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Aloha kakou,
I am sharing a short piece I just wrote for my hula halau's independent learning program. Mahalo for reading it!
Amy
-------
Na ‘Aumakua
An important feature of life for na poe kahiko, the people of old, was found in the men’s eating house (the mua). Inside the mua daily offerings of ‘awa were made to the ‘aumakua, the family’s ancestral gods. Daily offerings were one way to nourish and sustain the relationship of the family to the ‘aumakua.
In Na Pule Kahiko-Ancient Hawaiian Prayers, Jane Gutmanis explains:
“Since the ‘aumakua are intimate members of the human family,
spiritual relationships with them are especially close and
their presence is sought for feast and festivity
as well as in time of crisis. They act as healers and advisors, counteracting troubles and punishing faults.”
‘Aumakua often take the form of animal spirits such as na mo’o (lizards), na mano (sharks), na honu (sea turtles and seals), na ‘io (hawks), na pueo (owls), and so on. Such animals are the kinolau--the “many bodies” of na akua, the gods--and through their ‘aumakua, Hawaiians include na akua in their genealogies. Na akua can also take the forms of plants, clouds, and other features of the natural world. The important goddess, Hina, is also the coral polyp, ‘Ukuko’ako’a, whose birth is sung in the Kumulipo creation chant and genealogy. The sea turtle is a kinolau of Kanaloa, lord of the ocean. The hawk is Ku. The shark is Kua, the “shark chief” of the Ka’u district of Hawai’i.The powerful lizard goddesses, na mo’o, are Haumea and her descendants, such as the influential Kihawahine of Maui, who was born a daughter of the chief, Pi’ilani, and deified after her death.
It’s worth making a special note of the importance of the mo’o in Hawaiian geneologies. In Na Wahine Kapu-Divine Hawaiian Women by Lilikala Kame’eleihiwa, Ph.D, it says:
“...Mo’o women were worshiped by female chiefs at the
female temple known as Hale o Papa, named for Pahahanaumoku,
Papa the woman who gives birth to the islands,
Papa the earth mother,
another descendent in the lineage of Haumea...”
Kame’eleihiwa also says of Haumea:
“...she lives in every Hawaiian woman. I am Haumea too,
and she teaches that all that Haumea has done, I too can do.”
There are families who claim Pele, the volcano goddess, as an ‘aumakua. Mary Kawena Pukui and E.S. Craighill Handy remark, in Polynesian Family Systems of Ka’u, Hawai’i:
“If Pele is not real to you, you cannot comprehend the quality of relationship that exists between persons related to and through Pele,
and of those persons to the land and phenomena,
not ‘created by’ but which are, Pele and her clan.”
In such statements as this, we can see that even today the influences and relationships to ‘aumakua are still profoundly felt among the Native Hawaiians. Many Native Hawaiians still have their own stories of message-bearing ‘aumakua, such as seeing an owl before learning that a grandparent has just fallen gravely ill.
Jane Gutmanis also points out that the consideration given to an ‘aumakua kinolau was also extended to all members of that species:
“Whatever its form, the ‘aumakua is one specific shark, owl, etc.
However, all members of the species are treated
with the respect of family members.”
In practical terms, this means that a family having a certain ‘aumakua would traditionally be unwilling to eat any animals or plants that form part of that ‘aumakua’s group of kinolau. Kumuhea, a son of Ku who became an ‘aumakua of many people in the Ka’u district of Hawai’i island, took the form of a caterpillar. People in that district were very careful to not harm the caterpillars that fed on sweet potatoes. Kumuhea’s other form was the loli (sea cucumber) and none of his descendents would eat it:
“Instances are cited of young folk who have scoffed at the
warning of the elders against this kapu food as ‘deadly poisonous’
to the family and who have sickened and died after eating the loli
in a spirit of reckless defiance.”
Polynesian Family Systems of Ka’u, Hawai’i
In Na Poe Kahiko, by Samuel Kamakau, the ancestral relationship of people and gods was explained as the result of pregnancies obtained through sacrifices and offerings presented to a kahuna (priest) of Ku and Hina, or Ku, Lono or Kane:
“The children begotten through such sacrifices and offerings
called the gods their ‘aumakua. That is how the relationship was maintained through ‘aumakua and descendants
and how the Hawaiian people became
the actual children (keiki ponoi) of the gods.”
The concept of kino lau is important to understanding Hawaiian aumakua and akua. Michael Kioni Dudley has a whole chapter on kino lau in A Hawaiian Nation: Man, Gods and Nature. He says:
“Every spirit can have more than one instantiation:
that is, every spirit, every akua, has the potentiality
to take form in more than one place at one time.
While all spirits--either of the living or of the dead--
can assume at least some other forms,
the higher gods are believed to manifest themselves
in almost unlimited numbers of things at the same time.”
Dudley also says that the spirits of deceased people were known to enter into animals, plants and natural forms, so that the spirit of a chief could live in a star, be the star and thus be worshiped as the star.
Profound relationships with animal spirits and ancestors are not unusual among the cultures of this world. Many shamanic and indigenous cultures hold these relationships as central, including Native American cultures. In an online Encyclopedia Mythica, an excerpt by Gerald Musinsky says:
“Animals in particular, along with weather and other elements of
nature, possessed particular qualities of power and knowledge.”
In many cases, the knowledge imparted by animals and animal ancestor spirits consists of self knowledge for the human being. As geneticists have found that human beings share so much of our DNA with other forms of life, this Hawaiian way of acknowledging ancestral relationships with other creatures seems to encompass scientific as well as spiritual truths. And the ethical behavior which must naturally result from this and other indigenous traditions is certainly healthier and more respectful to the planet and its living beings than the behavior of the unsustainable, polluting consumer culture that is our dominant paradigm.
