MYTHS, LEGENDS, AND STORIES OF HAWAI'I ISLAND 

By Pua Manikis

The tales of Maui made him a very popular person. There are many tales of Maui, but one that he is most popular for is for catching the sun and bringing all the islands together. Maui was just a regular person at first. He was very kolohe and was up to mischief. One day he was taking a swim and the waves were trying to swallow him up. The gods felt sorry for him and invited him up to live and train with them.

When he returned to his home he did many things for everyone. He wanted to do more for the people, so he brought up the lands and made them closer. Everyone was happy and the next thing he knew, people were grumbling about how the sun moved quickly over the islands and because of that the crops would not grow as well and everyone hardly had any food. Maui actually captured the sun and made bets with him till he agreed to move slowly across the islands. The next morning the sun roused very slowly and moved gracefully across the lands. Everyone was very happy and thankful cause Maui had finally captured the sun. Maui was known for capturing the sun and bringing up the islands. He is known for many more accolades, but for now, I will leave you with that.

 

Tales of the Menehune

 Menehune are little men who love to cause mischief. Well, in this book that I have read they stated that once there was a man who was trying to build a canoe out of a Koa tree. It took him the whole day to cut it down. He went home and came back the next day. He couldn't find where he had left the tree. So he cut down another tree and this time he marked down his location. That same day he dug a hole nearby and headed underground.

Next thing he knew, he began to hear things. He looked up and saw little men lifting up the tree. He managed to catch two menehune. They made a deal with him, if he let them go they will build a canoe for him, but also he must build a shed and prepare a feast for them, and so he did. The next day he came to the same spot. There he saw a canoe sitting inside of a little hale. So the main things about menehune, are that they are always up to mischief and love to cause trouble.

By Lee Paul

'Ulu and his wife lived in the village of Waiakea on the Big Island. They had a son named Moku'ola. Moku'ola is small and always sick. At that time there was no food to feed their young son. 'Ulu is a fisherman. Every morning he paddled out in his canoe to go fishing. One day 'Ulu said to his wife,"What can we do for our son, he will die soon because of food shortage? " 'Ulu and his wife decided that 'Ulu should die so that their son will survive. 'Ulu and his wife then prepared to make the offering at the heiau. They walked along Wailuku River near Hilo. 'Ulu washed himself and prayed to the gods out loud:

Later 'Ulu went back home and told his wife, "Tonight I will take my last breath. When my spirit has left, bury me close to the stream near the door to our home, then wait inside the house. You may hear sounds of leaves and flowers and later heavy fruit falling to the ground. If you do, then my prayers have been answered. Our son will not starve, he will be saved. With those words 'Ulu died. Later that night his wife heard the noises her husband said she might hear. The next morning she saw a tree with broad leaves and on the ground were large ripe fruits fallen from the tree. The large tree grew where 'Ulu's body was buried. That is the legend of the 'Ulu Tree

By ANTHONY L WISE

 Long ago there was a chief who bragged more than enough about his land. His land was Puna and no one wanted to here about Puna or how beautiful it was cause the chief was so boastful. Every time he traveled he could not stop boasting about how his land grew the best fruit and had the nicest beaches.

One day he met a kupuna and the same old story came out of his mouth. The kupuna then asked him, "Aren't you afraid that Pele will take over your land cause you're right below Pele's pit?" But the ali'i was still not afraid of what the old kupuna had told him so the chief went his own way and finished his day. When he arrived in Puna all he could see was smoke and burnt trees from a lava flow. Then the ali'i realized that nothing is safe next to Pele.

DAVID YOUNG

 

LAKA'S CANOE 

Long time ago on the Big Island of Hawai'i, a young Hawaiian man by the name of Laka decided he needed a new canoe cause his old one was all buss up (broken). So he went to the Kohala Mountains, located on the north side of the Big Island to go find a good healthy strong koa tree. When he finally found the tree he was looking for, he cut it down. By the time he was finished it was dark and he was very tired, so he decided to leave the tree there and come get it the next morning. The next morning he went up to the mountains to retrieve the tree trunk and to his surprise he found that the tree was gone! He swore he had left the tree there. Had someone stolen it, or maybe he had just misplaced it. He thought he'd just cut down another one and mark where it was so when he came the next morning he would absolutely know where he had left it. So he started to cut down another one, and again when he was finished with it he was tired and it was dark so he went back home. The next morning he went to get his tree trunk and he found that it was gone again! He was very confused. He didn't know what was going on.

