The Mana of Kū: Indigenous Nationhood, Masculinity and Authority in Hawai‘i

A long time ago, the god Kū lived in Hawai‘i as a human. When a famine brought his family to the brink of starvation, he told his wife that he could save them only if he went on a journey from which he could not return. At first she refused but then finally consented when she heard the cries of their hungry children. Kū then stood on his head and disappeared into the earth. The woman’s tears watered that spot, and from it grew the ‘ulu (breadfruit) tree whose fruits saved all the people (Pukui with Green 1995: 8).