EARLY LEGENDARY SURFERS
Volume 1, Chapter 4
Aloha and welcome to Chapter 4 of Volume 1 of
LEGENDARY SURFERS.
Surfing came from the marine-based culture of
Polynesia and the earliest surfers no doubt were watermen in ways that went
beyond just riding waves. Many of the famous Polynesian and Hawaiian
legends are filled with surfers – some identified as such and some not.
Certainly, we know that most all long ago Hawaiians surfed – men, women and
children. Herein is a collection of some of the most notable legends of
Polynesian and Hawaiian watermen from before the time of the written word – from
the time of the
mele (songs,
poetry, sometimes chants and sometimes presented in hula form). Some were
known surfers, while others can only be guessed as such.
Here are a number of these stories --
far from a complete set, but some of the most famous.
Image courtesy of the Bishop Museum, Honolulu.
Contents
HAWAI`ILOA
Hawaiian Chain Discovered
Second Trip to Hawaii and First Settlement
Hawaii, Sawaii, Tonga?
Later Voyages of Hawai`iloa
Hawai`iloa, Ki & Kanaloa Descendents
The Legend Examined
MAMALA
KAHIKILANI
UMI
"PIKOI THE RAT KILLER" By Westervelt
Some Sources
Hawai`iloa
According to 19th Century Hawaiian folklorist
Abraham Fornander, “the earliest reminiscences of the Hawaiian branch of the
Polynesian family refer to
a far western habitat
on some very large island or islands, or perhaps continent, as the
birthplace of their ancestors. This land was known under many names, but
the most frequently occurring is ‘Kapa-kapa-ua-a-Kane.’ It is also called
‘Hawaii-kua-uli-kai-oo‘ (Hawaii with the green back, banks or upland, and the
dotted sea).”
This ancestral home was said to be “situated in
Kahiki-ku, or the large continent to the east of Kalana-i-Hau-ola, or the place
where the first of mankind were created.” Seventeen generations after the same Flood (ke
kai-a-Kahinalii) upon which the Biblical story of Noah is based -- on the east
coast of Kapakapaua-a-Kane, in an area called Ka `Aina kai melemele a Kane
(“Land of the yellow sea of Kane”) -- there lived “a chief of high renown
and purest descent.” Chief Hawai`iloa (“the great burning Hawa” or
sometimes “the straits of the great burning Hawa”), also called Ke Kowa i
Hawai`i, was a noted fisherman and a great navigator. We can
only assume that he was also a surfer. Also, it is quite probable that
many of the legends attributed to him are collected legends of the exploits of
several men.
In Hawaiian folklore, Hawai`iloa is a traceable
descendant of the first man Kumu Honua and his wife Lalo Honua, who lived in the
land called Kalana i Hauola. This line went all the way down to Aniani Ka
Lani, Hawai`iloa’s father, and Ka Mee Nui Hikina, his mother.
Hawai`iloa’s other three siblings were Ki, who settled in Tahiti, Kana Loa, who
settled in Nukuhiwa, and Laa-Kapu.
Hawai`iloa and his brothers were born on the
east coast of Ka `Aina kai melemele a Kane (the land of the yellow or handsome
sea of Kane). Hawai`iloa was not only a distinquished man of his
community, but also a noted fisherman famous for his fishing excursions which
could take as long as a month-to-a-year to complete. During this time, he
would roam about the ocean in his big canoe (wa`a) -- called also an “island”
(moku) -- with his crew and navigators (poe ho`okele and kilo-hoku).
Hawaiian Chain Discovered
On one of Hawai`iloa’s longer fishing
excursions, his principal navigator Makali`i said, “Let’s steer the canoe in the
direction of Iao, the Eastern Star, the discoverer of Land [Hoku hikina kiu o na
`aina]. There is land to the eastward, and here is a red star, hoku`ula
(Aldebaran), to guide us, and the land is there in the direction of those big
stars which resemble a bird.”
So, they took to the direction of Iao (Jupiter,
“the eastern star”), the red star (the rising Aldebaran in the
constellation of Taurus) and the Pleiades. The red star,
situated in the lap of the goats (a constellation) was henceforth called
Makali`i after the navigator. Some other red stars in the circle of the
Pleiades were called the Huhui-a-Makali`i (“Cluster of Makali`i).
By taking this route, Hawai`iloa and crew
discovered a group of islands far from their western homeland. These
islands have been generally considered to be the Hawaiian chain, though this is
not certain. If it was Hawai`i, then archeological evidence suggests a
direct link between Hawai`i and Hiva -- the Marquesas Islands. In
Fornander’s translations, not all the islands in the Hawaiian chain had been
formed by this time. “When Hawai`i Loa arrived here, there were only the
two islands of Hawai`i-Loa [Hawai`i] and Maui-au-Ali`i [Maui],” wrote Fornander,
“but during his time and close afterwards the volcanoes on Hawai`i and on Maui
began their eruptions; and earthquakes and convulsions produced or brought to
light the other islands.”
The Hawaiian scholar Kepelino has all the
islands in place upon Hawai`iloa’s first landing on the western end of the
archipelago. “First he saw the island of Kaua`i, but he kept on sailing
and found O`ahu and then the islands of the Maui group, then, seeing the
mountains of Hawai`i, he kept on until he reached that island. There he
lived and named the island after himself. The other islands from Maui to
Kaua`i were named for his children and probably for some who sailed with
him. Here are the names of this children: Maui was the eldest,
O`ahu younger, and Kaua`i the youngest. These names he gave to the three
large islands, but the smaller islands were perhaps named for those who
accompanied him.”
The voyagers “went ashore and found the land
fertile and pleasant,” wrote Fornander, “filled with `awa, coconut trees... and
Hawai`iloa, the chief, gave that land his name. Here they dwelt a long
time and when their canoe was filled with vegetable food and fish, they returned
to their native country with the intention of returning to Hawai`i-nei, which
they preferred to their own country.”
Hawai`iloa and crew returned to their
homeland. There, they were delayed a long while in their own country and
amongst their own relatives, before returning to the newfound land.
The time spent in Hiva was possibly due to their efforts to build enthusiasm and
interest in the new land.
