Nine Traditions That Emphasized Chiefly Rank

In 1920, Martha Beckwith became the first person to hold a chair in Folklore at any college or university in the country. The Folklore Foundation, established at Vassar, was an unprecedented institution and became a center of research in the almost entirely new field of folk culture.  (Vassar)

“Position in old Hawaiʻi, both social and political, depended in the first instance upon rank, and rank upon blood descent-hence the importance of genealogy as proof of high ancestry.”

“Grades of rank were distinguished and divine honors paid to those chiefs alone who could show such an accumulation of inherited sacredness as to class with the gods among men. Since a child inherited from both parents, he might claim higher rank than either one.”  (Beckwith)

There were nine traditions that emphasized chiefly rank:

1. a family genealogy tracing back to the gods through one of the two sons of Ki‘i, Ulu and Nanaʻulu, and by as many branches (lala) as family relationship could be stretched to cover
2. a name chant, composed at birth or given in afterlife, glorifying the family history not only of persons concerned but also of places made sacred by particular events or association
3. signs in the heavens by which ʻaumakua of the day recognized their offspring on earth
4. a special place set aside as sacred to the birth of high-ranking chiefs (i.e. Kūkaniloko)
5. the sacred cord (aha) stretched at the entrance of a chief's dwelling, under which all of lower rank must pass but which fell "of itself" before the approach of anyone of equal or higher position
6. wealth, especially in lands, labor and specialized objects such as foods, ornaments, colors belonging to ranking chiefs alone
7. the power of the kapu, which gave the ranking chief immense personal privilege, although the ruling chief might have actually more power over lands and wealth (before certain captive chiefesses of Maui of incredible sanctity, according to Kamakau, Kamehameha himself was of lower rank)
8. the right to officiate in the heiau as both chief and priest 
9. at death, the final deification of the bones and their laying away in a sacred and secret place difficult of access (one of the most important such place in ancient times being the ʻĪao valley on the island of Maui)

Rank depended primarily upon blood; but of great importance was the conduct of life by which one could, by carelessness in preserving the kapu and in making proper marriages, lose caste and prerogatives under the severe discipline of the Aha-ali‘i (Council of Chiefs,) or could, through a royal marriage, raise the rank of one’s descendants upon the family line.

The image, ‘Aha Ula’ by Brook Parker, represents the chiefly rank.  Information here is primarily from Beckwith, Mookini and Yardley.

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook  

Follow Peter T Young on Google+ 

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn  

© 2015 Hoʻokuleana LLC

Hewahewa

“Kailua Harbor, April 5, 1820. In the dawn of the day, as we passed near shore, several chiefs were spending their idle hours in gambling, we were favored with an interview with Hewahewa, the late High Priest. He received us kindly and on his introduction to Brother Bingham he expressed much satisfaction in meeting with a brother priest from America, still pleasantly claiming that distinction for himself.”  (Loomis)

“He assures us that he will be our friend. Who could have expected that such would have been our first interview with the man whose influence we had been accustomed to dread more than any other in the islands; whom we had regarded and could now hardly help regarding as a deceiver of his fellow men. But he seemed much pleased in speaking of the destruction of the heiau and idols.”

“About five months ago the young king consulted him with respect to the expediency of breaking taboo and asked him to tell him frankly and plainly whether it would be good or bad, assuring him at the same time that he would be guided by his view. Hewahewa speedily replied, maikai it would be good, adding that he knew there is but one "Akoohah" (Akua) who is in heaven, and that their wooden gods could not save them nor do them any good.”    (Loomis)

“Hewahewa, the high priest, had ceased to believe in the power of the ancient deities, and his highest chiefs, especially the state queen Kaahumanu, resolved to abolish the oppressive "kapu" system.  The king, ʻIolani Liholiho, had been carefully trained in the traditions of his ancestors and it was not an easy matter to foresake the beliefs of his fathers.  He was slow to yield to the sentiments of the chiefs.”  (Honolulu Star-bulletin, February 1, 1915)

“The ancient system consisted in the many tabus, restrictions or prohibitions, by which the high chiefs contrived, to throw about their persons a kind of sacredness, and to instil into the minds of the people a superstitious awe and peculiar dread.”

“If the shadow of a common man fell on a chief, it was death; if he put on a kapa or a malo of a chief, it was death; if he went into the chief's yard, it was death; if he wore the chief's consecrated mat, it was death; if he went upon the house of the chief, it was death.”

“If a man stood on those occasions when he should prostrate himself, (such as) when the king's bathing water... (was) carried along, it was death. If a man walked in the shade of the house of a chief with his head besmeared with clay, or with a wreath around it, or with his head wet... it was death.”

“There were many other offenses of the people which were made capital by the chiefs, who magnified and exalted themselves over their subjects.”  (Dibble)

Shortly after the death of Kamehameha I in 1819, King Kamehameha II (Liholiho) declared an end to the kapu system.  In a dramatic and highly symbolic event, Kamehameha II ate and drank with women, thereby breaking the important eating kapu.

“When the ruling aliʻi of the realm renounced the old religion in 1819, with the collaboration of no less a person than Hewahewa, the high priest of the whole kingdom, the foundation upon which the validity of the kahuna had for so long rested crumbled and fell away.”  (Kanahele)

“By the time Liholiho made his fateful decision, many others, including the high priest Hewahewa, whose position in the religious hierarchy could be compared to that of a pope, evidently had concluded that the old gods were not competent to meet the challenges that were being hurled at them by the cannons, gadgets and ideas of the modern world.”  (Kanahele)

“(Hewahewa) publicly renounced idolatry and with his own hand set fire to the heiau. The king no more observed their superstitious taboos. Thus the heads of the civil and religious departments of the nation agreed in demolishing that forbidding and tottering taboo system”.  (Loomis)

“I knew the wooden images of deities, carved by our own hands, could not supply our wants, but worshiped them because it was a custom of our fathers. My thoughts has always been, there is only one great God, dwelling in the heavens.” Hewahewa also prophesied that a new God was coming and he went to Kawaihae to wait for the new God, at the very spot were the missionaries first landed.

This changed the course of the civilization and ended the kapu system, and effectively weakened the belief in the power of the gods and the inevitability of divine punishment for those who opposed them.

The end of the kapu system by Liholiho (Kamehameha II) happened before the arrival of the missionaries; it made way for the transformation to Christianity and westernization.

“The tradition of the ships with white wings may have been the progenitor of the Hawaiians' symbol for Lono during the Makahiki. … With so many ships with white sails coming to Hawaii at that time, how would he know which ship would bring the knowledge of the true God of Peace?”

“He could not have known that, although the missionaries set sail on October 23rd, one day before the Makahiki began, they would take six months to arrive. Therefore, it was quite prophetic that, when he saw the missionaries’ ship off in the distance, he announced ‘The new God is coming.’ One must wonder how Hewahewa knew that this was the ship.”  (Kikawa)

“Hewahewa knew the prophesy given by Kalaikuahulu a generation before. This prophesy said that a communication would be made from heaven (the residence of Ke Akua Maoli, the God of the Hawaiians) by the real God. This communication would be entirely different from anything they had known. The prophecy also said that the kapus of the country would be overthrown.”

