Hawaii is on my bucket list of places to visit: lush tropical forests; mild breezes from the ocean; an active volcano and lots of history and lore. Hawaii is overflowing with fascinating cryptids. There is Mo’o, a guardian dragon entwined with Hawaii’s culture. It is a fantastic legend, and I will write about it later.

There is the Mu, a water vampire that is a different take on the vampire legend.  This vampire grabs its unsuspecting prey and pulls him/her to their watery deaths before sucking their blood. A mysterious puma-type cat is running loose in the lush forests. All interesting stories, but the one I settled on is Hawaii’s little people. 

A race of pygmy people lived on the island before the present Hawaiians called the island home. The Menehune, a race of little people that stand less than 2-foot tall as adults. They weighed in at 20 pounds and were the builders of Hawaii.  Early Polynesian settlers discovered structures existing from when the Menehune occupied the island. Temples (heiau), fishponds, roads, canoes, and houses. Mythology has the Menehune living centuries before the early settlers arrived. Yet, sightings of this ancient race continue today.

The Menehune like to build, and they do it one task at a time, working only at night by the moon’s glow. What they do not finish during the night is left unfinished. It was during one of these moonlit nights, a resident of Hawaii saw the little people. He was driving home to Lahaina town when one ran across the road. The little man froze like a deer in the headlights of the witness’s car. 

They locked eyes for seconds – the driver and the Menehune. Then the little man ran away. 

Now you could say it was dark and what the driver saw was a shadow. Except the same driver had two more sightings 25-years later. He took a walk on his property during a full moon and came face to face with a female Menehune. 

It turned out he had been thinking of selling his land. He took the visitation by the Menehune as a verdict to not sell. The witness kept the land and told his story, promoting the legend. He is holding the legend of the Menehune alive, but are they only a legend?

In 1820, the Kauaʻi by Kaumualiʻi, the ruling Aliʻi Aimoku of the island, conducted a census. Out of the 2000 people counted, 65 claimed to be Menehune. Nowhere in the article does it say how they know they are Menehune. I would have loved hearing the reasoning behind these people’s beliefs.

Is the census real? People believe they are descendants of the Menehune. The little people are such a part of Hawaiian culture that people claim the Menehune as family.

George London, with 40 school children, sighted several Menehune. In the 1940s, London stated the little people were playing near the Waimea Parish property. Once seen, they disappeared into openings. Openings that led below the church’s foundations. London investigated, but there were no openings, tunnels, or caves in the area. So, where did they go?

Cryptozoologist Loren Coleman received an intriguing call in May of 2006. Coleman hosted Coast to Coast AM, and the caller was a woman. She claimed to have had a run-in with at least 20 mysterious people. She stated she even hit one in her car. There was a dent in her car, and a piece of reddish hair found near it. Further questioning revealed the witness no longer had the hair. 

It would have been fascinating to learn what a DNA report had to say about that hair.

In another sighting, a gentleman named Arnold S. reported a run in. Relaxing on the beach late one night around 11 PM, the bushes started shaking. Arnold was with friends on a moonless night when the bushes shook. Scared, the friends dashed towards their car when they saw a group of “little wild people.” The Menehune were running towards them, prompting them to drive off in great haste.

Since the arrival of the early settlers in Hawaii, sightings of the little people exploded. No one is positive that it is the Menehune that built the structures discovered. If they are not the original people, then who are they?

Not surprising since every state has a “Bigfoot”, Hawaii has had their sightings. Rumors are that the little people are “Bigfoot” children. 

The Finding Bigfoot team heard the rumors and went to Hawaii for one of their episodes. The group’s search for the elusive big guy led them deep into the tropical rainforests. Except, they got thermal imaging of something small. Did the team capture thermal on one of the Menehune? 

Talk about raising questions. 

Someone built temples, roads, and canoes before the settlers arrived. It wasn’t Bigfoot because other investigators searching for Bigfoot didn’t discover any. So, unless Bigfoot has taken up architecture, something else built those structures. 

Who those builders are is anyone’s guess. But taking into account all the sightings, add in the sightings of a diminutive race of people dating back two hundred years, then top that off with a thermal image of something small living in the forest, and you have enough evidence to suggest there is something. Whether it is the Menehune or baby “Bigfoot”, there is something else living on the big island.

In Ireland,  Leprechauns are what the Irish call their little people. The wee folk fills Ireland’s mythology books. Like the Menehune, the Leprechauns constitute a significant part of Ireland’s culture. Like the Menehune, people still see Leprechauns today. Leprechauns hide pots of gold at the end of the rainbow, and if captured, one can make them tell you where that gold is.

Hawaii has a tourist website that offers tours to the structures built by the Menehune on Wailua. There is a sign that says the Menehune built the War Temple, Poliʻahu. It is an impressive temple that is over an acre in size. In every myth, there is a smidgeon of truth. It makes you think and wonder about what else lives in this big world of ours.

If you do take a trip to Hawaii, and it is night with a glowing full moon. Keep an eye open and stay alert. You might be one of the lucky few that get to see a Menehune in real life.