The Man Who Always Wore a Kīhei

retold here by Kamaile

Adapted from "The Man Who Always Wore a Kīhei" from Hawai'i Island Legends by Caroline Curtis

As a beautiful woman named Kalei sat peacefully on a gigantic boulder, she noticed some shellfish. When the wave pushed out she ran and grabbed it then came back to shore. She did that many times when no one else wanted to. Then, she noticed a big clump of shellfish wouldn’t come off a rock and a wave captured her. Tossing and turning Kalei thought she would surely die as her eyes closed and she was asleep. But, she noticed in her sleep she was saved with a man bending over her asking her if she was okay. Soon after Kalei was always seeing him by that same beach. After long, Kalei’s companion soon became her husband. Endless days and nights Kalei spent with this man until one morning.

He told Kalei he must go. Kalei was frightened but went in a calm whisper asking if he will come back. Yet with sadden eyes he said he must never. He explained to her he was the chief of sharks and must go back to those he leads. But then he said Kalei will have a baby and if it is a boy then on his back will have a shark’s mouth .He warned Kalei never let this sign be seen and never feed the boy meat. Train him not to be an evil shark but a good shark. With one last hug, he left and Kalei's heart was sadden with deep sorrow.

But then, the baby was there making Kalei's sadness no longer appeared. His name was Nanue and he grew up brave and courageous. While Nanue worked in his mother’s field Nanue always wore his Kīhei, which protected people from looking at the sign. Nanue never played with anyone for he must never take his Kīhei off. One day visiting his grandfather, Nī‘au,Nanue asked for this food he had never tasted before and Nī‘au gave it to him. Later, there had been reports about a shark that had been attacking. It was Nanue. While Nanue continued to work, the sea god Umi called for all workers to report to him. All did, but Nanue.

When the guards found out, Nanue simply said he did not hear. The guards and Umi were angry and wanted to seize him, yet Nanue swam away turning into the shark that has been doing the shark attacks. Umi said to imprison his family and called for and old Kahuna. The kahuna lay at home that evening and awoke with a message Kalei’s husband had said to her. Kalei's husband told the kahuna to tell Umi it was Nī‘au who had given Nanue meat, which sent him to be an evil shark. Kalei's husband also told the kahuna to let the prisoners go as Kalei's husband told everyone that they shouldn’t be punished for someonelse's wrong doing. So the prisoners were let go, and Nanue never hurt anyone on the island again.
That is why sharks eat meat.