02-27-2010, 04:53 PM
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
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