Statewide County HI Archives News.....Wiki Mo'olelo Part 7 . November 3, 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, 8:46 am Keepers Of The Culture, A Study In Time Of The Hawaiian Islands November 3, 2008 Contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Darlene E. Kelley donkeyskid@msn.com November 3, 2008. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Historical Collections of Hawai'i Keepers of the Culture A Study in Time, of the Hawai'ian Islands Wiki Mo'olelo - part 7. by Darlene E. Kelley ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Wiki Mo'olelo Part 7. Necker Island Necker Island is home to thousands of birds, and lies 300 miles northwest of Niihau. This rugged and remote island contains one of the greatest mysteries of Hawai'i, which signifies that there were cross cultural inhabitants of the island. Necker Island (Mokumanamana) is approximately 41 acres, one mile long, and 400 feet wide. This small, isolated, and treeless island rises 276 feet, out of the ocean in near vertical cliffs. It was first sighted by Europeans on November 4, 1786, but it was not until a Hawai'ian annexation party landed on the island on May 27, 1894 that the unique stone images of Necker island were officially discovered. Standing on a rock in the vast ocean surrounded by crashing waves and birds flying overhead, evoked a spiritual awareness that inspired and empowered the ancient Hawai'ians to create the Necker images. The true meaning and cultural significance of the stone figurative statues of Necker Island is considered a matter of a cross cultural inhabitation and pure conjecture and speculation. These mysterious stone images carved of vesicular basalt are found no where else in Polynesia. At the time of their discovery, native Hawai'ians were not aware of their existence. The few stone and wooden images found on Hawai'i ae extremely different in conception and style than the Necker images, except for two curious stone bowls. The annexation party found seven all male figures at one marae. There are six more images known to exist collected by other passing ships collected from the same marae. Most of the images were split by weathering and pieced together. They range from 8 to 18 inches in height and weigh from 4 to 25 lbs. There are 52 archaeological sits on Necker Island as recorded. The dense grouping of marae on the island are not found in Hawai'i but in the Society Islands. Hence the reference to marae instead of heiaus. These religious structures also have simular counterpars atop Mauna Kea, Mauna Loa, and Haleakala. The large number of Maraes ( 33 ) constructed at different times suggest that the occupation of the island was not a one time stop over by a fleet of voyaging canoes. The uniformity of the archaeological remains suggest that the island was inhabited only for a limited number of years, yet maraes were used as ceremonial sites not dwelling sites. If a limited number of people did live on Necker island they were probably confined to the 8 or 9 rock shelters found there. With no trees and limited water, a temporary occupation site,which was repeatedly visited is a more viable theory. Out of the more numerous wooden Hawai'ian images, not one resembels the statues of Necker Island except for the arm position. There are approximately 150 Hawai'ian wooded sculptural imagines known to exist. The sex of the ones found on Necker is obviously male, indicated by a small projecting phallus. Hawai'ian images usually lack any indication of sex. Of the five sculpted basalt bowls found on Hawai'i, Kaua'i, and Moloka'i, two bear a striking resemblance to the modeled heads of Necker images. The largest of the stone bowls, known as the Wery bowl, is 13 inches tall and 16 inches in length. The head is conspicuously rounded with the chin jutting out, framing a broad mouth with protruding tongue. To thrust out the chin is a gesture regarded as insulting or signifying contempt. The rounded eyes are absent. Cup shaped ears stick out as in the Necker images. It is interesting to note that the ears are pierced, reminiscent to Marquesan images. The McBryde bowl found on Kaua'i, again has the face and head simular to Necker images with the eyes and ears missing. The resemblance is evident in the continuous sloping pane of the profile view. The head is oval and set deeply into the chest facing directly forward. The plane of the forhead extends to the nose merging with deeply cut brows. There is a definate stylistic quality shared by the first settlers of Hawai'i, yet the question remains as to what connection these bowls have with the Necker images ? Out of all the stone bowls found on Necker and Nihoa islands why were there none with a carved face? Hawai'ian wooded figurative bowls in general areassociated with the Ali'i. The closest resemblance to the Necker images are found in Marquesian stone statues.The treatment of the head and body are somewhat simular; formed in planes that meet, is sharply defined angles. The face on both images, is falt with a broad chin, framing a widely stretched mouth, with pronounced parellel lips and tongue, in relief. The Necker images almost appear to have a sligh grin. In certain Polynesian cultures such as the Maori for example, the projecting tongue marks a ritualized challege or haka, used in warfare and formal