Hawaiian Cultural Figures

My neighbor Sue dropped by today with a book for me called "Huna: Ancient Hawaiian Secrets for Modern Living" by Serge Kahili King, PhD. She had seen this blog and wanted to contribute to my "root quest." How thoughtful!

The introduction is about "kahuna" which is often misinterpreted and misunderstood. There are many different meanings to it, which have changed over the years, but, briefly, it's like a PhD: you're a doctor in some subject, which may or may not be medical. A kahuna is generally a priest, but not necessarily a religious priest; it's an expert in some subject.

I have a great aunt who's a kahuna, so this discussion of what a kahuna is interested me. I'm not sure what Auntie Momi's subject of expertise is, but I've been to her heiau (ancient Hawaiian temple).

The other part of the book I perused was the Hawaiian Cultural Figures. I was proud to recognize four out of five of them! Not bad!
1. King Kamehameha the Great: of course, everyone knows him; he joined the islands into the kingdom of Hawaii.
2. King Kalakaua: I know him from hula! The first hula dance I learned, Kawika, is about him.
3. Duke Kahanamoku: introduced surfing to the world
4. Queen Lili'uokalani: There is a beautiful park in Hilo, where my grandparents lived and where my mom now lives, named after her. She was the last queen of Hawaii.
5. Ka'ahumanu: (This is the one I hadn't heard of before.) Favorite wife of Kamehameha.

So there's my little bit of Hawaiian for today. Thanks, Sue!