Pikoi and the Enemies of the Chief

retold here by Jessyca

Adapted from "Pikoi and the Enemies of the Chief" from Pikoi by Mary Kawena Pukui

The high chief of Hawai‘i, Keawe Nui, wanted to build a new canoe. So, he sent his canoe builders into the forest to build his canoe. Well, when the workers found a good tree, they did all this work to prepare to cut it down. At the very last moment, Bad Luck Birds landed on the tree and sang a bad luck song. The workers ignored this and cut the tree down any ways. They cut into the tree and the inside was rotten. This happened two more times and on the fourth time the workers sent a messenger to tell the Chief what was happening. The Chief was very angry about this news and decided to kill the birds. He called all the best shooters from the Hawai‘i, but none succeeded in killing the birds.

Mainele from O‘ahu had heard about the trouble on Hawai‘i and decided to go because he was supposedly the best rat shooter in Hawai‘i. If Pikoi didn’t show up before Mainele, Mainele would definitely win. As a young boy, Pikoi had beaten Mainele at a rat shooting contest, so now, Mainele really loathed Pikoi. Well, Pikoi heard about the birds and that Mainele was going to try to kill them. Pikoi, no longer a boy but a young man, decides to go to try kill the birds too. Pikoi finds Waiakea, a man from Hawai‘i, and they agreed in going to Hawai‘i together. On the way there, Waiakea discovers Pikoi’s strength at shooting. When they got to Hawai’i, Pikoi fell in love with the high Chief’s daughter, who was promised to the man who can kill the Bad Luck Birds. When called upon, Pikoi shot the birds using a bowl of water as a mirror. He got to marry his love and they lived happily ever after.