ʻŌpeʻapeʻa and Culture
Bats Before Gods in the Kumulipo
The Kumulipo is a 2000 line 16-part Hawaiian creation chant, passed down verbally for centuries to instruct the Hawaiian world view to youth. The first seven sections tell the creation of the world, the eighth is the creation of the Hawaiian Gods, and the ninth to the 16th is a genealogy telling how the Gods began the Hawaiian people.
Queen Lili‘uokalani translated the Kumulipo into english. The Queen’s version of the ending of the seventh section of the Kumulipo mentions the significance of the ʻŌpeʻapeʻa in Hawaiian culture.
The awful stillness of the night that came--
The night that went by and brought forth an offspring...
He is equal to the blowing breeze,
The younger brother of the god
From which sprang the gods of the bats--
The hairy bats. Sprang the bat with many claws--
Sprang the bat and moved away,
That the rising surf might give it birth.
’Tis night.”
Maui and Peʻapeʻa Makawalu
One day, Maui went out fishing with his brothers, and after they caught their fish he told them to paddle to shore. He dropped off some fish to his mother and went on his way to take the fish to the heiau (temple) named Luaehu. He began eating the fish and was almost done when he saw his wife being carried by Peʻapeʻa Makawalu (Eight eyed bat). Maui left behind his fish and went to get his wife back with determination. Peʻapeʻa Makawalu flew off, so unfortunately he couldn't catch him. He went to someone called Kuolokele for help. He explained to him what happened, and Kuolokele told Maui to gather 3 things, bird feathers, ki leaves and ʻieʻie vines, with these materials Kuolokele made the body and wings of a bird. Maui used Kuolokeleʻs invention and used it to fly over the ocean and arrived at Peʻapeʻa Makawaluʻs house. Maui fought with Peʻapeʻa Makawalu and cut his head off, and returned to Oahu with the head of Peʻapeʻa Makawalu and his wife.
Peʻapeʻa Makawalu (eight-eyed bat) was also supposed to be in a scene on the Disney movie, "Moana." Sadly, that scene was deleted from the movie.
The Meaning of ʻŌpeʻapeʻa
Our beloved native Hawaiian bat goes by many different names ranging from scientific, to Hawaiian and English. Also, all of the names that it has been given has a significant meaning to represent the bat in different ways, from the color to the shape of its wings.
Scientific: Lasiurus Cinereus Semotus
This trinomial name has been given to the bat by Harris Allen in 1890. Lasiurus is from the Greek words "lasios" (hairy) and "oura" (tail), because unlike most bats this genus has fur on their tail membranes. Cinereus is from the Latin word "cinis" (ashes), after the ash color of the species fur tips. Semotus is Latin for removed or distant, as this subspecies is located far away from the Mainland species it descended from (Lasiurus cinereus).
Hawaiian: ʻŌpeʻapeʻa
A half leaf of a taro plant remaining on the stalk after the top half has been removed for cooking; so called because its form suggests that of a bat. Peʻa is the sail, as of a canoe. ʻŌpeʻa is the small boom or spar to extend and elevate the sails of a canoe.
English: Hawaiian Hoary Bat
This simple name has been given to the bat because its coat of fur has a hoary or "frosty" look of it. It is said that the frosty tips of the fur along with the reddish-brown, represents the top of Mauna Kea.
Kilo:
Connection between ʻŌpeʻapeʻa wing, waʻa sail, and kalo leaf
We brought these 3 images together because of the relation to each other. Peʻa, which means either the sail of a waʻa in the wind referenced in the top right photo, while another meaning is the bottom half of a kalo leaf. The veins on the kalo leaf and on the sail looks like the blood veins flowing through the veins of the ʻōpeʻapeʻa