Night Marchers of Hawaii

                                    

                                          


                          
				
                          


                          


                          
In Hawaiian legend, Nightmarchers(huaka'i pō or "Spirit Ranks," 'oi'o) are thedeadly ghosts of ancient Hawaiian warriors.
                          


                          
On the nights honoring the Hawaiiangods Kane, Ku, Lono, or on the nights of Kanaloa they are said tocome forth from their burial sites, or to rise up from the ocean, andto march in a large group to ancient Hawaiian battles sites or toother sacred places. Legend says the nightmarchers are normal-sizewarriors, dressed for battle, carrying spears, clubs, and some arebeating war drums and blowing tones from conch shells, to announcethe advancing of their march. Legend also says they are suspended inthe air; their feet do not touch water or ground as they traversethrough the night, and they leave no evidence of their visitations.
                          


                          
They march in darkness after sunset,and march as a group continuously until just before sunrise. Anyoneliving along their path may hear chanting, sounds of blown conchshell tones, and marching noise in the night. Mortals must go insideimmediately, lay prone on the floor, and not look up to avoid noticefrom the Nightmarchers, in fear of harm or even death. Nightmarchersmight appear during the day if coming to escort a dying relative tothe spirit world.
                          


                          
Ancient Hawaiian beliefs state that anymortal looking upon or being seen in defiance toward the marcherswill die violently. Some people maintain that if the mortal liesmotionless, face down on the ground, they are showing proper respect,fear and deference to the nightmarchers, and they will be spared.Additionally, mortals can avoid harm or death from nightmarchers bybeing fortunate to have an ancient ancestor marcher present torecognize them. As they encounter the mortal, they will call out"Na'u!", which means "mine" inHawaiian. No one in the warrior procession will harm them.
                          


                          
Legend says planting living ti(Cordyline sp.) shrubs around one's home is said to keep away allevil spirits, and will cause the huaka'i pō to avoid the area.
                          


                          
The ceremony and conduct of the marchis customized to the tastes of its honored warrior leader. A HawaiianKing or Chief known to be fond of music would be honored with muchdrumming and chanting. If the King or Chief enjoyed peace and quiet,the march would be as silent as possible. Further, if the King orChief did not like to walk around much, he would be carried in asling by warriors.
                          


                          
In ancient Hawaiian lore, the lawsdeclared body parts of a King or Chief to be sacred, and not to beseen by a mortal. The punishment for looking at these parts is alwaysinstant death, usually by bolts of intense light and flaming heatoriginating from several of the warriors eyes aimed toward theviolating mortal. The violating mortal is incinerated instantly andthe bodily remains dissipate as vapors into the night air.
                          


                          
If a King's or Chief's face was notsupposed to be observed, the King or Chief would lead the assemblednightmarchers from the front. If his back was not to be looked upon,he would be in the back of the assembled group. However, for someChiefs, there was no part of them that was forbidden to look at bymortals. These Chiefs would march among their warriors in the group.
                          


                          
There are often Hawaiian gods presentin some marches. The torches are said to burn brighter in thesemarches. The largest torches are carried one at the front, one in theback, with three within the group. The number five is significant inHawaiian mythology. In the nightmarch with Hawaiian gods present,there are six gods, three male, three female. The Goddess namedHi'iaka-i-ka-poli-o-Pele, (commonly shortened to Hi'iaka), is oftenwithin the nightmarch. The composition of nighmarches are extremelyvaried.
                          


                          
The first thing noticed as a nightmarchapproaches are loud war drums in the distance, then you will smell afoul and musky "death-like" odor, and you will hear thetone of a conch shell being blown, for fair warning to mortals to getout of the way, and you will see torches getting brighter andbrighter as the nightmarchers get closer.
                          


                          
Barriers placed in the path ofnightmarchers will not deter them. Only the presence of ti plants candivert the marchers, according to legend. No matter what you build intheir path they march straight through it. And one tip is to neverbuy a house with the back door lined up with the front door, thisusually means that this is one lost path of the Night Marchers
                          


                          
It is said that if one were toexperience this the steps are they should get away from the pathimmediately, lie prone on the ground and by no means look at them. Ifone blocks their way death is sure to occur. However, it is possibleto escape if one is Hawaiian and an ancestor is present as anightmarcher; they will yell "na'u!" (Mine!) andone's safety is ensured.
                          


                          
The nightmarchers are the vanguardfor a sacred King, Chief or Chiefess, who unusually have a highstation in Hawaiian life." - Po Kane. Haunted HawaiianNights, by Lopaka Kapanui