Meaʻai a me Olakino Maoli o ka Wā Kahiko
​Food and Physical Status of Kānaka Maoli in 1778-1780
​An Analysis of the Third Voyage of Captain Cook and Comparison to the Kumulipo​

Moʻolelo i Hoʻopōkole ʻia - Abstract

​The objectives of this research were to review the 1778-1780 account by Captain James Cook and Captain James King for specific food- and health-related observations on Kō Hawaiʻi Pae ʻĀina (Hawaiian Islands), then compare and contrast what he saw with the foods identified in the Kumulipo, the Kanaka Maoli (aboriginal Hawaiian) creation chant. Captain Cook and expedition, aboard the Resolution and Discovery, reached Kō Hawaiʻi Pae ʻĀina on January 19th, 1778. Cook’s account reveals that they had reached a place of food abundance: "Several small pigs were purchased for a sixpenny nail; so that we again found ourselves in a land of plenty." (1784, p. 193). Cook noted that the Kānaka Maoli (aboriginal Hawaiians) already understood bartering, for example, he offered brass medals and iron nails and in return received taro roots (kalo), sweet potatoes (‘uala), yams (uhi), fish (‘ōpelu, weke, i‘a, ‘o‘opu), fowls (kōlea-a-moku, kōlea-lele), pigs (pua‘a), and plaintains. Regarding agriculture, Cook wrote: “we could observe several plantations of plantains and sugar canes [kō-‘ele‘ele, kō-punapuna, lau‘aki], and spots that seemed cultivated for roots." (1784, p. 193). The British also note the cooking method used by Kanaka Maoli: "they baked their hogs in ovens ... They bake their vegetable food with heated stones ... the whole village, or, at least, a considerable number of people, joined in the use of a common oven." (1784, v. 2, pp. 217, 233). Cook’s journals also document physical characteristics of the Kānaka Maoli: "The natives of these islands are, in general, above the middle size, and well made; they walk very gracefully, run nimbly, and are capable of bearing great fatigue …" (1784, v. 3, b. 5, ch. 7, p. 125). Cook’s account is especially valuable as the first recorded text by a European to identify Hawaiian agricultural and animal husbandry practices, available foods, and general physiological appearance. His account of Hawaiian foods, however, is incomplete as comparison to food lists from the Kumulipo reveals.

ʻŌlelo Mua - Introduction

​Physiques common among modern Polynesians are not what they were in previous centuries. This becomes immediately apparent when you contrast modern notions of today’s overweight Polynesian with accounts of Polynesians given by early visitors to the Pacific Islands. Captain Cook and his crew in 1778 were the first Europeans to visit the Kānaka Maoli. The bulk of this research looks at the descriptions of Kānaka Maoli written in Captain Cook’s journals during his third voyage to the Pacific Ocean. For comparison, this research also looks at foods rooted in Kanaka Maoli folklore from that time.

Nā ʻAno Hana - Methods

The objectives of this research are:
  1. To review the 1778-1780 accounts by Captain James Cook and Captain James King, for specific food- and health-related observations at the Hawaiian Islands; then
  2. To compare and contrast the spectrum of foods identified by Captain Cook, with those identified in the Kumulipo, the Kanaka Maoli creation chant.

