Hawaiian Nation : Man, Gods, and Nature [Paperback]

Michael Kioni Dudley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1993 | ISBN-10: 1878751158 | ISBN-13: 978-1878751157 | Edition: 2nd

A fascinating, easy-to-read, insight-filled exploration into traditional Hawaiian religion, philosophy, and environmental thought. This is the first book to present a complete ancient Hawaiian world-view, reconstructed from ancient Hawaiian chants and confirmed by native experts today. The book describes a completely unique, beautiful, and adoptable view of reality. Theirs was a paradise in which man, gods, and nature all were sentient, were related as kin, and cared for each other as family.

Editorial Reviews

Review

A landmark work! Masterful prose. Deep and careful research. Sure to impress the most exacting critics. -- Julius S. Rodman, author of Kahuna Sorcerers of Hawaii

A powerful account of a rich and endangered tradition. -- The Book Reader

The ancient Hawaiian world-view and religion told with accuracy, insight, scholarship, and passion. Read it! -- Tino Ramirez, Honolulu Advertiser and Star-Bulletin

About the Author

Michael Kioni Dudley, Ph.D. began teaching Hawaiian religion at Chaminade University in Honolulu in 1975. Over the years since, he also has taught at Leeward and Windward Community Colleges, the University of Hawaii, and at the University of California at Santa Barbara. His doctoral dissertation--the result of more than a decade of researching ancient Hawaiian culture--was a reconstruction of ancient Hawaiian philosophy. A scholar-activist deeply involved in the Hawaiian sovereignty movement, his hope is that this volume will help firmly root the future Hawaiian nation in the traditional thought and ways of the past.

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Na Kane O Ka Malo Pr; 2nd edition (June 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1878751158
• ISBN-13: 978-1878751157
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,567,818 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars excellent!!!, May 19, 2003

By 

Palaka "palakahope" (SB,CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hawaiian Nation: Man, Gods, and Nature (Hardcover)

This book is a must for any person interested in an academic book on traditional Hawaiian philosophy and cosmology. It is a very readable and unique book. However, the occasional extrapolation of ideas from other polynesian cultures was done, instead of saying "We don't know". Overall a keeper. I plan to read it again and I strongly recommend it to friends.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Invaluable resource, August 28, 2006

By 

Makana Risser Chai (Kailua, O'ahu, Hawai'i) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hawaiian Nation : Man, Gods, and Nature (Paperback)

Anyone who is interested in "kahuna wisdom" or "huna" should read this book.

Written by a Native Hawaiian, this book explains in detail a world-view of the ancient Hawaiians, the thought framework from which they approached the world. What is presented here is material collected from ancient chants and stories, beginning with the Kumulipo.

Much of the book is a nontechnical re-writing of the writer's doctoral dissertation. As such, it relies on accepted references and has been read and approved by numerous authorities on Hawaiian traditions.

However, it is a short (124 pages of text) and easy-to-read overview, with useful drawings and delightful stories given as examples.

As the author says, this is only one world-view of the Hawaiians, but it is powerful and authentic.