Second Trip to Hawaii and First Settlement
Finally, Hawai`iloa and a new crew again set
sail for the islands he had named. This time, Hawai`iloa brought his wife
and children and an unusually large amount of men-steersmen, navigators, ship
builders and others. According to Kepelino, Hawai`i-nui sailed to Hawai`i
the second time with eight steersmen. Because of their skill in observing
stars, each one was renamed after his favorite star. They were:
Makali`i, the famous steersman and great farmer; Iao; Kahiki-Nui; Hoku `Ula
(named, possibly after the star Aldebaran); Maiao; Kiopa`a (“fixed,” a name for
Polaris, the north star; also called Hokupa`a); Unulau; Polohilani (possibly the
star Schedir in Cassiopeia).
Supposedly, Hawai`iloa was the only man who had
his wife and children along with him. If this was so, then it was most
likely due to space limitations. On this voyage, the ka Hoku Loa, the
Morning Star, was the special star they steered by.
In the various Hawai`iloa legends, the ocean
Hawai`iloa and his fellow voyagers traversed is called by different names.
These include: Ka Moana-kai-Maokioki-a-Kane (the spotted, many-colored
ocean), Kai Holo-o-ka-I`a (the Ocean where the fish run), and
Moana-kai-Popolo (the blue or dark-green ocean). After traversing the long
distance, Hawai`iloa and his entourage arrived finally at the islands Hawai`iloa
had previously named after himself and his son or children. Again,
the legends differ. Some have it that these events occurred early enough
to the point where there were only two islands in the Hawaiian chain.
Others have all islands in place. The multiple-islands legend has
Hawai`iloa naming not only the big island for himself and Maui after his
first-born son, but also O`ahu after his daughter (and O`ahu-a-Lua [Honolulu]
after her foster parent Lua), and Kaua`i after his younger son.
Hawaii, Sawaii, Tonga?
If the island group where Hawi`iloa and clan
settled was not the Hawaiian chain, it was no doubt somewhere within the
confines of what is classified as Polynesia. Added both to the
uncertainty of where exactly Kapa-kapa-ua-a-Kane or Hawaii-kua-uli-kai-oo was
located, is the uncertainty of where exactly Hawai`iloa settled. Three
Polynesian groups -- the Hawaiian, Samoan and Tongan -- have an island by the
same name, with slight dialectical difference. Each claim the honor of
having been first peopled and first named by people from the west.
The Hawai`iloa legend itself is just part of
the epic Hawaiian legend of Kumuhonua (the first man) and indicates, according
to the earliest traditionally handed down recollections of the Hawaiian people,
that Hawai`i was first peopled by emigrants from a land far to the west of
it. Fornander admitted, “whether the Hawaii to which the legend refers be
the Hawaii of the North Pacific, the Sawaii of the Samoan group, or the Jawa of
the Asiatic Archipel, they did not come there from the east, north, or south,
but from lands and seas in the far distant west.” Furthermore, “The
Hawaiians considered themselves as emigrants, not as autochthones, of the Hawaii
of which the legend speaks.”
The Hawa or Hawai`i that most Polynesians refer
to as being the birthplace of their ancestors, Fornander mused, must certainly
lay far to the west of Polynesia. This may be the case of the
original inhabitants that arrived with Hawai`iloa, but archaeological evidence
suggests the major cultural link to be Hiva (the Marquesas Islands), over
1600 years ago. “The argument for a Marquesan origin of some of the early
settlers,” wrote Dennis Kawaharada of the Polynesian Voyaging Society, “is based
in part on linguistic and biological evidence.” Archaeologist
Patrick Kirch wrote, “Indeed, the close relationship between the Hawaiian and
Marquesan languages as well as between the physical populations constitutes
strong and mutually corroborative evidence that the early Hawaiians came from
the Marquesas.”
“Adzes, fishhooks, and pendants,” continued
Kawaharada, “found at an early settlement site at Ka Lae on the Big Island of
Hawai`i resemble those found in the Marquesas. Also, the Marquesas Islands
are the best departure point for sailing to Hawai`i from the South Pacific
because they are closer and farther east (upwind) than the Society Islands or
the Cook Islands, two other possible sources of early migrants.”
Later Voyages of Hawai`iloa
Hawai`iloa, according to legend, made several
voyages afterwards between Kapa-kapa-ua [Hiva?] and Hawai`i to find his brothers
and see if they had any children who might become husbands or wives to members
of his party back on Hawai`i.
Hawai`iloa made these voyages to “the extreme
south (i ka mole o ka honua). Leaving from Lae o Kalae, in Ka`u, and
following the stars of Ke Ali`i-o-Kona-i-ka-Lewa (Canopus) and the stars of
Hoku-kea o ka Mole Honua (the Southern Cross or “Star-cross of the bottom of the
earth”), Hawai`iloa and crew made it to Tahiti and other islands to the
south. On Tahiti, he found his brother Ki, who had settled there and
called the island after one of his own names. Together, the brothers
sailed southward (i ka mole o ka honua) and found other uninhabited
islands. When they finally returned to Hawai`i, they had with them
Ki’s first born son Tu-nui-ai-a-te-Atua as a husband for Hawai`iloa’s daughter
O`ahu.
Hawai`iloa, Ki and party returned to Lae o
Kalae, steering by the Hoku-`Iwa stars and the Hoku Poho ka `Aina.
Tui-nui-ai-a-te-Atua and O`ahu had a child
named Kunuiakea, who was born at Keauhou, in Puna, Hawai`i. Puna was a
fertile land and was named after Tui-nui-ai-a-te-Atua’s (Kunuiaiakeakua) own
birthplace, Puna-Auia, in Tahiti. Kunuiakea became a chief of the highest
rank (kapu loa) and from him sprang all the race of chiefs in Hawai`i (welo
ali`i). From the great navigator Makali`i sprang the common people (welo
kanaka). The priests (welo kahuna) were “one and the same with the race of
the chiefs from the beginning.”
Other later voyages of Hawai`iloa included a
trip to Sawai`i (Somoa), where he placed some of his offspring. They, in
turn, became the ancestors of Sawai`i, thereafter called Hawai`i-ku-lalo
(Hawai`i rising downwind).
Hawai`iloa later revisited Tahiti where he
found his brother Ki had returned and forsaken the religion they were born into
together; the religion of Kane, Ku and Lono. Instead, Ki now worshipped
Ku-waha-ilo [maggot-mouthed Ku], the man-eating god (ke akua `ai kanaka).
Hawai`iloa soon left Tahiti after quarreling with his brother on this
issue.
