Chapter I
touching on that subject:
“Maui was born an island, a land, A dwelling place for the children of Kamalalawalu.”
As for Molokai the birth of that island is referred to in the lines of the same song in this wise:
“It was Kuluwaiea of Haumea who was husband, It was Hinanuialana the wife, Then was born Molokai, a god, a priest, A yellow flower [17] from Nuumea.”
It would seem that Kuluwaiea was a husband of Haumea, [18] but went after Hinanuialana who conceived Molokai, a god and priest.
As to the tradition in regard to Lanai, it is not stated where it appeared from, but it is told in the tradition that Lanai was a foster child. That is clearly shown in the mele of Kahakuikamoana in the fourth verse reading thus:
“Here stands the king, the heavenly one, The life-giving water-drops, from Tahiti. Lanai was found an adopted child.”
But in the tradition regarding Kahoolawe its origin is assured, it was born a foundling. Because Keaukanai was the man, he married with Walinuu, a woman from Holani, and Kahoolawe was the offspring of that union. And this is the way the mele runs in the fifth verse:
“Keaukanai is the one who married, Married with Walinuu from Holani, The sacred semen [19] of Uluhina. Kahoolawe was born a foundling.”
This is the strange thing in the tradition of Kahoolawe, it would seem Keaukanai belonged to Hawaii nei, and Walinuu came from Holani. In the traditions of Molokini it is said, it was from the loin cloth of Uluhina, a very high chief. He was a chief who cut the navel of new born babes. And this is the legend concerning Molokini: “When Walinuu gave birth to Kahoolawe Uluhina was called upon to come and cut the navel of the child Kahoolawe, and when he came and had cut the navel he took the placenta and girt it on as a loin cloth. He then threw it into the sea and Molokini arose formed from the afterbirth of Kahoolawe and the loin cloth of Uluhina,” the very name Molokini being a contraction of the words malo and Uluhina and should read this way in the song, verse 6:
“Uluhina then was called upon, The navel of the little one was cut, The afterbirth of the child that was thrown Into the folds of the rolling surf; The froth of the heaving sea, Then was found the loin cloth for the child. Molokini the island Is the navel string, The island is a navel string.”
In the tradition of Oahu, it is said Oahu was a very high chief, a prince of the blood, born of Ahukini-a-Laa and Laamea-laakona, and this is how it reads in verse 7:
“Now stands forth Ahukini-a-Laa, A chief from the foreign land; From the gills [20] of the fish; From the overwhelming billows of Halehalekalani. Then was born Oahu, a wohi, A wohi through Ahukinialaa By Laamealaakona, the wife.”
In the tradition of Kauai, it is said Oahu and Kauai had one mother and had different fathers. Because Ahukinialaa lived with Laamealaakona and Oahu was born a wohi, then Laakapu lived with Laamealaakona and Kauai was born and this is how the legend runs: When Laamealaakona first had the child-sickness when conceiving Kauai, she was in the sacred house in the enclosure of the heiau (temple) of Nonea, and on a day of the month of Makalii, the day in which the lightnings flashed around this heiau, that was the day Kauai was born, and this is the king who united with the royal line of Hawaii. And this is how the legend runs in the
## part concerning Kauai in the mele commencing with verse 8:
“From Laakapu who was a man, From Laamealaakona a woman Who sickened of the child conception, Who sickened carrying the chief Nuupoki At the sacred temple of Nonea During the lightning on the sacred night of Makalii. Then was born Kauai, a chief, a prince, a kingly scion, Of the chiefly cluster belonging to Hawaii; The foremost head of all the islands.”
So in looking over the histories of Oahu and Kauai, it is true, it seems as if they had one mother, for the voice indicates the resemblance.
In the traditions of Niihau, Kaula and Nihoa, they had the same parents, because Wanalia was the husband who lived with Hanalaa, a woman, and to them was born Niihau, Kaula and Nihoa. They were triplets, and with them the mother became barren. No islands were born afterwards. And the mele composed by Kahakuikamoana should read like this, in verse 10:
“Wanalia was the man And Hanalaa was the woman; Of them was born Niihau, a land, an island. There were three children of them Born in the same day; Niihau, Kaula, ending with Nihoa. The mother then conceived no more, No other island appeared afterwards.”
In looking for stories of these islands it is shown in that mele composed by the great historian, one of the chiefs’ most renowned historians of Hawaii nei. But we cannot certify to the absolute truth of the story; there are several other stories very much like these, but which one is the real truth it is hard to tell. In the story or tradition of Wakea the origin of these islands is plainly told, and there are also meles reciting the doings of Wakea with regard to the peopling of these islands. One of the songs was composed by Pakui, [21] a historian and a famous composer of songs, and he was classed among the high priests of the order of priesthood.
In the tradition of Opuukahonua it is told in that story that they were the progenitors of Hawaii nei. There were twenty-four generations before Wakea, and as there were seventy-five generations from the time of Wakea would make ninety-nine generations from Opuukahonua to that of Kamehameha, therefore, till the reign of Kamehameha IV makes one hundred and one generations.
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