► Kamohoalii Keleana Divided

Honolulu Star Bulletin. June 23, 1953 - Tales About Hawaii, Clarice B. Taylor 

KAM(A)HOALII POSITION 
DIVIDED BY KAMEHAMEHA

HIDDEN ALII, No. 7

     The position of the human god and enforcer of the kapus, Kamoho[l]aii, seems to have been filled by one man at a time until the reign fo Kamehameha I (1782-1819).

     Since the human god was so important, the position was generally held by a younger son or a grandson of the king. Kamohoalii therefore was of the highest alii blood but of a junior line. as a member of the ruling family, he helped bolster the authority of the king.

     When Kamehameha became ruler of Kona on the Big Island, Kamohoalii was a priest whose real name was Kalani-nui-Kaleleau (The great prince Kaleleau). When he took the part of thehuma god in releigious services, he was called Kaho-alii (an elided form of Kamohialii). When he acted as marshall for the kapus, he was called Moopu'u. In geneologies he is either Kaho'alii I (Peer of the King) or Moopu'u I.

KALIKOOLANI

     The wife of his youth was the high born chiefess Kalikookalani, great granddaughter of King Keawe who ruled the Island of Hawaii about 1700. Their child was a son named Kama-alo. He was commonly called Kaho'alii II, as he was his father's successor in that office.

     During the time of Kamehameha the position of human god and marshal of the kapus became too big a job for one man, so the position was divided between two men.

     Kaho'alii II retained his father's position as the priest human god and his cousin was made marshal of the kapus and was called Moopu'u II.The two traveled together.

     Kaho'alii II has a son named Kalawainui and he in turn had a son of the same name. This child, Kalawainui II, was raised by Moopu'u II as his foster son.

     Moopu'u II and Kalai nui II are the chief characters that figure in our story of the hidden alii.

QUEEN'S RELATIONSHIP

     Queen Emma and her mother Kekala considered the family of Kalawainui I to be their closest relatives for the reason that Kalawainui's grandmother Kalikookalani  was also Queen Emma's ancestor.

     When Kalawainui was growing up, his grandmother Kalikoolani (Bud of Heaven) has married Keliimaikai (Kalanimalo-kuloku-i-ke-pookalani), full brother of Kamehameha I. By Keliimaikai (The Good Chief) Kallikookalani had two children. They were a boy, Kekuaokalani and a girl Kaoanaeha.

    Kekuao(a)kalani, like his father grew up to be a priest and eventually died defending the old faith. The girl, Kaoanaeha, was given by Kamehameha to the Englishman John Young at the age of 8. She was the mother of Kekela and grandmother of Queen Emma. Kaoanaeha was aunt to the hidden alii.

Next: Hidden Alii, no. 8
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Source: https://familysearch.org/patron/v2/TH-300-43958-0-84/dist.pdf?ctx=ArtCtxPublic

     

► The Human God of Kamehameha

Honolulu Star Bulletin. June 22, 1953 - Tales About Hawaii, Clarice B. Taylor 

THE HUMAN GOD OF KAMEHAMEHA

HIDDEN ALII, No. 6

     An important position in the preiesthood of old Hawaii on the Big Island was that of Kamohoalii, the priest who took the part of a human god in religious ceremonies.

     He became a human god in the minds of the Hawaians because his duty included the enforcement of kapus (taboos) which regulated worship of the great gods.

     It was much easier for Kamohoalii to decree the death penalty if the peoplethought of him as a god in human form. Death was a punishment for all those who broke the rules and regulations daown by the priesthood as the proper worship of the gods.

NAKED GOD
     To further the idea of his godhood, the Hawaiian priests had Kamohoa(m)alii take part in temple ceremonies naked. He only wore the garments of a priest only when traveling with the king. Nakedness was the symbold of modesty and by going naked, Kamahoalii showed is respect for the god he represented.

     Kamohoalii had many important fundctions to perform. He took part in the opening cermonies which opened the opelu fishing season and those which closed the opelu season and opened the aku fishing season.

     At the end of the month, when the moon disappeared for a night, he hid in a darkened house as the symbol of the dying moon renewing its life by spending the night with the great god Kane, giver of life. He spent the night praying life into the moon.

     During the harvest festival (Makahiki), he traveled with the banner of the god Lono and enforced the kapus for this god and incidentally helped gather the taxes.

PRIVILEDGES OF A GOD
     Wherever he went, Kamohoalii was preceeded by his own heralds whe carried his tabu stick which had the white feathers of the white haupu bird attached to one end.

     Being a god, Kamohoalii was allowed priviledges no other men possesed. He could eat with alii women without breaking his sanctity or harming them.

