The Kumulipo, or “Beginning in Deep Darkness,” is the 2,102-line Hawaiian chant (consisting of sixteen wa, translated here as “chants”) describing the creation of everything that lives in the world. The first half of the Kumulipo takes place during the long night in which sea creatures, plants, birds, land animals, and finally humans come into being; in the eighth chant, day breaks as humans increase in number. The rest of the Kumulipo deals with the generations of humans, gods, and goddesses, leading from their origins down to the chief Ka-'i-'i-mamao (or Kalaninui'iamamao, also called Lono-i-ka-makahiki), whose birth the chant honors.