Tag Archives: Henry Obookiah

Desecration of heiau, 1917.

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A Terribly Mischievous Act.

The great heiau, Hikiau, which is near the sands of Kealakekua, is being cleaned up, and while this cleaning was being done, the people working found some burial caves and in them were neatly placed human bones. They were arranged nicely and the mouths of the caves were closed over with rocks; the shocking thing is that the rocks were later removed and the caves were entered perhaps to be searched for antiquities, or perhaps to desecrate the bones in the caves, and the rocks were piled up inside by some unknown person. The perpetrator of such mischief is not known, however if the culprit is found, there is a stiff punishment established here for those who desecrate the bones of the dead. The grounds of this heiau were cleaned up because the history of this heiau includes the landing of Captain Cook here, and it will become an attraction for those visiting Hawaii nei. Also cleaned up was the pathway to the small heiau where Henry Opukahaia was taught the old ways of the kahuna of Hawaii nei, and this place will become a place visited by world travellers who come to Hawaii nei.

[The early years of Hoku o Hawaii (including the issue which includes this article) have yet to be put up online.]

(Hoku o Hawaii, 2/1/1917, p. 1)

HE HANA ANO KOLOHE MAOLI

Ka Hoku o Hawaii, Buke 11, Helu 36, Aoao 1. Feberuari 1, 1917.

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More on Opukahaia, 1865.

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The Story of Opukahaia.

Keau was the father, Kamohoula was the mother. From the two was born this child, Opukahaia, along with another younger child (the name of that child is not known). Opukahaia was born soon before the battle between Kamehameha and Namakeha at Kau. And at Kau in Ninole, is where Opukahaia was born. He was named for the slitting of the stomach of a certain alii, and that is why he was called Opukahaia [“the cutting of the stomach”].

When the time of warfare between Kamehameha and Namakeha arrived, the parents of Opukahaia were killed. When his parents were killed, Opukahaia fled Kau, and went to Kohala.

While he lived in Kohala, Opukahaia was found by Pahua, the brother of his mother, and he was returned here to Kona, and lived with Puhua them and Hina them here in Napoopoo, South Kona, Hawaii.

The time when Opukahaia was living here in Napoopoo, when he was brought back from Kohala, he was an adult at the time. While he lived here, to him belonged the occupation of the kahuna of the olden days. Opukahaia was obedient; he was however not a farmer nor a fisherman, for he was not taught much about those things. He really just wanted to be taught kahuna things, and this was something that he was very interested in doing constantly, on sacred nights of Prayer [? Hainapule]. The one who taught him the ways of the kahuna was Pahua. He was a skilled kahuna taught by Hewahewa, the Great Kahuna of the Heiau of Hikiau.

After Opukahaia received the knowledge of the occupation of the kahuna, he constructed his stone Heiau within Helehelekalani, and he built a house atop his heiau, while he worshiped three gods. 1. Lono, 2. Kukaohiakala, 3. Kukailimoku.

He was constantly honing his skills, until he left for America.

When the American trading ship appeared here at Kealakekua, he was prodded by a haole aboard the ship, named Mika Alani, who was an aikane of Hewahewa; and so he went and left the work that he was trained in.

And at this Heiau which he built, he planted three coconuts, and they are growing and fruiting. The cave [? pao] of this boy, Opukahaia, can be seen by those who visit here. His relative still lives here in South Kona, her name is Hina; she is gray-haired and is frail now.

This is a short story of what is heard of Opukahaia. With mahalo.

S. W. Papaula.

Napoopoo, S. Kona, Oct. 10, 1865.

[This seems to be written in response to the translation being published in Kuokoa at the same period. Papaula is adding to the information given in the translation. This ability to quickly add to or correct information published in the newspapers was one of the many advantages newspapers had over books.]

(Kuokoa, 11/4/1865, p. 4)

Moolelo no Opukahaia.

Ka Nupepa Kuokoa, Buke IV, Helu 44, Aoao 4. Novemaba 4, 1865.

Translation of “Memoirs of Henry Obookiah: A Native of Owhyhee, and a Member of the Foreign Mission School…” 1865.

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Ka Moolelo o Heneri Opukahaia.

