THE ASINGANIAN:

Forty Shades of Green on Kauai

Irish Americans are not the only grand folk who can boast of a population of wee folk in there midst back in dear old Ireland. On the island of Kauai, in the state of Hawaii, legends abound of another set of small inhabitants. They are called the Menehunes. And it is also suspected that the leprechaun are their ancestors.

Kauai, is called the Garden Island because of its lush natural greenery and beautiful gardens. And perhaps, it too, like dear old Ireland, has forty shades of green. So what better a place could there be, outside of Ireland, for a tribe of wee folk to dwell. It would be hard to imagine such a place. Kauai is also well known, at least in the islands, as Menehune land and is the island richest in Menehune lore, although throughout the Hawaiian Islands there abounds legends of Menehunes.

Hawaii's Pixies and Dwarfs

The Menehunes are sometimes referred to as pixies, or dwarfs, of legendary Hawaii. Legends describe them as small people as about as high as a man's knee who perform marvelous feats of construction. It is said that they do this all in one night.

Menehune Origin Legends

Several legends abound as to how the Menehunes happened to be on the island of Kauai. One legend says that back in ancient times a boatload of vacationing leprechauns stopped off to take their pleasure in the Hawaiian Islands. Seeing how wonderfully lush and green the islands were, just as it was back home in Ireland, they decided to stay.

In time, all folks being as they are, the leprechauns began to intermarry with the Polynesians already living in the islands. The results were offspring of a considerably smaller size than the Hawaiians, and a wee bit larger than the leprechauns. As to how these new small people came to be called Menehunes is yet to be discovered.--from the Internet

When I was in Hawaii for a holiday, I was able to chat with some Asinganians during a picnic. Some were members of Marcie Uson Wise's family..Yes, one of the picnickers mentioned about the little people of Hawaii..

He said he saw one of them in his kitchen! He described him so vividly ( his kitchen, he said was enveloped with an eeire light coming from nowhere ) and I do not think he would tell a lie about such things, not to fellow Asinganians anyway!

Anybody who visits Hawaii would have those spiritual insights. There is a pervading peace and tranquility in the whole place. We were not able to visit Kauai because it was another airplane ride from our vacation base which was Oahu..

Tourists won't see a Menehune in their hotel suite..But if they stroll along the beach at twillight, see the dancing Hula women and listen to the Hawaiian singers, they would know why people keep coming back to the Islands, given another chance.