Nā Mea Hiʻohia - Findings

Captain Cook’s original, unedited and unabridged account of his 3rd voyage to the Pacific Ocean, during the years 1776-1780, is published chronologically on some 1,650 pages divided into 3 volumes. I reviewed the 259 pages of text talking about the expedition’s visits to the Hawaiian Islands.
​The British expedition led by Captain James Cook, aboard the two ships, Resolution and Discovery, reached the Hawaiian Islands on January 19th, 1778
​(1784, v. 2, b. 3, ch. 11, p. 191)
​Cook’s account reveals that they reached a place characterized by food abundance:
​Several small pigs were purchased for a sixpenny nail; so that we again found ourselves in a land of plenty.
​(1784, v. 2, b. 3, ch. 11, p. 191)
​Captain Cook happened to arrive during the season of Makahiki, and was mistaken by the Kānaka Maoli for Lono-i-ka-makahiki, the god of peace, prosperity, agriculture. He writes:
The very instant I leaped on shore … the natives all fell flat on their faces, and remained in that very humble posture, till, by expressive signs, I prevailed upon them to rise. They then brought a great many small pigs, which they presented to me, with plantain trees, using much the same ceremonies that we had seen practiced,
(1784, v. 2, b. 3, ch. 11, p. 199)
​on such occasions, at the Society and other islands; and a long prayer being spoken by a single person, in which others of the assembly sometimes joined.
(1784, v. 2, b. 3, ch. 11, p. 199)
I expressed my acceptance of their proffered friendship, by giving them, in return, such presents as I had brought with me from the ship for that purpose. When this introductory business was finished, I stationed a guard upon the beach, and got some of the natives to conduct me to the water, which proved to be very good, and in a proper situation for our purpose.
(1784, v. 2, b. 3, ch. 11, p. 199)
It was so considerable that it may be called a lake; and it extended farther up the country than we could see. Having satisfied myself about this very essential point, and about the peaceful disposition of the natives, I returned on board…
(1784, v. 2, b. 3, ch. 11, p. 199)
​The next morning, Cook notes:
As soon as we landed, a trade was set on foot for hogs and potatoes, which the people of this island gave us in exchange for nails and pieces of iron, formed into something like chissels. We met with no obstruction in watering; on the contrary, the natives assisted our men in rolling the casks to and from the pool; and readily performed whatever we required.
(1784, v. 2, b. 3, ch. 11, p. 199)
​During another landing on shore, Cook observed:
I found a great crowd assembled at the beach, and a brisk trade for pigs, fowls, and roots, going on there, with the greatest good order …
(1784, v. 2, b. 3, ch. 11, p. 205)
At sun-set, I brought everybody on board; having procured, in the course of the day, nine tons of water; and, by exchanges, chiefly for nails and pieces of iron, about seventy or eighty pigs, a few fowls, a quantity of potatoes, and a few plantains, and taro roots. These people merited our best commendations, in this commercial intercourse, never once attempting to cheat us, either ashore, or along-side the ships.
(1784, v. 2, b. 3, ch. 11, p. 205)
​Regularly bombarded by Natives eager for trade, Cook’s crew was at times overwhelmed. Upon arriving at the island of Ni‘ihau, for example, Cook observed:
They had brought with them a great many fine fat hogs, to barter; but my people had not commodities with them equal to the purchase.
(1784, v. 2, b. 3, ch. 11, p. 211)
Picture
Kealakekua Bay, January 17, 1779 - Artwork by Herb Kane
Nevertheless, upon departure from Ni‘ihau Cook recounted:
... our ship procured from them provisions sufficient for three weeks at least; and Captain Clerke, more fortunate than us, got, of their vegetable productions, a supply that lasted his people upward of two months.
(1784, v. 2, b. 3, ch. 11, p. 220)
​In return, the Natives of Ni‘ihau received from the Cook expedition:
... a ram-goat and two ewes, a boar and sow pig of the English breed; and the seeds of melons, pumpkins, and onions.
(1784, v. 2, b. 3, ch. 11, p. 217)
Of animal husbandry in the Hawaiian islands Cook summarizes:
... hogs, dogs, and fowls … were the only tame or domestic animals that we found here.
(1784, v. 2, b. 3, ch. 12, p. 228)
He also notes the cooking method used by Kānaka Maoli:
... they baked their hogs in ovens.
(1784, v. 2, b. 3, ch. 11, p. 217)
​They bake their vegetable food with heated stones … the whole village, or, at least, a considerable number of people, joined in the use of a common oven.
(1784, v. 2, b. 3, ch. 12, p. 233)
​On another page he writes:
They have salt which they call patai; and is produced in salt ponds. With it they cure both fish and pork; and some salt fish, which we got from them, kept very well, and were found to be very good.
(1784, v. 2, b. 3, ch. 11, p. 222)
​Regarding agriculture, Cook wrote:
... we could observe several plantations of plantains and sugar canes, and spots that seemed cultivated for roots.
(1784, v. 2, b. 3, ch. 11, p. 193)
​Cook documented 5 to 6 varieties of plantains. He also documents breadfruit and coconut.
(1784, v. 2, b. 3, ch. 12, p. 227)
​On Ni‘ihau, Cook noted that the "chief vegetable produce is yams."
(1784, v. 2, b. 3, ch. 12, p. 222)
​Describing plantations at the island of Kaua‘i, Captain James King wrote:
In the low grounds, adjoining to the bay where we lay at anchor, these plantations were divided by deep and regular ditches; the fences were made with a neatness approaching to elegance, and the roads through them were thrown up and finished, in a manner that would have done credit to any European engineer.
(1784, v. 3, b. 5, ch. 6, p. 116)
​Captain King summarized the Kanaka Maoli diet:
The food of the lower class of people consists principally of fish, and vegetables; such as yams, sweet-potatoes, tarrow [taro], plantains, sugar-canes, and bread-fruit. To these, the people of a higher rank add the flesh of hogs and dogs … They also eat fowls of the same domestic kind with ours; but they are neither plentiful, nor much esteemed by them … Their fish they salt, and preserve in gourd-shells; not, as we at first imagined, for the purpose of providing against any temporary scarcity, but from the preference they give to salted meats. For we also found, that the Erees [Ali‘i = Chief] used to pickle pieces of pork in the same manner, and esteemed it a great delicacy … They are exceedingly cleanly at their meals; and their mode of dressing both their animal and vegetable food, was universally allowed to be greatly superior to ours … The women eat apart from the men, and are tabooed, or forbidden, as has been already mentioned, the use of pork, turtle, and particular kinds of plantains.
(1784, v. 3, b. 5, ch. 7, pp. 140-142)
​Foods of the Kānaka Maoli listed according to number of times mentioned in the British journal account:

