The Hawaiian Canoe
"The building of a canoe was an affair of religion. When a man found a fine koa tree he went to the kahuna kalai wa'a and said, 'I have found…
From: 1903 C.E. To: 1903 C.E.
Location: Hawaii
Note: This article has been excerpted from a larger work in the public domain and shared here due to its historical value. It may contain outdated ideas and language that do not reflect TOTA’s opinions and beliefs.
From Hawaiian Antiquities by David Malo, 1903.
The Hawaiian wa'a, or canoe, was made of the wood of the koa tree. From the earliest times the wood of the bread-fruit, kukui, ohia-ha, and wiliwili was used in canoe-making, but the extent to which these woods were used for this purpose was very limited. The principal wood used in canoe-making was always the koa. (Acacia heterophylla.)
The building of a canoe was an affair of religion. When a man found a fine koa tree he went to the kahuna kalai wa'a and said, 'I have found a koa tree, a fine large tree." On receiving this information the kahuna went at night to the mua, to sleep before his shrine, in order to obtain a revelation from his deity in a dream as to whether the tree was sound or rotten.
And if in his sleep that night he had a vision of someone standing naked before him, a man without a malo, or a woman without a pau, and covering their shame with the hand, on awakening the kahuna knew that the koa in question was rotten (puha), and he would not go up into the woods to cut that tree.
He sought another tree, and having found one, he slept again in the mua before the altar, and if this time he saw a handsome, well dressed man or woman, standing before him, when he awoke he felt sure that the tree would make a good canoe.
Preparations were made accordingly to go into the mountains and hew the koa into a canoe. They took with them, as offerings, a pig, cocoanuts, red fish (kumu), and awa.
Having come to the place they camped down for the night, sacrificing these things to the gods with incantations (hoomana) and prayers, and there they slept.
In the morning they baked the hog in an oven made close to the root of the koa, and after eating the same they examined the tree. One of the party climbed up into the tree to measure the part suitable for the hollow of the canoe, where should be the bottom, what the total length of the craft.
Then the kahuna took the ax of stone and called upon the gods:
"O Ku-pulupulu, Ku-ala-na-wao, Ku-moku-halii, Ku-kaieie; Ku-palalake, Ku-ka-ohia-laka."—These were the male deities. Then he called upon the female deities:
"O Lea and Ka-pua-o-alaka'i, listen now to the ax. This is the ax that is to fell the tree for the canoe."
The koa tree was then cut down, and they set about it in the following manner: Two scarfs were made about three feet apart, one above and one below, and when they had been deepened, the chips were split off in a direction lengthwise of the tree.
Cutting in this way, if there was but one kahuna, it would take many days to fell the tree; but if there were many kahunas, they might fell it the same day. When the tree began to crack to its fall, they lowered their voices and allowed no one to make a disturbance.
When the tree had fallen, the head kahuna mounted upon the trunk, ax in hand, facing the stump, his back being turned toward the top of the tree.
Then in a loud tone he called out, "Smite with the ax and hollow the canoe! Give me the malo!" Thereupon the kahuna's wife handed him his ceremonial malo, which was white; and, having girded himself, he turned about and faced the head of the tree.
Then having walked a few steps on the trunk of the tree, he stood and called out in a loud voice, "Strike with the ax and hollow it! Grant us a canoe!” Then he struck a blow with the ax on the tree, and repeated the same words again; and so he kept on doing until he had reached the point where the head of the tree was to be cut off.
At the place where the head of the tree was to be severed from the trunk he wreathed the tree with ie-ie. Then having ered from the trunk he wreathed the tree with ie-ie, (Freycinetia Scandens). Then having repeated a prayer appropriate to cutting off the top of the tree, and having again commanded silence and secured it, he proceeded to cut off the top of the tree. This done, the kahuna declared the ceremony performed, the tabu removed; thereupon the people raised a shout at the successful performance of the ceremony, and the removal of all tabu and restraint in view of its completion.
Now began the work of hewing out the canoe, the first thing being to taper the tree at each end, that the canoe might be sharp at stem and stern. Then the sides and bottom (kua-moo) were hewn down and the top was flattened (hola). The inner parts of the canoe were then planned and located by measurement.
The kahuna alone planned out and made the measurements for the inner parts of the canoe. But when this work was accomplished the restrictions were removed and all the craftsmen took hold of the work (noa ka oihana o ka waa).
Then the inside of the canoe was outlined and the pepeiao brackets, on which to rest the seats, were blocked out, and the craft was still further hewn into shape. A maku’u, or neck, was wrought at the stern of the canoe, to which the lines for hauling the canoe were to be attached.
