Hawaiian Traditions | Page 25 | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

November 25, 2023 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Sweet Potato Getting to Hawai‘i

Tracing the history of agricultural products is one way scientists track the migration of people during times when no written records were left behind to offer clues. (Yirda; PHYS)

On his voyages across the Pacific, Captain James Cook encountered geographically disparate Polynesian societies, including those living on Easter Island, Hawai‘i and the north island of New Zealand. These far-flung communities cultivated a common crop, sweet potato. (Denham; NCBI)

Researchers later sampled specimens brought back by early explorers (including Cook.) They found that the DNA evidence indicated that the sweet potato had migrated to Polynesia long before European explorers had made their way to that part of the world. (Yirda; PHYS)

Peruvians first domesticated the sweet potato around 8,000-years ago. And though the crop spread from there, the means by which it traveled have always remained contentious.

One possibility was that Polynesian sailors first brought it home from across the ocean: The oldest carbonized sweet potato evidence in the Pacific hails back to about 1,000 AD – 500-years before Columbus sailed to the Americas.

The Polynesian word for sweet potato resembles the central Andes’ Quechua people’s word for the vegetable. (SmithsonianMag) Polynesian word for sweet potato ‘kuumala’ resembles ‘kumara,’ or ‘cumal,’ the words for the vegetable in Quechua, a language spoken by Andean natives. (NPS)

By analyzing the DNA of 1,245 sweet potato varieties from Asia and the Americas, researchers have found genetic evidence that proves the root vegetable made it to Polynesia from the Andes.

DNA studies did not just look at potatoes, research suggests Polynesians from Easter Island and natives of South America met and mingled before 1500 AD, 3-centuries after Polynesians settled the island also known as Rapa Nui. In the genomes of 27 living Rapa Nui islanders, the team found dashes of European and Native American genetic patterns.

But did Polynesians land on South American beaches, or did Native Americans sail into the Pacific to reach Rapa Nui? (Lawler; ScienceMag) Or, did its seeds possibly hitch a ride on seaweed or natural raft, or gotten lodged in the wing of a bird? (NPR)

“Our studies strongly suggest that Native Americans most probably arrived (on Rapa Nui) shortly after the Polynesians (got there.)” (Erik Thorsby; ScienceMag)

But many scientists say that Pacific currents and Polynesian mastery of the waves make it more likely that the Polynesians were the voyagers. They may have sailed to South America, swapped goods for sweet potatoes and other novelties—and returned to their island with South American women. (Lawler; ScienceMag)

“There’s a lot of evidence accumulating … that the Polynesians made landfall in South America. We think they had sophisticated, double-hulled canoes – like very large catamarans – which could carry 80 or more people and be out to sea for months.” (Kirch; NPR)

But Polynesians didn’t just grab the potatoes and head home. There are clues that they may have introduced chickens to the continent while they were at it.

“(T)here is this baffling evidence that there were chickens in western Peru before Columbus.” (Mann; NPR) Chicken bones – unknown in the Americas before 1500 AD have been excavated on a Chilean beach, which some believe predate Columbus. (NPR)

The researchers found strong evidence that “supports the so-called tripartite hypothesis, which argues that the sweet potato was introduced to Polynesia three times: first through premodern contact between Polynesia and South America, then by Spanish traders sailing west from Mexico, and Portuguese traders coming east from the Caribbean.”

“The Spanish and Portuguese varieties ended up in the western Pacific, while the older South American variety dominated in the east”. (SmithsonianMag)

It is believed the sweet potato then made three independent trips to Southeast Asia. The Polynesians probably introduced it in 1100 AD. While the Spanish and Portuguese brought other varieties from the Americas around 1500. (NPR)

“I’m delighted to see the (tripartite) hypothesis now further confirmed by these recent results.” (Kirch; Nature) Such studies of how humans moved plants and animals, Kirch says, show what the late pioneering ethnobotanist Edgar Anderson called “man’s transported landscapes.”

Historical specimens will be crucial to explaining these patterns. The sweet potatoes collected by Captain Cook’s voyage, for example, “provided time-controlled data” that show “the importance of continuing to curate such specimens in the world’s museums”. (Nature)

As widely used as it is now, the sweet potato could play an even bigger role in feeding people across the world: climate change may help the roots grow even bigger. (SmithsonianMag)

He ʻuala ka ʻai hoʻola koke i ka wi.
The sweet potato is the food that ends famine quickly. (ʻŌlelo Noʻeau from Pukui)

3 Independent introductions of sweet potato-NPS

November 19, 2023 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Connections

“There has never been any agreement, as to the origin of this isolated island people, or the reasons why this type is only found scattered over all the solitary islands in the eastern part of the Pacific.” (Thor Heyerdahl)

Solomon Lehuanui Kalaniomaiheuila was the son of Peleioholani (uncle to the Kings Kamehameha IV and Kamehameha V) and Piikeakaluaonalani (mother.) For many, Peleioholani was considered an important Hawaiian antiquarian and the final word in Hawaiian genealogy, especially of the chiefs and royal families.

