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Overview

Moke Manu’s account, translated by M. K. Nakuina, presents Ku-ula in human form at Lehoula, Aleamai, in the Hana district of Maui. He lives with Hinapukuia and their son Aiai. His extraordinary power brings fish under his control, and the family’s coastal pond contains plentiful food that he shares with local people and the king. The chapter distinguishes this sea-associated Ku-ula from his brother Ku-ula-uka, who prefers work on land. It also frames the narrated version as a condensed account from older Maui people, while acknowledging other island accounts. The name therefore belongs here to a particular family, landscape and chain of obligations.

Trouble follows the killing of Koona, a great eel that has raided the pond. Koona’s keeper comes from Wailau, Molokai, and becomes a retainer of Hana’s King Kamohoalii. He obtains a fish from Ku-ula, then distorts instructions for cooking its head and drying its body into a supposed threat against the king himself. The ruler orders the family’s house burned. Their Aleamai neighbours refuse to help because Ku-ula has treated them generously. Before the attack, Ku-ula tells Aiai how to escape with the family’s fishing implements and a powerful stone. Bound to house posts, the family’s ropes fall from their hands before the fire is lit; the parents later change form and enter the sea. No bodies are found; bursting gourds inside the burning house mislead the attackers into believing the family has perished.

Ku-ula and Hinapukuia withdraw the fish, shellfish and other marine food from Hana, leaving people who depended on their gifts without their former supply. Aiai survives and is welcomed by another boy’s family. Calling on his parents, he obtains fish for those hosts and establishes a fish stone and station. He also predicts that the king will choke on a fish that day, which the narrative says happens. This sequence connects generosity, malicious accusation, unjust violence and the loss or restoration of food. The human ruler called Kamohoalii in this chapter should not automatically be identified with the shark deity of that name in other Hawaiian narratives.

Human initial formControl of fishSea transformationFish stones and stationsGenerosity and retaliation
01

Origins & earliest records

Chapter XXI, pp. 215–229, translated from Moke Manu by M. K. Nakuina in the 1907 collection; the introductory provenance specifies a condensed Maui account.

02

Records & interpretation

The chapter records human appearance, mana over fish, family names, a specific pond and ritual stones, and the parents’ sea transformation. It narrates the withdrawal of food as their action, rather than reporting ecological measurement.

In the literature

“Nothing is known of their parents,”
Moke Manu; Thomas G. Thrum, compiler · Hawaiian Folk Tales — XXI Ku-ula, the Fish God of Hawaii
XXI Ku-ula, the Fish God of Hawaii, hosted printed-page marker 215 · M. K. Nakuina (Moses Kuaea Nakuina)

Ku-ula and Hina-pu-ku-ia live at Leho-ula in Hana, Maui, with their son Aiai. The account expressly leaves their own parents unknown. Ku-ula has a human body and power over sea fish; his younger brother Ku-ula-uka chooses farming instead. Ku-ula establishes a stocked pond and fishing sanctuary. After Aiai kills the pond-raiding eel Koona, its keeper deceives the human king Kamohoalii into ordering the family burned. Ku-ula prepares his son to escape by smoke, entrusts fishing implements and a stone to him, and promises aid from the sea. The parents leave unseen in changed bodies, withdrawing fish, bait and edible marine life. Exploding gourds mislead spectators into thinking the family has burst in the fire. Aiai survives in material form, destroys the immediate persecutors and restores fishing for a helpful household. The king finally dies by swallowing a fish alive.

Selected bibliography

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

  1. 01

    Hawaiian Folk Tales, XXI, Ku-ula, the Fish God of Hawaii

    Moke Manu; translated by M. K. Nakuina; compiled by Thomas G. Thrum · 1907

    pp. 215–229; Lehoula family, Koona conflict, burning-house escape and restored fishing

  2. 02

    Hawaiian Folk Tales — XXI Ku-ula, the Fish God of Hawaii

    Moke Manu; Thomas G. Thrum, compiler · 1907

    Hawaiian Folk Tales, compiled Thomas G. Thrum; Chicago: A. C. McClurg,1907, digital copyright page published 1 March 1907. Both selected chapters expressly credit Translated from Moke Manu by M. K. Nakuina. First chapter says translation somewhat condensed and Maui version transmitted through old people of that island. Complete XXI215–229 and XXII230–249 read; markers hosted in Gutenberg18450, original scan pagination not independently collated.

Family, evolution & connections

Ku-ula, Aiai and Puniaiki — the Maui account

Three named generations in chapters XXI–XXII, with the two expressly named mothers.

Explicit household, birth and marriage statements in the translated account. The opening identifies a Maui version translated and condensed from Moke Manu by M. K. Nakuina. Ku-ula and Hina-pu-ku-ia’s parents are expressly unknown. Ku-ula-uka’s meeting with La-ea does not establish a marriage. Puniaiki’s later wife is inconsistently introduced as Kikihale’s daughter and then called Kikihale, daughter of Kou; that disputed household is omitted. Fish form is a transformation of Puniaiki, not biological evolution.

Thrum, Hawaiian Folk Tales (1907), XXI, translated from Moke Manu by M. K. Nakuina, pp. 215–217 · Thrum, Hawaiian Folk Tales (1907), XXII, Aiai, pp. 242–245

Located primary passages

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

Hawaiian Folk Tales, XXI, Ku-ula, the Fish God of Hawaii

Hawaiian Folk Tales, compiled Thomas G. Thrum; Chicago: A. C. McClurg,1907, digital copyright page published 1 March 1907. Both selected chapters expressly credit Translated from Moke Manu by M. K. Nakuina. First chapter says translation somewhat condensed and Maui version transmitted through old people of that island. Complete XXI215–229 and XXII230–249 read; markers hosted in Gutenberg18450, original scan pagination not independently collated.

  1. Ku-ula and Hina-pu-ku-ia live at Leho-ula in Hana, Maui, with their son Aiai. The account expressly leaves their own parents unknown. Ku-ula has a human body and power over sea fish; his younger brother Ku-ula-uka chooses farming instead. Ku-ula establishes a stocked pond and fishing sanctuary. After Aiai kills the pond-raiding eel Koona, its keeper deceives the human king Kamohoalii into ordering the family burned. Ku-ula prepares his son to escape by smoke, entrusts fishing implements and a stone to him, and promises aid from the sea. The parents leave unseen in changed bodies, withdrawing fish, bait and edible marine life. Exploding gourds mislead spectators into thinking the family has burst in the fire. Aiai survives in material form, destroys the immediate persecutors and restores fishing for a helpful household. The king finally dies by swallowing a fish alive.

    XXI Ku-ula, the Fish God of Hawaii, hosted page markers 215–229

Complete XXI215–229 and companionXXII230–249 read. Maui version expressly translated and somewhat condensed. Parents are not narrated as burnt corpses subsequently resurrected. The mortal Hana king is explicitly distinguished in the companion chapter from the shark ruler of the same name. Brother meeting La-ea does not itself narrate their marriage. No prayer, sanctuary formula or invocation copied.

References

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

  1. Primary textHawaiian Folk Tales (Chicago: A. C. McClurg, 1907), XXI, Ku-ula, the Fish God of HawaiiResearch 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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