Hawai`iloa revisited Tahiti a third time and
Hawai`i-ku-lalo (Sawai`i) a second time, holding a meeting with those people at
Tarawao. Finding that these people still persisted in following after the
man-eating god Ku-waha-ilo and that they had become addicted to man-eating, he
renounced them, passing a law called “he Papa Enaena,” forbidding anyone from
Hawai`i-Luna (upwind Hawai`i) from ever going to the southern islands for fear
they would go astray, be converted to this new religion, and become
cannibals.
Fornander has Hawai`iloa also visiting some
western land that was neither Kapa-kapa-ua or i ka mole o ka honua.
Travelling westward, he used Mulehu (Hoku Loa) as his guiding star. He
found a land where there lived “people with turned-up eyes” (Lahui maka-lilio);
Asians. Travelling across this land to the northward and west, he came to
the country called Kua-hewa-hewa, part of a very large land expanse.
Returning from this country, he brought back with him two white men (poe keokeo
kane). On his return voyage he used the star Iao to help guide the
way. After landing, Hawai`iloa had the two white men married to Hawaiian
women (a ho`omoe i ko`onei po`e wahine).
Hawai`iloa made one last journey back to the
southern and eastern shore of Kapakapaua-a-Kane and took with him his grandchild
Kunuiakea in order to teach him navigation and long distance voyaging.
When they returned, Kunuiakea brought with him two stewards (he mau ha`a elua),
one called Lehua and the other Nihoa. They settled on the two Hawaiian
islands which bear their names. As konohiki (land stewards), they were put
under the charge of Kaua`i, Hawai`iloa’s youngest son.
Hawai`iloa, Ki & Kanaloa Descendents
According to many of the legends, the
descendants of the brothers Hawai`iloa and Ki peopled nearly all the Polynesian
islands. From Ki came the people of Tahiti, Borabora, Huahine, Taha`a,
Ra`iatea and Mo`orea.
Hawai`iloa’s lesser mentioned brother Kanaloa
peopled Nukuhiwa, Uapou, Tahuata, Hiwaoa, and other islands of the Hiva group
(Marquesas). On Nukuhiwa, Kanaloa married a woman from the man-eating
people, from whom sprang the cannibals who live on Nukuhiwa, Fiji, Tarapara,
Paumotu (Tuamotus) and lesser islands in western Polynesia. Despite what
some of the legends may indicate, the people of Hawai`i and Tahiti never fully
converted to cannibalism.
The Hawaiian scholar Kepelino concluded,
“Hawai`i-nui was perhaps a chief or perhaps not; he was a man of high standing
(ke kanaka ko`iko`i), as I see it.” Fornander noted, “In the first
age, from Hawai`i Loa to Wakea, the royal authority and prerogative were not
very well defined. The chiefs were regarded more in the light of parents
and patrons (haku), than as moi and ali`i-kapu, although they enjoyed all the
honor and precedence due to their rank. This state of things was
considerably altered by Wakea, his priest and successors, yet even so late as
the time of Kanipahu, who refused the government, it is evident that the royal
authority was not well settled in the olden times (`aole he ano nui o na `li`i
ka wa kahiko loa `ku).”
The Legend Examined
Scholars have questioned the authenticity of
the Hawai`iloa legend because of similarities between biblical stories and
stories in the tradition of Kumuhonua. “The legend seems to be a summary
of statements contained in many other legends and genealogies,” noted historian
Bruce Cartwright. “At the time it was recorded in writing, many Hawaiians
had become Christianized and were familiar with Biblical history. The
temptation to interpret certain incidents similar to those in Biblical history
as being in fact the Hawaiiian rendering of Biblical events seems to have
influenced the translators. This unfortunate condition has more or less
discredited the ancient legends on which the legend of Hawaii-loa is based,
branding them, in the opinion of many modern students as ‘doctored accounts,
influenced by Christianity.’“
Both Kamakau
and Kepelino, early Hawaiian writers on the tradition of Hawai`iloa, were
Christian converts. The similarities between the biblical stories and the
legend of Hawai`iloa include the Hawaiian god formed by the trinity of gods
Kane, Ku and Lono; the creation of the first man (Kumuhonua) out of clay and the
first woman (Lalo Honua) out of the rib of the first man; Kanaloa, angry that he
was denied `awa, rebelled against god and later seduced the first woman, after
which the first man and woman broke the law of Kane and fell from grace; and the
Hawaiian Noah is called Nu`u, who survived the great flood in a large vessel
with a house on it.
Randie Kamuela Fong, representing the
traditionalist response, wrote, “after careful review of Fornander’s version of
the Kumuhonua tradition, the Hawai`iloa portion bears no resemblance to any
biblical account. The names, places, and basic settings and plots give us
no reason to question their age and authenticity. Further, Patience Bacon
of the Bishop Museum remembers kupuna (elders) being interviewed” in the 1920’s
and 30’s “by Tutu Puku`i. The kupuna spoke of Hawai`i Loa as their
‘reality.’“
Probably closest to the mark are Abraham
Fornander‘s impressions. “I am inclined to think,” wrote Fornander, “that
the legend of Hawii-loa represents the adventures and achievements of several
persons... which, as ages elapsed, and the individuality of the actor retreated
in the background, while the echo of his deeds was caught up by successive
generations, were finally ascribed to some central figure who thus became the
traditional hero not only of his own time, but also of times anterior as well as
posterior to his actual existence... In much later times the same process was
repeated, when the Hawaiian group was overrun by princely adventurers from the
South Polynesian groups, who incorporated their own legends and their own
versions of common legends on the Hawaiian folklore, and interpolated their own
heroes on the Hawaiian genealogies.”
Mamala
(NOTE: This section taken from the last chapter
of Volume 3:
Great Women Riders of the Wooden Era
and also the Mamala.)
Ke-kai-o-Mamala (the Sea of Mamala), the ocean
west of Waikiki off the coast of Honolulu, was named after one of Hawaii’s
earliest known legendary woman surfers -- Mamala.
Mamala rode at a time when Hawaiian
history was kept orally, only, so it is virtually impossible to separate the
facts from the myths. Both are included here.
The harbor area of Hono-lulu was once known as
Kou. Kou hosted a number of primo surf spots, including ‘Ula-kua
(black red), Ke-kai-o-Mamala (the sea of Mamala), and Awa-lua (double
harbor).
