The warm and inviting sands of the aptly named Sand Island teem with activity. Visit on any sunny afternoon and witness local muggle children frolicking in the calm shorebreak under the watchful eye of their parents busily preparing muggly food on their muggly hibachis (barbeque grills). Beyond them, rows of outrigger canoes sit facing the sea in quiet repose. Viewed from a distance their clean lines designed to move them so smoothly through the water take on a strangely melancholy appearance. It is as if a life on land, however brief, is nearly too much to bear for these stately inhabitants of the sea. Powered by eager schoolchildren and emblazoned with bold decals and colorful paint, these fiberglass vessels bare little more than a passing resemblance to the canoes of old. Yet, the spirit of adventure woven into every inch of these modern canoes is a strong testament to their historic ancestors.

The sands of Sand Island were not always so peaceful, nor so golden. Long before the arrival of Captain Cook ventured into the Pacific and even before Columbus set off to prove the earth was round, the first settlers of Hawai`i were arriving in the islands from their distant South Pacific homes near the Marquesas. These first Hawaiians bravely set out for a journey of thousands of miles in tiny outrigger canoes guided by nothing more than the stars and their sense of adventure.

Hundreds of years later another group of intrepid settlers arrived in the islands. This group from Tahiti came in much larger numbers. Historians infer that this second group of settlers was physically larger than the first Hawaiians and this stirred fear among the inhabitants. The Marquesan Hawaiians feared these giants from afar had come to rob them of their homes.

They defended themselves from what they perceived to be an invasion. The settlers from Tahiti attempted several beach landings with their canoes and were met with brutal opposition. Unprepared to engage in battle, the Tahitians were in mortal danger. With provisions running low after months at sea, they needed to make landfall.

As the story goes, the chief of these would be Tahitian settlers gathered the men together onto their three largest canoes. They sailed up and down the coast trolling for fish. Their bait? As an offering, the chief bound his eldest son by the hands and dragged him behind the canoe. The target? In Tahiti, they had legends of the great sharks of the north. The men aimed to capture these sharks and use their teeth as weapons.

The sharks arrived in pursuit of the son. In a move of dexterity and skill the boy eluded the shark’s first lunge and began riding him. In a rage the shark shook violently. With one powerful swipe of its tail he shattered one of the canoes. It is said that this act is recorded on walls of caves deep in Kalihi valley. Eventually tired by his struggle, the shark succumbed to the efforts to capture him. The men made themselves mighty implements of war and sailed toward shore. Their destination? Sand Island. The beach provided calm waters in which to land.

Armed with brutal weapons, both sides struggled. The men fought for wives, for sons, for daughters, for land, for homes, and for their lives.

The Tahitian settlers prevailed, removing nearly all traces of these first settlers. They live on now only in legend as the menehune. Sometimes referred to as industrious, other times referred to as vicious killers, they reside deep in the mountains rarely emerging.

According to legend, the sands of Sand Island were stained red for weeks. Now lost under urban sprawl none of this original settlement exists. It is said however, that if one looks hard enough, pieces of broken sharks' teeth still linger between golden grains of sand.