Kae and Longopoa
Encyclopedia
The story cycle around Kae and Sinilau is a well known entity in Polynesian mythology
, found back on several places (see notes). This article describes the Tonga
n version, of which the main source is an old poem (Ko e folau ʻa Kae – The voyage of Kae) published in 1876, and some other, incomplete manuscripts.
The third player Longopoa in this respect is an outsider.
, or it is an alternative for Sāmoa (Haamoa in Tongan). He ran a famous navigation school on an artificial lake (lepa) near Fualu, and his boat was either a tongiaki (an old sailing boat of Tongan design) or a kalia
(a better, more modern design originating from Fiji
).
One day Loau got tired of people taunting him all the time when he would go for a real trip. So he had his big canoe dragged to the sea and told his matāpule (chiefly attendants) Kae and Longopoa, to accompany him to some nearby islands. So they went. But when they passed Haapai
, Loau told to 'sail on past the shore'. The same thing happened at Vavau
and then Niuatoputapu
, and then Sāmoa
, and then Niuafoou
, and then Uvea
, and then Futuna
. No one knew that Loau had already decided silently from the beginning to go beyond the horizon and not to return. He wanted to go to the land of the talking puko trees, probably Pulotu
.
The ship steered on downwards (i.e. south or west in Tongan navigation sense). They came at a white sea; they came at a floating pumice sea; they came at a slimy sea. Then they reached the horizon at the end of the sky. There is a hole in the sky and a great whirlpool in the ocean, because of the waters going in when there is ebb in Tonga, and coming out at flood. There was also a reef with a pandanus
tree and a large rock. The mast of the ship got stuck in the branches of the tree and was to be freed. It was done with a push, and that push caused the ship either to disappear in the whirlpool or through the opening in the sky, lost in space, never to be seen back anymore.
Kae and Longopoa did not await this happening. They had agreed to desert this foolish trip and they made it back to the reef, Kae clinging to the tree, and Longopoa to the stone.
in Sāmoan), the western part of Upolu
. He was friendly received by the high chief of the area, Sinilau, who gave him status, more than he ever had gotten in Tonga, but not enough to enter the kava
circle. So Kae stayed in Sāmoa for some time. But then he was seized by a longing for Tonga to tell about all the wonderful things he had seen, and he announced to Sinilau that he wanted to go. Sinilau agreed and presented him with a farewell gift. He would be allowed to ride on the back of his twin whales.
and a floormat, give it to them to return to me." Which was a very modest request, and Kae agreed.
Kae had the trip of his life. Too soon he was back at Tongatapu, at Poloa, where the tidal flats start, and it was just low tide. He left the whales in shallow water a speeded to Haamea. He told his relatives what had happened, and then shouted out to all his friends from Fatai and Matafonua and Lakepa
and so on, that they came with knives and spears and axes to slaughter those whales on the beach. Tununga was killed, cut in pieces, the meat was distributed to all the chiefs of the different districts, and eaten by the people of the whole island. But Tonga was able to escape. A depression in the middle of the tidal flats, a fishing pool is still visible as a result of its struggle to get away.
. There they would have to cut coconut tree leaves to plait some baskets out of it. "Then tonight go around", Sinilau said, "and collect the dung of all the people who partook in the meal. From Muifonua to Eua
to Fangaleounga
to Hihifo to Nāpua. Finally put Kae on top of the shit and bring everything back to me." So it was done, and Kae was brought into Sinilau's boatshed, he even did not wake up.
Night was awaiting the dawn, a rooster crowed. "That stupid rooster", Kae mumbled half asleep, "he just crows like Sinilau's rooster. At daylight I shall kill it and eat it." He thought he was still at home on Tongatapu. But when daylight had come he saw that he was there no longer but in a certain boatshed in Sāmoa. And a stern Sinilau with a royal turban on his head sat at the entrance. Kae had nothing to say.
Sinilau threw him out, to the waiting gods, who fell on him and ate him. Although others say that Sinialu threw him in a pre-dug grave, noting that Kae was not worth more, once a commoner, always a commoner.
Meanwhile a big kava bowl was brought and all the parts and shit the gods had collected in Tonga was thrown in, and see after having left it to itself for a while, suddenly Tunungatofuaa came back to life. He was only missing one tooth, as the Tongans had brought that as a gift to the Tui Tonga in Mua
, which had made it even for the gods untouchable. Sinilau suggested that Tununga should not try to smile too much.
, and then to break off one of its branches and to roast it. When at the end he opened the oven, see it was full with roasted pig, fowl, yams and so forth. He ate his belly full and slept.
