09-08-2014, 05:12 AM
quote:DaVinci, until "Noeau" can respond, please allow me to share this extensive document, The Kumulipo.
Originally posted by DaVinci
@Noeau: I'm having difficulty with your bibliography. Could you perhaps identify the resources that deal with pre-1840 Hawaiian history? The first two volumes don't seem to cover that period, and I would be I your debt if you could point me directly at the source material that discusses the period of first contact, from, say, Captain Cook through the first landing of missionaries. Thanks.
(*Snipped from link)
This is Queen Liliuokalani's translation of the Hawaiian Creation chant, the Kumulipo. She translated this while under house arrest at Iolani Palace, and it was subsequently published in 1897. This is an extremely rare book which was republished (in a very scarce edition) by Pueo Press in 1978.
The Kumulipo's composition is attributed to one of Liliuokalani's eighteenth century ancestors, Keaulumoku, just prior to European contact. It is a sophisticated epic which describes the origin of species in terms that Darwin would appreciate.
The Kumulipo is also available at this site in the 1951 translation of Martha Warren Beckwith, with comprehensive analysis and the complete Hawaiian text. However Liliuokalani's version is of some historical significance. The last Queen of Hawaii, Liliuokalani was extremely literate, and steeped in Hawaiian tradition. She was the author of the well-known Hawaiian anthem, Aloha 'Oe as well as a Hawaiian history book, Hawai'i's Story by Hawai'i's Queen.
http://www.sacred-texts.com/pac/lku/