Sacred Texts -- Pacific Islander Religions

Hawaiian Mythology: Part Four. Heroes and Lovers in Fiction: XXXI. Voyage to the Land of the Gods

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This is a scholarly comparative mythology analysis, in the tradition of early 20th-century Polynesian studies, examining the Hawaiian legend of Waha-nui — a chief who vows to sail to the sacred land of Kahiki and "tread upon" the dwelling places of the gods Kane and Kanaloa. The text presents two versions of the narrative (from Fornander and Kamakau) in which the trickster deity Kane-apua forces his way aboard Waha-nui's overcrowded canoe, overcomes supernatural dangers of the voyage, and ultimately causes Waha-nui's death on Kauai after the chief violates a tabu. The author then situates this legend within a pan-Polynesian narrative type — the reluctant supernatural passenger who proves indispensable and bestows a culture gift — drawing precise parallels with analogous stories from Samoa, Tonga, the Tuamotus, Aitutaki, Tahiti, and the Maori migration traditions. A distinctive argument is that the trickster figure who disrupts the story's moral logic (Kane-apua urinating in his brothers' spring, manipulating his way aboard through storms) is a characteristic feature of South Sea travel narratives, not a local anomaly. The analysis also argues that the legend's composition was likely contemporary with and shaped by the cycle of stories surrounding the historical chief Keawe-nui-a-Umi, as shared character names and plot devices across separate legends suggest a period of deliberate narrative consolidation on Hawaii.

Hawaiian Mythology: Part Four. Heroes and Lovers in Fiction: XXXI. Voyage to the Land of the Gods

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