Hawaiian Traditions | Page 73 | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

October 29, 2017 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kūmākena

Leina a Kauhane was where the spirits of the dead could be reunited with their ancestors. The path of the spirits of dead kinsmen led westward.

Every island there existed a prominent bluff pointing westward, bearing the name: leina-a-ka-uhane (leap of the spirit.) The name marked the jumping-off place where the soul of the dead was believed to depart beyond the land of the living.

When an individual lay on the deathbed, his soul left the body and wandered about; if all earthly obligations had been fulfilled, the soul continued wandering, otherwise it was returned to the body. In its continued wandering it then approached Leina a Kauhane. (DLNR)

The Aha‘aina Makena (death feast or feast of lamentation) was a gathering of relatives and friends to mourn the passing of the ‘uhane (spirit.) It was not a festival; rather, a time of grief. (The feasting was simply feeding the people.)

The cries from the family within and from the mourner approaching from without, were an expression of genuine emotion. …

The another mourner would approach and again the cry of welcome from within and the responding cry without are called the kaukau. (Handy & Pukui)

Kanikau is a general term for all forms of mourning. Loud wailing was called kūmākena (ku-make-ana.) (Handy & Pukui)

Kūmākena was a period of mourning that followed the death of a very high chief during which people wailed, knocked out their teeth, lacerated their bodies, and at last fell into universal prostration.

Also ‘ai kapu (foods that were kapu throughout the year) were ‘ai noa (foods free of kapu.) In the past, when kūmākena ended, the new ruling chief would place the land under a new kapu following old lines.

It was believed that if the new ruling chief did not put a kapu on ‘ai noa, he would not have a long rule. He would be looked upon as one who did not believe the god, Kūkaʻilimoku.

It was further believed that should the ruling chief keep up the ancient kapu and be known to worship the god, he would live long, protected by Kū and Lono, a ward of Kāne and Kanaloa, sheltered within the kapu.

‘Ai kapu was a fixed law for chiefs and commoners, to keep a distinction between things permissible to commoners and those dedicated to the gods. ‘Ai kapu belonged to the kapu of the god; it was forbidden by the god and held sacred by all.

In the old days kūmākena, at the death of a ruling chief who had been greatly loved, was a time of license. ‘Ai noa became an established fact and it was the ruling chiefs who established that custom. (Mookini)

it was with the iwi (bones) that the ʻuhane remained identified, and therefore the bones that must be kept safe from molestation, the usual practice was not burial.

Instead, a relative tended the corpse, removing the decaying flesh and organs by hand, to clean completely (hoʻokele) the bones. This was a labour of love, for a devoted relative. The fleshly refuse (pela) was thrown into the sea.

Through a purloined bone, an enemy or a kahuna, even a mere fisherman, could enslave the ʻuhane and make it serve him, as the kahu of an ʻunihipili used a spirit of that type to help in his work, good or evil. (For example, a fishhook made of a high chiefʻs shinbone would have great mana.) Hence the necessity of disposing of the bones secretly, in a safe hiding place.

The cleaned bones were made into a light compact bundle tied with sennit cords, and borne to the place of concealment. It was easily carried on the back by the kahu (guardian), who went alone in the night so that no one but he would know where they were placed.

Sometimes the bundle of bones was buried under the dwelling house; for aliʻi it was a cave that was known only to his kahu. But generally the bones were taken to a place identified with the ʻaumakua of the family, because the ʻuhane is with its ʻaumakua.

It was usually the daughterʻs or granddaughterʻs duty to attend to the body of a woman; and the wifeʻs, sonʻs or grandsonʻs, of a man.

The body of the dead was washed by the nearest of kin, the wife, mother or the children, especially the eldest, and then clothed in a fresh garment. Salt was placed in thin kapa (later, thin cloth) and placed over the navel. This was believed to slow down decomposition.

Other relatives brought in banana stalks trimmed flat on two sides. These were laid on the floor side by side, then a second layer was put on these, then a mat was placed on top. On this bier the body was laid. The banana stalks kept the body cool. They were changed several times a day.

It was the duty of a very near relative to hide the body away in the family burial cave. The hiding away was always done in secret. Then for years, the wife, husband or children went to the cave to keep the place where the corpse was laid neat and tidy.

The various belongings he loved in life were put in the cave with him. Even food was placed near the dead soon after the burial, in order that the spirit might have food on its long journey to the spirit world, or if the body should be restored to life, there would be something to eat before he sought his way out.

