Folklore in Hawaii

Folklore in Hawaii in modern times is a mixture of various aspects of Hawaiian mythology and various urban legends that have been passed on regarding various places in the Hawaiian islands. The following is a partial list of some of these legends.

Ancient Hawaiian folklore

Night marchers

According to Hawaiian legend, night marchers (huaka‘i po in Hawaiian) are ghosts of ancient warriors. They supposedly roam large sections of the island chain, and can be seen by groups of torches. They can usually be found in areas that were once large battlefields (the Nuuanu Pali on the island of Oahu is a good example.)

Contact with the night marchers is said to result in instantaneous death. However, it is said that they can be fooled if one "plays dead."

Carrying pork over the Nuuanu Pali

Local folklore on the island of Oahu says that one should never carry pork over the Pali Highway connecting Honolulu and Windward Oahu. The stories vary, but the classic legend is that if one carries pork of any kind over the Nuuanu Pali by automobile, the automobile would stop at a certain point on the way and not re-start until the pork is removed from the vehicle.

• Some versions of the story require the pork to be raw; other versions say that this happens after dark.
• In some versions, a white dog will appear at the time the automobile stalls, and you must feed the pork to the dog to proceed.

This legend has its roots in ancient Hawaiian mythology. According to legend, the Hawaiian volcano goddess Pele and the demigod Kamapua‘ (a half-man-half-pig) had a turbulent relationship, and the two agreed not to visit each other. If one takes pork over the Pali, the legend goes, one is symbolically taking a piece of Kamapua‘a from one side to the other, and it is said that Pele would stop that from happening.

Modern urban legends

Morgan's Corner

Morgan's Corner refers to two places on Oahu; one on the Nuuanu Pali Drive leading into Nuuanu Valley above downtown Honolulu, and one in Windward Oahu below the Nuuanu Pali. Both of these places are connected to urban legends.

It is said that at the Windward Morgan's Corner, a young local couple parked at the corner, and found that their car wouldn't start when they tried to leave. The young man left the car to get help, telling his girlfriend to stay in the car with the doors and windows locked. The young woman later awoke the next morning to find her boyfriend hanging from a tree branch above the car. It is said that fireballs can be seen behind boulders here, and apparitions looking like a hanged man can be found here.

Seven Bridges of Manoa

to be completed

The Kahala Graveyard

to be completed

See also

• Glen Grant