“Hewahewa also knew the prophesy of the prophet Kapihe, who announced near the end of Kamehameha's conquests, ‘The islands will be united, the kapu of the gods will be brought low, and those of the earth (the common people) will be raised up.’ Kamehameha had already unified the islands, therefore, when the kapus were overthrown, Hewahewa knew a communication from God was imminent.”  (Kikawa)

After the overthrow of the kapu system, Hewahewa retired to Kawaihae, to wait confidently for the coming of a “new and greater God.”  (Kikawa)

“Hewahewa departed for Kailua Bay (formally Kaiakeakua—Seaside of God) ahead of the missionaries to await their arrival with the King. After Hewahewa's departure, the missionaries’ ship entered Kawaihae. Hewahewa’s household told the Hawaiians accompanying the missionaries the astounding news that the kapus had been overthrown! The missionaries ship was then directed to Kailua Bay were the King was in residence.”

At Kailua, Hewahewa gave an even more astounding prophecy, he pointed to a rock on the shore and said to the new king, ‘O king, here the true God will come.’ When the missionaries arrived at Kailua, they landed their skiff on that very rock! This rock is commonly known as the ‘Plymouth Rock of Hawaiʻi.

In 1820, Hewahewa, the highest religious expert of the kingdom, participated in the first discussions between missionaries and chiefs. He welcomed the new god as a hopeful solution to the current problems of Hawaiians and understood the Christian message largely in traditional terms. He envisioned a Hawaiian Christian community led by the land's own religious experts.  (Charlot)

“Hewahewa … expressed most unexpectedly his gratification on meeting us … On our being introduced to (Liholiho,) he, with a smile, gave us the customary ‘Aloha.’”

“As ambassadors of the King of Heaven … we made to him the offer of the Gospel of eternal life, and proposed to teach him and his people the written, life-giving Word of the God of Heaven. … and asked permission to settle in his country, for the purpose of teaching the nation Christianity, literature and the arts.”  (Bingham)

Hewahewa later retired to Oʻahu and became one of the first members of the church established there. This church is located in Haleiwa and is called the Liliʻuokalani Protestant Church.  (Kikawa)  “He lived in the valley of Waimea, a faithful, consistent follower of the new light.”  (The Friend, March 1, 1914)

The image shows Hewahewa and the destruction of the heiau.  (Artwork done by Brook Kapukuniahi Parker.)

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook  

Follow Peter T Young on Google+    

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn   

© 2014 Hoʻokuleana LLC

Ke Ana O Ke Kiʻi

The ancient Hawaiian religion, kapu, was an oppressive system of prohibitions. The law of kapu was extended to every act in life, and it even followed the believer beyond the grave.  (Bishop Museum)

Heiau (temples) were so numerous in the thickly settled country near the shore that from the walls of one the next was plainly to be seen. Ellis (1823) tells us that from Kailua to Kealakekua on Hawaiʻi there was at least one heiau to every half-mile along the trail.  (Brigham)

While Kū, Kāne, Lono and Kanaloa were the great gods, almost every man had his private deity, while his wives had others. There was Laka (hula dancers,) Kuʻula (fishermen,) Hina (the wives,) Laʻamaomao (the winds) and so on that were worshipped.

Anything connected with the gods and their worship was considered sacred, such as idols, heiau and priests.  Because chiefs were believed to be descendants of the gods, many kapu related to chiefs and their personal possessions.

The features of their religion were embodied in idols which were of every variety imaginable, from hideous and deformed sculptures of wood, to the utmost perfection of their art.  (Jarves)

Idols were made of different materials; some of the wooden idols were carved from the ʻōhia tree.  In cutting the haku ʻōhia, as the idol was first called, many prayers were uttered and tedious ceremonies lasted days or even weeks if the omens were unpropitious.

In the making of an idol, a suitable ʻōhia tree had previously been selected, one that had no decay about it, because a perfect tree was required for the making of the haku-ʻōhia idol; and when they had reached the woods, before they felled the tree, the kahuna haku ʻōhia approached the tree by one route, and the man who was to cut the tree by another; and thus they stood on opposite sides of the tree.  (Malo)

This intricate system that supported Hawai‘i’s social and political structure directed every activity of Hawaiian life, from birth through death, until its overthrow by King Kamehameha II (Liholiho).

Shortly after the death of Kamehameha I in 1819, King Kamehameha II (Liholiho) declared an end to the kapu system.  In a dramatic and highly symbolic event, Kamehameha II ate and drank with women, thereby breaking the important eating kapu.

When the meal was over, Liholiho issued orders to destroy the heiau and burn the idols, and this was done from one end of the kingdom to the other.  (Kuykendall)

This changed the course of the civilization and ended the kapu system, effectively weakened belief in the power of the gods and the inevitability of divine punishment for those who opposed them.

The end of the kapu system by Liholiho (Kamehameha II) happened before the arrival of the missionaries; it made way for the transformation to Christianity and westernization.

Later, in 1831, Kaʻahumanu visited all of the islands to encourage the people to learn to read and write; she also pronounced certain laws orally about which she wished to instruct the people, including “Worshiping of idols such as sticks, stones, sharks, dead bones, ancient gods, and all untrue gods is prohibited. There is one God alone, Jehovah. He is the God to worship.”  (Kamakau)

However, not all agreed.  There were a large number who refused to cast aside their old practices; and many idols, instead of being burned, were merely hidden from sight. Even among those who outwardly conformed to the new order were many who secretly clung to their idols; the old gods of Hawaiʻi had their devotees for a long time after 1819.  (Kuykendall)

In part, this was evidenced in 2005, when a North Kona lava tube containing more than 30 kiʻi (Hawaiian religious images) were discovered during the construction at “The Shores of Kohanaiki.”  Some believe the cave served as storage or a hiding place. Some have also suggested that it might have been a secret place of worship.

The discovery is regarded as especially significant because there were no human remains found with the objects, leading many to believe that they were hidden away after the abolishment of the ‘ai kapu system in 1819.  (OHA)

An initial chamber about 12-feet high and 60-feet long leads to a second, smaller chamber containing the wooden images and stone uprights.  “(A)side from the initial puncture point in the ceiling, the cave interior appears to be structurally sound and does not present a threat of collapsing at this time.”

“About three-dozen of the wooden images are made from limbs of varying dimensions, carved with slits for eyes and a mouth. They were left in this natural state with no other carved or stylistic features.”

“They are all similar and may have been carved by the same person or personages who were schooled under the same priestly order. A few of the kiʻi retain the ‘Y’ shaped fork created by the outgrowth of two branches, with eyes and mouth carved below the split.”  (OHA)

This isn’t the first such find.

