An Account of the Polynesian Race - Its Origin and Migrations and the Ancient History of the Hawaiian People to the Times of Kamehameha I - Volume I

Abraham Fornander

Description

First published in 1877, this is volume II of “The Polynesian Race”, a fascinating treatise by Abraham Fornander on the subject of the origins of the Polynesian people. By comparing the Polynesian languages, mythology, genealogies, he surmised that Polynesians first came to the Pacific in Fiji in the 1st or 2nd centuries AD; and that they were in fact Aryans who had slowly but surely migrated through India and the Malay archipelago into the Pacific islands. This fascinating volume will appeal to anyone with an interest in Polynesia and the origins of its people, their language, customs, and more. Contents include: “Resume of Conclusions Arrived At”. “Names of Places Indicating Descent of Immigrants”, “Names of Cardinal Points Leading to the Same Conclusion”, “Legendary and Mythological Reminiscences”, etc. Many vintage books such as this are increasingly scarce and expensive. It is with this in mind that we are republishing this volume now in an affordable, high-quality, modern edition complete with a specially-commissioned new biography of the author.

Informations

• Publié par: Read Books Ltd.
• Date de parution: 22 mars 2021
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781528766951
• Langue: English

Extrait

AN ACCOUNT
OF
THE POLYNESIAN RACE
ITS ORIGIN AND MIGRATIONS
AND THE
ANCIENT HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN PEOPLE TO THE TIMES OF KAMEHAMEHA I .
BY
ABRAHAM FORNANDER,
CIRCUIT JUDGE OF THE ISLAND OF MAUI, H.I.
VOL. I.
Copyright 2017 Read Books Ltd.
This book is copyright and may not be reproduced or copied in any way without the express permission of the publisher in writing
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
As made up of legendary accounts of places and personages, it (mythology) is history; as relating to the genesis of the gods, the nature and adventures of divinities, it is religion. - Native Races of the Pacific States , H. H. Bancroft, vol. iii. p. 14.
It is now a recognised principle of philosophy, that no religious belief, however crude, nor any historical tradition, however absurd, can be held by the majority of a people for any considerable time as true, without having in the beginning some foundation in fact. . . . We may be sure that there never was a myth without a meaning; that mythology is not a bundle of ridiculous fancies invented for vulgar amusement; that there is not one of those stories, no matter how silly or absurd, which was not founded in fact, which did not once hold a significance. - Ibid ., vol. iii. pp. 16, 17.
The fact of an immigration, and the quarter from which it came, are handed down from father to son, and can scarcely be corrupted or forgotten, unless in the case where the people sink into absolute barbarism. -Essay ii. book vii. of Herodotus , edited by G. Rawlinson.
TO MY DAUGHTER
CATHERINE KAONOHIULAOKALANI FORNANDER ,
This Fork
IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED ,
AS A REMINDER OF HER MOTHER S ANCESTORS
AND AS
A TOKEN OF HER FATHER S LOVE .
ABR. FORNANDER.
CONTENTS.

VOL. I.
P REFACE
R sum of conclusions arrived at
Names of places indicating descent of immigrants
Names of cardinal points leading to same conclusion
Legendary and mythological reminiscences
Physical resemblance of Polynesian and pre-Malay tribes in Malaysia
Polynesian language, one of the oldest
Probate route of Polynesians into the Pacific and contact with Papuan tribes
Final halt on the Fiji group
Reminiscences of contact with Papuans
The Cushite people and civilisation as connected with Polynesian legends, myths, and cult
Traces of solar and serpent worship
Polynesian god Oro
Maui, Siwa, Lingam symbolism, sacrificial stones
The Hindu Yama and Polynesian Tangaroa compared
The Hawaiian goddess Pele , a personified reminiscence of an ancient religious schism; also considered etymologically
Polynesian national appellations: Take, Menehune
Further recollections of a Western origin
Polynesian accounts of creation; comparison with Hebrew and Chaldean versions; Hawaiian chants
The Hawaiian paradise, Kalana-i-Hauola, Pali-uli , the fountain of life, Wai-ola-loa-a-Kane
The tree of life, Ulu-kapu-a-Kane; the forbidden fruit and fall of man, with chants
Creation of angels, spirits, and their rebellion; the proper place of Kanaloa, Tangaroa
Remarks on the genealogies from the first man, Kumuhonua , to the Flood
Legends of the Flood
The descendants of Nuu , and apparent resemblance of Polynesian and Hebrew legends
Two hypotheses of such resemblance reviewed
Circumcision
Manner of burial
Of castes
The tabu
Tattooing
Holy waters
Cities of refuge
Division of the year
Names of months and days
Superstition
Human sacrifices
Cannibalism
Review of legend of Hawaii-loa
The mixed condition of the Polynesian family
The Polynesian language no kin to the Malay
Rev. S. J. Whitmee s opinion reviewed
The numeral system
R sum of foregoing data
Time of Polynesian arrivals in the Pacific-The Wakea period
Approximate division of periods
Hawaiian history: Wakea probably a chief in Gilolo
Marquesan migrations
The name Samoa considered
Samoans and Hawaiians came to the north of New Guinea, and Tongans and Marquesans to the south of it
H AWAIIAN G ENEALOGIES -
Kumuhonua
Kumu-uli
Opukahonua
Welaahilani , c.
Nana-Ulu -Genealogy
Ulu-Hema -Genealogy
Hana-laa-iki -Genealogy
Ulu-Puna -Genealogy
Remarks on the genealogies, their discrepancies, and their interpolations during the migratory period
Legend of Wakea and Papa
From K to Maweke and his contemporaries
A PPENDIX -
1. Legend of the world-egg
Other legends, Brahminical and Javanese
2. Te Vanana na Tanaoa (chant of), Marquesan chant of creation
3. Tahitian chant of Creation
4. Te Tai Toko (the Deluge), Marquesan chant
5. Baptismal chant, New Zealand
6. Hawaiian signs and omens
7. Sundry Hawaiian customs compared
8. J. Crawford s view of the introduction of Malay words in the Polynesian language reviewed
9. Comparative genealogical tables of Ulu and Nana-Ulu
PREFACE