roots (68)
  • taro / eddy roots, taro pudding [poi] (20)
  • roots* (19)
  • sweet potatoes / potatoes (17)
  • yams (10)
  • large fern roots (1)
  • sweet root called Tee [ti] (1)

fruit (66)
  • plantains, wild or horse plantains (24)
  • bread fruit (17)
  • coconut (17)
  • fruit* (8)

pork (60)
  • hogs (28)
  • small pigs (9)
  • pigs (8)
  • pork (5)
  • large hogs (3)
  • salted pork (2)
  • baked hog (1)
  • fine fat hogs (1)
  • fresh pork (1)
  • roasting pigs (1)
  • very large hogs (1)

fish (17)
  • fish* (7)
  • salted fish* (5)
  • small mackerel (2)
  • common mullets (1)
  • shell-fish* (1)
  • cuttle fish (1)

vegetables* (11)

fowl (10)
  • fowls [chicken] (6)
  • duck (1)
  • sea-fowl* (1)
  • goose, about the size of a Muscovy duck (1)
  • wild duck (1)

sugar-canes (8)
  • ‘awa (8)
  • salt (7)

* = undifferentiated
​Cook’s journals also document physical characteristics of the Kānaka Maoli:
These people were of a brown colour … stoutly made ...
(1784, v. 2, b. 3, ch. 11, p. 192)
​The natives of these islands are, in general, above the middle size, and well made; they walk very gracefully, run nimbly, and are capable of bearing great fatigue …
(1784, v. 3, b. 5, ch. 7, p. 125)
... upon the whole, they are far from being ugly, and appear to have few natural deformities of any kind …
(1784, v. 2, b. 3, ch. 12, pp. 228-229)
​... their eyes and teeth are, in general, very tolerable …
(1784, v. 2, b. 3, ch. 12, pp. 228-229)
​We saw but few instances of corpulence; and oftener amongst the women than the men…

​They are vigorous, active, and most expert swimmers; leaving their canoes upon the most trifling occasion; diving under them … swimming to others though at a great distance. It was very common to see women, with infants at the breast, when the surf was so high, that they could not land in the canoes, leap overboard, and without endangering their little ones, swim to the shore, through a sea that looked dreadful.
(1784, v. 2, b. 3, ch. 12, pp. 228-229)
​They seem to be blest with a frank and cheerful disposition.
(1784, v. 2, b. 3, ch. 12, pp. 228-229)
On February 2nd, 1779, at the island of Hawai‘i, Captain King notes:
​We were this day much diverted, at the beach, by the buffooneries of one of the natives. He held in his hand an instrument, … some bits of sea-weed were tied round his neck; and round each leg, a piece of strong netting, about nine inches deep, on which a great number of dogs’ teeth were loosely fastened in rows. His style of dancing was entirely burlesque, and accompanied with strange grimaces, and pantomimical distortions of the face … at times inexpressibly ridiculous … Mr. Webber thought it worth his while to make a drawing of this person, as exhibiting a tolerable specimen of the natives …
(1784, v. 3, b. 5, ch. 2, p. 27)
​Of the distinctive physical appearance of chiefs, Captain King noted two chiefs on Hawai‘i:
Both these chiefs were men of strong and well-proportioned bodies, and of countenances remarkably pleasing.
(1784, v. 3, b. 5, ch. 1, p. 4)
Kaneena especially, whose portrait Mr. Webber has drawn, was one of the finest men I ever saw. He was about six feet high, had regular and expressive features, with lively, dark eyes; his carriage was easy, firm, and graceful.
​(1784, v. 3, b. 5, ch. 1, p. 4)
​Toward the end of the voyage, at Kealakekua Bay, King documents:
Swimming is not only a necessary art, in which both their men and women are more expert than any people we had hitherto seen, but a favourite diversion amongst them. One particular mode, in which they sometimes amused themselves with this exercise…appeared to us most perilous and extraordinary, and well deserving a distinct relation.