The bones, finger nails, hair or some such relic, were kept in a gourd calabash, wooden calabash, or in a bundle or in a box or trunk.

Sometimes the relics were kept in the dwelling houses of their keepers; but sometimes they were put in a separate house built for the spirit. Some-times the body or relics were hidden away, while the spirit was constantly called upon (hea) by worshipping (hoʻomana) and feeding.

Such an ʻunihipili might return and “sit on” a haka, thereby helping its keeper (kahu) by showing what remedy to use for healing and how to prepare it. Such an ʻunihipili was evil only when the kahu who fed it was evil.

If the kahu was a “filth eating” sorcerer (ʻai hamu) so the ʻunihipili became, in consequence of being sent here and there on deeds of evil. But if the kahu was good, the ʻunihipili was also good. (Handy & Pukui)

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Hawaiian Rites-DLNR

October 22, 2017 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Farm Land

For Hawaiians involved with agriculture, there were three types of land available for growing crops. Ko Kaha Kai was land along the shoreline. Kula lands were on the lands above the shoreline. Kahawai lands were in the valleys, where fresh water could also be obtained.

The land area with which the Polynesian migrant first became familiar was of necessity that along shore, wherever his voyaging canoe made its landfall.

This area he termed Ko Kaha Kai (place [land] by the sea). This might comprise a broad sandy beach and the flats above it, or the more rugged shore of cove or harbor with its rocky terrain-in fact many and varied descriptions might fit, according to locale.

Kaha was a special term applied to areas facing the shore but not favorable for planting. Kekaha in Kona, Hawaii, was one so named, and Kekaha on Kauai another. The ko kaha kai was not without its own verdure of a sort, however.

In fact the terrain just above the sandy stretches (pu‘eone) was often called ‘ilima, because of the low-growing, gray-foliaged, golden-flowering ‘ilima bushes found in abundance there.

Pohuehue, the beach morningglory, also had its natural habitation there, along with ‘auhuhu, whose leaves yielded a juice used to stupefy fish for ready catching in the inlets and sea pools.

In fact most of the varied low growth of the ko kaha kai found use in the planter’s or fisher’s economy. (Hand, Handy & Pukui)

Next above were the plains or sloping lands (kula), those to seaward being termed ko kula kai and those toward the mountains ko kula uka (uka, inland or upland).

Here were the great stretches of waving pili grass, which was used to make the thick rain-repellent thatch for dwellings (hale). Before cultivation took over the area, the carpeting grass was interspersed with vines (such as the koali, morning-glory) and many shrubs, all of which found practical uses by the immigrant folk. There were also a few stunted trees.

On the ko kula uka, the upland slopes, were found the native ginger and other flowering plants, medicinal herbs, and thick-growing clumps of shrubs. Here too the great variety of trees attained to greater height, and their wood became the source of valuable materials for many necessities of life.

This word kula, used by Hawaiians for sloping land between mountain and sea, really meant plain or sloping land without trees. There is a large land area in the southerly kula slopes of East Maui that is named Honua-‘ula (Red-earth).

Typically, on all the islands the kula lands are covered with red soil, both on leeward and windward coasts. This is the soil in which sugar cane and pineapples flourish today. It is soil in which sweet potatoes grow well. (In contrast, dark soil, rich in humus washed down from the forests, is what wet taro requires.)

Some kula lands, such as those of southern and eastern Hawaii and the southern slopes of Haleakala on Maui, were covered with lava or soil evolved from the dust of recent volcanic eruptions.

The red soil is oldest geologically, having evolved from decomposed basalt oxidized by sun, rain, and air. Next in age is the humus of valley bottoms.

Most recent is decomposed lava, such as is typical of Kona, Kā‘u, Hilo, and Puna on Hawaii, and of some areas on the southern slope of Haleakala on East Maui.

In terms of use, from the Hawaiian planter’s point of view it was the area beyond or intersecting the kula lands that was of prime importance in dictating his habitation and his favored type of subsistence.

This was the kahawai, ‘the place [having] fresh water’ – in other words, the valley stretching down from the forested uplands, carved out and made rich in humus by its flowing stream.

Here he could find (or make) level plots for taro terraces, diverting stream water by means of ‘auwai (ditches) into the lo‘i, or descending series of lo‘i until from below the whole of the visible valley afforded a scene of lush green cultivation amidst fresh water glinting in the sun.

The planter might have his main dwelling here, or he might dwell below and maintain here only a shelter to use during periods of intensive cultivation in the kahawai.

