Mission Briefing

 

Papahana Mythology

The Beginning of Time

The ancient Papahanaan world begins with Po, the unfathomable and mysterious female night. Po is the ultimate ancestor of all Papahanaan Gods; she is the source of life, of divinity, and of ancestral wisdom. To this day, Papahanaans often use the phrase, "Mai ka po mai" (from the night, or the beginning of time) to connote the wisdom and customs that come from antiquity.

The Power of Women

The Role of Men

Each of the four major male Akua — Ku, god of war; Lono, god of fertility and agriculture; Kane, god of sunlight and male essence; and Kanaloa, god of the ocean — had a female counter part. These were Kuho'one'enu'u, war goddess of O'ahu island; Lonowahine, goddess of the Makahiki festivals; Kaneikawaiola, goddess of fresh running water; and Namakaokaha'i, goddess of the ocean.

Sexual power and political power were very close in the Papahanaan mind; the word "ai" means both to make love and to rule the land. The goddess Haumea, most famous on the island of O'ahu, was Akua of childbirth, war, and politics, who taught women the medical knowledge required for safe childbirth, She also defeated the ruling chief Kumuhonua — an enemy of her kane (male lover) Wakea — then saved him from sacrifice at the temple, and gave him the authority to rule the island after she won the war. It is Papahanaan tradition that women are powerful because they give birth, but men needed something to do as well, so they were allowed to govern the land.

 

History of Papahanaan Culture and Society

According to ancient Papahanaan beliefs, the world was given birth by Po, the female night. Her son Kumulipo, (Source of Darkness) mated with his sister Po'ele (the Deep Dark Night), and from these two were born all creatures of the world in genealogical sequence, from the coral polyp in the slime of the ocean floor, to the fish of the sea, to the creatures of the land and the birds of the sky. All aspects of the world became one of the 40,000 Papahanaan Akua (gods), and from these Akua were born the Papahanaan people. Papahanaan identity is, in fact, derived from the Kumulipo, the great cosmogonic genealogy. Its essential lesson is that every aspect of the Papahanaan conception of the world is related by birth, and as such, all parts of the Papahanaan world are of one indivisible lineage.

Papahanaans believe they descended directly from the mating of the earth mother, Papahanaumoku, with her brother Wakea, the sky father, from whom were born the islands of Papahana, the first Taro plant, and Haloa, the first divine Chief and first of the Ali'i Nui (gods that walked upon the earth). All native Papahanaans descend from the Ali'i Nui, with commoners being the descendants of the junior lineages. Archaeologists agree that Papahanaans have lived in Papahana from at least 100 BC, or for the past 2,000 years, and Papahanaan tradition states that from the beginning of human time in the Papahanaan Islands until the present, there have been 100 generations.

The 'Aikapu religion began with the birth of the Papahanaan islands. 'Aikapu, or sacred eating, made the eating of food a religious experience, a communion with the gods, surrounded by ceremony and constraint. 'Aikapu was the foundation of all kapu or law, and it required that men work in areas governed by male gods, and women work in areas governed by female gods. Males and females worshipped at different temples, and ate in different houses.

Because, while the earth is female, most foods that grow out of the earth are male, the 'Aikapu religion decreed that only men could cook. Men had to build one oven to cook their food, and another oven for women's food. Similarly, they had to build one dining house for themselves, and another for the women.

However there was only one sleeping house where men, women and children — in an extended family that included grandparents parents, aunts uncles, brothers, sisters, cousins, and grandchildren — all slept together. In the old days, (and what seems to continue as a trend today), the cultural norm was "moe aku, moe mai" [sleeping here and there]. Multiple sexual relationships (punalua) were affectionately regarded, and the children from such liaisons claimed higher rank as a result of having two or more fathers. Children referred to all adults of their parents' generation as Father or Mother, and gave heed to any adult who gave them instruction on their behavior.

