Kamapuaa

“ No hand could be seen holding it, no strong arm swinging it, and no chief near it save those stricken by it. Dead and dying warriors covered the ground in its path. Sometimes when Kamapuaa had been caught in his marauding expedition, he would escape from the ropes tying him, change into a man, seize a club, become invisible and destroy his captors. He took from the fallen their rich feather war cloaks, carried them to his dwelling-place and concealed them under his mats. The people of Kauai were terrified by the marvellous and powerful being who dwelt in their midst. ”

“ The last great battle between sea and fire was connected with Pele as a fire-goddess and Kamapuaa, the demi-god, part hog and part man. It is a curious legend in which human and divine elements mingle like the changing scenes of a dream. This naturally follows the statement in some of the legends that Ku, one of the highest gods among the Polynesians as well as among the Hawaiians, was an ancestor of Kamapuaa, protecting him and giving him the traits of a demi-god. Kamapuaa had passed through many adventures on the islands of Oahu and Kauai, and had lived for a time on Maui. ”

“ Olelo iho o Kamapuaa: “Make ea. Hookahi no ka laau a ka ui waiho i lalo.” I iho o Kamapuaa: “Me he kaikuaana ala oe no’u, a me he kaikaina ala au nou.” I mai o Kahikihonuakele: “Aole o’u kaikaina e ae, ua make ko’u mau kaikaina. O kekahi make ia Pele, o kekahi ua kaawe.” I aku o Kamapuaa ia Kahikihonuakele: “Maanei aku e kolo ai a loaa aku o Makalii ma.” Mahope o laila, hoi mai la o Kaneiki laua o Limaloa. I aku o Kamapuaa: “E, hookahi kaua ikaika i koe, he kaua wahine ia, no laila, e holo kakou i pakele.” O keia wahine a Kamapuaa e olelo nei, o Hina no, o ka makuahine ponoi no o lakou. ”

“ On the day fixed for the sacrifice Kamapuaa, carefully bound and strongly guarded, was taken to the heiau, followed by Olopana, who was anxious to witness the ghastly ceremonies, and with his own eyes see that his troublesome enemy was duly slain and his body laid upon the altar. In offering human sacrifices the victim was taken without the walls of the heiau and slain with clubs by the assistants of the high-priest. ”

“ Kamapuaa knew of a large cavern in the hills some miles distant from Koolau, the name by which will be designated the place of his birth, and thither he repaired and took up his residence. He led a wild, predatory life, and was soon joined by others as reckless as himself, until the party numbered fifty or sixty in all. Made bolder by this following, Kamapuaa began to harass the estates of Olopana. He stole his pigs, fowls and fruits, and whatever else his little band required, and delighted in breaking his nets, cutting adrift his canoes and robbing his fish-ponds. ”

“ The legend of Pele and Kamapuaa represents some confused and half forgotten [336] conception or knowledge of the contest between religious sects, the followers of Pele being worshipers and Kamapuaa, a believer in the efficacy of water.
The people of Pulo-Nias, to the west of Sumatra, believe in a Supreme God called Lora-Langi. He is not worshiped. Below him is a god called Batu Da Danaw who has charge of the earth. The world contains several stages. The one immediately below us is occupied by dwarfs. ”

“ Kamapuaa has sometimes been called the Samson of Hawaiian traditions, and it is possible that a Biblical idea has crept into the modern versions of the story. Delilah cut Samson’s hair and he became weak. The Hawaiian traditions say that, if Kamapuaa’s bristles could be burned off, he would lose his power to cope with Pele’s forces of fire. When the grass lay in the pathway of the fire, the lava was turned aside for a time, but Pele, inspired by the beginning of victory, called anew upon the gods of the under-world for strong reinforcements. ”

“ Every tradition refers to them as deities at the time of their arrival at Hawaii and occupation of Kilauea, and all abound in marvellous tales of their exploits, the most wonderful being connected with the Oahuan warrior Kamapuaa, one of the lovers of Pele, who was transformed by the bards into a supernatural monster—a being half-man and half-hog—with powers almost equal to those of Pele herself. ”

“ E ala, aloha e!
Pele then made answer from the bottom of Halemaumau: “I would get up if you were a man; but being a hog I will not get up.” The reason why Pele made this reply was because Kamapuaa had teased her as the woman who was pounding noni. The real meaning being that Pele had red eyes. This was the real meaning of the chant of Kamapuaa.
Olelo mai o Pele i lalo o Halemaumau: “He ala aku ka hoi ke kanaka, o ka puaa ka la, oia ka mea e ala aku ai.” O ke kumu o keia olelo a Pele, o kela olelo henehene kuamuamu a Kamapuaa i na wahine kui noni. ”

