Kuula

File: Ku'ula i'a, Hawaiian stone fish god, vesicular basalt, Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum.JPG - Wikimedia Commons

 Hawaiian Koʻa i Kamaʻole Fishing Shrine, Kihei Public Library

1 October 2008, 13:08:21  Author Viriditas

Pohaku Ku'ula or traditional fishing stones are used as powerful energy sources that attract certain species of fish from the ocean These powerful stones help the fisherman to call upon the fish so that they may swim into the fishermans nets or bite his hook. Our kupuna or ancestors describe Ku'ula in the Hawaiian Dictionary as ( kū.ʻula

n. Any stone god used to attract fish, whether tiny or enormous, carved or natural, named for the god of fishermen; heiau near the sea for worship of fish gods; hut where fish gear was kept with kūʻula images so that gear might be impregnated with kūʻula mana, usually inland and very taboo. Lit., red Kū) .

 These kuula stones were placed on an ahu or upright stone shrine called ko'a. These ko'a were heiau or worshipping sites to the akua that were in charge of the fisheries of that locality. There, on these stone walled heiau for lawai'a were pieces of coral of various types that had the power to attract the different varieties of fish and to entice the akua.

These ko'a were ancient sites passed down from the older people of the area. These ko'a and their various practices were important to the community and the chief in taking care of the aina and its life. By taking care of these ancestral stones the chief and village, can depend on the akua of these stones to assist in supplying the village with fish.

These pohaku ku'ula are a part of Hawai'is rich history as well as the ancient history of many other pacific island peoples. All practices have evolved and this is due to certain people who are in tuned to their spiritual teachers and resources which allow new ideas, chants, prayers and insights, and fishing techniques to elevate the fishing practices. Hawaiians of old' had Ku'ula stones passed down from the very remote times of antiquity. These practices of the kanaka lawai'a or traditional fishermen are as much an art as hula or la'au lapa'au is to a culture. These kanaka lawaia had their priests or kahuna who were the keepers of ancient knowledge that helped them to excel in the art of the sea. These Pohaku or stones came in many various shapes, images and styles as it was the akua or ancestral diety that pointed out the specific stones to be used in this practice. Some are led to find these stones through a dream, some are led to create and shape these stone into an image. There are many different stones for various types of fish, from the pua, or small baby manini, the pua of the ama'ama or smal mullet as well as the various small fishes that inhabit the costal shore line of that area. The akule, opelu, ahi and aku also had their own unique stones for that particular locality. The very old times in Hawaii, most of these stones were poepoe or round in shape. These can vary from the size of a tennis ball to the size of a vollyball. They were round in shape and very attractive, with a life force that was tuned into the specific fish. May people think these pohaku are training stones for the warrior or lua fighter to stand on and balance, however these are god stones which when prayed to would increase the amount of fish and draw the fish into the bay or shore to be caught by the fishermen, almost as if the stone drew the fish into the nets by command. As i was growing up we lived on the beach for many years. This site was once an ancient fishing village, which was later turned into a place where the sugar plantation bosses or luna would have their homes built by the sugar plantations.

Pohaku Ku'ula

 There was still an old kuahu or upright fishing shrine in the area on the beach that was still up kept by an old Hawaiian who live not to far down the beach. He said he uncles took care of the kuahu in their time and he was not the caretaker or kahu but he respected the traditions of the families and would sometimes clean and offer fish on the kuahu.

 This Kuahu had about 6 differrent pohaku on the stone altar and each one had a specific type of fish it was suppose to attract. There was a long upright ku stone in the center of the ahu or platform and a smooth flat pohaku next to the Ku stone. This smooth flat stone was the Hina stone and the pohaku was porous with many large pits in the rock. The Ku stone was smooth dike stone, and had very minor holes in the stone. Around the upright stone was sometimes wrapped with limu or seaplants, such as limu lipoa, limu kohu and other scented limu that were found in that locality. This aala or fragrance was like a fragrant lei worn around one's neck.These stones when used would first be washed in the sea with pule or prayers and the specific stone washed would be the stone for the specific type of fish sought after. When the catch was made of these i'a or fish, the first catch of these i'a would be offered on to the ahu to the akua Ku'ula. We were taught how this offering process was to happen. The fish were collected from our nets and lets say the akule was what we caught. The akule were held in our right hand with 1 fish held between our fingers by its tail. A lima could hold 4 fish by their tails in each hand. The body of the fishes were hanging down as the tail was held between the gaps of all the fingers. This was termed kuauna. Kuana was a count of four, so hookahi kuana is one set of four, elua kuauna was 2 sets of four or a total of eight fish total. One kuauna of akule was taken and offered on the kuahu and laid out. flat before the Ku stone. Prayers were offered for the days catch and mahalo given for the help in securing this catch. The fish were divided up after the offering to the ohana and friends present that helped in the preparing of the nets and boat. People who came and helped take out fish from the nets were also given fish to take home. If a house hold had many members living in it, lets say 12 people, the appropriate amount of i'a were set aside for the whole family. The amount would be about 9 kuauna or 36 fish for that size family. if another family had only 2 people 1 or 2 kuauna would be sufficent. The kahu of the Heiau or ko'a would maintain the ko'a and keep the offerings presentable. Since this heiau or ko'a was buildon sand, the old offerings of various fish were later buried under the sand that was in front the Ko'a..(to be continued).