Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 11, Number 10, 1 October 1994 — Ke ao nani [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Ke ao nani

[?]

by Patrick Ching artist/environmentalist

Mo'o than a lizard

Lizards are amazing creatures. Many have the ability to change color to match their surroundings. Some ean detach their

tails when being chased so that a predator is distracted by the wiggling tail while the lizard escapes to grow a new one. Some, like the morning gecko, are unisexual. they are all females

possessing eggs and do not need to mate to reproduce. It is possible that certain types of lizards, ormo'o, may have arrived in Hawai'i without any help from man; perhaps by rafting

aboard large logs or floating debris. The morning gecko and azure-tailed skink are two species that may have eome to Hawai'i that way. When early Polynesian canoes landed in Hawai'i, along with them eame several typ>es of mo'o, probably as stowaways. In recent history many species of mo'o arrived in Hawai'i; some aboard ships or planes and others as illegal introductions or escaped pet shop pets. These recent introductions include iguanas, Jackson's chameleons, and American anoles (whieh are often called chameleons but are actually related to iguanas). Lizards consume large volumes of pesty insects and bugs. However, introduced lizards that thrive in the upper Hawaiian forest may cause serious impact to native insect populations. While certain geckos and skinks stowed

away aboard Hawaiian voyaging canoes, mueh larger lizards lurked within the minds and lore of the Hawaiians. Many Hawaiian families worship the mo'o as their family guardian or 'aumakua. Every island has its legends about giant mo'o with supernatural powers. One story from Kaua'i appears in a book entitled Polihale and other Kaua'i Legends by Fredrick B. Wiehman. The story goes that a giant mo'o called Kaikapu guarded the waters of Kōloa and snatched up anyone who went in or near the water there. A young boy named Liko wanted so mueh to gather hlnalea and limu līpoa for his grandmother for it was her favorite dish. Liko devised a plan and entered Kaikapu's domain. When Kaikapu opened her mouth to eat Liko he quickly placed a pointed stick between her jaws. In her blind rage Kaikapu chased Liko

through the underwater caves and became helplessly caught in a narrow crevasse just below the rocky shoreline. Now, whenever Kaikapu cries out, her breath shoots up from beneath the rocks, forming a fountain of mist whieh today is known as the Spouting Hom.