But next day he cried again: he wanted to go back home, to Tonga. The tree then told him that tonight the gods would go fishing. He should ask them to let him go with them, and he would carry their bag for them. "Make a hole in the basket so that the fish drops out and it does not fill too swiftly. Because once the basket is full, the gods will stop. But if not, they will go on and on. And when you reach your home island, crow like a rooster so the gods will think the night is over. Now also break off another branch of me and take it with you. As soon as you come home and while it is still night, plant it. A young puko tree will grow out of it, and provide you and your people with food as I did yesterday. Do not go to see your relatives first, because if you plant this branch after the day has dawned, it will grow to just an ordinary tree."
So the friendly puko tree said, and so it happened. The gods fished and fished, and when they reached Sāmoa they were surprised to hear from their new carrier that the basket was not yet full. And at Niuatoputapu still not full. Next they reached Tonga. Longopoa jumped overboard, ran ashore and crowed like a rooster. The gods made themselves scarce. Overjubilant Longopoa directly went to see his family. Only when the new day had come he remembered the love of the puko tree. But then it was too late, the blessings were spoilt and the puko trees of nowadays produce no food whatsoever.
Polynesian mythology
Polynesian mythology is the oral traditions of the people of Polynesia, a grouping of Central and South Pacific Ocean island archipelagos in the Polynesian triangle together with the scattered cultures known as the Polynesian outliers...
, found back on several places (see notes). This article describes the Tonga
Tonga
Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga , is a state and an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean, comprising 176 islands scattered over of ocean in the South Pacific...
n version, of which the main source is an old poem (Ko e folau ʻa Kae – The voyage of Kae) published in 1876, and some other, incomplete manuscripts.
The third player Longopoa in this respect is an outsider.
Loau
It started all with Loau from Haamea, one of the many Loau known in Tongan history. Haamea may be the place of his lepa in central TongatapuTongatapu
Tongatapu is the main island of the Kingdom of Tonga and the location of its capital Nukualofa. It is located in Tonga's southern island group, to which it gives its name, and is the country's most populous island, with approximately 71,260 residents , 70.5% of the national population...
, or it is an alternative for Sāmoa (Haamoa in Tongan). He ran a famous navigation school on an artificial lake (lepa) near Fualu, and his boat was either a tongiaki (an old sailing boat of Tongan design) or a kalia
Kalia
Kalia may refer to:* Kalia, Bangladesh* Kalia, Chad* Kalia, Democratic Republic of Congo* Kalia, Faranah, in Guinea* Kalia, Gaoual, in Guinea* Kalia, Indonesia* Kalya, Israeli kibbutz* Kalia, Liberia* Kalia, Nigeria* Kalia, Pakistan...
(a better, more modern design originating from Fiji
Fiji
Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...
).
One day Loau got tired of people taunting him all the time when he would go for a real trip. So he had his big canoe dragged to the sea and told his matāpule (chiefly attendants) Kae and Longopoa, to accompany him to some nearby islands. So they went. But when they passed Haapai
Ha'apai
Haapai is a group of islands, islets, reefs and shoals in the central part of the Kingdom of Tonga, with the Tongatapu group to the south and the Vavau group to the north. Seventeen of the Haapai islands are populated....
, Loau told to 'sail on past the shore'. The same thing happened at Vavau
Vava'u
Vavau is an island chain of one large island and 40 smaller ones in Tonga. According to tradition Maui fished both Tongatapu and Vavau but put a little more effort into the former. Vavau rises 204 meters above sea level...
and then Niuatoputapu
Niuatoputapu
For the 2009 tsunami, see the main article: 2009 Samoa tsunami.Niuatoputapu is an island in the island nation of Tonga, Pacific Ocean. Its name means sacred island. Older European names for the island are Traitors island or Keppel island.Niuatoputapu is located in the north of the country,...
, and then Sāmoa
Samoa
Samoa , officially the Independent State of Samoa, formerly known as Western Samoa is a country encompassing the western part of the Samoan Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. It became independent from New Zealand in 1962. The two main islands of Samoa are Upolu and one of the biggest islands in...
, and then Niuafoou
Niuafo'ou
Niuafoou is the most northerly island in the kingdom of Tonga. It is a volcanic rim island of 15 km² and with a population of 650 in 2006.-Geography:...
, and then Uvea
Wallis Island
Wallis is an island in the Pacific Ocean belonging to the French overseas collectivity of Wallis and Futuna....
, and then Futuna
Futuna Island, Wallis and Futuna
Futuna is an island in the Pacific Ocean belonging to the French overseas collectivity of Wallis and Futuna. It is one of the Hoorn Islands or Îles Horne, nearby Alofi being the other...
