The shark occupied a unique position among the people. It was quite generally worshiped on all the islands, each one having a special shark or sharks as their “aumakuas” or ancestral god. The following is a clear and concise account of shark worship in olden times.

The largest and most celebrated of the Hawaiian shark gods was Kuhaimoana.

Second to him in size and power was the shark called Kamohoalii, older brother of the goddess Pele. Like many of the other shark gods, he was able at pleasure to assume the human form. In that form he dwells in profound solitude in a most scared spot called the Pali Kapu o Kamohoalii (the sacred precipice of Kamohoalii), overlooking the fires of the volcano of Mokuaweoweo. Another Pali Kapu of Kamohoalii, with a like, tradition, is similarly situated with reference to the crater of Kilauea. Even Pele, fieriest of gods, dared not allow the smoke from her furnaces to trespass on the awful sanctity of her brother’s abode. He was also said to make his home in the highest cone in the crater of Haleakala. From time to time he walked among men, when he claimed the well-known prerogative of a Hawaiian god to discard his malo. In his shark form he is still said to roam at large in the deep waters about the island of Maui, and is claimed by many as their aumakua.