The Puna Chief Who Boasted

retold here by Malia
Adopted from "The Puna Chief Who Boasted" from Hawaii Island Legends by Caroline Curtis



This legend is about a chief from the district of Puna. Everywhere he went he would do nothing but brag about his beautiful land. He always made sure to tell people about the lovely fragrances in the wind, how yummy the food tasted, and how healthy the land was. Whenever the Puna chief boasted to people they would caution him to stop, for the powerful goddess Pele did not like when people bragged. He would just ignore the warnings, and go on boasting.

Well, one day the Puna chief was boasting when a Kahuna heard him. The Kahuna told him to stop, and go back to the district he came from, because the goddess Pele heard his bragging. The Kahuna told him to go home and see what Pele had done to his awesome land.

Hearing this warning, the Puna chief hurried home, and climbed the highest point of land. When he overlooked his district he saw that Pele had destroyed all the land.