Lei i ka ‘Olo

E naki‘I ka hue ma ka ‘ā‘ī
He lei ‘olo
He hō‘ailona o ka po‘o kauwā
He kaumaha no ke kauwā ha‘alele loa

Tie the gourd about the neck
It is a gourd lei
Symbolic of the anathema
A burden for the outcast
(from McDonald)

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 people into four groups: Aliʻi, the ruling class of chiefs and nobles (kings, high chiefs, low chiefs); Kahuna, the priests (who conducted religious ceremonies at the heiau and elsewhere) and master craftsmen; Makaʻainana, commoners  (the largest group) those who lived on the land; and Kauwā (or Kauā), social outcasts, “untouchables”.

“[T]he Paramount Chief (Ali’i Nui) fulfilled the role of father to this people … At the other extreme of the social order were the despised kauwā, who were outcasts …”

“… compelled to live in a barren locality apart from the tribesmen or people “belonging to the land” (ma-ka-‘aina-na), and whose only function and destiny was to serve as human sacrifices to the Ali’i’s war god Ku when a Luakini or war temple was dedicated in anticipation of a season of fighting.”  (Handy & Pukui)

“When there was no law-breaker or war victim to offer as human sacrifice in the heiau, the kahuna went near the boundary of the kauwā land and selected a man, as one might select a fowl in a barnyard. A kauwā could not refuse, and followed the kahuna who called him.”

“If he were not to be put to death immediately, he was given an elongated gourd [ipu] to wear, suspended from the neck with a string, which was referred to as “garland for waiting” (lei i ka ‘olo).”  (Handy & Pukui)

“Ipu, a kind of gourd, is a Polynesian introduction possibly originating in tropical Africa or Asia. This wide-spreading vine is widely grown throughout the tropical Pacific.”

“Its ripe fruit, hollowed and dried, provides the base for fashioning containers of many sizes and shapes, the largest to as much as 4 feet long and a foot of girth.”  (McDonald)

“To say to one that his ancestor had worn the ‘olo gourd, was the equivalent of saying that he was a person of no consequence.”  (Handy & Pukui)

“When the ancient system of kapu was abandoned in Liholiho’s reign, the humiliation of the kauwā ended, and they merged with the maka‘ainana gradually over the years.” (Handy, Handy & Pukui)

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