Kū


In Hawaiian religion, Kū is one of the four great gods. The other three are Kanaloa, Kāne, and Lono.
Some feathered god images or akua hulu manu are considered to represent Kū. Kū is worshiped under many names, including Kūkāilimoku, the "Snatcher of Land". Rituals for Kūkailimoku included human sacrifice, which was not part of the worship of other gods.

Names of Kū

Owing to the multiplicity inherent in Hawaiian concepts of deity, Kū may be invoked under many names such as the following, which reference subordinate manifestations of the god.

Forest and rain

  • Ku-moku-haliʻi
  • Ku-pulupulu
  • Ku-olono-wao
  • Ku-holoholo-pali
  • Ku-pepeiao-loa/-poko
  • Kupa-ai-keʻe
  • Ku-mauna
  • Ku-ka-ohia-laka
  • Ku-ka-ieie

    Husbandry and fishing

  • Ku-ka-o-o
  • Ku-kuila
  • Ku-keolowalu
  • Ku-ula or Ku-ula-kai

    War

  • Ku-nui-akea
  • Ku-kaʻili-moku
  • Ku-keoloewa
  • Ku-hoʻoneʻenuʻu

    Sorcery

  • Ku-waha-ilo

    Religion

Also known as Akua, he was the of war, politics, farming and fishing. As the husband of the goddess Hina, it has been supposedly suggested a form of complementary dualism exists, as the word kū in the Hawaiian language means "to stand" while one meaning of hina is "to fall". However, this assertion remains unsupported by evidence from other Polynesian languages which distinguish the original "ng" and "n". The Hina in New Zealand mythology, for example, is associated with the moon, rather than Hinga, "fallen down". Thus, the Hawaiian name "Hina" is likely more connected to the other Polynesian meanings of Hina, denoting a silvery-grey color like that of Mahina. As primordial gods who have existed for eternity, Kū, Kāne, and Lono caused light to shine in upon the world.

Guardian statues of King Kamehameha I

Kūkailimoku was the guardian of Kamehameha I, who unified the Hawaiian archipelago under one ruler and established the Hawaiian kingdom. He had monuments erected to Kūkailimoku at the Hōlualoa Bay royal complex as well as his residence at Kamakahonu, both in the district of Kona, Hawaiʻi. Three colossal statues of the god Kū were reunited for the first time in almost 200 years at the Bishop Museum in Honolulu in 2010. They were dedicated by Kamehameha I at one of his temples on the archipelago in the late eighteenth or early nineteenth centuries. These very rare statues were later acquired by the Bishop Museum, the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts and the British Museum in London. One feathered god image in the Bishop Museum is thought to be Kamehameha I's own image of his god. However it is still unclear whether all feathered god images represent Kū.

Kinolau (body forms)

In the animal world Kū is believed to embody the forms of Manō, Kanaka, ʻIo, Niuhi, ʻĪlio, Moa is also for Kane, Iʻa ʻUla. In the plant world, he is believed to embody the forms of ʻIeʻIe vine, ʻŌhiʻa Lehua flower, ʻulu, niu, and noni fruit.

General references

Category:Artefacts from Africa, Oceania and [the Americas in the British Museum]
Category:Ethnographic objects in the British Museum
Category:Hawaii
Category:Hawaiian gods
Category:War gods
Category:Wikipedia articles containing unlinked shortened footnotes