The Origin of the Primitive Inhabitants of Hawaii Nei
From Hawaiian Antiquities by David Malo, 1903.
From: Unknown To: 1903 C.E.
Location: Hawaii
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From Hawaiian Antiquities by David Malo, 1903.
The Origin of the Primitive Inhabitants of Hawaii Nei.
In Hawaiian ancestral genealogies it is said that the earliest inhabitants of these Islands were the progenitors of all the Hawaiian people.
In the genealogy called Kumu-lipo it is said that the first human being was a woman named La'ila'i and that her ancestors and parents were of the night (he po wale no), that she was the progenitor of the (Hawaiian) race.
The husband of this La'ila'i was named Ke-alii-wahi-lani (the king who opens heaven); but it is not stated who were the parents of Ke-alii-wahi-lani, only that he was from the heavens; that he looked down and beheld a beautiful woman, La'ila'i, dwelling in Lalawaia; that he came down and took her to wife, and from the union of these two was begotten one of the ancestors of this race.
And after La'ila'i and her company it is again stated in the genealogy called Lolo that the first native Hawaiian (kanaka) was a man named Kahiko. His ancestry and parentage are given, but without defining their character; it is only said he was a human being (kanaka).
Kupulanakehau was the name of Kahiko's wife; they begot Lihauula and Wakea. Wakea had a wife named Haumea, who was the same as Papa. In the genealogy called Pali-ku it is said that the parents and ancestors of Haumea the wife of Wakea were pali, i. e., precipices. With her the race of men was definitely established.
These are the only people spoken of in the Hawaiian genealogies; they are therefore presumably the earliest progenitors of the Hawaiian race. It is not stated that they were born here in Hawaii. Probably all of these persons named were born in foreign lands, while their genealogies were preserved here in Hawaii.
One reason for thinking so is that the countries where these people lived are given by name and no places in Hawaii are called by the same names. La'ila'i and Ke-alii-wahi-lani lived in Laiowaia; Kahiko and Kupu-lana-ke-hau lived in Kamawae-lua-lani; Wakea and Papa lived in Lolo-i-mehani.
There is another fact mentioned in the genealogies, to-wit: that when Wakea and Papa were divorced from each other, Papa went away and dwelt in Nuu-meha-lani. There is no place here in Hawaii called Nuu-meha-lani. The probability is that these names belong to some foreign country.
Malo, David. Hawaiian Antiquities: (Moolelo Hawaii). Translated by Nathaniel Bright Emerson, Hawaiian Gazette Co., 1903.
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