Look at an island map of O’ahu and you can
still see Ke-kai-o-Mamala, the Sea of Mamala still marked. The surf spot
of the same name broke through a narrow entrance to the harbor, straight out
from a grove of coconut trees belonging to the chief Honoka’upu, which bore his
name. This is in the area now known as Ala Moana, Rock Pile,
Inbetweens and Kaisers – contemporary surf spots at the mouth of the harbor
channel, just east of Magic Island.
Ke-kai-o-Mamala broke “straight out from a
beautiful coconut grove... [at] Honoka`upu and provided some of the finest waves
in Kou,” wrote Finney and Houston. “The break was named after Mamala, a
famous surfer and a pominent O`ahu chiefess. She was a kupua, a demigod or
hero with supernatural powers who could take the form of a beautiful woman, a
gigantic lizard, or a great shark.” She was a mo-o,” added
Patterson, “-- sometimes a gigantic lizard or crocodile; sometimes a beautiful
woman.
According to legend, she was first married to
another kupua, the shark-man Ouha. Mamala and Ouha would often drink awa
together and played konane (pebble checkers) on the smooth konane stone at
Kou.
Mamala, by all accounts, was a wonderful surf
rider. Skillfully, she rode the roughest waves. She apparently liked
to surf far out from shore, in rough seas, when the winds blew strong and
whitecaps rolled in disorder into the bay of Kou. The people on the beach,
watching her, would clap and yell in recognition to her extraordinary
riding.
One day, the coconut grove chief Honoka`upu
decided he wanted Mamala as his wife. Apparently, she was amenable and
left Ouha to go live with her new husband. Feeling loss-of-face,
Ouha got angry and first tried the belligerant approach, trying to do Honoka`upu
in. Driven away, he fled to lake Ka-ihi-Kapu, toward Waikiki. There,
he appeared as a man with a basketful of shrimp and fresh fish, which he offered
to the women of the place, saying, “Here is life (a living thing) for the
children.” He opened his basket, but the shrimp and fish leaped out and
escaped into the water.
After this, the women of Ka-ihi-Kapu made fun
of Ouha, further ridiculing the god-man. Ouha, like the other ancient
legendary characters of Polynesia and most of the rest of us, could not endure
anything that brought shame and disgrace upon him in the eyes of others.
Consequently, Ouha cast off his human form forever and became the great shark
god of the coast between Waikiki and Koko Head.
Mamala was remembered ever afterward both by
the surf spot named in her honor and also in a song about her triangular love
affair called the Mele (song) of Honoka`upu.” Two parts of the song
go like this:
The surf rises at Ko`olau,
Blowing the waves into mist,
Into little drops,
Spray falling along the hidden harbor.
There is my dear husband Ouha,
There is the shaking sea, the running sea of Kou,
The crab-like sea of Kou...
Prepare the awa to drink, the crab to eat.
The small konane board is at Hono-kau-pu,
My friend on the highest point of the surf.
There is a good surf for us.
My love has gone away.
Smooth is the floor of Kou,
Fine is the breeze from the mountain.
I wait for you to return.
Will the lover return?
I belong to Honoka`upu,
From the top of the tossing surf waves,
The eyes of the day and the night are forgotten.
Kou is the day, and to-night
The eyes meet at Kou.
I wait for you to return,
The games are prepared,
Pa-poko, pa-loa, pa-lele,
Leap away to Tahiti
By the path to Nuumehalani,
Will that lover return?
The Honolulu area’s ancient Hawaiian name is
Kou. Kou hosted a number of primo
surf spots,
including Ka-lehua-wehe, known as a meeting place for O`ahu chiefs in ancient
times and today known as Waikiki. A little to the east of Kou was a break
called Ke-kai-o-Mamala, The Sea of Mamala. It broke through a narrow
entrance to the harbor straight out from a beautiful grove of coconut trees
belonging to the chief Honokaupu. The grove bore his name,
Honoka`upu.
Ke-kai-o-Mamala broke “straight out from a
beautiful coconut grove... [at] Honoka`upu and provided some of the finest waves
in Kou,” wrote Finney and Houston. “The break was named after Mamala, a
famous surfer and a pominent O`ahu chiefess. She was kupua, a demigod or
hero with supernatural powers who could take the form of a beautiful woman, a
gigantic lizard, or a great shark. She was a mo-o -- sometimes a gigantic
lizard or crocodile; sometimes a beautiful woman.
According to legend, she was first married to another
kupua, the shark-man Ouha. Mamala and Ouha would often drink awa together
and played konane (a form of checkers) on the smooth konane stone at
Kou.
Mamala was an outstanding surf rider.
Skillfully, she rode the roughest waves. The surf in which she delighted
rose far out in the rough sea, where the winds blew strong and whitecaps were on
waves which rolled in rough disorder into the bay of Kou. The people on
the beach watching her filled the air with resounding applause when they clapped
their hands over her extraordinary athletic feats.
One day, the coconut grove chief Honoka`upu
decided he wanted Mamala as his wife. Apparently, she was amenable and
left Ouha to go live with her new husband. Feeling ridiculed, Ouha
was angry and tried at first to injure Honoka`upu and Mamala. Driven away,
he fled to lake Ka-ihi-Kapu, toward Waikiki. There he appeared as a man
with a basketful of shrimp and fresh fish, which he offered to the women of the
place, saying, “Here is life (a living thing) for the children.” He opened
his basket, but the shrimp and fish leaped out and escaped into the
water.
The women of Ka-ihi-Kapu further ridiculed the
god-man. Ouha, like the other ancient legendary characters of Polynesia,
could not endure anything that brought shame and disgrace upon him in the eyes
of others. Consequently, Ouha cast off his human form and became the great
shark god of the coast between Waikiki and Koko Head.
The beautiful Mamala was remembered afterward
in the surfing place named for her and in a song about her triangular love
affair called the Mele (song) of Honoka`upu.” Two parts of the song
go like this:
I wait for you to return,
The games are prepared,
Pa-poko, pa-loa, pa-lele,
Leap away to Tahiti
By the path to Nuumehalani,
Will that lover [Ouha] return?
I belong to Honoka`upu,
From the top of the tossing surf waves,
The eyes of the day and the night are forgotten.
Kou is the day, and to-night
The eyes meet at Kou.
Another version:
The surf rises at Ko`olau,
Blowing the waves into mist,
Into little drops,
Spray falling along the hidden harbor.
