A Legend of Kanikaniaula and the First Feather Cloak

Look at this sweet feather cloak.

I've always wanted to visit Hawaii, so this week, we'll look at A Legend of Kanikaniaula and the First Feather Cloak, which is a Hawaiian folktale. It's a bit long, but worth the read.

We start off our tale with a bright young man, well respected at court, getting sidetracked from his duty by a pretty girl. So far, it sounds pretty normal. However, it soon becomes clear that she wants his help. What Eleio sees walking around is her spirit and she wants to be restored to life. Fortunately for her, he knows how to do this.

One of the things I find interesting about this story is that there's no villain. Eleio is overcoming death and, later, the king's extreme displeasure, but not a character who is trying to hurt him. Another interesting bit in this story is all of the detail. We know which plants they used to build the lanai and how they kept everything quiet, including their animals. Also of note is that Eleio does not marry the girl, even after she's offered to him. In some stories, a servant is sent to fetch a bride for the king (we can talk about treating women like property later), but generally if a young man wins a young woman, he marries her for himself. Not here. Eleio decides the girl would be a great bride for his king. This works out well for Eleio because otherwise he would have been burned to death. Ouch.

I have to wonder at Kanikaniaula's perspective on the whole thing. She obviously wanted to be brought back to life, but did she want to be indebted to and owned by some stranger? Her parents give her to this guy because he brought her back to life. Leaving my feminist outrage aside, that's not necessarily giving her back her life. That's taking it for another purpose that she doesn't necessarily want. Oh well. At least she can make awesome feather cloaks.

Have a folktale you'd like me to write about? Comment below and I'll make a post on it!