Most people outside of Hawaiʻi associate the word “kahuna” with “the Big Kahuna” of movie surfing fame. But the word is older and more meaningful than that.
A “kahu” is someone who cares for something, as a fire, pet, child, field of knowledge, or deity. A kahu is an honored attendant, a guardian, nurse, regent, keeper, administrator, warden, caretaker, pastor, minister, reverend, or preacher of a church.
“Na” is a nominalizing suffix. By adding the nominalizing suffix, the word “kahuna” is formed.
In short, a kahuna is a practitioner in a traditional Hawaiian field of endeavor who has learned the skills, practices, and protocols of that field. One way I describe a kahuna is as a PhD in a specific field, with an additional ThD in Hawaiian religion and spirituality, focusing on those practices related to said field.
A kahuna might be a priest, sorcerer, magician, wizard, minister, or an expert in any profession, whether male or female. In the mid-1800s, the legal code of the Kingdom of Hawai`i listed doctors, surgeons, and dentists as kahuna.
One frequently asked question is “How long does it take to become a kahuna?” The answer varies. At a minimum, a person would spend about four years studying foundational material, another four studying applied material, and another four immersed in the advanced material. Fluency in language also would be critical, plus mastery of the associated prayers. So, starting with a background of fluency in Hawaiian language and culture, I would say a minimum of 12 years.
There are many kinds of kahuna. Following are a few of the more commonly known:
Kahuna: (pl. kāhuna) An expert in a profession. A priest in traditional Hawaiian religion.
Kahuna ‘Anā’anā: A sorcerer skilled in praying people to death. This type of kahuna was reviled and feared, and under the monarchy the practice was illegal.
Kahuna A`o: An expert teacher or preacher.
Kahuna Hāhā: A medical practitioner who diagnoses by touching or feeling the patient. Diagnostician.
Kahuna Ha’i’ōlelo: A person skilled in the art of public speaking, especially persuasive speaking. An itinerant preacher.
Kahuna Hana Aloha: Expert in love advice, in helping a person to attract a mate. A highly skilled matchmaker.
Kahuna Ho’ohānau: A medical practitioner specializing in prenatal care of the mother and child, and in delivery. An ObGyn or midwife.
Kahuna Hoʻokomokomo: A sorcerer who can send a spirit, usually evil, to possess a victim.
Kahuna Ho’omanamana: A priest who imparts mana to objects such as ki`i or relics to deify them.
Kahuna Ho’opi’opi’o: A sorcerer who performs an imitative magic in which the practitioner, while concentrating, touches a part of his or her own body, causing injury to his victim’s body in the same place, as a chest pain or headache. If the intended victim, or the victimʻs own kahuna, knows what is being done, the gestures can be imitated, sending the black magic back to the original practitioner. Both practices are called hoʻopiʻopiʻo.
Kahuna Ho’oulu’ai: An agricultural expert.
Kahuna Kālai Ki`i: An expert in carving temple images.
Kahuna Kālai Wa`a: An expert in carving canoes
Kahuna Kākalaleo: An expert in chanting.
Kahuna Kilohōkū: An expert in astronomy and astrology
Kahuna Kilokilo: A priest who is expert in fortunetelling.
Kahuna Kilolani: A priest who specializes in reading heavenly signs for spiritual advice.
Kahuna Nānā Uli: A priest who studies omens to determine a child’s future profession or fate. A fortune teller.
Kahuna Kuhikuhipuʻuone: An expert in determining the location and layout of a heiau (traditional temple).
Kahuna La’au Lapa’au: Practitioner of herbal medicine.
Kahuna Lapa’au: Expert traditional healer. Medical practitioner.
Kahuna Lawai’a: Expert in fishing.
Kahuna Nui: High priest of a heiau (traditional temple).
Kahuna Pa’ao’ao: Expert in diagnosing and treating childrenʻs illnesses. Pediatrician.
Kahuna Pale Keiki: Expert in prenatal and infant care. Pediatrician / neonatologist.
Kahuna Pule: Traditional priest specializing in prayer. Minister.
Kahu Ki’i: Caretaker of temple images or of personal images used by ali’i. The kahu ki`i would be responsible for the maintenance of the images, and for carrying them ahead of the Chief in battle.
In the early 21st century, the practice of calling kahuna “shaman” became common. This is semantically inaccurate, and extremely misleading as to what a kahuna actually is. Some specific types of kahuna may have some practices in common with shaman, but the terms are not equivalent.