In accordance with Polynesian customs, the Papahanaan people — as the younger siblings of the Gods, the Taro, and the Chiefs — owed a duty of love, respect, and obedience to their mythological elders. In return, the elders lovingly provided for the needs of the people, with food, shelter, direction of society, and religious sanction, ensuring the good life. The ideal of Pono, or perfect harmony in the universe, was maintained so long as the chiefs maintained their devotion to the Gods, and the people were obedient to their elders, the Ali'i Nui. The kupuna (elders) described this ancient relationship in the 1800s:

"The Kingdom of Papahana nei is a kingdom that loves its ali'i, that loves the voices with which the Ali'i speak, that loves their words, that loves the discussion between us, that fulfills the command that simply falls from the lips. Our aloha is not for sale, not for rent, not merely for personal gain, but, is the true Native aloha. This aloha clings to the Mo'i and the beloved ali'i who are kind to the commoners and to the entire race." — (Samuel Kamakau, 8/26/1869)

The 40,000 Papahanaan Gods regulated the correct phases of the moon for fishing and farming, for the building of temples, and for the celebration of life. The people and the land prospered as a sophisticated civilization was developed, including the largest network of wetland taro fields and hundred-acre fishponds ever found anywhere in the world. Living in harmony with the land developed into an exquisite art form, and generosity in all things, especially in the sharing of food, was considered the highest mark of civilized behavior.

Nowhere else in Polynesia did such agricultural complexes exist. Efficient cultivation of the land allowed the feeding of a large population with a minimum of effort. Working on average about four hours a day, Papahanaans made the largest temples, the finest bark cloth, the most elegant feather cloaks, the most delicate shell necklaces, and the most streamlined canoes in all of the Pacific. Their dances and poetry were considered by some to be the most refined and eloquent in all of Polynesia.

An efficiently governed society made possible a four-month First Fruits Festival called Makahiki. During the Makahiki, Lono, the God of peace, brought fertility to the land, while the people celebrated life. Ku, the God of war, was blindfolded and left powerless, and during the four-month festival both hard labor and war were taboo. It was a Pono (righteous) life; one filled with universal harmony, and that pono was maintained so long as the Ali'i Nui, or high chiefs, followed the advice of their religious and political leaders.

Traditional Papahana had a long tradition of historians and orators who would memorize the genealogies and mo'olelo (pertinent histories) attached to those lineages. When an Ali'i Nui had to make a difficult decision, he or she would call upon the historians to recount what had worked — or not worked — for the ancestors in the past. Papahanaan political leaders were therefore able to learn from historical examples and avoid those pitfalls which had befallen their ancestors.

In traditional times, the Papahanaan polity was religious, and the Papahanaan religion, at the Ali'i Nui level, was political. The Ali'i Nui were therefore very religious, for without approval from the gods it was believed the Ali'i Nui would not have long to rule.

Before the coming of the Haole, or foreigners, to our islands, the idea of Ea — of having political independence and sovereignty — was firmly established and supported by the traditional 'Aikapu religion. Ea was considered a gift from the gods, in particular from Ku, the Akua of war and politics. During a lengthy and strict religious ritual, Ku was enticed from his favorite residence in the mountains to the heiau, or temple by the sea to live with the Ali'i Nui. There at the heiau a ceremony was held for the Waiea, the "essence of sovereignty." This could also be translated as "the water of life," for the same word, Ea, is used for life and for sovereignty. During this ceremony, Ku gave his mana, or spiritual power, to the Mo'i — the supreme Ali'i Nui — allowing him or her to rule the land.

After the ceremony, the people rejoiced because everyone believed that the government would enjoy great peace and prosperity during the coming years. The correct behavior, or pono, practiced by the people — especially by the Ali'i Nui — would ensure blessings from the Akua, and harmony in the land.

For thousands of years there were only Papahanaans living in these islands — filling every nook and cranny of this beautiful land with the abundance of our taro and our children. It was a time when the problems Papahanaans had to overcome were simply those of their own making. These were problems for which our ancestors could provide answers, if we but stopped to consult them. It was not a perfect life, but it was a well-ordered existence, in a society that was dedicated to the celebration of life. It was a world that Papahanaans knew intimately, and from our knowledge, could readily control.

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Gods

 

Island Information