There is my dear husband Ouha,
There is the shaking sea, the running sea of Kou,
The crab-like sea of Kou...
My love has gone away...
Fine is the breeze from the mountain.
I wait for you to return...
Will the lover [Ouha] return?
I belong to Honoka`upu,
From the top of the tossing surf waves...
Kahikilani
Forty miles from Ke-kai-o-Mamala, on the North Shore,
Paumalu was
known for its big waves, just as it is known, today, by the different name of
“Sunset Beach.”
“In earlier times,”
wrote Finney and Houston, “it was called Paumalu, which literally means ‘taken
secretly,’ referring to how a woman who caught more octopus than was permitted
had her legs bitten off by a shark.”
In another legend, “a prince of Kaua`i named
Kahikilani crossed the hundred miles of open sea between his home and O`ahu just
to prove his prowess in the great Paumalu surf.”
As soon as he arrived he started
surfing,” continued Finney and Houston in the re-telling of an ancient
mele. “Day after day he perfected his skill in the jawlike waves. As
he rode he was watched by a bird maiden with supernatural powers who lived in a
cave on a nearby mountain. She fell in love with the prince and sent bird
messengers to place an orange lehua lei around his neck and bring him to
her. By flying around his head, the messengers guided Kahikilani to the
bird maiden’s cave.
Enchanted, he spent several months with her --
until the return of the surfing season. Then the distant sizzle and boom
of the waves at Paumalu were too much for Kahikilani to resist, and he left the
maiden, but only after promising never to kiss another woman. However, the
excitement of the rising surf must have clouded his memory because almost as
soon as he was riding again, a beautiful woman came walking along the white
sand. She saw him there, waited until he rode to shore, place an ilima lei
around his neck, and kissed him. His vow was broken. He thought
nothing of it and paddled back out to the breaking waves, but the bird
messengers were watching. They flew to tell their mistress of his
infidelity. When she heard their report, the bird maiden ran to the beach
with a lehua lei in her hand. Snatching the ilima lei from Kahikilani’s
neck, she replaced it with the one made from lehua blossoms. As she ran
back to her cave, he chased her. That was the last Kahikilani saw of the
bird maiden, though, for halfway up the mountain he was turned to
stone.”
The bird maiden had “called on her `aumakua
(family god) and the husband was turned to stone.”
The image of Kahikilani can still be seen,
today, with a petrified lehua lei around his neck on a barren ridge above
Paumalu Bay, less than a mile from the Kamehameha Highway. Someone renamed
the image “the George Washington Stone.”
Umi
In comparatively recent times, a story is told
of an incident in the life of Umi-a-liloa, a rather unforgiving chief who ruled
over the big island of Hawai`i and Maui during the late 15th and early 16th
century. The story reveals the less-than-noble character a life of
privilege sometimes fostered. For, while “Umi was a very capable lad,” he
was, “also a swaggering, arrogant youngster of royal birth who felt he could do
as he pleased because his father was the king.” For surfers, the
lesson lies in the price one can pay for competing in a surf contest.
Around 1480, “Chief Umi was living at
Waipunalei,” wrote legendary early 20th Century surfer
Tom Blake,
when, “he and his friend attended a surfriding match at Laupahoehoe,
being unknown there and in disguise.” “Fearing for the safety of his
son,” explained Patterson in Surf-Riding, Its Thrills and Techniques,
“the king caused him to travel incognito when touring the island in search of
pleasure or adventure. On one of these trips young Umi, a lad of great
physical strength, heard of a surfing carnival being held at Laupohoehoe near
Hilo on the island of Hawaii. He took his party to Hilo and there
haughtily let it be known that he excelled at surfing.”
“His arrogance was naturally challenged with enthusiasm by
one of the petty chiefs,” Patterson continued. His challenger,
lesser chief Paiea, “knew all the surfs and the best one to ride,” recorded
Kamakau, in Ruling Chiefs of Hawaii. “It was the one directly in
front of Laupahoehoe, facing Hilo. It was a huge one, which none dared to
ride except Paiea, who was noted for his skill.”
Paiea “invited Umi to a surfriding match and
offered a trifling bet which Umi refused.” “When Paiea upped his bet
to four double-hulled canoes,” wrote surf historian Ben Finney, “Umi
accepted.”
“The inspiration which caused surfing to reach
its ultimate pitch of development,” wrote Patterson, “was the Polynesian desire
and delight in gambling. They were great gamblers and would stake their
last remaining possession as a wager in a game.
“They had plenty of leisure due to the
productivity of the islands, and it is only natural that they should look for
the most pleasant source of outlet for their energies. They also possessed
a keen interest in sports, most of which centered about water. In sporting
events, surfing offered the greatest opportunity to the high chiefs because the
higher ranking men were always shown preference at surfing locations when the
waves were high and the sea was on a rampage. They were the only ones who
could afford the ownership and care of superior boards which allow advantage in
competition.
“Early legends telling of surfing contests are
almost entirely built up around petty or ranking chiefs in connection with some
particular wager.”
Kenneth Emory, an authority on Polynesian
customs, wrote that, “Betting is quite unknown among the other islands of the
South Seas.” Emory advanced the theory that Hawaiians learned gambling
from contact with Japanese fishermen, who were known to have reached the Islands
by shipwreck and accidental discovery prior to the European landing in
1778.
At any rate, “Gambling on surfing was practiced
in that locality,” continued Kamakau. “All of the inhabitants from
Waipunalei to Kaula placed their wager on Umi, and those of Laupahoehoe on
Paiea.” “The wager made was a heavy one calling for four large
outrigger canoes. But the royal prince treated the wager lightly, meeting
it with the assistance of his regal party.”
“Umi and Paiea paddled out [in] the high surf,
pushing their boards through the heavy breakers until they reached the open sea
where they spent considerable time maneuvering for the best position. They
selected a large wave and paddled madly toward shore. They had chosen the
largest wave of the series and it could be seen lifting high into the air, and,
at the very crest, throwing spray which was caught by the wind and blown again
out to sea. Presently, the force of the wave caught the boards and started
them sliding along the slanting surface at the front of the crest.
“They both stood up simultaneously, their feet
firmly placed on the convex deck of the boards. Magnificent surfers
indeed, they were worthy of the keen attention that was given them from the
shore by the many observers. They came with great speed and apparently
neither surfer experienced difficulty as he glided along the entire course,
ending up between the two floats serving as the goal. Umi won the contest
and claimed his four canoes, leaving without revealing his identity.”
