Ku and Hina-man andwoman-were the great ancestral gods of heaven and earth for the ancientHawaiians. They were life's fruitfulness and all the generations of mankind, both those who are to come and those already born.

The Hawaiian gods werelike great chiefs from far lands who visited among the people, entering their dailylives sometimes as humans or animals, sometimes taking residence in a stone orwooden idol. As years passed, the families of gods grew and included thetrickster Maui, who snared the sun, and fiery Pele of the volcano.

Ancient Hawaiian lived bythe animistic...