Magic, Myths, and Me

Aloha all, I apologize for my recent absence. I was focused on finishing up the semester, which included a lot of writing assignments. But all the hard work paid off  because I earned straight A’s and made the Dean’s List! I’m not entirely sure what being on the Dean’s List means for my future, but … yay! One of my favorite classes was Fairy Tales and Their Adaptations. It inspired me to begin writing a book of fairy tales with Hawaiian themes. So far, I’ve created Hawaiian versions of Cinderella, Rapunzel, and The Little Mermaid, though my mermaid tale is very different from the original. With the Hawaiian themes I’ve reimagined the characters as Native Hawaiian, given them culturally meaningful names, and included Hawaiian language and customs throughout the stories. For example, I named my version of Cinderella Mahina, because she was born under a full moon. Later, her nickname becomes Mahina Lepo which is a name her stepbrothers use to mock her, with Lepo meaning dirt or filth. It’s similar to Cinder-Ella, where “cinder” refers to ashes.

With Mahina Lepo, I wanted to explore what it might have been like for a Hawaiian wahine growing up without a mother figure, being underestimated because she’s a girl, and being silenced despite her mana (spiritual power). The core themes I explore in this story include resilience, cultural identity, transformation, morality, and justice.

Here’s a short excerpt from Mahina Lepo. I hope you enjoy, and mahalo for reading!

Mahina Lepo

The day came with the sounds of screaming. Mahina’s mother was surrounded by kahu hānai and other women who specialize in births. They carried her to the birthing stones and Mahina hid in the shadows where she could only see her mother’s face. The screaming intensified and Mahina bit her nails with worry. Soon her mother grew quiet, and the sounds were replaced with chants and sobs. Mahina’s mother had passed away and so did the baby. Mahina cried and ran to her mother. She pushed everyone aside and shook her.

“Please mama wake up,” she pleaded. But her mother never budged. “Mama, I love you—please come back.”

Her mother was gone. Mahina grew angry and she found the dead baby. I shall bury this baby boy by the kapu tree where a god may live. She thought this would be punishment for killing their mother. No one was paying attention as Mahina took off with the baby. She found the kapu tree and started to dig until there was a hole big enough for the small body. Her tears fell upon the patted dirt, and Mahina felt a pang of guilt. She went home to find her father and when she did, he embraced her, and they cried together.

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Some years had passed, and Mahina was now sixteen years old. She had continued to practice hula in the shadows. One day her father brought home a new woman who had two sons. After kauwela, their marriage was finalized. At the wedding Mahina overheard her aunties talking about an upcoming competition, Ka Hula Nui. One of the boys from their ahupua’a would be named ʻolapa nui, the master dancer. The new wife was excited for her sons to compete for this title especially because she was now married to a chief. Mahina rolled her eyes because she knew that just because her father was a chief didn’t mean her new stepbrothers would have a better chance to win.

She saw how uncoordinated they were, and she hid her laughter as she thought about it. The new stepmother didn’t care much for Mahina either, and she gave her every chore there was including her stepbrother’s chores. She cleaned the hut, washed all the clothes, brought fresh water, and prepared food for her stepbrothers every day. Deep down Mahina felt that she deserved this fate from what she did to her brother, so she never bothered to say no.

One day the stepbrothers were practicing their hula and Mahina was watching them in secret until she saw all the mistakes they were making along with saying the wrong chants. She came out of hiding and couldn’t stay silent any longer.

“You should turn this way, then that way,” her voice startled them.

“What would you know Mahina Lepo?” one of them asked.

“Stupid girl,” the other one said.

            “If you want to win, you should fix your chant too,” she retorted.

            “Lepo, how would you even know?” the boy asked, and his eyebrows narrowed.

            “Because my mother’s family comes from the Laka line and it’s my mana,” she stated.

            They began laughing at her and told their mother the story so she could laugh at her too. But the stepmother did not laugh.

“You keep your mouth shut little girl,” she said. “Don’t be putting nonsense ideas into my son’s heads.” She walked closer to Mahina with a forced smile. “The competition is coming up soon and I know one of them will be the new ʻolapa nui.” Then she forcefully shoved the boy’s laundry into her hands. “Now get to work—Lepo.”