Here also was a source of many of his living needs and luxuries, from medicinal herbs to flowers for decorative garlands, and with a wide range in between.

Two other descriptive terms applied to land areas, one belonging to the kahawai and one not. The first was pahe‘e, meaning a wet, soft, or slippery area; and the other was apa‘a, meaning arid or dry. From its derivative (pa‘a) meaning firmly bound, the latter became a term of affection for land long lived upon. (All here is from Handy, Handy & Pukui)

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Planter-Herb Kane

October 18, 2017 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Captain Cook

Around the 1400-1500s, the land was broken down into ahupuaʻa, ʻili and other physical subdivisions. All of the land was owned by the ruling chief. Each ahupuaʻa in turn was ruled by a lower chief, or aliʻi ʻai. He, in turn, appointed an overseer, or konohiki. (The common people never owned or ruled land.)

Each ahupuaʻa had its own name and boundary lines. Often the markers were natural features such as a large rock or a line of trees or even the home of a certain bird. An ahupuaʻa in a valley usually used its ridges and peaks as boundaries.

In ancient Hawaiʻi, there were no “towns,” “villages” or “cities,” in the modern context. Over the years, communities across the Islands grew. Here, the focus is on an area of South Kona on the Island of Hawai‘i.

Kealakekua translates as ‘pathway of the gods’ and is one of the most significant historic and cultural places in Hawaiʻi. It was selected by the aliʻi as one of the seven royal centers of Kona in the 1700s, because of its sheltered bay and abundance of natural resources.

Kaʻawaloa (meaning ‘the distant ʻawa plant’ and another Royal Center) has a flat, fan-shaped lava peninsula near sea level, which rises gradually to the edge of the 600-ft Pali Kapu O Keoua. These forty acres of land define the northwest side of Kealakekua Bay. It was where Cook was killed.

An obelisk monument commemorating Captain Cook was constructed in 1874, near the spot where Cook died. (Contrary to urban legend, the monument site is not owned by the British Government; ownership is in the name of the British Consul General (the individual) – a representative would check in with DLNR, from time to time.)

About 40-years after Cook’s death, the American Protestant missionaries arrived and established one of the earliest mission stations in Hawai‘i at Kaʻawaloa in 1824.

In the early 1830s it took one year or more for mail to reach the Islands from the continent, coming by way of Cape Horn. When the transcontinental railroad was built, it took about a month.

Prior to 1854 there was no regular mail service on the Islands. Letters were forwarded by chance opportunities. With expanding mail volumes, post offices were set up, often in a central store or business in the community. With growing communities, there was some uncertainty over postal facility names, apparently creating some confusion.

In the mauka area of Kealakekua and Ka‘awaloa, coffee started to thrive. “Coffee … since there weren’t very many other opportunities, was hung on to desperately by the farmers”. (Sherwood Greenwell – A Social History of Kona)

Coffee plants came to Kona via Hilo. In 1825 an English agriculturist named John Wilkinson, who in his younger years had been a planter in the West Indies, arrived at Honolulu on the frigate Blonde – along the way, he left some plants in Hilo. (Kuykendall)

Wilkinson planted coffee in Mānoa Valley in the vicinity of the present UH-Mānoa campus; from a small field, trees were introduced to other areas of O‘ahu and neighbor islands.

In 1828, American missionary Samuel Ruggles took cuttings from Hilo and brought them to Kona. Henry Nicholas Greenwell grew and marketed coffee and is recognized for putting “Kona Coffee” on the world markets.

At Weltausstellung 1873 Wien (World Exhibition in Vienna, Austria (1873,)) Greenwell was awarded a “Recognition Diploma” for his Kona Coffee. (Greenwell Farms)

Writer Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) seemed to concur with this when he noted in his Letters from Hawaiʻi, “The ride through the district of Kona to Kealakekua Bay took us through the famous coffee and orange section. I think the Kona coffee has a richer flavor than any other, be it grown where it may and call it what you please.”

Then, “Captain Cook’s name has received a new honor. The Captain Cook Coffee Company, of Kealakekua, Hawaii, has filed articles of incorporation, with capital stock of $60,000, of which $50,000 are subscribed.”

“Accompanying the articles is a list of property of WW Bruner acquired by the new corporation, in which the copyrighted name of “Captain Cook Coffee” Is set forth at a valuation of $2,000.”

