The Power of Pairs! Plant Evolution in the Kumulipo
Scientists believe plants have lived on Earth far longer than animals.
They think humans began evolving 2 million years ago, that other
mammals first appeared 230 million years ago, and that plants were
around 4,600,000,000 years ago!
Modern scientists aren’t the only ones who believe that all the
different life forms on Earth evolved together over time. Ancient
Hawaiians thought so, too.
Do these two things look similar to you?
‘Ekaha (seaweed)
Gelidium & Gymnogongrus
‘Ekahakaha (bird’s nest fern)
Asplenium nidus
The ‘ekaha plant can look a lot like coral, the animal it lives near in
the ocean, and a lot like certain ferns, which grow where it is wet.
How about these?
‘Aki‘aki
(Seashore Rush Grass)
Mānienie ‘Aki‘aki
Sporobolus virginicus
Science in Hawai‘i: Nā Hana Ma Ka Ahupua‘a – A Culturally Responsive Curriculum Project
Retrieved & adapted in part from: http://www.edithkanakaolefoundation.org/projects/kumulipo;
http://www.botany.hawaii.edu/faculty/carr/natives.htm
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Hawaiian scientists thought these look alike. The first stage of the
Kumulipo chant tells how life began, and how sea and land plants are
described in pairs. Long ago, Hawaiians believed that as species
evolved in the ocean, they also began to evolve “partners” on land.
Modern science does not believe plants come in pairs in the sea and
on land. However, like the Hawaiians, modern scientists do think the
first plants were simple ones that grew in the sea, like the ‘ekaha.
They also agree that simple land plants came later, like the
‘ekahakaha. In fact, modern scientists believe ferns came 200
million years later!
Ancient Hawaiian and modern scientists also agree that over time,
plant species became more and more complex. Non-rooted plants,
flowering plants and trees like the sandalwood all evolved before any
mammal walked, or crawled, on the Earth.
Why did Hawaiians believe in plant pairs?
Nenue (rudderfish or chubfish)
Kyphosus fuscus
Lauhue (poisonous gourd)
Lagenaria vulgaris
Hawaiians believed that all things in nature, including humans, are
related like family, and that they must depend on each other for there
to be lōkahi (balance and harmony) in life.
Just as they believed humans have aumakua watching over them,
they also believed plants have kia‘i (guardians) keeping watch over
each other. As well, they believed that living things in different
kingdoms were paired, such as the fish & plant in the picture above.
The difference is that modern science is based only on proven facts –
Hawaiian science is based on both observed facts and spiritual belief.
Science in Hawai‘i: Nā Hana Ma Ka Ahupua‘a – A Culturally Responsive Curriculum Project
Retrieved & adapted in part from: http://www.edithkanakaolefoundation.org/projects/kumulipo;
http://www.botany.hawaii.edu/faculty/carr/natives.htm
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