The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1868-08-26
Hawaiian History, by Ha.
waiians.

The early history of all nations without s
literature, is necessarily traditionsry That
of the Hawaiians, previous TO the advent OF
the missionaries, is of course derivable from
the traditions handed down from father to
son, of those families Immediately attendant
upon the chiefs, known by the term of kGhI,
literally, body attendants These body SER
wants constituted a class of themselves, and
it was their province not only to wait on the
chiefs personally, but to carefully commit to
memory and to transmit to their successors,
| everything connected with the birth and line
age of their lords-quite after the style of
the bards and harpers of olden times in Brit
ain. On festive occasions, for the gratifca-
/ tion of the chiefs or the amusement of the
guests, these melss, as they were caIled-ryth-
mical chants-were recited BY the bards, and
thus became perpetuated from one genera
ton to another, the deeds and adventures of
the chiefs. Many of these nieies, when pruu-
ed Of the impurities so natural to an uncivil-
lied people, are found to be highly poetical,
and are particularly valuable as presenting
the only medium of ascertaining anything in
regard to Hawaiian history previous to what
we may term the conquest-the conquest of
civilization over barbarism But civilization,
with all its benefits, has not preserved the
nation. While it gave them letters and en-
lightened institutions of government, and
the religion of the Bible was made to take
the place of the old heather worship, the
people were taught to regard all ancient Gus
toms and habits as antagonistic to the new
order of things, and to be discouraged and
frowued upon. The meies, those sole records
of the history of the race, were prescribed
and stigmatized as idle remnants of barbar-
ism. Sothey fell into disuse, were forgotten,
or only recited in secret by the kGhus. Among
the many doubtless fabulous statements of
these ancient compositions, there were I'M
quesuonably some grains of truth, which if
preserved might have rescued from oblivion
many interesting circumstances to be woven
into the yet unwritten history of this inter
esting people. 1t is much to be regretted
that the early Christian teachers did not, in
stead Of discoursging, by ignoring if not in
terdicting these melss, at least have had them
written down for preservation and subse-
quent translation. Recently, that venerable
Hawaiian scholar and Ethnologist, the Rev.
Lorrin Andrews, commenced the work of
translating and rendering into English, some
of the most interesting of these ancient
poems, in which work he was assisted BY
Mr. Samuel NJ KaInakau, formerly member
of the Legislature, and among the earlier
graduates of Lahaiualuna Seminary. UnfoF-
tunstely, after the work had been begun and
was fairly progressing, Mr.. Andrews falling
eyesight compelled him TO abandon il, and
it now seems questionable whether any COM
peienf person with sufficient leisure at com
nand can be found to complete the under
taking.
In the native newspaper, the Klokoa, Mr.
kamakau has published during the last two
years in a series Of numbers, sketches of the
history Of the Kanehameha family, which
contain many interesting particulars and in
cidents not ineluded in any history hereto
fore published Some of these we propose to
reproduce in English in the columns of
the GAZETTE, commencing on the outside Of
to-day's issue.