. No one knew that Loau had already decided silently from the beginning to go beyond the horizon and not to return. He wanted to go to the land of the talking puko trees, probably Pulotu
Pulotu
In the mythology of parts of western Polynesia , Pulotu is the underworld, the world of darkness ....
.
The ship steered on downwards (i.e. south or west in Tongan navigation sense). They came at a white sea; they came at a floating pumice sea; they came at a slimy sea. Then they reached the horizon at the end of the sky. There is a hole in the sky and a great whirlpool in the ocean, because of the waters going in when there is ebb in Tonga, and coming out at flood. There was also a reef with a pandanus
Pandanus
Pandanus is a genus of monocots with about 600 known species. They are numerous palmlike dioecious trees and shrubs native of the Old World tropics and subtropics. They are classified in the order Pandanales, family Pandanaceae.-Overview:...
tree and a large rock. The mast of the ship got stuck in the branches of the tree and was to be freed. It was done with a push, and that push caused the ship either to disappear in the whirlpool or through the opening in the sky, lost in space, never to be seen back anymore.
Kae and Longopoa did not await this happening. They had agreed to desert this foolish trip and they made it back to the reef, Kae clinging to the tree, and Longopoa to the stone.
Kae
When it got dark and the flood current came out again, Kae suggested Longopoa that they better found a way to escape from the island, everybody for himself. He plunged in the sea and swam away. At midnight he landed on a sandy island; (other sources tell: many days later). He saw 8 dead whales on the shores and hundreds on neiufi fish, or (according to others) less whales but 2 huge man eating sharks, luckily also dead. It was the lair of the kanivatu a giant bird (like the roc), which was known to be a man eater too. Kae wisely hid for the night between two of the whales. The bird returned to his nest in the morning. When it was preening its feathers, Kae emerged and clung to one of its legs (or the feathers of its breast according to some, or of its wing according to some). At midday the bird flew away over the ocean, with his passenger, and when Kae saw they were over land, he let go. The place were he landed was on the coralsand beach of Akana (AanaA'ana
A'ana is a district of Samoa. It is on the western half of Upolu island, with a small exclave surrounded by Aiga-i-le-Tai. It has an area of 193 km² and a population of 20,167. The main centre is Leulumoega....
in Sāmoan), the western part of Upolu
Upolu
Upolu is an island in Samoa, formed by a massive basaltic shield volcano which rises from the seafloor of the western Pacific Ocean. The island is long, in area, and is the second largest in geographic area as well as the most populated of the Samoan Islands. Upolu is situated to the east of...
. He was friendly received by the high chief of the area, Sinilau, who gave him status, more than he ever had gotten in Tonga, but not enough to enter the kava
Kava culture
Kava cultures are the religious and cultural traditions of western Oceania which consume kava. There are similarities in the use of kava between the different cultures, but each one also has its own traditions.-Hawaii:...
circle. So Kae stayed in Sāmoa for some time. But then he was seized by a longing for Tonga to tell about all the wonderful things he had seen, and he announced to Sinilau that he wanted to go. Sinilau agreed and presented him with a farewell gift. He would be allowed to ride on the back of his twin whales.
Tonga and Tununga
Sinilau's aunt had a daughter who one day ate a piece of whalemeat, which was leftover in the house. She got pregnant and bore a twin, who were named Tonga and Tununga-tofuaa (tofuaa: whale). They were whales. Sinilau spoke: "Go well Kae, just tell the whales whereto to go. But leave them in deep water at the weathercoast. And when you have reached your home, before you go to your relatives, prepare a bunch of coconuts, scented oil, some unpainted tapaTapa cloth
Tapa cloth is a bark cloth made in the islands of the Pacific Ocean, primarily in Tonga, Samoa and Fiji, but as far afield as Niue, Cook Islands, Futuna, Solomon Islands, Java, New Zealand, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea and Hawaii...
and a floormat, give it to them to return to me." Which was a very modest request, and Kae agreed.
Kae had the trip of his life. Too soon he was back at Tongatapu, at Poloa, where the tidal flats start, and it was just low tide. He left the whales in shallow water a speeded to Haamea. He told his relatives what had happened, and then shouted out to all his friends from Fatai and Matafonua and Lakepa
Lakepa
Lakepa is one of the fourteen villages of Niue. Its population as of the 2001 census was 88.-Reference:* Retrieved December 8, 2010...
and so on, that they came with knives and spears and axes to slaughter those whales on the beach. Tununga was killed, cut in pieces, the meat was distributed to all the chiefs of the different districts, and eaten by the people of the whole island. But Tonga was able to escape. A depression in the middle of the tidal flats, a fishing pool is still visible as a result of its struggle to get away.
