HAWAIIAN MYTHOLOGY.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 16905, 2 December 1922, Page 19

HAWAIIAN MYTHOLOGY.

DEATH OF CAPTAIN COOK. ORIGIN OF A MYSTERIOUS PEOPLE. The Government of the Territory of Hawaii has brought a noted California University professor to the islands to compile data preparatory to the writing of a new historv of* Hawaii primar.lv for use in Mir local public schools, hut it has remained for the Bishop Museum at Honolulu to undertake the solution of one of the two outstanding problems of the age—the origin and migrations of the Polynesian race, including the Hawaiian^ — about which history has little or nothing to say. Since this work lias been commenced, savs the “Christian Science Monitor." the Bishop Museum, which is said o

contain the finest and most complete Polynesian collection in existence today. has become a meeting-place for investigators who. after their explorations into the South Reas, are making their headquarters at this institution to sort out and exhibit their specimens and prepare their reports. Very little is known of the ancient ITawaiians except through fragments of history that have been handed down orallv. and pieced together to form legends and the “ meles ” that are now rarely chanted. An offshoot of the mighty Polynesian race that has spread its peoples of many clans and tribes broadcast throughout the countless islands that, dot the Ronth Pacific, from Hawaii ho Envster Island, and From Tahiti westward to New Zealand, Tonga, and the Carolines, the Hawaiian branch stands to-day as the most intelligent, the most enlightened, and the most progressive of them all. DTD THEY COME FROM ARTA? Where <lid they conic from ? The question is unanswered. There are, however, a number of highly interesting theories One is that the Polynesians originally lived along the Asiatic coast, and were forced into Pacific island homes by the pressure of th>* tribes behind them. The\ made long journeys in the great double canoes about which historv has much to say, and the more adventurous ones finally reached the islands that now constitute the Hawaiian group. Then there is tlie theory of the existence of a great Pacific continent of which Hawaii formed the most northerly portion. Advocates of this theory assert that what are now Pacific islands were at one time the inoim tain peaks of this great continent. Professor William A. Bryan not long ago visited Easter Island,* off the coast of Chile, where, he declared, lie found evidence of :■ Pacific continent. His findings would appear to add weight to the theory that the Polynesian race originated in South America, and that it was from that point that tlie migrations into the Pacific began. Professor Bryan’s evidence was in the form of certain plant life which he found on Easter Island, and which lie knew existed, also on islands thousands .- f miles to the west ami south-west.

All agree that there was a high type of civilisation in Hawaii many years before the first historical date, which s loud, when Juan Gaetano, a Spaniard, discovered the islands. They point to the great distance of Hawaii from the more southerly islands and from the Asiatic coast and the coast of South America. If the Polynesian branch that later became the Hawaiian race jour neyed to these islands in double canoes it must have reached that degree of civilisation which brought with it some knowledge of navigation, for without this knowledge such voyages never would have been undertaken. Recent explorations in the Mar quesas undoubtedly add weight to the theory concerning >he early civilisation among the Hawaiians. In that southern group there have been found wonderful specimens of stone carving—now apparently a lost art —and the still more surprising revelation that these specimens were the work of the ancestors of the present inhabitants. In the opinion of the discoverer, Ralph Linton, now of the staff of the British Mpseum. there is ample evidence to show that tlii- art v was constantly ini proved upon as generations came and 1

went, and that, when it was finally abandoned, it had reached ft surprising degree of skill. THE ARRIVAL OF COOK. One of the most picturesque of all events in Hawaiian history is that, attendant upon the arrival at Kealukekua, an island of of Hawaii, in 1778, of Captain Cook, the English navigator, who is heralded as the discoverer of the Hawaiian Islands. Prior to Captain Cook’s arrival, the story runs, tho Hawaiian god, Lono. left his people and ascended to Heaven, but leaving behind tho promise that some day he would return to earth, and that his downward path would lie along a rainbow. When a Hawaiian priest emerged from his temple one morning, he saw in the liarhour two queer looking ships; and. strangely enough, above them against the clouds was a great rainbow. Tho priest instantly fell upon his knees, proclaiming tho return of Lono.

.And so, when Captain Cook went ashore lie was escorted with great dignity to tlie temple of Lono, where no was worshipped as the original god. ; But the natives quickly found that Captain Cook was not a deity, but a I human being like themselves, and their j worshipping ceased. A year later, in 1770. the natives engaged in a battle with members of the crews of the ships, in which Captain Cook lost bis life. Kealakekua. where Captain Cook landed. means “ The Pathway of the God." and it is here that a monument, still I standing, was erected to his memory. KAMF.HAM EH A TH E CONQUE ROR Hawaii’s latter-day historv renllv be gan when Kamehameha 1..' known as Kamehameha the Great and Kamehamelia the Conqueror, united all of tb«* windward islands of the group—-Oahu, Molokai, Main, Lanai. Kahoolawe and Hawaii—under one rule., with himseU as the supreme sovereign. This wa in 1706. throe years after the arrival of Captain Vancouver, another English navigator, at Kealakekua. Many an 1 fierce were the battles which Kainehn • meha and his great army of warrior? each than not less than six feet n height and well trained, waged against tho island chiefs and their followers Thousands of double canons, built especially for the occasion, were use 1 to convey the conquering subjects of the great king from island to island. Tii 1810 the island of Kauai was ceded to Kamehameha. thus firmly uniting the entire group under one sovereign This was a. union that was never aftei ward broken. Explorers and navigators who in later years came to Ha wan learned to respect and admire Kaineha meha. and were amazed at the higM type of civilisation that was flourishing i under lus wise rule. Tie passed awa ; \r 1819. his son. Kamehameha IF being proclaimed king. It was during 1819 that the Hawaifans, upon their own volition, destroyed their temples and their idols. The* j broke the time-honoured “ tabu ” svs i tem which, for the men. forbade tho j women to eat certain kinds of food, and which regulated fishing and other i industries. It was while they were in this state that the first missionaries | arrived from New Zealand. Thes ? men and women sailed around Cape Horn in tho brig Tliaddeus. Thov found in Hawaii a simple, friendly people who responded eagerly to'thenteachings. First of. all. they had to master the Hawaiian language, and then reduce that..language to a written form. Following Kamehameha the Great were eight rulers, four of whom were of the family of Kamehameha. Queen Lydia Liliuokalani, the last of tho rulers, reigned from 1891 to 1893. when she was deposed. Thus the Hawaiian monarchy was 111 rears old. Following the overthrow of the Queen, the provisional Government was set up. and this was followed bv the Republic of Hawaii. On August 12. 1893, the Island** were annexed to the Unite j States, and in 1900 the'- became a* territory of tho United States and a territorial form of government was instituted. f’radnallv hut steadily during all of these years. Hawaii emerged from islands of isolation to islands of rommcreial and strategic pre-eminence, until to-dav their importance as a a integral part of. the United Rtates is known nnd recognised internationally