“ Kamapuaa, the fabulous being referred to, seems, according to the tradition, to have possessed the power of transforming himself into a hog, in which capacity he committed all manner of depredations upon the possessions of his neighbors. He having stolen some fowls belonging to Olopana, who was the King of Oahu, the latter, who was then living at Kaneohe, sent some of his men to secure the thief. ”

“ Break the strong men! Escape!” Making a sudden turn on the litter, he broke it in pieces and fell with it to the ground. Then he burst the cords which bound him and attacked the band of men whom he had permitted to capture him. Some legends say that he killed and ate many of them. Others say that he killed and tore the people.
The wild life lived by Kamapuaa induced a large band of rough lawless men to leave the service of the various high chiefs and follow Kamapuaa in his marauding expeditions. They made themselves the terror of the whole Koolau region. ”

“ The two girls replied: “How can there be any love when we have not lived together?” The two, however, invited Kamapuaa and Limaloa to come and sit with them. Shortly after this the two girls sent a man to tell Kaneiki of their wish to make this man [Kamapuaa] their husband.
I mai na wahine: “Aia hoi ke aloha a ua noho pu.” Kahea mai la na wahine ia laua nei. Iho aku la laua a hiki, noho pu iho la me na wahine. Hoouna aku la na wahine i ke kanaka, e hai aku ia Kaneiki i ko laua makemake i keia kanaka i kane na laua. ”

“ E moe e Kahiki e!
E moe e Kahiki e!
E moe e Kahiki e!
E ala e Kahiki e,
E ala e Kahiki e,
E hume ka malo,
E ai ka ai,
E hopu ka lima i ka laau
Haua a pa i ke poo waimaka nui
Haawi ka aina,
Lilo ka moku ia Kowea
Puni o Kahiki e! puni.
When Lonokaeho heard the call of Kamapuaa, he made reply: “Is the giving away of my land any of your rights? Where are you from? Why don’t you come and meet me face to face and then let us fight? If I am killed then my land shall be taken away [328] from me.” Kamapuaa consented to this, saying: “Yes.” ”

“ Elua ona ano, he kanaka, he puaa. O Kaliuwaa kona wahi noho i Kaluanui, ma Koolauloa. O Olopana ke ’lii o ia wa, e noho ana ma Oahu nei. Kii o Kamapuaa i ka moa o na aina o Olopana, o Kapaka, o Punaluu, o Kahana, hookahi po ua pau loa ko laila mau moa. Kokoke e ao, loaa o Kawauhelemoa ia Kamapuaa. He moa kupua ia. Nana i hoowalewale, loaa o Kamapuaa i na kiai a Olopana. Lohe o Olopana o Kamapuaa ka mea i pau ai o ka moa, kuahaua ia na kanaka mai Kahana a Kaluanui, e kii ia Kamapuaa, e auamo mai i mua o Olopana. (Elua lau kanaka paha.) ”

“ Kamapuaa in his hog form, according to practice, would have had his feet tied together and the pole passed between his legs and carried suspended. ↑
6 Evidently a name song before his birth addressed to Hina, the mother. ↑
7 This eight-eyed monster is further credited with eight feet. The epithet makawalu (eight-eyed) is frequently applied in Hawaiian mythology to gods and chiefs, but is used also to indicate numerous, as on occasions of a person attacked by spearsmen letting their weapons fly thick and fast. Makawalu in the sense used here is all-seeing, wise. ↑
8 Father of Kamapuaa. ”

“ Nohea la na keiki, he lohe aku la paha i ka pihe i’a a maua hele mai la e wahahee i loaa ona ia.” Elima hele ana a ka elele mai a Kamapuaa a ia Hina. Elima hoi ana. Alaila, hiki o Kamapuaa i mua o Hina, ike mai la o Hina, huli ke alo i kahi e. Pane aku o Kamapuaa ia Hina: “O ke kua ka ko’u hoa olelo?” ”

“ Tell them that this is the wish of the king. This will be the only way of saving your master. If he lives we will all live; but if he dies we will all die.”
Ua ike o Lonoaohi ma kona aoao kahuna, i ko na kanaka manao e hana aku ai ia Kamapuaa, oia keia. I ka hiki ana o na kanaka a me Kamapuaa i Pahoa, hele aku la na kanaka e imi i pahoa, i mea kaha i ka opu o ka puaa, i pau ka naau a me ka loko, alaila mama ke amo ia Kamapuaa. Manao o Lonoaohi, o make o Kamapuaa, a o make no hoi lakou. Nolaila, hoouna i na keiki ana, ia Kapuaaolomea, a me Kapuaahiwa, e hele e olelo aku i na kanaka. ”