Kamakau tells a different story:
“The two rode the surf, and while surfing Paiea
noticed that Umi was winning. As they drew near a rock, Paiea crowded him
against it, skinning his side. Umi was strong and pressed his foot against
Paiea’s chest and then landed ashore. Umi won against Paiea...”
While generally agreeing with Kamakau, both
Finney and Blake have slightly different overall versions. Finney wrote
that Umi, “defeated Paiea and won the four canoes, but during the match Paiea’s
surfboard had clipped Umi on the shoulder, scratching off some
skin.” Blake has it that, “Umi won the bet but in coming in over the
surf, by accident or design, Paiea’s board struck the shoulder of Umi and
scratched off his skin.”
Duke Kahanamoku
said that Paiea had won, which makes the most sense to this
writer, considering what happened later.
According to Kamakau, “because Paiea crowded
Umi against the rock with the intention of killing him Paiea was roasted in an
imu (oven),” in later years when Umi became the supreme king of the Big
Island. Finney wrote that after the contest, “Umi said nothing at the
time, but when he later came to power as high chief he had Paiea killed and
sacrificed to his god at the heiau at Waipunalei.”
“When Umi became king,” agreed Patterson, “he
made a trip to Hilo and caused Paiea to be killed in sacrifice to the gods at
the Heiau temple, revengefully claiming that Paiea had allowed his board to bump
him slightly while riding beside him in the surfing contest which had been held
several years [previously].”
No matter who won or whether Paiea was
a good guy or bad, Umi’s revenge was extreme and Paiea’s end at the hands of
Umi-a-liloa was the same. “In short,” said Duke Kahanamoku, “in ancient
days a surfer could lose more in a contest than mere material stakes; he could
-- and sometimes did -- lose his life.”
"Pikoi The Rat Killer"
(From HAWAIIAN LEGENDS Of OLD HONOLULU by W. D.
WESTERVELT, Boston, G.H. Ellis Press [1915])
LONG, long ago in the Hawaiian Islands, part of
the children of a chief's family might be born real boys and girls, while others
would be "gods" in the form of some one of the various kinds of animals known to
the Hawaiians. These "gods" in the family could appear as human beings or as
animals. They were guardians of the family, or, perhaps it should be said, they
watched carefully over some especial brother or sister, doing all sorts of
marvellous things such as witches and fairies like to do for those whom they
love.
In a family on Kauai six girl-gods were born
and only one real girl and one real boy. These "gods" were all rats and were
named "Kikoo," which was the name of the bow used with an arrow for
rat-shooting. They were "Bow-of-the-heaven," "Bow-of-the-earth,"
"Bow-of-the-mountain," "Bow-of-the-ocean," "Bow-of-the-night" and
"Bow-of-the-day."
These rat-sister-gods seemed to have charge of
their brother and his sports. His incantations and chants were made in their
names. The real sister was named "Ka-ui-o-Manoa" ("The Beauty of Manoa"). She
was a very beautiful woman, who came to Oahu to meet Pawaa, the chief of Manoa
Valley, and marry him. He was an aikane (bosom friend) to Kakuhihewa, the kin,
of Oahu. They made their home at Kahaloa in Manoa Valley. They also had Kahoiwai
in the upper end of the valley.
The
boy's name was Pikoi-a-ka-Alala (Pikoi, the son of Alala). In his time the chief
sport seemed to be hunting rats with bows and arrows. Pikoi as a child became
very skilful. He was very clear and far sighted, and surpassed all the men of
Kauai in his ability to kill hidden and far-off rats. The legends say this was
greatly due to the aid given by his rat-sisters. At that same time there was on
Kauai a very wonderful dog, Puapualenalena (Pupua, the yellow). That dog was
very intelligent and very swift.
One day it ran into the deep forest and saw a small boy who
was successfully shooting rats. The dog joined him. The dog caught ten rats
while Pikoi shot ten.
Some days later the two friends went into a
wilderness. In that day's contest the dog caught forty and the boy shot forty.
Again and again they tried, but the boy could not win from the dog, nor could
the dog beat the boy.
After a while they became noted throughout
Kauai. The story of the skill of Pikoi was related on Oahu and repeated even on
Hawaii, His name was widely known, although few had seen him.
One day his father Alala told Pikoi that he
wanted to see his daughter in Manoa Valley. They launched their canoe and sailed
across the channel, leaving the marvellous dog behind.
Midway in the channel Pikoi cried out: "Look!
There is a great squid!" It was the squid Kakahee, who was a god. Pikoi took his
bow and fitted an arrow to it, for he saw the huge creature hiding in a pit deep
in the coral. The squid rose up from its cave and followed the boat, stretching
out its long arms and trying to seize them. The boy shot the monster, using the
bow and arrow belonging to the ocean. The enemy died in a very little while.
This was near the cape of Kaena. The name of the land at that place is Kakahee.
These monsters of the ocean were called Kupuas. It was believed that they were
evil gods, always hoping to inflict some injury on man.
Pikoi and his father landed and went up to Manoa Valley.
There they met Ka-ui-o-Manoa and wept from great joy as they embraced each
other. A feast was prepared, and all rested for a time.
Pikoi wandered away down the valley and out
toward the lands overlooking the harbor of Kou (Honolulu). On the plain called
Kula-o-kahua he saw a chiefess with some of her people. This plain was the
comparatively level ground below Makiki Valley. Apparently it was covered at
that time with a small shrub, or dwarflike tree, called aweoweo. Rats were
hiding under the shelter of the thick leaves and branches.
Pikoi went to the place where the people were
gathered. The chiefess was Kahamaluihi, the wife of the King Kakuhihewa. With
her was her famous arrow-shooting chiefess, Ke-pana-kahu, who was shooting
against Mainele, the noted rat-shooting chief of her husband. The queen had been
betting with Mainele and had lost because he was a better shot that day than her
friend. She was standing inside tabu lines under a shaded place, but Pikoi went
in and stood by her. She was angry for a moment, and asked why he was there. He
made a pleasant answer about wishing to see the sport.
She asked if he could shoot. He replied that he
had been taught a little of the art, so she offered him the use of a bow and
arrow and at that he said, "This arrow and this bow are not good for this kind
of shooting."
She laughed at him. "You are only a boy; what
can you know about rat-hunting? "
He was a little nettled, and broke the bow and
arrow, saying, "These things are of no use whatever."