The Pacific Commercial Advertiser reported (September 23, 1876,) “Recently some of the employees of Dr Trousseau in North Kona Hawaiʻi discovered a lot of wooden idols of the olden time, in a cave on the mountain.  They were in a good state of preservation and had doubtless been undisturbed in their hiding place since the time when they were deposited there to escape the general destruction of idols by order of Kaahumanu”.

This earlier discovery on the side of Hualālai was the first reported discovery of such a large clutch of images, under circumstances suggesting either the survival of a secret cult, or a shrine predating the abrogation of the traditional religion.  (Rose)

All were carved from ʻōhia logs; the bark was removed and both ends were roughly hacked to blunt points.  Although some individuality was in each carving, several similarities stand out: wide grooves and shallow cuts to delineate circular eyes and mouths.

King Kalākaua acquired the great majority of the images from the Mt Hualālai cave; it is not clear whether he actually visited the cave.  Despite, or perhaps because of, their relative simplicity, they share some claim to be numbered among the most unusual of all Hawaiian carvings.  (Rose)  Of the total 26 or so post images taken from the Mt Hualālai cave, 12 are preserved in three museums in Europe and the US.

The two finds noted here, although both in North Kona, were in significantly different areas: Kohanaiki near the shoreline (that cave with all the kiʻi has been sealed in 2006) and the other is way up the side of Hualālai (all of the contents of that cave were removed by 1885.)  Some have labeled these caves as “Ke Ana O Ke Kiʻi” (The Cave of Images.)

The image shows one of the kiʻi from the Mt Hualālai Ke Ana O Ke Kiʻi; it is in the Ethnologisches Museum in Berlin.  In addition, I have included other related images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook  

Follow Peter T Young on Google+  

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn   

© 2014 Hoʻokuleana LLC

It all happened in about a year …

A lot went on in other parts of the world:

Oct 20, 1818 – it was agreed that the 49th parallel forms as border between US & Canada; Nov 21, 1818 - Russia's Czar Alexander I petitioned for a Jewish state in Palestine; Dec 24, 1818 - "Silent Night" was composed by Franz Joseph Gruber and first sung the next day (in Austria;) Dec 25, 1818 - Handel's Messiah, premiered in the US in Boston.

January 2, 1819 – The Panic of 1819, the first major financial crisis in the United States, began; January 25, 1819 – Thomas Jefferson founded the University of Virginia; February 22, 1819 – Spain ceded Florida to the United States.

May 22, 1819 - SS Savannah left port at Savannah, Georgia on a voyage to become the first steamship to cross the Atlantic Ocean, she arrived at Liverpool, England, on June 20; August 7, 1819 – Battle of Boyacá: Simón Bolívar was victorious over the Royalist Army in Colombia. Colombia acquired its definitive independence from Spanish monarchy.

A lot went on in the Islands:

To set a foundation, we are reminded that in 1782 Kamehameha I began a war of conquest, and, by 1795, with his superior use of modern weapons and western advisors, he subdued all other chiefdoms, with the exception of Kaua‘i.  King Kamehameha I launched two invasion attempts on Kaua‘i (1796 and 1804;) both failed.

In 1804, King Kamehameha I moved his capital from Lāhainā, Maui to Honolulu, O‘ahu.  In the face of the threat of a further invasion, in 1810, Kaumuali‘i decided to peacefully unite with Kamehameha and ceded Kauaʻi and Ni‘ihau to Kamehameha and the Hawaiian Islands were unified under a single leader. The agreement with Kaumuali‘i marked the end of war and thoughts of war across the archipelago.  Later, Kamehameha returned to his home, Kamakahonu, in Kailua-Kona on the Island of Hawaiʻi.

Here is some of what happened in Hawaiʻi in that fateful time:

On September 11, 1818, Argentine corsair Hipólito (Hypolite) Bouchard (1783–1843,) signed and Kamehameha placed his mark on a Treaty of Commerce, Peace and Friendship with Hipólito Bouchard, that, reputedly, made Hawaiʻi the first country to recognize United Provinces of Rio de la Plata (Argentina) as an independent state.  In recognition of the reported ‘treaty’, there is a street in Buenos Aires, Argentina named Hawai (a bit misspelled, but the point was made.)

Later, in April of 1819, Don Francisco de Paula Marin was summoned to the Big Island of Hawai‘i to assist Kamehameha, who had become ill.  Although he had no formal medical training, Marin had some basic medical knowledge, but was not able to improve the condition of Kamehameha.  On May 8, 1819, King Kamehameha I died.

Following the death of Kamehameha I in 1819, his son, Liholiho (King Kamehameha II) declared an end to the kapu system.   “An extraordinary event marked the period of Liholiho’s rule, in the breaking down of the ancient tabus, the doing away with the power of the kahunas to declare tabus and to offer sacrifices, and the abolition of the tabu which forbade eating with women (ʻAi Noa, or free eating.)”  (Kamakau)

“The custom of the tabu upon free eating was kept up because in old days it was believed that the ruler who did not proclaim the tabu had not long to rule….The tabu eating was a fixed law for chiefs and commoners, not because they would die by eating tabu things, but in order to keep a distinction between things permissible to all people and those dedicated to the gods”. (Kamakau)

Kaluaokalani, Liholiho’s cousin, opposed the abolition of the kapu system and assumed the responsibility of leading those who opposed its abolition.  Kekuaokalani (who was given Kūkaʻilimoku (the war god) before his death) demanded that Liholiho withdraw his edict on abolition of the kapu system.  (If the kapu fell, the war god would lose its potency.)  (Daws)  The two powerful cousins engaged at the final Hawaiian battle of Kuamoʻo; Liholiho’s forces defeated Kekuaokalani..

On October 23, 1819, led by Hiram Bingham, the Pioneer Company of American Protestant missionaries from the northeast US set sail on the Thaddeus for the Sandwich Islands (now known as Hawai‘i.)  The Mission Prudential Committee in giving instructions to the pioneers of 1819 said:

“Your mission is a mission of mercy, and your work is to be wholly a labor of love. … Your views are not to be limited to a low, narrow scale, but you are to open your hearts wide, and set your marks high. You are to aim at nothing short of covering these islands with fruitful fields, and pleasant dwellings and schools and churches, and of Christian civilization.”  (The Friend)

(After 164-days at sea, on April 4, 1820, the Thaddeus arrived and anchored at Kailua-Kona on the Island of Hawaiʻi.  Over the years, the missionaries set up missions across the islands.  Over the course of a little over 40-years (1820-1863 - the “Missionary Period”,) about 180-men and women in twelve Companies served in Hawaiʻi to carry out the mission of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) in the Hawaiian Islands.)

At the time, “This village (Honolulu,) which contains about two hundred houses, is situated upon a level plain extending some distance back from the bay part of which forms the harbour, to the foot of the high hills which abound throughout the Island. The little straw-huts clusters of them in the midst of cocoanut groves, look like bee-hives, and the inhabitants swarming about them like bees.”

