“In the course of my several voyages, I never before met with the natives of any place so much astonished, as these people were, upon entering a ship. Their eyes were continually flying from object to object …”
“The inhabitants are of a middling stature, firmly made, with some exceptions, neither remarkable for a beautiful shape, nor for striking features, which rather express an openness and good-nature, than a keen, intelligent disposition.”
“They seem to be blest with a frank, cheerful disposition; … They seem to live very sociably in their intercourse with one another; and … they were exceedingly friendly to us.” “(T)hey spoke the language of Otaheite, and of the other islands we had lately visited.”
Men wore a ‘maro’ (malo,) “pieces of cloth tied about the loins, and hanging a considerable way down.” “The only difference in (women’s) dress, was their having a piece of cloth about the body, reaching from near the middle to half-way down the thighs, instead of the maro worn by the other sex.” (Journals of Captain Cook)
Hawaiian bark cloth was originally called kapa which literally translates to “the beaten thing.” Kapa was used for clothing, bed covers, items of trade and gift items, indicators of wealth and status and objects of ceremonial or religious events. (Romanchak)
Clothing consisted of three main items of apparel: the pāʻū or skirt for the women, the malo or loincloth for men and the Kihei or shawl for members of both sexes. (Romanchak) Its earliest and most important use is for clothing; malo: a strip of cloth nine inches wide and nine feet long for the man. (Brigham)
Most kapa was made from the inner bark of the wauke plant (paper mulberry) because it made soft, white kapa. The bark is stripped, soaked, and then compressed into sheets with special patterned wooden beaters and finally dyed and decorated.
To make kapa, Hawaiian women used wooden mallets to pound the strips of bark together to form sheets of various sizes, textures, and thicknesses. (Arthur)
“In 1810 Kaumualii was persuaded to visit Kamehameha on Oahu to consider the political position of Kauai which alone remained to complete his conquest of the Group.”
“It required no little courage on the part of the young king in view of the fate of Keōua who returned to the gods on the altar of Kamehameha’s new temple at Kawaihae, but the interview proved a pleasant one so far as Kamehameha was concerned …”
“… and Kauai and its adjoining islands were ceded to the Conqueror and Kaumualii was reinstated as Moi for life with the understanding that he should make Liholiho (Kamehameha II) his heir.” (Brigham)
“When Kamehameha desired Kauai (you must understand that there was no war waged when Kamehameha obtained the island, because of the fact that he and its king were relatives), he (Kaumuali‘i) sent a messenger to Kamehameha to tell him,”
“‘When the black cloud [kapa] covers (meaning his death), Kauai is yours.’ Kamehameha desired that they two should confer. They met in the year [1810] on Oahu.” (Palekaluhi; Brigham)
“The canoe that had been boarded by Kamehameha was seen in the midst of the fleet marked by the pūlo‘ulo‘u sticks which denoted kapu. When Kaumuali‘i’s and Kamehameha’s canoes met, Kamehameha immediately left his canoe and boarded that of Kaumuali‘i.”
“Kaumuali‘i greeted Kamehameha … At the same time, Kaumuali‘i said these good words to Kamehameha: ‘Perhaps this sea journey of yours, Pai‘ea, is one to take land. The sharp-spurred cock has come (Ua hele kā ho‘i ka moa a kukū kākala).”
“Kamehameha replied with a smile on his face: “I am on a journey to seek an ali‘i, O ali‘i. It is a journey to seek friendship. Our meeting is friendly, and friendship is the important thing.” Because of this kind reply by Kamehameha, Kaumuali‘i said to him:”
“‘This journey of yours is well, O ali‘i. Here in your presence are the ali‘i of Kauai, and all of Kauai is here. There is no other ali‘i that we know of, only you O Kamehameha, therefore here I am before you. Kauai is yours from the upland to the sea.’”
“‘All the places of Kauai and the big men and the little men [the chiefs and the commoners] are all yours. This is my request to you: you are the ali‘i and we and the Kauai chiefs shall dwell under you as your people. Your voice is the one we shall obey.’”
“When Kamehameha heard Kaumuali‘i’s words, tears welled up in his eyes as he gazed at him and he replied affectionately: ‘Astonishing! Your heart is pure, O chief. E! Excellent is Kauai.”
“‘You have given the land from the horizon to the horizon with all its boundaries connected together and yourself as well. You have taken this responsibility upon yourself, O Kaumuali‘i. How excellent is the giving of this land, O good chief of Kauai.’” (Desha)
Kamehameha “took his mahiole, Koki, from a basket and placed it upon the head of Kaumualii. Kamehameha removed his royal malo and so too did Kaumualii remove his malo, and they exchanged them with each other.” (Na‘i Aupuni, 9/14/1906)
“It was at that time that Kamehameha gave to Kaumualii the Malo, Mahiole and Ahu‘ula. Then Kaumuali‘i called the Malo ‘Kanikawi’. Kaumual‘ii finally died and these things were kept by his retainers (Kahu) until the reign of Kalakaua who searched for them and finally obtained possession of them from Kaumualii’s retainers.” (Palekaluhi; Brigham)
“It is a reasonable explanation … to suppose that the ‘Malo’ was given by Kamehameha to Kaumualii as a pledge of the treaty by which Kaumualii surrendered the sovereignty of Kauai to Kamehameha”. (Judd; Brigham)
“When those ali‘i finished the ‘awa drinking in the midst of the wide ocean, they finished their discussion, and Kaumuali‘i prepared to return to Kauai, followed by the persons whom Kamehameha had ordered to follow the good-hearted ali‘i ‘ai moku of Kauai, “Excellent in the Calm.” Kamehameha and his ali‘i returned to the island of Kākuhihewa.” (Desha)
Some suggest that the ‘Malo’ Kaumuali‘i gave was “a closely woven net of olonā 4.5 inches wide and 11 feet and 10 inches long, is covered on both sides by red iiwi feathers … to this on both edges is attached by frequent cords a lei of oo feathers increasing the width of the cordon to six inches.”
“The chief end which is to hang in front is thickened and weighted by the insertion of three rows of human teeth … the rows being separated by the insertion of the little bundles of fish teeth …. All the teeth are included from incisor to molar and drilled and firmly attached to the net …”
“A band of yellow oo crosses the cordon 17 inches from the end, with teeth set in the feathers, 4 on one side of the cordon, 10 on the other; a second similar band comes 33 inches from the end and this has 10 teeth on one side and 13 smaller ones on the other. (Brigham)
Brigham notes that “The term malo is certainly misleading [with respect to the Kaumuali‘i ‘malo’]: it is the Hawaiian (and Polynesian) name for the article in question, but in English it would properly from its use be called a cordon.” (Brigham)
He also notes that the Kaumuali‘i ‘malo’ was used in the making of the King Kamehameha statue. (Note that it was depicted correctly as a cordon/sash, however, it was not put on correctly – a portion goes over the shoulder outside of the ahu‘ula (cape.))
“If you look closely, the final arrangement is impossible without two sashes: a long one from malo front over the shoulder and down to the ground, and a short, separate belt.” (Later noted by Charlot.)