     But, the greatest of ll his privledges was the law which allowed him to break all kapus without offending.  For instance, when other male members of the alii were shut up for for four to 10 days at a time in a house within the temple to take part in a ceremony, he could that kapu without suffering the penalty of death.

     It was the priviledge that leads to our story of the hidden alii.

Next: Moopu I

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Source: https://familysearch.org/patron/v2/TH-300-43958-0-84/dist.pdf?ctx=ArtCtxPublic

► My Stone Is Hidden: Daddy Bray

The Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Wednesday, January 7, 1959 - Clarice B. Taylor's "Tales about Hawaii"

     "It was a dreadful time of fear for those of us who believed in the old Hawaiian gods when Kaahumanu broke the kapus ordered the temples burned and the gods wth them.

     "My ancestors, the keepers of the stone god Ku-ka-ili-moku, burned the feather god images but they hid the real god which was the stone I possess today."

     David K. Bray Sr., Hawaii's best known practicing kahuna, continued his story of how the stone "had walked" to his house and had been the spiritual force behind his work.

     "It may have been at that time (1820) that the stone came into the possession of Ku-amoo, son of Kamehameha the Great. Ku-amoo was priest of Kohala. His mother belonged to of family of priests.

KE ALII
     "Ku-amoo called the stone 'Ke Alii' (The Alii). It would be bad manners to address it as Ku-ka-ii-moku, just as you did not address Kamehameha by his name, you called him 'Ke Alii.'

     "The people called the stone Ku-ka-pihe the death stone. The name arose from the gathering of mourners at the death of a warrior killed by Kamehameha's men."

     "The transference of the name was Hawaiian etiquette. Hawaiian did not call the stone Ku-ka-ili-moku anymore that they would refer to Kamehameha by name as the one who had caused their loss. That would be bad manners.

     "They could not speak disrespectfully of the great war god, so they spoke f him as Ku-ka-pihe.

PLACE OF HONOR
     "In my youth there were many Hawaiians living who had seen Ku-ka-pihe set up in a place of honor in the Kohala home of Ku-amoo. The god was kept in a clean bowl in a nest of red silk with a yellow lei about it.

     "Ku-amoo believed that his healing powers came from the stone. He offered sacrifices and prayers to it every day. He spread his prayer rug before it, drank awa for the god and sprinkled a little of the awa over it before offering sacrifices.

NEXT: The Female God

► My Stone Is Ancient: Daddy Bray

  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.

     "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

► The Kahuna and the Ostracized One

The Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Thursday,June 18, 1959 - Clarice B. Taylor's "Tales about Hawaii"

      The Hawaiian ostracized from the family by an elder who hurls the words Moku ka piko "the umbilical cord is cut" lived a sad existence in old Hawaii.

     With no aumakua (personal god) to guide him, the offender made serious mistakes in life and had no one to help him.

     His family shunned him. They gave him no food, no clothing and offered no shelter. He could not go with members of the family on fishing expeditions.

     Perhaps he lived a gay and colorful life -  but this did not last long. Eventually his sin overtook him and suffered.

MAY INTERVENE

     Often the offender became mentally sick and physically sick. His family might then intervene for him and call in the Kahuna to help bake the pig and make amends...amends could only be made by asking forgiveness.

     If the offended one was an upright person, he or she would go to the sick offenders house and forgive. If not, the elder might allow the sick one to die.

     True ostracism took place at the death of an offender. None of the relatives went near the corpse...no one contributed to the funeral foods - no one mourned.

     Since his aumakua had deserted him in life, the aumakua deserted him in death. With no aumakua to guide the soul, the soul became a wandering spirit...relentlessly seeking love and food.

     Because the royal families of all the Islands were inter-related, moku ka piko became a formality of war.

     Before embarking upon war, an elder in the family - often the woman - was sent to the enemy and tried to make piece. When her efforts failed, she pronounced the words Moku Ka Piko.

INCIDENT

     One of the last historical incidents took place in early 1819.

     Kamehameha II had broken the eating kapu and hold burned the Images. His cousin Kekuaokalani gathered the defenders of the old faith and prepared to make war.

     Kamehameha's mother the Kapu Keopuolani, was sent to mend the breach. She failed and pronounced the words Mo ka piko la, e na hoa hanau," Severed are the umbilical cords, o cousins."

NEXT: Ho'oponopono 

* Note: Unfortunately the next segment was not included in my Grandmother's collection. "Ho'oponopono" will be added to KE HANA NEI : Works in Progress. No laila, for a time, stories of "KAHUNAISM" has come to an end.