“In passing through the midst, in our way to the open plain, it was very pleasant to hear their friendly salutation, Alloah (Aloha,) some saying, e-ho-ah, (where going?) We answered, mar-oo, up yonder. Then, as usual, they were pleased that we could num-me-num-me Owhyhee (talk Hawaiian.)”  (Sybil Bingham)

“Passing through the irregular village of some thousands of inhabitants, whose grass thatched habitations were mostly small and mean, while some were more spacious, we walked about a mile northwardly to the opening of the valley of Pauoa, then turning south-easterly, ascended to the top of Punchbowl Hill an extinguished crater, whose base bounds the north-east part of the village or town.”  (Hiram Bingham)

“Below us (below Punchbowl,) on the south and west, spread the plain of Honolulu, having its fish-pond and salt making pools along the sea-shore, the village and fort between us and the harbor, and the valley stretching a few miles north into the interior, which presented its scattered habitation and numerous beds of kalo (taro) in it various stages of growth, with its large green leaves, beautifully embossed on the silvery water, in which it flourishes.”  (Hiram Bingham)

“The soil is of the best kind, producing cocoanuts, bananas, and plantains, bread fruit, papia, ohia, oranges, lemons, limes, grapes, tamarinds, sweet potatoes, taro, yams, watermelons, muskmelons, cucumbers and pineapples, and I doubt not would yield fine grain of any kind.”  (Ruggles, The Friend)

“We were sheltered in three native-built houses, kindly offered us by Messrs. Winship, Lewis and Navarro, somewhat scattered in the midst of an irregular village or town of thatched huts, of 3,000 or 4,000 inhabitants.”  (Hiram Bingham)  “(O)ur little cottage built chiefly of poles, dried grass and mats, being so peculiarly exposed to fire, beside being sufficiently filled with three couples and things for immediate use, consisting only of one room with a little partition and one door.”  (Sybil Bingham)

“In addition to their homes, the missionaries had grass meeting places, and later, churches.  One of the first was on the same site as the present Kawaiahaʻo Church.  On April 28, 1820, the Protestant missionaries held a church service for chiefs, the general population, ship's officers and sailors in the larger room in Reverend Hiram Bingham's house.  This room was used as a school room during the weekdays and on Sunday the room was Honolulu's first church auditorium.”  (Damon)

The image shows Liholiho eating with women (Mark Twain-Roughing It.)   In addition, I have added other related images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook 

Follow Peter T Young on Google+ 

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn   

© 2014 Hoʻokuleana LLC

Kekuaokalani and the Kapu

Pāʻao (ca 1300,) from Kahiki (Tahiti,) is reported to have introduced (or significantly expanded,) a religious and political code in old Hawaiʻi, collectively called the kapu system. This forbid many things and demanded many more, with many infractions being punishable by death.

Anything connected with the gods and their worship was considered sacred, such as idols, heiau and priests. Because chiefs were believed to be descendants of the gods, many kapu related to chiefs and their personal possessions.

Certain objects were also kapu, and to be avoided, either because they were sacred or because they were defiling.  Seasons and places could also be declared kapu.

Certain religious kapu were permanent and unchangeable, relating to customary rites, observances, ceremonies, and methods of worship, and to the maintenance of the gods and their priests.

The social order of old Hawaiʻi was defined by these very strict societal rules, do’s and don’ts.

Prior to his death on May 8, 1819, Kamehameha decreed that that his son, Liholiho, would succeed him in power; he also decreed that his nephew, Kekuaokalani, have control of the war god Kūkaʻilimoku.

(Kamehameha had experienced a similar transfer of powers; following Kalaniʻōpuʻu’s death in 1782, the kingship was inherited by his son Kīwalaʻō; Kamehameha (Kīwalaʻō's cousin) was given guardianship of the Hawaiian god of war, Kūkaʻilimoku.)

Following the death of Kamehameha I in 1819, King Kamehameha II (Liholiho) declared an end to the kapu system.   “An extraordinary event marked the period of Liholiho’s rule, in the breaking down of the ancient tabus, the doing away with the power of the kahunas to declare tabus and to offer sacrifices, and the abolition of the tabu which forbade eating with women (ʻAi Noa, or free eating.)”  (Kamakau)

“The custom of the tabu upon free eating was kept up because in old days it was believed that the ruler who did not proclaim the tabu had not long to rule….The tabu eating was a fixed law for chiefs and commoners, not because they would die by eating tabu things, but in order to keep a distinction between things permissible to all people and those dedicated to the gods”. (Kamakau)

Kekuaokalani, Liholiho’s cousin, opposed the abolition of the kapu system and assumed the responsibility of leading those who opposed its abolition. These included priests, some courtiers, and the traditional territorial chiefs of the middle rank.
 
Kekuaokalani demanded that Liholiho withdraw his edict on abolition of the kapu system.  (If the kapu fell, the war god would lose its potency.)  (Daws)

Kamehameha II refused.  After attempts to settle peacefully, "Friendly means have failed; it is for you to act now," and Keōpūolani then ordered Kalanimōku to prepare for war on Kekuaokalani. Arms and ammunition were given out that evening to everyone who was trained in warfare, and feather capes and helmets distributed.  (Kamakau)

The two powerful cousins engaged at the final Hawaiian battle of Kuamoʻo.

In December 1819, just seven months after the death of Kamehameha I, the allies of his two opposing heirs met in battle on the jagged lava fields south of Keauhou Bay.  Liholiho had more men, more weapons and more wealth to ensure his victory. He sent his prime minister, Kalanimōku, to defeat his stubborn cousin.

Kekuaokalani marched up the Kona Coast from Kaʻawaloa and met his enemies at Lekeleke, just south of Keauhou.  The first encounter went in favor of Kekuaokalani. At Lekeleke, the king’s army suffered a temporary defeat.

Regrouping his warriors, Kalanimōku fought back and trapped the rebels farther south along the shore in the ahupuaʻa of Kuamoʻo.    (Kona Historical Society)

Kekuaokalani showed conspicuous courage during the entire battle. He kept on advancing and even when shot in the leg he fought on bravely until afternoon, when he was surrounded and shot in the chest and died facing his enemies.  (Kamakau)

His wife Manono fought and died at his side.

Liholiho ordered the bodies of his men to be buried beneath the terraced graves at Lekeleke; Kekuaokalani’s dead warriors were buried there, as well, and Liholiho pardoned all surviving rebels. It was estimated that hundreds of people were killed in this battle, the last fought in Kona.

The burial ground of the fallen warriors of the battle of Kuamoʻo is at Lekeleke at the southern terminus of the present day Aliʻi Drive.

The battle of Kuamoʻo effectively crushed any hope of reviving traditional Hawaiian religion and its accompanying kapu system.  This changed the course of their civilization and ended the kapu system (and the ancient organized religion,) and made way for the transformation to Christianity and westernization.

Liholiho and the others did not know that at the time that the kapu was broken and battle was waged, the first of the Protestant missionaries were on the ocean on their way to the Islands.

 On October 23, 1819, the Pioneer Company of American Protestant missionaries from the northeast US set sail on the Thaddeus; after 164-days at sea, on April 4, 1820, the Thaddeus arrived and anchored at Kailua-Kona.

