Tales from the Night Rainbow (Page 5)

By Pali Jae Lee and Koko Willis

Ka Kahuna Kahua Haua: The Kahuna System

The word kahuna was not often used by us. To place it in front of a title denoted that a certain person was the highest expert in his field whether in the Ohana or on a specific island. The student who studied under such a one was not given this title even if he had studied for many years. It was not until an elderly kahuna was about to pass from life that he would designate who was to follow him. If a pupil was highly favored with wisdom and quickness of mind the kahuna would call him to his side, breathe into his mouth and pass on some bit of knowledge that had not been taught in the school. When the elder breathed his last, the new appointed one would pick up his duties. He who excelled all others became the keeper of the secret.

The term kahuna was not as revered by us, as it was later. It was any person with great knowledge in one or more fields. There were over 40 kinds of craft kahuna alone. There were 14 kahuna of the healing arts. There were also counselors to the chiefs - those who were the politicians. Since all the elders in the family were expert in many things, we were more inclined to think of them as grandparents, aunties or uncles.

The men who made canoes were considered by most people to be the ones with the highest mana (power) - that is to say, the greatest skill. Canoe making was learned only by a few to the point where they were considered kahuna. Craft people in mat weaving, coconut weaving, fishnet making, spear-making, kapa dyeing, kapa beating - were all considered kahuna when they became expert and could do things in their craft beyond the normal expertise of men.

The things we made were the fundamentals of life. We all learned to do many of these things. In those days we had no stores. What we needed, we made.

The word kahuna began to be misused in the mid-1800s by foreigners who did not understand Hawaiian terminology. By 1900 the word brought fear to many. There are always people who wish to trade on the ignorance of others, and these people found a good market among the foreigners. There were Hawaiian people who sold herbs as love potions and who used other herbs and prayers to end problems, or to bring pain or sorrow to an enemy.

In the islands at that time, there were many foreigners. On O'ahu and Maui they rushed to get potions with one hand, while they held their Bible in the other. It made the elders of our family shake their heads for those of our family who participated in such dealings. They made money, for they were well paid for their herbal potions. What power they had was lost - for they had lost the light from their bowls for the sake of fun and profit.

There were other kahuna. These were the priests that lived at the heiau (temple), the ones with the great power to tell the future, raise the dead, touch you and heal you. These people were called seers or kaula. They lived alone, or with students, and were only seen when someone searched them out. Today they would be called priests. They took no money for what they did. Still today, the test of a person being full of light is - do they charge a fee? If they do, beware. Those who carry the light help all people who ask for assistance. They, in turn, will be assisted by another when it is needed. Although it was customary to take food to be offered to the gods when going to the heiau (temple), it was not necessary to take a gift to the priest. They had farms and fished, just as we did. The students took care of the chores, and learned humility. Part of their training was to know all parts of life.

There were other kinds of kahuna who came with the ali'i. These were the men who plotted wars, had men killed as sacrifices at their heiau (temple), and caused great destruction among our people. The first of these was Pa'ao who came around 1250 AD. These men were not of our people, and we had to keep them from the shores of Moloka'i. There were times, when in order to protect our island from the forces of darkness, our people banded together and used all of our knowledge to keep those who would destroy us from our shores. It was at this time that Moloka'i began to be feared, for it was seen by many as a place of great power, and that it was.

In our 'Ohana all who kept the rules of the family had great power. When rain was needed - rain came. When there was enough it stopped. That was child's play and only needed good concentration.

Children in training in weather reading or star reading spent hours in contests of will, each concentrating against the other to make a cloud larger or smaller, to make it rain or clear up. Conditions would sometimes alter all day long as the children seesawed back and forth in their contests of will.

There were other contests of concentration: moving objects - sending them away. or finding them and bringing them forth. Stories of such things are now considered untrue. When I was growing up, it was everyday practice.

Life was a school. Life is still a school. People continue to learn as long as they live. The Hawaiian way was to believe that we had been born to learn, and we would continue to learn as long as we walked the earth. We had never heard of marching off to a building with a rice ball and a piece of fish for a foreigner to teach us about life. Our teachers were members of our own family. Who could better know our needs? The elders of our family were wise. By watching the children and seeing what they did well and what interested them, they helped us to place them with an uncle or auntie who could teach them all that there was to he known about a particular area of knowledge. Many children were placed at birth, or by the time they were one or two years of age, because they had already shown the path upon which their heart would lead them.

These children, because of signs at their birth, were given to someone to raise and teach in a certain craft or art. This placement was no more wrong than the placement of children when they were older. The kupuna (elders) knew what they were doing. Children placed at birth were usually the ones who were to be schooled as readers of signs and omens, navigators, or practitioners of the healing arts. Children chosen latest in life were the ones taught the history chants of the family. These children were usually being taught something else, and when their ability was seen, family chants were added. The history of the family was of great importance. The child had to show a good memory, love of detail and be able to sit for long periods of time in deep concentration.

In our family, after a near disaster when the young man who was learning to become the genealogy chanter died, the elders chose two replacements - one boy and one girl - to be trained. Thereafter, this was the custom. This happened long before I was born, but, because of it, my family knew the stories of its past, and I have the stories to pass on to my children.

Children who would study the genealogy chants were made known at a 'aha'aina ho'olilo. The elders observed children under consideration for some time. When a sign was made known to one of the elders it was shared with the others. The sign was discussed and, if all felt it was right, it was time for the 'aha'aina ho'olilo. At this time the family gathered together. The chosen child or children were presented and taken to the heiau where a ritual of consecration was performed. During this ritual the one who was the teacher would breathe into the child's mouth, and onto the top of the head and say, "May this mana, the gift of the ku'auhau'aumakua pass through me, and guide you. Thus the child's years of training began.

