The tale of “A Calabash of Poi” revolves around Pele, the Hawaiian goddess of fire and volcanoes. This grand narrative mythologizes the origins of the Hawaiian Islands and is rich in moral overtones, teaching the virtues of hospitality, respect, and kindness for strangers and elders. As such, it provides insights into how the Hawaiian peoples envisioned the world around them.
The mighty and volatile Pele was banished from Tahiti by her father, the god of heaven and earth, and landed on the island of Hawaii. Using her long stick, she created great pits filled with fire (volcanoes) everywhere she struck. Legend says that even today she lives by the crater of Kilauea volcano on the big island of Hawaii, which is still active to this day. When the volcano erupts, it shows Pele’s anger bursting forth. Pele is also known to explore the human world in various disguises—such as a lovely young maiden or an old woman. The tale of “A Calabash of Poi” involves one of her forays in disguise.
Pele, disguised as a gnarled old woman with a cane, came down from the mountain and entered a nearby village. She came to a large house thatched with ti leaves, a symbol of status in Hawaiian culture. The house was surrounded by beautiful gardens with abundant crops of taro, bananas, and coconut palms. Peering through the window, Pele saw a family enjoying their feast and she greeted them in a feeble voice. The father of the household returned her “Aloha” without enthusiasm. The old woman tried again, pleading with him that she had walked a long way and was exhausted and hungry. She asked for a calabash (bowl) of poi, noting that the family had an abundance of taro plants in their garden (poi is a gruel-like food made from the stems of taro plants). The selfish family refused, flatly stating that they had no poi to share. Pele then asked for some fish, and again the family refused, saying that they had none. Lastly, the old woman pleaded for a few berries to quench her thirst. The family lied again, telling her that they had no ripe berries. The woman of the house sneered that the old woman’s eyes were probably too weak to see that their berries were all green—which they were not. Normally Pele would likely have exploded with fire from her eyes, but she restrained herself and quietly departed.
The goddess went down the road until she came to another hut, this one humbler, having little land and few crops. A family stood in the garden with children playing and the parents enjoying the gorgeous Hawaiian sunset. The old woman greeted them. It was too bad, she said, that their evening meal was over, as she was weary and hungry and had hoped for a bit of poi. The poor fisherman (or farmer, depending on the version) and his family responded warmly, inviting the disguised goddess in to partake of whatever they had left. The wife filled a large calabash with poi and seated Pele at their mat. The goddess devoured the poi and asked if there was any more. The woman filled a second bowl, and when she had eaten all of it, filled a third bowl, not as full. The woman apologized that their garden was small and this was truly the last of their poi. Pele ate half of the third bowl, then arose and declared that from that time on, the crops of their neighbors would wither and be cursed; their coconuts would fall on the heads of their favorite pig; and their bananas would die on the stalk. The goddess promised that the kind family would have as many crops in one day as their neighbor would in ten years. Taro and sugarcane planted at night would be fully grown in the morning, and bananas would ripen in one day. Then Pele walked outside and disappeared before the family could say a word.
The next morning the people of the kind family awoke and were amazed to find plenty of fully ripe bananas and taro with sugarcane stalks as high as the eaves of their house. Looking down the road, they could see that the once beautiful garden of their wealthy neighbors had withered and now stood barren. Thus, the tale conveys the lesson that one should always be kind and hospitable to strangers, especially older people, because one can never tell if the visitor might be Pele.
Douglas J. King
See also Pele Legends
Further Reading
Beckwith, Martha Warren. 1970. Hawaiian Mythology. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
Friedman, Amy, and Meredith Johnson. 2008. “Pele and the Calabash of Poi (A Hawaiian Folktale).” uexpress.com. February 10. http://uexpress.com/tellmeastory/2008/2/10. Accessed August 28, 2015.
Kane, Herb Kawainui. 1996. Pele: Goddess of Hawaii’s Volcanoes. Honolulu: Kawainui Press.
Thorpe, Coral Wells. 1924. In the Path of the Trade Winds. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons.
Unitarian Universalist Association. 2013. UUA Tapestry of Faith Lifespan Curriculum. July 9. http://www.uua.org/re/tapestry/children/signs/session10/sessionplan/stories/287894.shtml. Accessed August 28, 2015.