The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1900-02-23

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~ ibf nhilffs NJ ttf tulitf HtYf I've.
aft made ~ iht tti.1a feuhefs ~ ihI
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4 sHsil bird ard lmi e. telitn 20 b
nff tnud in obtained FROM f4rA lHe
sh0elnf what humNHft NJ ihf hIfi|
mnsi have been seed n thr making u
q single flnff iht ffi nafhrfl which
arc inifftprfe1 ih ocular designs
mostly irianrifs. are ffIm fhr iN
tifd y neINafk ~ fbffa wff hrsI pre-
pared. ana upon th.s the feathers wef,
sfwn anilI the mantle saa c0mplrted
large enough to- dfape The royal per.
son from neck 20 sandailrd foot. SOM
" those clonks were used by K1meha.
meha the Great. and are greatly treas.
urod by the museum people. for the
reason that no closks Of n similar kind
ran ever be duplicated. the birds being
an extinct species now. The cards at
tached 20 each cloak giving It's history
/ bear the legend ne the gift OF the Ha-
wallan Government, and turned over
| TO the museum In 1893. the date OF the
overthrow Of the monarchy, showing
that they were just previously In the
possession OF the royal family. One
cloak was worn by Nahieana, daughter
OF Kamehameha, on the occasion OF the
visit OF Lord Byron to the Hawaiian
| Islands Tor Sandwich Islands, as they
were then called), In 1924, and since
her death has been used as a royal pail.
In some manner or another some
cloaks found their way to London, but
most of them have been bought back
by the Hawallans, In some cases pay
ing an immense sum OF money to gain
possession OF them. This exhibit forms
one OF the most interesting In the en-
tire building.
War helmets made of the same kind
of feathers are frequently seen in the
Hawaiian exhibits, but In most cases
they were the personal headgears Of
Kamehameha; they are OF the Miner
va type, and upon the head OF giant
Hawaiian such as King Kamehameha,
must have been very impressive.
Another interesting feature OF the
industry of the older natives is the
great collection OF kappa, or clothing,
mostly made from the fibres of the
wauke bush, a species of ramie. The
bark Is stripped until the fibre is left;
this Is then placed in water until 1t
becomes pasty pulp; II Is then rinsed
of kou wood, smooth and rounded on
the upper side; short clubs, quite
heavy, are then used to beat the pulp
to the thinness of paper, the mass
spreading out during the process, until
1t Is large enough to make dress OF
cloak, which will extend from head to
foot; then short, thick, square-sided
koa clubs, with carved designs upon
fntn nA1n mn ibid
and placed upon the kappa; by pressure,
the design Is transferred to the cloth,
and SO on until the entire piece is
marked off in different colors and va
rious designs. Most of the kappa dis
played in the museum belonged to Mrs.
Bishop or her cousin, Queen Emma,
and was given to the institution by Mr..
Bishop.
Then there are the ancient war
spears, some OF them twenty or TWEEN
ty-five feet in length, made OF hard
ened wood, carved and colored in va
rious designs; most of those in the mu
scum are supposed to have been used
in the battles of Kamehameha; these
are called pololus by the Hawaiians.
and they are, of course, more than a
century old,
Death seems to have played an i'm
portant part in the ancient regime, as
the kings and chiefs had the power
of life and death over their subjects.
Then too, the priesthood, or kahunas,
exercised what is termed the 'tabu,"
which prescribed certain rules and
regulations for the natives, any viola
zion of which was punishable by death;
Tor instance a chief placed "tabu"
sticks at the entrance to his hut; that
meant to one and all, do not enter or
pass within the shadow of the tabu
sticks under pain of DEATH II Ha-
waiian subject, and even petty chief,
violated this tabu, he was instantly put
to death; supplication was of no avail.
The power of the kahunas in their eX-
ercise of the tabu, was so great and the
superstitious awe of the common ma
tive so intense, that its effects have
not died out even in this day and age.
The common natives are yet prone to
believe in their kahunas, and believe
that they have the power to pray them
to death; in olden days, if an enemy
obtained any part of the body of an
other, a hair part of the finger nail,
spittle, or anything of the body itself, !
he would give it to a kahuna and ask |
him to pray the other one to death; |
with great ceremony the kahuna would |
perform certain mysterious functions |
over the hair, say strange words offer |
It before the poison god, and then an
1ounce that he was praying the native
20 death; this being told to the native,
20 great his superstitious fear, he would
90 to his hut and in reality become
sick over the thought of the dread
summons made by the kahuna, and In
many cases they actually died of
he fright thus given them; and to this
lay many of the natives place more
aith in their kahunas than in the
haole" or foreign physicians. II the
'raying did not perform the evil work.
hen piece of the poison god was
teeped and the fluid given the sufferer,
t is said. which. acting upon his heart,
TILED him. On every hand in the mu-
cum are the evidences OF kahunaism
md death. There are stones, peculiar
y shaped. (like gourd) with small
leck; these stones were suspended
rom the low door OF a grass house in
uch a way that the person entering
fter the trap was set, would probably
e crushed by the fall OF the stone.
hey are made from lava rock.
Stone pestles for grinding roots and I
ereals; stone lamps in which grease {