PI-KO-I: THE BOY WHO WAS GOOD AT SHOOTING ARROWS
Given in the Fornander Collection, Vol. IV, Part III, of the Memoirs of the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, with the title Kaao No Pikoiakaalala, Legend of Pikoiakaalala (Pi-ko-i, the son of the Alala).
His father was Raven or Crow, his sisters were Rat and Bat. The arrows that Pi-ko-i shot were not from the sort of bow that we are familiar with; the Hawaiian bow, it must be noted, was not a complete bow. The string hung untied from the top of the shaft; the shooter put the notch of the arrow into the hanging string, whipped forward the shaft, and at the same time cast the arrow, which was light, generally an arrow of sugar-cane. The arrow was never used in war; it was used in sport—to shoot over a distance, and at birds and at rats that were held in some enclosure. The bird that cried out was evidently the elepaio. “Among the gods of the canoe-makers,” says Mr. Joseph Emerson, “she held the position of inspector of all koa trees designed for that use.” The Hawaiian interest in riddles enters into Pi-ko-i’s story. [[212]]