Editing Shark (section)

====In Hawaii====
Sharks figure prominently in [[Hawaiian mythology]]. Stories tell of men with shark jaws on their back who could change between shark and human form. A common theme was that a shark-man would warn beach-goers of sharks in the waters. The beach-goers would laugh and ignore the warnings and get eaten by the shark-man who warned them. [[Hawaii]]an mythology also includes many shark [[god]]s. Among a fishing people, the most popular of all [[aumakua]], or deified ancestor guardians, are shark aumakua. [[Kamaku]] describes in detail how to offer a corpse to become a shark. The body transforms gradually until the [[kahuna]] can point the awe-struck family to the markings on the shark's body that correspond to the clothing in which the beloved's body had been wrapped. Such a shark aumakua becomes the family pet, receiving food, and driving fish into the family net and warding off danger. Like all aumakua it had evil uses such as helping kill enemies. The ruling chiefs typically forbade such sorcery. Many Native Hawaiian families claim such an aumakua, who is known by name to the whole community.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.sacred-texts.com/pac/hm/hm11.htm
|title=Guardian Gods
|last=Beckwith
|first=Martha
|year=1940
|access-date=August 13, 2009
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090527085939/http://sacred-texts.com/pac/hm/hm11.htm
|archive-date=May 27, 2009
|url-status=live
}}</ref>

[[Kamohoalii|Kamohoali'i]] is the best known and revered of the shark gods, he was the older and favored brother of [[Pele (deity)|Pele]],<ref>{{cite web
| url = http://www.mythicalrealm.com/legends/pele.html
| title = Pele, Goddess of Fire
| access-date = 2006-09-13
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060901045030/http://www.mythicalrealm.com/legends/pele.html
| archive-date = 2006-09-01
| url-status = dead
}}</ref> and helped and journeyed with her to Hawaii. He was able to assume all human and fish forms. A summit cliff on the crater of [[Kilauea]] is one of his most sacred spots. At one point he had a ''[[heiau]]'' (temple or shrine) dedicated to him on every piece of land that jutted into the ocean on the island of [[Molokai]]. Kamohoali'i was an ancestral god, not a human who became a shark and banned the eating of humans after eating one herself.<ref name=oahustories>{{cite web|url=http://apdl.kcc.hawaii.edu/~oahu/stories/ewa/kaahupahau.htm |title=Traditions of O'ahu: Stories of an Ancient Island |access-date=August 14, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090918001834/http://apdl.kcc.hawaii.edu/~oahu/stories/ewa/kaahupahau.htm |archive-date=September 18, 2009 }}</ref><ref name=soh>{{cite book
|title=Sharks of Hawaii: Their Biology and Cultural Significance
|last=Taylor |first=Leighton R.
|publisher=University of Hawaii Press
|isbn=978-0-8248-1562-2
|date=November 1993}}</ref> In Fijian mythology, [[Dakuwaqa]] was a shark god who was the eater of lost souls.