Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 3, Number 11, 1 November 1986 — Book Review [ARTICLE]

Book Review

By Maleolm Naea Chun Cultural Officer Tales From the Night Rainbow By Pali Lee and Koko Willis Private Printinq, 1984

This is an extraordinary book based upon the knowledge, stories and life of Kaili'ohe Kame'ekua from Kamalo on the island of Molokai. The book was written from the recollections of her grandchildren and is told in the first person. It is an oral history of a Hawaiian who lived to be 115 and her family. However, mueh of the text is about life in pre-mission-ary society as well as what happened after the arrival of the missionaries. References to Christianity and the stories related to the native experience of conversion abound in this family story, as do their experiences under the rule of Hawaiian chiefs. These two experiences are of particular interest because rarely have readers been able to find such detailed accounts by natives, even if it has been several generations ago and through oral transmission. It should be also noted that it appears the reference to missionaries and Christianity ean be interpreted to also be foreigners and foreign ways in general.

This account abounds also with alot of folklore, customs and other ethnographic material whieh may or may not be the accepted theories, especially in academie circles. But this account should not be considered in the same context as academic work, rather its merit lies that it is a native account, regardless of whatever prevailing theories exist. This acco.unt is what thisfamily has grown up with; it is their genealogy, their history and their beliefs. This is what makes it so extraordinary.