The more I read, the more it seems the legend of Menehune is more of a fabrication to to downplay the reality of ancient Hawaii: politics.
Work, work, work. Things have been busy and fun with the state tournaments. I was absolutely exhausted by Saturday night, not to mention drenched thanks to the Punahou players who missed their coach (Eric Kadooka) and got most of me drenched. On top of the sniffles I had that night, it was perfect timing for a big bowl of seafood ramen at nearby Ezogiku. I may sound like a shill for that place, but that seafood ramen is so awesome. I hold it up to other great local ramen like Tenkaippin's kotteri ramen and Taiyo Ramen's miso ramen (not so spectacular, but priced right and perfect in combination with the best gyoza in Hawaii.)
Anyway, I need a distraction when things get this busy, and ever since seeing Kalalau Valley on Kauai a couple of years ago, I can't seem to get Menehune out of my brain. Sure, the image of little people running around in the cover of nightfall, building spectacular fishponds and bridges and heiau has always been part of our local folklore. But it wasn't long ago when I read that one of the translations of the name "menehune" was "lower-class" commoners. In other words, they may not have been dwarfish at all. Hmm.
The "Lost Tribe" of Kalalau Valley feeds the imagination of visitors and locals alike, but the notion that they were little people isn't so strong on Kauai. In fact, the 1920 census notes that there were 65 residents listed as Menehune. Was this a separate ethnic group altogether? I've always believed that there's no land of peace. China grew to an enormous size through war, despite the notion that they were a civilized (true) kingdom of peace for millennia. Even in peace, they had warlords.
No different in Hawaii. The early settlers from the Marquesas Islands were not exactly best buddies with newcomers from Tahiti. Of course there were battles for the most fertile land, water (as always) and labor. It's the way of the world. Big fish eats the little fish. I think the Marquesans were pushed further up the island chain, all the way into Kalalau Valley. Though the census listed only 65 "Menehune" (known as manahune in the Tahitian language) in 1820, Kauai folks tell me there were about 200 of them during that century living in Kalalau. The place is pristine, green and water is everywhere.
Put 2 and 2 together, and it makes sense. There were no elfish people out there. It was purely political. It was war and the winners conquered. The losers moved on.
Katherine Luomala, a folklorist, contends that the legends of the Menehune are a post-European contact myth and didn't exist before Captain Cook arrived. Politics? The famous Alekoko fishpond, a.k.a. Menehune fishpond (I've been there and it's enormous!), wasn't built by Menehune. It was built overnight by commoners on the order of the chief, just as a similar pond was built on Oahu back in the day.
As a kid, I always thought of Menehune as a magical, mysterious people. But as it is with everything else in the real world, the truth is embedded with war, suffering and the awful whims of those who abuse their power.
Contact with the outside world didn't matter. Hawaii and all its treasures were always destined to be warred over. They're fighting over water rights on Maui and Windward Oahu. I can only imagine how much they fought over water during the pre-contact times.
The Menehune possibly had it good, after all. Nobody went across the thick forest of Kauai to bother them up in Kalalau Valley. I'd like to know, now that it's apparent that all of the Lost Tribe eventually assimilated into society, who they were and what kind of names they had.
They had their own language, even grew their hair long, according to one account. I want to know more.
Showing posts with label Kauai. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kauai. Show all posts
Monday, May 12, 2008
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Were there menehune in Hawaii?
The widely accepted belief that two sets of migrations occurred in Hawaii sometimes leads me to think about the legend of the menehune.
In most translations, menehune are understood to be little people who were the original settlers of the islands. One version I've read states that the menehune weren't physically smaller than the later settlers, but that they were smaller in stature politically. They didn't have the power to stop their adversaries, and thus departed from one island to the next until stopping on Kauai, the last bastion of a liveable environment.
It is true that there are many tales of the menehune on Kauai, including the giant inland fishpond outside Lihue that was built by them. (Menehune were said to have been prolific fishpond builders across the islands, able to build them overnight at the command of alii, or chiefs.) I've been there and I tend to believe that it was a working, thriving fishpond that, indeed, fed the populace of the island at one time. Even the nickname of the high school on the island's west side, Waimea, is Menehune.
An old friend, Manny Henriques, drove me up and down the island when I was there a couple of years ago on a work assignment. We went out to Kekaha, and I got to see many interesting spots along the way, including several of the rural post offices. Then we headed up the mountain to see Waimea Canyon, and beyond that, Kalalau Valley. The valley is on the north side of the island, so the drive was quite a voyage. The place is unspoiled and mostly uninhabited — Manny says some hippies live off the land there. It was the site of Jurrasic Park, a wide, lush valley that Manny said was once home to the "Lost Tribe."
