The Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Tuesday, January 6, 1959 - Clarice B. Taylor's "Tales about Hawaii"
"The story of my stone is not told in any book. I have not read of it anywhere. I know it as handed down in my family.
"The story of my stone is not told in any book. I have not read of it anywhere. I know it as handed down in my family.
"I got it from my Uncle Kaniho who owned the stone before me. Because the stone is different from any in Hawaii, Uncle Kaniho believed it had originally come from Egypt."
That was the beginning of the account by Daddy K. Bray Sr. of how he had become the Hawaii's best known practicing kahuna.
"I come from a long line of praying kahunas who were priests serving the ings of the Island of Hawaii. We are descendants of the Hight Priest Paao who came from Tahiti about the thirteenth century.
HISTORY TOLD
The history books tell Paao built the first great heiau at Puna on the Big Island and then moved to the royal court at Waipio and built the Mookini temple at Puuepo.
"You remember Paao mad a trip back to Tahiti to bring a new king to rule the Island. On that trip his canoe was surrounded with schools of opelu and aku.
"That is what the history books say - but in my family the story is that the fish were moi not opelu.
"Uncle Kaniho said that Paao brought two stone gods with him. The male god was the stone which I now possess. This stone possessed the spiritual forces of the great god Ku and was named Ku-ka-ili-moku (the Ku who runs over the land).
"The stone-god Ku was so sacred that Paao kept it in the temple at all times. He had feather images made which the chiefs could carry into battle and which could be shown in public.
"The priests prayed the spiritual force of the stone-god into the feather images so the images truly represented the real god.
SUPREME CHIEFS
"The chiefs who whorshi[p]ped Ku-ka-ili-moku and carried him into battle became the supreme chiefs of Hawaii and Ku-ka-ili-moku became the national war god.
"We Hawaiians believe that Kamehameha was successful because he was the keeper of the war-god and was faithful in his worship of the god.
"My ancestor Holoae was the High Priest under Kamehameha and the one who carried out the worship of Ku. It was through him that the god eventually came to my family
Daddy Bray was for several years guide and commentator at the Throne Room, Iolani Palace. He is now retired from government service.
NEXT: The god is hidden
"You remember Paao mad a trip back to Tahiti to bring a new king to rule the Island. On that trip his canoe was surrounded with schools of opelu and aku.
"That is what the history books say - but in my family the story is that the fish were moi not opelu.
"Uncle Kaniho said that Paao brought two stone gods with him. The male god was the stone which I now possess. This stone possessed the spiritual forces of the great god Ku and was named Ku-ka-ili-moku (the Ku who runs over the land).
"The stone-god Ku was so sacred that Paao kept it in the temple at all times. He had feather images made which the chiefs could carry into battle and which could be shown in public.
"The priests prayed the spiritual force of the stone-god into the feather images so the images truly represented the real god.
SUPREME CHIEFS
"The chiefs who whorshi[
"We Hawaiians believe that Kamehameha was successful because he was the keeper of the war-god and was faithful in his worship of the god.
"My ancestor Holoae was the High Priest under Kamehameha and the one who carried out the worship of Ku. It was through him that the god eventually came to my family
Daddy Bray was for several years guide and commentator at the Throne Room, Iolani Palace. He is now retired from government service.
NEXT: The god is hidden
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