W HEN a gentleman, whose genius and talents have secured for himself one of the curule chairs in the republic of letters, introduces a blushing aspirant, his name becomes a voucher for the respectability of the latter, and his favete linguis ensures an attentive hearing until the close of the performance. But we are not all born with a silver spoon, and many an author, like myself, has had to bear the double burden of introducing himself as well as his subject. But when a writer presents himself with new discoveries, and new ideas based upon them, the reader has a right to inquire who the writer is, and if his discoveries are genuine, before he exercises his judgment upon the ideas submitted for his acceptance. It is meet and proper, therefore, on entering upon ground so little travelled as that of Polynesian Arch ology, on presenting myths and legends to the inspection of the literary world some of which have never darkened a sheet of paper before, that I should state my right to present them, how I came by them, and also the lights which guided and the aids which assisted me on the journey.
Thirty-four years residence in the Hawaiian group; nineteen years position in various offices under the Government; a thorough local and personal knowledge of every section of the group, acquired during numerous journeys; my knowledge of the language, and the fact-though with all due modesty I state it-that I am well known, personally or by reputation, to every man within the group, from the King on the throne to the poorest fisherman in the remotest hamlet;-all these considerations give me a right to speak on behalf of the Polynesian people, to unveil the past of their national life, to unravel the snarled threads of their existence, and to pick up the missing links that bind them to the foremost races of the world,-the Arian and the Cushite.
Thus much, though reluctantly, I have felt bound to say in vindication of my right to be the spokesman of a people whom no one knew till a hundred years ago, and whom no one even now recognises as a chip of the same block from which the Hindu, the Iranian, and the Indo-European families were fashioned.
When first I entertained the idea of preparing myself for a work on Polynesian Arch ology, I employed two, sometimes three, intelligent and educated Hawaiians to travel over the entire group and collect and transcribe, from the lips of the old natives, all the legends, chants, prayers, c., bearing upon the ancient history, culte, and customs of the people, that they possibly could get hold of. This continued for nearly three years. Sometimes their journeys were fortunate, sometimes rather barren of results; for the old natives who knew these things were becoming fewer and fewer every year, and even they-as is well known to every one that has had any experience in the matter-maintain the greatest reserve on such subjects, even to their own countrymen; and to a foreigner, unless most intimately and favourably known, any such revelation is almost impossible. The labours of my employees, however, were crowned with results exceeding my expectations, and I am now in possession of probably the greatest collection of Hawaiian lore in or out of the Pacific. It took me a long time, during leisure moments from official duties, to peruse, collate, and arrange these materials, and, though they are filled with much that was worthless for my purpose, yet I found very many pearls of invaluable price to the antiquarian and historian.
To this expos of my own pursuits, I would only add that, during my many journeys from one end of the group to the other, I never omitted an opportunity in my intercourse with the old and intelligent natives to remove a doubt or verify a fact bearing upon the work I had in hand.
Among Hawaiian authors and antiquarian literati, to whom I gratefully acknowledge my obligations, are, in the first place, his Majesty King K ALAKAUA , to whose personal courtesy and extensive erudition in Hawaiian antiquities I am indebted for much valuable information; the late Hon. L ORRIN A NDREWS ; and the late D AVID M ALO , whose manuscript collections were kindly placed at my disposal by the Honourable Board of Education; the late Dr. J OHN R AE of Hana, Maui, who, in a series of articles published in the Polynesian (Honolulu, 1862), first called attention to the extreme antiquity of the Polynesian language; the late Hon. S. M. K AMAKAU , with whom I have conferred both often and lengthily; the late Rev. Mr. D IBBLE , whose