These included two Ordained Preachers, Hiram Bingham and his wife Sybil and Asa Thurston and his wife Lucy; two Teachers, Mr. Samuel Whitney and his wife Mercy and Samuel Ruggles and his wife Mary; a Doctor, Thomas Holman and his wife Lucia; a Printer, Elisha Loomis and his wife Maria; and a Farmer, Daniel Chamberlain, his wife and five children.

With the missionaries were four Hawaiian students from the Foreign Mission School, Thomas Hopu, William Kanui, John Honoliʻi and Prince Humehume (son of Kauaʻi’s King Kaumuali‘i.)

Within five years of the missionaries’ arrival, a dozen chiefs had sought Christian baptism and church membership, including the king’s regent Kaʻahumanu.  The Hawaiian people followed their native leaders, accepting the missionaries as their new priestly class.  The process culminated in Hawaiian King Kamehameha III’s adoption of Christianity and a Biblically-based constitution in 1840.  (Schulz)

Over the course of a little over 40-years (1820-1863) (the “Missionary Period”,) about 180-men and women in twelve Companies served in Hawaiʻi to carry out the mission of the ABCFM in the Hawaiian Islands.

The image shows the Kuamoʻo Lekeleke Burial Memorial.  More images are added to a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook  

Follow Peter T Young on Google+ 

© 2014 Hoʻokuleana LLC

Capital Punishment

Pā‘ao (ca 1300,) from Kahiki (Tahiti,) is reported to have introduced (or significantly expanded) a religious and political code in old Hawai‘i, collectively called the kapu system.

The kapu system was the common structure, the rule of order, and religious and political code.  This social and political structure gave leaders absolute rule and authority.   This forbid many things and demanded many more, with many infractions being punishable by death.

Shortly after the death of Kamehameha I in 1819, King Kamehameha II (Liholiho) declared an end to the kapu system.  In a dramatic and highly symbolic event, Kamehameha II ate and drank with women, thereby breaking the important eating kapu.

This changed the course of the civilization and ended the kapu system, effectively weakened belief in the power of the gods and the inevitability of divine punishment for those who opposed them.  The end of the kapu system by Liholiho happened before the arrival of the missionaries; it made way for the transformation to Christianity and westernization.

While Liholiho’s brother Kauikeaouli (Kamehameha III) ruled as monarch (with shared authority with the Kuhina Nui,) he, too, took bold steps in changing the structure of governance.  Kamehameha III initiated and implemented Hawaiʻi’s first constitution (1840) (one of five constitutions governing the Islands – and then, later, governance as part of the United States.)

Included were also published “penal laws,” which outlined classes of offenses and punishments for the same – with the death penalty being allowed for acts of murder.

“Many foreigners had predicted that whenever it became necessary to enforce the Penal Laws this enacted and promulgated, leniency would be shown towards chiefs of high rank.”  (Bennet)

Then, there was enforcement and execution of the new laws on someone of rank, Kamanawa II (his father was High Chief Kepoʻokalani.)

Kamanawa, born during the days of the ancient customs with an unstructured approach to marriage, had found it difficult to live according to the increasingly Christian ways of his peers. When “one-to-one” marriage had been declared the law by royal order, his roving habits were not changed, and whenever he was attracted to a new love he followed his old ways. Kamokuiki (his wife,) adhering to the new faith, had little sympathy with his wanderings and finally went to the chiefs seeking a divorce.  (Gutmanis)

As early as 1825, the chiefs in various districts had issued edicts of law that, following Christian teachings, included prohibitions against adultery and the biblical relief of divorce and the right to remarry given the injured party. And so it was with Kamokuiki whose divorce, dated August 16, 1840, stated: because Kamanawa has repeatedly committed adultery, his wife Kamokuiki has requested a separation.  (Gutmanis)

There is no record of how Kamanawa received the decree, but six weeks later on September 26, 1840 Kamokuiki was dead. Murder being instantly suspected, an autopsy was performed and the stomach found to be "much inflamed while every thing else was in order."  (Gutmanis)

Kamanawa and his friend Lonopuakau, captain of the Hawaiian vessel Hooikaika, confessed that Kamanawa had administered the fatal dose and that the Captain had prepared the mixture of ʻakia, ʻauhuhu and ʻawa that caused Kamokuiki’s death.

“She survived but three hours, medical assistance being of no avail. As soon as she was dead, which was about midnight, the news immediately spread and a terrible wailing commenced, which was quickly born to the other side of the island. It was so loud, so prolonged and so sudden as to awake at once almost all the residents, and at that hour, as its sepulchral cadences rose and fell, and were lost in the distance, the effect was startling and mournful in the extreme.”   (Hawaiian Gazette, October 12, 1894)

Justice was swift; on September 30, 1840, a jury of 12 chiefs was empaneled to try Kamanawa and Lonopuakau.

On "Wednesday morning a court was held at the Fort, for the trial of Kamanawa and Lono, captain of the schooner Hooikaika, for the murder of Kamokuiki, wife of the former.  Governor Kekūanāoʻa was the presiding Judge, the King and high chiefs being present.”  (The Polynesian, October 3, 1840)

“The court being organized, the trial commenced, when the following facts were developed: The first-mentioned person, it appears, had been divorced from his wife for some time past, but could not marry again while she was living: Having conceived a violent passion for another woman, he determined to rid himself of his wife, and applied to Lono, who was said to be skilled in preparing poisons. Lono also wishing to destroy his wife, the two agreed to poison both”.  (The Polynesian, October 3, 1840)

The jury found the two guilty and sentenced to hang on October 20th.

On the October 24, The Polynesian carried a short item that succinctly summed up the execution of the sentencing: “The murderers Kamanawa and Lonopuakau expiated their crime on the scaffold on Tuesday last, at the Fort in the presence of a large concourse of people.”

The site of the execution was over the gate of Fort Kekuanohu (Fort Honolulu – that once stood at the bottom of Fort Street;) the gallows was erected above the gate, so it could be easily seen for some distance.

After the hanging, either one or both of the bodies were buried at the cross-roads, in accordance with the old English custom of burying executed criminals where they would be out of the way, and the burial places be forever unknown. It is believed that the cross roads selected were at the junction of King and Punchbowl or Queen and Punchbowl streets.

I should note – Kamanawa II was no ‘ordinary’ ranking chief.

He was the grandson of Kameʻeiamoku, one of the ‘royal twins’ (uncles of Kamehameha the Great and his counselors in the wars to unite the Islands.) He was named after his famous grand uncle, the other royal twin.  (The twins are on Hawaiʻi’s Royal Coat of Arms; Kameʻeiamoku is on the right holding a kahili and Kamanawa on the left holding a spear.)

Oh, one more thing … Kamanawa II and Kamokuiki were parents of Caesar Kapaʻakea.  In 1835, Caesar married the High Chiefess Analeʻa Keohokālole; they had several children.

