Caroline Curtis
1998
Writing in the nineteenth century, Hawaiian historian Kepelino said, "However diligently the foreigner seeks, he cannot find all. He gets a fragment here and there and goes home." That is very true. I have read what is available, but changes came so rapidly after 1778 that much of the information about the life and customs of long-ago Hawaii is lost. My greatest help has come from Mary Kawena Pukui. As a little girl in Kau, on the island of Hawaii, she lived with a wise grandmother who told her much about the old ways and beliefs. Young as she was, she listened with deep interest and felt herself a part of the life of the early days. Later, as a translator for Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, she enlarged her knowledge. I hope this book will kindle in boys and girls, and in interested adults, the feeling which Mrs. Pukui has passed on to me about life in old Hawaii and will increase their respect for the wisdom and skill of the Hawaiian people. Like other peoples living close to the earth, the early Hawaiians were constantly aware of the creative forces underlying and permeating their daily lives. To the gods who emerged from this awareness they turned to ask for help and blessing for their undertakings and to give thanks for success and for all the good things of life.
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