I probably haven’t mentioned it as often as I could have, but we’re big fans of the magazine Maui No Ka ‘Oi. As subscribers for the past 3 years now, we look forward to new issues that come out every other month, and wish they would come out more often.
Their articles are always well written and feature an insight to the island that us on the mainland often don’t get anywhere else. The most recent edition featured just such an article that I found particularly fascinating, and I wanted to share a little bit of it with our readers.
Native Soul – Hawaiian Moon Calendar
The article is part of the Native Soul section this edition, and sheds some light on how the ancient Hawaiians used the Moon to track time and events throughout the years. Being a fan of the night-time sky, that peaked my interest and soon found myself verify impressed with the sophistication that the Hawaiians had for tracking the moon in the sky, using a system which they called kaulana mahina.
For example, even the most casual astronomy fans these days are taught that the moon and it’s phases follow a 4 week cycle from new moon to new moon. The ancient Hawaiians, however, divided up the moon’s cycle into 30 distinct patterns in the sky, and even gave a name to each one. In fact, these 30 shapes of the moon were so important to their way of life that children were taught to learn the names of each phase by the age of six. Wow!
The article has even more intriguing facts worth noting, but I’ll let you read it for yourself to get all of them. I found it interesting that there are historians and researchers still learning more and more about how the Hawaiians relied on the moon in their day to day lives. Some of the tools at their disposal for deciphering these mysteries are the old chants of Hawaiian priests, kahunas, and “millions of pages of nineteenth-century Hawaiian-language newspapers, most of which are still not translated into English.“
One of the lead researchers featured in this article is Maui-born Kalei Tsuha. According to the article, she’s been working on this research for close to 15 years now, and has a masters degree in Hawaiian Language from the University of Hawaii, Manoa. Tsuha performs this research as part of the Edith Kanaka’ole Foundation, another great organization on the islands that works to preserve the Hawaiian culture within it’s residents and the rest of the world.
Keep Reading
I realize this isn’t your typical Maui vacation information, but if you are interested in learning more, please read the full article over at the Maui No Ka ‘Oi magazine’s website. And if you’re not familiar with the magazine, be sure to check out their other articles online and maybe try a subscription if you like what you see.
While many of their articles are also available online, we still enjoy reading the print edition, with it’s full color photographs and other great island information. If you’d like to see an issue for yourself, check out your local bookstore or newstand to see if they have a copy. We’ve seen them at Barnes and Noble here in Chicago, so there’s a chance you might find one near you, too.
Talk Story
Let me know what you think of this post, this article, or even the magazine itself. Do you enjoy reading and learning about the life of ancient Hawaiians? Do you have other great resources or articles that you think are worth checking out? Do share.