Up until 1840 all children of Moloka'i started their years of training with a ritual of consecration at the heiau. More and more, thereafter, this ceremony was carried on between the teacher and the child at the place where the teacher lived. This was due to the growing feeling among the people that to go to the heiau was to bring shame to themselves if discovered. By the turn of the century going to the heiau - by any except the very old - diminished. The young wanted to do things the ha'ole way. Many parents felt shamed by their children, so they discontinued old ways. It was not so much the missionaries that changed things on Moloka'i as the younger generations.

Many of the people from Moloka'i moved or took trips to other islands, to Lahaina and Honolulu. They felt Moloka'i ways were backward. They laughed at their family's beliefs and way of life. Many of them refused to take part in family ceremonies, especially ones held at the heiau. The leaders had lost their place of wisdom in their eyes. The young looked up to no one. For this reason I tried to keep my family from going to the city. I felt evil came in the cities, and had seen no good come from them.

My people - those who were living here long before the arrival of the ali'i- had several kinds of heiau. We had fishing heiau - for good fishing and for the care of those of us who fished the ocean. We had agriculture heiau for good crops and the care of those who farmed the land. Each school had its own heiau where the students asked their 'aumakua for special care and assistance with their lessons. There were also heiau for Ku or Hina - our parent earth, sky and sea. Before the ali'i arrived we had no wooden statues in or near our heiau. Later, under their influence, most of the heiau on other islands had tiki. On Moloka'i this was done at Halawa by Kahekili and other chiefs put tiki gods at other sites on Moloka'i. Our heiau remained as they had throughout generations before us. Our people, the pre-ali'i, used the upright stone to designate the Father of all, Ku - and the prostrate stone to designate the Mother of all, Hina.

When anyone in our family found a stone that was long and smooth we would wrap it in a ti leaf and take it to some sacred place or to the family worship center. It was always considered a good sign to find such a stone. The rock had life just as we did. We felt it made the stone happy to be in a sacred place. I still think so.

We did not think of the heiau or the people living there as having supernatural power. We were taught that all things were natural. We were one with all of life - each particle of sand - each drop of water. All was a part of the whole.

All things were counted by four - probably because we had four fingers on each hand. When we took gifts to the heiau to put on the lele stand they were in quantities of four. One was for the earth from which the food grew, one was for the life-giving force, one was for the cleansing ocean and one for the purifying force of fire. It has often been said that girls did not go to the heiau. Under the ali'i rule I cannot really say, but in our family and at our school we had a heiau and it was very much part of everyone's life. I had always been very interested in my spirit family, so I prayed to them, made offerings to them in thanksgiving for my blessing, and no one ever hindered me.

When I was old, my grandchildren and great-grandchildren informed me that girls did not pray, only the men in the family prayed; that the men had the right to put women to death for entering the men's eating house or any heiau. It might have been an ali'i rule but when the ali'i lived among us they did as we did. My grandfather Kai-akea had the reputation of disregarding any and all ali'i rules he did not agree with.

The practices of healing were much the same in all of Hawaii nei. The family 'aumakua was asked to help bring about good health. Those in the family who were in the healing arts worked with any person who was ill. They would talk to the patient at great length about any stones they might he carrying. They would pray that all stones be dropped from the patient's bowl of light, and if anyone in the spirit world had ever been offended by the patient, that the person in the spirit world would now forgive the one who suffered.

There were times that patients were told that their illness was part of their learning process. This was to help them learn some lesson that they had, up to now, refused to learn. The lesson may have been of humility. When such a thing happened the family accepted it and helped in any way it could.

I prayed to Ku and Hina because they were our first parents, looked out for us and cared for us. I in turn loved them. I did not ask them to help me with my problems. If I had troubles, or there was a familv illness or death I would go to my teacher and hanai mother, Maka weliweli. Sometimes I was told what was wrong before I was able to make a statement of what my problem was.

There were times when finding a solution to a problem was not easy. Trouble was sometimes caused by someone outside of the family circle. If the elders thought this was the case they had us all wear ti leaf leis. called la'i lei. If this happened we all recited that the ill return to the place of its origin. "May the one who sent the problem or illness accept it back and free us from its grip".

If for any reason one of the great healers was sent for to offer aid, it was important that all signs be good. It was always best to not arrive before his meal for then he might not come. If he did come and someone called to him from the rear he might turn without finishing his journey or seeing the patient. Now it would be called bad manners but then it was seen as a bad omen. At such times when prayers were offered, they were sent to everyone. We sent them to the Christian God after He came, to the ali'i gods. and to the family 'aumakua and all of our ancestors. At such times a feast was prepared and presented to the 'aumakua. We prayed 0 ke aka ka'oukou, 'o ka'i'o ka makou, which means, yours the essence, ours the flesh. They got the smell, we got the food. Then the leftovers were burned, but the leftovers were usually few. Later I learned that the Chinese do this when a family member dies, and at other certain times of year. It is a small world.

Our family had a special 'aumakua. It was called Mo'o Kiko and lived near the heiau in Kapualei. It was a giant lizard we were told and when I was small I had dreams of him. I did not ever see him. I felt no fear for if he was a part of our family there was no need to fear. Some said the Mo'o was Maka weliweli, and that she was a Mo'o I have no doubt, but I heard the story when she was alive. When I became old, there were those who called me Mo'o Kiko. I am sure they did not mean it as nice, but to me it was not an insult. I would smile. There is so much for us to learn. We are all so far from the top of the mountain.

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