THE
ANCIENT
Weapons, Tikis AND
Society OF Hawaii |
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Ancient Hawaiian Tiki Gods!
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Hawaiian
History
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Ancient Hawaii was a mythic land with freighting tiki masked warriors appearing from steaming jungles and many unique and interesting gods and legends. To cover all of the Hawaiians legends and gods would take volumes so I have selected what I feel to be the most amazing and wondrous gods and myths. Such as the major Hawaiian tiki gods, shark gods, dogmen, fantastic weapons and nightmarchers. (Hawaiian legends are full of dog men, shark men, rat men, bird men, and hog men, even hawaiians born as inanimate objects, like a rope!)
Alternatively known
as Kane, Kane-Hekili ("thunderer" or "lightning breaking
through the sky"), Kane Hoalani. 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. The shark god instructed
Kamalo to return to his village in the Mapulehu Valley and to prepare
a sanctuary with many sacred animals and surrounded by sacred white tapa
kapu staffs. Then he would wait the arrival of the shark god. A giant
cloud would float against the wind over from the Lanai island. It would
grow in size and cover the mountains above Mapulehu Valley. From it a
rainbow would appear and Kamalo would know the shark god had arriaved. Months past until the cloud appeared, it traveled against the wind and came to rest above the mountains that loomed over the Mapulehu Valley. A rainbow appeared and the winds began to pick up force. Towering dark Storm clouds soon blew in and a great storm began to rage. Lightning broke the sky and torrential rains poured forth in quantities the island had never known. The water rushed down the mountains into the valley in a flash flood. The torrent rushed from the mountain with such force everything before it was swept up into it. The only area that was not devastated was the sanctuary with in the kapu staffs where Kamalo and his followers watched in awe. The storm ravaged the land and the waters flooded the valley, washing everything before it away. Kupa, his home, all of his followers and possessions were washed into the sea where the people of Kauhuhu's sharks awaited to deliver Kamalo's final revenge. The bay waters were soon stained red with the blood of Kupa and his followers. After this day the bay was known as Aikanaka, meaning 'man-eater', and everyone learned a great respect for the power of clouds in the peaks above their village. Everyone that heard the story also learned great respect for the power of the Shark God, Kauhuhu.Kaupe - The Cannibal Dog Man In ancient Hawaii, there was a class of people called Olohe who were hairless and often specialized in wrestling and bone breaking. Unfortunately, they were also known to be cannibals and robbers. Their leader was Kaupe and he had the power to turn into a giant dog. He used these powers to stalk and kill men until his death. Now he hunts hawaiians as a ghost dog. Nightmarchers In Hawaiian legend, Nightmarchers (huaka'i po or "Spirit Ranks," 'oi'o) are the ghosts of ancient Hawaiian warriors. On certain nights, they are said come forth from their burial sites to march out, weapons in hand, to past battles or to other sacred places. Anyone living near their path may hear chanting and marching, and must go inside to avoid notice. They might appear during the day if coming to escort a dying relative to the spirit world. Anyone looking upon or seen by the marchers will die unless a relative is within the marcher's ranks- some people maintain that if you lie face down on the ground they will not see you. Others say that this only works if you are naked. Still others say that you should be naked, lie face up and feign sleep. Placing leaves of the ti (Cordyline sp.) around one's home is said to keep away all evil spirits, and will cause the huaka'i po to avoid the area. Another be Nanaue - The Shark Man Once a shark king noticed a beautiful princess on a Hawaiian beach. He approached her in the form of a great human chief and they fell in love. They were married and she became pregnant. However, on the night before she gave birth to her son, Nanaue, the Shark King departed. He warned her to never let the boy eat meat and returned to the sea. When the boy was born the princess noticed a slit on his back, she kept it covered and hid it from the village. As he grew this slit became a large shark mouth upon his back that he kept covered from all. When the boy grew to be a man she could not eat with him because of a strict taboo against women and men eating together. One day the boy ate meat and developed a ravenous taste for it. From then on he would follow people to the beach when they went swimming, he would then turn to the form of a giant shark and eat them as they returned to the shore. However, after many died the village became suspicious and tore Nanaue's shirt off revealing the large shark mouth on his back. After much struggle and vicious bites from the mouth on Shark Man's back the villagers tied him up. The high chief then ordered that a great oven be built and everyone dug a pit and placed stones in it. They then attempted to heave the Shark Man into the oven, but he then turned himself into shark form, snapping the ropes that bound him. Nanaue flopped, snapped at people and eventually tumbled down a hill into a river that flowed from the Waipio falls. The warriors of the valley ran along the side of the river, throwing spears and stones at the giant shark, but none dared enter and before they could get their nets Nanaue swam into the sea. Nanaue swam far from Waipio valley and was not sighted again until he resurfaced in Maui were they had not yet heard about the Shark Man. He resided near Hana and married their chief, a beautiful women. There, he secretly fed on the people of Maui until he became careless and was seen changing shape and attacking a victim. The villagers then launched canoes and hunted Nanaue out of their waters. Nanaue later surfaced in Maui where he settled near Hana. Unfortunately though, he hadn't lost his taste for human flesh and he began feeding on innocent villagers. One day he became careless though and was spotted changing into shark form to pursue a swimmer. The warriors of Maui then lunched their canoes and pursued him instead! Using spears and nets they attempted to capture and kill the Shark Man, but he slipped away into the wide ocean. Once again the Shark Man remerged onto a Hawaiian island. This time it was Molokai where he began a new life. Swimmers began disappearing again though and suspicion was raised. The network of Hawaiian Kahunas had by this time spread the word about the dangerous Shark Man and kahunas of Molokai placed everyone on alert. The fishermen, who were a crucial part of the effort to find the Shark Man, noticed a man slip into the water and then a giant shark in the sea. They cautiously angled their boats toward him then threw out their nets. The Shark Man was entangled, but he would soon escape; however the warriors of Molokai were ready and launched their canoe and joined the struggle. The great shark form of Nanaue was stabbed with spears and repeatedly netted. Kahunas chanted and used all of their magic to sap the shark of his great strength. The terrible struggle stained the sea red but the might of the Molokai fishermen, warriors and kahunas proved to be too much for Nanaue. He was eventually dragged to the shore where he was beaten with war clubs, slashed with sharktoothed weapons and stabbed with spears. Finally the form of the great shark reverted back to that of a man with a shark mouth on his back, bleeding from dozens of wounds in the shallow red stained surf. The high chief of Molokai then ordered Nanaue's body to be chopped up and the pieces thrown into an oven. The villagers were happy to oblige and such was the end of the Nanaue. Soon the word about his death spread like smoke from the oven, and all Hawaiians breathed easier knowing the Shark Man had been vanquished. (for a longer version see Hawaiian-Mythology) Lua-o-Milu
– Land of the Dead Ancient Hawaiian
Lava Sledding |
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