He promised he'd come back on an island full of wild pigs and coconuts.

Forty men carried the canoe down to the launching place. It had a mast of ʻōhiʻa wood, sails woven from Niʻihau matting, and cordage twisted from the coconuts of Keahou. The people piled heaps of provisions before him. Lono sailed out alone, and told them he would come back, not by canoe, but on an island shaded by trees, covered in coconuts, and swarming with fowl and swine.

Several distinguished authors have written about how the Makahiki festival first started, and there are major and minor discrepancies between their versions.

Samuel M. Kamakau relates that Lono, a chief of Kaʻū and Puna on the island of Hawaiʻi, was married to Kaikilani. Throughout their marriage he was a bad-tempered husband, jealous of her beauty, and had frequently punished her physically. When the second call came down from the cliff, Lono grabbed a block of wood and beat Kaikilani to death.

"When he saw that she was dead, an unhappy feeling possessed him, and he became crazy with the grief for his wife. He travelled about Hawaii, Maui, Oahu, and finally Kauai."

Kamakau does not relate that Lono challenged everyone he met in boxing and wrestling matches as he traveled, as other authors do. He also makes no mention that this story connects to the beginnings of the Makahiki festival.

Martha Beckwith and E.S. Craighill Handy relate a similar account, but add that the games of the Makahiki began after Lono killed his wife. The following legend is related in mythical fashion.

"Lono sends out two of his brothers as messengers to find him a wife on earth. They travel from island to island and finally in the Waipio valley on Hawaii beside the falls of Hiilawe they find the beautiful Kaiki-lani dwelling in a breadfruit grove companioned by birds. Lono descends on a rainbow and makes her his wife and she becomes a goddess under the name of Kaikilani ali'i o Puna. They live at Kealakekua and delight in the sport of surfing. A chief of earth makes love to her and Lono hears him singing a wooing song. He is angry and beats her to death, but not before she has assured him of her innocence and her love for him. Lono then institutes the Makahiki games in her honor and travels about the island like a madman challenging every man he meets in a wrestling match. He builds a canoe such as mortal eyes have never seen since, with a mast of ohia wood and sails woven of Niihau matting and cordage twisted from the coconuts of Keahou. The people bring heaps of provisions and pile them up before him. Forty men bear the canoe to the launching place, but Lono sails forth alone. His words of promise to the people are that he will return to them, not by canoe but on an island shaded by trees, covered over by coconuts, swarming with fowl and swine."

In this account, Lono instituted the Makahiki games in his dead wife's honor. The theme connected with the myth is the motive of jealousy.

Stewart Culin and Handy offer the most common interpretation and explanation of how the festival and games of the Makahiki began.

"Lono was the fourth of the four great gods that were worshipped throughout Polynesia. He had a separate order of priests and temples of a lower grade. Traditions connected with the ancient kings Lonokawai and Lonoikamakahiki, seem to have been mixed with those belonging to the primeval god Lono. Lonoikamakahiki is reputed to have instituted the games which were celebrated during the Makahiki festival. He is said on some account to have become offended with his wife and murdered her; but afterward lamented the act so much as to induce a state of mental derangement. In this state he travelled through all the islands, boxing and wrestling with everyone he met. He subsequently set sail, in a singularly canoe, for Tahiti, or a foreign country. After his departure he was deified by his countrymen, and an annual contest of boxing and wrestling were instituted in his honor."

Some questions remain unresolved between these three accounts. Did the Makahiki games honor Lono, or his wife, Kaikilani? Was Lono's violence provoked by a lover's wooing song, or by the jealous men calling down from the cliff while Lono, Kaikilani, and their friends sat playing kōnane? The three accounts share common threads: Lono and Kaikilani as the central figures, jealousy as the motive for the killing, and Lono's mental anguish and wandering afterward. Most authors believe that the games were established by the people to honor Lono, not his wife.

Discovery ancient Hawaiian games in The Hawaiian Games Scavenger Hunt.

There were political, economic, religious, physical, and recreational reasons for holding the Makahiki festival.

David Malo gives a comprehensive account of why the festival was held. It was a time for the people, including the king, to rest and abstain from work, a period of entire freedom from laborious tasks and strict kapu. It was also a time when religious ceremonies related to the temples were suspended, with worship consisting mainly of food offerings to the deities. It was a special time for prayer: kings and chiefs sought good health, a lasting reign, and long life, and also prayed for the death of their enemies. Commoners prayed that the lands of their aliʻi might increase and that their business undertakings might prosper. And it was the time when the chiefs went around the districts of the kingdom to collect taxes, paid in garden vegetables and fruits, artifacts, and other products of the land and sea. Once this obligation was completed, the people were free to play and to feast.

Samuel M. Kamakau states that the main purpose of the Makahiki festival may have been the feasts themselves.

"The Makahiki festival was a time to rest, and a time to make a great feast of commemoration ('aha' aina ho' o man' o) for life and health of the body, and for the help received from the god. All manual labor was prohibited and there were several whole days of resting and feasting. Chiefs and people made many joyful Makahiki feasts at the end of each year. The custom (malama) of feasting came from very ancient times; and from the time that chiefs became rulers of the kingdom, yearly feasts ('aha' aina makahiki) were held in commemoration..."

Kamakau also notes that it was a time for the people to pray to their gods for divine care and help, from whom came life, blessings, peace, and victory, and an opportunity to take part in amusements and sports to strengthen their bodies.

Kathleen D. Mellen states that there were physical, emotional, and psychological reasons for the festival as well. It provided an emotional outlet for the people and a chance to relax from the strict kapu system. It gave them an avenue to develop their bodies, renew their vigor, and readjust their emotions, producing a psychological balance and an inner confidence to retain self-confidence even under adverse conditions such as war.

These were the recognized reasons for the annual Makahiki festival. The celebration was a very vital and significant part of ancient Hawaiian life.

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