Phoenix weekly herald. [volume] (Phoenix, Maricopa County, Ariz. Territory) 1896-1899, 1898-11-03
HAWAIIAN BURIALs.
Precautions to Preserve the Bones OF
Chiefs After Death.

Some students of Hawaiian customs
declare THAT the people of the islands
never were canibals The popular
idea that these new Americans have
been nourished on their friends and
relatives arose probably in a misap-
prehension of what happened to Cap
tain Cook after he was killed at Kea-
lakekua-
The honorable sepuIchre reserved
for chiefs and men of note may have
caused the first voyagers about the
islands to think that they had found
proof of the practice, which really the
Hawaiians are said to have viewed
with as much horror as more civilized
races. When a chief died it became
1.-THE duty of his trusty kahus, confden-
tial advisers in life and sworn to the
performance of the last rites. to re-
move the body and bury it decently.
That which the Hawaiians honored in
burial was the permanent part of the
body; the flesh was regarded as tran
STORY and perishab bic, and therefore
not worthy of sepulchre. The flesh of
the corpse was cut off from the bones
and burned; the bones themselves
were carefully cleaned, soaked in OIL
and FURNISHED red with turmeric.
Tied up together in a snug parcel, they
were deposited in some secret cave
where it would be impossible for an
enemy to find them. and thus have
the chance of bringing dishonor upon
the dead.
Two centuries ago the great chief
Kualii was the moi or king over the
island of Oahu. In the ninety years
of his life he fought with SO many
chiefs on his own and the other islands
that he was sure that his enemies
would make great efforts to get pos
session of his homes and on them
wreak some of the revenge which they
had not been able to take on him when
alive. To make sure that nothing of
this sort should happen, he laid strict
commands on his most faithful kahu
that he should carry his bones beyond
the reach of any marauder who might
seek to dishonor them.
AS soon as the breath had left the
body of the aged chieftain the kahu
hurried his precious treasure away in
to a secret place in the Oahu Noun
tains to fulfill his solemn promise
Returning, he sent invitations to all
the neighbors and tributary chiefs to
attend a feast in honor of the dead.
From all the lands of Oahu they gath
cred and from surrounding islands.
from MolOkaf up the wind. and from
Kauai down the wind When the
games had been performed with all
the ceremonies with which the Poly
nesians turn the days of mourning
into a season of rejoicing, the feast
was spread for the chiefs and COM
mon people. After the last food had
been eaten and the calabashes were
empty the chiefs asked the kahu if he
had carried out the dying wishes of
his master; if the homes were buried
where there was no chance that they
might be desecrated in any hoomau-
hala, the Hawaiian vendetta which
was waged against the dead as well
as the living With the grim assur-
ancethat his duty had been faithfully
performed the kahu swept his hand
in a comprehensive gesture about the
circle of hundred chiefs and said:
There are the graves of Kualii; no
one can disturb his bones while they
rest
Ee had not only cleaned the bones
Of his master. but he had beaten and
rubbed them into a fine meal The
night before the feast he had secretly
visited the house in which were stored
the great calabashes of poi provided
for the refreshment of the chiefs. In
to this poi he stirred the meal to which
the aged king had been reduced. The
next morning the remains of Kualif
found their resting place in the bodies