“The company consists of W. W. Bruner, president and treasurer; AWT Bottomley, WL Stanley, WT Lucas, Thomas A. Honan, secretary, and M. R. Jamieson, auditor; all being stockholders except the latter.”

“Bruner owns 2196 of the 2500 shares subscribed and the rest own one each. The Bruner property, including a coffee ranch, etc, is taken over at a valuation of $50,000 including the $2,000 Captain Cook trademark.” (Hawaiian Star, July 22, 1905)

Captain Cook Coffee Co Ltd is one of the oldest existing coffee companies in Hawai‘i. Since the 1880s, Captain Cook has been growing and processing raw green Kona coffee. (CCCC)

Captain Cook Coffee Co. Ltd and H Hackfeld and Co. (later American Factors, Amfac) acted as the “middle men” or factors between the local farmers and the world coffee market.

American Factors advanced farm necessities and foodstuffs through affiliated stores (mostly operated by Japanese merchants) under the condition that farmers were to pay for their merchandise in coffee once the harvest was complete.

All this coffee was processed at company mills, American Factors’ in Kailua and Captain Cook’s at the mill on Napo‘opo‘o Road. In this way, two companies dominated the industry with the farmer having no control over the value of his crop. (Kona Historical Society)

Back to mail … “And the mail used to be quite an excitement. The old post office used to be – when I was a kid – in the old People’s Bank of Hilo building which is where the Bank of Hawai‘i is today. … And everybody would come to the post office to get their mail. Mail was quite an experience….”

“Eventually it was found that it would be practical or be convenient for the people up here to have another post office and so a post office was (opened) in the Captain Cook Coffee Company building. And the postmaster was the bookkeeper of Captain Cook Coffee Company.”

“And the name became Captain Cook (post office) because it was in Captain Cook Coffee Company’s building and was run by Captain Cook Coffee Company.”

“It could have been called Ka‘awaloa (post office) if they wanted to name it the name of the land.” (Sherwood Greenwell – A Social History of Kona)

It’s like “Up in Waimea, it’s called ‘Kamuela’ because the post office is called ‘Kamuela’ (even though) the place is called ‘Waimea.’ But (the post office) couldn’t be called ‘Waimea’ when they put a post office in because there was already a Waimea post office on Kauai.” (Sherwood Greenwell – A Social History of Kona)

By the 1930s there were more than 1,000 coffee farms and, as late as the 1950s, there were 6,000-acres of coffee in Kona. But in the mid-1950s, Captain Cook Coffee Co and American Factors got out of the coffee business.

Several coffee cooperatives formed to market Kona’s crop, among these being Sunset Co-op , which took over operations at the Napo‘opo‘o Mill, which is currently run by Kona Pacific Farmers Co-op. Mountain Thunder Coffee took over Captain Cook Coffee’s building in Kainaliu. (Kona Historical Society)

So, what is now known as the community of ‘Captain Cook’ was named for its post office, in the premises of the Captain Cook Coffee Co. Ltd. (The only place in the United States where coffee is grown commercially is in Hawaiʻi.)

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October 17, 2017 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Fishing

Hawaiians had five methods of fishing: spearing, hand-catching, baskets, hook and line and nets.

There were two kinds of spearing fish, below and above water (above-water spearing was very rarely used.) Below water was the most important; the spear used by the diver was a slender stick, 6 to 7 feet long, made of very hard wood and sharply pointed on one end.

Some fishermen dive to well-known habitats of certain fish and lobsters and, thrusting their arms under rocks or in holes, bring out the fish one by one and put them into a bag attached for the purpose to the loin cloth. Women frequently do the same in shallow waters, and catch fish by hand from under coral projections.

There are two ways of octopus fishing. In shallow water the spear is used. Women generally attend to this. Those caught in shallow waters vary from 1 to 4 feet in length, but the larger kinds live in deep water always and are known as blue-water octopus.

Deep-water octopus are caught with cowries; one (or more) of these shells is attached to a string with an oblong pebble on the face of the shell. A hole is pierced in one end of the back of one of the shells through which the line is passed. A hook whose point stands almost perpendicular to the shaft or shank is then fastened to the end of the line.

The fisherman having arrived at his fishing-grounds first chews and spits on the water a mouthful of kukui (candle-nut) meat which renders the water glassy and clear; he then drops the shell with hook and line into the water and swings it over a place likely to be inhabited by an octopus.

The octopus, when in its hole, is always keeping a lookout for anything eatable that may come within reach of its eight arms. The moment a cowry is perceived, an arm is shot out and the shell clasped; one arm after the other comes out.

