Tuesday, May 8, 2007

I.—Snaring the Sun




Maui was the son of Hina-lau-ae and Hina, and they dwelt at a place called Makalia, above Kahakuloa, on West Maui. Now, his mother Hina made kapas[1]. And as she spread them out to dry, the days were so short that she was put to great trouble and labor in hanging them out and taking them in day after day until they were dry. Maui, seeing this, was filled with pity for her, for the days were so short that, no sooner had she got her kapas all spread out to dry, than the Sun went down, and she had to take them in again. So he determined to make the Sun go slower. He first went to Wailohi, in Hamakua, on East Maui, to observe the motions of the Sun. There he saw that it rose toward Hana. He then went up on Haleakala [2], and saw that the Sun in its course came directly over that mountain. He then went home again, and after a few days went to a place called Paeloko, at Waihee. There he cut down all the cocoanut-trees, and gathered the fibre of the cocoanut husks in great quantity. This he manufactured into strong cord. One Moemoe, seeing this, said tauntingly to him: “Thou wilt never catch the Sun. Thou art an idle nobody.”
Maui answered: “When I conquer my enemy, and my desire is attained, I will be your death.” So he went up Haleakala again, taking his cord with him. And when the Sun arose above where he was stationed, he prepared a noose of the cord and, casting it, snared one of the Sun’s larger beams and broke it off. And thus he snared and broke off, one after another, all the strong rays of the Sun.
Then shouted he exultingly: “Thou art my captive, and now I will kill thee for thy going so swiftly.”
And the Sun said: “Let me live, and thou shalt see me go more slowly hereafter. Behold, hast thou not broken off all my strong legs, and left me only the weak ones?”
So the agreement was made, and Maui permitted the Sun to pursue its course, and from that time on it went more slowly; and that is the reason why the days are longer at one season of the year than at another. It was this that gave the name to that mountain, which should properly be called Alehe-ka-la (sun snarer), and not Haleakala.
When Maui returned from this exploit, he went to find Moemoe, who had reviled him. But that individual was not at home. He went on in his pursuit till he came upon him at a place called Kawaiopilopilo, on the shore to the eastward of the black rock called Kekaa, north of Lahaina. Moemoe dodged him up hill and down, until at last Maui, growing wroth, leaped upon and slew the fugitive. And the dead body was transformed into a long rock, which is there to this day, by the side of the road.




[1]"Kapa"'is a fabric found in ancient Hawai`i made of beaten mulberry bark, or "wauke". It is similar to "tapa" found elsewhere in Polynesia but differs in the methods used in its creation. (The Hawaiian 'k' phoneme corresponds to Polynesian 't'). Kapa was used primarily for clothing like the "malo" worn by men as a loincloth and the "pā`ū" worn by women as a wraparound. Kapa was also used for "kīhei" used over the shoulders. Other uses for kapa depended on caste and a person's place in ancient Hawaiian society. Kapa bed covers were reserved for the ali`i or chiefly caste while kapa robes were used by "kāhuna" or priestly caste.
Cultural anthropologists over the course of the twentieth century identified techniques in the creation of kapa that was unique to the Hawaiian Islands. The paper mulberry tree was cut and soaked in water then laid on a polished stone tablet called a "kua kūkū" and beaten by a "hōhoa", a rounded beater. After the first phase of beating, the kapa was transferred to a sacred house to be beaten a second time but in a religious manner. Each kapa manufacturer used a beater called an "`i`e kūkū", a beater with four flat sides that were each carved differently. The carvings left an impression in the cloth that was hers alone. After the European discovery of the Hawaiian Islands, Western traders travelled to Hawaii especially for kapa.

[2] Haleakalā or East Maui Volcano is a massive shield volcano that forms more than 75% of the Hawaiian Island of Maui.

No comments: