Pele and Hiiaka: A Myth From Hawaii

14Pepe mua, Pepe waena. This a detail in the development of the figure in which flowing lava is compared to a canoe. The pepe is a chock such as is put under the canoe when it is at rest on land. Mua, waena and muimui mean respectively at the bow, amidships and astern. ↑

15Muimui, an elided form of mulimuli, the hindmost. ↑

16Kihele ia ulu. Kihele, to bail out; ulu—the belly of the canoe, its swell amidships, the place where the bilge would settle. The implication is that, if the water is not bailed out, the incrusted salt will form a spot like the staring eye of Niheu. ↑

17Niheu, a mythological hero who is always spoken of as kalohe, mischievous, because of his restlessness and stirring energy. His mother, Hina, had been abducted by a pirate chief who lived on the high bluff of Haupu, on Moloka’i. Niheu and his brother Kana, whose body was a rope of immense length, went to their mother’s rescue, in which they succeeded, after many adventures. The eyes of Niheu were a marked feature in his appearance, being described as large and searching. ↑

18Hina, the goddess with whom Wakea consorted after he had divorced his wife Papa by spitting in her face. Hina became the mother of the island of Moloka’i. From such a distinguished parentage arose the proverbial saying “Moloka’i nui a Hina.” ↑

19Kaunu-ohua, a hill on Moloka’i between Halawa valley and Puko’o, where is said to repose the body of Pele. ↑

20Haupu, a hill on Moloka’i. ↑

21Okaoka, said to be the flame-body of Pele, or the small stones, iliili, that entered into the composition of her body. ↑

22Nana’i, an archaic form of Lana’i. ↑

23Ka-ula-hea, a goddess with whom Wakea consorted after his divorce of Papa. The name also of a historic king of Lana’i, as well as of a kaula—prophet—attached to the disreputable set of gods that infested Lana’i at one time. ↑

24Poli-hua, a sandy cape on Lana’i famous for its sea-turtles. ↑

25Wai-li’u, full form, wai-li’u-la, mirage. ↑

26Hoopa’apa’a Pele ilaila. Pele had planted a spring at this place, near Wai-lua, Kaua’i. Kama-pua’a, in company with two dragon-goddesses, Ka-la-mai-nu’u and Kilioe, who will find mention later in the story, took possession and moved the spring to another spot. When Pele came that way again, after a wordy contention with the two dragons, she slew them. ↑

27Ulu, to guard, to farm, to protect. The kahu was the one who offered the sacrifices and prayers that were necessary to the maintenance of power and life in an artificial divinity, such as many of the Hawaiian deities were. ↑

28Mo’o-kini, literally, the multitude (40,000) of dragons; the name of a heiau in Puna. There is also a heiau in Kohala called by the same name. ↑

29Ko’i, said to be a kupua who had to do with carving and finishing the canoe. Pua seems to be epithet applied to the group of workmen who assisted him. ↑

30Lele-iwi, a cape on the Puna side of Hilo bay. ↑

31Mokau-lele, the name of a little land in Hilo situated near the point where the eruption of 1881–1882 came to a stand-still. ↑

32Lili. This word, accented on the final syllable, means to rush, to move with one fixed purpose in view. It is to be distinguished from lili, having the accent on the penult, and meaning to be angry, jealous, alienated. (My authority is J. M. Poepoe). The word is not given by Andrews in his Dictionary. ↑

33Haili-opua, the name of a deity. It means the piling-up of cloud-portents. ↑

34Wai-a-kahala-loa, the Green lake, in Puna. This was, no doubt, much larger and of more importance in ancient times than it is now. ↑

35Wa’a, the name of a kaula, soothsayer, who observed the omens in the heavens and instructed the fishermen. He had his station on or near the hill Maka-noni, in Puna. ↑

36 In one text this is Pu-ala’a, said to be a place in Puna. I have amended it to make better sense. ↑

37Ko’e-ula, a family of Kupua, superhuman creatures, who had power over men’s lives. They were, in truth, some kind of mud-worms, or glow-worms. They came out from their subterranean retreats to see Pele. ↑

38A’ama, an edible black crab whose shell has a highly decorative pattern. It is said to have been used as a special, or sacred food by certain priests. ↑

39Pe’ai, a contracted form from pe’e, to hide. In this case, the meaning seems to be to hang low in the heavens. ↑

40Ihi, another form for uhi, to cover, or covered. The ahea, or aheahea is a common plant that was cooked and eaten like luau. It was also used as a poultice, after heating. ↑

41Ka-ula-hea. See note 22. ↑

42Ka-o-mea-lani, a god of rain. He indicated his presence by piling up volumes of white clouds. ↑

43Hokahoka, disappointed, fooled, deceived; said of Pele in view of her painful experience with Kama-pua’a. ↑

44Ne’ene’e, to shift about, as Pele had to do because her back was pierced to the bone by the sharp points of a-a on which she lay during her affair with Kama-pua’a. The point of the irony is to be found in the fact that she was as a rule indifferent to the roughness of the bed on which she lay. Yet she was accustomed—so the story goes—to choose pahoehoe as a bed. ↑

45Ai pau, literally, to eat the whole; and for the first time. ↑

46Pahoehoe. The mention of pahoehoe in this and in the following line has reference to a saying, or belief, which asserted that Pele was covered with an armor of pahoehoe. It is as if the poet sought to banter her on this popular notion. ↑

47Pau hale, literally, the destruction of the house, meaning, of course, the deflowering of Pele. ↑

48Kane-ula-a-Pele, literally, the red man of Pele, meaning Ka-moho-alii, a brother of Pele. He is described as having a ruddy complexion and reddish hair. He presided over the council of the Pele gods. ↑

49Ku-ihi-malanai-akea, one of the forms or attributes of god Ku, the Trade-wind. The word Malanai by itself is often used in modern Hawaiian poetry to signify the same thing.

N.B.—The occurrence of the preposition e in verse 147 illustrates the somewhat vague and, at times illogical, use of prepositions in Hawaiian poetry. If I read this passage correctly, Kane-ula-a-Pele and Ku-ihi-malanai-akea are in apposition with hoalii, the subject of the verb noho; and, that being the case, instead of the preposition e we should have the particle o standing before Kane-… as we find it before Ku-.… The explanation of this anomaly, it seems to me, is to be found in the demand of the Hawaiian ear for tone-color, at any cost, even at the expense of grammar. ↑

50He noho ana ai laau, a session of the gods in which they partook in common of some laau, medicine, or spiritual corrective, as a sign of mutual amity, even as the North American Indians smoked the peace-pipe in token of friendly relation between the participants. This laau is said to have been none other than the tender buds of the a’ali’i, which was chewed by the members of the assembly and was deemed to be not merely a symbol but an active agent in the production of amity and a good understanding. ↑

51Papa-walu, literally, eightfold. The wahine are the Hiiaka sisters, seven in number. The inclusion of Kukuena fills the number to eight.

N.B.—It should be noted that during the time of Pele’s disqualification, or retirement, or disgrace, Hiiaka-i-ka-poli-o-Pele would be the one to control the affairs of the Pele family. ↑