The chiefess was really angry, and cried out,
"What do you mean by breaking my things, you deceitful child? "
Meanwhile Pikoi's father had missed him and had
learned from his daughter that the high chiefess was having a rat-shooting
contest. He took Pikoi's bows and arrows wrapped in tapa and went down with the
bundle on his back.
Pikoi took a bow and arrow from the bundle and
persuaded the high chiefess to make a new wager with Mainele. The queen, in
kindly mood, placed treasure against treasure.
Mainele prepared to shoot first, agreeing with
Pikoi to make fifteen the number of shots for the first trial.
Pikoi pointed out rat after rat among the
shrubs until Mainele had killed fourteen. Then the boy cried: "There is only one
shot more. Shoot that rat whose whiskers are by a leaf of that aweoweo tree. The
body is concealed, but I can see the whiskers. Shoot that rat, O
Mainele!"
Mainele looked the shrubs all over carefully,
but could not see the least sign of a rat. The people went near and thrust
arrows among the leaves, but could see nothing.
Then Mainele said: "There is no rat in that
place. I have looked where you said. You are a lying child when you say that you
see the whiskers of a rat."
Pikoi insisted that the rat was there. Mainele
was vexed, and said: "Behold all the treasure I have won from the chiefess and
the treasure which we are now betting. You shall have it all if you shoot and
strike the whiskers of any rat in that small tree. If you do not strike a rat I
will simply claim the present bet."
Then Pikoi took out of the bundle held by his
father a bow and an arrow. He carefully strung his bow and fixed the arrow,
pointing the eye of that arrow toward the place pointed out before.
The queen said, "That is a splendid bow." Her
caretaker, however, was watching the beautiful eyes of the boy, and his general
appearance.
Pikoi was softly chanting to himself. This was
his incantation or prayer to his sister-gods:
"There he is, there he is, O Pikoi!
Alala is the father,
Koukou is the mother.
The divine sisters were born.
O Bent-bow-of-heaven!
O Bent-bow-of-earth!
O Bent-bow-of-the-mountain!
O Bent-bow-of-the-ocean! {p. 163}
O Bent-bow-of-the-night!
O Bent-bow-of-the-day!
O Wonderful Ones!
O Silent Ones!
Silent.
There is that rat—
That rat in the leaves of the aweoweo,
By the fruit of the aweoweo,
By the trunk of the aweoweo.
Large eyes have you, O Mainele;
But you did not see that rat.
If you had shot, O Mainele,
You would have hit the whiskers of that rat—
You would have had two rats--two.
Another comes--three rats--three!"
Then Mainele said: "You are a lying child. I,
Mainele, am a skilful shooter. I have struck my rat in the mouth or the foot or
any part of the body, but no one has ever pierced the whiskers. You are trying
to deceive."
Pikoi raised his bow, felt his arrow, and said
to his father, "What arrow is this?"
His father replied, "That is the arrow Mahu,
which eats the flower of the lehua-tree."
Pikoi said: "This will not do. Hand me
another." Then his father gave him Laukona
(The-arrow-which-strikes-the-strong-leaf), but the boy said: "This arrow has
killed only sixty rats and its eye is smooth. Give me one more."
His father handed him the Huhui
(The-bunched-together), an arrow having three or four sharp notches in the
point.
Pikoi took it, saying, "This arrow wins the
treasure," and went toward the tree, secretly repeating his chant. Then he let
the arrow go twisting and whirling around, striking and entangling the whiskers
of three rats.
Mainele saw this wonderful shooting, and
delivered all the treasures he had wagered. But Pikoi said he had not really won
until he had killed fourteen more rats, so he shot again a very long arrow among
the thick leaves of the shrubs, and the arrow was full of rats strung on it from
end to end hanging on it by forties.
The people stood with open mouths in silent
astonishment, and then broke out in wildest enthusiasm.
While they were excited the boy and his father
secretly went away to their home in Manoa Valley and remained there with
Ka-ui-o-Manoa a long time, not visiting Waikiki or the noted places of the
island Oahu.
Kakuhihewa, the king, heard about this strange
contest and tried to find the wonderful boy. But he had entirely disappeared.
The caretaker of the high chiefess was the only one who had carefully observed
his eyes and his general appearance, but she had no knowledge of his home or how
he had disappeared.
She suggested that all the men of Oahu be
called, district by district, to bring offerings to the king, two months being
allowed each district, lest there should be a surplus of gifts and the people
impoverished and reduced to a state of famine.
Five years passed. In the sixth year the Valley
of Manoa was called upon to bring its gifts.
Pikoi had grown into manhood and had changed
very much in his general appearance. His hair was very long, falling far down
his body. He asked his sister to cut his hair, and persuaded her to take her
husband's shark-tooth knives. She refused at first, saying, "These knives are
tabu because they belong to the chief." At last she took the teeth--one above,
or outside of the hair, and one inside--and tried to cut the hair, but it was so
thick and stout that the handles broke, and she gave up, saying, "Your hair is
the hair of a god." However, that night while he slept his rat-sister-gods came
and gnawed off his hair, some eating one place and some another. It was not
even.
From this the ancient saying arose: "Look at
his hair. It was cut by rats."
Pawaa, the chief, came home and found his wife
greatly troubled. She told him all that she had done, and he said: "Broken were
the handles, not the teeth of the shark. If the teeth had broken, that would
have been bad."
Pikoi's face had been discolored by the
sister-gods, so that when he appeared with ragged hair no one knew him--not even
his father and sister. He put on some beautiful garlands of lehua flowers and
went with the Manoa people to Waikiki to appear before the king.
The people were feasting, surf-riding and
enjoying all kinds of sports before they should be called to make obeisance to
their king.
Pikoi wandered down to the beach at Ulu-kou [1]
where the queen and her retinue were surf-riding. While he stood near the water
the queen came in on a great wave which brought her before him. He asked for her
papa
(surf-board) but she said it was
tabu to any
one but herself. Any other taking that surf-board would be killed by the
servants.
Then the chiefess, who was with the queen when
Pikoi shot the rats of Makiki, came to the shore. The queen said, "Here is a
surf-board you can use." The chiefess gave him her board and did not know him.
He went out into the sea at Waikiki where the people were sporting. The surf was
good only in one place, and that [1. Near the present Moana Hotel.] was tabu to
[all, except the ali`i and] the queen. So Pikoi allowed a wave to carry him
across to the high combers; upon which she was riding. She waited for him,
because she was pleased with his great beauty, although he had tried to disguise
himself.
