The King of Sharks: From Native American Myths at Americanfolklore.net

A Native American Myth

from Hawaii

retold by

S. E. Schlosser

One day, the King of Sharks saw a beautiful girl swimming near the shore. He immediately fell in love with the girl. Transforming himself into a handsome man, he dressed himself in the feathered cape of a chief and followed her to her village.

The villagers were thrilled by the visit of a foreign chief. They made a great luau, with feasting and games. The King of Sharks won every game, and the girl was delighted when he asked to marry with her.

The King of Sharks lived happily with his bride in a house near a waterfall. The King of Sharks, in his human form, would swim daily in the pool of water beneath the falls. Sometimes he would stay underneath the water so long that his bride would grow frightened. But the King of Sharks reassured her, telling her that he was making a place at the bottom of the pool for their son.

Before the birth of the child, the King of Sharks returned to his people. He made his wife swear that she would always keep his feathered cape about the shoulders of their son. When the child was born, his mother saw a mark upon his back which looked like the mouth of a shark. It was then she realized who her husband had been.

The child's name was Nanave. As he grew towards manhood, Nanave would swim daily in the pool beside the house. Sometimes, his mother would gaze into the pool and see a shark swimming beneath the water.

Each morning, Nanave would stand beside the pool, the feathered cloak about his shoulders, and would ask the passing fishermen where they were going to fish that day. The fisherman always told the friendly youth where they intended to go. Then Nanave would dive into the pool and disappear for hours.

The fishermen soon noticed that they were catching fewer and fewer fish. The people of their village were growing hungry. The chief of the village called the people to the temple. "There is a bad god among us," the chief told the people. "He prevents our fishermen from catching fish. I will use my magic to find him." The chief laid out a bed of leaves. He instructed all the men and boys to walk among the leaves. A human's feet would bruise the tender leaves, but the feet of a god would leave no mark.

Nanave's mother was frightened. She knew her son was the child of a god, and he would be killed if the people discovered his identity. When it came turn for the youth to walk across the leaves, he ran fast, and slipped. A man caught at the feathered cape Nanave always wore to prevent him from being hurt. But the cape fell from the youth's shoulders, and all the people could see the shark's mouth upon his back.

The people chased Nanave out of the village, but he slipped away from them and dived into the pool. The people threw big rocks into the pool, filling it up. They thought they had killed Nanave. But his mother remembered that the King of Sharks had made a place for her son at the bottom of the pool, a passage that led to the ocean. Nanave had taken the form of a shark and had swum out to join his father, the King of Sharks, in the sea.

But since then, the fishermen have never told anyone where they go to fish, for fear the sharks will hear and chase the fish away.

Comments

This is a good story!

Posted by: nathan shimizu | September 1, 2010 04:30 PM

wow this is amazing i love myths and legends

Posted by: secret | September 11, 2010 09:48 PM

That was a very good story i agree with you Nathan!

Posted by: Kayla | September 14, 2010 02:48 PM

this is the best myth ever that i read

Posted by: mateja | September 15, 2010 07:47 AM

luv dis story

Posted by: stephaniembat | September 16, 2010 05:37 PM

nice story i love shark stories.......

Posted by: lilcetan | September 17, 2010 06:50 PM

While I was happy to see at least one story for Hawai'i it was truly not reflective of the MANY legends our islands have.
Most significant is the fact that our native language NEVER uses the letter "v" so it must be from the South Pacific or have an error.

Posted by: Kimberly | September 20, 2010 03:56 AM

thiis is a reaaly cool story i loved iit :)

Posted by: courtney | September 21, 2010 03:23 AM

awwwwsome story i heard wow....

Posted by: mareve cumar | September 21, 2010 07:13 AM

sweet story

Posted by: david | September 23, 2010 11:55 AM

Awesome Folkatale!!!!!!! My aunt and uncle lived in Hawaii. And I love Sharks ever since i was a little girl I lOVED the movie Jaws!

Posted by: Lisa | September 24, 2010 06:31 PM

this was a good story

Posted by: carly | September 28, 2010 10:15 AM

really good

Posted by: kayla bayer | September 28, 2010 10:34 AM

very interesting story

Posted by: abonmai | September 28, 2010 04:16 PM

wow das wuz up i love this kind of storys....

IM OUT

Posted by: stormy | September 28, 2010 08:37 PM

this story is awesome

Posted by: Tim | September 30, 2010 10:14 AM

This story is better than the opossum story and the mammoth story put together!!!

Posted by: Anonymous | October 6, 2010 12:09 PM

it is really a cute story

Posted by: crystal | October 8, 2010 09:13 AM

this is an awsome myth, i am going to use it for my journal!!!

Posted by: Breanna Simeon | October 8, 2010 05:22 PM

Good post. We (First Nations) view these "myths" as teaching stories and a way to keep our oral history alive. They are extremely important to our traditional way of life. Here is an example of such a teaching story that deals with the near-universal "world flood" concept:

URL: http://www.scribd.com/doc/39069053/The-Great-Flood

Posted by: Sleeping Crow | October 13, 2010 01:42 PM

WOW!!! this is a really good myth! i love learning about native American story's!

Posted by: cala | November 1, 2010 08:17 PM

this is the best

Posted by: Anonymous | November 15, 2010 11:56 AM

I LOVE IT SO MUCH I READ IT 9 TIMES TODAY!

Posted by: Ellie parson | January 3, 2011 07:19 PM

theres no way that they can say its a boring story!

Posted by: jada | January 25, 2011 09:25 AM

its sooo cooooollllllllll theres no way u can hate it

Posted by: Anonymous | January 25, 2011 09:29 AM