Sinilau's revenge
Sinilau was extremely displeased about Kae's behaviour, when Tonga told him what had happened, after he had arrived at Akana; with his back full with spears, and without the promised items. Sinilau called all the gods of Sāmoa to a council and ordered them to assemble at both Hunga Haapai and Hunga TongaHunga Tonga
Hunga Tonga-Hunga Haapai is a volcano located about 30 km south-southeast of Fonuafoou , part of Tonga.The volcano is part of the highly active Tonga-Kermadec Islands volcanic arc, a subduction zone extending from New Zealand north-northeast to Fiji. The volcano lies about above a very active...
. There they would have to cut coconut tree leaves to plait some baskets out of it. "Then tonight go around", Sinilau said, "and collect the dung of all the people who partook in the meal. From Muifonua to Eua
'Eua
Eua is a smaller but still major island in the kingdom of Tonga. It is close to Tongatapu, but forms a separate administrative division. It has an area of 87.44 km2, and a population in 2006 of 5,165 people.- Geography :...
to Fangaleounga
Fangale'ounga
- See also :* List of islands and towns in Tonga...
to Hihifo to Nāpua. Finally put Kae on top of the shit and bring everything back to me." So it was done, and Kae was brought into Sinilau's boatshed, he even did not wake up.
Night was awaiting the dawn, a rooster crowed. "That stupid rooster", Kae mumbled half asleep, "he just crows like Sinilau's rooster. At daylight I shall kill it and eat it." He thought he was still at home on Tongatapu. But when daylight had come he saw that he was there no longer but in a certain boatshed in Sāmoa. And a stern Sinilau with a royal turban on his head sat at the entrance. Kae had nothing to say.
Sinilau threw him out, to the waiting gods, who fell on him and ate him. Although others say that Sinialu threw him in a pre-dug grave, noting that Kae was not worth more, once a commoner, always a commoner.
Meanwhile a big kava bowl was brought and all the parts and shit the gods had collected in Tonga was thrown in, and see after having left it to itself for a while, suddenly Tunungatofuaa came back to life. He was only missing one tooth, as the Tongans had brought that as a gift to the Tui Tonga in Mua
Mu'a (Tongatapu)
Mua is a small city in the Hahake district on the island of Tongatapu, and it was for centuries the ancient capital of Tonga. It is divided in the villages Lapaha and Tatakamotonga, is close to Talasiu and famous for the ancient langi .-Geography:Mua is situated along the eastern side of the...
, which had made it even for the gods untouchable. Sinilau suggested that Tununga should not try to smile too much.
Longopoa
Meanwhile we still have Longopoa left behind on his rock at the end of the world. Once Kae had left his pandanus tree, the other hesitated a while, but then finally he swam away too. He reached a small deserted island where only a puko tree grew. But it was a magic tree, it talked. And when Longopoa cried that he was hungry, the tree instructed him to make and light a umuEarth oven
An earth oven or cooking pit is one of the most simple and long-used cooking structures . At its simplest, an earth oven is simply a pit in the ground used to trap heat and bake, smoke, or steam food...
, and then to break off one of its branches and to roast it. When at the end he opened the oven, see it was full with roasted pig, fowl, yams and so forth. He ate his belly full and slept.
But next day he cried again: he wanted to go back home, to Tonga. The tree then told him that tonight the gods would go fishing. He should ask them to let him go with them, and he would carry their bag for them. "Make a hole in the basket so that the fish drops out and it does not fill too swiftly. Because once the basket is full, the gods will stop. But if not, they will go on and on. And when you reach your home island, crow like a rooster so the gods will think the night is over. Now also break off another branch of me and take it with you. As soon as you come home and while it is still night, plant it. A young puko tree will grow out of it, and provide you and your people with food as I did yesterday. Do not go to see your relatives first, because if you plant this branch after the day has dawned, it will grow to just an ordinary tree."
So the friendly puko tree said, and so it happened. The gods fished and fished, and when they reached Sāmoa they were surprised to hear from their new carrier that the basket was not yet full. And at Niuatoputapu still not full. Next they reached Tonga. Longopoa jumped overboard, ran ashore and crowed like a rooster. The gods made themselves scarce. Overjubilant Longopoa directly went to see his family. Only when the new day had come he remembered the love of the puko tree. But then it was too late, the blessings were spoilt and the puko trees of nowadays produce no food whatsoever.