Most notable were a son, who on February 13, 1874 became King Kalākaua, and a daughter, who on January 29, 1891 became Queen Liliʻuokalani (they were grandchildren of Kamanawa II, the first to be charged and hanged under Hawaiʻi’s first modern criminal laws.)

It is said that after Kalākaua came to the throne, he had the body of Kamanawa taken up and the bones removed to Mauna Ala in Nuʻuanu. This is positively stated by the natives.  (Hawaiian Gazette, October 12, 1894)  Kamokuiki was buried at Kawaiahaʻo Church.

The image shows Fort Kekuanohu (on right, looking down Queen Street.)   In addition, I have added other images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook  

Follow Peter T Young on Google+  

© 2013 Hoʻokuleana LLC

Royal Centers

Generally thought to have originated from the Marquesas Islands, evidence of early existence in the Hawaiian Islands indicates initial contact and settlement as early as 200 AD to 600 AD (some suggest it was later.)

Early on, with the family unit being the socio-political structure, there was no need for a hierarchical or complex society.  However, as the population increased and wants and needs increased in variety and complexity, the need for chiefly rule became apparent.

Eventually, a highly stratified society evolved consisting of the ali‘i (ruling class,) Kahuna (priestly and expert class of craftsmen, fishers and professionals) and Makaʻāinana (commoner class.)

At the time of European contact in 1778, Hawaiian society comprised four levels.  People were born into specific social classes; social mobility was not unknown, but it was extremely rare. The Kapu System separated Hawaiian society into four groups of people:

• Aliʻi, the ruling class of chiefs and nobles considered to be of divine origin who ruled specific territories and who held their positions on the basis of family ties and leadership abilities;
• Kahuna, the priests (who conducted religious ceremonies at the heiau and elsewhere) and master craftsmen (experts in medicine, religion, technology, natural resource management and similar areas) who ranked near the top of the social scale 
• Makaʻāinana, Commoners  (by far, the largest group) those who lived on the land - primarily laborers, farmers, fishermen, and the like; they labored not only for themselves and their families, but to support the chiefs; and
• Kauwa (or Kauā), outcasts forced to lead lives generally segregated from the rest of Hawaiian society

The aliʻi attained high social rank in several ways: by heredity, by appointment to political office, by marriage or by right of conquest. The first was determined at birth, the others by the outcomes of war and political process.

Power and prestige, and thus class divisions, were defined in terms of mana. Although the gods were the full embodiment of this sacredness, the royalty possessed it to a high degree because of their close genealogical ties to those deities.

The kahuna ratified this relationship by conducting ceremonies of appeasement and dedication on behalf of the chiefs, which also provided ideological security for the commoners who believed the gods were the power behind natural forces.

Commoners possessed little mana and were therefore prohibited from entering any of the sacred places where nobles and gods communicated, such as the heiau in which the aristocrats honored their gods. Outcasts, with no mana, could interact with commoners but not approach the upper class.

With the stratified social system, it was important to retain the division between aliʻi and makaʻāinana. This was done through a physical separation, such as the Royal Centers that were restricted to only the aliʻi and kahuna.

Royal Centers were where the aliʻi resided; aliʻi often moved between several residences throughout the year. The Royal Centers were selected for their abundance of resources and recreation opportunities, with good surfing and canoe-landing sites being favored.

The Hawaiian court was mobile within the districts or kingdom the aliʻi controlled. A paramount's attendants might consist of as many as 700 to 1000-followers made of kahuna and political advisors (including geologists, architects, seers, messengers, executioner, etc.); servants which included craftsmen, guards, stewards; relatives and numerous hangers-on (friends, lovers, etc.).

There was no regular schedule for movement between Royal Centers.  In part, periodic moves served to ensure that district chiefs did not remain isolated, or unsupervised long enough to gather support for a revolt.

In addition to personal economic support, the king also required tribute and taxes by which to maintain and display his political power.

Structures associated with the Royal Centers include heiau (religious structures) and sacred areas, house sites for the aliʻi and the entourage of family and kahuna (priests), and activity areas for burial, bathing, games, recreation, and crafts.

Religion and politics were closely interwoven in Hawaiian culture. The Royal Centers reflect this interrelationship with residential sites, heiau and sacred sites present within a defined royal compound.

Puʻuhonua (places of refuge) were often associated with these Royal Centers, reflecting the strong association between puʻuhonua and sites occupied by the high-ranking aliʻi.

A ruling chief moved his court as desired, travelling along the coasts by canoe with his attendants and setting up temporary establishments at certain sites for purposes of business or pleasure.

On a voyage the aliʻi rode in the raised and sheltered platform in the middle of the canoe which was called the pola, while the paddle-men sat in the spaces fore and aft, their number showing the strength of the king’s following.  (Lots of information here from several NPS documents.)

The image shows Kamehameha at Kamakahonu, one of his Royal Centers in Kona (HerbKane.)  In addition, I have added other related images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook  

Follow Peter T Young on Google+  

© 2013 Hoʻokuleana LLC

Once, All Were Aliʻi

“(I)n the earliest times all the people were alii … it was only after the lapse of several generations that a division was made into commoners and chiefs” (Malo)

Kamakau noted, in early Hawaiʻi “The parents were masters over their own family group … No man was made chief over another.”  Essentially, the extended family was the socio, biological, economic and political unit.

Because each ʻohana (family) was served by a parental haku (master, overseer) and each family was self-sufficient and capable of satisfying its own needs, there was no need for a hierarchal structure.

With such a small (but growing) population based on the family unit, society was not so complicated that it needed chiefs to govern or oversee the general population.

Kamakau states that there were no chiefs in the earliest period of settlement but that they came “several hundred years afterward … when men became numerous.”

As the population increased and wants and needs increased in variety and complexity (and it became too difficult to satisfy them with finite resources,) the need for chiefly rule became apparent.

As chiefdoms developed, the simple pecking order of titles and status likely evolved into a more complex and stratified structure.

This centralization of government allowed for completion and maintenance of large projects, such as irrigation systems, large taro loʻi, large fish ponds, heiau and trails.

On the family scale, ponds to supply the family unit were small and manageable by the family.  However, as the population grew, more hands were needed for construction and maintenance.

Government could compel the participation of many people to work on these public projects.

The actual number of chiefs was few, but their retainers attached to the courts (advisors, konohiki, priests, warriors, etc) were many.

In addition to the expanded demand to provide food for the courts, commoners were also obliged to make new lines of products for the chiefs – feather cloaks, capes, helmets, images and ornaments.

Likewise, as challenges were made between chiefly realms, warfare and the resultant demand for services in combat increased.

The arrival of Pā‘ao from Tahiti in about the thirteenth century resulted in the establishment (or, at least expanded upon) a religious and political code in old Hawai`i, collectively called the kapu system.

Fornander writes that prior to the period of Pā‘ao "… the kapu (forbidden actions) were few and the ceremonials easy; that human sacrifices were not practiced, and cannibalism unknown; and that government was more of a patriarchal than of a regal nature."