greeting ceremonies. Marquesian figures differ mainly in the stylized eyes, nosrils, and arm position. It might be possible that the Necker images bore a closer resemblance to ancient Marquesian images. The Necker images appear to have been caved from the head down, simular to Marquesan images. The stylistic connections between Hawai'ian stone images and Marquesan stone images has been further suggested by lateral hip projections. The eyebrows are in a delicate relief merging at the base of the nose, framing two rounded eyes. This particular fashion of rendering the eyes and the eyebrows is also found in a petroglyph from Rapa Nui. The rounded eyes and mask like quality of the stylized face is suggestive of a continuity of form reaffirming ancestral ties with the spirit world. there is no modeled belly or naval, which is a dominate feature in Polynesian figurative carvings. On the closest inhabitable island to Necker, Nihoa, 150 miles southeast,no images have bee found, but a few marae structures are very simular to those on Necker. On Nihoa there are 88 recorded archaeological sites. The marae or heiau's have a close affirnity with the encloure on Easter Island. Both have a retaining or facing walls, made of vertical slabs planted on end and caped with horizontally laid slabs. and are decidely Hawai'ian, while the agricultural systems on Nihoa generally appear simular to dry land agricultural systems on the leeward sids of the main Hawai'ian Islands. Radiocarbon 14 dating has placed the approximate occupation of Nihoa and Necker at around the 11th to 16th century. Between 1100 and 1300 CE the long voyages between Hawai'i and Tahiti ended abruptly. It is possible that the Necker culture was a remnant of ancient pre 13th century colonization. More likely the semi-permanent population of these two remote islands traveled tere at a time when frequent sailing voyaging canoes were still a major part of the culture. Nihoa possibly acted as a staging area for the sacred ceremonies of Necker. The population of Nihoa based on the limiting factors of food, water, and fuel is estimatd to be around 100 to 175.. The adz is a helpful tool in determining the probable cultural relationships of Necker Island within Polynesia. A plethora of adzes are available for study from around Poynesia each with a distinct uniformity. Necker Island adzes are simular to a rare variety found in Hawai'i. A squid-lure sinker/cowrie shell octopus lure, bone one-piece fishhook, and fisherman's shrines found on Necker are characteristic of themain Hawai'ian group, further testifying to their Hawai'ian origins The stone " bird-snaring perch " found has a direct wooden equivalent in New Zealand. The stone bowls and images are found nowhere else in Polynesia so it can be assumed that they were made on the island and not imported. A hammerstone and one statue in th rough were found on Necker, supporting the theory. With the development of such unique carved stone figures, is it possible that te population of Necker and Nihoa were cut off from the rest of Hawai'i ? This is doubtful considering the sailing technology, unless a voyaging canoe was shipwrecked on the island. Again a doubtful theory considering the parallel archeological features of Nihoa and Necker. In general, sacred stones in Hawai''i, are believed to be inhabited by mana, an ancestral life-force. Respected and protected the stones reflect spiritual beliefs. The large number of mares indicate a pervasive religious element in the ancient culture. Necker and Nihoa were probably discovered by folowing the swarms of ground nesting seabirds that thrived on the island. Could the ritual pilgrimage to Necker Island be a ritual in thanking a bird God for pointing the way to Hawai'i ? Perhaps the religious significance for visiting Necker was simular to the bird cult on Rapa Nui where strict rituals surrounded the gathering of the first bird egg of the season. If so, why the curious lack of anthropomorphic bird forms. If it is assumed that a bird cult existed on Necker Island, the frequent migrations of exploitive rituals voyages out to the isolated island could of decimated the bird population, resulting in the abandonment of the islands as a sacred pilgrimage site. A stykistic convention does exist in the face of Necker image and a simular face found on a petroglyph from Rapa Nui. This meager bit of evidence when supported by the striking similarity of another petroglyph design of n arched back figure found on the main Hawai'ian Islands, further suggests a Rapa Nui cultural connection Were Nihoa and Necker Island seasonal fishing and bird hunting grounds.? If so why did the ancient Hawai'ian s travel hundreds of miles in the oen ocean to a small barren island to exploit marines resources, which most likely were just as abundant on the main islands ? Necker and Nihoa must have had a significant religious importance to necessitate the long pilgrimage. But they still conatin a mystery-- a story only to still be unraveled in the Hawai'ian inhabitational chain. Only the ancient have the complete answers. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Continued in part 8 File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/hi/statewide/newspapers/wikimool89nnw.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/hifiles/ File size: 10.9 Kb