Pau
I am sharing a short piece I just wrote for my hula halau's independent learning program. Mahalo for reading it!
Amy
-------
Na ‘Aumakua
An important feature of life for na poe kahiko, the people of old, was found in the men’s eating house (the mua). Inside the mua daily offerings of ‘awa were made to the ‘aumakua, the family’s ancestral gods. Daily offerings were one way to nourish and sustain the relationship of the family to the ‘aumakua.
In Na Pule Kahiko-Ancient Hawaiian Prayers, Jane Gutmanis explains:
“Since the ‘aumakua are intimate members of the human family,
spiritual relationships with them are especially close and
their presence is sought for feast and festivity
as well as in time of crisis. They act as healers and advisors, counteracting troubles and punishing faults.”
‘Aumakua often take the form of animal spirits such as na mo’o (lizards), na mano (sharks), na honu (sea turtles and seals), na ‘io (hawks), na pueo (owls), and so on. Such animals are the kinolau--the “many bodies” of na akua, the gods--and through their ‘aumakua, Hawaiians include na akua in their genealogies. Na akua can also take the forms of plants, clouds, and other features of the natural world. The important goddess, Hina, is also the coral polyp, ‘Ukuko’ako’a, whose birth is sung in the Kumulipo creation chant and genealogy. The sea turtle is a kinolau of Kanaloa, lord of the ocean. The hawk is Ku. The shark is Kua, the “shark chief” of the Ka’u district of Hawai’i.The powerful lizard goddesses, na mo’o, are Haumea and her descendants, such as the influential Kihawahine of Maui, who was born a daughter of the chief, Pi’ilani, and deified after her death.
It’s worth making a special note of the importance of the mo’o in Hawaiian geneologies. In Na Wahine Kapu-Divine Hawaiian Women by Lilikala Kame’eleihiwa, Ph.D, it says:
“...Mo’o women were worshiped by female chiefs at the
female temple known as Hale o Papa, named for Pahahanaumoku,
Papa the woman who gives birth to the islands,
Papa the earth mother,
another descendent in the lineage of Haumea...”
Kame’eleihiwa also says of Haumea:
“...she lives in every Hawaiian woman. I am Haumea too,
and she teaches that all that Haumea has done, I too can do.”
There are families who claim Pele, the volcano goddess, as an ‘aumakua. Mary Kawena Pukui and E.S. Craighill Handy remark, in Polynesian Family Systems of Ka’u, Hawai’i:
“If Pele is not real to you, you cannot comprehend the quality of relationship that exists between persons related to and through Pele,
and of those persons to the land and phenomena,
not ‘created by’ but which are, Pele and her clan.”
In such statements as this, we can see that even today the influences and relationships to ‘aumakua are still profoundly felt among the Native Hawaiians. Many Native Hawaiians still have their own stories of message-bearing ‘aumakua, such as seeing an owl before learning that a grandparent has just fallen gravely ill.
Jane Gutmanis also points out that the consideration given to an ‘aumakua kinolau was also extended to all members of that species:
“Whatever its form, the ‘aumakua is one specific shark, owl, etc.
However, all members of the species are treated
with the respect of family members.”
In practical terms, this means that a family having a certain ‘aumakua would traditionally be unwilling to eat any animals or plants that form part of that ‘aumakua’s group of kinolau. Kumuhea, a son of Ku who became an ‘aumakua of many people in the Ka’u district of Hawai’i island, took the form of a caterpillar. People in that district were very careful to not harm the caterpillars that fed on sweet potatoes. Kumuhea’s other form was the loli (sea cucumber) and none of his descendents would eat it:
“Instances are cited of young folk who have scoffed at the
warning of the elders against this kapu food as ‘deadly poisonous’
to the family and who have sickened and died after eating the loli
in a spirit of reckless defiance.”
Polynesian Family Systems of Ka’u, Hawai’i
In Na Poe Kahiko, by Samuel Kamakau, the ancestral relationship of people and gods was explained as the result of pregnancies obtained through sacrifices and offerings presented to a kahuna (priest) of Ku and Hina, or Ku, Lono or Kane:
“The children begotten through such sacrifices and offerings
called the gods their ‘aumakua. That is how the relationship was maintained through ‘aumakua and descendants
and how the Hawaiian people became
the actual children (keiki ponoi) of the gods.”
The concept of kino lau is important to understanding Hawaiian aumakua and akua. Michael Kioni Dudley has a whole chapter on kino lau in A Hawaiian Nation: Man, Gods and Nature. He says:
“Every spirit can have more than one instantiation:
that is, every spirit, every akua, has the potentiality
to take form in more than one place at one time.
While all spirits--either of the living or of the dead--
can assume at least some other forms,
the higher gods are believed to manifest themselves
in almost unlimited numbers of things at the same time.”
Dudley also says that the spirits of deceased people were known to enter into animals, plants and natural forms, so that the spirit of a chief could live in a star, be the star and thus be worshiped as the star.
Profound relationships with animal spirits and ancestors are not unusual among the cultures of this world. Many shamanic and indigenous cultures hold these relationships as central, including Native American cultures. In an online Encyclopedia Mythica, an excerpt by Gerald Musinsky says:
“Animals in particular, along with weather and other elements of
nature, possessed particular qualities of power and knowledge.”
In many cases, the knowledge imparted by animals and animal ancestor spirits consists of self knowledge for the human being. As geneticists have found that human beings share so much of our DNA with other forms of life, this Hawaiian way of acknowledging ancestral relationships with other creatures seems to encompass scientific as well as spiritual truths. And the ethical behavior which must naturally result from this and other indigenous traditions is certainly healthier and more respectful to the planet and its living beings than the behavior of the unsustainable, polluting consumer culture that is our dominant paradigm.
Pau
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