He came to a conclusion that someone had been stealing his tree trunk. So he cut down another one and he decided to sleep in the bushes next to the tree trunk so whoever had come to steal it would not see him. During the night he heard voices and footsteps, he woke up and caught the thieves. To his surprise it was the menehune (a Hawaiian dwarf). He was very angry and he told them that he was going to kill them. They begged him not to kill them, so they told him that they would carve out and carry his canoe down from the mountain to the ocean for him. Knowing that it was very hard to carve and carry his canoe, he agreed with them. When they were finished they had a lu'au (a Hawaiian party with Hawaiian food). They became friends and helped each other at whatever they needed.

 

Joshua Talamoa-Elderts

Was the blackout at 1986's Merrie Monarch a coincidence caused by nature or was it the wrath of Hina? A bad storm caused the lights to go out in the Edith Kanaka'ole stadium right before Halau Mohala 'Ilima was to perform a hula kahiko.

On Thursday night, the Miss Aloha Hula competition was held. There was a soft breeze blowing through the stadium and the Hilo rain was nothing but a light mist. People enjoyed the evening and did not think anything of the weather.

The following night was reserved for hula kahiko, the ancient dance. The night started off regular with the blessing of the soft Hilo rain, but as the competition went on the weather began to change. Friday night's rain was coming down a little harder, the wind was picking up, and things were looking a little ominous. As every halau took its turn performing, the weather got worse and worse.

Halau Mohala 'Ilima was to perform a hula kahiko that perpetuates "Pu'inokolu'a Hina" (The Three Storms of Hina). This chant speaks of Hina, the goddess who guards the island of Moloka'i. According to the legend, Hina keeps the sacred wind gourd, "Wawahonua," and when the people mistreat the land, she opens the gourd slightly to release its first storm. "Trees are uprooted and thrown over…shrubbery is twirled, sweeping down and out to sea." Hina waits for the people to improve, but they don't. Hina opens the gourd cover halfway to release the second, stronger storm, "causing skies to darken…lightning flashes, thunder cracks…wild gushes of wind causing ocean floods." There was little change in the hearts of the people, so Hina opens the gourd's cover all the way and "the worst storm is released; crushed are the chiefs, crushed is the land". Of the three winds associated with the storms 'Ilinahu,Uluhewa and Luluku, only the last one Luluku, is a destroyer of man. This final destruction is how Hina protects her beloved land of Moloka'i.

Right before their entrance, the Kanaka'ole stadium went black. It took the crew several hours to return the lights. During that time Halau Mohala 'Ilima formed a circle under the bleachers with their Kumu Hula Mapu, husband Kihei and Aunty Nana Kalama as the audience began to sing a song. They held hands and talked about how they were feeling at that moment. After Mapu, Kihei and Aunty Nana left the circle and had a discussion of their own, the hula sisters of the halau decided that they did not want to dance. Lei-Ann Stender Durant was the one who told Mapu, their Kumu, that they were uncomfortable about performing. Lei-Ann could see the complete understanding and concern in her eyes. Mapu put their well- being above all else and was sensitive to their feelings. Several hours later, the lights came back on and the festival resumed. When Halau Mohala 'Ilima was introduced, Mapu went onto the stage and told the captive audience that her halau will not be performing this night because it would be inappropriate for them. She returned to her group and they could feel the strength of their conviction and the love they had for eachother. It seemed that the intensity of the chant was disrupted. For the first time that night many of the dancers felt at peace.

After a brief moment, the next halau was introduced and called to the stage. The dancers of Halau Mohala 'Ilima were putting their costumes away. There was a light breeze blowing through the stadium and the rain was nothing but a soft mist. The storm had suddenly ended. The elements were calm.

Ua pau.

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