He wrote of the Hawaiian history. One of Peleioholani’s theories notes, “The ancestors of the Hawaiian race came not from the islands the South Pacific – for the immigrants from that direction were late arrivals there – but from the northern direction (welau lani,) that is, from the land of Kalonakikeke, now known as Alaska.”

Others have noted connections between people in the Pacific and other parts of the world.

The idea of a trans-Pacific crossing has had its proponents within scholarly archaeology. Heyerdahl’s (1950) Kon-Tiki experiment demonstrated that such a crossing (from Peru to Raroia) was possible. But simply because such an experiment is possible does not mean that it happened. (Boulanger)

Meggers et al. reported on what they interpreted as similarities between ceramics of the Valdivia culture of coastal Ecuador and the middle Jomon culture of western Japan. Yet, concerted archaeological research over the past 200 years has failed to provide any substantial material evidence for a trans-Pacific origin for any Native American culture.

Some suggest the sweet potato is proof of connection … On his voyages across the Pacific, Captain James Cook encountered geographically disparate Polynesian societies, including those living on Easter Island, Hawai‘i and the north island of New Zealand. These far-flung communities cultivated a common crop, sweet potato. (Denham; NCBI)

Peruvians first domesticated the sweet potato around 8,000-years ago. And though the crop spread from there, the means by which it traveled have always remained contentious.

“Our studies strongly suggest that Native Americans most probably arrived (on Rapa Nui) shortly after the Polynesians (got there.)” (Erik Thorsby; ScienceMag)

“The Spanish and Portuguese varieties ended up in the western Pacific, while the older South American variety dominated in the east”. (SmithsonianMag)

Peter Marsh makes several Canadian connections to Pacific Islands, noting, that archaeological and cultural evidence suggests that there is a strong connection between Coastal Canada and Polynesia. Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands) is an archipelago off the coast of British Columbia, Canada.

Marsh notes that both the Polynesians and Haida people worked in stone in the same manner, designs of implements were almost identical. The use of pottery was completely absent in both cultures. The design and way of manufacture of the following artifacts bear a striking resemblance:

Tahitian and Haida stone pounders are almost identical.
Stone bowls found in Kauai and stone bowls found in the Bella Coola valley from a pre-existing culture are very similar.
Maori and NW Coastal Indian war clubs both have the gaping angry mouth motif on the handle.
Tattooing tool kit design indicates Polynesian kit derived from Haida tattooing implements.
Fish hook design is almost identical
Fish hook pendants are also identical
Petroglyphs are similar
Spiritual carvings such as the Tiki are amazingly similar in both cultures.
Large totem poles with figures stacked on top of one another with their tongues sticking out are common in both Maori and Haida cultures.
Haida and Marquesan carvings have similar shaped eyes and mouths.
Carvings around building entrances where the legs form an archway.
The practice of inlaying of Paua shell into the eyes of figures is a style used in both cultures.
Maori war canoes are similar in design to Kwakuitl canoes.
The use of calabashes instead of pottery for carrying water is common to both cultures.
The use of hot rocks to steam and widen canoes, is practiced by both Maori and Kwakuitl.
Earth ovens are used by both cultures
The unique practice of rubbing noses as a way of greeting is used in both Maori and some tribes in the Canadian NW. This suggests definite cultural and spiritual connection.
The use of the glottal stop in speech is similar e.g.; Hawai‘i and Haida Gwai‘i.

November 13, 2023 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Months

Mahina, the moon, was the goddess who kept time for the Hawaiian. Mahina was more important to everyday life than the sun or the stars.

It was the duty of certain priests trained as astronomers to keep the annual calendar and watch the moon to determine just when certain tabu should be placed on the fish or land.

A proper planting season for the farmer depended upon the time as announced by the astronomer. The bird catcher, the canoe builder and many other craftsmen depended upon the astronomer’s announcement of the correct Mahina. (Taylor)

The Kilokilo (observer of the sly for omens) was an important person generally attached to the court of a king or to the temple of the king’s high priest. He was an astronomer priest, versed in the language of the stars.

The rising and the setting of the moon marked a day for the Hawaiian, only he did not call the time a day, he called it a night. The appearance of the new moon and the death of the old moon marked the month for the Hawaiian, which he called Mahina. Twelve such moons made a year for him.

