THE SHARKS OF PU'ULOA
Pu'uloa is the old name of Pearl Harbor. Sharks lived there ruled by a chiefess called Ka'ahu.
Ka'ahu had once been a lovely girl. She and her family lived beside a little stream that flowed into Pu'uloa. Often Ka'ahu and her brother went down to the harbor to swim. For hours they swam and played about, happy as fish. A shark god liked to watch those children jump and swim. "They should be sharks," he thought, "and live in Pu'uloa." So he changed their form.
That night when the children did not return for food, their parents searched for them. The mother heard her husband calling. "There are sharks in our stream," he said, "young sharks."
She came quickly to stand beside the stream, and the two young sharks swam close. "They are not afraid," she said, "and see! They are opening their mouths for food. They're hungry!" She turned to her husband. "These are our children!" she exclaimed. "They have been changed to sharks and come to us, as always, for their food."
The man looked long as the two swam close, rubbing the bank and opening their mouths hungrily. Then he brought food. He gave each a drink of 'awa, then peeled bananas for them. When they had had enough they swam away, but next day they came again for food. All the relatives of those children heard how they were changed. "Shark sister and shark brother," they called the two. They saved food for them, hung leis about their necks, and played with them in Pu'uloa.
The day came when the two had grown so big they could no longer swim up the shallow stream for food. The relatives understood and carried 'awa and bananas to them in Pu'uloa. Years went by, Ka'ahu became the chiefess and her brother, Striking Tail, was also honored by the other sharks. The parents of those children died, but brothers, sisters, and other relatives still loved and fed the sharks.
One day Ka'ahu heard someone call her name and swam close to the bank. She found a relative, a kind old woman, who had brought leis. The woman hung the leis on the neck of the shark chiefess, but all the time she wept. "There was another lei," she said, "the best of all. Papio took it from me. As I was stringing golden 'ilima, Papio came. You know Papio. She is pretty, but very selfish. 'Give me that lei,' she said. 'No,' I told her, 'this is for the chiefess, Ka'ahu. You are rude to ask for it. Go away.' She left me and went surfing. I forgot her as I worked on that long golden lei. When it was finished, I held it in the sunshine to see its beauty. Suddenly it was gone. Papio had come back. She snatched the lei and ran, then turned to laugh at me. She hung it about her shoulders, dived into the water, and swam to that flat rock. There she lies sunning. Her hair floats on the little waves, and the lei I made for you lies on her breast. She is a wicked girl!" The old woman wept again.
Ka'ahu was very angry. "Come!" she shouted to a young shark who was passing. "Papio is a wicked girl and ought to die! You'll find her on a flat rock, sunning. Her hair floats on the water, and on her breast shines an 'ilima lei. She ought to die!"
The young shark swam away and soon returned. "The girl is dead, O heavenly one," he said.
Ka'ahu was very glad. "She was a wicked girl," the chiefess thought, "to take my lei." But her anger cooled when she thought of Papio's mother. Tonight, that woman would be waiting for her daughter to come home. She would go about the harbor hunting. "She is gone," someone would tell her sadly. "A shark has killed Papio." The mother would weep and, after that, would fear all sharks.
"I did wrong!" Ka'ahu told herself. "I had her killed, but cannot make her come to life." She called the sharks of Pu'uloa. "O my sharks," she said, "I, your chiefess, have done great wrong. In anger I ordered a young girl killed. We sharks can kill, but cannot make alive. Now that girl is dead, and her mother weeps. O my sharks, remember my wrongdoing! Hereafter man, woman, and child shall swim safely in Pu'uloa. We shall be their friends and their protectors. Remember, never harm them!"
"Your words are good, O heavenly one," the sharks replied.
Some people understood that they were safe in Pu'uloa. They played with all those sharks. Boys rode upon their backs, pressing behind an eye to make them turn. In return for the sharks' protection, people protected them. When strangers came, the people said," The sharks of Pu'uloa are our friends. No one may harm them."
So years came and went, for sharks live long. Now the grandchildren of their brothers and sisters brought food and leis to Ka'ahu and to Striking Tail. Because of years of friendship, people had come to trust all sharks in Pu'uloa.
Then, one day, there came a company of strange sharks. Ka'ahu herself swam to welcome them. "We are travelers," they told her. "We come from Maui, from Hawaii, and other islands. Perhaps we shall swim to Far Kahiki."
"You are welcome to Pu'uloa," Ka'ahu said again. She showed them food and guided them about the harbor.
"I see you have fine, fat crabs!" said one of the visitors snapping his jaws hungrily.
Ka'ahu saw his look turned toward a group of boys jumping from rocks, then swimming back to climb and jump again. "Fat crabs!" she thought, and called her brother. She swam aside with him. "These sharks are man-eaters," she whispered. "Spread the word that women and children leave the water quickly. And tell the men to stretch nets across the harbor mouth so that the man-eaters may be destroyed." The people trusted Ka'ahu and obeyed.
The man-eaters did not get the food they wanted, said farewell, and swam toward the harbor mouth. There they were tangled by the nets. Now Striking Tail and others fell upon them. All the man-eaters were killed. But some among the visitors were good. They, too, were trapped until a wise old leader made a way to safety. He called to the good sharks, then threw himself on one of the nets, holding it down. The good sharks swam through the opening he made and so escaped.
Next day people found the bodies of the man-eaters on the beach. They piled them up and burned them. "Our sharks have saved us," they said to one another. And trust and kindness grew between sharks and people of Pu'uloa.
Years later the navy planned to build a drydock at Pearl Harbor. When the old Hawaiians heard of the spot chosen, they shook their heads. They remembered that Ka'ahu's son had had his home in a cave beneath that spot. "Choose another place for your drydock," they said. "The spirit who guards the cave will not like men to build above it."
Those who planned the drydock did not listen, but built in the place which they had chosen. The drydock was of concrete, strong and heavy. When it was nearly finished, it suddenly collapsed. The roof of the shark's cave had broken, and all the work was lost. But no man was killed. "Ka'ahu loved people," the Hawaiians said, "and wanted no one killed at Pu'uloa."
Told to Mary Kawena Pukui by her uncle