Pā‘ao’s period are attributed a greater rigidity of the kapu, the introduction of human sacrifices, "the hardening and confirming of the divisions of society, the exaltation of the nobles and the increase of their prerogatives, the separation and immunity of the priestly order, and the systematic setting down, if not actual debasement, of the commoners."  (Stokes)

Likewise, Pā‘ao reportedly initiated a lineage of kings, starting with Pili Ka‘aiea (the 1st "Aliʻi ʻAimoku" for the Big Island – the first ruler (sometimes called the "king") of the island.)

The descendants of this king ruled the island of Hawai‘i until 1893, while Pā‘ao himself became the high priest of an order which he established and which continued until 1819.

The form of the heiau was changed by Pā‘ao and his successors, and the general population mingled less freely in the ceremonies of sacrifice and other forms of worship. The high-priesthood became more mysterious and exclusive.

This intricate system that supported Hawaiʻi’s social and political organization directed every activity of Hawaiian life, from birth through death, until its abolition by King Kamehameha II (Liholiho) in 1819.

The condition of the common people was that of subjection to the chiefs, compelled to do their heavy tasks, burdened and oppressed some even to death. The life of the people was one of patient endurance, of yielding to the chiefs to purchase their favor. The plain man (kanaka) must not complain. (Malo)

If the people were slack in doing the chief's work they were expelled from their lands, or even put to death. For such reasons as this and because of the oppressive exactions made upon them, the people held the chiefs in great dread and looked upon them as gods. (Malo)

Only a small portion of the kings and chiefs ruled with kindness; the large majority simply lorded it over the people. (Malo)

The inspiration and much of the information in this summary is from writings by George Kanahele (and others, as noted.)  The image is a portion of the cover to the book written by Ross Cordy.

© 2012 Hoʻokuleana LLC

Pā‘ao – Priest, Chief and Navigator

The influence on the culture of Hawai‘i attributed to the high priest Pā‘ao is so great that it seems appropriate to take a closer look.

Since ancient Hawai‘i did not have written records and had only a spoken language, exact historical accounts are uncertain.

Fornander writes that prior to the period of Pā‘ao "… the kapus (forbidden actions) were few and the ceremonials easy; that human sacrifices were not practiced, and cannibalism unknown; and that government was more of a patriarchal than of a regal nature."

Pā‘ao is said to have been a priest, as well as a chief and navigator, who arrived in the island of Hawai‘i as early as in the twelfth or thirteenth century (many say he was from Tahiti.)

Pā‘ao is reported to have introduced (or, at least expanded upon) a religious and political code in old Hawai`i, collectively called the kapu system.  This forbid many things and demanded many more, with many infractions being punishable by death.

Pā‘ao’s period saw a greater rigidity of the kapus, the introduction of human sacrifices, "the hardening and confirming of the divisions of society, the exaltation of the nobles and the increase of their prerogatives, the separation and immunity of the priestly order, and the systematic setting down, if not actual debasement, of the commoners".

Many believe the expansion and rigidity of the kapu were established as a result of the migrations from Tahiti and elsewhere, (and with the arrival of Pā‘ao,) bringing to Hawai‘i a system of laws and rituals protecting the mana (spiritual power or energy) which existed in all living things.

In establishing this strict religious system, Pā‘ao also introduced the custom of kapuō (prostration before kapu chiefs,) the pūloʻuloʻu (sign of kapu) and the walled heiau (previously, heiau had been open courtyards.)

He introduced several changes to Hawaiian religious practices and social structure that affected temple construction, priestly ritual and worship practices.

The large sacrificial government war temples, luakini heiau, contained altars where human lives were taken when assurance of success in combat was requested or when there was a very grave state emergency, such as pestilence or famine.

Prior to the Pā‘ao’s arrival, the Hawaiians worshipped unseen deities.  Reportedly, Pāʻao provided the people with something tangible to worship, through the introduction of wooden temple images as representations of the gods.

These images were not worshipped as gods themselves, but it was thought that the mana or spirit of a god would occupy the carved statue and could be consulted in times of need.

Many things were kapu under Hawaiian culture.

Anything connected with the gods and their worship was considered sacred, such as idols, heiau and priests.  Because chiefs were believed to be descendants of the gods, many kapu related to chiefs and their personal possessions, such as clothes, mats and houses.

Certain objects were also kapu, and to be avoided, either because they were sacred or because they were defiling.  Seasons and places could also be declared kapu.

Certain religious kapu were permanent and unchangeable, relating to customary rites, observances, ceremonies and methods of worship, and to the maintenance of the gods and their priests.

Likewise, Pā‘ao reportedly initiated a lineage of kings, starting with Pili Ka‘aiea (the 1st "Aliʻi ʻAimoku" for the Big Island – the first ruler (sometimes called the "king") of the island.)

The descendants of this king ruled the island of Hawai‘i until 1893, while Pā‘ao himself became the high priest of an order which he established and which continued until 1819.

The form of the heiau was changed by Pā‘ao and his successors, and the general population mingled less freely in the ceremonies of sacrifice and other forms of worship. The high-priesthood became more mysterious and exclusive.

This intricate system that supported Hawaiʻi’s social and political organization directed every activity of Hawaiian life, from birth through death, until its abolition by King Kamehameha II (Liholiho) in 1819.

The image shows Moʻokini Heiau in North Kohala; it is believed Pā‘ao built or greatly expanded this luakini heiau.

© 2012 Hoʻokuleana LLC

Kalanimōkū

Kalanimōkū was a trusted and loyal advisor to Kamehameha I, Liholiho (Kamehameha II) and Kauikeaouli (Kamehameha III.)

Kalanimōkū was born at Ka‘uiki, Hāna, Maui, around 1768.  His father was Kekuamanohā and his mother was Kamakahukilani. Through his father, he was a grandson of Kekaulike, the King Maui.  He was a cousin of Kaʻahumanu, Kamehameha's wife.

In various written documents Kalanimōkū’s name appears with various spelling. Sometimes he is called Kalaimoku, Crymokoo, Craymoku, Craimoku and Krimokoo.  In documents personally signed by him, he spelled his name Karaimoku.

Kalanimōkū was made Prime Minister for Kamehameha I and held the same position during the reign of Liholiho and of Kauikeaouli, until his death.

He adopted the name William Pitt, because of his great admiration for the British Prime Minister, William Pitt the Younger.  He was frequently addressed as Mr. Pitt or Billy Pitt.

He had great natural abilities in both governmental and business affairs.  He was well liked and respected by foreigners, who learned from experience to rely on his words.

Captain George Vancouver described Kalanimōkū as someone possessing “vivacity, and sensibility of countenance, modest behavior, evenness of temper, quick conception.”

However, in his earlier years, Kalanimōkū was known for excessive drinking, and according to Kamakau, was the first Hawaiian chief to buy rum.  This behavior appears to have stopped after his acceptance of the Christian faith.

