Hawaiian Antiquities
Also known as: Moolelo Hawaii Nei, Antiquities of Hawaii, Moolelo Hawaii
A 19th-century Hawaiian compendium by David Malo, preserving genealogies, cosmogonies, traditions, and cultural practices of ancient Hawaii.
Description
Hawaiian Antiquities (Moolelo Hawaii Nei), composed by David Malo in the mid-19th century, is among the most comprehensive written accounts of pre-contact Hawaiian mythology, traditions, and customs. Malo, a Hawaiian scholar educated by missionaries, recorded extensive genealogies of chiefs and gods, cosmogonic and theogonic narratives, and detailed descriptions of religious practices, rituals, and social organization. The work includes creation accounts, the descent of gods to earth, and the sacred genealogies linking human rulers to divine ancestors. Beyond myth, it documents customs such as marriage, warfare, governance, agriculture, and religious ceremonies, making it both a mythographic and ethnographic text. Preserving knowledge that was rapidly eroding under missionary influence, the book remains a cornerstone for the study of Hawaiian religion and society.
Historiography
Originally composed in Hawaiian by David Malo between the 1830s and 1850s, the manuscript circulated before being published in Honolulu in 1865. Later, Nathaniel Emerson produced an English translation in 1898. Scholars note that Malo, though deeply informed by oral traditions, was also influenced by his Christian education, which shaped his interpretive framing. The text is considered one of the essential sources for Hawaiian myth and tradition, alongside Kamakau and Kepelino’s works.
Date Notes
Compiled in Hawaiian by David Malo based on oral traditions; first published in Hawaiian (1860s) and later translated into English (1898).
Archetypes
Major Characters
- Kane
- Ku
- Lono
- Kanaloa
- Maui
- Pele
Myths
- The Genealogies of the Gods and Chiefs
- Deeds of Māui
- Pele and the Fires of Kīlauea
- Rites of Kū and Lono
Facts
- David Malo was a native Hawaiian historian and chiefly counselor educated by missionaries.
- The text preserves oral traditions including cosmogony, theogony, and genealogical chants.
- It contains detailed accounts of religious ceremonies and temple practices.
- Malo emphasized the genealogical descent of Hawaiian chiefs from gods.
- The work reflects both indigenous Hawaiian worldview and Christian interpretive framing.
- It is one of the earliest extensive written records of Hawaiian culture by a Hawaiian author.
- The English translation by Nathaniel Emerson (1898) remains widely used.
- The book is considered both mythographic and ethnographic in scope.
- It provides descriptions of warfare, law, and governance among Hawaiians.
- It remains a primary source for Hawaiian studies and cultural preservation.