“ After this Kaneiki and Limaloa returned, when Kamapuaa said to them: “There is one great conflict yet to be had; it will be against a woman, so we must therefore run away and save ourselves.” The woman spoken of by Kamapuaa was Hina, their own [356] mother.82 Kaneiki and Limaloa then started to run off. The reason why Kamapuaa ordered these two to run was because he took pity on his mother, Hina.
A hala o Kahikiula, ku ana o Kahikihonuakele, ka mua loa o Kamapuaa ma. Kena aku la o Kamapuaa ia Limaloa: “Kau kanaka hoi.” I mai o Limaloa: “E make auanei au he kanaka ui kela.” ”

“ Ua paa o Lonoaohi i ka pou a manu. (He pou no i waena o ka hale.) Ua paa hoi ko Olopana manao e kau pu me Kamapuaa i luna o ka heiau.
Being gifted with all the power to tell the future and so on, the high priest Lonoaohi was able to know the intention of the men who had Kamapuaa in charge, which was this: When the men and Kamapuaa arrived at Pahoa [and Olopana had departed for home] , the men sought instruments with which to cut the pig [Kamapuaa] open, and let the insides be taken out so as to make the carrying much easier. Lonoaohi knew that if Kamapuaa was killed he would be killed also. ”

“ And now, cultivating their lands in the valleys back of Keauhou, and living contentedly and without fear of molestation, we will leave the little colony for a time and refer to another important character in the story we are telling—Kamapuaa, the traditional monster of Oahu, whose deeds so aggrandize the [142] folk-lore of that island. In some meles he is depicted as a hog with a human head, and in others as a being with a human form and head of a hog; but in all he is described as a monster of prodigious bulk and malicious and predatory propensities. ”

“ Chickens were a valuable part of a chief's wealth, since from their feathers were formed the beautiful fly brushes, kahili, used to wave over chiefs of rank and carried in ceremonial processions. The entrance to the rock cave is still shown, at the mouth of Kaliuwaa valley, where Kamapuaa's grandmother shut up her chickens at night, and it was for robbing his uncle's henroost that this rascally pig-god was chased away from Oahu. This reference is therefore one of many indications that the Laieikawai tale belongs with those of the ancient demigods. ”

“ A make o Ahuli, ku ana o Kanakea, he koa no, hele mai la a hahau i kana laau i luna o Kamapuaa, e peku ae ana o Kamapuaa i ke kumu o Kahikikolo, lele ka laau i kahi e. Holo o Kanakea e pee malalo o ke aalii. E uhau aku ana o Kamapuaa i ka laau, make loa o Kanakea. ”

“ This man was turned into a stone by the magic of Kamapuaa. The pursuers hastened up the hillside and surrounded the stone, but no man was there. There was a fine black hog, which they recognized as the wonderful one belonging to Kamaunuaniho. So they decided that this was the thief, and seized it and carried it down the hill to give to the high chief Olopana. After getting him down into the valley they tried to drive him, but he would not go. Then they sent into the forest for ohia poles and made a large litter. It required many men to carry this enormous hog, who made himself very heavy. ”

“ Ia wa, oili ae la o Lonoaohi a waho kukulu i ka lepa. O ka poe i komo maloko o ka lepa, pakele i ka make. Mahope o laila, aohe ahailono hookahi i pakele aku ia Kamapuaa, o Makalii. No kona komo ana maloko o na uha o Kamaunuaniho. Pela ka make ana o Olopana ia Kamapuaa, a pela no hoi i lilo ai o Oahu nei ia Kamapuaa. ”

“ The wall of mountain now existing there is the fence. Just before it was finished the prince in charge of the work sat to rest in a gap which admits the present road. He heard a harsh laugh, and looking up saw Kamapua sitting on the top of Hoary Head. A running fight ensued, in which the outlaw escaped across the mountain, and the prince, hurling his spear, but missing his mark, sent the weapon through the crest of the peak, making the remarkable window that is one of the sights of the island. And [230] now, when a cloud rests on this mountain, the people say that Kamapua is sitting there. ”

“ The adventure of the demi-god Kama-puaa has been given in “The Legends of Old Honolulu.” But because it is one of the most widely told of the Pele stories, it is repeated here.
Kama-puaa was born on the island of Oahu, where he was known as a very powerful and destructive monster, also as a peculiarly handsome and even lovable chief. He was a kupua—a being who could appear at will as an animal or man. He usually appeared as a man, but when his brutal desires to destroy overcame him or when he wished to hide from any one he adopted the form of a hog. ”

“ Every day added to the bad feeling between the boy and his father, for when he had grown old enough to appreciate the position to which he had been born, the youngster repaid the hate of his parent, and strove to deserve it. Vain the attempt of the mother to make peace between them and direct her offspring into paths of rectitude. In contempt, the chief put the name of Kamapua, or hog-child, on the boy, and in some of the older myths he actually figures as a half-monster with a body like that of a man, but with the head of a boar. ”