sucker which grows from the taro corm. As the young shoots grow from the corm, people grow from the family.While varieties of taro grow in almost all tropical regions of the world, Hawai`i seems to have some of the strongest taro traditions. According to Native Planters in Hawaii, by Handy and Handy, taro ". . . is a plant of unique and distinctive character which was brought by planters to a higher state of cultivation in old Hawaii than anywhere else in the world. . . . Native cultivation of taro in Hawaii had created a greater number of varieties adaptable to varying conditions of locale, soil, and water than are to be found anywhere else in Polynesia or, we believe, in the world. "Varieties of taro available today are much different than in ancient times. Many of the ancient varieties have disappeared through lack of cultivation, and immigrants and commercial cultivators have brought new varieties.The problems of taro farmers also have changed. In ancient times, drought, hurricane and warfare were the major calamities farmers faced.Today, introduced diseases, loss of arable land due to various kinds of development, water rights, pollution, and the world economy all must be factored into the farmer's business plan.But also, as the world has changed, farmers are changing their ways of dealing with it. They are banding together in associations to share knowledge and other resources. As more is learned about taro, ways to combat diseases should be found. Already, much research has been done in tissue culture for taro, providing disease free plants.Over the years, people from around the world have come to Hawai`i, and some have become taro farmers. Some, like the Chinese and Japanese, have brought their own varieties and cultivated them. Others began to cultivate the Hawaiian and introduced varieties already here. Taro varieties and knowledge were traded and contributed to modern Hawaii's famous blending of cultures, helping to make all of Hawai`i one `ohana. In the Beginning Before there were people, there were the gods. They had descent and genealogy, like people. Some were more like humans, and some were less. Among the more human-like were Wakea - the Sky Father, and Papa - the Earth Mother. They lived in a place which floated about between the clouds. Even now, people who look carefully at the clouds will see some which look solid, like islands in the sky. They are the cloud-island homes of gods and goddesses.Wakea was tall and strong, with broad shoulders and strong arms from hours at surfing. His legs were well muscled from striding about his cloud-island home, which looked much like Hawai`i. He had curling black hair and eyes the color of polished kukui. Papa was almost his height, with a lovely back, straight as a cliff, and a soft full bosom. Her hair was the color of polished koa, and rippled in the light. Her legs were shapely, but strong, and she could walk as far and as fast as Wakea. Her eyes glittered like stars. They were beautiful in the way of humans, and had the same desires as humans.Wakea wold bury his nose in Papa's long sweetly scented hair and inhale its fragrance. She would turn her head and press noses with him, sniffing gently in the honi, the Hawaiian kiss."This flower is blooming,” Wakea would say."Then let us enjoy it before it wilts," Papa would reply. Hand in hand they would retire to a kipuka floored with soft ferns, or perhaps to a stream with banks covered in soft moss. As the only creatures like themselves on their cloud-island, they had all of it for their private garden and could go where they pleased and do as they wished.Soon, all of this ho`oipoipo had the usual result, and children were born. Many children were born. When Wakea walked up behind Papa to press his nose against her neck, instead of "Let us enjoy this flower before it wilts," Papa was as likely to say "The baby is hungry. Go catch more fish." Disgruntled, Wakea would take his net and go.Wakea Sees Ho`ohoku-ka-laniWakea did not have much use for babies and spent more and more time away from home. He was away so much that he did not notice when the babies were not babies any more. One day, Wakea noticed a beautiful young woman walking in the forest. He followed her."You, you look familiar," he told her."I am your youngest daughter, Ho`ohoku-ka-lani," she replied. Wakea followed her home and saw his wife and daughter together.Ho`ohoku's back was as straight as a cliff. Papa's was bent from reaching down to pick up babies. Ho`ohoku's bosom was full and soft. Papa's was flattened and stretched from nursing. Ho`ohoku could stride through the forest as fast as Wakea. Papa took short steps, from years of keeping pace with the short legs of children. Ho`ohoku's hair was the color of polished koa and rippled in the light. Papa's hair was the color of burned out firewood which had given up its light. Ho`ohoku's eyes were like stars. In Papa's eyes, the stars had died when Wakea ceased to look into them.Wakea began to spend more time at home again, and Papa was glad. He took his stone adz into the forest and cut dead wood for cooking fires. He cut good strong wood for house posts and new `umeke, as well as wood for a new canoe. He sat in front of the work shed and carved.Papa paused in her tapa beating and looked fondly over at him. "It is good to have you spend more time with me," she told him. "Now that the children are grown, we can enjoy those flowers more often." Papa rinsed the wauke slime from her hands, stood up, and stretched. She walked over beside Wakea and sat down, then leaned over and put her nose to his for a tender honi. Wakea responded, but his thoughts were on Ho`ohoku.Wakea burned with desire for Ho`ohoku-ka-lani. He began to develop a deceitful plan.Wakea's Plan"Papa," he said one afternoon. "Now that we have so many children, this place is becoming crowded. They do not respect us, they do not respect each other. We are gods. It is not right for us to waste our mana in this undisciplined behavior. We need rules. It will teach them discipline." Papa nodded and continued weaving."I have decided it is necessary for men and women to spend certain