In 1819, Kalanimōkū was the first Hawaiian Chief to be baptized a Roman Catholic, aboard the French ship Uranie, in the presence of Kuhina Nui (Premier) Kaʻahumanu and King Kamehameha II.  Kalanimōkū had a passion for Christianity and later regularly attended services at Kawaiahaʻo Church.

Kalanimōkū witnessed and participated in some of the significant historic moments in Hawai‘i.

When Kamehameha set out to conquer O‘ahu in 1795, Kalanimōkū commanded a large segment of Kamehameha’s invading army.

In 1816, Kalanimōkū, with a group of warriors, found that the Russians had begun construction of a trading post/fort at the entrance of Honolulu Harbor and were flying the Russian flag.  However, when confronted by Kalanimōkū’s warriors, they quickly departed and no hostilities took place.

Realizing the advantage of a fortification at the harbor’s entrance, Kalanimōkū issued a proclamation ordering people throughout the island to assist in the construction of a fort.

As Kamehameha’s health slowly declined, Kalanimōkū’s role increased; as treasurer of the kingdom, he supervised the collection of taxes and oversaw the lucrative sandalwood trade.

Kalanimōkū was one of several chiefs who treated Kamehameha as his illness worsened, and was present when Kamehameha died.

Following the wishes of Kamehameha’s sacred wife, Keōpūolani, Kalanimōkū took charge of matters, deciding who might remain with the body, and dispatching messengers to spread the news to all islands.

For his strong leadership and strength in a time of great turmoil, Keōpūolani declared Kalanimōkū the “iwikuamo‘o” (literally the spine or backbone,) defined as “a near and trusted relative of a chief who attended to his personal needs and possessions and executed private orders.”

Kalanimōkū, following ancient custom, offered himself as a death companion to the great chief he so idolized; he was prevented from carrying out his desire by other chiefs.

In 1819, when Liholiho proclaimed an end to the kapu system and Kekuaokalani and his wife Manono refused to accept the new order and vowed to go to war rather than abandon the ancient system, Kalanimōkū led an army against the revolt of Kekuaokalani in December 1819, in the successful battle of Kuamoʻo.

When the missionaries first anchored at Kawaihae, they invited some of the highest chiefs of the nation; Kalanimōkū was the first person of distinction that came to greet them.

Reportedly, Kalanimōkū developed an immediate and sincere liking for the New England missionaries.  Throughout his life, they turned to him for assistance and their requests invariably met with positive results.

He served as regent along with Queen Kaʻahumanu, while Kamehameha II traveled to London in 1823, and to Kamehameha III after Kamehameha II’s death in 1824.

Kalanimōkū died at Kamakahonu (the former home of Kamehameha I) in Kailua Kona, Hawai‘i Island on February 7, 1827.  He had only one son, William Pitt Leleiohoku I, who married Princess Ruth Keʻelikōlani.

His death was a great loss to the Hawaiian kingdom; he demonstrated loyalty and faithfulness toward Kamehameha I, his cousin Ka‘ahumanu, as well as Liholiho and Kauikeaouli. 

For 4½ years, as Director of DLNR, my office was in the Kalanimōkū Building.  At the time, I didn’t know of the profound positive impact Kalanimōkū had in Hawaiian history.  I am glad I followed-up and learned a little more about him.  (There is a lot more to tell about him; some bits have been added to other stories of his time and place.)

The image is Kalanimōkū, drawn by Alphonse Pellion in 1819.  In addition, I have added a few more images of Kalanimōkū in a folder of like name in the Photos section of my Facebook page.

http://www.facebook.com/peter.t.young.hawaii

Kapu – The Hawaiian Religious, Political and Social Structure that Lasted for 500-years

Pā‘ao (CA 1300,) from Kahiki (Tahiti,) is reported to have introduced (or significantly expanded) a religious and political code in old Hawai‘i, collectively called the kapu system.

This forbid many things and demanded many more, with many infractions being punishable by death. 

Anything connected with the gods and their worship was considered sacred, such as idols, heiau and priests.  Because chiefs were believed to be descendants of the gods, many kapu related to chiefs and their personal possessions.

Certain objects were also kapu, and to be avoided, either because they were sacred or because they were defiling.  Seasons and places could also be declared kapu.

Certain religious kapu were permanent and unchangeable, relating to customary rites, observances, ceremonies and methods of worship, and to the maintenance of the gods and their priests.

They were familiar and understood by all, having been practiced from childhood.  Civil kapu were more capricious, erratic and often temporary, depending on the whims of the chiefs and priests.

The Hawaiian kapu can be grouped into three categories.  The first evolved from the basic precepts of the Hawaiian religion and affected all individuals, but were considered by foreign observers to be especially oppressive and burdensome to women.

One of the most fundamental of this type of prohibition forbade men and women from eating together and also prohibited women from eating most of the foods offered as ritual sacrifices to the gods (for example, it was kapu for women to eat pork or bananas.)

A second category of kapu were those relating to the inherited rank of the nobility and were binding on all those equal to or below them in status.

This system, a "sanctioned avoidance" behavior conforming to specific rules and prohibitions, prescribed the type of daily interactions among and between the classes, between the people and their gods, and between the people and nature.

By compelling avoidance between persons of extreme rank difference, it reinforced class divisions by protecting mana (spiritual power) from contamination while at the same time preventing the mana from harming others.

These kapu posed enormous difficulties for the high Ali‘i because it restricted their behavior and activities to some degree.  Because these kapu prohibited the highest-ranking chiefs from easily walking around during the day, some of them traveled in disguise to protect the people and themselves from the difficulties presented by this custom.

The third category were edicts issued randomly that were binding on all subjects and included such acts as the placing of kapu on certain preferred surfing, fishing or bathing spots for a chief’s exclusive use. 

In addition, the chiefs proclaimed certain kapu seasons as conservation measures to regulate land use and safeguard resources.

These had the same force as other kapu, but pertained to the gathering or catching of scarce foodstuffs, such as particular fruits and species of fish; to water usage; and to farming practices.  These kapu were designed to protect resources from overuse.

While the social order defined very strict societal rules, exoneration was possible if one could reach a pu‘uhonua (place of refuge) and be cleansed, as well as cleared by a kahuna (priest).

The pu‘uhonua was especially important in times of war as a refuge for women and children, as well as warriors from the defeated side.

This intricate system that supported Hawai‘i’s social and political structure directed every activity of Hawaiian life, from birth through death, until its overthrow by King Kamehameha II (Liholiho).

Shortly after the death of Kamehameha I in 1819, King Kamehameha II (Liholiho) declared an end to the kapu system.  In a dramatic and highly symbolic event, Kamehameha II ate and drank with women, thereby breaking the important eating kapu.

This changed the course of the civilization and ended the kapu system), effectively weakened belief in the power of the gods and the inevitability of divine punishment for those who opposed them.

The end of the kapu system by Liholiho (Kamehameha II) happened before the arrival of the missionaries; it made way for the transformation to Christianity and westernization.

The image represents Liholiho breaking the kapu and eating with women (from Mark Twain 'Roughing It')