Paumakua of Oahu

Paumakua of Oahu was a King of Oahu prior to the establishment of the alii aimoku lordship of the Maweke family. He existed prior to the 13th century or 11th century AD. He descend from Puna of the Ulu line. His contemporary was the Paumakua of Maui. His name referred to his family and himself.

Life

He was the son of Lonohoo-Newa, the son of Newalani. The Oahu Paumakuas may have arrived in the time of the grandfather Newalani, or even earlier. Certain it is that the Paumakua of this branch was born on Oahu, at Kuaaohe in Kailua, Koolaupoko, that he died on Oahu, and was buried at Iao on Maui.

The various legends referring to this Paumakua more or less of his wanderings in foreign' lands; how he circumnavigated the world ("Kaapuni Kahiki"), meaning thereby all foreign lands outside of the Hawaiian group. One of these legends relates that on his return from one of his foreign voyages he brought back with him to Oahu two white men,,said to have been priests, Auakahinu and Auakamea, afterwards named Kaekae and Maliu, and from whom several priestly families in after ages claimed their descent and authority. The legend further states that Paumakua on the same occasion also brought a prophet ("Kaula") called Malela, but whether the latter was also a white man the tradition is not so explicit. Another legend relates that when Paumakua returned from foreign voyages he brought with him three white persons, called Kukahauula, Kukalepa, and Haina-Pole, a woman, The latter legend, however, appears to me to be a Maui or Hawaii rtchauffee of the original Oahu legend, and for this reason, that in all subsequent times no Maui or Hawaii priestly family traced their descent to either Kaekae or Maliu, which, with perhaps one or two exceptions on Kauai, flourished exclusively on Oahu.

The white foreigners who came with Paumakua are in the legend said to have been "Ka haole nui, maka alohilohi, ke a aholehole, maka aa, ka puaa keokeo nui, maka ulaula" ("Foreigners of large stature, bright sparkling eyes, white cheeks, roguish, staring eyes, large white hogs with reddish faces"). It is not uncommon in the ancient Meles to find the word "pua'a" (literally "hog") applied to persons not necessarily in a derogatory fashion. It was a poetical and sacerdotal expression.

A fragment of an ancient chant referring to this occurrence has been preserved, and reads—

O Paumakua, ka lani o Moenaimua,	O Paumakua, the lord of Moenaimua,
O ke Alii nana i hele ke Kahiki,	O the chief who went to Tahiti,
A Kahiki i ke kaiakea,	Tahiti in the open ocean,
O mimo, o momi, o ka mamio,	The gentle, the precious, the prosperous,
O ka ia mailoko, o ka Auakahinu	(And) the fish within (were) Auakahinu,
O Auakamea ia lani.	(And) Auakamea the noble.

There is a discrepancy in the Oahu genealogies leading up to Paumakua. Some of them make Moenaimua his son and Kumakaha his grandson; others pass over Moenaimua in silence and make Kumakaha, the son of Paumakua. Judging from analogy on other well-known genealogies of much later age, it is inclined to think that both Moenaimua and Kumakaha were the sons of Paumakua, and introduced successively by bards in after times with that persistent vanity of making the line of descent as long as possible which characterised the entire fraternity of Hawaiian genealogists and bards.

Besides his extensive voyages to foreign countries, and his introduction of the two priests of an alien race, said to be white, and that some legends ascribe the custom and ceremony of circumcision to Paumakua— a fact disputed by others —little is known of his reign and influence on the island of Oahu. A reference to the genealogical table will show that he was the ancestor in the fourth generation of the famous Laamaikahiki, from whom every succeeding generation of chiefs took a special pride in claiming their descent. Giving thus all due credit to the Paumakua of the Puna line, whom the Oahu and Kauai chiefs exalted and glorified as their ancestor, there is little to tell of the Maui Paumakua of the Hema line.

Confusion of with the Maui Paumakua

In later times, previous to the discovery of the islands by Captain Cook, and subsequently during the long reign of Kamehameha I, the Hawaii and Maui dynasties had gained a decided preponderance and political supremacy, their versions of legends and genealogies passed undisputed, and it became treason to criticise them. Hence no little confusion in the national records and great embarrassment to the critical student who endeavours to elicit the truth from these conflicting relics of the past. Fortunately, both Oahu and Kauai genealogies have survived, and by their aid, and by the legends attached to them, it is possible to disentangle the apparent snarl of the various versions, and reduce the pretensions of the Hawaii and Maui genealogists and bards to limits conformable with historical truth. Thus brought to the test, and divested of the embellishments of the raconteurs and the poetical frenzy of the bards, the Hawaiian folklore of this period establishes the following main facts:—That the family of the Oahu Paumakua, the son of Lonohoonewa, had been in the country for two if not three or more generations before Paumakua was born; that the family of the Maui Paumakua, the son of Huanuikalalailai, probably arrived with the said Paumakua himself; that the voyages to foreign lands, exploits, and adventures promiscuously ascribed by later legends to Paumakua, the ancestor of the Maui and Hawaii chiefs, in reality belong to the Oahu Paumakua of the Puna branch on the Ulu line.

References

• Abraham Fornander, An Account of the Polynesian Race: Its Origin and Migrations, Rutland, VT: Charles E. Tuttle Company, 1969. Page 21-30,

External links

• Paumakua