​… Whenever, from stormy weather, or any extraordinary swell at sea, the impetuosity of the surf is increased to its utmost height, they choose that time for its amusement, which is performed in the following manner: Twenty or thirty of the natives,
(1784, v. 3, pp. 145-147)
​taking each a long narrow board, [as seen above in the foreground] rounded at the ends, set out together from the shore … The second wave is encountered in the same manner with the first; the great difficulty consisting in seizing the proper moment of diving under it, which, if missed, the person is caught by the surf, and driven back again with great violence … all his dexterity is then required to prevent himself from being dashed against the rocks …
(1784, v. 3, pp. 145-147)
​their first object is to place themselves on the summit of the largest surge, by which they are driven along with amazing rapidity toward the shore … Those who succeed in their object of reaching the shore, have still the greatest danger to encounter. The coast being guarded by a chain of rocks, with, here and there, a small opening between them, they are obliged to steer their board through one of these, or, in case of failure, to quit it, before they reach the rocks … This is reckoned very disgraceful, and is also attended with the loss of the board, which I have often seen, with great terror, dashed to pieces, at the very moment the islander quitted it. The boldness and address, with which we saw them perform these difficult and dangerous manoeuvers, was altogether astonishing, and is scarcely to be credited.
(1784, v. 3, pp. 145-147)
​Evidently, the ceremonial prayer recited to Cook when he first stepped foot on Hawaiian shore was the Kumulipo chant, a cosmogonic genealogy, or cosmogony, of Kānaka Maoli, tracing lineage back to chiefs, gods, evolution, and the creation of the universe. The chant, composed of over 2,100 lines, was maintained entirely by oral tradition until being written down in the late 19th century.
​Below is the beginning of the Kumulipo chant.
​Queen Lili‘uokalani dated the Kumulipo chant to approximately 1700, nearly 80 years before Cook’s arrival.
​The Kumulipo identifies many of the same foods that the British identified, though not all. This suggests that perhaps these unidentified foods were not of principle importance in the Kanaka Maoli regimen, or were introduced after the chant was composed. The Kumulipo, meanwhile, gives name to many different species and varieties within food categories. Whereas the Kumulipo identifies 18 or more different species of shellfish, the British only use one term. Note also that the British did not document edible seaweeds, whereas 10 varieties are documented in the Kumulipo.


Kanaka Maoli foods identified in the Cook account and in the Kumulipo. English terms are matched with the corresponding terms in Hawaiian.

Roots
  • taro - kalo-manauea, ekele, haha
  • sweet potatoes - ‘uala
  • yams - uhi

Fruit
  • plantains (5-6 varieties) - not identified in Kumulipo
  • bread-fruit - not identified in Kumulipo
  • coconut - not identified in Kumulipo

Pork
  • hogs, pigs, pork - pua‘a

Fish
  • fish - i‘a, ‘o‘opu, hilu, palani, pe‘a, ‘awa, ‘a‘awa, ulae, ‘ono, aku, ‘ahi, ‘anae, nuku-momi, hāhālua, ‘ao‘ao-nui, pāku‘iku‘i, mā‘i‘i‘i, ‘ala‘ihi, ‘ō‘ō, ‘aki-lolo, nenue, he‘e, koupoupou
  • small mackerel - ‘ōpelu, weke, hauliuli
  • common mullets - ‘ama‘ama, weke, pahaha

