Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 22, Number 8, 1 ʻAukake 2005 — Tale of Keahiʻāloa tells of family's adoption customs [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Tale of Keahiʻāloa tells of family's adoption customs

By Claire Hughes , Dr.PH., R.D.

In ancient days, a young girl named Keahi'āloa was adopted by her mother's oldest sister, who took her to live on Kaua'i. Before long, the aunt began to neglect Keahi'āloa, leaving the child to wander in search of food and shelter. Keahi'āloa became emaciated and weak. One night, the girl eame upon the sweet-potato patch of an older eouple. She hungrily ate the raw potatoes and then fell asleep in exhaustion. The next morning, the old woman went to harvest potatoes for breakfast and found bits of chewed potatoes scattered about the garden. The woman guessed that a turtle had chewed up her potatoes and called for her husband's help in finding the responsible honu. Instead, they found Keahi'āloa fast asleep. They took the girl for their own, delighted to finally have a child, and named her Honu. Soon, it was clear that Honu possessed gifts of magic. She could foretell future events and often made mysterious journeys into the mountains, always returning adorned with sweet-scented maile, scarlet lehua blossoms or mokihana. Years passed, and one day Honu predicted to her adoptive parents that a stranger would soon arrive and propose marriage to her. She said they could all live like chiefs if

they would follow her guidance. The next day, she took them up into the mountain to gather taro and 'awa, and then to the seashore to catch fish. The following morning at daybreak, the stranger indeed appeared. The son of a land agent, he had been inspecting the chief's fishponds and had wandered off the path in the darkness and was unable to find it again. When he reached the elderly couple's house, he was hungry, tired and shivering with cold. The eouple welcomed the young stranger, and Honu prepared for him the food they had gathered. After eating, the young man asked the elderly eouple if Honu was their daughter. The eouple said she was. "What would you say if I asked for her to become my wife," he ventured. They suggested that he ask her directly. He did, and the girl accepted. The young man returned home and announced to his parents that he had found a wife. Immediately, preparations began on a new grass house, mats, clothes and all things the young eouple would need. About this time, Keahi'āloa's birth parents finally learned about her mistreatment at the hands of her aunt, and how she had wandered off and was lost years before. Her father was furious with his sister-in-law and chided his wife for giving

their child to her irresponsible older sister. The distraught parents soon boarded a eanoe bound for Kaua'i to look for their daughter. While at sea, the father was visited by his 'aumakua in the form of a shark, who offered to guide him to his child, saying her house would have a rainbow resting on it. The wedding day drew close. Honu told her hānai parents that during the next five nights, their sleep might be disturbed by sounds of work. She asked them to ignore the disturbances and continue to sleep, and so they did. On the first morning, they found two shade hale built beside the house. On the second morning, they found carved wooden bowls. On the third, they found a huge pile of firewood. The next morning, the firewood was gone and the bowls were filled with cooked and pounded taro. This confirmed their suspicions that Honu's forest companions were menehune, but they said nothing, as they knew this was the work of good spirits. That night, they heard the rattling of pebbles on the beach, and in the morning they found that all manner of oeean delicacies had been prepared. Honu predicted to the elderly eouple that her long-lost birth

parents would be arriving that day to join in the marriage festivities. Sure enough, after her intended husband and his family had arrived and were being seated, a rainbow appeared above the house, and soon her parents stood before them. Keahi'āloa's father wept and declared his love for her and sorrow for her mistreatment. Everyone was overwhelmed. Keahi'āloa told her father of the elderly couple's loving care and her great love for them. She said she had agreed to marry the son of the land agent. Her parents readily consented, and the young eouple was married the next day. At the end of the wedding feast, Keahi'āloa rose and said, "Children of a younger brother or sister should not be given in adoption to an older brother or sister, lest they die. Only an older brother's or sister's child should be given to a younger sibling so that they ean prosper." To this day, the descendents of Keahi'āloa adhere to their ancestor's recommendation. The story of Keahi'āloa tells of the origin of a family's adoption custom. This story also tells of the extraordinary compassion and aloha of older adoptive parents, such as the eouple who rescued Keahi'āloa and filled her life with security and love. TJ

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