The importance of knowing the passing of a year was to know when to celebrate the Makahiki, the great harvest festival. It was important to know just when the festival should be celebrated because it coincided with the coming of the god Lono on a visit to each district in the Islands. (Taylor)

The Hawaiian divided his calendar into the space of a year composed of 12 months or moons. He did not control the division of time known as a year by the sun, as we do, but by a small group of stars which we call the Pleiades and he called Makalii (small eyes).

There are many bright and beautiful stars with whom the Hawaiian was familiar and by which he might have regulated his calendar. Instead, he chose to regulate it by the rising and setting of this small constellation of seven stars. As a result, he considered the Pleiades the most important stars in the heavens.

Just why the Pleiades were selected as the regulator of the year is lost in antiquity. Most Asiatic, all the Pacific Island peoples and some Indian tribes use the rising and setting of the Pleiades as the regulator of the year.

The “Small Eyes” are to be seen on the eastern horizon about the middle of November each year. They travel across the sky for six months on the Black Shining Road of Kane and set about the middle of June in a pit located in the western sky. (Taylor)

In attempting to keep an ancient moon calendar, it is essential to know when to correct the moon calendar so that the seasons will correspond with the sun. That is the secret of the ancient astronomer which we do not know.

King Kalakaua said the astronomer corrected his calendar by adding five bonus days at the end of the Makahiki each year. Other old Hawaiians say that the astronomer simply knew when to add extra days or an extra month. (Taylor)

It is evident from the various accounts of the naming of the months of the year that the same names occurred in the various islands but that they were not applied to the same months. (Handy, Handy & Pukui)

Traditional month names are Ka‘elo, Kaulua, Nana, Welo, Ikiiki, Ka‘aona, Hina‘ia‘ele‘ele, Mahoe Mua, Mahoe Hope, Ikua, Welehu and Makali‘i.

The names of the months varied on each Island and within moku (districts) on each island, a result of the different methods the astronomer priest used to calculate days and months.

Apparently, astronomers on the different Islands and in the different districts had various methods of adjusting the calendar because we know that the names of the months varied on each Island. (Taylor)

The months of the pre-contact Hawaiian were lunar months, each beginning with the appearance of a new moon and lasting 29 or 30 nights until the appearance of the next new moon. Each night of the month had its individual name.

All authorities seem to agree that there were 12 named months. However, there is considerable disagreement as to their names, some disagreement as to their sequence, and evidence that the nomenclature both varied from island to island and was subject to change with time. (Schmitt & Cox)

Hawaiians divided the year into two seasons: Ka‘u, or Summer, when it was dry and hot (beginning in May when the Pleiades set at sunrise). The other part of the year was Ho‘oilo (beginning in October), when it was rainy and chilly. (Handy, Hany & Pukui) There were six months in Ka‘u and six in Ho‘oilo.

While most authorities agree that the months were grouped into two seasons, there is considerable disagreement as to the names of the seasons and the details of the grouping. Some, moreover, report three or four seasons. (Schmitt & Cox)

The lunar cycle was reconciled with the sidereal year (of or relating to stars or constellations) by the insertion of an extra month about once in three years.

The passage of sidereal was noted by the date on which the Pleiades were seen to rise just after sunset. However, the exact rule governing the insertion of the extra month, the point of its insertion in the sequence of the 12 named months, and the name given to the extra month have, apparently, all been forgotten. (Schmitt & Cox)

(Check out the attached images that further explain the names, what actions happen during certain months and some of the differences in names assigned to the calendar names we are used to (January through December).

November 7, 2023 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Handy & Handy

Edward Smith Craighill (Craighill) Handy was an “ethnologist and anthropologist, who was an authority on Pacific island people.” (HnlAdv Jan 28, 1981)

Handy was born in Roanoke (VA) on September 22, 1893. He was a 1915 graduate of Harvard University; he also earned master’s and doctoral degrees in anthropology there.

“He had participated in several expeditions to Pacific islands in the 1920s, including some to the Society Islands. He also had been affiliated with the Bishop Museum in Hawaii in the 1920s and early 1930s. He kept up these interests and contacts until the end of his life.”

“After serving as a visiting professor at Yale in the mid-1930s, Dr. Handy returned to his native Virginia and in 1936 became a farmer near Oakton in Fairfax County.”