When the time had come for hauling the canoe down to the ocean again came the kahuna to perform the ceremony called pu i ka wa'a, which consisted in attaching the hauling lines to the canoe-log. They were fastened to the maku’u. Before doing this the kahuna invoked the gods in the following prayer:
"O Ku-pulupulu, Ku-ala-na-wao, and Ku-moku-halii! look you after this canoe. Guard it from stem to stern until it is placed in the halau." After this manner did they pray.
The people now put themselves in position to haul the canoe. The only person who went to the rear of the canoe was the kahuna, his station being about ten fathoms behind it. The whole multitude of the people went ahead, behind the kahuna no one was permitted to go; that place was tabu, strictly reserved for the god of the kahuna kalai wa'a.
Great care had to be taken in hauling the canoe. Where the country was precipitous and the canoe would tend to rush down violently, some of the men must hold it back lest it be broken; and when it got lodged some of them must clear it. This care had to be kept up until the canoe had reached the halau, or canoe-house.
In the halau the fashioning of the canoe was resumed. First the upper part was shaped and the gunwales were shaved down; then the sides of the canoe from the gunwales down were put into shape. After this the mouth (waha) of the canoe was turned downwards and the iwi kaele, or bottom, being exposed, was hewn into shape. This done, the canoe was again placed mouth up and was hollowed out still further (kupele maloko). The outside was then finished and rubbed smooth (anai ia). The outside of the canoe was next painted black (paele ia). Then the inside of the canoe was finished off by means of the koi-owili, or reversible adze (commonly known as the kupa-ai ke'e).
After that were fitted on the carved pieces (na laau) made of ahakea or some other wood. The rails, which were fitted on to the gunwales and which were called mo'o (lizards) were the first to be fitted and sewed fast with sinnet or aha.
The carved pieces, called manu, at bow and stern, were the next to be fitted and sewed on, and this work completed the putting together of the body of the canoe (ke kapili ana o ka waa). It was for the owner to say whether he would have a single or double canoe.
If it was a single canoe or kaukahi, (cross-pieces), or iako and a float, called ama, were made and attached to the canoe to form the outrigger.
The ceremony of lolo-waa, consecrating the canoe, was the next thing to be performed in which the deity was again approached with prayer. This was done after the canoe had returned from an excursion out to sea.
The canoe was then carried into the halau, where were lying the pig, the red fish, and the cocoanuts that constituted the offering spread out before the kahuna. The kahuna kalai-waa then faced towards the bows of the canoe, where stood its owner, and said, "Attend now to the consecration of the canoe (lolo ana o ka waa), and observe whether it be well or ill done." Then he prayed:
O Ku-wa, o ka lani, o Ku-wa o ka honwa
Uplifter of the heavens, uplifter of the earth,
O Ku-wa o ka mauna, o Ku-wa o ka moana,
Uplifter of the mountains, uplifter of the ocean,
O Ku-wa o ka po, o Ku-wa o ke ao,
Who hast appointed the night, appointed the day,
O Malualani ke Ku-wa, o Malua-hopu ke Ku-wa,
Malualani is the Kuwa and Maluahopu,
Aia no ia ko’i la ke Ku-wa.
That ax also is a kuwa.
Ka wa’a nei o k luahine makua.
This is the ax of our venerable ancestral dame.
Ka luahine! Owai?
Venerable dame! What dame?
O ka luahine o Papa, wahine a Wakea.
Dame Papa, the wife of Wakea.
Nana i kuwa, nana i hainu,
She set apart and consecrated, she turned the tree about,
Nana i hele, nana i a’e,
She impelled it, she guided it,
Nana i hoonoanoa.
She lifted the tabu from it.
Noa ke kuwa o ka wa’a o Wakea.
Gone is the tabu from the canoe of Wakea.
O ka wa’a nei o ka luahine makua.
The canoe this of our ancestral dame.
Ka luahine! Owai?
Ancestral dame! What dame?
Ka lauhine o Lea, wahine a Moku-halii.
Dame Lea, wife of Moku-halii;
Nana i kuwa, nana i hainu,
She initiated, she pointed the canoe;
Nana i hele, nana i a’e,
She started it, she guided it;
Nana i hoonoanoa.
She lifted the tabu from it,
Noa ke kuwa o ka wa’a o Mokuhalii.
Lifted was the tabu from the canoe of Wakea.
Hinu helelei aku,
Fat dripping here;
Hinu helelei mai.
Fat dripping there.
He miki oe Kane,
Active art thou Kane;
He miki oe Kanaloa.
