Talk:Lono
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My understanding was that Lono-i-ka-makahiki, the one associated with Cook, was a deified chief/king and not the same as Lono, the ancient rain god. It is odd, after all, for a god like Lono to "leave" Hawaii promising to return. Can someone clarify this? KarlM 06:05, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
You are in error. Cook was mistaken for the great god, Lono, Lono of the triad god-head of Kane, Ku and Lono called 'lahui akua,' not the later [Paramount Chief/Ali'i Nui] Lono-i-ka-makahiki, son of [Paramount Chief/Ali'i Nui] Keawe-a-Umi. Ali'i Nui Lono-i-ka-makahiki did not leave Hawai'i for Kahiki [foreign land] and promise to return at a later time, but the great god Lono did.
According to Beckwith, relating a version provided by Henry Lyman (a descendent of a chiefly family), Lono Akua (Lono the God), in a fit of jealous rage, killed his human wife, Kaikilani-ali'i-o-Puna, then, in remorse, instituted the Makahiki festival in her honor. He then traveled the island in a maddened rage, challenging anyone to wrestle with him, finally stopping to build a fantastic canoe, loading it with provisions provided by the area's people. The canoe is so large 40 men are needed to lift it from its construction site (Hale Wa'a) to take it to the sea, where....."Lono sails forth alone. His words of promise to the people are that he will return to them, not by canoe but on an island shaded by trees, covered over by coconuts, swarming with fowl and swine."
Cook first landed at Ke-ala-ke-kua (the way of the Gods) Bay, on the island now called Hawai'i, but originally named Lono-nui-akua (The Great God Lono). It was there at Ke-ala-ke-kua where Lono and his wife Kaikilani lived, and where he killed her. It is here where the annual Makahiki procession began, with the land always to the right side, circling the island to collect annual taxes for the Ali'i Nui, the other ranking Chiefs and the Priests. During this procession a god image was carried, called Lono-makua (Parent/Father Lono) which could be seen from afar due to its size. According to David Malo it consisted of a vertical pole, about "two fathoms long" with a foot-long standing god figure, Lono-makua, carved at the top end. A pole/crosspiece just below the the god figure stretched about 16 feet, lashed to the vertical pole at the crosspiece's mid-point. From the crosspiece hung a long, wide swath of the finest white tapa, as long as the vertical pole and as wide as the crosspiece. It was fixed to the crosspiece by fine cord, and decorated by streamers of finely made, colorful feather leis at each end. The white tapa billowed in the breeze as a sail on a ship does when fully let. And, according to Malo, it was the sight of the billowed sails of the Resolution and Discovery that caused Kanaka Maoli (native men) to imagine that Cook was the great god Lono, returned at last to the place he departed from in ages past. 12.44.115.43 07:42, 18 May 2007 (UTC)