Shellfish
  • shell-fish - pipi, pāpaua, ‘ōlepe-(pāpaua), nahawele, makaiaūli, ‘opihi, leho, pūleholeho, naka-(‘oni‘oni‘o), kūpe(‘e)-kala, makaloa, pūpū-‘awa, ‘olē, ‘olē‘olē, pipipi, kūpe‘e, wī, kīkī

Fowl
  • duck - kolea-a-moku
  • wild duck - kolea-lele
  • fowls [chicken] - not identified in Kumulipo
  • sea-fowl - not identified in Kumulipo
  • goose - not identified in Kumulipo

Sugar Cane
  • sugar canes - kō-‘ele‘ele, kō-punapuna, lau‘aki

‘Awa
  • ava / kava [a.k.a. kavakava] - ‘awa

Other Plants
  • not identified in Cook account - ‘ala‘ala-wai-nui [mint, succulent]
  • not identified in Cook account - ‘ekaha, ‘aki‘aki, ‘a‘ala-‘ula, manauea, puakī, kakalamoa, kala, loloa, huluwaena [seaweeds]

Salt
  • salt - not identified in Kumulipo

Hopena - Conclusion

  1. ​Captain Cook’s account is especially valuable as the first recorded text by a European to identify Hawaiian agricultural and animal husbandry practices, available foods, and general physiological appearance.
  2. The Kumulipo is especially valuable as an account by the Kānaka Maoli existing prior to contact with the outside world, that also indicates foods, agriculture, animal husbandry, and physiological status.
  3. An investigation such as this underlines the value of looking at early accounts and pictures of your ancestors in suggesting what health and lifestyle changes might be made for the better in modern times.

Papa Kuhikuhi o nā Puke i Heluhelu ʻia - Bibliography

Beckwith, Martha Warren. 1972. The Kumulipo: A Hawaiian Creation Chant. Translated and edited with commentary by Martha Warren Beckwith. Includes original text. Facsimile reproduction of first edition, published in 1951 by The University of Chicago Press, with a new foreword by Katharine Luomala. Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i.

Cook, James; James King. 1784. A Voyage to the Pacific Ocean. Undertaken, by the Command of his Majesty, for making Discoveries in the Northern Hemisphere. To determine the Position and Extent of the West Side of North America; its Distance from Asia; and the Practicability of a Northern Passage to Europe. Performed under the direction of Captains Cook, Clerke, and Gore, In his Majesty’s Ships the Resolution and Discovery. In the Years 1776, 1777, 1778, 1779, and 1780. In Three Volumes. Vol. I and II written by Captain James Cook, F.R.S. Vol. III by Captain James King, LL.D. and F.R.S. Illustrated with Maps and Charts, from the Original Drawings made by Lieut. Henry Roberts, under the Direction of Captain Cook; and with a great Variety of Portraits of Persons, Views of Places, and Historical Representations of Remarkable Incidents, drawn by Mr. Webber during the Voyage, and engraved by the most eminent Artists. Published by Order of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty. London: Printed by W. and A. Strahan: For G. Nicol, bookseller to his Majesty, in the strand; and T. Cadell, in the strand. MDCCLXXXIV.

Johnson, Rubellite Kawena. 1981. Kumulipo: The Hawaiian Hymn of Creation. Volume One – Chants 1 & 2. Includes Hawaiian text with English translation. Illustrated. Honolulu: Topgallant.

Kalākaua, David. 1889. He Pule Ho‘ola‘a Ali‘i. He Kumulipo no Ka-I-amamao a ia Alapai Wahine (“A Prayer for the Consecration of a Chief, a Kumulipo for Ka-I-amamao and [Passed on] to the Woman Alapai”). Honolulu: Pai‘ia e ka Hui Pa‘ipalapala Elele.

​Lili‘uokalani, Lydia. 1897. The Kumulipo: An Hawaiian Creation Myth. Reprint of the 1897 ed. published by Lee and Shepard, Boston, under title: An Account of the Creation of the World According to Hawaiian Tradition. Translated from original manuscripts preserved exclusively in Her Majesty’s family by Lili‘uokalani of Hawai‘i. Prayer of Dedication: The Creation for Ka Ii Mamao, from him to his daughter Alapai Wahine, Lili‘uokalani’s great-grandmother. Composed by Keaulumoku in 1895 at ‘Iolani Palace and afterwards at Washington Place, Honolulu. Was completed at Washington D.C. May 20, 1897. Kentfield, CA: Pueo, 1978.

Kumu Waiwai - Resources

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