The Legend of the Magic Banana Peel

By: Kelsey

Once upon a time there lived a Kahuna in Puna. He was so old he could not even remember when he was a child. He was a great magician.

One day this Kahuna found a baby boy with curly hair and brown eyes. This baby was found in a clump of banana trees. The Kahuna took the boy and raised him. He named him Kukali. As Kukali grew the Kahuna taught him all of his magic.

Kukali grew up to be tall and handsome. He was a strong young man that spent time by the beach listening to the stories the waves would tell him. One day when he was listening to the waves he heard them calling him. The more he sat there, the more he listened, the more he wanted to sail to far away lands.

Finally he told the Kahuna about what happened. The Kahuna agreed to let Kukali go. The next day Kukali built a canoe. When he was ready to leave the Kahuna gave him a banana. The Kahuna told Kukali not to throw the peel away because there would always be more banana for him to eat.

Kukali sailed off to where the sky touched the water. There he found an island. When he saw the sand Kukali lied down and went to sleep.

As he slept, Halulu, the giant bird who owned the island, saw Kukali and swooped him up and took him to a cave. There were several men already in the cave. There was no food or water and the men were weak.

Kukali met a man named Keahaupo, he once was the greatest warrior in all the land and now he was very weak. Kukali shared his banana with Keahaupo and the rest of the men. As the men grew stronger Kukali told the men of a plan to escape. They built a human pyramid and the person at the top would have to dig a hole in the roof of the cave.

When they all got out of the cave they rain into the forest. Halulu was angry. The men started to make a plan about how to escape and kill Halulu. Kukali had an idea. He would take the trunk of a tree and make a wooden carving of himself. The others made spears and a heavy net. They set the net on the sand. Kukali made the net invisible to Halulu. If Halulu would try to grab the wooden figure the net would close and the bird would be trapped.

As Halulu swooped down to grab the carved figure he was caught in the net. It was a fierce battle and Halulu was killed.

Kukali told the men that he needed to return to the Kahuna in Puna now that the island was safe to live on. The men named the island, “Island of the Magic Banana.”

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