Kapaemahu
Review posted July 29, 2024.
Kokila (Penguin Random House), 2022. 40 pages.
Review written October 24, 2022, from a library book.
Starred Review
This hauntingly beautiful picture book tells an indigenous story from Hawaii, with text in both Olelo Niihau, the language it may have originally been told in, and English.
The story tells how long ago four spiritual healers came from Tahiti to Hawaii.
The visitors were tall and deep in voice yet gentle and soft-spoken.
They were not male;
they were not female.They were mahu --
a mixture of both in mind, heart, and spirit.
The four visitors each had a separate special healing gift, and they bequeathed their healing wisdom to the people of Hawaii.
The people moved four large boulders to the beach as a monument to the healers, and the healers transferred their healing power to the stones to keep it safe for Hawaii before they left.
As the story finishes up, we learn that the stones were considered sacred for centuries, but as Waikiki got built up, for a time they were buried under a bowling alley.
The stones have since been recovered. But their history is still being suppressed, and the fact that the healers were mahu has been erased.
But now readers know the story, and we can honor it.