THE MENEHUNES OF HAWAII       

 A Folk Tale Retold

By

Lucille Bellucci

            Their names enchant the tongue: Hawaii, Maui, Kahoolawe, Lanai, Molokai, Oahu, Kauai, Niihau. They are islands curving from east to west on the volcanic slopes of the Pacific Ocean.

            Papa and Wakea, the first Hawaiians, gave birth to a race of beautiful men and women with smooth brown skins and large, lustrous eyes. These children of Papa and Wakea gloried in the sun and frolicked in the surf like their friends, the dolphins. They harvested ripe fruits from the trees, and with their canoes and nets gathered much food from the friendly ocean. At night, endless thickets of blue-white stars shimmered above their heads, and cool breezes carried flower scents to sweeten their dreams. These children had children of their own, and their children had descendants, until they lived in all the Hawaiian Islands.

            But Papa  and Wakea were not first in the islands. The Menehunes were there before them. The Menehunes were a small, wonderful people who possessed supernatural powers. They were builders and loved to work, and this they did only at night, chanting as they worked. They believed that if the task was not finished by dawn it would never be finished. The Hawaiian children of Papa and Wakea could hear the noise and hum of the Menehunes during the night, but could not see the little people. That gift belonged only to the descendants of the Menehunes, who sometimes married the Hawaiians.

            As the Hawaiians began inhabiting larger and larger portions of the islands, the little people retreated farther and farther into the mountains, but their children began to leave the mountains to live among the Hawaiians. When a hundred years had passed, no one could say which was which.

            Now Kakae, who lived on the island of Maui, desired a fishpond to keep fish that he took from the sea. He decided to ask his Menehune ancestors to build it for him. Early one morning, Kakae cooked a fish on a hot stone, wrapped it in a banana leaf, and set out for the distant mountain. The sun was hot, and the path steep and perilous. When at last he reached the top, Kakae sat down to rest. Then he ate his fish. After burying the bones, for islanders are neat people, Kakae stood up and in a strong voice cried:

            “My Ancestors, I command you to perform a task for me!”

            He was startled to hear a voice that seemed to come from the air.  “How noisy you are,” it chided.  “I can hear you quite well.”

            Kakae saw a small brown man step from behind a fern tree. The Menehune was very old, but his eyes were bright and wide as a child’s and clear as the streams Kakae drank from in the forests.

            The Menehune asked, “What is this task you command me to do?”  He said the word “command” in a certain way that told Kakae he did not like that word.

            Kakae changed his tone. “It is but a request,” he said meekly, his manners much improved. “Will you build me a heiau?”

            “A heiau!” The Menehune looked delighted. “Praise the Supreme One! How long is it since I have built one! We will be there tonight.” He stepped back and was gone.

            Kakae went home and waited. The sun set amid great streaks of orange and pink clouds. The moon rose in the darkening sky. Then, as if the moon uncovered his eyes, Kakae saw scores of Menehunes in a long, long line passing rocks from hand to hand. Many more Menehunes were digging in the ground. As they worked, they sang songs. Kakae realized that many of the songs he knew had come from the old music of his ancestors.

            When half the night was gone the singing became a swift change:

            He po hookah, a ao ua pau

            He po hookah, a ao ua pau.

            Work at night, finished before dawn

            Work at night finish before dawn

            Quietly, Kakae went to fetch his shrimp net and crept away.

            When he returned, the heiau was complete. He had a big, perfect fishpond, already filled with water from the ocean.

            “Pau, pau, pau!” sang the menehunes in celebration.  Once more, they had been quicker than the sun.

            Kakae lifted his net to show them it was full of shrimp.

            “My mothers and fathers, I have brought sweet opae  for you to eat. Let us feast before you return home.”

            He serve the opae he had caught, and all ate until they were satisfied. The Menehunes then returned to their mountain, and Kakae took his canoe out upon the waking ocean to gather fish to keep in his new fishpond.

            To this day, Hawaiians point to crumbling stone walls and ancient fishponds and say: “The Menehunes made these.”

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Source references:

            Stories of the Menehunes – T. G. Thrum, A. C. McClurg & Co., 1910

            Hawaiian Historical Legens – W. D. Westervelt, Fleming H. Revell Co., 1923