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Overview
Forbes’s account gives Kana blazing eyes, far-reaching hands and tears heavy enough to soak those beside him. With his younger brother Niheu, he undertakes a voyage to recover Hina from Kapeepeekauila’s elevated stronghold. A magical rod helps the voyagers pass dangerous reefs, water and animal defenders. When an initial rescue fails, Kana grows upward from the canoes while his opponent makes the cliff rise.
The contest stretches Kana until he is thin as a spider’s strand. He then lies across the sea with his body in Hawaiʻi and feet at Molokaʻi, receiving food from Uli. Her later advice identifies the tree branches sustaining the cliff’s growth. By removing them, Kana succeeds and breaks portions of Haupū into the sea. The narrative explains the Rocks of Kana while showing that instruction and nourishment support supernatural strength.
Origins & earliest records
A. O. Forbes’s named chapter appears in Thrum’s 1907 collection. This record preserves one narrated relationship among Kana, Niheu, Uli and the Molokaʻi landscape. It is not a secure first attestation or a reconstruction of oral origins. Other versions of Kana’s birth, body and exploits need their own witnesses.
Records & interpretation
The chapter directly describes extending limbs, bodily thinning, recovery through feeding and the final destruction of the cliff. Those actions distinguish this figure from an ordinary tall warrior. The text and its place associations provide narrative evidence, not measurements of a biological giant or scientific verification of the named rocks’ formation.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
Hawaiian Folk Tales, VIII: Kapeepeekauila; Or, The Rocks of Kana
Selected inspected chapter; a dated collected witness, not a comprehensive bibliography.
- 02
Hawaiian Folk Tales: A Collection of Native Legends
Chicago: A.C. McClurg,1907; selected contributor credited.
Family, evolution & connections
Niheu
Hawaiian Folk Tales VIII calls Niheu Kana’s younger brother as Kana orders him to build the rescue canoe. Their contrasting abilities and quarrels are part of the selected narrative. This records the explicit sibling statement rather than inferring kinship from joint action; it does not merge Kana’s Hina with every Hina appearing in other Pacific traditions.
Uli
In Hawaiian Folk Tales VIII, Niheu directs Hakalanileo to Kana and explicitly calls Kana the foster son of Uli. That is a documented foster relationship, distinct from the same chapter’s identification of Hina as his mother. It is not treated as biological parentage, and no adoption procedure or wider genealogy is invented from the single named relationship.
Hina in The Rocks of Kana
Hawaiian Folk Tales VIII expressly calls Hina Kana’s mother when introducing her marriage to Hakalanileo. Later, Kana is also called Uli’s foster son. The maternal connection records the chapter’s named birth-family relationship while keeping fostering separate. It does not identify this Hina with Hinauri in Grey’s Māori stories or supply additional ancestors solely from shared names.
Located primary passages
Specific passages supporting details in this entry, grouped by their published witness.
Hawaiian Folk Tales: A Collection of Native Legends
Chicago: A.C. McClurg,1907; selected contributor credited.
- Kana sets out with the magic rod Waka-i-lani.
- Kana lengthens himself upward from the canoes to tower over Haupu.
- After following Uli’s advice, Kana wins and tears down Haupu, leaving the rocks named for him.
Documents this credited English collected version, not a universal account of Hawaiian tradition. European terms such as crocodile are historical translator choices, not evidence of native fauna. Collector racial or cultural generalizations are not adopted.
Encyclopedia background
An additional attributed reference, separate from the editorial profile above.
Read the open encyclopedia overview
In Hawaiian mythology, the Kupua are a group of supernatural entities which might be considered gods or spirits (see also Atua).
Hawaiian myths and legends abound with such characters. They are traditionally described as monsters having the power of appearing in different kinds of bodies. They usually have cruel and vindictive characters and are ready to destroy and devour any persons they can catch. There are, however, many kupuas of kindly spirit who give watchful care to the members of their own families.
Many Hawaiian kupua are considered as gods having a double body, sometimes appearing as a man and sometimes being able to change shape, into an animal, vegetable, or mineral form. The latter form always possesses supernatural powers. William Westervelt mentions the following classification for kupua:
Ka-poe-kino-lau (the people who had leaf bodies)
Ka-poe-kino-pua (the people who had flower bodies)
Ka-poe-kino-manu (the people who had bird bodies)
Ka-poe-kino-laau (trees of all kinds, ferns, vines, etc.)
Ka-poe-kino-pupu (all shells)
Ka-poe-kino-ao (all clouds)
Ka-poe-kino-maani (all winds)
Ka-poe-kina-ia (all fish)
Ka-poe-kina-mano (all sharks)
Ka-poe-kina-limu (all sea-mosses)
Ka-poe-kina-pokaku (all peculiar stones)
Ka-poe-kina-hiwa-hiwa (all dangerous places of the pali)
Text from Wikipedia contributors, “Kupua”. CC BY-SA 4.0. Extracted introduction; formatting changed. Retrieved 5 October 2026. The source article may have changed since retrieval.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Primary textHawaiian Folk Tales, VIII: Kapeepeekauila; Or, The Rocks of KanaResearch access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
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