In my earlier post I mentioned pili kaulike or reciprocal relationships. I wanted to get a little more into that through Hawaiian mythology and the role of women. In the old Hawaiian view, the world was binary. It was composed of two equal and complimentary parts. It was also composed of two equal but competing parts. Hence why the numbers 4, 8, 12, 16, 40,000, and 400,000 always come up in Hawaiian mythology. This is also true of not just Hawaiians but our cousins throughout the Pacific. Polynesians counted everything in binary numbers and recently there was an article giving credit to Polynesians for the invention of binary numbers. We often know the four major akua: Kū, Kāne, Lono, and Kanaloa. But each of those akua have a female complimentary counterpart as well as a female competitor. I just want to touch on Kū and Hina, two of the earliest akua. Kū everyone knows is many manifestations: Kuula, Kū-mauna, Kū-kahi, Kū nui akea, Kū-hiwa, Kū-ka-ī, etc. To every form of Kū, Hina also has a form or manifestation. Papa and Haumea are usually thought to be manifestations of Hina, which is Hawaiians are not children of Haumea but the children of Hina particularly if one is from Molokai and Kauai. All Polynesians are in fact the children of Hina as Hina is accepted by nearly all Polynesian groups as the mythological mother of the moon, the mother of fire, the mother of the sea and the mother of humanity. Everyone knows Kū -ka-ili-moku, the warlike manifestation of Kū. Hina-i-ke-ahi or Hina-ai-(ka)-honua is the complimentary part of Kū-ka-ili-moku and born from a boiling sea. Hina-i-ke-ahi (not to be confused with Hina-a-ke-ahi which is one of the priestly names of Pele) was also patron of Hilo and of politics. Although being a Maui female chief, Kaahumanu invoked Hina-i-ke-ahi in the battles of Kamehameha to empower Kū-ka-ili-moku so that akua may in turn empower Kamehamehas men. Hina in her warlike manifestation is similar to Nafanua of Samoa and Vahine-nui-tahu-ra‘i of Tahiti. And this is my point with Hawaiian women. In order for any political, economic, social and cultural dialogue to work out, Kū and Hina need to be invoked together. Women need to have greater leadership roles, be listened to, and be respected. They should not We can not be a complete and whole people without the participation and efforts of our wāhine. At the same time, wāhine need to empower themselves and not allow their voices to be ignored. As there is Kū-ka-ili-moku, there is Hina-i-ke-ahi. We need ka mana wāhine in all its manifestations.
Posted on: Sat, 02 Aug 2014 18:12:48 +0000
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