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One of the grandest of all of Hawaiian sagas is the story of Pele’s journey across the islands in search of a home. As the story goes, she originally settled on Kaua`i, but was flooded out there by her sister Namakaokaha`i. She kept moving across the island chain to the east, but was flooded out on each new island where she stopped until she came to Hawai`i itself (the Big Island). Here she still thrives today after having settled into a volcano so large and deep that her sister cannot flood her out. (The modern ending to her story is that she is building a new home for herself, Lo’ihi, off of the southern coast of our island. She’ll have it completed in about 10,000 years. Drat – guess we’ll miss the “housewarming” party!)
Nordenstrom’s book is a wonderful telling of this story for children, but it’s actually equally appealing for adults too. The artwork is fascinating, brilliantly colored and really unique because it’s all collage! The illustrations are a mix of acrylic and watercolor paints which were applied to large sheets of paper. Then the artist / author cut out the pieces and arranged them like a puzzle to form each illustration. The results are very striking. I’d love to buy 2 copies of this book, cut out all of the illustrations, frame them and run them around the walls of a room to tell Pele’s story. Oh, I almost forgot – the writing is excellent too!
Kona
Legends, by Eliza D. Maguire, Petroglyph Press, 1999Joseph Campbell said that some of the functions of myth and legend are 1) realizing what a wonder the universe is, and what a wonder we are, and experiencing awe before those wonders, 2) supporting and validating a certain social order, and 3) how to live a human life under any circumstances. The ten legends in Maguire's book demonstrate these three functions pretty well. Not only that, but they all revolve around local Kona sites, locations and/or natural objects. With a little bit of detective work, you can locate the places that are mentioned in the book.
One of the legends tells about a hidden cave in a dry area that a farmer filled with hand carved canoes made from `ohi`a wood to hold water dripping down from the roof of the cavern. Because of his secret water supply, he was able to grow crops when others in the area couldn't. When the Maguires started their ranch, they put a redwood water tank in just such a cave and piped the water to the ranch house. And… they also found ancient `ohi`a wood in the cave !! Was it the same cave?
"Kona Legends" is a pretty nifty little glimpse into Hawaiian culture
from the 1800's. You might also want to check out it's companion book from the
same publisher - "Hilo Legends."
Hilo
Legends, by Frances Reed, Petroglyph Press, 1998Much has been written about the stories of the goddess Pele, the volcano and the Kona side of the Big Island. Yet the Hilo side has it's own rich set of mythologies. Given the abundant rainfall on our island's east side, more of the mythology naturally revolves around fresh water. One of the best examples is the story of how Hilo got its name.
One time, while camped at the mouth of the Wailuku River, King Kamehameha decided to visit a powerful friend and chief who lived a short way up the river. Leaving his bodyguards behind, he instructed them to make sure that his canoe was not stolen or carried away by the tides. The king did not return. His men, fearing for his safety, wanted to search for him, but had no way to secure the King's canoe. One of them, being from Waipio, quickly taught the others to make rope out of twisted ti leaves to tie down the canoe so they could leave in search of the king. Upon seeing what his people had done, King Kamehameha named the place "Hilo," meaning "twisted."
Other stories cover Rainbow Falls, Coconut Island, the Halai Hills, the Wailuku
River and the Boiling Pots. They are all well-written, with beautiful pen
and ink illustrations by Jan Moon
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