relative or patron of his own, or even by tricks outwitting the
mischievous _akua_. Finally, he remains on earth only when, by
transgressing some _kupua_ custom or in contest with a superior
_kupua_, he is turned into stone, many rock formations about the islands
being thus explained and consequently worshiped as dwelling places of
gods. Otherwise he is deified in the heavens, or goes to dwell in the
underworld with the gods, from whence he may still direct and inspire
his descendants on earth if they worship him, or even at times appear to
them again on earth in some objective form.[4]



_Footnotes to Section II, 3: The Demigod as Hero_

[Footnote 1: Mariner, II, 103; Turner, Nineteen Tears in Polynesia, pp.
238-242; Ibid., Samoa, pp. 23-77; Ellis, I, 334; Gracia, pp. 41-44;
Krämer (Samoa Inseln, p. 22) and Stair (p. 211) distinguished _akua_ as
the original gods, _aiku_ as their descendants, the demonic beings who
appear in animal forms and act as helpers to man; and _kupua_ as deified
human beings.]

[Footnote 2: When a Polynesian invokes a god he prays to the spirit of
some dead ancestor who acts as his supernatural helper. A spirit is much
stronger than a human being--hence the custom of covering the grave with
a great heap of stone or modern masonry to keep down the ghost. Its
strength may be increased through prayer and sacrifice, called "feeding"
the god. See Fornander's stories of _Pumaia_, and _Nihoalaki_. In
Fison's story of Mantandua the mother has died of exhaustion in rescuing
her child. As he grows up her spirit acts as his supernatural helper,
and appears to him in dreams to direct his course. He accordingly