Statewide County HI Archives News.....Wiki Mo'olelo Part 5 . October 30, 2008 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/hi/hifiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Darlene E. Kelley donkeyskid@msn.com November 16, 2008, 8:44 am Keepers Of The Culture, A Study In Time Of The Hawaiian Islands October 30, 2008 Contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Darlene E. Kelley donkeyskid@webtv.net donkeyskid@msn.com October 30, 2008 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Historical Collections of Hawai'i Keepers of the Culture A Study in Time, of the Hawai'ian Islands Wiki Mo'olelo - part 5 by Darlene E. Kelley +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Part 5 Wiki Mo'olelo Categories of Kapu 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 mats, clothes, 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. The Hawiian kapu can be grouped into three catagories. The first evolved from the basic precepts of th Hawaiian religion and affected all individuals,but were considered by foreign observers to be especially oppressive and burdensome to women. One of the most important and fundamental of this type of proscription 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 womento eat pork, pigs being a frequent sacrificial offering, and they could only eat dog mat or other kapu foods on special occasions. They also could not eat fowl, coconuts, bananas, turtle, shark meat, or certain kinds of fruits or fish that were offered in sacrifice, these being kapu to anyone but the gods and men. In addition, foods for husbands and wives had to be cooked in separte ovens and eaten in different structures.. During the four principal kapu periods of each month, women were forbidden to ride in a canoe or have intimate relations with the othe sex. Duing her pregnancy, a woman had to live apart from her husband. A second category of kapu were tose relating to the inherited rank of nobility and were binding on all those equal to or below them in status. Regarding kapu relative to the ruling class, The kapus of prerogative associated with the high chiefs were in effect safegurads to their mana. They took several forms, but all were designed to prevent loss of a chief's mana through contact with " common " things, on one hand, and to protect ordinary mortals from the dire consequences of exposure to his god-like radiations of the degree of mana inherent in the chiefs who held them. These kapus posed enormous difficulties for the high ali'i because it resiricted their behavior and activities to some degree. An individual of high rank could have considerable mana and it was extreemely dangerous to a commoner or and outcast when, by contagion, he contracted a supercharged amount of mana from an exceptionally high ala'i. For this reason those chiefs who were the first descedants of the great deities and who were thought to be in some ways the incarnation of these gods, were so charged with mana that in some situations they could not even walk about the land without rendering all they touched, or upon which their shadows fell, prohibited to commoners. Because of these kapu prohibited the highest ranking chiefs from walking around durng the day, some of thm traveled in disguise to protect the people and themselves from the difficulties presented by this custom. This category included the deferential behavior patterns that lower-ranking people had to follow in the presense of those of higher rank. Commoners had to prostrate themslves with their faces touching the ground before the most sacred chiefs when they ventured out in public, and neither the king or priests could touch anything themselves. All personal possessions of a person of the highest chiefly renk ( resulting from a brother-sister marriage ) were definately kapu, and contct with them by a commoner meant certain death. The third category were governmental edits issued randomly by a paramount chief or his officials that were binding on all subjects and included such acts as the placing of kapu on certain preferred surfing, fishing, or bathing spots for the hief's exclusive use. Any place or object could be declared kapu by the proer person affixing near it or on its perimeters a pole or stakes bearing a bit of white kapa cloth or a bunch of bamboo leaves, signifying that the locality or thing should be avoided. The most important temples and the permanent housing complexes of high chiefs were surrounded by dry-laid masonry walls or wooden palings that created a sacred stockade. However not all stockades were physical. Some were invisible lines that were as effective as rock walls or picket fences. Walls and fences apparently marked lifetime or permanent taboo areas. Invisible lines marked enclosures guarded by temporary taboos. Real or invisible, they excluded commoners. In addition, the chefs proclaimed certain kapu seasons as conservation measures to regulate land use and safegurad 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 ish; to water usage; and to farming practces.. These kapu were designed to protect resources from overuse. Through the kapu system, Hawaiian chiefs played a major role in controlling the food supply by restricting consumption of certain types of food to certain classes and sexes. The restriction on the types of food women would eat, for example " would have moderated demand for domesticated mammal meat and may haveplayed a major roll in perserving herds." At certain times, also, particular fruits, animals, and fish were kapu forseveral months to both sexes. Other kapu seasons observed were at the approach of a great religious ceremony, before going to war, or when a chief was sick. +++++++++++ Effects on the Population. High officials declared general kapu and had them publically announced. On pecfc nights of every lunar month, rituals and sacrifices took place at the temple of each major diety. During a strict kapu period, when the ruler especially needed the favor of the deities, absolute silence was mandated in order not to break the sacred spell of the rites. All human activity ceased, no fires built, domestic animals were shut away or muzzled, and everyone except priests remained indoors. Common kapu only required males to stop their work and attend temple ceremonies, while the time it lasted was considered a holiday. The Hawaian kapu system not only hindered the freedom of commoners and women in general, but also restricted the activities of the highest ranking chiefs. It was also open to periodic abuse. The kapu system was, noneless, enforced throughout Kamehameha's reign. Supposedly " Tamahamhea always supposed his success, in every enterprise, to be owing to the strict attention he paid to the service and requirements of his god." Tamaamaah [ Kamehameha ] himself had been averse to a change [ in reigious practices ]. and refused several applications to allow the missionaries to settle on his estates, although he was well aware of the absurdity of Paganism. When questioned by Gov. John Adams [Kuakini ] about it, and more particularly concerning human sacrifices, he replied ; " You don't think me such a fool as to put any faith in their efficacy. I only suffer them, because i find them ueful in keeping my people in subjection." ++++++++++++ Sanctioned Violations of System The only time the ancient Hawaiians could violate kapu occurred upon the death of a paramount chief. Murning customs then allowed the deliberate violation of several kapu by a variety of excessive behaviors: I addition to the usal sign of grief, people went naked, wome entered temples and ate prohibited foods, property was plundered, and some individuals beged to be buried with their ruler. Although these excesses were rationalized as due to unreason from grief, the license also seems to have symbolized the temporary state of anarchy and suspension of the divine mandate to rule. During these revelries the successor removed himelf from the place of death and scenes of kapu violation to avoid contamination by them. Upon his return from his retreat to be installed in the chieftanship, one of his initial acts of rule was to reinstate the law of kapu. By this he declared his assumption of the devine mandate. The Rev. William Ellis, landing on the island of Hawai'i soo after the death of Kamehameha noted : " When we landed on Owhyhi, signs of desolation met our eyes everywhere and were proof of the excesses that had been committed at the recent death of Tamehameha. During such a crisis, anarchy reigns in all its horror; laws and tabu restrictions are violated with effrontery; forbidden foodsare devoured without scruple, especially by women; rights of ownership are disregarded; force beomes the supreme law; the voice of the chiefs is powerless; old offenses are revenged with blood or pillage --- in a word, unbelievable scenes of disorder, cruelty, and debauchery take plae all over, encouraged by lack of punishment. Calm is gradually restored only when the heir has been definately invested with royal power. Such is the amnner in which the common people. momentarily free of all restraint, express the sorrow that one is expected to feel at the death of one's soverign. " "The only individuals who did not take part in this period of licentiousness were the heir to the throne and his family, who immediately removed themselves from the district that had been defiled by death. The heir returned after fifteen days, and the dead ruler's bones had been preserved and a priest had cleansed the area of all pollution. " +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Next - part 6. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/hi/statewide/newspapers/wikimool87nnw.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/hifiles/ File size: 10.5 Kb