Na Mea Hunahuna o ka Nuhou
Selected Articles from Hawaiian Language Newspapers
63 pages, $12.95
We couldn’t resist–this rarified collection of articles translated into English from 19th century Hawaiian-language newspapers is too near to our hearts, and too important, to miss.
Malcolm Naea Chun pulls back the linguistic and historic shroud to reveal the character of intellectual discourse in post-contact Hawai’i, and the results are often as delightful as they are surprising.
Many of the pieces are versions of Hawaiian legends, which are interesting mostly by point of comparison to contemporary versions. Others emerge out of the shadowy realm between myth and history, among them a brief but chilling account of maverick cannibals who lived near present-day Helemano Plantation, snatching wayward travelers.
One entry is a letter to the editor of Ka Hae Hawaii, explaining that a recently published Hawaiian calendar overlooked island-to-island differences in the lunar system. “This is the proper procedure to work this out,” the writer implores. “Go and ask the old timers. They will correctly tell and explain it to you.”
COMMENTS
We often print online comments in our “Letters to the Editor” section of Honolulu Weekly. While submitted letters are often edited for length and clarity, online comments we use are printed entirely as they are written for the website. If you do not wish for your comment to be used in Honolulu Weekly print issues, please write “Don’t Print” at the end of your comment. For questions, e-mail editorial@honoluluweekly.com. Thank you!