“Dr. Handy was sought out by others in the fields of ethnology and anthropology. Margaret Mead, author of ‘Coming of Age in Samoa’ and many other noted books, took instruction in the Marquesan language from Dr. Handy.” (Washington Post)

On September 21, 1819, he married Willowdean Chatterson (Jan 10, 1889 – Nov 5, 1965); she was later an anthropologist, attached to the Bernice P Bishop Museum, specializing in Marquesan and Tahitian culture. They later divorced.

He then married Elizabeth Green Kalb (the Kalb last name was later dropped) (Oct 30, 1896 – Aug 17, 1973). She was a graduate of Rice Institute, 1916, and a student at the University of Chicago. She won the Carnegie Prize in Texas state intercollegiate oratory contest in 1915.

In 1918 Elizabeth became active in the woman’s suffrage movement and went to work for the National Woman’s Party (NWP) in Washington, DC. She was among the 8,000 marchers who took part in the US Capitol picket.

She was later arrested during a watchfire demonstration in January of 1919, for which she was sentenced to five days in District Jail. She later became the librarian at NWP headquarters where she was in charge of the literature and library department. (Culwell)

In about 1926, her mother, Benigna Green, came to Honolulu to meet Elizabeth, who had been teaching in China. They liked Hawai‘i so well that they made their home there. (SB April 14, 1938)

From 1928 through 1933, Elizabeth was the editor of Pacific Affairs (during its first six years of existence). Pacific Affairs is an interdisciplinary scholarly journal focusing on political, economic, and social issues throughout Asia and the Pacific.

At the time, Pacific Affairs’ headquarters was located in Hawai‘i. (Pacific Affairs has been located on the campus of the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada, since 1961.) (Pacific Affairs)

ES Craighill Handy married Elizabeth on March 22, 1934 in Honolulu. Elizabeth’s mother Benigna Green had “devoted her life to working for women’s rights and the advancement of women’s achievements.” She died in an automobile accident near Bakersfield, Cal. Mrs Amy Otis Earhart, mother of the late Amelia Earhart, was also seriously injured.”

Elizabeth’s mother had gone “to the mainland to meet her daughter, Mrs Edward SC Handy … to spur a search among South Sea islands on the possibility that Miss Earhart and Fred J Noonan might have landed on one of them on their ill fated attempt to fly around the world last July.” (SB April 14, 1938)

ES Craighill Handy and Elizabeth Green Handy collaborated on numerous papers and books. Many included the participation of Mary Kawena Pukui.

“During her years at the museum, Mary Kawena Pukui became the “go to” person for anything Hawaiian. Her time and expertise was always in demand. … The academic works of ESC Handy and Martha Beckwith depended largely on the work of Kawena.”

“She was also a primary source for the works of Dorothy Barrěre, Kenneth Emory, Adrienne Kaeppler Alphonse Korn, Margaret Titcomb and many others.”

Kawena’s long association with the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum began when she was asked by Dr. Martha Beckwith for assistance in translating old Hawaiian manuscripts and newspapers around 1923.

Kawena’s skills soon attracted attention from other noted scholars, anthropologists, biologists, etc., who sought her assistance in their own work. She actually worked helping others at the museum for some fourteen years before she was hired as a translator. Museum ethnologist, ES Craighill Handy actually paid her out of his own pocket for her help, which was extensive.

In 1933, Kawena translated manuscripts and added new information from her knowledge, combined with that of her mother, Pa‘ahana, and other Hawaiian friends. The names, Handy and Pūku‘i would appear on notable works in years to come.

“In 1935, Dr. Handy told Pa‘ahana that he and his wife were going on a field trip to Hawai‘i and would like Kawena to go with them.”

“Pa‘ahana gave them her blessing and knowing that her people would not talk to foreigners, she said she would hanai (adopt) them. ‘Now go with your sister to my homeland,’ she said.”

“They were able to gather much information as the word spread about Pa‘ahana’s adopting the Handys, who accompanied Kawena, child of Ka‘ū. Many doors of family and their friends were opened for then.” (Mary Kawena Pukui Preservation Society)

One notable publication from the Handys and Pukui is ‘Native Planters’ (they had many other papers and books). “Originally published in 1972, Native Planters in Old Hawaii is the fruit of a brilliant collaboration between Pacific anthropologist, E. S. Craighill Handy, his wife, Elizabeth Green Handy, and the beloved expert on Hawaiian language and culture, Mary Kawena Pukui.”

“Today, this classic work remains invaluable to scholars and practitioners alike as both a precious ethnographic resource on Hawaiian planting practices and as an in-depth examination of Hawaiians’ relationship to land.”

“The book discusses basic patterns of Hawaiian planting culture, the gods worshipped, class and land divisions, water rights and irrigation techniques, tools, crafts, and general horticultural skills.”

