A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

Overview

Kaneapua leaves Wahanui’s canoe afloat and dives to Honunuikuaeaea, whom he calls his grandmother. He first explains that her orientation will determine their danger or safety, then calls for her to turn her face upward. She asks whose descendant he is; his answer establishes the family connection.

After recognizing Kaneapua, she embraces him weeping and asks why he has come. He requests a mooring rope. Honunuikuaeaea gives her intestines, which he carries to the surface and ties to the canoe. The text subsequently narrates a ten-day storm, followed by the travellers’ continued voyage. The English translation does not expressly call her a turtle, but the facing Hawaiian text refers to her as ka honu, the turtle, when she gives the rope. It does not supply a further description of her animal anatomy.

Undersea dwellingNamed grandmotherIntestinal mooring cord
01

Origins & earliest records

Fornander Collection IV, Legend of Wahanui, printed pp. 516–522; selected encounter on p. 518, with Hawaiian on facing pages. Translations revised and edited by Thrum from the collected Hawaiian manuscript corpus.

02

Records & interpretation

The complete voyage account identifies these named beings and narrates the encounter on p. 518. The historical English wording is followed without supplying a modern species identification.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

  1. 01

    Fornander Collection IV: Legend of Wahanui, pp. 516–522

    Hawaiian manuscript collection gathered by Abraham Fornander; translations revised and edited by Thomas G. Thrum · 1916–1917

    Complete voyage and return ending; encounter on p. 518. Individual narrator not identified in this edition.

  2. 02

    Fornander CollectionIV: Legend of Wahanui: Honunuikuaeaea

    Hawaiian manuscript collection gathered by Abraham Fornander; edited by Thomas G. Thrum · 1916–1917

    Fornander Collection of Hawaiian Antiquities and Folk-lore, first series, Memoirs of the Bernice Pauahi Bishop MuseumIV, Honolulu: Bishop Museum Press,1916–1917. Hawaiian manuscript collection gathered by AbrahamFornander with native helpers; English translations largely supervised by W.D.Alexander, revised and edited by ThomasG.Thrum, as the independently read preface states. No particular tale’s otherwise unnamed translator or informant is invented.

Family, evolution & connections

Documented · canonical kinship

Kaneapua in the Wahanui telling

Kaneapua calls Honunuikuaeaea his grandmother, and their encounter confirms that relationship. The English passage does not name the intervening parent or specify a turtle body.

Fornander Collection IV: Wahanui, English p. 518

Located primary passages

Specific passages supporting details in this entry, grouped by their published witness.

Fornander Collection IV: Legend of Wahanui, pp. 516–522

Fornander Collection of Hawaiian Antiquities and Folk-lore, first series, Memoirs of the Bernice Pauahi Bishop MuseumIV, Honolulu: Bishop Museum Press,1916–1917. Hawaiian manuscript collection gathered by AbrahamFornander with native helpers; English translations largely supervised by W.D.Alexander, revised and edited by ThomasG.Thrum, as the independently read preface states. No particular tale’s otherwise unnamed translator or informant is invented.

  1. Kaneapua identifies Honunuikuaeaea as his grandmother beneath the sea. He explains that the orientation of her body can mean death or safety for the canoe, dives and asks her to turn face upward. She asks his descent and name, recognizes him and weeps over him. When he asks for mooring, she gives her intestines, which he takes to the canoe as a rope. The travellers withstand Kane and Kanaloa’s ten-day windstorm. Their subsequent landing, Wahanui’s fulfilled objective and eventual fatal disobedience are separate from her intervention.

    Printed518, complete undersea meeting; surrounding English516/518/520/522 read

Selected historical English rendering only; Hawaiian facing pages not independently retranslated, entire collection not claimed read. Individual tale informant/translator not named in the inspected witness; Thrum revision and Alexander-supervised translation preserved. Existing public access is not a blanket worldwide reuse licence.

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

  1. Primary textFornander Collection IV, original bilingual scanResearch access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

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