# Hawaiian translation please? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 9, 2021, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hawaiian-translation-please/948325 "2021-08-09T18:20:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2021, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hawaiian-translation-please/948325/1 "2021-08-09T18:20:09Z")
What does Rongo say here? > **[Meet the Tiki Gods Outside Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room at Disneyland Park](https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2013/06/meet-the-tiki-gods-outside-walt-disneys-enchanted-tiki-room-at-disneyland-park/)** > > With the 50th anniversary of Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room coming up this Sunday, June 23, I wanted to take a few minutes for you to meet some friends of mine. I’ve spent many an afternoon sharing a Dole Whip and friendly conversation with ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2021, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hawaiian-translation-please/948325/2 "2021-08-10T01:47:09Z")
Are you sure it’s Hawai’ian? Rongo is the Maori name of the god of agriculture. The Hawai’ian version was called Lono. Interestingly, when Captain Cook arrived in Hawai’i, he just by coincidence landed at Kealakekua Bay, the sacred harbor of Lono, during a festival dedicated to Lono, in ships apparently bearing the emblem of Lono (a white flag resembling the ships’ sails). So the Hawai’ians initially believed him to be Lono himself. Their disillusionment when it became clear that Cook and his men were mere humans taking advantage of the Hawai’ian’s hospitality probably was a factor leading to the quarrel that resulted in Cook’s murder there. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2021, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hawaiian-translation-please/948325/3 "2021-08-10T05:22:30Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > Are you sure it’s Hawai’ian? Rongo is the Maori name of the god of agriculture. The Hawai’ian version was called Lono. Pretty sure, but if you know elsewise, I am willing to be wrong ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2021, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hawaiian-translation-please/948325/4 "2021-08-10T05:50:23Z")
It sure sounds a lot like the state motto of Hawaii, which is “Ua Mau ke Ea o ka 'Āina i ka Pono” (the life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness) ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2021, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hawaiian-translation-please/948325/5 "2021-08-10T11:40:23Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > So the Hawai’ians initially believed him to be Lono himself. Their disillusionment when it became clear that Cook and his men were mere humans taking advantage of the Hawai’ian’s hospitality probably was a factor leading to the quarrel that resulted in Cook’s murder there. Question: murder or execution? If he was Lono, he would have be exempt/above taboo. Touching a shadow would not have been a capital crime. If he was not Lono, he might have committed any number of capital crimes punishable by summary execution. ??? ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2021, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hawaiian-translation-please/948325/6 "2021-08-10T16:53:04Z")
I don’t think it could reasonably be called an execution. He wasn’t killed for violating kapu, he was killed in a disorganized fight between his men and the Hawai’ians during an ill-considered attempt by Cook to abduct a chief and hold him hostage to force the natives to return a longboat they had stolen from his ship. > **[Death of James Cook](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_James_Cook)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > > On 14 February 1779, English explorer Captain James Cook attempted to kidnap Kalaniʻōpuʻu, the ruling chief (aliʻi nui) of the island of Hawaii. The decision to hold him in exchange for a stolen longboat was the fatal error of Cook's final voyage, and led to his death at Kealakekua Bay. > Cook's arrival in Hawaii was eventually followed by mass migrations of Europeans and Americans to the islands that gave rise to the overthrow of the Kingdom of ...