Finally, the whole body is withdrawn from the hole and attaches itself to the cowry, which it closely hugs, curling itself all around it.

It remains very quiet while being rapidly drawn up through the water, till, just as its head is exposed above water it raises it, when the fisherman pulls the string so as to bring its head against the edge of the canoe and it is killed by a blow from a club which is struck between the eyes.

Torch-light fishing is practiced on calm dark nights. The fish are either caught with small scoop-nets or are speared. Torch-light fishing is always done in shallow water where one can wade (walking without a splash, that would disturb the fish.) The torches are made of split bamboos secured at regular intervals with leaves, or of twigs of sandal-wood bound together.

There were four kinds of basket fishing. One had a bonnet shape, woven from the ‘ie‘ie vine/shrub; it was used to catch shrimp in streams. The second is with a small basket made from the vines of morning glory. A light framework of twigs is first tied together and then the vines, leaves and all, are wound into a basket about 3-4 feet in circumference and 1 and a half deep.

Pounded shrimp and cocoa-nut fiber are occasionally placed at the bottom of the basket for bait, but usually the scent of the bruised and withering leaves seems to be sufficient.

Women always attend to this kind of fishing. They wade out to suitable places, generally small sandy openings in coral ground or reef, and let the baskets down suitably weighted to keep them in position, and move away to let the fish enter. She then grabs the basket and deposits the caught fish into a gourd, and sets the basket in a fresh place.

The third kind of basket is shallow, of about the same size as the above but wider mouthed, used in deep water for catching a small, fiat fish called ‘uiui’ that makes its appearance at intervals of from ten, fifteen, or twenty years. In these baskets cooked pumpkins, half-roasted sweet potatoes, or raw ripe papayas were placed for bait.

The fourth kind of basket is the largest kind used in fishing by the Hawaiians. These are round, rather fiat baskets, 4 to 5 feet in diameter by 2½ to 3 in depth, and about 1½ Ii across the mouth. A small cylinder or cone of wicker is attached by the large end to the mouth and turned inward towards the bottom of the basket.

The fishermen generally feed the fish (coarse, brownish-yellow alga, ripe bread-fruit, cooked pumpkins, half-roasted sweet potatoes and papayas) for a week or more before taking any, using a large basket of the same kind, without the inverted cylinder and wider in the month, to allow the fish free ingress and egress.

After a week or two of feeding they become tame, and baskets full of fish can be drawn up in the taking basket without in the least disturbing those that are still greedily feeding in the feeding basket.

For fishing with rod, hook and line the bait most liked is shrimp; earthworms are sometimes used and any obtainable fry of fish.

The fisherman takes a handful of shrimps, baits his hooks, and then, bruising the remainder and wrapping it up in cocoa-nut fiber, ties it with a pebble on the line and close to the hooks. The bruised matter spreads through the water when the line is dropped and serves to attract fishes to the vicinity of the hooks.

For hook-and-line fishing practiced in deep water, bonitos and lobsters are the usual bait; for lack of these any kind of fish is used. For deep-sea fishing the hook and line are used without rods, and our fishermen sometimes use lines over 100 fathoms in length.

There are two general divisions of the kinds of nets in use here, the long nets and the bag or purse nets. The finest of the long nets has a mesh one-half inch wide. It is generally 1½ fathoms in depth and from 40 to 60 fathoms in length.

It is used to surround and catch the small mullets and awa in shallow waters for the purpose of stocking fish ponds. Small pebbles, frequently ringed or pierced, are used for sinkers; pieces of hibiscus and kukui tree for the floaters. Nets of 1 to 2 inch mesh are used for the larger mullet.

The finest of all kinds of nets (nae) has only one-fourth inch mesh. The ‘pua’ net is for young mullet fry for stocking ponds or for eating.

This net is generally a piece, a fathom square, attached on two sides to sticks about 3 feet in length and fulled in, the bottom rope being shorter than the upper one and forming an irregular square opening to a shallow bag, which is supplemented by a long narrow bag about 3 or 4 inches wide and 2 feet deep. (All of the information here is from Hawaiian Fishing Implements and Methods of Fishing, Emma Metcalf Beckley Nakuina)

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Fishooks-BM

October 13, 2017 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Cooking

Ahi (fire) was started by a fire plow which consisted of two pieces of dry wood, usually hau. The larger flat stick (ʻaunaki) was held in place on the ground or mat by the feet of the fire maker who sat before it.

