Tag Archives: Clarice B. Taylor

Clarice B. Taylor writes more on the Beckleys, 1960.

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Clarice B. Taylor’s

Tales about Hawaii

Hoʻopololei: Beckleys

Well I did it. I fell into the common error of confusing the Beckley names.

In the July 5 installment of the story on the Beckley family, I said “Emma Nakuina was the mother of Fred Kahea Beckley.” By making the error, I learned something new.

The Beckley names are confusing because the names are repeated in each generation and sometimes among cousins.

Confusion is compounded by altering the sequence of the name. For instance Captain George Beckley and Ahia named their eldest son Frederick William Malulani Beckley. Continue reading →

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Clarice B. Taylor on the Beckleys, 1960.

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Clarice B. Taylor’s

Tales about Hawaii

Captain George Beckley and Family

The Beckleys are a proud family. They have a right to be.

Their story is well known because each generation of Beckleys has produced a writer, one who could tell the family stories and keep them before the public. The most prolific of these writers was the late Ahuena Davison Taylor, wife of the late A. P. Taylor.

Beckleys married writers. Prominent was the late Emma Nakuina, mother of Fred Kahea Beckley, who wrote authoritative legends and a paper on the old water right system of ancient Hawaii. Continue reading →

Clarice Taylor talks of Kilauea place names, 1959.

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Clarice B. Taylor’s
Tales about Hawaii

Place Names About Kilauea Crater

Another attempt to destroy Pele and her volcanic fires crops up in a little known legend which comes from the Island of Kauai.

After the death of the Chief Kaha-wali in a lava flow at Puna, Hawaii, the Kauai chiefs determined to make an end to Pele and her antics.

Kauai in those days was famous for having Kahunas (priests) of great spiritual powers. The people of Kauai believed they were strong enough to cope with Pele. So six priests were selected and sent to Hawaii with instructions to go to Kilauea and surround Pele. Continue reading →

Publication of “Native Use of Fish in Hawaii,” 1956.

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Hawaiians Were Gourmets When It Came to Fish

By CLARICE TAYLOR

The Hawaiian pitied the white man as an uncultivated person when he first saw the white man eating fish.

The white man discarded the portions of the fish which the Hawaiians considered delicacies—such as the head, the eyes, the entrails, the skin and the little dark portions next to the bone.

Then, too, the white man only ate cooked fish. He had no idea of the choice flavor of fresh fish eaten immediately after taking it from the water.

All this and much more is told in a new publication, Native Use of Fish in Hawaii by Margaret Titcomb, librarian, and Mary Kawena Pukui, associate in Hawaiian Culture at Bishop Museum.

Published in N. Z.

Native Uses of Fish in Hawaii is a supplement to the Journal of Polynesian Society and was published by the Society in New Zealand.

The books will soon be on sale at the Bishop Museum Bookshop.

Although Native Uses of Fish in Hawaii is a scientific publication, its text is easy to read for the layman and contains much fascinating material on how the Hawaiian at fish, his major source of protein. Continue reading →

Clarice B. Taylor on Koihala, conclusion, 1949.

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LITTLE TALES

All About Hawaii

By Clarice B. Taylor

RETRIBUTION  IS DEALT KO’IHALA

The ohia log, destined to be carved into a god for the heiau at Makanau, was partially raised up the temple walls with the assistance of the High Chief Ko’ihala.

The priests in charge of the work had persuaded Ko’ihala to exert his mana (spiritual power) by placing his hands upon the log as the men on the upper heiau wall pulled up on the lines attached to the log.

THE LOG STALLS

When the log had been raised to a distance just above the chief’s head, it seemed to be stalled again. The chief had stepped back to survey the work.

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The priest turned to Ko’ihala and urged him to  step under the log and press his hands up against it as the men pulled on the lines.

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Ko’ihala complied with the request.

At a signal from the priest, the men hauled the log up a foot or so and then let it drop on their chief. Continue reading →

Clarice B. Taylor on Koihala, part VI, 1949.

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LITTLE TALES

All About Hawaii

By Clarice B. Taylor

KO’IHALA HELPS RAISE THE OHIA LOG

There was an unusual stir and bustle among the men of the Kau district on the day they assembled to lift the great oohia log up over the walls of the new heiau at Makanau upon orders from their chief, Ko’ihala.

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This great log,  hauled with much labor and misery from the forest area on Mauna Loa, was to be carved into the image of Ko’ihala’s protecting god.

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The men assigned to the work were in a very jovial mood. It was the first day they had not grumbled since the early days of the heiau construction. Continue reading →

Clarice B. Taylor on Koihala, part V, 1949.

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LITTLE TALES

All About Hawaii

By Clarice B. Taylor

THE PRIESTS PLOT AGAINST KOIHALA

From being a respected and beloved ruler, Koihala became the most hated when he forced his men to climb Mauna Loa and fetch a great ohia log for the heiau he was building at Makanau.

During the wretched trip up into the forests, the Kau men had eaten fern roots, starvation food ordinarily fed pigs and dogs.

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It was during this trip that the priests in charge took pity upon the Kau men doing this forced labor.

The priests had a foreboding that no good could come of the construction of a heiau under these unhappy circumstances. Continue reading →

Clarice B. Taylor on Koihala, part IV, 1949.

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LITTLE TALES

All About Hawaii

By Clarice B. Taylor

THE KAU MEN ARE SENT INTO MOUNTAINS

The Hawaiian people who inhabited the Kau district on the Big Island were accustomed to a dry, hot climate.

The nature of the district led the men to seek their food in the ocean where there was a wealth of fine fish. For that reason, the Kau people loved their fresh fish.

When the high chief Koihala ordered the Kau men to construct the great heiau at Makanau, the men worked cheerfully as long as the food supplies lasted.

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They grumbled continuously while they fetched the little pebbles from Punaluu to pave the inner heiau courtyard. They endured this work, for they believed the end of the project was in sight. Continue reading →

Clarice B. Taylor on Koihala, part III, 1949.

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LITTLE TALES

All About Hawaii

By Clarice B. Taylor

THE TRIALS OF HEIAU CONSTRUCTION

Koihala, the high chief of the Kau district who constructed the immense heiau on the heights at Makanau, allowed his ambitions to still his conscience as an alii.

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The high chief who kept the love and devotion of his people made provision for their needs when he called upon the manpower of the district to work upon a public project such as the construction of a heiau.

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The alii who destroyed the regular rhythm of planting and fishing by employing all his men upon a construction job was certain to bring starvation upon his people and trouble for himself.

Koihala was such a chief. Continue reading →

Clarice B. Taylor on Koihala, part II, 1949.

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LITTLE TALES

All About Hawaii

By Clarice B. Taylor

KOIHALA ORDERS POHAKU HANAU PAVING

The construction of Koihala’s heiau (temple) on top of the hill at Makanau in the Kau district progressed very well at first.

Food supplies were sufficient to sustain the men at the first heavy labor of quarrying the great rocks needed to build the heiau walls and to haul them to the site.

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It was a tremendous undertaking, for Koihala wished his heiau to be the biggest and best in the Kau district.

Once the great walls were in place, Koihala issued an order which brought the first grumblings. Continue reading →