Mae's Real Stories

Many of the old Hawaiian tales talk about things that we didn't see on our recent trip to the Big Island. Lenny and I have seen more things on our earlier trips: here are some photos to help imagine what the old tales are talking about.

The ancient Hawaiian chiefs wore special cloaks and helmets made of thousands of bird feathers. Sometimes the ancient tales mention these clothes. In war time, the chiefs tried to take the clothing of their enemies. The more they won, the more powerful they seemed. This photo is of a modern Hawaiian man dressed in an ancient chief's costume. We saw him at Honaunau at a special festival (June, 2004).

Also at this festival we saw some hula dancers, who danced to entertain the "chiefs."


We also saw some old-style outrigger canoes. Visitors to the festival could take a canoe ride -- but they had to wear modern life jackets. When the ancient Hawaiians traveled between islands, they used much bigger outrigger canoes.

This is a picture of the mountains of the Big Island seen from the shore of Maui. When the chiefs in outrigger canoes went from island to island, they had to cross the water between the two islands. This was a very difficult thing to do, as there are rough waters and strong currents in this channel. It is also very beautiful, as you can see.

All the Hawaiian islands are beautiful. This was our last look at Honolulu, from the plane as we flew home a few years ago.