HELU 1.
Kona wahi moolelo mamua o kona hiki ana i Amerika.

He kanaka o Heneri Opukahaia no Hawaii ka mokupuni kaulana a laukanaka hoi o ka Pae Aina Hawaii. Ua hanau ia i ka makahiki 1792. He mau makaainana kona mau makua; aka ua pili nae kona makuahine i ka ohana o na’lii. O kona inoa o Kumuola; a o ka inoa o kona makuakane aole i maopopo. I ka wa i hiki aku ai o ko Opukahaia mau makahiki i ka umi a umikumamalua paha, pepehiia kona mau makua mamua pono o kona mau maka. Elua wale no laua o kona ohana i ola, oia a me kona wahi muli loa nona na malama ekolu. Ua manao lana ia e hoola i kona wahi pokii mai ka popilikia mai i ili iho ai maluna o kona mau makua, nolaila, ua hopu akuu ia i kona wahi pokii a kau ae la ma kona kua, a holo aku la mai ka enemi aku; aka, ua loaa aku no ia i ka poe i alualu aku, a pepehi mainoino ia ua wahi pokii la ona. O ka moolelo o ia wahi ua kakau ia ma kekahi buke e aku mamuli o ka mea i hai waha ia aku e Opukahaia…

[This translation of Edwin Welles Dwight’s “Memoirs of Henry Obookiah, a Native of Owhyhee, and a Member of the Foreign Mission School; Who Died at Cornwall, Conn. Feb. 17, 1818, Aged 26 Years.” begins on 9/9/1865 and is completed on 3/24/1866.]

(Nupepa Kuokoa, 9/9/1865, p. 2)

Ka Moolelo o Heneri Opukahaia.

Ka Nupepa Kuokoa, Buke IV, Helu 36, Aoao 2. Sepatemaba 9, 1865.

Biography of Henry Opukahaia, 1865–1866.

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Here is one of a number of times where the Hawaiian-Language Newspapers run the biography of Heneri Opukahaia. This is a translation of the book, “MEMOIR OF HENRY OBOOKIAH, A NATIVE OF THE SANDWICH ISLANDS, WHO DIED AT CORNWALL, CONNECTICUT, FEBRUARY 17, 1818, AGED 26.” by Rev. E. W. Dwight. The story runs in the Kuokoa from 9/9/1865 until 3/24/1866.

This is not the same text as the book published later in Hawaiian in 1867 in New York: “KA MOOLELO O HENERI OPUKAHAIA, UA HANAUIA MA HAWAII, M. H. 1787, A UA MAKE MA AMERIKA, FEBERUARI 17, 1818. OIA KA HUA MUA O HAWAII NEI.” The published book is based on the same English story, but is edited for errors, and includes further information gathered by Rev. S. W. Papaula in Kealakekua. That being said, most books in Hawaiian were first printed as a serial in the newspapers first, and then published as a book.

It opens this way:

The Story of Henry
Opukahaia

NUMBER 1.

HIS STORY PRIOR TO HIS
ARRIVAL IN AMERICA.

Heneri Opukahaia is from Hawaii, the famous and densely populated island of the Hawaiian Archipelago. He was born in the year 1792. His parents were makaainana, however, his mother was connected to chiefly circles. Her name was Kumuola, and the name of his father is not known. When Opukahaia reached the age of perhaps ten or twelve, his parents were killed before his eyes. There were but two in his family that survived, he and his youngest sibling who was three months old. He hoped to save his young sibling from the tragedy which befell upon his parents, so he grabbed his little sibling and placed it upon his back and ran from the enemy; however, he was found by those chasing after them, and the younger sibling was cruelly killed. That telling of that account is written in another book according to what was told by Opukahaia…

[If you are in or around Hilo this Monday, consider checking out the talk by Deborah Liʻikapeka Lee on Opukahaia at the Lyman Museum. For more information see the Lyman Museum page.]

(Kuokoa, 9/9/1865, p. 2)

Ka Moolelo o Heneri Opukahaia.

Ka Nupepa Kuokoa, Buke IV, Helu 36, Aoao 2. Sepatemaba 9, 1865.