XXXIII.— THE HULA PUA'A 



The hula pua\i rounds out the number of animal-dances that have 

 survived the wreck of time, or the memory of which has come down 

 to us. It was a dance in which only the olapa took part without the 

 aid of instrumental accompaniment. AVomen as well as men were 

 eligible as actors in its performance. The actors put much spirit 

 into the action, beating the chest, flinging their arms in a strenuous 

 fashion, throwing the body into strained attitudes, at times bending 

 so far back as almost to touch the floor. This energy seems to have 

 invaded the song, and the cantillation of the mele is said to have been 

 done in that energetic manner called «^-Aa'tf. 



The hula pua'a seems to have been native to Kauai. The author 

 has not been able to learn of its performance within historic times 

 on any other island. 



The student of Hawaiian mythology naturally asks whether the 

 hula pua'a concerned itself with the doings of the mythological 

 hog-deit}^ Kama-pua'a whose amour with Pele was the scandal of 

 Hawaiian mythology. It takes but a superficial reading of the mele 

 to answer this question in the affirmative. 



The following mele, or oli more properly, which was used in con- 

 nection with the hula pua'a, is said to have been the joint production 

 of two women, the daughters of a famous bard named Kana, who was 

 the reputed brother of Limaloa (long-armed), a wonder-working 

 hero who piled up the clouds in imitation of houses and mountains 

 and who produced the mirage : 



Oli 



Ko'i maka nui,* 

 Ike ia na pae moku, 

 Na nioku o Mala-la-waln,* 

 Ka uoho a Ka-maulu-a-iiilio, 

 5 Kupiuia o Kama-pua'a. 



"Ko'i maka nuL The word maka, which from the connection here must mean the 

 edge of an ax, is the word generally used to mean an eye. Insistence on their peculiarity 

 leads one to think that there must have been something remarkable about the eyes of 

 Kama-pua'a. One account describes Kama-pua'a as having eight eyes and as many feet. 

 It is said that on one occasion as Kama-pua'a was lying in wait for Pele in a volcanic 

 bubble in the plains of Puna Pele's sisters recognized his presence by the gleam of his 

 eyes. They immediately walled up the only door of exit. 



* Mala-la-walu. A celebrated king of Maui, said to have been a just ruler, who was 

 slain in battle on Hawaii while making war against Ijono-i-ka-makahiki, the rightful ruler 

 of the island. It may be asked if the name is not introduced here because of the word 

 walu (eight) as a reference to Kama-pua'a's eight eyes. 



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