Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 22, Number 4, 1 April 2005 — Tale of fire and water sisters warns of sibling jealousy [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Tale of fire and water sisters warns of sibling jealousy

By Claire Hughes , Dr.PH., R.D.

Channeling development of growing minds of our keiki is a kuleana of elders in the 'ohana. Riddling or asking word puzzles, "ho'onanenane," was one method the mākua and kūpuna of old used to stimulate and challenge the minds of their young keiki. Another way was storytelling. Parents and elders used storytelling to transmit family values, repeating stories that had life lessons or morals to them. Mo'olelo taught respect and consideration for elders and visitors, as well as doing good in the community. Frequently, the tales told of the power of 'aumakua and kupua. Fortunately, books of mo'olelo are now available for us to read to keiki. This is a great way to spend an hour or two with your keiki or mo'opuna. One mo'olelo, about two female kupua living in Hilo, tells how jealousy between siblings is unproductive, and ean lead to disaster. Hinaikeahi, woman of the fire, had a younger sister named, Hinaikawai, women of the water. Hinaikeahi had magic powers with fire and Hinaikawai could use water to work magic. The goddess Hina, their mother, gave eaeh daughter a portion of land to manage. Everything went well until a famine eame to the area. Without food, the people were hungry, sick and discouraged. Hinaikeahi reacted with great compassion to the distress and suffering of the people on her land. Hinaikeahi asked the strongest men to go up mauka to cut wood for fuel. She asked other men to gather

river stones, and to prepare a very hot imu. Although puzzled by her orders, out of love for their chiefess the men did exactly as they were told. When everything was ready, Hinaikeahi walked around the imu and pointed, saying, "Here are sweet potatoes, here kalo, here yam, pork, fish, the tender shoots of fern and here

ehieken!" T h e n Hinaikeahi w a 1 k e d into the center

of the imu and ordered her retainers to cover her in the imu. The men cried, "No! no!" Hinaikeahi reassured everyone, saying she was going directly to the divine ancestors to ensure their lives. "On the third day, a cloud in the form of a woman with a radiant face will appear above the imu," she said. "Open the imu and enjoy the gifts from your ancestors." With reluctance, the men followed their chiefess' directions. On the third day, when the cloud appeared

over the imu, the imu was opened. All the foods were found cooked and in the places the chiefess had pointed out. After the imu was opened, Hinaikeahi emerged from the oeean, wreathed with brown seaweed. The food was hurriedly served to everyone, and Hinaikeahi told of her visit with the divine ancestors who provided the food out of love for them. Before returning, Hinaikeahi had bathed in the oeean with Hina'ōpūhalako'a, woman of the coral, a wife of Kū. This incident caused a great deal of talk. The subjects of Hinaikawai complained as they reported the stories told by her sister's retainers. The spirit of jealousy arose in Hinaikawai. She ordered her retainers to build an imu, and when it was ready, she did as her sister had done. Circling the imu, she repeated the names of foods, then she ordered her retainers to cover her with earth. On the third day, the sky was overcast as a dark cloud of a woman appeared directly over the imu. The men worked quickly to uncover the food, but there was no food, only the charred body of Hinaikawai. Rain began to fall as the heavens wept for her. If only Hinaikawai had used her own magical powers with water, she would have been saved. Instead, driven by jealousy, she tried to use her older sister's magical gift. The penalty for pride and jealousy lead to her end. When her retainers saw they had no chiefess or food, they went to live with Hinaikeahi.

Mo'oi fi o

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