Fornander collection of Hawaiian antiquities and folk-lore, Volume 1 (of 3) : $b The Hawaiians' account of the formation of their islands and origin of their race, with the traditions of their migrations, etc., as gathered from original sources
History
Fornander collection of Hawaiian antiquities and folk-lore, Volume 1 (of 3) : $b The Hawaiians' account of the formation of their islands and origin of their race, with the traditions of their migrations, etc., as gathered from original sources
Folklore -- Hawaii; Hawaii -- Social life and customs; Hawaiian language -- Texts; Legends -- Hawaii
It is said that Olopana was once the king of the island of Hawaii, who
made his permanent home in Waipio, where he lived with his wife Luukia.
There are, however, three Olopanas spoken of amongst certain people:
The Olopana mentioned in the story of Kamapuaa, the Olopana said to be
of Tahiti, and the Olopana mentioned in this story. But the Olopana of
this story was the Olopana who first went to Tahiti with his wife
Luukia, the same as mentioned in the legend of Moikeha. The genealogy
of Olopana cannot be recounted here, as it is not known. The only
things known of Olopana are the events of his reign on Hawaii and his
arrival at Tahiti, which are as follows.
Once upon a time Olopana and his wife Luukia were the rulers of the
island of Hawaii, and all the people were under them. During their
reign a great flood swept down the valley of Waipio and carried away
the people and their houses into the ocean. It is said that in this
flood Olopana and his wife were carried out to sea, which was the means
of their reaching Tahiti. When Moikeha came to Hawaii and spoke of
Olopana as being in Tahiti, the story was then made up that when they
were carried out to sea in the flood, they must have actually swam all
the way to Tahiti, as nothing had been heard of Olopana and his wife
from the time of the flood until the arrival of Moikeha. According to
some of the old people, however, it is said and believed that the
passage to Tahiti was made in a canoe.
When the news was first brought here about Olopana being in Tahiti, the
people of Hawaii were so divided in the belief that he was actually
alive and in Tahiti that it was decided, as a means of settling these
differences, to send Ulu, the king of Kau, in a canoe made of
bulrushes. [129] After Ulu set out nothing more was heard of him, not
even if he had reached Tahiti. After some time had elapsed a certain
priest was sent in search of Ulu, but while in mid-ocean the priest
discovered that Ulu had died, so he returned. Shortly after the return
of the priest, Kapukini, a chief of Puna, was made king of Hawaii,
there being no king over the island of Hawaii at this time.
Olopana in the meantime was living in Tahiti with his wife Luukia.
Moikeha and his wife Kapo were the king and queen of Tahiti at this
time. When Moikeha saw that Luukia was pleasant to look upon he took
her to wife, as already spoken of in Chapter I. After Moikeha left
Tahiti and came to Hawaii, Olopana, through his kind and considerate
treatment of the people, became the king of Tahiti. But when Kupohihi,
an uncle of Moikeha, heard that Tahiti had become independent with
Olopana as its king, he came and sent Olopana away. Olopana therefore
set sail for Hawaii with his wife Luukia.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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