Active art thou Kanaloa.
O Kanaloa hea oe?
What Kanaloa art thou?
O Kanaloa inu awa.
Kanaloa the awa-drinker.
Mai Kahiki ka awa,
Awa from Tahiti,
Mai Upolu ka awa,
Awa from Upolu,
Mai Wawan ka awa.
Awa from Wawau.
E hano awa hua,
Bottle up the frothy awa,
E hano awa pauaka.
Bottle up the well strained awa.
Halapa i ke akua i laau wai la.
Praise be to the God in the highest heaven (laau)!
Amama, ua noa,
The tabu is lifted, removed.
Lele wale aku la.
It flies away.
When the kahuna had finished his prayer he asked of the owner of the canoe, '"How is this service, this service of ours?" Because if anyone had made a disturbance or noise, or intruded upon the place, the ceremony had been marred and the owner of the canoe accordingly would then have to report the ceremony to be imperfect. And the priest would then warn the owner of the canoe, saying, "Don't you go in this canoe lest you meet with a fatal accident."
If, however, no one had made a disturbance or intruded himself while they had been performing the lolo ceremony, the owner of the canoe would report "our spell is good" and the kahuna would then say, "You will go in this canoe with safety, because the spell is good" (maikai ka lolo ana).
If the canoe was to be rigged as part of a double canoe the ceremony and incantations to be performed by the kahuna were different. In the double canoe the iakos used in ancient times were straight sticks. This continued to be the case until the time of Keawe, when one Kanuha invented the curved iako and erected the upright posts of the the pola.
When it came to making the lashings for the outrigger of the canoe, this was a function of the utmost solemnity. If the lashing was of the sort called kumu-hele, or kumu-pou it was even then tabu; but if it was of the kind called kaholo, or Luukia (full name pa-u o Luukia), these kinds, being reserved for the canoes of royalty, were regarded as being in the highest degree sacred, and to climb upon the canoe, or to intrude at the time when one of these lashings was being done, was to bring down on one the punishment of death.
When the lashings of the canoe were completed a covering of mat was made for the canoe (for the purpose of keeping out the water) which mat was called a pa-u.
The mast (pou or kia) was set up in the starboard canoe, designated as ekea, the other one being called ama. The mast was stayed with lines attached to its top. The sail of the canoe, which was called la, was made from the leaves of the pandanus, which were plaited together, as in mat-making.
The canoe was furnished with paddles, seats, and a bailer. There were many varieties of the waa. There was a small canoe called kioloa. A canoe of a size to carry but one person was called a koo-kahi, if to carry two a koo-lua, if three a koo-kolu, and so on to the the koo-walu for eight.
The single canoe was termed a kau-kahi, the double canoe a kau-lua. In the time of Kamehameha I a triple canoe named Kaena-kane, was constructed, such a craft being termed a pu-kolu. If one of the canoes in a double canoe happened to be longer than its fellow, the composite craft was called a ku-e-e.
In case the carved bow-piece, manu-ihu, was made very broad the canoe was called a lele-iwi. A canoe that was short and wide was called a pou. Canoes were designated and classified after some peculiarity. If the bow was very large the canoe would be termed ihu-nui; one kind was called kupeulu.
In the reign of Kamehameha I were constructed the canoes called peleleu. They were excellent craft and carried a great deal of freight. The after part of these crafts were similar in construction to an ordinary vessel (i.e. was decked over). It was principally by means of such craft as these that Kamehameha succeeded in transporting his forces to Oahu when he went to take possession of that part of his dominion when he was making his conquests.
In these modern times new kinds of sea-going craft have multiplied, large, fine vessels they are, which we call moku (an island, a piece cut off).
A ship was like a section of the earth quietly moving through the water. On account of their great size, when the first ships arrived here, people flocked from remote districts to view them. Great were the benefits derived from these novel craft, the like of which had never been seen before.
Some of these vessels, or moku, were three-masted, some two-masted, some schooner-rigged, and some had but one mast.
The row boat, or waa-pa (waa-pa'a), is one of this new kind of craft. But even some of these new vessels, including row-boats, sometimes perish at sea.
It is not, however, so common an occurrence for this to happen to them as it used to be for canoes to founder in every part of this ocean.
Many blessings have come to this race through these new sea-going craft. It was by them the word of God was conveyed to these shores, which is a blessing greater than any sought for by the ancients.
What a pity that the ancients did not know of this new blessing, of the word of God and the great salvation through Jesus the blessed Redeemer.
Malo, David. Hawaiian Antiquities. Hawaiian Gazette, 1903.
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