She asked him for one of his beautiful leis of
lehua flowers, but he said he must refuse because she was tabu. "No! No!" she
replied." Nothing is tabu for me to receive. It will be tabu after I have worn
it." So he gave her the garland of flowers. That part of the surf is named
Kalehua-wike (The-loosened-lehua).
Then he asked her to launch her board on the
first wave and let him come in on the second. She did not go, but caught the
second wave as he swept by. He saw her, and tried to cut across from his wave to
the next. She followed him, and very skilfully caught that wave and swept to the
beach with him.
A great cry came from the people. "That boy has
broken the tabu!" "There is death for the boy!"
The king, Kakuhihewa, heard the shout and
looked toward the sea. He saw the tabu queen and that boy on the same surf-wave.
He called to his officers: "Go quickly and seize that young chief who has broken
the tabu of the queen. He shall not live."
The officers ran to him, seized him, tossed him
around, tore off his malo, struck him with clubs, and began to kill
him.
Pikoi cried: "Stop! Wait until I have had word
with the king."
They led him to the place where the king
waited. Some of the people insulted him, and threw dirt and stones upon him as
he passed.
The king was in kindly mood and listened to his
explanation instead of ordering him to be killed at once.
While he was speaking before the king, the
queen and the other women came. One of them looked carefully at him and
recognized some peculiar marks on his side.
She exclaimed, "There is the wonderful child
who won the victory from Mainele. He is the skilful rat-shooter."
The king said to the woman, "You see that this
is a fine-looking young man, and you are trying to save him."
The woman was vexed, and insisted that this was
truly the rat-shooter.
Then the king said: "Perhaps we should try him
against Mainele. They may shoot here in this house." This was the house called
the Hale-noa (Free-for-all-the-family). The king gave the law of the contest.
"You may each shoot like the arrows on your hands [the ten fingers] and five
more-fifteen in all."
Pikoi was afraid of this contest. Mainele had
his own weapons, while Pikoi had nothing, but he looked around and saw his
father, Alala, who now knew him. The father had the tapa bundle of bows and
arrows. The woman recognized him, and called, "Behold the man who has the bow
and arrow for this boy."
Pikoi told Mainele to shoot at some rats under
the doorway. He pointed them out one after the other until twelve had been
killed.
Pikoi said: "There is one more. His body cannot
be seen, but his whiskers are by the edge of the stone step."
Mainele denied that any rat was there, and
refused to shoot.
The king commanded Pikoi not to shoot at any
rat under the door, but to kill real rats, as Mainele had done.
Pikoi took his bow, bent it, and drew it out
until it stretched from one side of the house to the other. The arrow was very
long. He called to his opponent to point out rats.
Mainele could not point out any. Nor could the king see one
around the house.
Pikoi shot an arrow at the doorstep and killed
a rat which had been hiding underneath.
Then Pikoi shot a bent-over, old-man rat in one
corner; then pointed to the ridge-pole and chanted his usual chant, ending this
time:
"Straight the arrow strikes
Hitting the mouth of the rat,
From the eye of the arrow to the end
Four hundred--four hundred!"
The king said: "Shoot your 'four
hundred--four hundred.' Mainele shall pick them up, but if the eye of your arrow
fails to find rats, you die."
Pikoi shot his arrow, which glanced along the
ridge-pole under the thatch, striking rat after rat until the arrow was full
from end to end -- hundreds and hundreds.
The high chief Pawaa knew his brother-in-law,
embraced him, and wailed over his trouble. Then, grasping his war-club, he
stepped out of the house to find the men who had struck Pikoi and torn off his
malo. He struck them one after the other on the back of the neck, killing twenty
men. The king asked his friend. why he had done this. Pawaa replied, "Because
they evilly handled my brother-in-law,--the only brother of my wife, 'The Beauty
of Manoa.'"
The king said, "That is right."
The people who had insulted Pikoi and thrown
dirt upon him began to run away and try to hide. They fled in different
directions.
Pikoi caught his bow and fixed an arrow and
again chanted to his rat-sister-gods, ending with an incantation against those
who were in flight:
"Strike! Behold there
are the rats -- the men!
The small man,
The large man,
The tall man,
The short man,
The panting coward.
Fly, arrow! and strike!
Return at last!"
The arrow pierced one of the fleeing men,
leaped aside to strike: another, passed from side to side around those who had
pitied him, striking only those who had been at fault, searching out men as if
it had eyes, at last returning to its place in the tapa bundle. The arrow was
given the name Ka-pua-akamai-loa (The-very-wise-arrow). Very many were punished
by this wise arrow.
Wondering and confused was the great assemblage
of chiefs, and they said to each other, "We have no warrior who can stand before
this very skilful young man."
The king gave Pikoi an honorable place among
his chiefs, making him his personal great rat-hunter. The queen adopted him as
her own child.
No one had heard Pikoi's name during all these
wonderful experiences;. When he chanted his prayer in which he gave his name, he
had sung so softly that no one could hear what he was saying. Therefore the
people called him Ka-pana-kahu-ahi (The-fire-building-shooter), because his
arrow was like fire in its destruction.
Pikoi returned to Manoa Valley with Pawaa and
his father and sister. There he dwelt for some time in a great grass house, the
gift of the king.
Kakuhihewa planned to give him his daughter in
marriage, but opportunity for new experiences in Hawaii came to Pikoi, and he
went to that island, where he became a noted bird-shooter as well as a
rat-hunter, and had his final contest with Mainele.
Mainele was very much ashamed when the king
commanded him to gather up not only the dead bodies of all the people who were
slain by that very wise arrow, but the bodies of the rats also. He was compelled
to make the ground clean from the blood of the dead. He ran away and hid himself
in a village with people of the low class until an opportunity came to go to the
island Hawaii to attempt a new record for himself with his bow and
arrow.
Some Sources
Abraham Fornander
Ben R. Finney
Bishop Museum
Bruce Cartwright
Dennis Kawaharada
Duke Kahanamoku
Fragments of Hawaiian History
Nathaniel Emerson
Polynesian Voyaging Society
Ruling Chiefs of Hawaii
Surf-Riding, Its Thrills and Techniques
Tom Blake
Traditions of Hawaii
William Ellis
Additional Resources
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