Posted by Hanalei on November 29, 1999 at 23:07:10:
In Reply to: Re: "Hawaiian Religion" posted by Maluokeakua on November 29, 1999 at 15:07:54:
: : Aloha Jeff,
: : The word "Huna" is secret and some time ago, a Max Freedom Long wrote a book called "Huna, a
: : Hawaiian Religion. People have promoted this book and started this so called Hawaiian Religion
: : called "Huna" Recently someone from Hawaiian who claims to have been "adopted" by Hawaiians,
: : who goes by the name of Sarge King, professes to know all the "secrets" of Huna and how it could
: : heal the world and cause world peace. It this was true, we as Hawaiian People would be all
: : together in our fight for self determination. We have one of the poorest health in the entire nation.
: : Anyway the priest of ancient Hawaii were called Ka Huna. They could pray people to death, send
: : fire balls and create spells and perform "black magic". Then they were healers that were called Ka
: : Huna and they would know the art of healing bones, healing with herbs and had to knowledge of
: : levitation. They could "talk" to the gods, so they were sought after by the Kings and Queens of old.
: : Beware of people that call themselves Kahuna and know about the so called "huna" religion. Aloha
: : Uncle Charlie
:
: Aloha Uncoh!
: Mahalo for the information. Could you direct me to any literature of "actual" Hawaiian Religion or Spirituality. Something that has an actual history, say up to the 20th century. Anything other than someone who felt they should make up a "cult" based on statues that they saw in a gift shop.
: Mahalo, Maluokeakua
Aloha Jeff,
Kauluwehe is too nice. You are looking for a Hawaiian religion through western eyes. In the western world religion is organized with a structure, with doctrine, with rules, with a central diety and a body of faith/beliefs. This organized religion did not exist with the people of old. There was no single head god like Zeus or the Jewish Yahweh. There were families of gods, such as the Ku gods, the Lono gods, the Kane gods and Kanaloa. There is no apparent family of Kanaloa gods and that may be due to the fact that Kanaloa was the god of the sea and the after life, two areas with which the living have very limited experience. The Hawaiians did not adore these gods, but paid homage to them, recognized their kuleana, respected these kuleana and made offerings to them. What was more important to the Hawaiians were their aumakua, their family god. This god was personal and a protector of the family and interacted with the family. In short do not look for a religion - look for a belief, a way of life, a way of respect, a way of thinking. All of the activities of the ka po`e kahiko began with prayer and ended with prayer. Before you plant, you pray. When you harvest, you pray and give thanks. When you gather from the forest, you pray and ask permission to enter and gather and when you leave you give thanks. This is not necessarily religion, but it is great spirituality and recognizes our connection to the aina and its resources and our responsibility to the aina because the aina comes from the gods. You will notice I have not talked about rights, but I have talked about responsibility which is what prayer will lead you. By the way, you may notice that these are the same things that many Christians speak of on Sunday for an hour or so and then forget about once they walk out of the building called the church.
Kauluwehe is correct about the attempt to promulgate "the Hawaiian religion called huna". You will notice that the people who promulgate this religion are not kanaka maoli, but na haole who claimed to have learned "these hidden secrets from the kanaka maoli". (I will use the term kanaka maoli because it means the true man (generic man) and we are the indigenius people of these islands and the true people.) Huna merely means secret and the Kahuna were the keepers of the secrets for their specialty. The kahuna la`au lapa`au kept the secrets to herbal medicine. The kahuna ho`ohanau keiki kept the secrets for child birth. The kahuna ho`ohapai keiki kept the secrets for a good pregnancy. In short, na kahuna ka po`e kahiko were the professionals of our people. (I use "na" to denote a plural. I do not like the english "s" to pluralize our words.) They were no different than the college professors of today who keep the "secret (huna)" for their respective specialties and we do not call them witch doctors - neither were ours. These are the myths/misconceptions that happen when you use a western eye to evaluate a kanaka maoli thought process and value system. A square peg will not fit in a round hole unless the round hole is very large - then anything will fit and you end up with ersatz religions like huna.
I do not think there is any single book on the religious perspectives of the kanaka maoli. In order to get this you need to read several books about their life style, beliefs and practices. Some of these books are Hawaiian Antiquities by David Malo; Ka Po`e Kahiko and Na Hana Ka Po`e Kahiko (The People of Old and The Works of the People of Old), two books by Samuel Kamakau; Fragments of Hawaiian History by John Papa Ii; two volumes of Nana i ke Kumu (look to the Source) by Mary Kawena Puku`i. These books will provide you a good start on understanding the "hawaiian religion". Hope this helps. Hanalei