Even as a Hawaii resident, I'd never heard of this. Manny explained that even as recently as 150 years ago, there was a large contingent of people in the valley, perhaps 200 strong. Were they descendants of menehune? No one knows for sure today, but King David Kalakaua actually wrote a book called The Legends and Myths of Hawaii. He supposedly writes that the menehune were real, and that the Lost Tribe consisted of 65 individuals according to a census.
Manny says that the Lost Tribe eventually integrated themselves into society. I just wish someone had documented information about the Lost Tribe. It's a theme that replicates itself in similar ways across the Pacific, even around the world. Some theories make a lot of sense. Other theories are fascinating, but require a lot of imagination. More on those theories later.
Perhaps one of the best sources of information comes from Tales of Molokai: The Voice of Harriet Ne, which can be found online in a review by Big Island resident June Gutmanis.
As with many Hawaiians of an older generation, Ne thought of the Menehune not as mystical, night-working, little people given to disappearing before sunrise, but as a people of small stature who had come to Hawai‘i before the Hawaiians and who were often friends with local families. According to her, once, while visiting on Kaua‘i, she went to a cave where the Menehune were said to live. After waiting for a time, she met a group of Menehunes returning to their home. She described
them as being short and quite fair. Both men and women wore long hair made into pugs with sticks through them.
On another occasion, while visiting a Mrs. Johnson in Puna, Hawai‘i, Ne met two Menehunes who came to visit her friend. As a favor, they caught a special kind of fish for their hostess. Ne relates that when the Menehune were talking together, they spoke in a strange language that she had heard before.
I'll post more info about menehune as I find it.
In most translations, menehune are understood to be little people who were the original settlers of the islands. One version I've read states that the menehune weren't physically smaller than the later settlers, but that they were smaller in stature politically. They didn't have the power to stop their adversaries, and thus departed from one island to the next until stopping on Kauai, the last bastion of a liveable environment.
It is true that there are many tales of the menehune on Kauai, including the giant inland fishpond outside Lihue that was built by them. (Menehune were said to have been prolific fishpond builders across the islands, able to build them overnight at the command of alii, or chiefs.) I've been there and I tend to believe that it was a working, thriving fishpond that, indeed, fed the populace of the island at one time. Even the nickname of the high school on the island's west side, Waimea, is Menehune. An old friend, Manny Henriques, drove me up and down the island when I was there a couple of years ago on a work assignment. We went out to Kekaha, and I got to see many interesting spots along the way, including several of the rural post offices. Then we headed up the mountain to see Waimea Canyon, and beyond that, Kalalau Valley. The valley is on the north side of the island, so the drive was quite a voyage. The place is unspoiled and mostly uninhabited — Manny says some hippies live off the land there. It was the site of Jurrasic Park, a wide, lush valley that Manny said was once home to the "Lost Tribe."
Even as a Hawaii resident, I'd never heard of this. Manny explained that even as recently as 150 years ago, there was a large contingent of people in the valley, perhaps 200 strong. Were they descendants of menehune? No one knows for sure today, but King David Kalakaua actually wrote a book called The Legends and Myths of Hawaii. He supposedly writes that the menehune were real, and that the Lost Tribe consisted of 65 individuals according to a census.
Manny says that the Lost Tribe eventually integrated themselves into society. I just wish someone had documented information about the Lost Tribe. It's a theme that replicates itself in similar ways across the Pacific, even around the world. Some theories make a lot of sense. Other theories are fascinating, but require a lot of imagination. More on those theories later.
Perhaps one of the best sources of information comes from Tales of Molokai: The Voice of Harriet Ne, which can be found online in a review by Big Island resident June Gutmanis.
As with many Hawaiians of an older generation, Ne thought of the Menehune not as mystical, night-working, little people given to disappearing before sunrise, but as a people of small stature who had come to Hawai‘i before the Hawaiians and who were often friends with local families. According to her, once, while visiting on Kaua‘i, she went to a cave where the Menehune were said to live. After waiting for a time, she met a group of Menehunes returning to their home. She described
them as being short and quite fair. Both men and women wore long hair made into pugs with sticks through them.
On another occasion, while visiting a Mrs. Johnson in Puna, Hawai‘i, Ne met two Menehunes who came to visit her friend. As a favor, they caught a special kind of fish for their hostess. Ne relates that when the Menehune were talking together, they spoke in a strange language that she had heard before.
I'll post more info about menehune as I find it.
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