Menehune
The Menehune ( Hawaiian , also melehune ) are the "little people" of Hawai'i . These figures in Hawaiian mythology are said to be small creatures in human form with magical powers.
They are said to be widespread on all the islands of Hawaii, especially on Kaua'i . But you can hardly ever see them because they are usually hidden deep in the forest and in remote places. They are excellent builders who can create true masterpieces overnight.
The assumption arises again and again that the Menehune did not simply spring from fantasy, but that the legend has an actual historical background. The Menehune are said to have been the first Hawai'i settlers who settled on Hawaii between 1 and 350 AD. When the island was occupied by people from Tahiti around 1100 , the Menehune were suppressed by the physically larger invaders. Fearing the new masters, they withdrew to far-off, inaccessible places.
Historians see a connection between Menehune and the Tahitian word "manahune", which means a people of low social rank.
literature
- Katharine Luomala : The Menehune of Polynesia and Other Mythical Little People of Oceania ". (= Bernice P. Bishop Museum Bulletin ; Volume 203). Bernice P. Bishop Museum, Honolulu 1951. (Also: Kraus Reprint, Millwood, NY, 1986) .
- Martha Beckwith : Hawaiian mythology. Yale University Press, New Haven 1940, pp. 321-328 (Chapter XXIII: Mu and Menehune People) in the Sacred Texts Archive .
Web links
- Hāʻena: The Ancients ( Memento of April 9, 2014 in the Internet Archive )