Little known myths- Hawaiian

In this post we head away from the cold Scandinavian myths to that of the warm pacific. Let us discuss the myths of the Hawaiian Islands!

Perhaps you wish to enjoy a tropical drink and kick up your feet next to the cool pacific waters? Have you appeased the Tiki gods lately? What Tiki gods you say? Read on. :)

Tiki Gods

The Hawaiian gods had many similarities to Polynesian and other pacific region gods. Yes, that makes a large area to summarize but considering what little trade or outside influence they would've had, it likely would've been a common sharing of culture and religion when they did happen upon one another. Like other myths, the Tiki gods were based off of natural elements. There are four main Tiki gods and according to the mythology they were said to exist before the creation of the earth itself.

Ku- god of war and also the only Hawaiian god where human sacrifice was part of ritual worship.

Lono- god of music and fertility. Descended to earth as a rainbow.

Kane- god of light and life. Created the world and is considered the 'father of man'.

Kanalola- god of the sea symbolized by the squid. Believe to have complimentary powers to Kane. It is said that Kane and Kanalola have characterists of other 'opposing forces' type gods like the Chinese Taoists idea of ying and yang.

Minor god of interest: Kauhuhu, The Shark god of Molokai (paraphrased from website listed at end of post)

There is a story of Kauhuhu, the Shark god. He was said to live in a cave guarded by two dragons that devoured anyone who entered his domain. It was said he arrived to his cave by riding the 8th wave in a set of giant waves.

One time, he arrived in his cave and found a man had made it pass the dragons. He came the man and was about to devour him when he took pittance on the trespasser. The man told him his sons had been murdered for playing a powerful island Chief's tiki drums. This chief was feared by all and so the man sought a powerful god to help him. The shark god obliged to help him. He gave him instructions to follow and stated that he would know the shark god had arrived in the coming weeks by the appearance of dark clouds on the mountains and a rainbow.

Kauhuhu instructed the man to return to his village and set up a sanctuary in the mountainside with many sacred animals and special white Tapa Kapu staffs set in a circle. He was obedient to Kauhuhu and it was there he took his family and the Kahuna, the priest of Kauhuhu, to await his revenge. 

Eventually, dark clouds came upon the mountains and a rainbow sprouted forth. Lighting crackled in the skies and a torrential downpour flowed into the valley of the powerful Chief and washed away him and his followers to the sea. It was there, Kauhuhu's sharks awaited and the waters were stained red with the blood of the Chief and his people. The man now had his revenge.

Lava Sledding

Oh yes, you read that right. As a ritual to honor their gods and even for just the sport of it, ancient Hawaiians would use a 12 foot 6 inch sled of wood made from nearby trees to slide down man made courses of lava rock. Sounds fun!

I hope you enjoyed this post! Information was found from the site below for further reading!

JT

Click as appropriate if you are looking for either Finnish Myths or Inuit Myths!

http://mythichawaii.com/index.htm

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