Tsunami Saturday 2010 -- another day in Paradise

[james weatherford]

With Tusnami Saturday 2010 coming to a close, it is a good time to reflect on this force of nature we live with.

“The term tsunami comes from the Japanese, meaning "harbor" (tsu, ) and "wave" (nami)” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsunami#Etymology).

Is there a word in the Hawaiian language for this natural phenomenon?

In my own modest, and not-so-recent, reading of Hawaiian legends, there are terrific tales of forces of nature, especially wind, rain, and volcano. However, I do not immediately recall reports of giant waves rolling ashore and inland with destructive force, although there may well be such stories. Can anyone help out here?



James Weatherford, Ph.D.
15-1888 Hialoa
Hawaiian Paradise Park

[TomK]

James,

I can't answer your question about an Hawaiian name for a tsunami, but if you're interested then may I suggest you contact Walter Dudley at UH Hilo? His email address is available via http://www.uhh.hawaii.edu/directory/

He co-authored "Tsunami!" with Min Lee and I highly recommend the book to those who haven't read it before. You'll learn much about tsunamis, the effects they've had in Hawaii and how they work. You'll understand why today's warning and evacuation was taken so seriously after reading it!

This is an exerpt from an early edition of the book which might interest you (please excuse typos as I'm typing the words myself):

"Tsunamis have, no doubt, visited the shores of Hawaii since the islands first formed. It is almost certainly the occurrence of tsunamis that gave rise to the legends found in Hawaiian folklore of the sea engulfing the land (Malo 1951 [1]). One such story tells of a love affair between a woman who lived in the sea outside Waiakea, Hilo (an appropriate place for a tsunami legend) and the reigning king of the area, name Konikonia. The woman was lured ashore to sleep with the king, although she warned him that her family would come looking for her. It seems that her brothers were paoo fish, and in order for them to be able to search for her the sea would rise. Accordingly, after ten days had passed, "the ocean rose and overwhelmed the land from one end to the other" until it reached the door of Konikonia's house. Many were drowned, but "when the waters had retreated, Konikonia and his people returned to their land.""

[1] Malo, D. 1951, Hawaiian Antiquities. Honolulu: Bishop Museum Press.

Tom

[Kapohocat]

Did you see the interview yesterday with Walter Dudley on CNN?

and if so - does any one have a link to a clip?

[Erlinda]

According to the online Hawaiian dictionary Na Puke Wehewehe Olelo Hawai'i

http://www.wehewehe.org/

tidal wave:

Kai e#699;e, kai ho#699;#275;#699;e, kai a Pele. Receding sea, as before a tidal wave, kai mimiki

It also refers you to:

Kahinali#699;i

n. Name of a legendary chief in whose time was a great sea flood (HM 315), perhaps a tsunami.

From Hawaiian Folk Tales by Thomas G Thrum, 1907 (I found this in Google Books)

“Kahinalii was the mother of Pele; Kanehoalani was her father….When Pele set out on her journey, her parents gave her the sea to go with her and bear her canoes onward. So she sailed forward, flood-borne by the sea, until she reached the land of Pakuela, and thence onward to the land of Kanaloa. From her head she poured forth the sea as she went, and her brothers composed the celebrated ancient mele:

O the sea, the great sea!
Forth bursts the sea:
Behold, it bursts on Kanaloa!

But the waters of the sea continued to rise until only the highest points of the great mountains, Haleakala, Maunakea, and Maunaloa, were visible; all else was covered. Afterward the sea receded until it reached its present level. This event is called the Kai a Kahinalii (Sea of Kahinalii), because it was from Kahinalii, her mother, that Pele received the gift of the sea, and she herself only brought it to Hawaii.”

Heck of a tsunami!

[Erlinda]

Let me try this again:

Kai e'e, kai hoe'e, kai a Pele. Receding sea, as before a tidal wave, kai mimiki

Kahinali'i

Those okinas throw me all the time!

[james weatherford]

Mahalo nui loa!

James Weatherford, Ph.D.
15-1888 Hialoa
Hawaiian Paradise Park