Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 2, Number 11, 1 Nowemapa 1985 — He Mau Ninau Ola [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

He Mau Ninau Ola

Some Health Questions by Kekuni BIaisdell, M.D.

Q: E kauka, how eome you give only the haole side of sickness of Kamehameha; how about the Hawaiian side? A:We have no writings by any po'e Hawai'i who were direct witnesses to the ruler's passing in May, 1819, in Kailua-Kona i mokupuni Hawai'i. The first known

native accounts were compiled at least 16 years later, 183536, from unidentified informants by students at Lahainaluna School, such as David Malo. Thereafter, from 1839 to 1858, these accounts were edited and published as mo'olelo (history) by the missionary teachers John Progue and Sheldon Dibble, and even later in 1867, 48 years after the king's death, by ex-missionary scholar and newspaper writer Samuel Kamakau. Kamehameha "was a long time ill," wrote Kamakau. How long and with what symptoms, and what diagnosis and therapy by his prominent kahuna lapa'au (native physicians) were not recorded. He did not improve, so he was told that he must plaee himself in the hands of the god, "who alone has power over life and death." This god was Kuka'ilimoku for whom a hale (house) of 'ohi'a was constructed with plans for human sacrifice. People in the vicinity of Kamakahonu fled, fearing they would be sacrificial victims. But the king forbade the killing with the famous hua'olelo (words); "He kanaka na ke aln" (The people belong to the ehieO, referring to his son and heir Liholiho.

During the kauila ceremony whieh followed, Kuka'ilimoku's feathers did not move to project outward, nor did the image of the god fly to the body of the king as ho'ailona (omens) of therapeutic benefit. lnstead, the patient became so nawaliwali (weak) , he said to Liholiho of the next scheduled ritual: "E hele i ka pule a kou akua, 'a'ole au e hiki" (go to the prayer of your god; I cannot). With persistent failure of the monarch to recover, two additional hale akua were built: one for the male god Pua, a form of Kalaipahoa, and one for the female god Kapo, and with special ceremonies at eaeh hale. But again, the old chief failed to rally, so after three days, he was returned to his hale moe (sleeping). That night, he was taken to the hale mua (front house for the men only) where he swallowed only one mouthful of mea 'a5 (food) and sorne wai (water). A chief at his side pressed Kamehameha for a parting statement. After some hesitancy, the king uttered his last words: "E 'oni wale no 'oukou i ku'u pono 'a'ole e pau" (Strive to improve my good work whieh is unfinished).

John Young, the king's haole eompanion, then embraced him. Ulumaheihei, to whom the king had given the name Hoapili and his highest-born wahine Keopuolani, followed, whispering that he be given resp>onsibility for the dying warrior's iwi (bones). At midnight, the weakened ruler was taken again to the hale mua for prayers. He was carried back and forth to prevent his dying in, and therefore defiling, the kapu hale mua. Two hours later, at 2 a.m., the old king died in the hale moe, on "May 18, 1819, at the age of 83 years," wrote Kamakau in one plaee, and then on another page, "on the night of Hoku, May (Ka'elo) 14 according to the O'ahu calendar." [Thus the name Leleiohoku (flight at Hoku) for one of Kamehameha's grandsons]. Prime minister Kalanimoku immediately convened a eouneil meeting. A chief proposed that they all eat the body to hide it. Ka'ahumanu protested: "The body does not belong to us, it belongs to the ruler [meaning Liholiho]. What belongs to us is gone — the hanu (breath)." Hoapili then said: "The body belongs to my chief (Liholiho) and to me. We two alone have the right; so Kamehameha willed.." The body was then carried to the hale mua for the 'uko (mourning) ceremony . There, a pua'a (pig) was offered for the king's 'uhane (spirit) to join his 'aumakua (ancestors). Kahuna nui Hewahewa offered a pua'a to huikala (purify) and ma'ema'e (cleanse) Liholiho from haumia (defilement) by his closeness to the dead body of his father. The chiefs decided the young prince should go to Kohala to be free of further contamination until after the t>ody had been processed and na iwi hidden.

Dawn eame. The corpse was carried to the hale lua (dead house). When ka po'e saw that their leader was hala (dead), they wailed, lamented and recited their aloha for the departed chief. Some offered themselves as moe pu'u (death eompanions), but they were prevented, since the late king had put a kapu upon the p>eople for Liholiho. Some believed that Kamehameha had died "naturally of disease [whieh?] and old age," but others believed his death was the result of 'ana'ana (sorcery). Therefore, some kahuna kuni (counter-sorcerers) set up their banners and fires to punish those whom they believed had initiated the king's death. Whereupon Kahekili Ke'eaumoku, brother of Ka'ahumanu, in a drunken stupor, broke up these kuni ceremonies. Thus, wrote the native chroniclers, some people believe that Ka'ahumanu and her 'ohana were responsible for Kamehameha's death. And so, as is often with history, including a modern interpretation whieh I related last month, uncertainty and eontroversy remain, 166 years after this notable event. Po'e heluhelu (readers) are irivtted to send in your versions and ninau, ke'olu'olu.