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The Kumulipo is the great Hawaiian creation chant containing the most ancient traditions of the Hawaiians about their gods, the origin of the sky, seas, and the world, the sea's islands and all the creatures, and the myths of their human and Polynesian ancestors. Chants were passed from one generation to the next by special bards, called haku mele, who spent their lives composing, reciting and teaching Hawaiians to perform the ancient chants. The Birth Chant for Kau-i-ke-aouli is an offshoot of that great creation chant that was composed in the nineteenth century to celebrate the birth of the Kamehameha I's second son, Prince Kau-i-ke-ao-uli, who ruled Hawaii from 1825 to 1854 as Kamehameha III. This chant was composed in 1813, seven years before the arrival of the first New England missionaries, who would deeply affect Hawaiian culture. In pre-Christian Hawaii, huh troupes, or chanters, performed ritual chants,...