The Long Journeys Home. Nick Bellantoni

How their flotillas ranged the great expanses of the Pacific Ocean, at least 2,000 miles from the Cook Islands and Tahiti where they had presumably journeyed from, when they had no knowledge of the lands before them, is a wonder of human history. By the time they approached Hawai‘i, they had already inhabited almost 290 far-reaching islands, spatially the widest spread cultural population in the world.¹³

      Whether these valiant voyagers came through single or multiple migrations also remains unknown. Undoubtedly in their voyage(s) they were confronted with massive storms, exposure to wind, rain, along with the harsh effects of salt water and sun. They had to take into account the doldrums, an equatorial regional phenomenon where the trade winds converge and flow upward instead of horizontal, leaving them becalmed in a windless sea, straining their self-propelled rowing energy as well as food and water supplies. Even so they persisted. Faith in their ancestors and gods, along with their vast knowledge of oceanic and island worlds, they travelled great distances without the use of navigational instruments. Rather, they closely observed the sun, nightly stars, patterns of waves, cloud formations, and the behavior of dolphins and birds to direct them to new islands. They had to be fearless and faithful and courageous.

      Survival of these intrepid Polynesians depended on all family members, ‘ohana, working closely together, developing strong bonds and dedication to each other. Most likely driven to inhabit new islands by population pressures, limitations to environmental resources, and cultural tension, Polynesians, astride their “village” canoes, eventually attained the northern apex of the Pacific Triangle.¹⁴

      Upon Polynesian arrival, Hawai‘i contained no carnivorous mammals or snakes; rather, they found flightless birds with no natural predators to defend against. Fish, coral, and underwater plants abounded off shore; onshore, flowers bloomed. But other than the fish in the water and birds in the sky, there was little for humans to digest. The plants and animals they brought with them would have to bear fruit and offspring to secure their long-term survival. Serene as this Eden-like world might appear, it had immense dangers: volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, hurricanes, and earthquakes—all of which could strike unexpectedly and suddenly.

      To deal with these calamitous events, the southern Polynesians brought to the northern islands concepts of their many deities, who needed to be appeased through rituals and behavioral taboos maintained by the chiefly ali‘i class, who were supported by a social system based on genealogical rank, to ensure balance and harmony in their unpredictable world. Travelling with them were Kāne, the Creator; Pele, the goddess of fire and volcanoes; Nāmakaokaha‘i, the goddess of the sea; Lono, the benevolent god of fertility; and Kūkā‘ilimoku (Kū), the fierce god of war. The island’s formation was one of fire and water (Pele and Nāmakaokaha‘i), providing cogent dichotomies of form: liquid and solid, seaweed and plants, fish and birds that enhanced their worldview.¹⁵ These gods (akua) were spiritual, powerful, and dangerous—considered physical ancestors who partook in the ocean voyages and brought social stability to the newly-founded islands. The akua provided life, but could just as easily cause death. They were both feared and loved by the Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawaiians), hence worthy of worship.¹⁶

      Deities, as all things animate and inanimate, contained mana, a powerful and vital life force. Mana could be obtained by humans through genealogical descent, through the killing and sacrifice of an enemy, as well as peacefully through personal relationships and altruistic accomplishments.¹⁷ So sacred and powerful was mana that laws and restrictions, kapu, had to be instilled to maintain order, or evil and disaster could attach itself to the people. To maintain balance and harmony, the sacred kapu system provided a set of behavioral do’s and don’ts. Akin to the Tahitian tabu, kapu encompassed many prohibitions, such as fishing out of season, walking on a chief’s shadow, and the exclusion of men and women from eating together. If broken, violators could be put to death to protect the whole world; exoneration could only come from a kahuna or the reaching of a pu‘uhonua, a place of refuge.¹⁸

      Polynesian chiefdoms represented a level of political complexity based on concepts of hereditary inequality¹⁹ with the chief representing a formal office within a ranked society including commoners and a servant class. As their populations grew, competition for limited productive farmland and other natural resources lead chiefly families to obtain, usually by force, suitable agricultural territories to which they would hold title. The common people (maka‘āinana) would receive rights to farm the chief’s land, sanctioning the chief’s authority over natural resources, wealth, and regulation of labor. The ali‘i nui (high chiefs) maintained social control by making judgments, resolving disputes, and punishing wrong doers as well as enforcing and creating kapu. While the chief’s word was law with the power of life and death over commoners and servants, these social relationships benefited all the Kanaka Maoli by maintaining harmony and equilibrium within their world.

      Since ancient Hawaiian society was an oral rather than a written culture, values and history were learned through trained storytelling, which was considered sacred. Developed hundreds of years before contact with the Western world, the Kumulipo consists of chants and songs that tell a creation story of the universe and the Hawaiian people from the time of darkness to that of daylight. The Kumulipo provide a vast cosmological genealogy that stresses the relatedness of the entire world: the land, the gods, the ali‘i, and the maka‘āinana, who are all closely and affectionately connected as ancestral kin, all descendants of Wākea and Papahānaumoku.²⁰ Only through a full understanding of their great genealogy are the ali‘i able to assert their chiefly rank. The natural and supernatural worlds are one and the same with no distinctions. Hawaiians share a lineage with all of creation.

      How to respond to this complex worldview was the role of the kahuna. These priests gave order and guidance; consoled and healed; advised when to plant and harvest; instructed when to fish; ordered to war or to remain at peace; conducted sacrifices and rituals; and proffered penance and forgiveness to breakers of the kapu. To appease the gods and maintain stability of the ali‘i, kahunas carved the spiritual wooden ki‘i (images) and oversaw the building of elaborate heiaus (temples) where offerings were issued to the divine, sometimes through human sacrifice.²¹ From the practical to the spiritual, the powerful kahuna, holding their ceremonies on stone pyramids in private wooden enclosures, were the vital life force of the Hawaiian people.²² The teenage ‘Ōpūkaha‘ia would be trained by his priestly uncle, tutored at the Hikiau Heiau at Kealakekua Bay, Kona, to become such a kahuna, translating the Kumulipo and other sacred legends for the Kanaka Maoli.

      It was there, in 1778, a decade before the birth of ‘Ōpūkaha‘ia, that Hawaiians had greeted the British sea captain James Cook. Although other foreign populations may have made earlier contact with Hawai‘i, it was Cook’s encounter that brought the awareness of the islands to Western societies. The Hawaiian Islands would never again be isolated from the rest of the world; the period of being totally Native, Oiwi Wale, had ended forever.²³

      After the arrival and subsequent death of James Cook at the hands of the Hawaiians, the appearance of British and American sailing vessels was less frequent due to the Western world’s concern regarding the perceived ferocity of these Native people. However, as time passed and with the recognition of the islands’ strategic midway location in the vast Pacific Ocean, the sight of European and American sailing ships, whaling and merchant, became commonplace. One ruling chief who welcomed these foreigners was the tall, physically thickset, young adult ali‘i, Kamehameha.

      Kamehameha had greeted James Cook on his initial arrival to Hawai‘i and even boarded the HMS Resolution to trade and have dinner with the British sea captain. Recognized as exceptional among the chiefs, Kamehameha appreciated the usefulness of steel weapons obtained from Western traders in military warfare, especially against his enemy’s stone and wooden armaments. Employing these newly available technologies, Kamehameha launched a campaign for domination of the Big Island and, once achieved, the unification of the entire Hawaiian archipelago under his absolute rule.

      According to ancient legends, a great chief would be born