The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1901-02-04
CLAIMS THAT PAPA
TIA DID NOT FAKE

| Editor AdvertiSer:-W the subject
of fire-walking is being discussed in SO
many different ways in Honolulu, l de-
sire to say that the plain unassuming
old Tahitian named Papa tia, who has
been persuaded to come to these shores
to exhibit his power to walk over stones
of red and white heat, has come with
the written testimony of French offs
Gals of the highest standing in Tahiti
and other Islands of the South, and
that this strange feat is a reality and
no fake" as some here are loud in
calling it.
From most respectable sources we
find that the Polynesian hot-stone-
walking is acknowledged to be an in
teresting. unsolved problem, ranked
with sundry other forms of fire-walking
that have existed in many ancient
lands from time immemorial and which
remain an unlocked mystery to scien-
fist and skeptic of modern civilization,
as is evident by the quotations that
have appeared in late issues of the Ad-
yertiser, written for the benefit of
scholars and not fools, by standard au-
thority.
| All these writer's affirm that after the
| lamentations and walking over the hot
Stones by the leader. wrongly called
FsKahuna,'' as the word is generally
understood in Hawaii, the heat be-
comes modified so that spectators of all
races may afterward perform the feat
| without any preparation whatever
which has been proved by high Ameri-
can and English officials who have TAX
en- part in the ceremony. And 1 would
call the attention of those who heed
lessly pronounce Papa Ita's perform
ance a fake that he has done as
labove described and nothing less.
When the challenge to precede Papa
tia in walking over the hot stones was
made, with the offer of a premium OF
$500, several young men seemed tempt
ed to try doing SO, and prominent
among them was Corporal Murray, who
advanced with his feet in socks ready
for the attempt. But on seeing the RED
hot sides of the great stones turned ur
with long poles that became ablazt
from their heat he exclaimed within
my hearing: mo, will not go in now;
| this is done for me; I know And i'm.
mediately afterwards Papa TIA stepped
forward and performed his part un.
scathed.
|
standing close by, made a move to dc
as Papa TIA had done, but was prevent
ed because he had forfeited the priyil
eye offered him by the manager. An6
it was not till some time after Papa
tia had left the scene that he agar
went forward and stepped nimbly ovel
the great stones, in the manner de-
scribed by the Advertiser
In answer to the skeptical insinua
tions contained in the questions put BY
Medicus, Jr., concerning the reason:
why ii leaves should be used in tbs
ceremony, and why Papa tia could no
walk on steaming hot stones, the ole
ITahitian asserts that the ii leaf is in
dispensable for the performance, be
cause they constituted the clothing o.
the celebrated women in Mythology
named Hina- nui-te-araara Great Hins
the Watchwoman), who takes the place
of our Man in the Moon and of Va
Ihine-nui-te-ahu-rai Great Woman o
Heat in the Sky), whom the Tahitian:
Invoke to be present in the ordeal; an6
we nowhere find that fire. walkers have
ever professed to be invulnerable t.
steam.
The ceremony, performed only OF
rare occasions in South Polynesia, is il
no wise connected with heather deit.
worship and has not in any way re
vived the black art practices that arr
said to be still carried on by kahuna
here, and the Christian religion is Oh
too firm foundation in Hawaii for thu
i simple feat of Papa TIA to overthrow IT
should imagine. But it is to the cred
it of the kind Hawaiians that they be
lieve and uphold their fellow Polyne
sian, whose record is good in his owl
land.
AS to the assertion by some in Homo
lulu that Papa tia has brother VIII
can walk on water as Christ did,, thi
is fiction entirely new and quite .un
!, heard of in Tahiti. perhaps first sug
! gested here by persons ridiculing tn
fire walking.
But let Medicus, Jr., come forwar'
and prove by proper investigation hoy
ffre-walking Is performed and how /
can be done by others besides the lead
er and he will render a service to sci
ence worthy of his calling and hi
t lcountry. FROM A SPECTATOR.