He lāhui ʻiʻo nō ka poʻe Menehune. Ma kekahi hana helu kanaka i ka makahiki 1820, ua hōʻike ʻia i ka luna helu kānaka aia he 65 mau kānaka Menehune e noho ana ma Wainiha, Kauaʻi.
ʻAʻole lākou he poʻe ʻeʻepa e like me nā poʻe peke o nā kānaka ʻEulo. He lāhui kūʻokoʻa nō lākou. Wahi a Katherine Luomala , he lāhui ʻokoʻa nā Menehune i hiki ʻē mai i Hawaiʻi ma mua o nā kūpuna Hawaiʻi no Tahiti a no Nuʻuhiwa. He poʻe poupou,ʻilikou, a noʻeau i ke hana kūkulu. Ma Kahiki, ko lākou kulāiwi, kapa ʻia lākou ʻo lākou nā Manahune a he mau kānaka lawelawe nō lākou. ʻIlihune (hune) ko lākou mana; no laila mai ka inoa kapakapa ʻo Manahune.
Ma Hawaiʻi nei, ua lilo ka puana ʻana o Manahune a lilo i ka inoa hou, Menehune, ka poʻe kaulana i ka ʻoihana kūkulu. ʻO ka loko iʻa ʻo ʻAlekoko ma Niumalu kekahi o nā hana kupanaha a ka Menehune. Wahi a ka mea haʻi moʻolelo kaulana o Kauaʻi, ʻo Fred Wichman , ʻo ka hiki ʻole a nā aliʻi ʻo ʻAlekoko me Kalālālehua ke mālama i ke kapu Menehune ke kumu o ka inoa ʻo ʻAlekoko. ʻO ia kapu Menehune ʻo ia ka hoʻopāpā ʻana e ʻike maka i ka hana a nā Menehune.
Ma muli o ka hana kuli o ka hana kāpili a kūkulu i ke kuapā, ua nīele a kiʻei hālō nā aliʻi ʻelua i ka hana a nā Menehune. ʻO ka nānā hewa nō ia a ʻAlekoko me Kalālālehua, ua kū pau ka hana a nā Menehune. Kauoha ke aliʻi Menehune iā lākou e hoʻokū i ka hana, holoi i ka lima ma nā ʻale o ka loko wai, a hoʻi i kauhale. Ua koko ko lākou lima no ka mea ʻaʻole pāheʻeheʻe nā pōhaku.
He mau pōhaku nihoniho a ʻaʻanapuʻu no Wahiawa, Kauaʻi mai. Ua kūmaumau nā Menehune mai Wahiawa ā hiki i Niumalu, ma kahi o ʻiwakalua mile, a hāpai liʻiliʻi aku, hāpai aku i nā pōhaku nui i laila i ka pōʻeleʻele o ka pō. Ma Niumalu, ua kā a kālai ʻia na pōhaku nihoniho e hiki i nā limahana ke kāpili pono a pili likiliki nā pōhaku kekahi i kekahi. He mea kupanaha nō kēlā hana ma Hawaiʻi a puni.
ʻO ke aliʻi kaulana o ia lāhui Menehune ʻo Ola. Kaulana nā hana kupanaha a Ola ā hiki i kēia lā. ʻO Kīkī-a-Ola ka ʻauwai nui ma Waimea i kūkulu ʻia me nā pōhaku i kālai ʻia i pōhaku palahalaha. ʻO Hālau-a-Ola kekahi ulu lāʻau koa a Ola. Ma laila i kua ʻia ai nā kumu koa a i kālai ʻia ai i waʻa. Ua hele ʻo Kuini ʻEmalani i o Hālauaola ma kāna huakaʻi mākaʻikaʻi i Kilohana, kēlā wahi nānā ma ka pali ʻaleʻo o Hāʻena. Iā ia ma Alakaʻi ua hehi ʻo ia ma luna o ke Kīpapa-a-Ola, he ala hele i hana ʻia me nā kumu hāpuʻu i hina a hoʻokīpapa ʻia ma luna o kēlā ʻāina maʻū a ʻolokele o Alakaʻi.
Ma ka moʻolelo o Hawaiʻiloa na Kamakau, ua hiki mai kēia aliʻi holo moana ʻo Hawaiʻiloa a ua kapa ʻo ia i ka mokupuni mua āna i kipa ai ma kona inoa a me kekahi aʻe ma ka inoa o kāna keikikāne ʻo Māui. Ma ia mau mokupuni ʻo ia i hui ai me kekahi mau kānaka haʻa a poupou, he mau mamo a Kalani Menehune. ʻO kēia mau poʻe nā mamo a Lua Nuʻu (Kānehoalani, Kūmāmenehune) e like me Hawaiʻiloa. Wahi a Beckwith , ʻo Luanuʻu a me Meʻehakulani (Meʻehiwa) nā mākua o nā Menehune.
No laila, he ʻohana loa ka poʻe Menehune i ka ʻohana Hawaiʻi. He lāhui ʻiʻo nō lākou. He mau kūpuna nō hoʻi lākou.
- Joesting, E. (1987).Kauaʻi, The Separate Kingdom. Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaiʻi Press and Kauaʻi Museum Association, p. 20-22.
- Luomala, K. (1951): “The Menehune of Polynesia and Other Mythical Little People of Oceania”. Bernice P. Bishop Museum Bulletin Vol. 203; Kraus Reprint, Millwood, N.Y., 1986
- Wichman, F. (1997). More Kauaʻi Tales. Honolulu: Bamboo Ridge Press.
- Beckwith, M. (1976). Hawaiian Mythology. Honolulu: University of Hawaiʻi Press.
