Polynesian. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu], Hawaii) 1844-1864, 1857-01-10
Gbe 1)olpuesiau.

ries Oh the EthnOiogy Of Polynesia, this number be-
ing headed Religion, Supersfitions, etc.
Five and twenty years ago, the Samoans were
living under the influence of host of lima agInary
deities, and STEPPED in superstition. At his BIRTH
every Samoan was supposed to be taken under the
care OF some tutelary protecting god, or dtu as
1t was called. The help of perhaps half dozen
different gods was invoked in succession on the
casion, but the one who happened to be addressed
just as the child was born, marked and de-
clared to be that child's god for life.
! These gods were supposed to appear in some Wis
ible incarnation, and the particular thing in which
his god was in the habit of appearing was, TO the
Samoan, an object of veneraton. 1t was, in fact,
his idol, and he was careful never to inlure it or
treat it with contempt. One for instance, saw his
god in the eel, another in the shark another in the
turtle, another in the dog, another in the owl, an
other in the liZard and throughout all the fish
of the sea, and birds, and four footed beasts, and
creeping things. In some of the shell-fish, even,
gods were supposed to be present. man would
eat freely of what was regarded the incarnation
of the god of another man, but the incarnation of
his own particular god he would consider it death
to injure to eat The god was supposed to
avenge the insult by taking up his abode in that
PERSONS body, aud causing to generate there the
very thing which he had eaten, until it produced
DEATH This class of gen, or tutelary deities, they
called attn fale, or gods of the house.
Hc ldIIcT Ol luc IdIAy WIS llC iligH priest, ana
usually offered short prayer at the evening meal,
that they might all be kept from fines, sickness war,
and death. Occasionally, too, he would direct that
they have family feast IN honor of their household
gods; and on these occasions, cup of their intox
Icating ava draught poured out as a drnk-of-
terng. They did this in their family house, where
they were all assembled, supposng that their gods
had spiritual presence there, well rs in the ma
teria objects to which we have referred. Often it
was supposed that the god came among them, and
spoke through the father or some other member of
the family, telling them what to DO in order to re-
move present evil, or avert a threatened one.
Sometimes 1t would be, that the family should get
a canoe built, and keep it sacred to the god They
might travel in it and use it themselves, but it was
death to sell or part with a canoe which had been
built especially for the god.
Another class of Samoan deities may be called
gods of the town or village. Every village had its
god, and every one born in that village regard
ed as the property of that god. have got a child
for so-and-so, a woman would say on the birth of
her child, and name the village god. here was
small house or temple also consecrated TO the deity
of the place. Where there formal temple,
the public house of the village, where the chiefs
were IN the habit of assembling, was the temple for
the tlme-being as occasion required Some settle
ments had a sacred grove well as temple
where prayers and offerings were presented. The
Swift One, the Sacred One, Destruction, the God
were the name of some village gods
In their temples, they had generally something
for the eye to rest upon with supersttious venera-
ton. In one might be seen a conch shell suspend
ed from the roof in a basket made of cinct net
work and this the god was supposed to blow when
he wished the people to rise to war. In another,
two stones were kept. In another, something
sembling the head of man, with white streamers
flying, raised pole at the door of the tenn
pie, on the usual day of worship. In another
cocoanutshell drinking cup was suspended from the
roof, and before 1t prayers addressed and Of
ferngs presented. This cup also used in
oaths. If they wished to find out thief, the
pected parties were assembled before the chiefs,
the cup sent for, and each would approach lay his
hand or it, and say With my hand on this cup,
may the god look upon mo, and send swift de-
struction, if teok the thing which has been stol-
en-" The stones and the shells were used in a
similar way, but the cup is especially interesting.
(See KlttOs Bible illustrations, vol l. p. 426, on
- Divinlng Cups''). Before this ordeal the truth
was rarely concealed. They firmly believed that
it would be death to touch the cup and tell lie.
The Priests, in some cases, were the chiefs of the
place; but, in general, some one in a particular
family claimed the privilege, and professed to de-
clara the will of the god. His office was heredit-
ary. He fixed the days for the annual feasts in
honor of the deity, received the offerings, and
thanked the people for them. He decided also
The offerings were principally cooked food. As
In ancient Greece, so IN Samoa, the first cup was
in honor of the god. II was either poured out on
the ground, waved towards the heavens, remind
\ ing US again of the Mosaic ceremonies. The
chiefs all drank portion out of the same cup, ac-
cording to rank and, after that, the food brought
as an offering was divided and eaten. This feast
was annual, and frequently about the month of
May. In some places, it passed off quietly; in
Others, it was associated with games, sham fights
night dances, &c. and lasted for days. In time
of war, special feasts ordered by the priests
Of offerings on war occasions, women and chIldreR
were forbidden TO partake, it not their pro-
vince to 90 to battle. They supposed it would
bring sickness and death on the party eating who did
not 90 to the war; and hence were careful to bury
throw into the whatever food was over afterthe
festival. In cases, the feasts IN honor of the
god were regulated by the appearance in the set
element of the bird which was thought to be the
incarnation of the god. Whenever the bird was
seen, the priest would say that the god had come,
and fix upon day for his entertainment.
The village gods, like those of the household,
had all some particular incarnation. One was sup
posed to appear as a bat, another a heron, an
other as an owl. If man found dead owl by
the roadside and if that happened to be the incar
nation of his village god, he would sit down and
weep over it, and beat his forehead with stones
till the blood flowed. This was thought pleasing
to the deity. Then the bird would be wrapped up,
and buried with and ceremony, as if 1t were
a human body. This, however, not the death
OF the god. He was supposed to be yet alive, and
incarnate in all the owls IN existence. The flight
of these birds was observed in time of II
the bird flew before them, it signal to go on;
but if il crossed the path, it was bad omen, and
a sign to retreat. Others saw tier village god IN
the rainbow, others saw him IN the shooting star;
and, in time of war, the position of rainbow, and
the direction of a shooting star, were always ON