Comments on: Menehune Today

By: shumway10973

shumway10973 — Tue, 04 Jul 2006 08:50:11 +0000

really truly, I do hope they can find at least one. I would hate to think that science might back track. There was a time in early evolution that some “scientists” tried using the brain cavity theory to say that certain people (races) weren’t quite human, therefore their treatment didn’t have to be humane. That is where the term mongroid came from, thinking that the mongols were quite human. I would hate to hear that someone took everything learned about these little people, and used it to bring up old (unfortunately not dead) prejudices against other races. Oh, one other question, you mentioned above that these beings were in a census, did the hawaiin people also count animals, pets or the such? I’m hoping not, I would love having these guys be totally homosapien

By: Mnynames

Mnynames — Fri, 19 May 2006 13:06:55 +0000

It has been suggested before that Homo erectus had raft-building skills. The assumption about H. floresiensis is that they are descended from H. erectus, so why not the Menehune, Dwende, etc.? Their erectus ancestors could have travelled to these islands, then lost the technology (or had no need for it), and evolved into diminutive forms more in keeping with island life.

On a separate note, I hope that no one here is seriously proposing that the Baka people of Africa are less intelligent because their brains are smaller. I’ll admit that intelligence seems a hard trait to evolve, but once the cranial equipment is there, it seems much easier to scale the design down without losing any intellectual capacity. The brain is quite adaptable, and there have been several medical cases of people who have been found lacking most of their brains that showed no signs of diminished capacity. If a genetically-abberant H. Sapiens can function with 1/3rd of our brain matter, why can’t a Proto-Pygmy relative that had time to evolve into that down-sized brain do so?

By: youcantryreachingme

youcantryreachingme — Tue, 16 May 2006 12:10:26 +0000

Further news on the Philippines’ equivalent of the menehune, and the dwende.

As just implied, I am told these are actually two different things.

Thank you to Auntie Adele for the following insights:

“The dwende is different from the cryptids Chris mentioned. Although there are supposd to be white and
black dwendes as in good and evil, I don’t think even the evil ones eat babies. But they are supposed to bring bad luck to anyone who has seen them.”

and separately,

“I remember our nanny when we misbehaved. She used to scare our wits
with them. And my grandmother used to call them some names I can’t recall at the moment. Anyway, I’ll keep you posted.”

I believe from the context that in this second message, she is referring to the Philippine-menehune-equivalent, and not the dwende.

I too will keep you posted as I hear more; and many thanks to all family members who are looking into this for us!

Chris.

By: P.S.Anderson

P.S.Anderson — Sat, 13 May 2006 08:08:24 +0000

My girlfriend and I are planning a trip to Hawaii in the spring. Hopefully, I will be able to kick it with some Menehune. I heard that they’re party animals.

By: youcantryreachingme

youcantryreachingme — Sat, 13 May 2006 04:35:37 +0000

And thanks to my father-in-law, Alex, for this information on the Philippine aborigines. My guess is that these are not the smaller people we’re looking for, but the info is interesting either way…

“Filipino aborigines are called “Aetas” are about 4.5 – 5 feet tall (mature height). Some tribes can be found in Zambales mountains. They have their own language (which i am familiar with some word). They are dark brown skin, kinky hair, some still wear G-strings, use bow and arrows for hunting wild pigs and deer. We had an Aeta family work for us in the farm for sometime in the 60’s.”

He also sent through some photos taken by relatives who are doctors; they were taken during a mission into an Aeta community in San Marcelino.

By: youcantryreachingme

youcantryreachingme — Fri, 12 May 2006 11:03:38 +0000

More info on the Philippines version; thanks to my brother-in-law Alec for this tidbit:

“I saw an interesting documentary, on the indonesian ‘hobbit people’ a few weeks back, it may be related to these legends. i was told they’re called “dwende” in the Phil’s.”

By: twblack

twblack — Fri, 12 May 2006 06:17:56 +0000

I agree if they were included in a cenus. This would lead one to believe these were real known species of at least a relative form of intellectual ability. Is thier any known photos of them???

By: feldspar helmet

feldspar helmet — Fri, 12 May 2006 05:28:18 +0000

Wow, all I wanted to know was how large the brain case was. I am perfectly aware that here is no direct correlation between brain size and intelligence. I simply asked the question for the sake of having the information. As I said I know next to nothing about this particular cryptid species and was just asking. Does anyone actually have the answer? Noone ever posted it, they just posted that brain size isn’t related to intelligence. I’m actually trying to develop a theory as to minimum brain size vs. intellectual ability. If anyone has the data I requested that would be great.

By: Jeremy_Wells

Jeremy_Wells — Fri, 12 May 2006 05:04:19 +0000

re: youcantryceachingme #10
Indeed! The fact that they are included in the census would seem to indicate they were members of the society (how often are “pets” included in a census?) Which then begs the question, did they ever inter-marry with “big people”?

By: youcantryreachingme

youcantryreachingme — Fri, 12 May 2006 03:06:01 +0000

Loren – I’m blown away by the Menehune census.