The Kahuna

Versatile Masters of Old Hawaii

In ancient Hawaii the kahuna were far more than the priests of a religious order. They were experts, trained in a variety of skills and occupations, the learned and professional men and women of their time. On them rested the responsibility of preserving and advancing knowledge within their specific discipline. They arrived at their positions only after more than two decades of training.

L. R. Mcbride collected information about the kahuna for many years through extensive research in 19th century writings and interviews with Hawaiian people. In this fascinating account he gives an accurate and unsensational account of what the kahuna really meant in the Hawaiian culture of long ago. McBride includes fascinating legends and stories concerning individual kahuna. Illusrated with reproductions of historic prints, photographs and drawings by the author and others, The Kahuna presents a readable introduction to a fasinating aspect of ancient Hawaiian culture.

The author of The Kahuna, Versatile Masters of Old Hawaii lived in Volcano for over 30 years until his death in October 1993. A student of Hawaiian tradition and culture, McBride frequently lectured on geology, botany, history and legends of Hawaii.

Of Irish and Iroquois Indian descent, McBride was born in Reading, Pennsylvania and grew up in Ohio. In 1943 he enlisted in the Navy and after basic traing was assigned to a ship stationed at Nawiliwili Harbor, Kauai. It was there that he fell in love with the Hawaiian Islands and people and started learning the Hawaiian language and about the Hawaiian culture.

After service in World War II and the Korean conflict, McBride received a B.S. degree in geology from Ohio State University, with a minor in botany. Following work in industrial research, he joined the National Park Service and was assigned to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. With his family, he made his home in the Volcano area. In the eleven year association with the Park , McBride continued to add to his knowledge of all things Hawaiian.

Throughout much of his life McBride was a dedicated student of Hawaiian tradition and culture. He told Hawaiian stories in the old Hawaiian way for nearly thirty years and held a kauila dagger, the sign of a professional Hawaiian storyteller. A talented stoneworker and woodcarver, McBride crafted numerous museum-quality reproductions of Hawaiian tools and weapons.

The author wrote and illustrated four other original works: About Hawaii's Volcanoes; Petroglyphs of Hawaii; Pele, Volcano Goddess of Hawaii (currently out of print); and Practical Folk Medicine of Hawaii.