What is "paao"

Paao is either a figure from a Hawaiian legend or a historical character. He is said to have been a high priest from Kahiki, specifically "Wawau" and "'Upolu." In Hawaiian prose and chant, the term "Kahiki" is applied in reference to any land outside of Hawai'i, although the linguistic root is conclusively derived from Tahiti. "Wawau" and "' Upolu" point to actual places in the Society Islands, Samoa, and/or Tonga, and Hawaiian scholars and royal commentators consistently claim Paao came from either Samoa or Tahiti, or even that he was a Tahitian resident of Samoan origin.

King Kalākaua, in his Legends and Myths of Hawai'i, clearly defined the lineage of "Tahitian" chiefs and those aristocrats and priests descended from "Samoa" (i.e. Paao and Pilikaaiea). Accounts recorded by Mary Kawena Pukui, David Malo, Abraham Fornander, Kanuikaikaina, and other custodians of Hawaiian lore support the notion that Pili and Pa'ao came from the islands known today as Samoa. Legends suggest that Paao introduced certain customs (such as human sacrifice and veneration of the bonito fish) to Hawaii. He is also said to have brought a "pure" chief to rule over the Hawaiians.