Menehune - Legendary dwarves who live in the deep forests of Hawaii
Menehune are a mythological race of dwarf people in tradition who are said to live in the deep forests and hidden valleys of the Hawaiian Islands, hidden and far away from human settlements.
The Menehune are described as superb craftspeople. They built temples (heiau), fishponds, roads, canoes, and houses. Some of these structures that Hawaiian folklore attributed to the Menehune still exist. They are said to have lived in Hawaii before settlers arrived from Polynesia many centuries ago. Their favorite food is the maiʻa (banana), and they also like fish. Legend has it that the Menehune appear only during the night hours to build masterpieces. But if they fail to complete their work in the length of the night, they’ll leave it unoccupied. No one but their children and humans connected to them can see the Menehune.
While archaeologists have never found remains of a distinctively small race of ancient people in Hawaii, many think the Menehune legend may well have a basis in fact. In 2003, a species of dwarf human was discovered on the Indonesian island of Flores. Homo floresiensis was only about 1 meter in height and fully bipedal. The skull has human-like teeth with a receding forehead and no chin.
Fossils have been discovered from 38,000 to 18,000 years ago, though archeological evidence suggests it lived on Flores between at least 95,000 and 13,000 years ago. It used stone tools and fire, and hunted pygmy elephants, Komodo dragons, and the giant rats found on Flores. Its discoverers believe that h. floresiensis is a dwarf form of Homo erectus. It is not uncommon for dwarf forms of large mammals to evolve on islands. Modern humans arrived on Flores between 55,000 and 35,000 years ago, and presumably interacted with h. floresiensis (Refrence: “The Three Menehune of Ainahou (Maui)” by Charles Kauluwehi Maxwell Sr).
映画ゴットファーザー2にはパット・ギアリー上院議員として登場するPatrick Anthony McCarran議員は、アイルランド系移民でネバダ州首席判事出身の民主党議員。蔣介石を好みロシアを非難する〝強烈な反共産主義者〟で知られ「移民よりアメリカの低落をより促進する」とビザ発行を拒否する権限の「移民規定」を作り、1948年12月20日に民間航空法を草稿した「McCarran」の名前が空港の名称に起用され議員在職中の1954年に死去しましたが、人種差別発言が問題視され国際空港の名称に相応しく無いとされ2021年に膵臓癌で死去したハリーリード上院議員の名前を死去の2週間前12月14日に変更しました。
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