Observing the canoes of Paao as they were disappearing in the distance, Lonopele sent a violent storm to destroy them; but the strong fish Aku assisted in propelling the canoes against the storm, and the mighty fish Opelu swam around them and broke the waves with his body. The malignant brother then sent the great bird Kihahakaiwainapali to vomit over the canoes and sink them; but they were hastily covered with mats, and thus escaped destruction. After a long voyage Paao landed in Puna, on the coast of Hawaii. Thenceforth the aku and opelu were held sacred by Paao and his descendants.
Following is a list of the supreme and principal elemental, industrial and tutelar deities of the Hawaiian group:
The Godhead.Kane, the organizer.Ku, the architect and builder.Lono, the executor.
Kanaloa, the Lucifer, or fallen angel.
Rulers in the realms of Po, or death.Akea, the first Hawaiian king, who, after life, founded the island-kingdom of Kapapahaunaumoku, in the realms of Po, or death.Milu, the successor of Akea, or who, according to another belief, accompanied Akea to Po, and became the perpetual ruler of a kingdom on its western confines.Manua, referred to in some legends as the supreme sovereign of Po. With him abide the spirits of distinguished chiefs and priests, who wander among beautiful streams and groves of kou trees, and subsist upon lizards and butterflies.
Minor Celestial Deities.Kaonohiokala (the eyeball of the sun), a celestial god, with an abode somewhere in the heavens, and to whose presence the departed spirits of chiefs were conducted.Kuahairo, the messenger who conducted the souls of distinguished chiefs to Kaonohiokala.Olopue, a god of Maui, who bore the spirits of noted chiefs to the celestial paradise. Kamehameha sought to secure possession of a very sacred image of this god, inherited by Kahekili, moi of Maui.
The Volcanic Deities.Pele, the ruling goddess of the volcanoes, with her sisters,Hiiaka-wawahi-lani, the heaven-rending cloud-holder;Makoie-nawahi-waa, the fire-eyed canoe-breaker;Hiiaka-noho-lani, the heaven-dwelling cloud-holder;Hiiaka-kaalawa-maka, the quick-glancing cloud-holder;Hiiaka-hoi-ke-poli-a-pele, the cloud-holder kissing the bosom of Pele;Hiiaka-ka-pu-enaena, the red-hot mountain lifting clouds;Hiiaka-kaleiia, the wreath encircled cloud-holder;Hiiaka-opio, the young cloud-holder; and their brothers,Kamo-hoalii, or King Moho, the king of vapor or steam;Kapohoikahiola, god of explosions;Keuakepo, god of the night-rain, or rain of fire;Kane-kahili, the husband of thunder, or thundering god;Keoahi-kamakaua, the fire-thrusting child of war.[The last two were hunchbacks.]
Akuapaao, the war-god of Paao, taken from the temple of Manini by Umi.
Ku-kaili-moku, the war-god of Kamehameha I., bequeathed to him by Kalaniopuu.
Deities of the Elements.Laamaomao, god of the winds, the Hawaiian Æolus, whose home was on Molokai.Hinakuluiau, a goddess of the rain.Hinakealii andHookuipaele, sisters of Hinakuluiau.Mooaleo, a powerful gnome of Lanai, conquered by Kaululaau, a prince of Maui.Kuula, a god of the fishermen.Hina, wife of Kuula.Laeapua andKaneapua, gods of the fishermen of Lanai.Hinahele and her daughterAiaiakuula, goddesses of the fishermen of Hawaii.Ukanipo, the great shark-god of Hawaii.Moaalii, the principal shark-god of Molokai and Oahu.Lonoakiki, the great eel-god of all the group.Apukohai andUhumakaikai, evil shark or fish-gods of Kauai.
Gods of the Arts and Industries.Akua-ula, the god of inspiration.Haulili, a god of speech, special to Kauai.Koleamoku, the deified chief who first learned the use of herbs and the art of healing from the gods. He was a patron of the kahunas.Olonopuha andMakanuiailone, deified disciples of Koleamoku.Kaanahua, the second son of the high-priest Luahoomoe, andKukaoo, gods of the husbandman.Lakakane, god of the hula and similar sports.Mokualii, god of the canoe-makers.Hai, god of kapa making.Ulaulakeahi, god of distillation.
Kalaipahoa, a goddess who entered and poisoned trees.
Kapo and
Pua, sisters of Kalaipahoa, with like functions.
Kama, a powerful tutelar god of all the islands.
Laauli, the god who made inviolable laws.
Kuahana, the god who killed men wantonly.
Leleioio, the god who inflicted bodily pain.
Lelehookaahaa, wife of Leleioio.
Lie, a goddess of the mountains, who braided leis.
Maikahulipu, the god who assisted in righting upset canoes.
Pohakaa, a god living in precipitous places, and who rolled down stones, to the fright and injury of passers.
Keoloewa, a god worshipped in the heiaus of Maui.
Kiha, a goddess of Maui, held in great reverence.
Uli, the god of the sorcerers.
Pekuku, a powerful god of Hawaii.
Lonoikeaualii, a god worshipped in the heiaus of Oahu.
Kauakahi, a god of Maui and Molokai.
Hiaka, a mountain god of Kauai.
Kapo and
Kapua, and several others, messengers of the gods.
Ouli, the god appealed to by the kahunas in praying people to death.
Maliu, any deified deceased chief.
Akua noho, gods possessing the spirits of departed mortals, of which there were many.
Kiha-wahine and
Kalo, noted deities of the class of akua-noho.
Mahulu, a name common to three gods in the temples of Lono.
Manu, the names of two gods at the outer gates of heiaus dedicated to Lono.
Puea, the god worshipped in the darkness.
Kaluanuunohonionio, one of the principal gods of the luakina, or sacrificial house of the temple.
Kanenuiakea, a general name for a class of thirteen gods connected with the larger heiaus.
ANCIENT HAWAIIAN GOVERNMENT.
Previous to the eleventh century the several habitable islands of the Hawaiian group were governed by one or more independent chiefs, as already stated. After the migratory influx of that period, however, and the settlement on the islands of a number of warlike southern chiefs and their followers, the independent chiefs began to unite for mutual protection. This involved the necessity of a supreme head, which was usually found in the chief conceded to be the most powerful; and thus alii-nuis, mois and kings sprang into existence. So far as tradition extends, however, certain lines, such as the Maweke, Pili and Paumakua families, were always considered to be of supreme blood. They came to the islands as chiefs of distinguished lineage, and so remained.
Gradually the powers of the mois and ruling chiefs were enlarged, until at length they claimed almost everything. Then the chiefs held their possessions in fief to the moi, and forfeited them by rebellion. In time the king became absolute master of the most of the soil over which he ruled, and assumed tabu rights which rendered his person sacred and his prerogatives more secure. All he acquired by conquest was his, and by partitioning the lands among his titled friends he secured the support necessary to his maintenance in power. Certain lands were inalienable both in chiefly families and the priesthood; they were made so by early sovereign decrees, which continued to be respected; but with each succeeding king important land changes usually occurred.
Although the king maintained fish-ponds and cultivated lands of his own, he was largely supported