He held firmly in his hands a slender stick (ʻaulima) which he moved (heahiʻa, a contraction of he ahi hiʻa) by firm forward strokes over the lower one.

This plowing motion produced a groove in the lower stick and caused wood dust (hāhā) to accumulate at the forward end. In about a minute heat from the friction caused the wood to smoke and sparks to appear in the wood dust.

The lower stick was then lifted, turned over, and the sparks poured onto the fibers (pulu) of a dry coconut husk, or sometimes on kapa.

The sparks burst into flame when the kindling material was blown upon by mouth, with a bamboo blower (ʻohe-puhi-ahi), or waved vigorously in the air. The wood for cooking was lighted by fire secured in this way. (Mitchell)

Hawaiians used several means in cooking food: Baking (kālua in the imu,) Broiling (kō‘ala, kunu, pālaha, olala and pūlehu on hot coals,) Steaming (hākui and puholo with hot stones) and Broiling wrapped food (lawalu, wrapped in leaves over a fire.) (Titcomb)

Baking (kālua) was and still is done in an earth oven, or imu (old spelling is umu). The oven is prepared by digging a hole in the ground; a fire is laid and stones are placed on it to the depth of two or three stones, or enough to fill the hole.

The fire should be so laid as to burn briskly and heat the stones red hot. Embers are then removed, the stones moved to make a smooth surface.

A thick layer of banana leaves, or a layer of banana trunks, split lengthwise, is laid over the hot stones, then more leaves, banana or ti leaves and then the food to be cooked.

All kinds of foods are put into the imu together; families often shared an imu. The imu is covered with leaves after the food has been placed and then with earth to hold in the heat. (Tticomb)

When large hogs were cooked and rocks place in the cavity, the hog was wrapped in coarse kapa and mats. The hog was left until the stones had cooled, then the wrappings were removed. The cooked meat on the inside was cut away and eaten. The outer, under-done parts were cut into pieces and placed in the imu for recooking. (Mitchell)

Broiling food (kōʻala, kunu, pūlehu, pālaha, olala) using hot coals (kō‘ala) or hot ashes (pūlehu) was a common way to cook if a meal was prepared out in the fields away from home or if the small amount of food being prepared did not warrant use of an imu.

Kunu was a term almost synonymous with kōʻala, but it implied that great care had been taken in preparation. Pūlehu (heaped ashes) was cooking by shoving the food into a heap of hot ashes and embers; sweet potato, breadfruit and banana were cooked in this manner.

Pālaha (flattened out), a term used chiefly for land animals―broiling a flattened out piece of flesh. Olala was broiling by holding over the coals and turning so that all sides were heated. Dried fish did not need actual cooking, merely heating a little.

Food was cooked by being spread out flat on a level bed of coals, or it was warmed over or near a fire and periodically turned. Breadfruit and unripe bananas could be broiled this way in their skins.

Steaming in closed calabashes with tight-fitting lids (hakui, puholo) included pork, fish and fowl. These were usually heavy wooden bowls made especially for this type of cooking. The vessels were lined with ti leaves.

Flesh foods, taro leaves and perhaps other greens such as tender sweet potato leaves were added. Hot stones surrounded the food and water was added as needed to form steam.

After several hours in the closed calabash the food was tender. These “fireless cookers” were sometimes filled and carried on journeys and the food was consumed at the destination. (Mitchell)

The ki (ti) leaf was a most useful article to the Hawaiians in caring for food. The leaf is long and wide (20 in. x 6 in. is an average size,) smooth, shiny, tough, and, except for the midrib, the veins are unobtrusive.

It has no odor and is clean and fresh looking. Small foods were wrapped in a ti leaf laulau piʻao, larger in a flat bundle called laulau lāwalu.

Broiling wrapped food (lāwalu) was used a great deal. Food that had been cut into pieces, or small fish that would be lost in an imu, or burned crisp if broiled, were wrapped in leaves of the ti, occasionally in leaves of the wild ginger, which is said to have added a delicious fragrance to the fish.

The leaf bundle was toasted over the open fire, turning it occasionally and the food was cooked when the juice ceased to drip from the bundle. Mullet was “cooked with such perfection that when the banana leaves in which it had been steamed were taken off, it had received hardly a slight alteration in form and color.” (Titcomb)

The food was placed in containers to cool and was served cold. (Lots of information here is from Titcomb and Mitchell.)

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