“It includes an examination of how people shaped their cultivation practices to the varied Hawaiian environment, and documents various myths and rituals connected to planting.” (Bishop Museum Press) Edward Smith Craighill died December 26, 1980.

November 3, 2023 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Mo‘o-kahuna

There were two orders of temple priests, known as kahuna (experts), or kahuna pule (experts in praying). These were the priests of Ku, the war god, and the priests of Lono, the rain god who was lord of agriculture and of peace.

Each order or ‘school’ of priests had its distinctive genealogy, the mo‘o-Ku and the mo‘o-Lono. These were priests in charge of temple worship. As a caste, the priests of both gods were the mo‘o-kahuna.

Malo describes the two orders of the priesthood as follows: ‘There were two rituals which the king in his eminent station used in the worship of the gods; one was the ritual of Ku, the other that of Lono.’

‘The Ku ritual was very strict (oolea), the service most arduous (ikaika). The priests of this rite were distinct from others and outranked them.’

‘They were called priests of the order of Ku, because Ku was the highest god whom the king worshipped in following their ritual. They were also called priests of the order of Kanalu, because that was the name of their first priestly ancestor. These two names were their titles of highest distinction.’

‘The Lono ritual was milder, the service more comfortable. Its priests were, however, of a separate order and of an inferior grade. They were said to be of the order of Lono (mo‘o-Lono), because Lono was the chief object of the king’s worship when he followed the ritual. The priests of this ritual were also said to be of the order of Paliku.’ (Malo)

The priesthood of Lono traced its origin to Paliku, the great erect cliff (pali-ku) of the massive promontory named Kane-hoa-lani at the midpoint of the windward coast of Oahu.

The birthplace of Kamapua‘a was on the uplands above Ka-lua-nui Valley, a few miles southeast of Kane-hoa-lani. (Handy and Handy)

Palikū is recognized as the place of the first heiau (traditional Hawaiian religious temple) during the time of Haumea and Wākea and associated with an ancient cultural context that later underwent significant evolution.

When a great tidal wave swept Haumea, Wākea, and all of their followers out to sea, Wākea was instructed, presumably by the god Lono, ‘to cup his hands together to represent a heiau, then he caught a humuhumu-nukunukuapua‘a fish [triggerfish with a pig-like snout] . . . and stuck it head first into the cupped hands to represent a pig’. (Handy and Handy).

The followers repeated Wākea’s actions, and then the sea washed all of them ashore.

In gratitude to Lono, a temple was constructed at Palikū, and an order of priests called Mo‘o-kuauhau-o-Lono (literally “genealogical line of Lono”) was responsible for religious proceedings at this temple. (Malo)

Handy and Handy reported that the priestly order known as Palikū formerly performed rituals at temples called māpele.

Malo explains that any heiau erected by an ali‘i nui who followed the ritual of Lono was termed a mapele. The timber used in constructing the house of worship, the storied tower (lana-nu‘u-mamao) and the enclosure, would be lama wood, a native ebony (lama was selected because the word suggests enlightenment), and ti leaf served as thatching.

Māpele is defined as ‘thatched heiau. (temple) for the worship of Lono and the increase of food’ (Lono was god of abundance as well as of rain and storm). (Handy and Handy)

“The mapele was a thatched heiau in which to ask the gods blessing on the crops. Human sacrifices were not made at this heiau; pigs only were used as offerings.”

“The timber … used in the construction of the house, the fence about the grounds, and that used in constructing the lananuu-mamao was lama, and it was thatched with the leaves of the ti plant. There were also idols.”

“Any chief in rank below the king was at liberty to construct a mapele heiau, an unu o Lono, a kukoae, or an aka, but not a luakini. The right to build a luakini belonged to the king alone. The mapele, however, was the kind of heiau in which the chiefs and the king himself prayed most frequently.”

“The luakini was a war temple, heiau-wai-kaua, which the king, in his capacity as ruler over all, built when he was about to make war upon another independent monarch, or when he heard that some other king was about to make war against him; also when he wished to make the crops flourish he might build a luakini.”

“Luakini (was a) heiau of the highest class, a war-temple, in which human sacrifices were offered; named from a pit, lua, and kini, many; into which the mouldering remains were finally cast.” (Malo)

“When the people and the priests saw that the services of the luakini were well conducted, then they began to have confidence in the stability of the government, and they put up other places of worship, such as the Mapele, the Kukoea, the Hale-o-Lono.”

“These heiaus were of the kind known as hoouluulu (hoouluulu ai = to make food grow), and were to bring rain from heaven and make the crops abundant, bringing wealth to the people, blessing to the government, prosperity to the land.” (Malo)