Laieikawai

Laieikawai is a Hawaiian romance that recounts the wooing of a native chiefess of high rank and her final deification among the gods. The story was handed down orally from ancient times in the form of a kaao, a narrative rehearsed in prose interspersed with song, in which form old tales are still recited by Hawaiian storytellers. It was put into writing by a native Hawaiian, S.N. Haleole, who hoped thus to awaken in his countrymen an interest in genuine native storytelling based upon the folklore of their race and preserving its ancient customs--already fast disappearing since Cook's rediscovery of the group in 1778 opened the way to foreign influence--and by this means to inspire in them old ideals of racial glory. (From the Introduction (1919) by the Translator, Martha Warren Beckwith.) The text is an edited version (2006) of Beckwith's translation.