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Article: Exploring Hawaii's ancient myths and legends: Uncover the rich (sometimes hidden) treasures of the Hawaiian Islands on your next family vacation.
- Article from:
- Sunset
- Article date:
- April 1, 2002
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 Sunset Publishing Corp. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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How did Hawaii come to be? Depends upon whom you ask. Put the question to a group of geologists and they'll mention plate tectonics and volcanic hot spots. Go back 250 years, however, and the answer might have been delivered in a song: the kumulipo, Hawaii's ancient chant of creation.
Passed down through generations, the kumulipo provided early Hawaiians with an explanation, in mythic terms, of the origin, beauty, and bounty of the land. Today, such splendor is more likely to be explained in scientific terms, but Hawaii's mythical past remains a living part of the islands--ready to be explored by visitors eager to venture beyond the hotel.
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