One definition of shamanism is “a religious practice that involves a practitioner reaching altered states of consciousness in order to perceive and interact with a spirit world and channel these transcendental energies into this world. A shaman is a person regarded as having access to, and influence in, the world of benevolent and malevolent spirits who typically enters into a trance state during a ritual, and practices divination and healing.” —Wikipedia
Mercida Eliade writes, “A first definition of this complex phenomenon, and perhaps the least hazardous, will be: shamanism = ‘technique of religious ecstasy’.” Shamanism encompasses the premise that shamans are intermediaries or messengers between the human world and the spirit worlds. Shamans are said to treat ailments/illness by mending the soul. Alleviating traumas affecting the soul/spirit restores the physical body of the individual to balance and wholeness. The shaman also enters supernatural realms or dimensions to obtain solutions to problems afflicting the community. Shamans may visit other worlds/dimensions to bring guidance to misguided souls and to ameliorate illnesses of the human soul caused by foreign elements. The shaman operates primarily within the spiritual world, which in turn affects the human world. The restoration of balance results in the elimination of the ailments.”
While the practice of some kahuna does, indeed, include techniques of religious ecstasy, and kahuna are intermediaries between the human and spiritual world, it is as accurate to call a kahuna a shaman as it is to call a Baptist minister a shaman.
But what word(s) would accurately convey the concept of “kahuna” to an English-speaker? English already has a perfectly good comprehensive word that, so far as it goes, is quite accurate. “Priest.”
Quoting our on-line resource again, “A priest or priestess (feminine) (from Greek πρεσβύτερος presbýteros through Latin presbyter, “elder”, or from Old High German priast, prest, from Vulgar Latin “prevost” “one put over others”, from Latin praepositus “person placed in charge”), is a person authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities. Their office or position is the priesthood, a term which also may apply to such persons collectively.” —Wikipedia
Pukui and Elbert (1986), authors of the most authoritative Hawaiian dictionary, define a kahuna as a “priest, sorcerer, magician, wizard, minister, expert in any profession”. In Tales from the Night Rainbow, a book on a Moloka`i familyʻs heritage of Hawaiian spirituality, some 40 types of kāhuna are listed. Kamakau, an early Native Hawaiian author, lists more than 20 types of kāhuna in the healing professions alone.
We can think of kāhuna as specialized practitioners who have the equivalent of a PhD in a given field, plus the formal training of a priest.
During the territorial era (1898-1959) and after statehood (1959), the practice of any traditional profession or art was strongly discouraged unless it was performed for the entertainment or benefit of tourists and moneyed White people. Hula, when performed for the entertainment of moneyed classes, was encouraged. Lomilomi, that small slice of the healing arts originally performed to aid digestion, was encouraged for the benefit of the wealthy. But other arts were either ignored or discouraged.
The kapu system ended in the late fall of 1819, after the death of Kamehameha Pai`ea. On April 4, 1820, American Presbyterian, Congregationalist, and Dutch Reform missionaries arrived. While they did not approve of the remnants of the former state religion, they could not forbid them. Kahuna were the primary source of health care and of specialty knowledge in many fields. To ban them would have meant economic collapse.
In the 100 years after the missionaries arrived all kahuna practices were legal until 1831, when Ka`ahumanu ordered any practice which included sorcery or ‘black magic’ banned. In 1863 the bans were lifted under Kamehameha V, and a college of kāhuna was created to record and preserve the knowledge. In 1887 practices including sorcery, black magic, and some medical practices of which the Western medical profession disapproved were banned. In 1919, under the Territorial government, in response to the influenza epidemic, the bans were lifted so that more medical help could be available. All fields for kāhuna became legal, except sorcery. Sorcery was decriminalized in 1972. Currently, there are no fields of traditional practice which are illegal. After statehood, few kāhuna taught, however, and many fields of practice died out through lack of practitioners.
With the Hawaiian Renaissance (often counted as publicly beginning in 1976 with the launch of the voyaging canoe Hōkūleʻa, traditional practitioners once again began to take their places in the daily life of Hawaiʻi. Practitioners, such as Kumu John Lake, began again training people in the protocols necessary to re-establish the kāhuna.
However, with this visibility came cultural appropriation. During the latter 20th Century, the discredited work of Max Freedom Long (author of numerous books on alleged Hawaiian spiritual practice) was resurrected and re-packaged as “Huna.”
“Huna” became a significant income generator in and out of the islands, with some workshops costing as much as $1,000 per day. Huna products, necklaces, books, CDs, amulets, etc. were sold and eagerly bought.
Today, traditional practitioners are reclaiming their heritage, and fighting such appropriation. Many people are again entering the training necessary to become kāhuna in various fields. Hopefully, as more fully trained kāhuna begin practicing, the general public will become more aware of the differences and support those kāhuna with appropriate training and qualifications.