Given in the Fornander Collection, Vol. IV, Part III, of the Memoirs of
the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, with the title Kaao No Pikoiakaalala,
Legend of Pikoiakaalala (Pi-ko-i, the son of the Alala).
His father was Raven or Crow, his sisters were Rat and Bat. The arrows
that Pi-ko-i shot were not from the sort of bow that we are familiar
with; the Hawaiian bow, it must be noted, was not a complete bow. The
string hung untied from the top of the shaft; the shooter put the notch
of the arrow into the hanging string, whipped forward the shaft, and at
the same time cast the arrow, which was light, generally an arrow of
sugar-cane. The arrow was never used in war; it was used in sport—to
shoot over a distance, and at birds and at rats that were held in some
enclosure. The bird that cried out was evidently the elepaio. “Among
the gods of the canoe-makers,” says Mr. Joseph Emerson, “she held the
position of inspector of all koa trees designed for that use.” The
Hawaiian interest in riddles enters into Pi-ko-i’s story.
PAKA: THE BOY WHO WAS REARED IN THE LAND THAT THE GODS HAVE SINCE
HIDDEN
Given in the Fornander Collection, Vol. V, Part II, of the Memoirs of
the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, with the title Kaao no Kepakailiula,
the Legend of Kepakailiula.
Pali-uli, where Paka’s uncles reared him, is the Hawaiian paradise. In
a chant that Fornander quotes it is described:
O Pali-uli, hidden Land of Kane,
Land in Kalana i Hauola,
In Kahiki-ku, in Kapakapaua of Kane,
The Land whose foundation shines with fatness,
Land greatly enjoyed by the god.
“This land or Paradise,” says Fornander, “was the central part of the
world ... and situated in Kahiki-ku, which was a large and extensive
continent.” Paka emerges from this Fairy-land into a world that is
quite diurnal when he sets about winning Mako-lea. The boxing,
spear-throwing, and riddling contests that he engages in reflect the
life of the Hawaiian courts.