In his character as a culture god the name of Kane is
generally coupled with that of Kanaloa. About Kanaloa
as a god apart from Kane there is very little information. He is god of the squid, called in the Kumulipo Ka-he‘e-hauna-wela (The evil-smelling squid). [...] on the whole the squid is today looked upon
with distrust as an aumakua.
This attitude is reflected in a tendency by Hawaiian antiquarians to equate Kanaloa with the Christian devil. His
name is associated with various legends of strife against Kane
in which Kanaloa and his spirits rebel and are sent down to
the underworld. In the legend of Hawaii-loa belonging to the
Kumu-honua epic account of the Kane tradition, Kanaloa is
the leader of the first company of spirits placed on earth after
earth was separated from heaven. These spirits are “spit out
by the gods.” They rebel, led by Kanaloa, because they are
not allowed to drink awa, but are defeated and cast down to
the underworld, where Kanaloa, otherwise known as Milu,
becomes ruler of the dead.
The legend places Kane and Kanaloa in opposition as the good and evil wishers of mankind. When Kane draws the figure of a man in the earth, Kanaloa makes one also; Kane’s
lives but Kanaloa’s remains stone. Kanaloa is angry and
curses man to die. He makes all kinds of poisonous things. It
is he who seduces the wife of the first man in this version. Kanaloa of the great white albatross of Kane is the name given
to him as responsible for driving the first man and the first
woman out of the garden spot the gods have provided for
them.
Beckwith, Martha Warren, Hawaiian Mythology, new intro. Katharine Luomala, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1970, pp. 60-61.
