Ku and Hina--man and woman--were the great ancestral gods of heaven and earth for the ancient Hawaiians. They were life's fruitfulness and all the generations of mankind, both those who are to come and those already born. The Hawaiian gods were like great chiefs from far lands who visited among the people, entering their daily lives sometimes as humans or animals, sometimes taking residence in a stone or wooden idol. As years passed, the families of gods grew and included the trickster Maui, who snared the sun, and fiery Pele of the volcano. Ancient Hawaiians lived by the animistic philosophy ... View More...
The Kumulipo is the sacred creation chant of a family of Hawaiian alii, or ruling chiefs. Composed and transmitted entirely in the oral tradition, its 2000 lines provide an extended genealogy proving the family's divine origin and tracing the family history from the beginning of the world. View More...
The Kumulipo is the sacred creation chant of a family of Hawaiian alii, or ruling chiefs. Composed and transmitted entirely in the oral tradition, its 2000 lines provide an extended genealogy proving the family's divine origin and tracing the family history from the beginning of the world. View More...
It was in 1866 that Eliza Maguire first heard these stories from old Hawaiians on Huehue Ranch in the Kona district on the island of Hawai'i. Many years later she translated them into English. First published in 1926, they are simple tales shared among the people of Kekaha, the barren, desolate section of North Kona that has often been ravaged by Pele, the Volcano Goddess. Included in this collection is the tale of 'Akahipu'u, in which mischievous menehune try to steal the top of a hill, and the story of the cave of Makalei, which has provided water to generations of Kona residents. This updat... View More...
When the storytellers of ancient Hawaii gathered by the light of candlenut torches, they told tales that explained the world around them. These tales described how the gods created the earth and its life, how the stars were created, and why the days are longer in summer. Other stories recounted the pranks of Kamapuaa the Pig-Man, the origin of the tapa tree, the death of the monster reptile mo-o, and the home of the volcano goddess, Pele. From this rich body of mythology, author Vivian Thompson has drawn twelve myths. She retells them with the true flavor and simplicity of the storytellers of ... View More...