times apart from one another, to preserve their mana," Wakea said. "I think that men and women, being different, need different foods. I will build a hale for us men to eat in, and another for you women to eat in." Papa accepted the plan. Men did not always act in ways she found appetizing.Wakea took a deep breath. "It is also necessary for men and women to sleep apart on certain days each month. This will let them preserve their mana for days when they must work hard. I will build separate hale for these special times."Papa stopped her weaving. "Are you sure that is necessary, Wakea?" He looked at her a long time. True, she no longer looked as she did when they first met. But, it was because she had borne his children. And she had done so over and over, for love of him. But she had turned away from him and devoted herself to the children when he had wanted her for himself. True, she now had a quiet, regal beauty. She had not been that way when she was younger, and Ho`ohoku would not be that way for years, if ever. She was stronger than he remembered. It attracted him, but it also frightened him. "Yes," he replied. "It is necessary."On the first night of the new kapu, Wakea lured Ho`ohoku out of the women's sleeping hale. He led her to a secret place and kept her there almost until dawn. Then he allowed her to return to the women's hale, cautioning her to slip in quietly so no one would know she had been out.Each kapu night Wakea had Ho`ohoku meet him. Many months went by, and Papa was none the wiser. Occasionally she remarked on Ho`ohoku's sleepiness some days. "Wakea," she would say, "Does our Ho`ohoku seem healthy to you? She has been listless the past three days. Her tapa does not stick together well when she pounds it because there is no strength in her arm." Wakea would reassure her."It is nothing. She is young and has not developed her full strength. You worry too much because she is your baby." Papa would nod and relax.DiscoveryAt last the inevitable happened, and Ho`ohoku was pregnant. When she no longer went to the women's hale to spend the time of her ma`i, Papa knew what had happened.Curses, kapa beaters, and chunks of soggy wauke flew. Papa cried, she cursed, she wept. "How could you do this? Why? Away! Go away from me!” All of the love she had felt for Wakea was turned immediately to hate.Wakea loaded his new canoe with all of the things he would need for a long sea voyage. He directed Ho`ohoku to weave a sail.He filled his ipu-wai from a clean spring. Thoroughly oiled and plugged with a pu stopper, they would keep the water clean and fresh for a long time. `Ulu and `uala were packed to eat. The `ulu were pounded into a thick paste. Some was fermented and some was allowed to dry. If one kind went bad on the voyage, the other kind might last. The `uala were allowed to air dry with their fine coating of lepo to absorb any moisture which might settle on them.Young food plants carefully wrapped for protection against the salt spray were added to the load. If there was no food where Wakea was headed, he would have to be able to grow his own.For meat, pigs, chickens, and dogs were caged and loaded on the canoe. At last he fetched Ho`ohoku and set out.A New LandThe fine lauhala sail which Ho`ohoku had plaited caught the wind, and the couple was sailing from the land between the clouds to the ocean below. The narrow bow of the canoe sliced through wavelets as it skimmed across the water. Soon, they reached Hawai`i.They sailed by various shores and at last found a valley which could be their home. Wakea beached the canoe and set about building a hale for himself and Ho`ohoku.First he selected the site. Then Wakea went to the beach and carried rocks to build the lower wall. He went to the forest and used his stone adz to cut trees for the house posts. He put the bases into holes in the ground and built the stone wall up around them. Then he added the roof poles. He had to cut many fine saplings to make enough ribs to tie the thatching to.While he built the frame, Ho`ohoku collected ti leaves and tied them into bundles for the thatch. Wakea spread `ili`ili for the floor and covered them with fine sand.Ho`ohoku plaited lauhala to make a floor covering to go over the sand. She trimmed the thorns from the leaves with her sharp bamboo knife. She softened the leaves by pulling them back and forth over the dull side of her knife. She coiled them one way and then the other. Then she began to coil them into wheels, with the diameter the same size as the length of her forearm. When she had enough wheels of leaves, she sorted them by color and decided on a pattern for her mat. Then, with her fingernails she stripped the leaves into long narrow pieces and began to weave.At last the hale was complete.Whether it was because of the stress of the sea voyage, her mother's curses, or some other reason, Ho`ohoku began her labor too soon. It was long and painful, and Ho`ohoku did not have her mother there to help her, but she did not scream or cry. At last the baby was born.This first child was premature, a legless, armless, formless lump of flesh. Ho`ohoku and Wakea named him Haloa-naka, but he still died. Wakea buried Haloa-naka at the East corner of the house. Each day Ho`ohoku tended the burial site. She carried water in Wakea's ipuwai and gave Haloa-naka a drink. She stirred the mud as if she were tucking a blanket around her baby. She kept the area clean and free of weeds and animals. In a few days, a tightly furled green leaf poked up through the mud. "Oh, Wakea," she called, "Look at our son! See how he grows? He stands already!" Ho`ohoku continued to care for her firstborn son, who grew into a large and handsome taro plant.Later, Ho`ohoku gave birth to a human child. He also was named Haloa. He was perfect in form, intelligent, and handsome. He grew like any boy, and became a man. He became the ancestor of humans. He was taught to honor, respect, and care for his elder brother so that his brother always would watch over and care for him.So now, even today, the descendants of Haloa-the-elder provide nourishing food for the descendants of Haloa-the-younger.
